Skeleton Pirates Meet Castle

[WesternOutlaw]

After recently taking apart the large 2007 Castle Theme castle looking forward to the new Batman/Scarecrow set, I found 7029 Skeleton Ship Attack at a recent visit to Tors R Us.

After a late night of building Sunday evening, I couldn't wait to take some pictures and post a review on EB. So here it is:

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SET DETAILS

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Theme: Castle 2007

Set Name: Skeleton Ship Attack

Number: 7029

Pieces: 628

Price: $69.99 (USD)

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THE SKELETON SHIP

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The box, excellent imagery boasting "Special Edition":

The back of box. Once again, no alternate models:

Two sets of instructions. Bags are numbered:

The ship. My first observation was that it could be longer or have an aft section, but it isn't too bad:

The front:

The front contains a rubber band operated cannon like the Crossbow Catapult. It actually works pretty well:

The hull/aft section. The entry is open with no doors. I think the bone pieces may be glow-in-the-dark but I haven't tested yet. The chest contains 4 standard gold coins:

.

I like the sides of the ship with the window pieces and shilds. The plank lifts inward:

The mast is securely attached with a technic beam; and the top of the cabin is removable:

The aft. It has the new castle lightning bolt pieces:

Crows nest with red sail:

Removing the cabin reveals a smaller cargo level with a mouse/rat:

The sail. Mine was rather wrinkled in the box and it does not hang very well. I do like the pattern/design:

And the last image of the ship, the top of the cabin removed. This is a great playability feature:

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ON TO THE CASTLE

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The front. It is built with three sections: 1) middle bridge section, 2) right building structure, 3) left catapult cave:

Starting with the building section:

The roof lifts to reveal my favorite part of the castle. It includes a small table, chicken/turkey leg, barrel, short sword, and gold goblet:

The catapult cave section. The catapult rotates 360 degrees. The chest contains three colored gems:

The back side:

The bridge (middle section):

A sliding mechanism pulls out allowing four brown tiles to collapse when pulling. More planks would have made the feature better (kind of like the Tygura Adventurers set):

The middle section. I love the knight shield:

A closer perspective:

The back of the middle section:

The knights. No new torsos, faces, or weapons:

The skeletons. I really like the skeleton captain with beard and pirate hat:

And lastly, the set includes two new silver orbs (for the catapult), and two projectiles for the ship's gun:

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SUMMARY

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LIKES:

I like the combination of the skeleton ship and castle wall. I regret taking apart my castle to see how this new castle section could have been added. The set offers much playability with seven figs, accessible structures, and detailed accessories (two chests, crate, goblet, gold, gems, and barrel). Most of all, I like the thought of a castle on the sea with the doc.

DISLIKES:

Right after opening the box, I found the ship's sail rolled up and wrinkled. This is very disappointing. I may write Lego and ask for a replacement. I'm not sure if these can be ironed or flattened some how. In addition, lately all my set instructions have been badly wrinkled. Lego needs to pack these in boxes better o that they stay flat. Perhaps the paper is a little thinner too adding to the issue.

The ship could have been longer with a molded back end (as mentioned above), but it still looks pretty good. I would prefer a smaller closed castle structure as opposed to a wall, but the sections that can be disattached are nice (esp. the building structure).

I think the price is a little too much for the # of pieces (many small), and the box way too large. It really isn't much after building the set.

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FINAL THOUGHT

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This is probably the better of most of the new Castle theme sets but it is still a bit like Knights Kingdom. I would buy this set again for the likes mentioned above. I'm not sure how I plan to use this set as I don't want to rebuild the large castle any time soon, but it is a nice stand alone set with a lot of playability.

Hope you enjoy the review.

[Kahgarak]

Heh, those orbs aren't new- they're silver Zamor spheres from 2006 ;-)

Nice review, it's quite a nice little set...

[Starwars4J]

Great review, thanks for posting!

And gold coins? We haven't seen actual coins for a long time, have we? How does the color chrome compare to the older coins?

[Siegfried]

Thanks for the great review. This set still isn't appealing to me though as there are too many sets on my list already!

And gold coins? We haven't seen actual coins for a long time, have we?

I got a few in Crab Crusher (7774).

[Lt. Col. Thok]

Wow. Thanks for the review! SSA still looks like an awesome set. I particularly like the little gatehouse on the side. I really *wub* that goblet colour.

[freddy_LC]

Good review *y* .The gatehouse is very great!

[SirNadroj]

Thanks for the reveiw, this set is pretty cool. I love the 'castle' and the dark blue plates around it as water. My only complaint is the ship. I don't like it, especially the stern. TLC could have done a better job, but the sail is good, I like how its tethered.

EDIT: I see your sail was wrinkled. If it is a canvas material like the old school pirate sails, you can iron it. I have done that before, and it makes the sails like new. (Or in your case crisp, since your sail is new, but wrinkled)

Edited July 31, 2007 by SirNadroj

[xwingyoda]

Tks Brickster for that really nice review !!

I do agree about your comments on the wrinkled instructions: its really becomming more and more of an issue |-/ They really should have smaller boxes IMO

Anyhow, I really love this set and I really can't wait to add it to my collection ;-)

Dis you deliberatly changed the MFs ??

The guy on the left should have the helmet and weapons of the guy on the right ;-)

*yoda*

[Shakar]

Thanks for the review. It's a really good set, seeing it available on S@H Europe makes me happy. It's a shame that in Italy it costs 70 Euro, while in most European countries it's marked at 60 Euro, which I consider the prefect price for this set. Still, this doesn't make me removing this set from my wishlist. :-) Believe it or not, this is going to be my first pirate ship! I hope that in the future Lego will make more ships for the Castle theme.

Shakar

[hewkii9]

Looks very nice, I like the room on the castle you mentioned. Is there anything beside the rat in the ship's cargo hold?

[Asuka]

Thank you very much for that neat review, Brickster. *y*

I too think that ironing with very low heat could work fine, perhaps if you put

the sail between two sheets of white paper or so to protect it....

A very good set IMO, that little house and the grotto

[xwingyoda]

@Yoda: The MF you mentioned is correct according to the instructions, but different

in the box pictures....

I think the box pictures

[Timento]

Thank you for the neat review, good, clear pictures, nice description *y* :-)

I quite like this set, it's a good army building, castle extending set, as all ready mentioned

I would love to get this set but I'm saving money for the Hoth battlleset and I'm really happy with the smaller Castle sets :-)

[Brick Miner]

I too think that ironing with very low heat could work fine, perhaps if you put

the sail between two sheets of white paper or so to protect it....

you have iron paper ??? that sounds dangerous !!!

i have ironed many pirate sails. i usually run them underwater to loosen them up, especially if there is a hard fold im looking to remove. then i put a towel over the side of the sail that im ironing... it seems there is some plastic coating over the sails, so the towel keeps the sail from melting or buring. medium/high temperature has worked for me.

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as for the set, the thing that jumps out at me most is the use of dark blue for water... im so used to seeing the classic blue for water, that the dark blue seems weird. i don't like it.

- BM

Edited July 31, 2007 by Brick Miner

[Athos]

Thanks for the review! I'm glad to see Lego including details of everyday life, like the food (though a plate would have been nice).

Steve

[Shakar]

as for the set, the thing that jumps out at me most is the use of dark blue for water... im so used to seeing the classic blue for water, that the dark blue seems weird. i don't like it.

- BM

Indeed, I only noticed this when I saw the S@H images. I guees that they're on dark waters. You can always put some trans blue and trans clear 1x1 round plates, no? I tried that technique to make the lava (using trans red and trans orange plates), it looks neat.

Regarding the human soldier thing Yoda mentioned, it's quite weird. Like him, I'm going to swap the legs, so they're coherent with the soldiers from the other sets.

Third note: is it just me or did you attach the two black gate pieces too high?

Shakar

[Wout]

Nice review,

I like the building/port the most

mmm,dark blue plates *wub*

Pity it is a Toys'r'us exclusive, In The Netherlands there are only Toys'r'usses in the greater cities.

[Asuka]

Third note: is it just me or did you attach the two black gate pieces too high?

Shakar

No, I think this is correct. The upper plate with clip for the door is a little high, on top

of a dark gray 1x1 brick. So if you want the door to operate well you have to place it like that.

I just put the clip under that brick, a very easy fix, so my door now is lower which

looks better IMHO, and no sneaky skelly can crawl along under it.... X-D

[SuvieD]

Not sure I like this one much. I like many of the new parts but the boat isn't that great and I would rather get each seperately so I can avoid the whole skeleton army.

Nice review though!

[WesternOutlaw]

No, I think this is correct. The upper plate with clip for the door is a little high, on top

of a dark gray 1x1 brick. So if you want the door to operate well you have to place it like that.

I just put the clip under that brick, a very easy fix, so my door now is lower which

looks better IMHO, and no sneaky skelly can crawl along under it.... X-D

Exactly. Asuka is correct. Also keep in mind that the picture was taken looking down on the model that is sitting on the carpet. It makes the gap appear a little larger.

In addition; for those of you that recommended ironing the sail, it worked great. I set the iron to low and used a t-shirt to protect the sail. It flattened it out perfectly. In fact, it worked so well, that I did the same with my old WW Weapons Wagon cover that has gotten wrinkled over the years. The iron worked perfectly.

[Shakar]

Yes, that was definately an optic illusion. Looking at it again, the gap looks a lot shorter. Thanks. :-)

Shakar

[El Bucanero]

Yes, very nice review Mr Brickster!

I think I , for a change, like the castle part better. The ship doesn't look quite right to me. If they're gonna make a pirate theme with ships like this I wouldn't be very happy...

But I think the ship brings some nice accesories. Like the anchor, a black mid piece(!), steering wheel etc.

I think I'll buy it eventually.

Nice review,

I like the building/port the most

mmm,dark blue plates *wub*

Pity it is a Toys'r'us exclusive, In The Netherlands there are only Toys'r'usses in the greater cities.

Ah, that's good to know, now I won't be searching in other toystores as well! Thanks!

Mr Tiber

[Wout]

@ mr Tiber: They have them at the toys'r'us in Eindhoven. In the new shoppingcentrum west of the Bijenkorf. And the Bijenkorf is west of the central station.

[El Bucanero]

@ mr Tiber: They have them at the toys'r'us in Eindhoven. In the new shoppingcentrum west of the Bijenkorf. And the Bijenkorf is west of the central station.

Thanks for the info!

Although, that's like 80 km from my place, while I have a toys'r'us like 25 km from my place! :-D

Thanks anyway, maybe I'll be in or around Eindhoven in the near future...

Mr Tiber

[ZeekyBoogeyDoog]

Thanks for the review Brickster! It's great to be able to see more views of this set.