Black Seas Barracuda SEALED Sells for... $4,000 EACH (With Disabled Cannon)

[kelceycoe]

First: 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/267378831449?_skw=6285+lego&epid=13053422059&itmmeta=01KH0F1G4TTF833BZTCC10RJWQ&hash=item3e41053059:g:qKwAAeSwb1doq0pa&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA8GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xA9fUHnLtX0mC4vl92huluV0oiUT5qWqZLgK3jjC%2F%2BrogGZH70CFMiHJ1fPgMCHXAqmwp7%2BFM%2FO%2BmnGU1%2B4bqPOiYbvq9UyJ5n6AcrXFaQvfA6nsMFYv%2FZoQtWop6GSIWCg8Uk2DNQWi8ag8KsnXW07f%2BmrXbTrjS97K9biRQVSCa%2F5dL2Erat4NfV5%2BScn6jeIlBZaIZMVEJ3Yc%2BUEv9qYoxxlCLf35BeexycL84OUTlX%2Fh4m2VndAyq2hy3WxoeZ%2BjmJTXpoS00NEkjDgsZecK3xtIe8TB%2F9sjx4QJnZWEw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8qCho-IZw

Second (this same seller actually sold 2 copies TO THE SAME BUYER): 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/317825841141

All 3 copies clearly showed the late 1990 and on disabled version of the cannon sold here in the USA NOT the original shooting cannon many of us got in 1989 here in the USA and that everyone else got throughout the world.

The point of bringing this up is because we are at a point where we are hitting critical mass. Sealed copies of these sets are now becoming rarer than ever and original USA versions of these sets are even rarer. Unfortunately, while we can clearly see the cannons in these versions, what we do not know is how later of a version these sets are. Throughout the years, Lego literally changed the molds on many parts - from the heads to the small island base plates to the sharks to the treasure chests and obviously the cannons (it also appears very early European versions had stickers and white flags) and unfortunately the ONLY way to know what year a sealed set was produced is to... gasp... open it! You will be able to date the parts based on these mold changes AND based on the medium shop at home included (<-- the catalog is actually the better way of knowing when that set was produced and over the years the sets from previous years were given updated catalogs in the subsequent years they were released).

We also are coming to a time where many users, simply put, no longer care about what's called "period specific" parts, meaning people are not very likely getting the best value for their buck (especially in the case of these sets) and it opens the doors to improper sales and misinformation.

It does matter. Not only for authenticity but for the sake of preservation.

It definitely matters when choosing the correct head/torso/leg/arms/hands/headgear for some mini-figures, especially the older Black Spaceman from the 1980s.

Unfortunately these items are so rare people are practically forced to pay outrageous prices or just simply risk never getting them (i.e., if the seller didn't sell these - and I had seen these expensive versions listed for YEARS and the sellers even getting attacked on Facebook - what would have happened when the seller died - would the family had disposed of these and they become the property of landfills or what?).

Scary times folks and a reality to face, eventually nobody gives a crap and that's scary.

What' going to happen to unsealed copies of these $1,000 sets in 40 years? Assuming those sets grow the same amount Black Seas had - from $110 (the 1992 version, not the $90 1989 version) to $4,000 in almost 40 years, those $1,000 sets will be worth about $40,000 in 2066. Who in the world will have the money for $40,000 Lego sets? Who even had the money for $8,000 in two sealed Black Seas sets?

If you bought these sets and ever plan to open them, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make a video of you opening them and ALL OF THE CONTENTS!. This will help many of us in understanding how the parts changed over the years.

Bricklink, from my experience, seems to be the more accurate - over Peeron and ReBrickable - in at least noting these changes. Some of my observations are from my memory of owning these sets with some help from looking at sealed sets on Ebay.

Also note: This forum seems to have made drastic changes and isn't allowing me to attach images so unfortunately you'll have to use the links. That's why my avatar changed from a rare coin to a generic Jolly Roger flag, my 40KB image was too much for their 1KB limitation, lol.

 

 

[SpacePolice89]

46 minutes ago, kelceycoe said:

Also note: This forum seems to have made drastic changes and isn't allowing me to attach images so unfortunately you'll have to use the links. That's why my avatar changed from a rare coin to a generic Jolly Roger flag, my 40KB image was too much for their 1KB limitation, lol.

You have to link the pictures from other websites like Bricksafe.

I believe that the prices will stop growing at some point because very few AFOLs are millionaires but I think that they will unfortunately still rise a lot. Fortunately there are still many used copies in very good condition available in the 300-400€/$ range.

 

[SBCMayor]

9 hours ago, kelceycoe said:

All 3 copies clearly showed the late 1990 and on disabled version of the cannon sold here in the USA NOT the original shooting cannon many of us got in 1989 here in the USA and that everyone else got throughout the world.

The point of bringing this up is because we are at a point where we are hitting critical mass. Sealed copies of these sets are now becoming rarer than ever and original USA versions of these sets are even rarer. Unfortunately, while we can clearly see the cannons in these versions, what we do not know is how later of a version these sets are. Throughout the years, Lego literally changed the molds on many parts - from the heads to the small island base plates to the sharks to the treasure chests and obviously the cannons (it also appears very early European versions had stickers and white flags) and unfortunately the ONLY way to know what year a sealed set was produced is to... gasp... open it! You will be able to date the parts based on these mold changes AND based on the medium shop at home included (<-- the catalog is actually the better way of knowing when that set was produced and over the years the sets from previous years were given updated catalogs in the subsequent years they were released).

We also are coming to a time where many users, simply put, no longer care about what's called "period specific" parts, meaning people are not very likely getting the best value for their buck (especially in the case of these sets) and it opens the doors to improper sales and misinformation.

It does matter. Not only for authenticity but for the sake of preservation.

It definitely matters when choosing the correct head/torso/leg/arms/hands/headgear for some mini-figures, especially the older Black Spaceman from the 1980s.

Unfortunately these items are so rare people are practically forced to pay outrageous prices or just simply risk never getting them (i.e., if the seller didn't sell these - and I had seen these expensive versions listed for YEARS and the sellers even getting attacked on Facebook - what would have happened when the seller died - would the family had disposed of these and they become the property of landfills or what?).

Scary times folks and a reality to face, eventually nobody gives a crap and that's scary.

What' going to happen to unsealed copies of these $1,000 sets in 40 years? Assuming those sets grow the same amount Black Seas had - from $110 (the 1992 version, not the $90 1989 version) to $4,000 in almost 40 years, those $1,000 sets will be worth about $40,000 in 2066. Who in the world will have the money for $40,000 Lego sets? Who even had the money for $8,000 in two sealed Black Seas sets?

If you bought these sets and ever plan to open them, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make a video of you opening them and ALL OF THE CONTENTS!. This will help many of us in understanding how the parts changed over the years.

Bricklink, from my experience, seems to be the more accurate - over Peeron and ReBrickable - in at least noting these changes. Some of my observations are from my memory of owning these sets with some help from looking at sealed sets on Ebay.

Very interesting post. Before I joined this site I once found a sealed, new in box set offered at $19k!

As much as I think the purist element is cool, I’m just not there. Last year I went to see the Beach Boys in concert. Now when I say “the Beach Boys” I mean today’s version of the band: a couple of the originals surrounded by a very capable stage lineup (one of whom is the son of one of the originals).

Purists will say “this isn’t the real band. It’s a cover band.” And if one was around back in the 1960s to see these guys in their prime, I guess I can probably understand the critique. Thing is, I wasn’t around when they were in their prime (born 1980) and I’d rather see this epic band in any form than not at all. The live show was fun (fun fun). 
 

Why share this on a conversation about vintage Lego? Because my take is essentially the same toward these old sets. As much as it might be cool to preserve the complete item in period-correct form all the way to the style of studs used, etc is something that is out of my reach. Getting a sealed-in-box copy is also out of my reach. I have a somewhat expansive collection of mostly clean copies, but they are not perfect. By accepting that I’m not getting anything collector grade, I’ve still enabled myself to enjoy a lot of these older sets. I’ve enjoyed making small modifications to some of mine. I enjoy combining the land based sets to create a larger network of forts. I enjoy color swapping pieces on the ships to make an imperial ship out of the Barracuda or Skull’s Eye Schooner and Pirate Ships out of the Caribbean Clipper and Imperial Flagship. I’ve built a nice little fleet. 

Like @SpacePolice89 mentioned, people can still find very nice copies of the Barracuda in the 3-400 range. For someone like me, who wanted this as a kid and just didn’t get it, it’s better to experience some version of it than none at all. And in fact, I think I appreciate my 35+ year old copies more now that I truly would have appreciated a brand new one back in 1989-1990.
 

 

 

 

[eldiano]

If LEGO would had follow through with that subscription program that would had let us buy old sets, we would had been golden. Hasbro has been doing 1:1 releases of transformers through the missing link franchise.

At first they had problems with the old molds but they recreated it and made bank afterwards. I wish Lego would at least touch upon doing similar takes for specific older sets. Something like a tier above AFOL collectibles, that’s the only way to bring those prices down, until sky’s the limit.

 

 

[kelceycoe]

On 2/9/2026 at 10:59 AM, SBCMayor said:

Like @SpacePolice89 mentioned, people can still find very nice copies of the Barracuda in the 3-400 range. For someone like me, who wanted this as a kid and just didn’t get it, it’s better to experience some version of it than none at all. And in fact, I think I appreciate my 35+ year old copies more now that I truly would have appreciated a brand new one back in 1989-1990.

You make a good point. We're at that stage where people are just proud to be able to have the set who wants it. Unfortunately unless you buy it sealed or from someone who took very good care of it since they first got it, we're likely faced with "played with" condition, which is unfortunate because those pieces have struggled to survive over the years. Thankfully as an adult I know better about storage and can try and preserve my sets longer than I did as a kid.

[SpacePolice89]

6 hours ago, kelceycoe said:

You make a good point. We're at that stage where people are just proud to be able to have the set who wants it. Unfortunately unless you buy it sealed or from someone who took very good care of it since they first got it, we're likely faced with "played with" condition, which is unfortunate because those pieces have struggled to survive over the years. Thankfully as an adult I know better about storage and can try and preserve my sets longer than I did as a kid.

Most of the old sets I buy from Bricklink are used but I go for the high end mid priced ones and mostly receive sets in very good to excellent condition. I have a large collection of pieces from that era so I can change any pieces that have visible damage/scratches to ones in good condition. This method has saved me a lot of money and I can buy 5x more sets compared to if I bought all of them in new condition with sealed boxes. When the original sails are not in good condition I use replica sails instead.

 

13 hours ago, eldiano said:

If LEGO would had follow through with that subscription program that would had let us buy old sets, we would had been golden. Hasbro has been doing 1:1 releases of transformers through the missing link franchise.

At first they had problems with the old molds but they recreated it and made bank afterwards. I wish Lego would at least touch upon doing similar takes for specific older sets. Something like a tier above AFOL collectibles, that’s the only way to bring those prices down, until sky’s the limit.

 

 

Newly manufactured exact copies 1:1 of old sets would be fantastic and I would definitely buy them but I hate subscriptions in general and avoid them much as possible.

[SBCMayor]

14 hours ago, kelceycoe said:

You make a good point. We're at that stage where people are just proud to be able to have the set who wants it. Unfortunately unless you buy it sealed or from someone who took very good care of it since they first got it, we're likely faced with "played with" condition, which is unfortunate because those pieces have struggled to survive over the years. Thankfully as an adult I know better about storage and can try and preserve my sets longer than I did as a kid.

Yeah that’s one of the greatest paradoxes of these vintage sets. They are meant to be enjoyed and played with. They are also worth preserving. It’s hard to do both, especially when it’s a kid playing with them. And of course the preservation side is much smaller, hence the cost. 
 

I have some pretty nice copies in my collection. In fact I am blown away with how lucky I keep getting, especially on the copies of the Barracuda and Clippers I’ve purchased. As providence would have it, my copy of tue Barracuda I was most interested in altering was also the one that benefitted most from the influx of new common pieces (new white pieces replacing may of the old yellow ones). The copy I converted into a Bluecoat ship was in great shape, but the copy I kept original is even better. That copy is on display on a shelf in my living room when it is not being featured in the larger display I have in my Lego room. 
 

Nothing will last forever. I know I won’t. I am hopeful my kids will remember collecting these items with me and welcome them into their homes some day. They’ll still be in good shape, and maybe my grandkids will be able to enjoy them.

[Siroco]

27 minutes ago, SBCMayor said:

Yeah that’s one of the greatest paradoxes of these vintage sets. They are meant to be enjoyed and played with. They are also worth preserving. It’s hard to do both, especially when it’s a kid playing with them. And of course the preservation side is much smaller, hence the cost. 
 

I have some pretty nice copies in my collection. In fact I am blown away with how lucky I keep getting, especially on the copies of the Barracuda and Clippers I’ve purchased. As providence would have it, my copy of tue Barracuda I was most interested in altering was also the one that benefitted most from the influx of new common pieces (new white pieces replacing may of the old yellow ones). The copy I converted into a Bluecoat ship was in great shape, but the copy I kept original is even better. That copy is on display on a shelf in my living room when it is not being featured in the larger display I have in my Lego room. 
 

Nothing will last forever. I know I won’t. I am hopeful my kids will remember collecting these items with me and welcome them into their homes some day. They’ll still be in good shape, and maybe my grandkids will be able to enjoy them.

Well said! I share your thoughts and drink to that! 

[iragm]

I think this right here is the most compelling argument AGAINST Lego as an investment.  If you'd invested $90 in the SP500 in 1990, today it would be worth almost exactly $4000.  This is probably one of the most sought-after sets, and it's not even beating index fund returns.  And with stocks there's nothing to store, no need to worry about box damage, no eBay or Bricklink fees....