LEGO Ideas and CUUSOO

Medieval Blacksmith

The castle set that quietly became a modern LEGO Ideas classic.

4.6/5

Set 21325 · 2021

Pieces2,164

Minifigs4

Year2021

Set number21325

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The verdict

If you've got even a soft spot for old-school LEGO Castle, get this one before prices climb.

It's a gorgeous three-level workshop packed with play features, honest techniques, and a working glow-forge, and the community adores it. Just know the four minifigs feel a bit thin for 2,164 pieces, and it's retired now so you're shopping the aftermarket.

Best for: Classic LEGO Castle fans and nostalgic adult builders

The full review

The Medieval Blacksmith is one of those LEGO® sets that sneaks up on you. On the box it's just a little half-timbered workshop, but once it's on the shelf you keep finding reasons to look at it. It started life as a fan project by Clemens Fiedler, who actually learned blacksmithing as a kid in Germany, and that lived-in knowledge shows up everywhere: the anvil, the grindstone, the racks of tools, the glowing coal forge. It hit 10,000 supporters on LEGO Ideas back in 2019 and became a real set in early 2021, and at launch it was the biggest Castle-themed set LEGO had ever made (a record it only lost to the giant Lion Knights' Castle later on).

So what do you actually get? A three-level timber-frame building with a removable roof, plus the top two floors lift off so you can reach the fully kitted bedroom, kitchen, and workshop inside. There's a little garden with a well and an apple tree, a buildable horse and cart, a dog, and a frog. The headline play feature is genuinely clever: press the bellows and it flips on a LEGO light brick to make the forge glow like hot coals. It's the kind of small interactive touch that makes people who don't even build LEGO go 'oh, nice'.

Now the honest bits. Four minifigs (a blacksmith, an archer, and two Black Falcon knights) is on the light side for a set this size and price, and if you were hoping to army-build knights you'll be a little let down. The apple tree is the one build everyone grumbles about, since it's held together loosely and tends to shed leaves if you bump it. And because it retired, the old $149.99 launch price is gone, so you're comparing aftermarket listings rather than shopping a sale. None of that dents how good the finished model looks, but it's worth knowing going in.

Who's it for? If you grew up with grey castles and Black Falcon shields, or you just love a detailed, playable diorama that displays beautifully, this is an easy yes and a set the community rates near the top of the Ideas line. If you mainly buy sets for a big roster of characters, or you want something brand new at retail, you might want to look elsewhere. For everyone in between, it's one of the most charming builds LEGO has put out in years, and a smart pickup now that it's off shelves.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build is a proper slow burn in the best way. You start with the cobbled base and garden, then work up floor by floor, and because each level lifts off you get satisfying self-contained chunks rather than one endless slog. There's real variety in the techniques too: sideways (SNOT) building for the half-timbered walls, some angled roof work, delicate greenery, and lots of tiny detailing as you dress the workshop with tongs, hammers, coal, and armour. The bellows-and-light-brick mechanism is the standout assembly, a neat little bit of engineering that turns pressing the bellows into an on switch for the forge glow. It's chunky enough for kids to enjoy and layered enough to keep an adult builder happy across an evening or two.

On parts, this is a warm-earth-tones goldmine. There's a fresh mold in here, the Brick Curved 3 x 1 with 2/3 Inverted Cutout (design 70681) in black, and a run of dark brown recolors collectors like: the Round Corner 5 x 5 x 1 with bottom cutouts (24599), previously only in the Jurassic Park T. rex set, plus dark brown 1 x 1 round tiles. You also get the light brick, printed tiles, and stacks of useful brown and tan bricks, slopes, and plants. At 2,164 pieces for a $149.99 launch RRP, that's roughly 7 cents per part, which was solid value at retail and part of why the value-per-brick story keeps this set popular with buyers.

Fun facts

01Designer Clemens Fiedler learned real blacksmithing as a child in Germany, which is why the workshop's tools and layout feel so authentic.
02At release it was the largest LEGO Castle-themed set ever made, a title it held until the 4,514-piece Lion Knights' Castle arrived in 2022.
03It marked the return of the classic Black Falcons faction to an official LEGO set, delighting old-school Castle fans.
04Press the bellows and it triggers a hidden LEGO light brick, making the forge's coals appear to glow orange.