Set Review: 79016 Attack on Lake-Town

[Vorahk1Panrahk2]

Review: 79016 Attack on Lake-Town

 

(I suppose there are minor spoilers for the upcoming Hobbit movie in here, but they are very minor. Just thought I'd put that there in case someone cared.)
 
Presentation: The box is your standard LEGO box, with a picture of the set as well as the minifigures on the front. None of them are advertised as ‘new.’ In fact, looking at some of my other Hobbit boxes, the obviously new ones aren’t marked as new either. So I’m not sure what it takes to earn that distinction since I’ve seen it used on other sets, like some Star Wars ones. The spring loaded missile is advertised, and there’s a message right above that noting that the included boat does not float. I’m sure that will be a deal breaker for someone out there. On the back the various play features are advertised.
 
Building: Pouring out the contents of the box reveal two numbered bags and a (frustratingly bent as usual) instruction manual. Not unlike the last Lake Town set, the first bag builds the lower levels, with bag number two being the construction for the upper segments. There are no really unique building methods to be found here, aside from some integrated play features I'll mention later. It’s a straightforward build with floors, walls, and roofs. The roof ends up looking very nice, and the construction is solid. I think it actually looks better than the roof in Lake-Town Chase, but that might just be on account of the color.
 
There are a few interesting pieces in the set, but not many. There are two black toggle pieces, which aren’t unique to this set, but also don’t seem to me like very common pieces. There’s also an earth green window frame which only appears in two other sets (according to Brickset), and a brown 1x1x3 square pillar which does seem to be unique to the set, though I'm also not sure just how useful a piece like that that will be to someone. There are no unique printed parts here, or (to my surprise) stickers of any sort. I’m kind of glad for the latter- like most people I prefer prints. But it is disappointing that there are no printed parts either. I think it would have been nice to see the fish emblem from Lake-Town Chase make an appearance. None of the weapon molds are unique, though this is the first set where the missile brick ammo comes in black. Other than that, there are a generous assortment of brown and dark brown to be found, with a splash of earth green and (new) dark red thrown in.
 
Set Design: After a fairly simple build, the model is complete. Lake-Town from the film struck me as sort of an economically struggling fishing village that looked (appropriately) like it sort of struck up out of nowhere. That shack-like texture was well accomplished by the sister set Lake-Town Chase, but this variation seems to lack that element. I think part of that has to do with the abundant use of square elements rather than the columnar ones and palisade texture bricks used for the previous set- here's a comparison of the two structures. I’m really just nitpicking, though. If you knew this was a Hobbit set you would immediately be able to tell that it’s supposed to represent Lake-Town. The set also uses the same blue base plates and is the same height off the ground that Lake-Town Chase is, so the sets go together very well without looking awkward. So even if visually there’s a slight different in aesthetics, the two sets are very compatible with each other, enhancing the play value of both when put together.
 
But in keeping (mostly) with the design continuity of Lake-Town Chase, it also shares it’s flaws. From the back the set is rather bland, where we see the set’s inner workings rather than any sort of new detail. This is a small set, though, and there’s just enough room to put minifigures in these spaces, so to expect furnishings and other decorative items to be feature is probably a bit unrealistic. Even so, it would have been nice to at least see that roof closed off.
 
And then there’s Tauriel’s boat, which is nothing special (and actually kind of forgettable), and is practically the same design as Gollum’s boat from Riddles for the Ring. But the set does represent a town built on water so I guess the boat helps sell that a bit.
 
The set contains five mini figures, two of which are unique (mostly) and only one of which is a new character. The first mostly unique figure is Tauriel, who appears here in a green shirt and pants and in a print different than that of the form which appeared in the Mirkwood Spiders set (comparison). Her hair, headpiece, and alternate expression are all the same, though. With a new torso printing and face we get Bard’s son, Bain. This is the only Hobbit set he appears in. His alternate expression features a dirty/burnt/scarred face. If you’ve read The Hobbit (or saw the last movie) you probably know how he will get those.
 
There’s another Bard in the set as well, who is identical to the Lake-Town Chase Bard with the exception of his head (comparison, 'Lake-Town Chase' Bard on right). This one features a slightly confused or worried face (as opposed to Chase’s serious face), with the alternate expression featuring a dirty face similar to that of Bain. The set also comes with two Orcs, who are unfortunately both the exact same. To add to the disappointment, neither the torso nor the leg pieces are new. The head might be new (Brickset tells me it is), but I can’t say for certain. What’s definitely new, though, is the hair piece. I’m not really sure what you would call it, though. Mohawk braid? Even though it doesn’t wrap around the head like most pieces, it’s still firmly attached. Their heads do not feature alternate expressions as the hairpiece would not cover it.
 
Playability: Despite being fairly small, the set is pretty packed with features. One of them is very similar to the jailbreak feature from Lake-Town Chase. It works the exact same way: pull a lever, and a the left-most wall falls down. It doesn’t really make sense to me why that feature is there, but at the same time there’s nothing wrong with adding a little playability.
 
Right above said wall is a crane contraption with a barrel attached. Presumably (judging from the back of the box) Bain will use it to whack an Orc or two in the movie. It was two points of movement: it can swing around 360 degrees on the base, and it can seesaw up and down. It does actually swing around pretty well, and I can see someone having a good time trying to swat LEGO orcs with it.
 
Moving on to the right side there’s a bit of a booby trap feature where when you open the door, a pile of (presumably) hot coals falls down on someone’s head. The falling plate of coals is connected to a lamp which swings when it falls (probably to make resetting it easier). Right above this feature is a crossbow with the missile brick that’s been included in a number of sets. The crossbow itself is sturdily constructed, though it’s connection to the tower isn’t very strong. It also can’t aim down (the lowest it can go is horizontal) which is a huge design flaw, especially since the villains of choice for this set were earth-bound Orcs instead of flying dragons.
 
And right above this is… something. I don’t know what it is, but it swings.
 
All in all, while the abundant play features are nice for the set, only the swinging barrel and the booby trapped door really stand out. Missile bricks have been a thing for a while now and the falling wall, as I stated earlier, is a repeat function from the last Lake-Town set.
 
Final Thoughts:
 
Pros:
New Orc head and hair for army builders
Good compatibility with previous Lake-Town set
No stickers?

Lots of nice brown parts
Four major play features…
 
Cons:
… but two of them aren’t really unique.
Minifigures are of only sort of new
Slightly different aesthetic than previous Lake-Town set
 
Hobbit fans will want to pick this up for completion. Those who like brown parts will want to pick this up for lots of brown parts (~9-10 cents per piece). Those who didn’t buy the last Lake-Town set and want a Lake-Town set should pick this up. But if you’re looking strictly for play features or unique Middle Earth mini figures, there are other sets you could probably invest in. The play features in this set, while nice for the set, are fairly simple or have been seen elsewhere. And the minifigures, while they contain some unique parts, aren’t as unique as the ones in other sets in the present wave (Witch-King Attack comes to mind) or previous sets. It's not a bad set, but seeing how strong some of the other Lord of the Rings and Hobbit sets have been in the past, it is a little underwhelming.

[randomreviewerbros]

Great detailed review! Im very excited to get all these sets for Christmas, well most of them, they all look really great!