Review : LEGO Ideas 21325 Medieval Blacksmith

As promised, today we quickly tour the LEGO Ideas set 21325 Medieval Blacksmith (2164 pieces - 159.99 €), the official reinterpretation of the initially submitted project on the participatory platform by Clemens Fiedler alias Namirob.

The initial proposal quickly found its audience and LEGO then seized the opportunity to offer those nostalgic for the Castle / Kingdoms universe a box that should calm them at least for a while, as the LEGO Ideas set did last year. 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay and its strong tribute to the Pirates range.

The saturated colors of the final model, however, will not be to the taste of those who appreciated the more pastel tones of the project. Namirob and here we get a house with a blue and green roof that probably looks more like a setting in Puy du Fou than a real medieval building with its thatched roof or its row of slates.

This is not the first blacksmith's workshop in the LEGO catalog, three other boxes already dealt with the subject with the set. 6040 Blacksmith Shop marketed in 1984, the set 3739 Blacksmith Shop from the range My Own Creation (2002) and the set 6918 Blacksmith Attack launched in 2011. The initial project and the official set make it obvious here tribute to set 3739 from 2002, the other two boxes only offering much more summary versions of the places.

The blacksmith's house lost a little in volume during the conversion phase of the original creation into an official product of the LEGO Ideas range and we obtain here a construction (including base) of 27 cm long, 21 cm wide and 27 cm from above. So much the better for those who will look for a place for it on a shelf, too bad for those who imagined this construction as the imposing central point of a medieval diorama.

No base plates in this box, the different levels of the half-timbered house are based on three 16x16 plates Dark Tan on which are grafted some smaller plates. The set is modular with the possibility of removing the attic and the first floor to access the interior spaces. The two sections of the roof are independent and are also removable to allow access to the attic.

The assembly of this medieval house is very entertaining, especially when it comes to laying the exposed stones and the rooms which reproduce the half-timberings, these beams which form the framework of the houses and which remain visible. You never get bored and the attention to detail, especially in the blacksmith's workshop, reinforces the impression that the designer has really gone to great lengths to offer a successful product. No stickers in this box, everything is pad printed, including the boards that are used for the doors and the sign which confirms that the guy who occupies the premises makes and repairs the swords and other halberds of the knights who spend their time in war.

The house is divided into three distinct spaces: the blacksmith's workshop on the ground floor with its grindstone, its anvil, its tools and its reserve of coal to supply the forge, the living room on the first floor with its furnace , its food placed on bowls, its metal buckets, its barrel of hypocras and its pretty chairs and a room under the roof with its bed, its carpet made from bearskin and its desk with an inkwell and a feather.

There is nothing to say about the layout of the different spaces, it is really very rich in furniture and various and varied accessories and it is of the best level. Modulars classics with some nice techniques. The floor remains in visible tenons, I would have liked a floor for the first floor and the attic. The forge is equipped with a light brick that is activated by pushing the bellows plugged into the button. It's original and very much in the spirit of the set even if it is as usual impossible to leave the brick on. We know it's there, we will have fun pushing on the bellows from time to time.

The exterior appearance of the house is also very successful with its ground floor with stone walls and its half-timberings on the upper levels. The designer in charge of adapting the project chose to ignore the plank patterns visible in the original project and the timber of the half-timbering is here simply suggested by the color of the pieces.

We also assemble a sufficiently elaborate frame to stay in the theme and the two independent roof sections slide onto the side uprights. The roof is not fixed to the frame which allows its removal in the blink of an eye without having to force to extract it, it is well thought out.

We could discuss the side flashy of the roof with its scales in three shades and its rendering a little "cartoon". It's cleaner than the roof of the building from the LEGO Ideas project that served as a benchmark, some will no doubt find it's a little too smooth and tidy to be believable. Same observation for the tree planted above the well, here we assemble a tree a little more stylized and with false airs of giant bonsai where that of the original project was more classic.

On the side of the minifigs delivered in this box, we get the blacksmith, a female character who obviously spends her time training in archery on the target attached to the tree and two knights of the Black Falcons. The oldest will remember the first appearance of this faction in 1984 in the very popular set 6073 Knight's Castle then in many other boxes. A tribute to this faction had already been paid in 2002 with a reissue of set 6073 (ref. 10039) and then in 2009 in one of the four packs of the Vintage Collection (ref. 852697). The emblem of this faction also appeared in the LEGO Harry Potter set. 4768 The Durmstrang Ship in 2005 and in the set 10223 Kingdoms Joust in 2012.

Parity is respected for the two knights who use the same torso and the same legs: a male character with a common face in the CITY range and who reuses Chief Wheeler's hair (60246 Police Station) and a female character who reuses the head of Jessica Sharpe seen in the LEGO CITY set 60264 Ocean Submarine Exploration and the hair of the zombie from series 14. The pad prints are impeccable and LEGO provides a hair for each of the minifigs in addition to the helmet, just to vary the presentations or the settings.

The blacksmith and the archer are a little less successful, the fault of some technical problems which are not new but which are not solved so far: the blacksmith's barista legs are a bit sloppy and the archer's neck is a little too pale. The young woman also reuses the torso of Robin Loot, a character delivered in the LEGO Ideas set 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay, and the legs of Pomona Sprout. Under his beard, the blacksmith hides the face of Harl Hubbs, the recurring mechanic from the LEGO City range. The character's torso displaying an apron top that connects with the legs is unique.

This box also allows us to obtain a copy of the horse with movable rear legs, here in beige, and enough to assemble a rather successful cart on which we find the Black Falcons crest.

The adaptation of the initial project seems to me successful and does not betray the spirit of the original creation which was able to gather the 10.000 necessary supports and convince LEGO to take the plunge. The end result is a somewhat romanticized take on the subject with a range of colors and a finish that may displease those who preferred the more sober and clutter-free side of the reference model.

I think LEGO is doing pretty well anyway and this product should appeal to both fans of Modulars and those nostalgic for the Castle / Kingdoms universe who haven't had much to put on their shelves in recent years. Come to think of it, there is also a little Disney side in this medieval house that could accommodate a few mini-dolls. In summary, this product should appeal to a large audience and the good idea of ​​Clemens Fiedler becomes in my opinion a completely acceptable official set even if the retail price of 159.99 € seems a little high.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 28th January 2021 next at 23pm. "The" I try, I participate "are automatically deleted, make an effort.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.