PICTORIAL REVIEW: 6243 Brickbeard's Bounty

[Dreamweb]

I built it yestarday for the first time so here's a few of my quick thoughts and impressions:

- the bow is too empty, desperately needs a decent forecastle - a Caribbean Clipper-style build-up with a single hatch in the middle would suffice - those sailors have to sleep SOMEWHERE...

- where's the anchor?

- I'm not too happy about the sails - as many have stated before, the Jolly Roger looks childish, plus they're printed only on one side - which is especially annoying with the front sail - the ship looks worse if you look at it from its starboard side.

- the chain holding the front sail - a rope would be better, fortunately this can be easily arranged

- the sterncastle makes up for most of the flaws, I absolutely love its design and the way you can access it or remove it. The only minor flaw is the cannon, it doesn't really fit in there, but you can always remove it so it's not a big deal. Actually if I were to choose the best-looking sterncastle of all the Pirate-themed ships, that would be this one.

- the room below the sterncastle, with the rat and grog - it's great you can access it for better playability. That's what bothered me with later ships of the first Pirate era - they were all open, didn't have any accessible rooms, doors, hatches etc.

- minifigs - great looking, and I always wanted to have a mermaid The crew of the ship itself is a bit too small but we get two soldiers instead for better diversity so I'm not complaining.

- the middle part of the ship - cannons, the short ladders leading to the captain's cabin, the arched entrances to the aforementioned "rat room" - I'd say that's more than enough cool details

- it's a great part-pack, with many not-so-common pieces in interesting colours

- the overall look of the ship - she's a real beauty, if you don't look too closely at the sails that is

Overall it's a nice vessel, not as good as BSB or SES but pretty close. It's at least two times better than the RBR which was a HUGE disappointment.

I'm thinking of modifying mine a bit - adding an anchor, forecastle, some details inside the captain's quarters (not the outside which is perfect for my taste). I think I'll change the sails for white customs, remove the pirate flags and turn it into a merchant or maybe Imperial vessel. But I'm definitely not dismantling her completely - there's way too many cool features.

I'd finally like to add that it was an almost magical experiance for me - I mean, bulding a NEW Pirate ship, which is not a MOC but an actual SET, after so many years of complete void (forget the 4+ and Duplo stuff). Actually I celebrated every step of the instruction, didn't want to rush through it, I wanted it to be a memorable moment. I had about two and a half hours to build it before I had to leave, and I didn't complete it during the time given - I had to finish it in the evening when I was back home...

Edited February 18, 2009 by Dreamweb

[seahawkeye]

This is my first post here, so I can’t help but give you a long-winded preamble. Sorry in advance.

I came out of my Dark Ages about a year ago when my son got the big green truck for his birthday from his Nan. He’s 4 years-old so the City sets leapt out at him - vehicles he could understand, like trucks, cars, helicopters, etc. None of the designs really thrilled me, but I played along because it felt so sweet to have Lego in my hands after twenty-odd years. I’d grown up with Classic Space, so I also gifted him the occasional Mars Mission set. I found them beautiful and brilliant - right alongside the best of 1979, IMHO. Anyway, the year dragged along and nothing caught my eye until I saw her – Brickbeard’s Bounty.

I’d bought my last Lego sets in the late 1980’s, just when the Pirates range first came out. I’ve still got some old catalogues and the prices were nuts: for example, the Black Seas Barracuda cost about $250 here in Australia. That’s roughly $A400 in today’s cash, or about … $US570! Even if I’d been tempted, that was WAAAAY out of my price range, especially when I was wooing the woman I now know as ‘Wifey’. So no Pirates for me. Yes, I have some vague memories of glimpsing Lego during my Dark Ages, but the sets of the 90’s and early 00’s seriously underwhelmed my aesthetics and overwhelmed my empty wallet. I figured my love had gone, but I was wrong.

I’m not sure what it is about the Bounty, but from the first glance it’s given me tingles. I studied the review here over Christmas, studying every odd part and angle. When I found out the new Pirates range wouldn’t get here ‘til July I was heartbroken, and had some serious soul-searching to do.

“Do I need it now? Of course not. But … I do! Now! NOW NOW NOW!!” So I took the plunge and did the unthinkable, ordering the mighty ship through S@H.

I’ve had her for two weeks now. She sits on a side table, in pride of place in our lounge/dining room near the Mark Ryden print, the fine sculptures and many other attributes of a normal grown-up family.

And she ROCKS.

Her colours, her lines, her epic majesty and evocative grace ... all sublime and divine. Yes, as Dreamweb just noted, there’s lots to modify. The forecastle is bare and she needs a dozen pirates to feel homely. But … woo-hoo! What fun to make her better and better and even better! My son, now 5, gazes at her in awe. Visitors launch into conversation at the sight of her. Even my wife was compelled to admit that it belongs there, in our line of sight, in our lives.

Come July we’ll get the other sets, and make ourselves a huge Pirate hideout. Can’t wait. And who knows, I might even let the lad play with some of it.

[Dreamweb]

Hello and welcome seahawkeye!

I agree that, despite all the flaws she has, the overall impression of the ship is great and she looks truly amazing and sort of majestically.

If I had to think about one more flaw, it would be the lack of ladder or stairs for the captain or the helmsman to get to the top of the sterncastle, where the helm and the cannon are. Many previous ships had this flaw, however 6285 had stairs and 6286 had a ladder. In here it looks like some incredible climbing skills are required from any member of the crew who wants to get to the helm...

[Hive]

I finished building this set today as my first pirate ship ever, and I was not dissapointed! In fact, this was one of my most - if not the most - enjoyable builds since becoming an AFOL.

When I first looked at the 4 bags, I was thinking "that's all?" - and indeed, it doesn't contain nearly as many pieces as the big ships of the past (like the BSB or or the SES). In fact, about 300 pieces less than either. Which is quite a lot. But rather than bashing it for containing so relatively few pieces for a large ship, I'd rather commend LEGO on managing to create such a complete and impressive looking ship without using more pieces. When looking at it, not once have I felt that it looked particularly bare or unfinished.

And the colors are the simply amazing and work really well together to create an overall aesthetically pleasing ship. In fact, I may like this colorscheme better than even the 2010 IFS. And the dark red used here is probably my favorite LEGO color right now, it's simply stunning together with nuances of brown and pearl gold.

The figures are great as well, though it would have been nice with another exclusive fig. The one exclusive fig it does contain is really well made though, and sufficiently different from other women/maidens ever released to be something special. A bit too few pirates for such a big ship perhaps, but I understand and applaud LEGO deciding to throw in a few adversaries instead. And really, who doesn't have an abundance of extra pirates anyway?

Of course, it's not all good: the lack of an anchor is outright astonishing. This mighty ship could and should have sported an anchor somewhere, and I'm puzzled as to why LEGO decided not to include one. Also, the weirdly placed cannon on the stern is silly and should not have been where it is - but at least that's easy to mod yourself.

All in all, I think this ship is great and I'm thrilled to finally own it!

[Cervantes]

A lot of people take issue with the cannon. Wouldn't it be handy to have if a faster ship with more sails tried to come up from behind?

[legotrader]

I know this is an old thread, but kudos on a great review. Fantastic and detailed. What a great ship. All of LEGO's ships are really well done and full of detail. Great job!

Edited August 2, 2012 by legotrader

[VintageLegoEra]

are the windows in right order? cos i reckon they should open outward and not inward. am i right?...cos the manual shows the opening is inward.

Thanks

[VintageLegoEra]

My 6243 set on the way...cant wait to get it....:)