KING ARTHUR'S CASTLE & Knights Big-Spielwarenfabrik West Germany 1970’s Sears | Collection THX1138
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- This is my original vintage plastic molded King Arthur’s Castle Playset made in West Germany in the late 1960’s early 1970’s. A viewer Lawrence Bateman made an interesting comment below his uncle worked for the company that made this BIG-SPIELWARENFABRIK GmbH & Co. KG in Burghaslach between Würzburg and Nuremberg. I also show the knights and horses that came with the playset. It’s primarily a slideshow with some video. I added Schleich Knights, plastic knights, and a cameo by the rare Star Wars Kenner Blue Snaggletooth.
It was sold at Sears in their 1970-1973 Christmas catalogs for $14.99.
I searched and saw a vintage catalog ad on a “Remembering the 70s” blog. The description included:
King Arthur’s Castle
Brave Knights in shining armor fight for the fortress mansion and dungeon
$12.99 (adjusted for inflation it would cost $70-80 in 2016)
Drawbridge lowers, fearless knights of the Round Table charge across the moat, armed to fight the foes of the King. Molded plastic set lets you relive heroic battles with 11 detailed knights and 5 horses 2-1/2 to 3in.
Snap-together castle 20x20x18 in high. Large courtyard with water well and trapdoor leading to dungeon deep within the realistic rock formation.
Castle displays coat of arms flag.
West Germany
I was thinking about this castle a few days ago. Wow! Brings back memories. I grew up in Germany, and my Uncle worked for the company that made this castle. I had lots of the Knights, and Cowboys & Indians. Since my father was in the Army, and we moved around a lot, many of these items were misplaced, or just gotten rid of. This is a great item in your collection
Wow! thats awesome thanx for the comment. I wondered once people found this vid if anyone had info on it. one commenter remembered seeing it in a hobby store.
do you recall the name of the company? It's not stamped on any of the pieces from what I recall (it's in storage at the moment) interesting it's stamped "Western Germany" instead of West Germany. I wonder how many different models they made. this is one piece I never found any specific info on.
I googled "german castle playset 1970's western germany" and see that it was called "King Arthur's Castle" so I'll add that to the title.
it is super cool. and I don't remember the box it came in I just remember always having it.
theres a lot of real castles in Germany from what I've heard which makes sense they'd hit the nail on the head with the design.
I also have Marx fort apache which they were known for making this type of stuff out of tin with lots of plastic figures. I have to upload that one of these days. it's literally right in front of me on a bakers rack. I got extra pieces and bright orange indians on ebay a long time ago.
It's a mouthful BIG-SPIELWARENFABRIK. It is near Nuremberg. They ship internationally, but it looks like they mostly make ride-on toys now. Not all the cool toys I grew up with. They had released a western town, and two different Vacuum-Formed Hills, that you could used with the Indians.Would be great to see the Fort Apache vid.
Awesome thanx! I'll add that to the description. The fort apache might be up next month. I want to shoot it on a table I was shooting an Xwing minis game vid on. I had a lot of vids partially edited for the past year or so. so I'm finishing those first. this castle was photographed two years ago. one of the unfinished vids is a Marx astronaut with metal pins in the joints from NASA cape kennedy gift shop in the 70s. its about 8in tall or so an odd size but very solid plastic and has accessories I still have the box and instruction sheet. my friend has been an aeronautical engineer there for about 30yrs
I have this castle!!
Some pieces are missing..
The door to the big building and the top of the tower ...
It is such a memory.
Would love to find some spare pieces.
I am from Melbourne Australia and I got King Arthurs Castle for Christmas in the early 70's , I have a photo of myself sitting with it and I recall having so much fun having battles with the Knights and locking creatures in the dungeon.
Very cool! thanx for sharing the memory glad I could upload this. This piece is really well done very esthetic and the knights are just the right size and quality.
Incredible I really never thought I'd see the castle set my parents got me when I was a kid,I really knew this was a special set ,the knight figures,some on horses, were awesome also,many glorious battles,many enemies thrown into the dungeon,loved the working gate/drawbridge, unbelievablely I still have red tower roofs and dark brown foundation for castle,bits and pieces,but man this was one gorgeous playset for children or adults,great craftsmanship!!!!Would love to see them sold again!!!🏰⚔️🛡️
Glad you found the video! It's the kind of thing I like to see. There's some interesting info in the other comments.
Thanks for posting this! I loved this playset as a kid!
Glad you found the video!
I still have mine in December 2023, got it December 1973
I still have mine in the box but missing a few knights, thanks to my little brothers.
My little brother had this, was a quite nicely done set. And we had lots of fun with it.
Was reminded of this today by a fellow on a G scale train forum using the standing axe and shield guy as a statue in a castle he is building.
Nice! I like the variety of figure sculpts, size, and color. I've been getting some great unexpected stories and info including who the manufacturer was. I uploaded it to show my relative who has the Schleich Knights I show. I actually found an Xmas list from when I was a kid I wrote I would like a Castle lol and other things of course but it was crazy I found that. I would have included it. I don't know where they would have bought it actually unless it was in a JCP or Sears Xmas catalog because they sold things like the huge Guns of the Navarone playset. But this being a foreign company I'm not sure.
I'm pretty sure it was Sears or JC Penny catalog item. Could have been Toys R Us but I don't remember there being a Toys R Us in the small Georgia city we lived in at the time. But I certainly do remember going through toys in those 2 catalogs! Fun days, fun days :)
Here's the build thread, largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/26516/castle-build?page=1
Very cool. very interesting. My relatives spent a lot of money and time into traditional train sets. I did some logos for a couple buildings. He showed me a technique that uses tissue paper glued to the brick buildings so it looks painted on.
I have some pages of the 1978 JCP Xmas catalog in my "Star Wars Vintage Kenner X-WING SOUND EFFECTS INSIDE Instructions JCP Catalog | Collection THX1138" video. I sued to look at those all the time. Even toys I didn't want or knew I wouldn't get. Way before the Internet lol
I had this.
I loved it.
Awesome! I had one of these in the early/mid 70's.
Glad you found the vid! That's what I like about UA-cam and glad I could share. It doesn't snap together as well as it used to. But its an impressive piece. And the knights were cool also. I have Marx Fort Apache Tin Carrying case as well.
I found this castle complete at Goodwill in Muskegon, Michigan for 75 cent. It was in a clear plastic bag. When I paid for it, the lady said “ well,somebody will have with that”. I said “ I sure will”.
Wow that's a great find. I know people who find great deals at larger Goodwills for toys and board games. I've found stuff on facebook marketplace.
I had that!! Man!! Thank you
That's cool ; glad you found the vid. That makes it fun sharing!
That is too cool my friend--never seen that before
thanx very much M! glad you liked it yeah I figured it's something different not a lot of people had seen. its a very nice looking piece to have in my original collection. I have some other stuff to upload before more star wars to mix it up a little.
Now this is a great set. I am
Jealous! Love the army men type toys!
thanx count ; yeah it is a prized possession even if it has to be in storage most often its very unique one you don't see often. cool style to. been meaning to share it for a while.
I have some other different stuff coming up before I get back to SW. been finishing stuff I had 80-90% complete for the past year lol at some point I said you know what no need to talk thru it just make a it a slideshow I can take quality pics of. thats also why I opened the sterilite at our storage unit for a quick look at the parts. it seemed a slideshow video needed some tactile holding parts vid clips.
as far as army men type I have the 70s american revolutionary soldiers from the back of a comic coming up. I'm putting related pieces into an american heroes & history series which is what the heroes in action is part of. got a NASA gift shop Marx astronaut set, moon pop up book, avon moon game, revolutionary war pop up book, helen of toy cannonball 70s comic book ad civil war game
Collection THX1138 Looking forward to seeing more man!
never saw this before pretty cool though would make a great diorama though nice work
thanx MG! glad I could share something a little different its one of the vids I had shot and never finished decided to work on some during giving thanks for football I mean watching football during thanksgiving lol this was a fave playset of mine glad it's mainly intact and have most of the knights.
Who makes this? How would I go about looking for one for sale? Me and my brother got this for christmas and I have a picture of us playing with it. I would so love to get this back again.
It's hard to find. Search eBay 'king arthur's castle big-spielwarenfabrik west germany'. [I'm signed into another account -Collection TXH1138]
hi,i have one,if you come to düsseldorf i gift it to u.
or maybe u know someone in düsseldorf,who travels to u.
saw one years ago. i was 10 i believe. Hobby store. Your awesome
thanx very much! I was wondering if anyone had seen these. I search ebay once in a while and never saw this exact same one. I didn't completely fit everything tight for this I wanted to make sure I could get it apart. I had shot this a couple years ago for my relatives they collect schleich knights.
There was also a Black tower with a single black night. the place made a artificial terrain for display purposes. it was all good. That was soon after i discovered the blue box for D&D
This is one cool piece I always remember having but can never remember when I got it must've been for xmas or b-day one year. I really like the design and colors of the molds.
absolutley
Yup, i have this too. But I got mine in1986. It was sold in the Germany showcase of Disneyworld’s Epcot Center, in a store called Der Teddybar. Must have been a reissue. I got rid of the Eagle door, I felt it was a little tacky....
Very cool! I've gotten some interesting info in comments. I do like the eagle. It's distinctive. Differentiates it from other castles imho I couldn't snap it all together for this vid though I wanted to make sure I could get it apart lol
anyone know the value of these toys now?
Lmao snaggletooth!
yeah I had to sneak him in there somehow lol. he's also in the jawa sandcrawler videos. I might have snuck him in others (I'm logged in to my other channel. this channel doesn't get enough views to monetize so I've held of on uploading videos lately. It would be funny if I snuck blue snaggletooth in every new video when I get to them lol)