Breakout from the Goblin King's Fortress

Ever since Ragana's castle was released last year, I've had my fingers crossed for more evil fortresses. That being the case, I purchased this set as soon as it was available, and it did not fail to meet my expectations. My favourite thing about this set - the drawbridge! By turning a knob, you can easily open and close it, and I simply love those translucent green chains along the sides. The mechanism that turns the chains to lift the drawbridge is an ingenious idea! There is also another knob that allows you to open/close the jaws of the two evil plants that are located left of the drawbridge. The first time I built the mechanism, I put it together incorrectly, and it didn't work. Once I re-built it, everything was fine. (You shouldn't have a problem if you pay close attention to the instructions.) The inside of the fortress is a little cramped. I would have appreciated just a bit more space. In terms of overall design, I like how the fortress uses red, green, and black, to match Cronan's appearance and outfit. The facial expression on his mini-doll does a good job of capturing his wicked and clever nature. For Sophie's mini-doll, a different face is used here than in "The Capture of Sophie Jones." I like her expression too - she looks worried! Emily's expression is neutral . . . although I must say, I love her outfit! There are lots of new and awesome accessories in this set - two shields with an evil-eye design (printed, not stickers), a spear, a sword, a purple potion bottle, and an evil book (the cover is a sticker.) I particularly like the new amulet pieces. Before, the amulets were just printed on the clothing. Now, it's an actual accessory that you can remove from the mini-doll. I like the new and improved version much better! I could go on and on . . . The elves theme continues to put forth beautifully designed sets, which are accompanied by creative, and well-written story-lines. Ragana's castle remains my favourite set so far, but Cronan's fortress isn't that far behind! more less

All in all, I think 41188 is a pretty solid product. It's got tons of bang for your buck in terms of new and interesting parts; besides this, the final build looks really nice, clear, and coherent. A few well-chosen and well-adapted play features help to cement 41188 as a good set. I'd recommend it to Elves collectors for sure, and also to anyone looking to broaden their piece collection's vocabulary of colors. more less

The finished model has a fantastic feel. This color scheme really snuck up on me, but I can't wait to experiment with it myself in the future. There are cool room details on the inside too, but I think that I'll leave those for you to discover on your own. The set has 695 elements for 69.99 (a smidge over 10¢ per piece), but 55 extra elements that I got really took the value over the top. If these are colors that speak to you, definitely pick up this set. more less

Even for the smaller size, this is a set that is well designed and provides a lot of play value, particularly with the moving functions (the hidden door, the catapult, the carnivorous plants, the portal, rotating throne and of course the drawbridge). There is a small sheet of stickers included and while they add some aesthetic value, most of them are not needed, which I consider a definite plus. more less