Lorentzen Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 (edited) The review: This set is the follow-up to the massively popular Forbidden Island, that was released in the virgin year of the Lego Pirates - 1989 Two years later, in 1991, the now succesful Lego Pirates, with Redbeard as their leader, thought it necessary to build an island big enough, to house all of their loot, and even park their beauty of a ship - the Black Seas Barracuda. Rock Island Refuge, is in my opinion the perfect hideout for the swashbuckling swashbucklers of the Caribbean seas... I'll show you why Let's start with the manual: This is a random page - and I would like to say that RIR is a bit difficult for younger Lego fans to build - but that does not make the set a bad investment, because the kids should be able to build it, by concentrating a bit - which is a good and important thing to master; concentration... The many accessories Flags, and a rare blue and white sail: Shark, canon, treasure chest w. gold, and a barrel w. a sword Weapons, animals, treasure map, and oars: This set has many nice accessories, but one of the best things, is the red rowing boat with the blue sail. Further more you get a raft, which can transport loot from a pirate ship onto the dock of the Rock Island Refuge. Let's take a closer look at those two: The magnificent rowing boat: I've played around with photoshop for this review - I borrowed some of the CG Backgrounds from classic-pirates.com The raft: This set comes with a bunch of pirates and two imperial soldiers: Four men, and one woman - she has to be tough to keep up with these guys... Whoa!! They are ready to fight for their belongings. I think that 7 minifigs is a great number of minifigs for this kind of set. We are always begging for a lot of minifigs, and to get seven all at once is great. On to the actual Island: The baseplate is similar to the 1989 Eldorado Fortress, only this one has green rocks instead of grey rocks. This set is also a bit larger than the Eldorado Fortress, because it has the extra blue plate. Here are some pictures of the set in its entirety: What a great island - it is a revamping of the Forbidden Island - the design is similar, with a lot of palm tree leaves, the black castle walls, the suspension bridges, the prison cells, and the grey stairs etc. etc. Here are some pictures of the details on the island - i.e. the prison cell, the treasure hold, the suspension bridges, the crane tower, the dock, the stairs etc. etc. The prison cell: The suspension bridges: The crane tower: further down, where you can see the dock: The dock: The cannon: The treasure hold: Uhh... why is there no floor to the side of that hatch? This be the last picture in this review, arrrr: I loved to build this set, and I love that you get 7 minifigs, a rowing boat with a sail, and a raft, with this set. The two soldiers are great for armybuilding, and you get a woman pirate, which is always a nice change. On to my verdict! Design: 9/10 - I've always loved the classic pirate line, before TLG changed it into Islander themes, and Armada stuff This right here is perfect! almost... why is there such a large hole on top of the treasure hold? The designers should have made something there. After all, this is quite a large set. Playability: 10/10 - you get so much playability with this set. Two soldiers and their rowing boat, a raft, a dock, a treasure hold/dungeon, a prison cell, a firing canon... 7 seven minifigs! The possibilities are endless, and if you have ship, you can park it at this island and then you get even more out of this set. Perfect! Parts: 10/10 there are a large number of great parts to this set. Two suspension bridges, some stairs, the baseplate, the extra blue plate, the palm tree leaves, the two boat riggings, the rare blue and white sail with the small rowing boat mast, the rowing boat, all the black castle walls, a canon - I could keep on going... Price: 10/10 - I think $66 back then was a fair price, especially compared to what you get. Just look at the parts,the playability and the amount of minifigs. I hope you enjoyed my second Pictorial review (Skull's Eye Schooner being the first) - let me know if I'm missing something, or if there are some pictures you would like to see. Unfortunately, I don't have the box :( Edited April 13, 2015 by Phred Quote
Eurobricks Emperor Bonaparte Posted March 25, 2009 Eurobricks Emperor Posted March 25, 2009 When I say this review I thought you were a reviewers academy student. But then I check and saw you aren't. I can only say that this review is amazing! The backgrounds which you added to several of the pictures are extremely well done. The structure of you review is perfect. You are a natural talent and could teach at our academy! This is a set which I don't own, but it certainly has a high playability factor. If I should find it for a reasonable prize I might get me a copy. It's not on top of my list, but still a pretty decent set. Quote
General Armendariz Posted March 25, 2009 Posted March 25, 2009 Wow, you are amazing at this stuff. A very well done review! I have the Forbidden Island But this set looks way better. You should definetly be a teacher. And those backgrounds are flawless! Quote
Logbo Posted March 26, 2009 Posted March 26, 2009 Sweet review. I shall now be looking for this set on ebay to satisfy my pirating needs. Quote
legotrainfan Posted March 26, 2009 Posted March 26, 2009 For me this set is outstanding! There are even two boats (one boat plus one raft) for both the soldiers and pirates, and I find its overall shape awesome. Nice review, by the way! Quote
Sandy Posted March 26, 2009 Posted March 26, 2009 A fantastic set and a great review! I just have to ask why some of the pictures have digital backgrounds while others don't? Also, boo to your sexism! I say the male pirates have to be tough to keep up with the courageous pirate woman! Quote
Zorro Posted March 26, 2009 Posted March 26, 2009 Good review, I think you would definatly be of good value to the Academy! Also, boo to your sexism! I say the male pirates have to be tough to keep up with the courageous pirate woman! Now you are being the sexist here! We, poor men, being pushed away by the "courageous" pirate woman! Quote
Sandy Posted March 26, 2009 Posted March 26, 2009 Now you are being the sexist here!We, poor men, being pushed away by the "courageous" pirate woman! Okay, I'm sorry. I should've said that the pirate woman is equal in courage and swashbuckling to the men. Quote
General Armendariz Posted March 26, 2009 Posted March 26, 2009 Death to all wenches! Death? What do you mean? We need 'em! Quote
Lorentzen Posted March 27, 2009 Author Posted March 27, 2009 A fantastic set and a great review!I just have to ask why some of the pictures have digital backgrounds while others don't? Also, boo to your sexism! I say the male pirates have to be tough to keep up with the courageous pirate woman! This is due to laziness :) - I'm gonna re-upload some new pictures soon, instead of those without the digi background oh... and sorry about the sexism :) - I tend to forget that girls and women also love Lego thanks for all the nice comments people have made Quote
descale Posted March 27, 2009 Posted March 27, 2009 Thanks for this great review! It's really a nice pirates island, I like rowing boat with imperial sail. Quote
Ratshot Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 Do to this review, I think I will purchase this set over the coarse of summer vacation. Quote
Lorentzen Posted June 8, 2009 Author Posted June 8, 2009 I thought I'd bump this review for those who haven't seen it yet. It hasn't been indexed so I thought I could help those who didn't know I made the review into getting to know this set a little better Quote
SlyOwl Posted June 8, 2009 Posted June 8, 2009 Panel walls and the weird crane aside, this is a great set. It's got all the things I love about classic-pirates - the neat docks, trapdoors, bountiful weapons, and, as is common, some random boat parts thrown in, for ship expansion. I tend to think of this as the Pirates' Eldorado Fortress or Imperial Trading Post, as it was the biggest of their bases, with plenty of extras and stuff to do. Plus, it's not so famous or collectable, so it can be picked up pretty cheaply. And it contains the ultra-rare 2x2x3 double slope in light grey - I thought I'd bump this review for those who haven't seen it yet. It hasn't been indexed so I thought I could help those who didn't know I made the review into getting to know this set a little better Added. The system for indexing reviews is on an as-and-when basis (unlike MOCs, where it's just one batch of indexing every fortnight or so), so it must have been missed Quote
Lorentzen Posted June 8, 2009 Author Posted June 8, 2009 Thanks - I just thought that since this was the only review of such a classic, it deserved a bumping ;) I absolutely love this set, especially since it looks so much like the 1989 line. I was nine years old, and already a huge pirate fan, so to have Lego launch Pirates was a dream come true for me. I still think that the 1989-1992-ish has the best Pirates sets of them all Quote
Lord Admiral Posted June 8, 2009 Posted June 8, 2009 This was a great set. Two bridges, a staircase, a jail, a cannon, a raft, a small boat, not to mention a dungeon where I put the treasure, along with a ghost or skeleton from another set (I don't remember anymore) to guard it. That's a lot packed into one set, and definitely hard to find nowadays. My only complaint is that the blue plate kept breaking off from the rest of the set. But there really isn't much anyone can do about that. Quote
Emperor Claudius Rome Posted June 8, 2009 Posted June 8, 2009 Death? What do you mean? We need 'em! Yeah, without wenches, it would mighty lonely at sea Quote
martinsuper Posted June 11, 2009 Posted June 11, 2009 I always liked this set because it was the only set that was predominately black in color. It looked very sinister, and also had the feeling of being a very old structure that the pirates had "taken over". I like this set a lot, its one of the few I don't have because I always focused more on ships. Quote
gormadoc1 Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 It looks like a good set but they could have at least done better with a pirate boat. Quote
Commodore Hornbricker Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 I love this one. It has always been my favorite pirate hideout set. It looks good with all the black and it is fun to build, set-up and modify. I have plans to do a rebuild of this set like I did with my Passage Fort MOC based on Eldorado Fortress for the Imperials. Quote
frontbeast Posted August 13, 2009 Posted August 13, 2009 great review, this is a fantastik idea. keep up the good work Quote
Skulls_Eye_Schooner_Sailor Posted March 19, 2010 Posted March 19, 2010 Awesome review! This is the largest Pirate set I had as a child besides Imperial Flagship. And what a set it is! Besides all the features mentioned, there's even a little cooking area! Very cool! I am surprised no one mentioned it. I vividly remember after doing some chores I had enough money to buy either this or the Renegade Runner. I was in Toys R Us. Let's see... a cool, small ship with four figures or an awesome Piratey hideout with seven figures, including a lady pirate, and two Blue Coats (my only two for the longest time). You see, by then, you could only get Red Coats! Anyway, I don't regret my decision, but I have yet to re-buy this set, sadly. I want to... and I still don't have a Renegade Runner. Can you believe I lost that giant baseplate somehow (and the small blue sail)? Quote
frontbeast Posted March 19, 2010 Posted March 19, 2010 awesome review, i love the set. oldies but goodies Quote
Big Cam Posted March 19, 2010 Posted March 19, 2010 Nice review, this set brings me back. The classic pirate figs that I love. Quote
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