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My first review here on Eurobricks, so bear with me :) I was so excited to build this set I didn't take any pictures of the build, which took about an hour. The pictures are not the greatest quality due to the lighting I have to deal with here.
Official Description: Relive movie moments with the LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean Whitecap Bay (4194)! Captain Jack Sparrow and his band of pirates are lying in wait, plotting to capture one of the mysterious mermaids of Whitecap Bay. Hide inside the lighthouse, then use the searchlight to spot them in the murky depths below. Shoot the net from the boathouse cannon when they get close to shore! Beware of the whale oil barrels tipping near the open flames!
Front of the box.
Back of the box.
Two instruction books are included.
Also inside are a sticker sheet and a collectible card. There is also a poster.
The set contains 6 minifigs including four exclusive to this set. They are all excellent, featuring front and back printing. Both Jack and Scrum feature leg printing as well. The mermaids, Jack, and Phillip feature alternate head printing as well.
The mermaids have great hair pieces and carry strands of seaweed. The tails work forwards or backwards which is nice for posing them.
From the back.
Alternate head prints.
Jack's torso is the same as the one found in several of the other sets. He sports his hat and compass in this set. Phillip is wearing a great black torso and the same wig as Will Turner in the Mill set. Phillip is exclusive to this set. Both feature back printing.
Back printing and alternate head printing.
Scrum is another minifig exclusive to this set. He features a great looking brown torso and leg printing. I think his face is also really cool, with a scruffy looking beard and scar over his eye. The gunner zombie is the same as that found in the other sets.
Both feature back printing but no alternate head printing as there isn't any place to hide it.
Now onto the rest of the set. The movie trailer hints that Jack must capture a mermaid, and that seems to be the basis for this set. It includes two great black rowboats with lamps, oars, and buckets. It also includes a net with a plastic rope for a minifig to hang on to.
The net folds up nicely and allows for the capture of a mermaid!
The build for this set is divided up nicely into modules, each with their own bag of parts which makes the build go relatively quickly. The first module is a large 4x4 barrel on a stand. It holds a few black 1x1x1 round bricks and can be tipped over onto a bad guy. Also included are another barrel with a bunch of the new pearl gold coins. As others have mentioned, these look pretty bad when compared to the old pirate coins. Hopefully all the negative feedback will make Lego go back to the chrome gold if/when there is a second round of POTC sets.
Pull the pin and the barrel tips over. The lid doesn't always fall off, but its a decent play feature.
The lighthouse is the next module in the build. This is one of the highlights of the set in my opinion(pun intended). The build is fairly straightforward with a bit of snot work and some hidden play features.
One of the coolest features of this set is the working light at the top of the tower. It uses a lightbrick with a magnifying glass to focus the beam of light. This actually works pretty well.
It would be nice if there was a way to keep the light on without having to hold the button down.
The tower consists of three floors. On the first floor is a small table with two stools. On the table is one of the new bottles and an astrolabe. The second floor is empty aside from two steering wheels on the wall which don't actually do anything. There is a mechanism on this floor that knocks out the side walls and collapses the top of the tower.
I assume this is a reference to something that will happen in the movie, but I haven't seen it yet so I can't say for sure. It easily knocks out the two sidewalls, but the top of the tower only collapses about half the time. The build is very solid, so it stays together when it does fall down. The only pieces that tend to fall off are the two 1x1x1 brown cones on the top that sometimes pop off and go missing.
The final two modules of the build are the small connecting room and the cannon building.
This portion of the set features the giant cannon mounted on a sliding track. The cannon fires another mermaid catching net. There is a plunger inside the cannon, which when flicked from the rear will fire the net a meter or so.
Inside the connecting room are a square barrel with a shovel and pickaxe, and another new bottle. You can see the track system for the cannon and the firing plunger.
Pseudo-action shots of the cannon!
And finally a shot of the completed set.
My Ratings:
Minifigs: 9/10
The minifigs are excellent and one of the highlights of the set. Two are duplicates from other sets, but one of these is Jack, so thats to be expected. The mermaids have great head printing and hairpieces that will be great for Mocing. I would give this a 10/10 if the gunner zombie was a different minifig.
Parts: 10/10
Lots of dark grey! A light brick, two new bottles, and two of the new sword scabbards. This would make a great parts pack for any castle fan.
Build/Design: 9/10
I really like the modular build. There were some repetitive steps and some of the elements are a bit fragile until they're fully assembled. The set is much bigger than it looks in pictures. Since it is supposed to sit on the waters edge, a baseplate would have been nice.
Playability: 9/10
Lots of play features. The collapsing tower would be better if it worked all the time.
Price: 8/10
I did get this half price at TRU after buying the QAR, so for me it was a bargain. However, at full price I feel it is about $10 too high.
Overall:46/50
This is a really cool set overall. It is the biggest of the POTC sets aside from the QAR and features some great minifigs and play features. I bought this set(and the other POTC sets) primarily for moccing, and it really is going to be tough for me to tear this one down.
Hopefully everyone likes this review. If you feel there is something I missed, please ask and I'll try to address it.
). The chrome coins were in the classic style and not the new POTC design.
