Review: Deep Sea Refuge

[Mr Maniac]

Hello everyone! Long-time lurker, (relatively) first-time poster!

With LEGO's latest Deep Sea lineup having taken longer than planned to come to the U.S. (wonder if there's any world events that might explain the delay?), I decided to browse through some of the old 1997 Divers sets earlier in the summer to see if anything caught my eye. Sure enough, I happened upon a MISB edition of Deep Sea Refuge on eBay. Having played with it at a friend's house as a kid, I decided to snap it up.

But with the newest sets having a state-of-the-art underwater research station, does this original model still hold up? Let's find out as we go beyond the sea (just kidding, we're going under it. Sorry Bobby Darin.)

Info

Set # - 6441

Name - Deep Sea Refuge

Theme/Subtheme - Town/Divers

Year - 1997

Piece Count - 433

Minifigures - 5

Price - MSRP $60 US

Links

Brickset, Peeron, Bricklink, Bricksafe

Box

Aside from a few minor dents and scrapes, the box still looks pretty good. Love that sunshine pattern on the seafloor. Definitely way more inviting than the box art for Aquazone, Atlantis or recent Deep Sea sets. It gives off that peaceful tropical island vibe that quite a few of the 90s sets gave me, although it probably helps that the only foliage available at the time were palm trees or those little conical and spherical versions.

 

We also have the very cool Divers subtheme logo in the upper right-hand corner, along with an old price tag sticker that's still on the box. I won't say how much I paid for this thing unless asked, but I can assure you it was far from the original $59.99 shown here. That said, that logo continues to be great, reeking of atmosphere. You can practically hear the Jaws theme playing as Mr. Mask and Snorkel here looks to the surface and sees the shark silhouette, wondering if it saw him, if he can make it to safety...

Moving on, the back of the box gives you some very fun alternative LEGO models, including a goofy little water slide and diving board setup, along with a larger (and smaller) undersea research station. Overall, they all seem pretty good to me, even if the boat on the largest alternative model picture looks a little strange with the bubble windshield. But that's the fun of LEGO.

Now here's the good stuff. Like most boxes from this age, we have a great inner flap with more set pictures and some flavor text to help unleash your inner Jacques Cousteau, which I transcribed for all of you lovely people. "The ocean depths hold many mysteries and dangers. Sharks, stingrays and possibly sunken treasure! With building sets from the LEGO SYSTEM Divers collection, only you, the LEGO MANIAC, will find the secrets of the deep." The same flavor text is also available in French and Spanish for those in the multilingual crowd.

We also have the customary (for the time, at least) plastic window which has some of the specialized parts on the left, with a random assortment of parts in bags to the right, complete with fun little scenes of the divers trying to outswim an octopus while a possible Captain Redbeard shipwreck lingers in the background. I understand why LEGO doesn't do this anymore, but man, it'd be great to bring this back.

The top of the box feature some attractive water patterns, complete with rays of sun hitting the waves and the top of the ship's antenna and flag, which suggests the boat sank. Guess the pilot should've read the legal notice on the side of the box, which clearly states "NOT FOR USE IN WATER."

The bottom of the box has some more of that big beautiful water pattern, complete with a porthole-like window design for viewing the diver minifigures and all that sweet, sweet animal life. Plus a now-useless barcode.

Finally, the sides of the box both feature another angle of the set, with a captured shark and a sawfish that's getting a little too close for comfort for one of the divers.

Once you open it, the seafaring fun doesn't stop at the exterior of the box, with a blue tray that helps contribute to the aquatic atmosphere.

Take all the bags out of the right partition and you get the instructions plus a small catalogue which shows the hottest sets of 1997. Had to take a photo of the Divers page, as it looks great, with none of the obvious computer backgrounds that most promotional art has now.

Instructions

No surprises here. It's about the same as the box front, except without the name or age range.

On the back are those wonderfully goofy alternative models again, along with a small blue tag in the lower left corner, which would be cut out and sent to LEGO for a magazine subscription. It may be repetitive, but I'll take this over Win-Shouty Kid any day of the week.

Here's a random page in the actual instruction booklet. As you can see, no call-outs for individual parts, although submodels do have little yellow boxes. This can make for a more challenging build if you're not paying attention, though it's what I'm used to, so no problems there. Given the limited color palette, you get very good color differentiation, along with some fun graphics of schools of fish swimming around behind the instructions.

Pieces

Here's the eight bags that'll make up the whole set, still freshly sealed from all the way back in 1997. While LEGO doesn't use the bags with holes in them anymore (presumably to ensure the parts stay fresh), they still have a nice tactile quality to them.

As far as loose parts go, all we've got here is one long string that will make up the winch and one lone LURP, which were everywhere back in the day.

Two tan 32x16-stud baseplates make up the last loose parts in the box. Not as exciting as some other aquatic baseplates, but does provide plenty of room for staging little dioramas.

Here's my first attempt at creating a photo grid in PhotoShop, with four of the bags open. Again, much like the instructions, no neat and orderly numbered bags like they make now. Chaos reigns when it comes to what parts are in what bag, so you just have to open all of them. Depending on your point of view, it can be either incredibly frustrating or incredibly rewarding to scrounge around until you find the exact piece you're looking for.

And here's my second attempt at creating a photo grid in PhotoShop. With another four bags open, we can get started...almost.

In case you couldn't see what was in the one plastic window, which so ably displayed all the cool new parts from this subtheme, worry not, as I took another photo of the parts after peeling the film away. We get some more sea life, some seaweed, two minifigures that have been tragically bisected by the sawfish and a few printed parts.

As for the parts of interest, we have not one, not two, but three light-blue bubble windscreens, which were the most common versions according to Bricklink and mostly appeared in Divers sets (and were always excellent to have). We also get some neat modified bricks which were quite rare, only appearing in two sets in white and five sets total. The white and yellow panels 4x3x3 with portholes are also somewhat rare, having only appeared in five sets total, and only two sets in the color white, both from the Divers theme. As for the white panel 4x4x6 concave, these parts only appeared in seven sets, including some older ones from the space theme. Both the white and yellow 3x3x3 corner convex parts are probably one the more unique items here, having solely appeared in divers sets, while the minifigure handjet was sprinkled among a number of themes and subthemes (no pun intended), including an Aquazone set and Alpha Team: Mission Deep Sea one. Perhaps one of the more surprising finds here was the bow top, 6x6x1, which only appeared in two Divers sets. All told, quite a catch.

As befits LEGO's generosity, we get two separate DSS for this set. I opted to leave off the marine life ones that go on the LURP since we now have actual molds to fill the gap, but I ended up using all the ones on the larger sheet, as it helps give the set some more character.

Fortunately, LEGO's not a complete monster, and does give us plenty of excellent printed parts to make up for all the stickers, including control panels, a diving flag and three fun sea life tiles that will be part of a play feature.

While I don't think it's to the same level as Adventurers, we still get lots of nice accessories for the minifigures to use as they explore the depths, along with two baseball hats to wear when they're not.

Minifigures

After getting the minifigures into emergency surgery (otherwise known as my hands), they're back together and ready to go! While they work well enough as generic figs to play around with, the May/June 1997 issue of Mania Magazine saw fit to give them all names that, depending on your perspective, are either endearingly silly or irritatingly cute. From left to right, we have Cora Reef (I think), twins Tug Topside and R.C. Scooter, along with Diver Dan and Scuba Sandy. As befits minifigures from this era, no backprinting exists for any of these characters, although the front of their uniforms are on-point, with great little sub logos that suggests a level of financing and organization the blue divers from the same subtheme simply don't have.

Here's the gang with all their uniforms and scuba equipment on. Now we have a little more differentiation among the identical ones, and some of the flippers come into play. Love how the red and black flippers contribute to the overall look of the uniform.

A rear shot of Cora and Dan with their oxygen tanks on. Kind of wish LEGO still used these ones, instead of the dual tanks from space sets, which are smaller and less detailed.

We also get plenty of aquatic life for this set, including two stingrays, the happiest (and rarest) dolphin I've seen, the common sawfish and octopus, plus a white shark that may or may not be great. Hard to say with the newer one from this year.

The Build

We start by building the boat, which fits in nicely with the color scheme of the overall set. Even the 1x4 red brick works given the color band that makes up part of the actual Refuge structure.

Build it up some more with a crane boom and some steering...

...then after tying off the string to the winch and hook, which is one of the two most frustrating steps in the world...

...you'll have a boat! Though something's still missing. So, after the second most frustrating step in the world...

The boat is complete! While I don't have too many of the larger brick-built boats from this theme, the design of the cabin is particularly nice with the raised platform for the sonar dish. Not to mention the stern of the boat works better than the one from Shark Cage Cove, which always seemed a little low.

Some other angles of the boat. One thing I like here is how the number on the side corresponds to the set number, something that still gets done anytime you pick up a set that has a vehicle in it.

Now to move onto the main course that is the Deep Sea Refuge itself. I was surprised the instructions had you start on the main model immediately after building one of the two vehicles, but so it goes. We start by building the base. The blue hinge brick in the center is part of a play function that we'll come back to later.

Add some flooring and the all-important chrome silver knives...

...followed by some furniture and hooks that will make up the changing room for divers...

...and we're well on our way. But first, a sub-model in the form of an X-ray machine. Obviously sleeker versions can be made now, but it works just fine and fits in nicely.

Now it's starting to take shape. The machine on the opposite side of the X-ray machine is supposed to be a microscope, though it may not be the best version I've seen. The changing room for divers looks good, and fits all the extra scuba accessories that come with the set.

Once that's complete, the Refuge gets closed up and we start working on the rock formation.

Add a LURP and a roof to the Refuge...

...and we're done! While Sebastian and Flounder may be missing, there's still plenty of room on the two 32x16-stud baseplates for the sea life and divers we do get from the set.

Some more angles of the Refuge itself. While it's quite bulbous, the shaping actually works for the structure, even if the greenery is a little samey compared to the diversity of parts we're spoiled with now.

Now that we've gotten through the appetizer and main course, time for dessert, in the shape of a yellow submarine. We start with the base...

Add in some branded compartments and that fishy computer screen in rear...

...and the sub starts to take shape once we add the last bubble windscreen and the porthole panels.

Much like Aquazone sets, this sub comes with two moveable arms, even if it's missing a magnet hand. Unlike Aquazone sets, the joints that make up the arms seem to be slightly sturdier and less breakable, since they use fewer finger hinge parts. Guess time will tell if they break as readily. Also of note are the parts they use for the hands of the arms. I've only seen the towball piece used as part of a winch before, so it's cool to see a different use for it here.

And there we are, one yellow submarine! While not as fancy as the one used by The Beatles, it still pops nicely.

Another two angles of the sub. If you can ignore my crooked sticker placement on the rear and the shoddy PhotoShop job I did, you'll see this is one sleek machine, a far cry from the Crystal Explorer Sub's bulbousness. The fence pieces on top, along with the light gray bar adds some nice greebling detail.

Hats aside, the two spare parts here include a Technic axle and a trans-clear 1x1 round stud. Pretty basic.

Play Features

While lacking in such traditional fun-filled action features from our "enlightened" age like flick-fire missiles or stud shooters, there's still some good solid stuff here. The most interesting feature that springs to mind is how easy it is to get inside the Refuge. With two hinge bricks, the structure easily swings open.

There we go! Plenty of room for Sandy to do her research and for Diver Dan to get a new oxygen tank. Here you can see the cleverness of using trans-light-blue for the bubble windscreens, making it seem as if they're actually underwater, instead of an ad hoc photo studio. The placement of seaweed right outside both of the windscreens is also a solid design choice, giving the illusion of swimming to a stingray on the left and Cora on the right.

So I'm cheating here, but didn't want to figure out the proper exposure for a printed tile on black under a dark blue window, so I'm stealing from the instructions. All three tiles, much like the Exploriens gimmick (and maybe a few others) look scrambled under normal light, but once you look at them through the dark-blue window, you can see bones and other fun-filled secrets.

 

Curious about what the Refuge looks like when closed up? Simply open up the roof and you'll be able to see the structure the way the minifigures would. Kudos to the designer for making the entrance to the Refuge four studs by four studs to fit an actual minifigure, although they lose a few points once you realize there's no easy way into the structure given the placement of the struts.

The bubble windscreens are also big enough to accommodate a minifigure as well, which probably comes in handy if you want to do some lounging, and can open up.

Much like the Refuge, accessibility is the name of the game with the sub too. The bubble windscreen opens wide to place R.C. in his comfy blue chair...

...and thanks to four hinge bricks in the rear, it's a snap to place another minifigure in the back, although this is clearly the less comfortable position given how there's no chair.

And if a diver finds something they want to stow away safely, all they have to do is open one of the two boxes on either side of the sub. Admittedly, I don't know if the printed tiles would fit in here, but the coins definitely would, along with whatever other knicknacks they happen to come across.

The arms on the sub are also just as capable as a minifigure's, and can grasp a number of things. You'll also notice that there's plenty of room to display the sub on the baseplate without needing to take something else out.

And thanks to the miracle of trans-clear bricks, I can make it seem as if the boat is floating on the surface of the water, where our last few play features reside.

But before I forget, the boat does have a nice little compartment near the bow for placing spearguns, hats, and whatever other accessories aren't in play. While lacking a hatch on the top to seal the compartment (along with an accessible way for the pilot to get to the compartment short of clambering around the outside of the bow), it's still nice to have.

Last but not least is the boat's winch, which has plenty of string to reach the (imaginary) seabed. That 41L string piece can also attach quite easily to the roof of the Refuge, even if it's not exactly clear what it's function is. If you're a fan of the movie The Abyss, you could treat it as an electronic tether and recreate the scene where the drilling platform slides deeper into the oceanic trench by pushing the set off the table.

Final Thoughts

Pricing and Value - According to Brick Insights, which I use for this sort of thing because I'm lazy, the price-per-part for this set is $0.22, which is a slight improvement over its price-per-part back in 1997, when it was at $0.24, which makes it good overall. That said, I think this set was still worth it even if the score was worse, given how many rare and exclusive parts you get in this set. Speaking of...

Pieces - You get three bubble windscreens, eight panels with portholes, some parts that are nice to have such as an anchor and a chain, along with plenty of seaweed, string and sea animals. I'd say that's a pretty good deal, especially when you look at how much you get, and the rarity of some of these parts.

Design/Build - This might be one of the more satisfying builds I've gone through recently. With two vehicles, you have something to show for your efforts without it taking too much time. With a lack of small plates and tiles, you can quickly assemble one model after another, and it's all well thought out. The sub is longer than some of the other ones from this...ahem...subtheme, but still looks sleek with plenty of room to access the interior, and the Refuge is similar. No matter if your hands are large or dainty, LEGO made sure grubby digits of all sizes can get into the Refuge. While lacking some of the more homely touches that make up 2020's Ocean Exploration Base such as a bed, coffee maker or lamp, this one has the edge by actually making it seem watertight, something that is frustratingly lacking in more recent underwater sets. And the boat is a nice addition that didn't need to be included in a set whose main focus is underwater anyway, so adding one in is a nice touch, which I can't say for the more recent line.

Playability - This review took me a little longer than planned, since once the Refuge itself was complete, it was hard to get back on track and finish the sub. There's so much to do, with all the divers, accessories and sea life that you can have a number of adventures and not once get tired. Swoosh the boat. Swoosh the sub. Swoosh the aquatic animals into the Refuge. Even if this is the only set you have, it's still enough to have a good time (although I might have to recommend picking up a set that comes with a shark cage).

Verdict: There's a reason this is a flagship set, one that, judging by The Brickster's review, is still widely loved and appreciated. If you compare the more recent Ocean Exploration Base to this set, it's almost no contest in terms of what you get. LEGO Divers may not always sell as strongly in the aftermarket as other retired themes, but it's well worth your while to seek this set out. Heck, it even integrates quite nicely with more modern underwater City subthemes, yellow colorschemes and all. While this set wasn't the first one from this subtheme I was looking to buy, when I saw it, I figured it was worth the price. And boy was it ever. I suspect this will stay in my collection for quite some time. 

Thanks for reading! Comments and questions always welcome! 

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Mr Maniac

[linusbohman]

Thanks for crafting a very nice review of what seems to be a very cool set! I've read quite a few LEGO reviews, and especially considering you're a first time reviewer (maybe only on Eurobricks?) this is a great effort. I didn't get this set when I was young, but I'm quite intrigued by it now.

Since you mentioned Brick Insights, I thought I should let you know that the site picked up on your review and that it is now added :)

[JintaiZ]

Great review! I do think the set is good for its age...

Edited January 5, 2021 by JintaiZ

[Mr Maniac]

12 hours ago, linusbohman said:

Since you mentioned Brick Insights, I thought I should let you know that the site picked up on your review and that it is now added :)

Well, well, well! Imagine that! Guess I'll be using them again for my future set reviews, and see if lightning can strike twice. ;)

In all seriousness though, thanks for the kind words! All credit to other photo reviewers who've posted on this site (for example, I must have looked at Z06's review of the Neptune Discovery Lab a dozen or so times) for giving me a blueprint to work from.

Have several more sets I'm looking to review (once I recover from this one), so I'm excited to hopefully help fill in some of the gaps of Eurobricks' set indices!

[icm]

Thank you for this wonderfully detailed review of a splendid set.  It reminds me of the detailed photo reviews with lots of responses that used to distinguish Eurobricks when the forum was new, in the late 2000s.  I was just barely getting into Lego as a kid when this set came out, so I was aware of it and I wanted it but it was long gone by the time my parents were buying me anything larger than impulse-size sets.  I really miss the alt builds on the back of the box and the wonderful practical product photography that used to distinguish the box art and the catalogs. You could find similar brick-built scenes for City waves in City instructions as recently as two or three years ago, but in general they're long gone for most lines, and they seem to be gone for City now too.  The 1997 Divers line had such a fun subtropical atmosphere, with all these happy people just loving their jobs and learning all this cool stuff.  I always imagined the setting to be in bright shallow waters off the Bahamas, or the Florida Keys, or maybe the Great Barrier Reef or the Galapagos.  The City divers lines seem to take place in darker, deeper waters with less light and less marine life, and higher pressure requiring more cautious, less fun work.  

A couple of years ago, I bought a copy of Deep Sea Refuge (I knew it as Deep Reef Refuge) off eBay; I just recently pulled it out of storage again during lockdown.  Such a fun set!  Such a nice combination of vehicles and bases and scenery, with realistic and accurate and playable, yet simple builds, and a large number of minifigs and sea creatures.  The boat works very well for playing Jaws with the shark.  If you get rid of the sea creatures and flippers and look at the base and the scenery and the minifigures with slightly different eyes, you have a pretty good base on an alien planet too.

Please keep these reviews coming!

[ArneNielsen]

On 9/15/2020 at 7:05 AM, Mr Maniac said:

While lacking some of the more homely touches that make up 2020's Ocean Exploration Base such as a bed, coffee maker or lamp

As I have just build 60265 Ocean Exploration Base, and placed it next to my 6441, I can say, that every other aspect except what you mentioned is better in 6441. 

Examples:

1) Yes, true deep sea vehicles and modules use round portholes, as they are more resistant to water pressure than the square train-windows in 60265

2) The base module in 6441 is closed, but hinged. The base in 60265 lacks the 4th module (compression chamber maybe? Why are there never compression chambers in divers sets?), making it very open - and the ship module lacks any kind of interior.

3) The bigger baseplate in 6441 makes room for seabed. The small baseplates in 60265 dont give much space for the seabed-litter - and the open rock just looks stupid (and why are there the 2x2 tile inside the rock?)

I do have an extra unopened 6441 laying around somewhere, and after just building 60265, and then reading yoru excellent review of 6441, I am VERY tempted to dig it out of storage, just for the joy of building it.

 

[Mr Maniac]

On 9/15/2020 at 10:15 PM, icm said:

The 1997 Divers line had such a fun subtropical atmosphere, with all these happy people just loving their jobs and learning all this cool stuff.  I always imagined the setting to be in bright shallow waters off the Bahamas, or the Florida Keys, or maybe the Great Barrier Reef or the Galapagos.  The City divers lines seem to take place in darker, deeper waters with less light and less marine life, and higher pressure requiring more cautious, less fun work.  

Glad to see I'm not alone when it comes to how I view the original Divers theme! Given how the diver minifigures are equipped, I'd say that perspective makes a lot of sense, especially when it comes to how the art of each box depicts the full set, with the surface not too far away in case they need a break.

Also never considered re-purposing this as a research station on another planet, but you're absolutely right on that front, especially if you use some of those newer coral pieces as foliage! And thank you for the very kind words around this review! I suspect a lot of the photo reviews you're mentioning are ones I also was perusing when they were in vogue, and I absolutely plan to continue (in fact, I already have)!

On 9/18/2020 at 8:50 AM, ArneNielsen said:

Why are there never compression chambers in divers sets?

Heh, funny you should mention that, seeing how I just looked at Jang Bricks' review of 60265 earlier today, and he had similar complaints. While the central chamber certainly looks the part, the lack of any real door or other mechanism to seal it off from the exterior environment left a lot to be desired. I kind of think that goes for most of the 2020 Ocean Exploration sets as a whole. You've got some very cool parts, including that new hammerhead and great white shark, or the new diver helmets, but that's about it. For me, most of the sets are only interesting for the parts they have, instead of the whole thing. Anyway, that sounds pretty cool that you've got an unopened Deep Sea Refuge you're thinking of building! Hope you enjoy the experience. I know I did!