Lego story #090: Yup, it's another castle

An arguably better one?

I was incredibly fortunate to stumble upon a sealed copy of this retired castle at BookOff--and at the original release price! So I couldn't pass it up despite having recently bought the Horse Knight set. 

It was one of the rare times that my BookOff branch undervalued a Lego set. Thanks to that, I eventually resold this old castle for a 20% profit.

It's hard to say which Creator 3-in-1 castle I like better, the older 31120 Medieval Castle (this one) or the 31168 Horse Knight Medieval Castle (subject of my last few posts).

The Horse Knight castle (released 2025) has better B- and C-models. Likewise, the Horse Knight minifigures win hands down in quantity and novelty. 

But this older castle (released 2021) has its advantages. The colors are more striking; there are more masonry bricks; the parts seem more versatile for custom building; and the A-model's build experience was more enjoyable for me. Also, being 4 years older, it has a wide breadth of fan-designed alternate builds available on Rebrickable.com.

If you could only pick one castle, it might come down to the minifigures (Horse Knight wins) or parts for custom rebuilding (old castle wins).

The old castle has only 3 minifigs, or 4 if you count the skeleton (which I forgot to photograph above). 

Of course Black Falcon knights are cool, but they're not new. These two knights are accompanied by a fella who looks more like a sailor than a blacksmith.

 

These little brick-built animals are charming. From left to right (above): mouse, chickens, rooster, frog, and raven. The frog perches on a well.

There's even a small but fantastic dragon! With a surprising amount of articulation.

Views of the completed castle from all around:

Close-ups of the castle denizens:

The castle can be easily disconnected into three sections.

First, a market section which also contains a jail.

Wonder what he got locked up for. Clearly, he didn't discover the secret exit.

Next section has a blacksmith and throne room. 

The blacksmith room has a play feature connecting the forge and waterwheel. When the waterwheel turns, the smith's hammer goes up and down.

Finally, the gatehouse section. The gate can, of course, be lowered and raised. Not much detail in the gatehouse's interior, but there is a small latrine tucked away. And do I spy a toilet paper roll?!

So which castle do I prefer? Arrrr, it's like asking which of my two children I like more! 

If we took minifigs out of the equation, I might prefer this older castle. Just because it currently has more fan designs I can build for free on Rebrickable.com and which I like. And the colors are more striking than the Horse Knight Castle's. 

Though, to be fair, my favorite official build between the two castles is the Horse Knight C-model (the jousting tournament). The A-model of this old castle takes second place, but there's something pleasing about its chunky look.

Tough choice!