Kai NRG Posted February 15, 2016 Posted February 15, 2016 Introduction: Who doesn’t love a good, mind-numbing game of chess? Not you? That makes two of us. But even if you aren’t among the chess nuts boasting in an open foyer, you can still enjoy this pieceful (but not peaceful) beauty – the LEGO Pirates Chess Set. With 20 pirate and imperial themed minifigures and over 850 pieces, this set is a great parts pack for anyone looking to expand their pirate collection! Your first look at it today comes courtesy of Brickset: Let’s open that shiny box up and see what’s inside! Product Details: Name: Pirates Chess Set Number: #40158 Theme: Pirates Year: 2015 Pieces: 875 Minifigures: 20 Price: USD $59.99 Source: Brickset Instructions: As I do not have a copy of the box myself, I cannot take pictures of it, but I can offer a few shots of the instruction manual. It comes wrapped up in a plastic cover, and though without cardboard to keep it straight, my copy arrived smoothly. There are two manuals, both with the same front artwork. A random page reveals a pirate-y background of mottled brownish tan. A shot of the inventory page gives us a taste for what is coming. And lastly, the back page presents all six sets from the most recent Pirates line-up. Construction: One of the first things that jumped out at me as I began was the immense quantity of baseplates this set contains, as you can see in this shot of the baseplate bags plus the starting “1” bag pieces. The build begins at the pirate side. Without the playing pieces (which you’ll see in more detail later), the three or so bags labeled “1” get us here: I felt kind of embarrassed uploading that to my photostream. Well, actually, for a TLG landscape, it is tolerable; the designers have done a good job of hiding the pin connectors. Next comes bag 2. Or rather, all the bags that are labelled “2” – pictured here along with the starting baseplates for this section. Naturally, this part of the build was rather repetitive. I was racing the sun, so I think I did it in record time, but it was still rather boring. Honestly, I wouldn’t have expected more from anything that had to do with chess. (My apologies to all you chess lovers out there. I’m more of a checkers fan.) Anyway, the set is designed so that both halves of this section open to reveal two separate compartments, which I thought was very thoughtful of TLG. Also, note the sweet light bley corner tiles! Now we move into the threes and hit the imperials! If the landscaping on the pirate side was tolerable, this is just dreadful. Water above the level of the ground, a walk that’s a cross between a dock and a fort… but why describe it, when you can see it for yourself? Again, we’ll see the playing pieces later on; this is just the landscape. And now for bag four, and more of the same. Only, since the imperials are landlubbers, they have sand colored pieces under their section of the board instead of water colored pieces. Once again, a repetitive build, but not too bad. The board opens on this side as well. The completed set has four separate sections that can be joined together very sturdily with the aid of several technic pins. And here she be! Note the brick separator… the first set I’ve ever got that included one! (That’s pretty pathetic, I know.) The extra pieces. Still wondering where all those 1x1 round red pieces came from. The Swashbuckling Pirates: Starting off with the pirates, you’ll quickly notice that the pawns are all very similar. I would have appreciated some more variation, but on the whole it’s not too bad. There are two basic variants (pictured below along with the banana boy) though some have black pants. The new headgear mold is great and the shirts all have back printing which is very nice. In the back row, we have the rook (or would that be parrook?), the knight (or the fright), and the bishop (the catapult) followed by the Queen and King before we head up the line-up again with another catapult, a fright, and a parrook. The parrooks are a little lack luster but the frights are very clever if not quite perfectly executed. I’ll admit though that I see no connection between a catapult and a bishop! A few round bricks to shoot would have been a nice addition; they could easily have been attached to the back when not in use. And then again, maybe that’s what all those extra red round 1x1s were for? Now for a closer look at the Pirate Queen and King! She looks like she’s the one doing the real work… but don’t be fooled – I played a game and she got taken before she even moved! Both figures have back printing and the Queen includes a double-sided face. The Marching Imperials: Left, right, left, right, left – left, right! Once again the pawns are very similar. The front printing is very nice though I’m not a huge fan of either facial expression. The torsos have back printing, continuing the white straps from the front. The back row here looks a good deal more cohesive than the pirates’ back row, which makes sense. Starting with the rook and moving on to the knight and bishop, we then hit the Queen (or Admiraless?) and King (or Admiral) before returning with bishop, knight, and rook. The rooks are quite plain, but with two dark red profile bricks each, I’m not complaining! It is admittedly somewhat difficult to tell why the knights should be knights and the bishops bishops. I think I owed a few of my kills during my game to the confusion this gave rise to on my opponent’s part! A closer view of the top two reveals some great torso printing, thought unfortunately the legs are plain. To compensate for that, however, we have some great back printing! And before we walk away from this section on the minifigures, here are a few shots of the food fighters – the banana boy and the baguette brevet. Both have the same hair mold but in different colors, and both also have reversible faces. At ‘em! Conclusion: Be ye ready, me hearties? Don’t shoot ‘til you see the whites of their eyes! As you’ve probably already guessed, I didn’t get this set for its chess value. I was far more interested in those minifigures and in the piece count which is pretty hefty especially for the reduced price I was able to pick it up at. In terms of an actual chess set, it is fun, but a little confusing and, well, I really don’t care if I play chess with pieces that look like pirates or pieces that look normal. In terms of a LEGO set, there’s nothing spectacular about it. The landscaping is rather plain at best and the board is boring, though most of the pieces are neat. But, when you look at it as a batch of MOC ingredients… this set is just plain hard to beat! Black and white tiles are great, large baseplates are always useful, and for a pirate builder all those minifigures are hard to pass up! That being decidedly how I look at the set, the only wonder is how come I’ve never bought a chess set before! Playability: 9/10 – It’s a chess set. Of course you can play with it. It even includes compartments to store the minifigures, it comes apart nicely for storage, the pieces can attach to the board, and there are a few catapults to boot. Even a youngster not interested in chess would still have to have fun fooling around with all 20 minifigures! Design: 7/10 – Well, the landscaping is awful – glaringly so. But to compensate for that, the playing pieces are for the most part really nice with only minor exceptions, the board itself is very handy and convenient and sticks together well, and I was pleasantly surprised when I ran across the opening compartments. There are no, “Wow, what a great technique!” moments, but for what it is, it’s solid. Minifigures: 9/10 – There are lots of ‘em, and they’re cool. What more can you ask? Sure, a bit of leg printing would have been nice but most of these torsos really don’t need it. For the most part, these guys are just begging for funny poses… “You won’t be gettin’ me anytime soon, lady!” So much for that. Price: 7/10 – After having praised its value as a parts pack up to the skies, I can’t well give it a bad score here, even if I got it for considerably less than the retail price of $59.99. And really, if you’re willing to take it apart and use it (and where better than in the new Brethren of the Brick Seas RPG?) then even sixty dollars isn’t too much to pay! Overall: 8/10 – So many pieces and so many minifigures… it’s worth every penny. If I were going to keep this built, I would have to do some thorough overhauling on the landscaping sections, but since I’m not, I can feel good about giving it a good average and then tearing it up to build something better. I’m sure I’m going to get some great use out of these pieces… but before I do, I had to have some fun. “Arg! Get in line, ye filthy scum!” “Forward… March!” “I believe this is check, mate!” Quote
Dreamweb Posted February 16, 2016 Posted February 16, 2016 (edited) This is a great review! Actually it comes just in the right time for me, as I was lately considering getting one of these. However... the set itself isn't that great. I've seen better chess sets, including 2009 Pirates...The selection of some of the chess pieces is really questionable, and the landscape on the soldiers' side is laughably bad. Also, I don't quite get the joke with the two pawns carrying food. Overall, I voted average, and I won't be getting it unless I somehow find it really cheap somewhere. By the way, the red 1x1s are for stacking the chessboard components ontop each other. See here and here (taken from this review). That's really weird if they didn't put it in the instructions... Anyway, thanks for the review! Edited February 16, 2016 by Dreamweb Quote
Maxim I Posted February 16, 2016 Posted February 16, 2016 Superb review! I love the set (so many nice parts and figs!). Too bad I consider it $10 too expensive. Neverthless, the set is really great, so that's why I voted outstanding. (it is a shame the soldiers have no shako's...) Quote
Captain Dee Posted February 16, 2016 Posted February 16, 2016 Excellent review, Kai! But I vote "Average" for the set. It does make a great parts pack though. A couple of lingering questions: why did TLG reuse old torsos for the kings and queens (except the soldier king)? For a new set it seems silly, especially when all the other players are new. Perhaps they were trying to clear old inventory. Also, why a shako for the king? That's an odd choice in my opinion. And why no hats at all (tricorn or shako) for the soldier pawns? I like some hairpieces too but this just seems lazy. The two carrying food items look weirdly out of place too. Anyway, nice parts pack. If I want to play Lego chess I think I'll make my own, and do it properly. Quote
BrickOn Posted February 16, 2016 Posted February 16, 2016 Cool review. I actually just came on the forum to ask if anyone knew when this set was due to retire as I was thinking I wanted to pick up another one... nicely timed :-) On the set I think I've said before (maybe, not sure) that I personally found some pieces confusing during play, I am not a massive fan of some of the rooks, knights and bishops in terms of recognisability in game and some of them a touch too big. But on the whole its pretty good with a few modifications. As a parts pack its good, with the exception mentioned above: no shakos :-( but also no epaulettes. But back to my original thought, does anyone know when this set retires? Quote
dr_spock Posted February 16, 2016 Posted February 16, 2016 Good review. It works as a parts pack and a functional chess set if you are inclined to play chess. It is too bad they didn't include epaulettes for the soldiers. Nothing a simple Bricklink parts order can't fix. The set might be hard to find now. They were discounted after Christmas at LEGO brand stores and other retailers. Quote
Captain Fortune Posted February 16, 2016 Posted February 16, 2016 (edited) A very good review for a really nasty set. Ladies and gentlemen, the definitive show of laziness has come to town: No printed hats, no shakos, no epaulettes, mixed and reused torsos, repeated faces, no governor... The only intereting things of this set are the palmtree, the light and some accessories. Lego just didn't gave a s**t with this set, that's all. Edited February 16, 2016 by Captain Fortune Quote
Boettner Builds Posted February 17, 2016 Posted February 17, 2016 But back to my original thought, does anyone know when this set retires? It's been on sale for quite a while now and the rest of pirates line is done so my guess would be it's going to be on sale until it's gone. No retirement, just on sale until sold out. Quote
BrickOn Posted February 17, 2016 Posted February 17, 2016 Hmmm I think the situation is different in Europe compared to the USA since its not and has never been on sale here, still full price. In all the European shop-at-homes its not on sale and has the green "available now", but all of the other pirate line up is gone from the website. Whereas the USA site has it on sale and all the other pirate sets are listed as sold out. But I guess I should buy sooner rather than later. Quote
Kai NRG Posted February 17, 2016 Author Posted February 17, 2016 Thanks everyone! This is a great review! Actually it comes just in the right time for me, as I was lately considering getting one of these. However... the set itself isn't that great. I've seen better chess sets, including 2009 Pirates...The selection of some of the chess pieces is really questionable, and the landscape on the soldiers' side is laughably bad. Also, I don't quite get the joke with the two pawns carrying food. Overall, I voted average, and I won't be getting it unless I somehow find it really cheap somewhere. By the way, the red 1x1s are for stacking the chessboard components ontop each other. See here and here (taken from this review). That's really weird if they didn't put it in the instructions... Anyway, thanks for the review! Ah, thanks for that info! No, it wasn't in the instructions, unless I somehow missed a page! You are quite right about the landscape being awful! I found two pawns with food a nice break from the sameness of the other pawns, especially as there's an extra musket and cutlass (actually a few of those) anyways - and it was my first baguette! ...I love the set (so many nice parts and figs!). Too bad I consider it $10 too expensive. Neverthless, the set is really great, so that's why I voted outstanding. (it is a shame the soldiers have no shako's...) I agree with you about the price - I got it for $42, which was just right, I thought! ...A couple of lingering questions: why did TLG reuse old torsos for the kings and queens (except the soldier king)? For a new set it seems silly, especially when all the other players are new. Perhaps they were trying to clear old inventory. Also, why a shako for the king? That's an odd choice in my opinion. And why no hats at all (tricorn or shako) for the soldier pawns? I like some hairpieces too but this just seems lazy. The two carrying food items look weirdly out of place too... You bring up some good points there. Actually though I think the king on the soldiers side is just supposed to be an admiral or commander instead of an actual king, thus the shako. ...But back to my original thought, does anyone know when this set retires? No idea when it retires, especially in Europe - but it has been on sale for a while on the US shop at home, and I imagine it will just stick around until it's. Maybe it will go on a sharper sale if it stays around long enough (it went down to $42 for a while, then back up to $49 or something). Quote
Captain Dee Posted February 17, 2016 Posted February 17, 2016 You bring up some good points there. Actually though I think the king on the soldiers side is just supposed to be an admiral or commander instead of an actual king, thus the shako. Yes, of course. I view the king piece as an admiral, especially since he's wearing the admiral's/governor's suit! But I still think the shako is a strange choice of hat for him - shakos are for the soldiers, while a good decorated bicorne would've been really nice for him. And of all the nice printed blue torsos available for the queen piece, the best they could do was something red from a few years back? Seriously? Quote
Capn Frank Posted February 17, 2016 Posted February 17, 2016 I didn't realize this set came with catapults. Stupid catapults are the bane of the pirate theme since 4+. I wish there were more shakos. Whoever developed this chess set obviously is not a chess player. Piece heights should be descending from the king to queen, bishop, knight, rook. The rook should be the shortest of this list, but taller than the pawns. The choice for bishops, knights, and rooks don't make any sense. Rooks should have some resemblance of a castle or fort tower. I think the bishop should be a minifig too. The knight could be a office. I would never play chess with this board. It would be too confusing as to what all of the pieces are in the middle of the match. Otherwise you are correct Kai, this would make a great parts set. Quote
dr_spock Posted February 17, 2016 Posted February 17, 2016 Good points. The previous Pirate chess set from 2009 was better identifying the Rook, Knight and Bishops pieces. It doesn't follow the height like in normal chess sets either. Quote
Kai NRG Posted February 18, 2016 Author Posted February 18, 2016 Yes, of course. I view the king piece as an admiral, especially since he's wearing the admiral's/governor's suit! But I still think the shako is a strange choice of hat for him - shakos are for the soldiers, while a good decorated bicorne would've been really nice for him. And of all the nice printed blue torsos available for the queen piece, the best they could do was something red from a few years back? Seriously? You're right about the queen; blue would have been much better! I didn't realize this set came with catapults. Stupid catapults are the bane of the pirate theme since 4+. I wish there were more shakos. Whoever developed this chess set obviously is not a chess player. Piece heights should be descending from the king to queen, bishop, knight, rook. The rook should be the shortest of this list, but taller than the pawns. The choice for bishops, knights, and rooks don't make any sense. Rooks should have some resemblance of a castle or fort tower. I think the bishop should be a minifig too. The knight could be a office. I would never play chess with this board. It would be too confusing as to what all of the pieces are in the middle of the match. Otherwise you are correct Kai, this would make a great parts set. Yes, the pieces are quite confusing. But if you're the one with the good memory, and your opponent is not... that can be convenient! But, of course, I most certainly did not get this set because I wanted to play chess. So I didn't give that much of a thought when evaluating whether it was worth the price or not! Good points. The previous Pirate chess set from 2009 was better identifying the Rook, Knight and Bishops pieces. It doesn't follow the height like in normal chess sets either. <snip> In some respects that chess set is better - do you know what the price was (for comparison)? The nice thing about this one is that the squares are tiled, which makes it look much more professional. And of course, tiles always come in handy for MOCcing. Quote
Boettner Builds Posted February 18, 2016 Posted February 18, 2016 I bought 2 of these battle packs... I mean chess sets! I don't even know how to play, which is fine because I didn't buy them for that :) Quote
Ratshot Posted February 18, 2016 Posted February 18, 2016 You are 100% right, not a bad price for so many parts and minifigures. I'm half temped to buy two or three to make a small force of Blue Coats and hoard of pirates/deckhands. I would do the same as you and break the set up for part's. Awesome review I enjoyed reading it. This was my fist through look at this set. Thanks Quote
Dreamweb Posted February 18, 2016 Posted February 18, 2016 In some respects that chess set is better - do you know what the price was (for comparison)? The nice thing about this one is that the squares are tiled, which makes it look much more professional. And of course, tiles always come in handy for MOCcing. Yeah, I know, that the 2009 chess set was more expensive, because of the fancy box and so on. But it was also a better army builder, with more minifigs, hats for the soldiers etc. On the other hand, you're right about the tiles, which are a huge advantage of the 2015 set. All in all, like I said before, I'd rather save money for something else, unless I find it at a real bargain somewhere, then I might consider getting one. Quote
Kai NRG Posted February 18, 2016 Author Posted February 18, 2016 I bought 2 of these battle packs... I mean chess sets! I don't even know how to play, which is fine because I didn't buy them for that :) Actually I was kind of surprised to see that there wasn't a set of instructions on how to play the actual game... You are 100% right, not a bad price for so many parts and minifigures. I'm half temped to buy two or three to make a small force of Blue Coats and hoard of pirates/deckhands. I would do the same as you and break the set up for part's. Awesome review I enjoyed reading it. This was my fist through look at this set. Thanks You're welcome! If you're looking for a small army, this is one of the best ways to go! Yeah, I know, that the 2009 chess set was more expensive, because of the fancy box and so on. But it was also a better army builder, with more minifigs, hats for the soldiers etc. On the other hand, you're right about the tiles, which are a huge advantage of the 2015 set. All in all, like I said before, I'd rather save money for something else, unless I find it at a real bargain somewhere, then I might consider getting one. Not being an army builder at all (I think it's awesome if I can make three figures that look like they might belong in a regiment together! ) I really wasn't concerned with that aspect. To me, the updated piece count was fantastic - and, I did find the set at a pretty good bargain, plus I had $40 that were burning a hole through my pocket... Quote
dr_spock Posted February 18, 2016 Posted February 18, 2016 In some respects that chess set is better - do you know what the price was (for comparison)? The nice thing about this one is that the squares are tiled, which makes it look much more professional. And of course, tiles always come in handy for MOCcing. It was retailed for $50 USD in 2009. I think it is around $300 or so now. There is an old review of 2009 version on EB: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32651 It was a good set to get a lot of RedCoat soldiers for army building too. With that set and the current set, you would be well prepared for a Tournament of Retribution contest in the pirate forum. Quote
Kai NRG Posted February 19, 2016 Author Posted February 19, 2016 It was retailed for $50 USD in 2009. I think it is around $300 or so now. There is an old review of 2009 version on EB: http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=32651 It was a good set to get a lot of RedCoat soldiers for army building too. With that set and the current set, you would be well prepared for a Tournament of Retribution contest in the pirate forum. It's definitely nice that LEGO decided to go with blue instead of red for this second one, to offer a little variety for those who already had the other one. Still given the prices I think this one is a much better deal! Thanks for linking the review! Quote
blackdeathgr Posted February 19, 2016 Posted February 19, 2016 It all boils to what you are looking for. If you are looking for minifigs, then definitely 2009 is the one to go. If you go for price per piece, many pieces and baseplates and some "decent" figs, the 2015 is the one for you. I cant give the new one credit for nice minifigs as they are fewer and lack critical equipment such as epaulettes, hats and shackos Quote
Captain Baker Posted February 20, 2016 Posted February 20, 2016 Pretty Sweet looking set, Definitely Above average. The older set is Sweet Too, I may acquire both & potentially mix them up Quote
Dreamweb Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 (edited) The older set is Sweet Too, I may acquire both & potentially mix them up I'm sure a lot of AFOLs would jump at the chance if LEGO released a redcoats vs. bluecoats chess set. I know it's not happening, like, ever, but still, what an army builder that would be! Edited February 22, 2016 by Dreamweb Quote
Kai NRG Posted February 22, 2016 Author Posted February 22, 2016 i own it, bought mostly for the figs. well' if it's not for the 800+ parts which comes with the set i'll be quite disappointed: the figs are nice but nothing special (maybe a little more variety would be better) and intended as a chess set the bishops, towers and knights were not recognisable. Said so, mine is still assembled, and sometimes i use it to play chess with my gf. (never tought of keep it assembled for more than 2 hours...in fact i've never think about assemble it, when purchased :D ) Also with it's "problems" i'm waiting for double vip points to buy another couple :D Mine only managed to stay assembled for about three days. I'm sure a lot of AFOLs would jump at the chance if LEGO released a redcoats vs. bluecoats chess set. I know it's not happening, like, ever, but still, what an army builder that would be! Now we're talking! Quote
dr_spock Posted February 29, 2016 Posted February 29, 2016 Thanks Kai NRG. You caused me to buy the chess set today. I wonder if I have enough Red Coats to make it blue vs red. Quote
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