31120 3-in-1 Medieval Castle LEGO Review - Creator, 2021

TL;DR:

• Original Price:  $99.99
• Pieces: 1426
• Minifigure(s): Black Falcon Knight Male, Black Falcon Knight Female, Blacksmith, Skeleton
• Sticker Sheet: No
  
• Pros: Amazing detail, excellent starting set, very flexible
• Cons: Less-than-stellar secondary builds (but still inspiring), rarity & price these days

Assembly: 

    Note: I'm actually building this a little backwards, because I want to leave the castle built once I'm done with this review, so instead I'll start with the third build, then the second, and then the primary. Also, with the exception of the primary build, the bags are supposed to get dumped out and jumbled together, so there's not much point in doing a bag-by-bag breakout like usual. The rest of the review, however, will progress as normal.

As before, I used Dollar Tree trays as well as larger cardboard trays to hold the pieces and keep them organized. I've found the following list of categories very useful in breaking pieces into subgroups, both for sorting a build like this and for more long-term & in-depth storage: 

1. Minifig    2. Tinies (eg 1x1s)    3. Slopes & Curves    4. Tiles & Technic & Vehicles

5. Nature & Printed    6. Bricks & Architecture    7. Plates    8. SNOT

You might notice some odd groupings, like "Tiles & Technic & Vehicles" or "Nature & Printed," and the logic behind this is to keep like things together...enough. Tiles and Printed might seem to go together, but just try and find a printed 1x2 tile upside down among group of unprinted 1x2 tiles of the same color, and you can see why it makes sense to group the printed pieces with nature pieces. And it goes without saying that these groups are all very flexible. As you can see in the above picture I only used that list to get started, and as one group grew too big, I'd split it off into its own section. I also would stack pieces by color whenever possible, if only to make it easier to keep them all corralled.

Build #3 - Tower & Trebuchet

Build #2 - Windmill & Market

Build #1 - Castle & Dragon

• Interesting Steps:
• Build 3
• Step 41 sees the completion of the tower's secret entrance, located behind a rock wall that's attached with a single ball joint as a hinge. The mirrored slope pieces do a pretty good job of "sealing" the gap, while also leaving space for the wall to actually move. It's a nice play feature.

• Step 117 shows a neat little trick, thanks to Lego's geometry: the 3x3x2 reddish brown round corner windows make it possible to square the circle. Two of them are placed atop a square base, and the exposed corner studs are taken up by stacks of 1x1 round bricks to make pillars. This would look even better if both halves of the tower were handled this way, but obviously then there'd be no access to the room, unless the tower itself were designed to split on hinges down its length

• Steps 122-127 continue the circle/square theme and present a really creative way to top off the tower. The only downside is that one of the four arrangements (visible in the back of step 126) uses a dark bluish grey 2x2 square tile instead of a fourth light bluish grey pentagonal tile. The set only comes with six of them, so it makes sense that using three on the crenelations would leave only three for the roof, but if I were building this without such limitations I'd definitely have included the fourth pentagon for symmetry

• Build 1 
• Step 7 puts little mushrooms on the base between the tree and the castle wall, simple but cute

• In step 14 a slope is placed in the wall to keep hinge from opening too far. I'm not sure how I feel about this: on the one hand, it's a nice subtle way to keep the angles within design parameters, but on the other hand it prevents the model from being opened all the way (for storage or display, for example)

• Step 90 has us use a Technic axle connector as a pawl/ratchet for the drawbridge mechanism. Simple but effective

• In step 166, light grey half-arches and dark tan 2x4 plate are placed, simply resting against against the wall. They get locked in place in the next step, but I thought it worth pointing out (to myself as well as to my readers) that not everything needs to be doubly and triply secured: it's enough in this instance that they be held in place at the top, and any downward forces are directed into the wall, making this a sort of reverse buttress

• In a charming little detail, step 171 has us make a tiny mouse and place it next to a literal cheese wedge piece on the blacksmith's stairs. I always appreciate slice of cheese life additions like this; this is the sort of thing that takes a good build and makes it a great and memorable build

• I'm always on the lookout for creative minifig-scale furniture, and this chair is particularly regal. Adding a 1x1 round plate in the middle underneath would allow it to swivel, or a pair of 1x2 plates with bars could make it look more grounded; as with a lot of the elements of this build, there's a lot of modifications possible for very good results

• An additional creative use of interesting parts, the 3x3x2 round corner windows are combined with plates, tiles, and Technic elements to make a waterwheel. I'd rather use them as windows, given how hard those corner windows are to come by, but they do make for a good mill wheel

• Interesting Techniques:
• Build 3
• This sort of arrow loop window (angled to provide the most light but also the most protection, as well as the widest possible shooting angle for defensive bowmen) is used several times through out this set, but this version is particularly elegant. The stacked light bluish grey SNOT bricks (1 x 1 x 1 2/3) hold the 1x2 light bluish grey slopes and adding 1x4 plates to the top and bottom make the whole setup 4 bricks tall, which allows it to be framed well by the decorative arch. With the 2x4 brick as a base, the whole window unit is 2x4x5 and suitable to be installed in most walls.

• The roof of the tower's main hall is held by two projecting corbels, each terminating in a dragon-head gargoyle. Made from only a few pieces, it's not only a good use of the limited parts available to this redheaded stepchild of a build, but also a very creative design with plenty of applications in various MOCs

• And speaking of dragons, where other builds had crows or chickens, this build includes a little perched wyvern. It's simplified, and uses 1x2 and 1x3 slopes (used as market stall awnings in the other builds) to give the wings and body appropriate curves

• Not quite minifig scale, not quite micro-scale, this little wizard's desk is still a cute addition to the upper level, including an open book (made charmingly from two 1x1 cheese slopes) and two flasks of potion (upside-down jewels)

• Like the arrow loop window mentioned earlier, this observation window is a nice design that's almost modular: the yellow bricks could be replaced with other wall colors, the roof pieces with other colored slopes, and the brown "wooden" elements could be made of "stone" instead, allowing it to fit in most other builds. The telescope could easily be removed and it's perch turned into a window seat. The 1x6 tile sill could also be swapped for a 1x6 plate, that way birds or potted plants could be mounted on top...in short, a good basis for a lot of variations

• Build 2
• I've noticed in other builds the use of placeholder pieces (in this example, the 1x1 grey round plate and the reddish brown ingot) to ensure proper spacing between pieces. The next step in this instance has a 2x2x3 light bluish grey 75 slope piece placed between the two 2x3s, and having the ingot there keeps it pushed forward

• Build 1 
• I appreciate the inclusion of a garderobe in this build, which realistically appears to drain down into the moat (making the "You swam the moat!" protest in the old musical, Once Upon a Mattress all the more justified)

• There are a lot of little creatures in this build (see also the photo up top with the dragon) and the chickens do a great job of staying in scale with a few simple pieces

• The construction of the tower's upper wall—with ingots and tiles with studs, topped with plates and tiles—is simple, but very striking. It's also a lighter build than using normal bricks as I might have done

• The brick-built dragon is simple but effective, particularly the head. I could see this being useful for trophies, ship figureheads, or even atop a more detailed dragon body

• Interesting Pieces:
• Like most of the Creator 3-in-1 series, this set doesn't really have any interesting pieces, which is itself interesting. It also makes a ton of sense: by creating these fantastic builds with very common bricks, Lego has showcased just how flexible their system is. There's no need for the flashy molds of Ninjago mechs or the bold colors of the Monkie Kid line: instead, you just need a ton of grey and blue and brown bricks and slopes and architectural pieces. With some creative substitution, and a moderately-large collection, it would probably be possible to rebuild the entire set from scratch! Indeed, that's what I plan to do in the future, using this set as the basis, with various techniques and ideas from all three builds to expand my castle and make it a thriving medieval metropolis...once I have enough table space, that is.
• Pain Points:
• Build 3
• Because so many long & brown pieces are needed for the trebuchet, the tower doors have to be constructed piecemeal, with odd color and piece choices. They hold together well enough, but don't look as nice as  they might, especially from the back/inside

• Build 1 
• A word of caution: when mounting the dark tan 6x6 plate atop the corner tower in step 285 (and the subsequent steps where you have to push down on any piece above it) be careful that the corner pillar doesn't buckle, after all it's just two stacked 1x1x3 bricks, and not very sturdy

• The clip (medium nougat) and bar (sand blue) pairs are used to connect the sides of the castle (which can be broken out to separate the market/tower corner and the blacksmith corner from the main keep facade, as shown in the assembly photos above) giving the impression that they can be rearranged, but the sides don't actually fit well in any arrangement but the one in the instructions. I would have liked to see more flexibility built into it, perhaps with the wall pieces separate from the corner pieces, something a bit more modular.

• My Modifications:  
• Build 2
• Step 40 has the bread piece clipped to the table, which is fine, but the instructions have the clip in the front of the table, making it stand out too much (being the same pearl gold as the salt and pepper shakers). A little finagling allowed me to put the bread's clip in back, keeping the focus where it should be: on the food. In retrospect, I probably could have put the taller shakers on the back of the table as well, allowing the shorter cheese wedge to sit in front of them too.

• Build 1 
• The instructions (164-165) have you simply balance the helmet on top of the 3L bar sticking up through the cuirass's neckhole, but it wobbles and falls off too easily (especially with the heavy feather). An easy solution is to use one of the spare parts, a blue technic short pin, slid over the bar, to hold the helmet in place. The pin's top is the same width as a minifig head, and the pin's hole has enough friction on the bar to keep it in place when you remove the helmet. No more rattling!

 

In terms of sheer utility and the aforementioned creative use of straightforward bricks, this is one of my favorite sets. It's really inspiring and is also a good teacher of how to plan and build a larger-than-normal structure. While I love the Monkie Kid theme and its creative chaos, having something with realistic colors and minifigure-scaled proportions is just so refreshing. It's like going from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland: both are great, but a different sort of great. The second build feels more like a movie set or theatre backdrop, and the third build is almost silly, but they all have lessons to teach and neat techniques to borrow. 

Build 3, the tower and trebuchet, is in my opinion the weakest of the three overall. Yes, it's quite tall, but the actual construction has a definite "made from scrap" feel, rendering it something akin to the Unwelcome Guest Tower in The Sword in the Stone: haphazard and just begging to be knocked down by a siege weapon or 3 year old. That said, there were several nice details (as pointed out above), particularly the arrow loop windows and dragon finials. The design of the roof was also very nice, particularly the use of SNOT techniques to alter the slope. As is often the case with the 3-in-1 sets, you can tell that this isn't the primary build of the set: lots of pieces are left over, and other pieces have to be used in admittedly-creative ways (for example on the doors) that might not leave as polished a final result as the primary build gets.

Build 2, the windmill and market, makes for a good addition to the primary build, even making use of the clip and bar pieces that link the main build's segments together at either end. You can still tell that this isn't the primary build, for example in the way the windmill vanes are different, because there weren't four 2x4 tan plates handy, but it's less noticeable here than in the tower. On the whole, it was simple and straightforward, with no noteworthy steps nor pain points. It did feel more like a piece of set design, like the backdrop for a stage play, rather than an in-the-round building like the other two builds. The archery tree and armory stall only heightened this feel for me, since they were unmoored and could be moved around as the play demanded. Not that that's an entirely bad thing, it's just different; I could see this being the basis for a diorama, for example, where only one side needs to look particularly good.

Build 1 is very much the highlight of the set, and rightfully so. There's so much going on in this build that it could easily have been a standalone, without the 3-in-1 aspect. It has a lot of the little details (like the mouse, or the blacksmith's smudged face) that make for a realistic display and really elevate the structure as a whole. There are plenty of play features tucked throughout as well: for example the skeleton can break out of his dungeon cell, and the drawbridge can be raised and lowered as needed. As I mentioned earlier, it also is a good introduction to a lot of useful building techniques and could easily serve as the foundation for a whole medieval cityscape (there are plenty of alternate builds posted online, such as at Rebrickable), and because there aren't really any specialty pieces, you can easily re-color (as described in this great post from BrickArchitect) or restructure it using the bricks you already have in your collection...you could even just pull up the part list in the instructions or on Bricklink and just build it yourself.

This is easily a top pick gift for new builders, anyone with an interest in castlebuilding or Dungeons & Dragons displays...or even someone who already has one (like me)! I haven't had time enough to sit down and make a MOC of my own yet, but it's definitely on the list.

Phew! 50 pictures and easily my longest post to date, but there was a lot to talk about in this set, which is part of why I ranked it so highly.

Score (out of 5 🧱):

• Price: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
• Process: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
  
• Presentation: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
  
• Play: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
• Pieces: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱
  

• Total: 🧱🧱🧱🧱🧱 

Lego Instructions: here