Set Review - #31120-1: Medieval Castle - Creator 3-in-1

The LEGO Group has made it clear that they don’t want to re-start old themes like Castle, Pirates, or Classic Space as stand alone themes. The fan base keeps asking for them so LEGO seems to find ways to bring back the themes without a stand alone theme. The Castle theme was recently seen in Ideas with #21325-1: Medieval Blacksmith which was released in February of 2021. On 2 August 2021, #31120-1: Medieval Castle was released in the US. It contains 1,426 pieces and retails for $99.99. That works out to $0.07 per piece which isn’t too bad.

The set is branded with the Black Falcon sub-theme from the original Castle line. You get 3 minifigures in the sub-theme and then a few shields with the logo. This is a win for all of the Castle fans out there.

When #31109-1: Pirate ship came out, I reviewed all three versions (here, here, and here). I decided not to do that here as I really like the main version and wanted to keep it. It’s one of those sets that I’ve added to my list of sets I would like to modify and add to some day.

The box highlights the main build on the front with the two other builds on the side. Then the back shows some of the play features and things you can do with the different builds. Unlike most sets, the minifigures aren’t front and center with a special call out. It’s nice to have the focus be on the build versus the minifigures.

The contents are nine parts bags labeled one through seven. There is also an 8x16 tan plate. The instructions come wrapped in plastic to keep them from damage. Bag one contains a piece separator.

The first bag starts the main section of the castle. You get the start to the draw bridge and then the wall structures. Some of the wall is made of grays while some is tan and various green colors to show that the castle is built into a section of elevated ground. A small tree grows out of it on the side.

This bag comes with one minifigure holding a bow and arrow.

The next bag adds another layer to the walls and the arch over the draw bridge. I had not looked at any reviews for this set prior to building and was not expecting a functioning draw bridge. Technic elements are used to allow you to turn a crank on the outside of the castle to raise and lower the bridge. There is also a part you can use to lock the bridge in place. This is a great feature in this set and isn’t overly a Technic build for those not into that system.

The third bag finishes off the front section. The detailing on the front is pretty impressive with two torches, one on either side of the draw bridge. There are two banners for the castle on either side of the draw bridge as well. The Black Falcon shield is placed centered above the draw bridge. I did see a post mentioning that you could add more texture to the walls of this build, but I didn’t think it was overly necessary. The designers added in a bunch of different bricks which helps to give the set a castle look versus just a building made of bricks.

I don’t know the technical term for the tops of each tower, but the use of gray Nexo Knight shields was a great addition. It’s a simple touch, but a cool look.

Not too much inside this castle section nor is there a lot of space to add many details. I guess that part is on you.

Minifigure number two is in this bag. It has a spear and another shield.

The fourth bag builds one of the back sides of the castle. From the front, they added hinges for you to connect other pieces of the castle and this is one of them. This section has an outer wall along the water. Like the front, there is some gray and some green.

Inside has a small armory with some armor and a forge to sharpen your sword which adds the functionality of being able to hammer the sword to sharpen it. There are some stairs up to the section above the armory. This bag comes with a minifigure not in the Black Flacon outfit. He looks more like he could fit in a Pirate themed set. He could be a squire or maybe he’s just on a break from wearing the armor set up nearby.

The fifth bag finishes up this section of the build. To go with the pictures I posted, you get a moveable water wheel on the outside and then a room above the first floor you built in the last step.

On the back side of the build are three brick built chickens/roosters along with a target for bow and archery practice.

The inside is the second floor area with a small chair and a mini fireplace. A lot of details here considering it is a Creator 3-in-1 set.

The sixth bag starts the last back corner/side of the castle. Inside, you get a small market stall with some food in a basket. Next to it is a jail cell with a skeleton minifigure inside (sorry, forgot to get a picture of it). I would like liked to have seen a ghost minifigure return, but we’ll take a skeleton. .

Not attached to the structure, is a small well that can go in the center of the castle or elsewhere. The well has a small green frog sitting on the edge.

The outside fits the style of the rest of the build. There is some greenery outside the wall here, but it is not going up the side.

The last bag adds in a tower above the section built with bag six. The tower is brown and yellow versus the gray similar to some of the other higher sections. I assume this is to show that this section would be made from wood versus stone.

Additionally, there’s a brick built dragon. Considering the size and piece count of the set, the dragon has a lot of detail. The head has horns, teeth, and fire coming out of the mouth. The wings are a bit lacking in my opinion, but they do okay. The body, legs, and tail are decent as well.

Here’s the final build from all slides. Overall, I think it’s a great journey back to the old Castle theme through Creator 3-in-1. There are a lot of great pieces, some fun details, and the minifigures are decent considering it is a Creator 3-in-1 set not known for minifigures.

I wasn’t a Castle fan as a kid, but I think this set is a nice venture into the theme for someone who wasn’t a fan back in the day. I recommend this one. If the price is a bit much, wait to see if it goes on sale. I haven’t seen this one on sale yet, but will keep watching for a discount later in 2022.

What are your thoughts on this one?

Happy building!

Set Review - #31109-1: Pirate Inn - Creator 3-in-1

This is part two of the set review. You can see part one here. I built the Pirate Inn after the ship just based on how the instructions are set up. The ship is first and you build it following numbered bags. Then the inn is next. You had to take apart the ship first to get all the pieces. It then takes a bit longer to build as you aren’t building by bag, but searching for pieces through the 1,264 available. I could have made it easier by sorting the pieces first, but what’s the fun in that?

I didn’t take pictures of the build process, but instead included a few pictures of the final build. It appears as though the ship was designed first and then the designers figured out what they could build based on the pieces available. Or maybe the inn was designed already and they just had to tweak it for parts availability. Either way, you will have a bunch of pieces leftover when the inn is complete so don’t fret.

Here’s what you get at the end.
-the inn
-a brick built horse and cart
-the same 3 minifigures only one now has an accordian
-a brick built bird on the top of the inn

The build has some interesting features. The front has a small crane that you can crank up and down. I’m not sure what you’d use it for, but it’s a cool looking feature. The crow’s nest is on top so you can look out or maybe someone sleeps there?

I don’t know my styles of architecture, but I like the front façade of the inn. The angle of the roof, the windows, and colors all seem to make it fit right in with the pirates theme. The V roof in the front left of the house is made by connecting plates to ball and hinge joints. I had never seen that method of build before and I like how it was done.

The back of the inn folds out so you can have access to it. There are 3 beds on the upper level and then the lower level has a table and some cups for beverages.

Outside is a large wheel which I assume is a water wheel. It spins either by you rotating the wheel itself or by spinning the Technic pin that is inside the inn. You could hook it to a motor if you really wanted to. This feature would help you build out this set to connect it to a stream running down from a hill/mountain and meeting the bay that the inn overlooks. And in the bay would be a pirate ship… and you’d have to buy another set #31109… and LEGO continues to make money…

Last shot is a closer view of inside the inn. I’m not sure what the build in the center on the ground floor is. Maybe a clock?

Overall, it’s a good build with some good techniques. Since it is limited by parts, a few of the steps don’t make sense like using three 1x1 pieces versus a 1x3. I get why it’s done that way so not a major complaint. Along with the ship, this build would fit well with any pirate scene and is a welcome addition to the slight come back of the LEGO Pirate theme through other themes.

Onto the third build… Skull Island…

Happy building!

Set Review - #31109-1: Pirate Ship - Creator 3-in-1

The LEGO® Pirate theme is not back, but they found a way to bring back Pirates in some other themes. We had the LEGO® Ideas #21322-1: Pirates of Barracuda Bay and now this set #31109-1: Pirate Ship which is part of the Creator 3-in-1 theme. The set was released in the US on 24 August 2020. It contains 1,264 pieces and retails for $99.99 which works out to $0.079 per piece. I picked it up locally here for ~$74 as the set has been out in Germany since June 2020 so the stores are running discounts 3 months later already.

Is the set worth it?

The front of the box shows the pirate ship with the Pirate’s Inn and Skull Island designs smaller and to the side. The back shows a few of the play features and shows the sets at different angles.

The set contains 11 parts bags. The bags are numbered one through nine. There is one of each with two numbered six. There is also a non-numbered bag with some larger parts. There are no stickers. WOOHOO!!! There are two instruction booklets wrapped in plastic. The larger booklet has the instructions for the Pirate Ship and Pirate’s Inn. The second booklet has the Skull Island instructions.

I started with the pirate ship. The ship instructions follow the numbered bags while the other two just have the parts, but not by bags.

Bag one builds some of the accessories to the ship. To start, there is a shark which is brick built. I like it much better than the 2-piece molded shark from the pirates theme. The tail moves along with the side fins and mouth. Plus you can adjust pieces to create movement.

There’s a barrel to store some weapons, a treasure chest with some gems (I miss the old gold coins), and then a brick build bird.

The set contains four minifigures. There’s a pirate captain with two pirates and then a skeleton. It’s a pretty decent spread and they are all in line with the theme.

There are 2 cannons in the set along with some 1x1 round bricks to use as ammo.

The second bag starts to build the hull of the ship. Unlike the Pirates of Barracuda Bay, this is a brick built hull versus a large BURP type piece as the base. I like the brick built version better I think. It doesn’t look as realistic, but it uses existing pieces versus the giant piece. It’s structurally sound too although not as big as the Pirates of Barracuda Bay ship.

Bag three is the stern (back) of the ship. Each half of the build is identical except for one half uses red while the other uses green. I think this was done just to help make the build process easier.

The bow (front) is included in bag four. it attaches on as you can see in the picture. Like the stern, it has a similar build process for each half, but one is green and the other is red.

The fifth bag starts to add details to the ship as a whole. There are covers to the four cannon windows and some structure for the masts.

The sixth bag builds the cabin at the stern of the ship for the captain. It is not as ornate as the Pirates of Barracuda Bay ship, but still has a bunch of detail in it. I like how the designers created angles in the build instead of making it square. The red, black, and gold are a great color scheme.

Bag seven finishes up the stern of the ship and the compartment for the Captain.

The eighth bag puts more on the top to include the steering wheel at the stern and more detail on the front.

To wrap things up, you add the masts and rigging. The masts are all brick built. They look okay, but I think I prefer the cloth ones. I do like the brick built skull and crossbones though. That’s a nice touch. The rigging is all rubberized pieces versus strings. It looks a little thick, but it works.

The front of the ship has a brick built figure. I think I like the minifigure body for the front better, but I get the idea of what they built.

A few more shots of the completed set. The front view shows the brick built skull and cross bones well. The other shot is a little closer on the front. There are four ports for cannons, but it only comes with two. There is no covering so you have easy access to get to that part of the ship.

And for fun, here’s the ship next to the Pirates of Barracuda Bay ship. Definitely much smaller, but pretty similar in terms of rigging and masts. The brick skull and crossbones helps it to stand out, but it is missing the skull and crossbones flags.

Overall, it’s a great set. A fun build with a lot of potential for parts in future builds/MOCs. The price is decent considering the price per piece and I found it at a discount so even better. Definitely get this set if you’re looking to expand your brick pirates.

I’ll show the alternate builds in another post.

Happy building!