Black Hawk Castle (Mountain Fortress)
Quick alt brick review here of “Black Hawk Castle” (mountain fortress) set. This will be focused on the alt brick aspects and not the set itself.
Alt Brick Review:
Packaging and instructions: came in 12 ziplock type numbered bags with several plastic brick bags in each. Came with printed instructions that were good quality and organized around the 12 numbered bags and part omissions (I think) where appropriate. I used the Lego builder app for instructions though on my iPad and didn’t have any issues. Each numbered bag is equivalent to about 3 normal bags I just dumped each one into a big plastic tub. It was very manageable and everything was on order between the numbered bags.
Brick Quality: Good. Most bricks click together well. As with many alt brand bricks the injection mold spots can be big and the plastic feels slightly soft (hard to describe) or light but overall good quality. I had one or two pieces that weren’t fully formed but I was able to hide those bits in the build. Plates seem a bit more flexible than Lego. Didn’t have any issues with bricks clicking together
Brick Color: most of the colors are very close. Some of the accent colors like sand green and the lighter browns are slightly off but it doesn’t impact the overall aesthetic and isn’t noticeable unless comparing pieces side by side. Silver accessories like swords and fish are like a metallic silver that is not the same as Lego brand though as above it doesn’t impact the overall aesthetic and for the coat of arms is actually a great look.
Minifigure quality: they are just ok. One or two looks identical to ones I have in my collection and all are passable for play and display but overall they aren’t that great. I wouldn’t buy this alt brick version for the mini figures but they are totally fine to get the experience and to display and inhabit the castle. The accessories are ok too but as mentioned above have some color variation from real thing. The shield prints are not very clean on the edges and the print is less metallic than the real thing but you can’t tell unless up close. I thought I would replace the shields and minifies with the real thing but im gonna pass on that… mainly because im not as in love with the set itself as I would like to be.
Piece Substitutions: there are some reasonable substitutes that do not impact the overall build:
chest with flat top is substituted for a regular chest
1x2 oval plates are substituted with 2 1x1 semi oval plates
There is a transparent ice block that in the official model is sloped to sit flush with the wall but the piece provided is pyramidal. This is obscured and very minor
1x2 bricks with single stud on side are substituted with a 1x2 brick with hole on side and a half technic pin… this works just fine though you can see the hole and pin on the backside though those are all interior
A 1x2 brick with 2 studs on each side is absent as there is only one in the entire build. It is replaced with a 1x2 brick with 2 studs on only one side. this brick is used on a wall and holds interior details up and on the exterior side holds some stone work. it made sense to prioritize the interior detail to me as the exterior side is a minor detail in a place that would hardly be noticeable
Missing: transparent blue splat. Very minor detail
Overall the build comes together as intended and with good quality with the substitutions made being trivial.
I would say that if you have your eye on this it’s worth picking up. Im gonna build adventure in Transylvania next.