Dragon Masters

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Dragon Masters was a Castle subtheme introduced in 1993 and phased out in 1995.

Details

In contrast to previous factions of Castle, which were more or less accurate renditions of medieval life, Dragon Masters ventured into the realm of fantasy by introducing classical fantasy elements such as dragons and wizards. The Dragon Master army was led by the wizard Majisto, noteworthy for his pointed hat, his glow-in-the-dark magic wand, and his long white beard, all new elements that year. Majisto is also on record as the first Castle minifigure to have a proper name. Majisto commanded a small regiment of knights and guards, whose shields bore a recolored (green) variant of the Black Knights', as well as dragons. crest These bright green and black flying reptiles possess points of articulation at the jaw, both shoulders, both wings, and the tail, and have studs on their backs to carry a seated rider into battle. The Dragon Masters have enemies in Wolfpack and Black Knights, both of whom are afraid of the powers of Majisto.

The theme's primary colors are black, light grey, and bright red, with dark grey, brown and bright green detail pieces. The flag is yellow with a red border and blue and red dragon. The shields have a green and red dragon instead, and the torsos have a golden dragon head.

All of the Dragon Masters sets included in the catalog, excepting the Crossbow Cart, were released in 1993. The following year saw the release of two further sets, and in 1995 only one other small set was released.

Background

Castles and Equipment

Dragonmasters-1993 — The *Fire Breathing Fortress* on the top of a peculiar mountain in a catalog from 1993.

Dragon Masters was one of the smaller Castle factions, although they possessed numerous vehicles. 6048 Majisto's Magical Workshop was the only house released in Castle during the 1990s. Three sets of the theme included the new dragon figures: 6056 Dragon Wagon, 6076 Dark Dragon's Den and 6082 Fire Breathing Fortress.

New and Exclusive Pieces

Dragon Masters brought a whole array of new minifigures. The wizard Majisto, with his pointed hat and the new beard piece, was completely new and all of the knights and soldiers had new heads and torso pieces, as was standard for Castle themes. In total, there were three newly introduced torso pieces with three different dragon heads printed on them, as well as three new heads with different beard patterns, which never appeared outside of Castle and were only in use during the 1990s.

New additions to the equipment included the large grey halberd and the dragon helmets with side plumes, both pieces which would reappear in later themes. The horses were also given head armour.

This was also one of the first themes to introduce cloth pieces as flags or capes. In this case both were yellow and printed with a green dragon and not reused in other themes.

Dragon Masters also marked the first appearance of the later ubiquitous flame piece 6126.

Sets

Image	#	Set	Number of pieces	Minifigures	Price	Release
	1712	Crossbow Cart	22	Dragon Master	$2.00	1993
	1723	Castle/Pirate Combo Pack	67	Dragon Master Burnabus, Imperial Guard - Officer		1994
	1732	Crossbow Cart	22	Dragon Master		1993
	1736	Wizard's Cart	17	Majisto		1993
	1746	Wizard's Cart	17	Majisto	$2.50	1993
	1794	Dragon Master Chariot	34	Dragon Master Burnabus		1994
	1906	Majisto's Tower	190	Dragon Master, Sir Lance, Majisto	$20.00	1994
No image	1960	Dragon Masters Adventure Pack	196	Dragon Master, Sir Lance, Majisto	$15.49	1993
	2891	Wizard's Cart	17	Majisto		1998
	6020	Magic Shop	45	Majisto	$4.50	1993
	6043	Dragon Defender	151	Dragon Master, Sir Lance	$12.00	1993
	6048	Majisto's Magical Workshop	183	Sir Lance, Majisto	$26.00	1993
	6056	Dragon Wagon	103	Dragon Master, Sir Lance	$20.00	1993
	6076	Dark Dragon's Den	218	Dragon Master, Sir Lance, Majisto, Dragon Master Burnabus, Dragon	$43.00	1993
	6082	Fire Breathing Fortress	393	Dragon Master (x2), Majisto, Dragon Master Burnabus, Dragon Archer, Wolfpack Renegade	$64.00	1993

Other appearances

6105 Medieval Knights (1994) contained three Dragon Masters minifigures.

A knight in 6078 Royal Drawbridge from 1995 resembled a Dragon Masters knight but was carrying an oval Black Knights shield. The oval Dragon Masters shield with the green dragon reappeared on a cart in 6079 Dark Forest Fortress from 1996.

6079 Dark Forest Fortress (1996) contained two minifigures who resembled a Dragon Masters minifigure. However, they bear a triangular Black Knights shield.