There are rumours that LEGO will be releasing a classic castle inspired set to celebrate their 90th anniversary later this year. That’s great and I am excited to see what those rumours are true, but… what if you want a castle now? LEGO just happened to release a castle last year. Is the castle you can get today, better than the one you might be able to buy in the future? Read on to find out.
31120 Creator 3-in-1 Castle
The set embraces the 3-in-1 concept in a fantastic way for castle fans – rather than three unrelated builds you are given three variations on castle sections that, if you want, you can combine. That’s right if you buy three of this set you can pump out a massive castle for $480 at most. Easily $360. I’m going to speculate and say that any rumoured 90th anniversary castle is going to cost at least $300. In terms of size it’s hard to predict how it will compare to 3 combined 31120 sets.
I’ve only got one of these and a heap of other stuff to build so I am going to be sticking with my thoughts on the main build. This build is still a respectable castle in its own right.
If I was writing a checklist of things I want in a castle build 31120 ticks them all off. You want tall towers with battlements? Check. A Drawbridge? Check. Throne room? Check. Blacksmith and Armory? Check. Dungeon with spooky skeleton? Check. Dragon? Check, but it’s a bit shit. I mean it’s got it all.
Actually before I get distracted I’m going to come back to the dragon. I don’t really care for it. I don’t mind brick built animals in a creator set but I kind of just want a dragon. This thing doesn’t look imposing or scary. Also I think red would have been better than the green. I’m not sure if that makes me dragon racist?
My only other complaint is the minifigure selection. Firstly there is no king, queen or princess. Then there is the fact that you get two of the same style knight. Buy 3 of this set and you’ve got 6 knights defending a castle from what? A trio of blacksmiths? a flock of underwhelming dragons? There’s not enough story potential with the included minifigures. Again this is purely speculation but I hope Unconfirmed 90th Anniversary Castle has a better minifigure lineup. It wouldn’t be hard.
Let me be very clear. I do not know if there is a 90th anniversary castle coming out. Yes I sometimes know about sets before they are announced and play dumb and keep it a secret. This is not one of those situations. I do not know anything about a potential castle. It is purely a rumour.
So should you buy this set now or wait for what is rumoured? Well I think that depends on what you want from a castle. If there is a 90th anniversary set it’s likely to be a highly detailed build created for the adult market. 31120 is not that. It is very much still a playset designed for children. That isn’t a bad thing. Some of my favourite castle sets of the past are playsets. There’s an undeniable charm to them.
If you are somebody that wants to MOC a bigger castle build then find a good price for 31120 and stock up because it gives you a lot of foundation castle pieces. Not just your grey elements but things like the windows with gold lattice and brown arches.
If you are just an adult collector wanting an awesome castle I would say wait. Why? Because 31120 is a general release creator set. If there is a 90th anniversary castle set its obviously going to be out by December. 31120 is probably not going anywhere before then. You have time to compare.
Buying guide
Prices accurate at time of publication.
The best price that I can currently find for this set is $109 from Amazon [affiliate link]. That’s about 32% off RRP so you are going to be hard pressed to beat that at a regular sale.
If the Amazon price does go up the next cheapest option would be Kmart at $119.
Big W and Target are both selling this at $139 so even 20% off that isn’t going to beat Amazon or Kmart.
This set might go on sale around Easter school holidays but I don’t think any sale is going to go beyond the $109 price. Knowing Big W’s mid-year toy sales this is a possible inclusion but I can’t see it being less than $99.
Great timing for Amazon’s price to drop to $100 – now there really is no excuse.