[OFFICIAL] 10320 Eldorado Fortress - Available NOW

[jodawill]

I'd love to read more about those stories because I'm having trouble imagining how it wouldn't be obvious. Sure, a woman could be flat chested. But unless we're talking about a really young kid, like someone who could pass as a prepubescent boy, the voice, lack of facial hair, etc. should have given it away pretty quickly. What age of women are we talking here? I would think that the older the woman is, the harder it would be to pass as a male of any age. And in the military, there were probably tons of occasions where they would be expected to urinate in view of other people or be naked in various situations. But apparently they pulled it off for some length of time, or at least were convincing enough to make someone afraid to ask.

Edited July 3, 2023 by jodawill

[Breakspear]

5 minutes ago, jodawill said:

I'd love to read more about those stories because I'm having trouble imagining how it wouldn't be obvious. Sure, a woman could be flat chested. But unless we're talking about a really young kid, like someone who could pass as a prepubescent boy, the voice, lack of facial hair, etc. should have given it away pretty quickly. What age of women are we talking here? I would think that the older the woman is, the harder it would be to pass as a male of any age. And in the military, there were probably tons of occasions where they would be expected to urinate in view of other people or be naked in various situations. But apparently they pulled it off for some length of time, or at least were convincing enough to make someone afraid to ask.

I agree, its pretty hard to imagine the effort it must have required!

I'm no expert on all this, but certainly war-time emergency enlistment rules (no medical checks etc) seem to have helped a lot in enabling them to sign-up in the first place. I can imagine some recruiting officers turning a blind eye.

In all four examples I gave, all were ultimately discovered (in some cases pretty quickly):

• In case of the female soldiers, one was 23 and one 24. I'm not sure how long they maintained their secret within their unit. What's clear is that by the time the truth was known, they had already won enough respect/reputation with their comrades that they were permitted to continue in their careers.
• In the case of the mistresses, its doubtful they needed maintain an authentic disguise as they could rely on the protection of their generals. The uniform was just a fig leaf to get around army regulations.

[Roebuck]

18 hours ago, Khargeust said:

I would like to take advantage of the upcoming availability of the 40580 Blacktron Cruiser GWP to buy it (it's the only retro set I don't have) but the presence of stickers puts me off and blocks me psychologically... The printed parts are integral part of the original set and the stickers from this updated version come to ruin everything. It's a shame since none of the retro sets produced since 2020 have one. I therefore hesitate to wait for the future release of the Majisto GWP, hoping that they will be sticker free, to proceed to purchase. Maybe I'm a little psycho but I can't help it. Others in the same case? 

18 hours ago, Khargeust said:

I expected the same quality as 40567 Forest Hideout. No stickers. 

Forest hideout probably had no stickers because the prints came in the 90 year castle, Blacktron had not a set with usable prints to lean on and the same is probably true for Majisto. The Majisto fig I am not worried about since he is in the castle and have a better version in BAM, but what about the potential dragon knight and shield

 

[Khargeust]

1 hour ago, Roebuck said:

Forest hideout probably had no stickers because the prints came in the 90 year castle, Blacktron had not a set with usable prints to lean on and the same is probably true for Majisto. The Majisto fig I am not worried about since he is in the castle and have a better version in BAM, but what about the potential dragon knight and shield

 

This probably implies not seeing new Blacktron I sets soon otherwise they would have bet on parts printed for the GWP. I can't wait to see what they decide to do about the Majisto GWP. Will they extend the faction reboot to Dragon Knights or will it be limited to Black Falcons, Lions Knights and Forestmen.

Otherwise I love the plain and minimalist design of the Majisto present in the 10305. It's true that it contrasts a lot with the details of the prints of the other figurines. I imagine they could choose an exclusive print for this set though, especially if we don't have a new printed knight / soldier.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Khargeust

[eldiano]

One more day!!!

[General Magma]

I agree with the printing issue being lazy on LEGO's part, similar issues existed well over a decade ago and they still haven't bothered to do much about it.
I think the printing would look a lot better if the white were actually proper white.

[Retrocity]

I’m holding off for the Majisto GWP. No knock on the set, I’m just patient and can generally wait for things. I ended up getting the Blacktron Cruiser off of eBay for a great price and if I hadn’t, would probably get 10320 during that promotion if it would be in stock.

If we get printed elements for a Dragon Master/Knight in the Majisto set, maybe an indicator that they will be used in the rumored Medieval Market Village. From what I remember, Dragon Masters never had a small triangular shield (just the large oval shield). The few sets where they had one, they just used the small shield in the Black Knight's colors (blue dragon instead of green). It would be cool to see that shield in the proper color scheme. 

[TalonCard]

10 hours ago, Breakspear said:

Like Friederike Krüger who recieved the Iron Cross for bravery, and was granted special dispensation by the Prussian King continued to serve in the Prussian Army after her gender was discovered. Or Nadezhda Durova, who served with distinction in the Imperial Russian cavalry but struggled to gain promotion due to her youthful appearance and inability to grow a moustache.

Gotta shout out to Deborah Sampson who fought for the Americans in our Revolutionary War as well. I would think there have to be other soldiers throughout history that we don't know about because they successfully evaded detection during their service or died before they were discovered.

[DonQuixote]

16 hours ago, Horation said:

Hear hear, I second the motion (except for the weed part-the only acceptable choice here would be rum)of the right hon. member from...Belgium? (correct me if incorrect) 

You're correct 

[Big_Daddy]

Just a thought considering the ladies who have disguised themselves as men througout the ages to be able to fight in the army: it seems to be well-established that these ladies needed to 'look the part' so shouldn't that translate into masculine-looking Lego figures?

I'm still on the fence about this set, I really like it but I kind of miss the old baseplate. Not only that, but now it's been replaced for an excuse to pump up the piece number and therefore the price. With several other bigger sets on the horizon that interest me (Star Wars Ghost, maybe the Republic Gunship), this one might take a backseat. But circling back to the whole minifig situation, I'd love to replace those heads with the classic smiley heads. That would really add to the nostalgia factor for me.

[canuckster]

Guess I'll ask again, anyone know when this goes on sale in Europe?

 

Edit: sorry, guess I'll be more specific, does it go on sale at midnight?

Edited July 3, 2023 by canuckster

[Arjo]

Tomorrow, like rest of the world, no? Will be going to my local store so I hope it will be on display. Re. Actual purchase, not going to jump the gun wo 2x vip and GWP (or discount outside TLG). Too many sets, too much money, even AFOLS have to be reasonable these days!

[eldiano]

4 hours ago, Retrocity said:

I’m holding off for the Majisto GWP. No knock on the set, I’m just patient and can generally wait for things. I ended up getting the Blacktron Cruiser off of eBay for a great price and if I hadn’t, would probably get 10320 during that promotion if it would be in stock.

If we get printed elements for a Dragon Master/Knight in the Majisto set, maybe an indicator that they will be used in the rumored Medieval Market Village. From what I remember, Dragon Masters never had a small triangular shield (just the large oval shield). The few sets where they had one, they just used the small shield in the Black Knight's colors (blue dragon instead of green). It would be cool to see that shield in the proper color scheme. 

I’ll get the majisto GWP but I literally did just win a blacktron auction for 25.99usd 🤣🤣 a great price considering the others were 70 and above!!! I’ll head on over to the Lego store tomorrow morning.

Edited July 3, 2023 by eldiano

[F1stzz]

7 hours ago, General Magma said:

I think the printing would look a lot better if the white were actually proper white.

Yeah, would've been cool, ngl 

2 hours ago, Big_Daddy said:

...it seems to be well-established that these ladies needed to 'look the part' so shouldn't that translate into masculine-looking Lego figures?

Yup, somebody's already pointed at that mentioning the lipsticks on officers' faceprints. I mean, that's interesting, bcuz we have the exact thing you're talking about successfully implemented in this set: the female soldier minifig. She basically has nothing to give out her gender except the eyelashes, I believe. If TLG rly wanted to play this part the way you've suggested, they should've been sticking to the same formula they've chosen for the soldier minifig, right? Welp, I'm assuming it kinda wasn't exactly the way they wanted to do things here.

[eldiano]

6 hours ago, canuckster said:

Guess I'll ask again, anyone know when this goes on sale in Europe?

 

Edit: sorry, guess I'll be more specific, does it go on sale at midnight?

I don't want to give you a wrong answer but stateside goes live at midnight EST, I don't know what time zone it could piggy back off in europe and the people I asked on different lego forums haven't given me a straight answer period, check it around that time, the good news is that this is not a disney set that's set to fly off the shelves but lego could make lower quantities of this set and sell out, it could go either way to be honest. 

[kuzyabricks]

Going to the store tomorrow to get it! Pretty hyped!!

[eldiano]

It's live on Shop.lego on the US. limit is 3 per person.  

[Sir Dano]

Got mine ordered, now comes the painful 2 week wait for them to deliver it.

[eldiano]

So Lego's storyline of this fortress is that it's an older version of it, it's seen it's battles, similar to barracuda bay. It's continuing the story. 

6467652.pdf (lego.com)

Existing parts are up already:

LEGO® Pick a Brick | Official LEGO® Shop US

I can't to purchase a few imperial and admiral hats and those red epaulettes. 

Edited July 4, 2023 by eldiano

[Arjo]

Parts exclusive to the set are not available (yet) for purchase. The waiting game is not over! Enjoy the set everyone getting your hands on it today!

[F1stzz]

4 hours ago, eldiano said:

So Lego's storyline of this fortress is that it's an older version of it, it's seen it's battles, similar to barracuda bay. It's continuing the story. 

How is this an "older version" if it's "continuing the story"? If it's the older version of Eldorado Fortress, then the storyline should rather be a prequel than continuation. Barracuda Bay was basically a story of 6285 that's got into the storm and was shipwrecked near an uninhabited island — this is indeed the next chapter of the BSB's adventures. I just wonder where did you get the info about 10320 being an older version of 6276, cuz in the manual you've provided the link to there's no additional information given that's not been already available & discussed (story wise, ofc). What I see in the manual is 10320 being talked about in the key of "Eldorado Fortress 30 years later" & 6276 being a prequel. Maybe I'm missing something here, Idk.

3 hours ago, Arjo said:

The waiting game is not over! Enjoy the set everyone getting your hands on it today!

The amount of photos & videos, & feedbacks in the coming weeks is gonna be massive  I feel like I'm gonna be looking through those for months rly, as some of my local sellers have already placed the pre-orders at... ...around the $350-370 mark, lol  If my local retailers are gonna do the same in the coming days, I guess the general customer in my region is screwed 

Edited July 4, 2023 by F1stzz

[Alexandrina]

38 minutes ago, F1stzz said:

How is this an "older version" if it's "continuing the story"? If it's the older version of Eldorado Fortress, then the storyline should rather be a prequel than continuation.

Older in the sense that it's been around longer, the same sense as people age. For instance tomorrow I'm going to a local beauty spot I go to once a year or so, and I'll be older than I was last time I went there. Doesn't mean I'm going there in the past. Similarly, the fortress has aged in the intervening years; it's now older than it was before.

16 hours ago, F1stzz said:

Yup, somebody's already pointed at that mentioning the lipsticks on officers' faceprints. I mean, that's interesting, bcuz we have the exact thing you're talking about successfully implemented in this set: the female soldier minifig. She basically has nothing to give out her gender except the eyelashes, I believe. If TLG rly wanted to play this part the way you've suggested, they should've been sticking to the same formula they've chosen for the soldier minifig, right? Welp, I'm assuming it kinda wasn't exactly the way they wanted to do things here.

Two things I would point out here. First, the officers' lipstick isn't exactly super-bright like Lady Anchor's. In fact when I was looking through the instructions @eldiano linked I originally assumed it was the aforementioned enlisted soldier in that book, as the lipstick is barely visible on the instructions.

Secondly, is it not sort of expected that officers are allowed to take more liberties with their personal appearance, especially in older settings? Look at the Governor's ragged beard; an enlisted soldier with a beard like that would be sent to shave it all off. In that sense it doesn't seem surprising that women in the officer ranks are allowed to wear lipstick while women in the enlisted ranks are not. (My understanding also is that officers during the Golden Age of Piracy were almost entirely pulled from the upper classes; these officers are therefore the daughters of nobility, and are going to be allowed to wear make-up if they want to).

Personally I don't think Lego were going for a "these women are disguising themselves as men to enlist" storyline; I think the world Lego bases its sets in is a more egalitarian world, in which women are allowed to fight just as much as men are. We've seen in the Blacksmith, Lion Knights' Castle and Forest Hideout that the "medieval" factions have plenty of women in fighting roles. Logically that would continue into the Age of Sail. And in a world where women are just as welcome as men into the armed forces, in such a class-delineated military, I think it's entirely consistent that female officers have more lax standards than female enlisted.

[F1stzz]

24 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

Older in the sense that it's been around longer, the same sense as people age. For instance tomorrow I'm going to a local beauty spot I go to once a year or so, and I'll be older than I was last time I went there. Doesn't mean I'm going there in the past. Similarly, the fortress has aged in the intervening years; it's now older than it was before.

Oh, my bad, so it means "aged version" — makes perfect sense then 

26 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

Personally I don't think Lego were going for a "these women are disguising themselves as men to enlist" storyline.

Yep, they absolutely didn't.

[Arjo]

Well… my local store did not make much of an effort. The set is broken into individual modules which makes an underwhelming impression overall and makes it look overpriced. The boat has a good size though finish is rough. The modules did not scream yay or nay, they are “decent” on their own but I would think/hope the sum is greater than the parts in the present case. The minifigures I can live with (one can tell the printing is off but if you don’t have perfect eyesight, it is somewhat less glaring than in zoomed in pictures).

[F1stzz]

33 minutes ago, Arjo said:

Well… my local store did not make much of an effort. The set is broken into individual modules which makes an underwhelming impression overall and makes it look overpriced.

You mean they've flopped the product's presentation?