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ELC Monsters Of Darkness
by NickyBo
A year ago we bought my son the Tower of Doom castle from the Early Learning Centre. It has been a hugely popular toy and he plays with it most days. At the time we also got a few of the figure sets to go with it and since seeing how much the tower is played with, we have bought quite a few more toys in the range. One of the sets we ... bought is the Monsters of Darkness.
The Monsters of Darkness set of toys has been made specifically to go with the Tower of Doom, meaning that each figure is the ideal size for using with the tower. Also, just like the tower, the toys are very well made.
In the set you get 4 toys: 2 big monsters and 2 smaller warriors. The first monster is a large minotaur. The detail on the minotaur is excellent, and gives the minotaur the appearance of being hairy. He looks very fierce, with bright red eyes and a snarling mouth showing his teeth. Around his ankle is a broken shackle, suggesting the minotaur was a prisoner somewhere. I explained to my son what the shackle was and he uses it in his gameplay, often having the knights take the minotaur to the castle dungeons.
The minotaur is made of very solid plastic. His arms and legs are fixed and can't have their positions changed. This isn't a problem for my son and he's never complained about it. I think it is actually a bonus as it makes the toy stronger and less likely to break, as some of his poseable limb toys already have.
A word of caution - the minotaur is surprisingly heavy. A child can carry it asily but if dropped on a foot it could cause considerable pain.
Also in the set is a three-headed snake, which is my personal favourite. Just like the minotaur, the 3 headed snake is full of detail. It is bright red with black patches and the front of each snake is gold. Every scale is shown and again, the snakes look rather fierce as their mouths are open in a hiss, with their tongues out and teeth showing. Like the minotaur, the snake is made of hard plastic and is quite heavy.
The third toy in the set is a skeleton warrior. This is basically a skeleton figure wearing armour and holding a shield and sword. This figure is of the same high quality as the larger monsters and again it is very detailed. Because the skeleton warrior is smaller, he can fit into all areas of the castle which makes him an especially good addition to the set.
The final toy is another warrior, this time he is a big beefy looking man. He is dressed in armour and carries a big club. He is of similar size to the skeleton warrior so he can also be used in all areas of the castle.
I love these toys and more importantly, so does my son. We have had this set for over a year and they look as good as when we first bought them. My son plays with them a lot and regularly bashes them together. He also takes them in the bath a lot. Despite all that, no paint is chipped at all.
The toys are so well made and have such a lot of detail on them that they really inspire creative play. Whenever my son's friends or cousins visit, it is this set of toys that they all go to straight away.
The Monsters of Darkness set is available from the Early Learning Centre and costs £20. This may seem like a lot but I feel it is worth the price as you get 4 high quality toys.
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ELC Tower of Doom Royal Knight Figures
by NickyBo
For Christmas we bought our 3 year old son the Tower of Doom from Early Learning Centre (for details of the Tower of Doom please see my earlier review). Along with the tower we also purchased several of the figures and beasts that form part of the set. This review is for the Royal Knights set.
The royal knights come in a set ... of 4 figures, approximately 9cm in height. In the set you get a king, hence the 'royal' title for the set, as well as three knights. They are all dressed in blue and silver armour and look like they are part of the same set. This is especially useful if you purchase one of the other sets of knights (black or red) as your child can then easily identify which 'team' is which.
What I especially like is that, although the knights are all similar in colour and size, they are also very different and this makes playing with them more fun (so my son says!). The knights are all in differing positions of attack and have slightly different weapons. They are also dressed in slightly different armour, for example one has a full face helmet on, the king has a crown and the other two have an open helmet. This means your child will be able to tell them apart should they choose to name them, our king is currently King Bob!
These figures have a lot of detail and are very interesting to look at.
The knights are made of plastic and seem durable. Prior to purchasing these I read a review of them on the ELC website. The review said that the knights were not durable and the swords and shields had broken off within hours. Thankfully we have not had that problem at all. We have had these toys for nearly 3 months, they have had daily play and show no sign of wear or damage at all.
This set cost £10 and, as far as I know, is only available from the Early Learning Centre. The website states that they are suitable for ages 3-8.
My son and I have been very happy with these figures. They make a wonderful addition to the Tower of Doom and he has had hours of fun with them.
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ELC Headless Knight on Horseback
by broxi3781
The toy I am reviewing is not the one pictured, which clearly has a head, but a proper headless horseman. The one shown is obviously an error.
Ours is a headless knight with six spikes in his neck, perhaps awaiting attachment of a new head? He is dressed in shiny silver armor, with gold gloves and trim and a red cape flowing out ... behind him. One hand is on his horses neck and the other clutches an axe. His best feature however is his horse. It is a beautiful sky blue animal with red eyes, a limited amount of armour and standing in a rearing pose with forelegs pawing the air.
We bought this toy because we had picked up a second hand ELC wooden castle complete with knights for a rather brilliant price of £15.
It lacked any bad guys though, and what fun is it to have an army of warriors and no one to fight? We quickly added this toy and a number of other baddies, as well as catapults from ebay. I believe I paid £3.50 which is half of his price from ELC.
My son has always loved the story of Gawain and the Green Knight so he took to this toy right away. In fact this alternates between the good guys and bad guys side. While on the bad guys side though he joins forces with the all the monsters to storm the castles and get knocked about by missiles from the catapults. I often get to be marshal of the forces of evil, but never get a good catapult to shoot back, so the battle is rather one sided.
In addition to swapping loyalties between the good and bad guys, this figure makes an excellent piece for shadow puppet shows. Held up behind a thin piece of fabric, with a bright light behind him he moans and wails about wanting a head while chasing about the other figures trying to decapitate them. He was perfect for Halloween stories.
This is a very well made toy which I think would be nearly impossible to break. These toys are wonderful for developing children's imagination, and just for plain old fun. I would strongly recommend this toy as an addition to any of the ELC knight sets. My sons very much enjoy this toy too, so a full 5 stars from me.
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