When I was young, I loved to create things with building blocks. Of all the structures I built, I probably built more castles than any other. However, medieval castles are basically just walls and towers–not very comfortable places to live. Within these castles or outside of them, most of the people lived and worked in more modest structures. JMBricklayer, a newcomer in the building set scene, has released a medieval series of buildings, one of which is the Medieval Town Market.
The Medieval Town Market building set comes with over 1700 plastic building pieces which can be assembled into a detailed structure. The set also includes other features such as a tree, a market stall, a cart, and a horse with wagon. It is suggested for builders ages 14 years and up and made by JMBricklayer, a relatively new company that has a variety of different types of sets. The Medieval Town Market building set is currently available directly from JMBricklayer as well as the JMBricklayer store on Amazon for the suggested retail price of $79.99.
When I first opened the box, I found the pieces divided into many smaller bags numbered 1-3. The instruction manual was also organized into three parts so builders only need to open the bags with the pieces that will be used for the current section they are building. Each step in the manual lists the parts needed for that step and then shows where those new pieces go in color while the build from previous steps is in gray. This helps you more easily see exactly where they new pieces for the current step go.
The Medieval Town Market consists of a walled lower floor as well as a living quarters on the upper floor. The living quarters can be easily removed so the lower portion of the building can be opened up to look like part of a castle wall with a smithy inside. The top roof of the top floor can be opened as well to reveal the inside. The interiors of the Medieval Town Market have a lot of detail. The living quarters on the top floor have a bed with a checkered quilt, a table and chair, and even a stove with pots on it. The set also includes smaller builds such as a market stall complete with apples. The tree has some interesting details as well such as an archery target for practice. Even the wagon pulled by a horse has some knight helmets inside it. Plus the roof tiles in two shades of blue give the final product some additional color.
My son and I built this set together. We actually disassembled the instruction manual so we could each build different parts of the structure at the same time. We each had our own bags of pieces and we then took our separate builds and put them together for the final product. We were both impressed by the details throughout the set from the interiors to the additional builds such as the tree. I am impressed with the design and how some pieces were used in different ways than usual. This set is definitely not for younger children and the age range of 14 years and up is appropriate. Some of the steps can be challenging; however, I found this actually made me enjoy building the Medieval Town Market more so than if it was just quickly snapping pieces together. In fact, I found it more like assembling a model where the process of building is just as fun as admiring the final product. As such, this makes the set great for adults as well. The Medieval Town Market is part of a series by JMBricklayer which includes a stables, a treehouse, a windmill, a barn, an observation tower, and even a lighthouse.
For more information, check out the Medieval Town Market building set at the JMBricklayer website or on their Amazon store.
Disclosure: GeekDad received a sample of this item for review purposes.
