[OFFICIAL] 10320 Eldorado Fortress - Available NOW

[Alexandrina]

10 minutes ago, dimc said:

Way more ship

This is a big one for me. The original only having a rowboat feels out of place, almost comical - how is he ever going to catch up to the boat which has two people who could row together? I get why it existed and especially when combined with other sets on the market at the time it's not an issue, but on its own it felt weird.

[F1stzz]

16 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

One detail on the LEGO.com product page that caught my eye is that Broadside's office is described as an "Admiral's office" — not sure whether that's a typo/error, a retcon, or a sign that Broadside has earned a substantial promotion since the classic era! Broadside's design does show some signs of aging, just as Redbeard's did in Barracuda Bay.

Going from governor to admiral is quite the opposite of being promoted, I should say. If anything, the description totally gives away the fact TLG didn't even have the character of Governor Broadside in mind while designing the main figure for this set, them using a 3626cpb2144 faceprint instead of 3626cpb1335 only adds to the point.

[Roebuck]

In addition to new animals I want a Castle and Pirate set every 3 years (to be generous add Space in the mix) and maybe 2 GWP from the themes every year, and what do Lego do they deliver! Now 3 years after the fantastic B-bay set we get this a recreation of one of my all time favourite sets  with my favourite fraction the bluecoats (always liked those best even more than the pirates)

I will of course buy this set and I am sure I will love to build and display it however I have some early comments just looking at the pictures with some pros and cons.

• The minifigures are great, the new hat/hair piece is perfect and we get 2 different. I like that none of the pirates are Captain Redbeard. There are 8 of them like the original, but 2 more civilians for the boat would have been even better.
• It is very similar to the original, that is both good and not so good so I might display it as the alternative model that looks excellent. If I can choose I probably prefer in the future something like B-bay or the 90th year castle way of doing it, that take inspiration from the classic themes and make something new, but do not make a modern copy like this and forestmen GWP.
• They have added a cannon, 2 palm trees and animals the original did not have so that is nice.
• The crane looks very big, but that could be more realistic or it has some nice functions maybe
• The boat is nice to get in this set, maybe it looks a little odd, but the original did as well so they are similar.
• Both this and the forestmen GWP (and three in the castle) has black parts where they normally should have been brown because the originals had it, I am sure Lego have tried with brown parts instead and preferred black, but will be interesting to see them swapped out at least with brown..
• I like the stone path.
• Not so sure about the doors especially the top one probably liked the original part better..
• I knew we would not get the chrome gold coins back, but would have been great and the palm tree trunk as well
  
  The most important is that Pirates and especially bluecoats are back

 

[RichardGoring]

1 minute ago, Roebuck said:

The most important is that Pirates and especially bluecoats are back

Yes indeed! Love the bluecoats. 

[brimbolet]

12 minutes ago, F1stzz said:

Going from governor to admiral is quite the opposite of being promoted, I should say. If anything, the description totally gives away the fact TLG didn't even have the character of Governor Broadside in mind while designing the main figure for this set, them using a 3626cpb2144 faceprint instead of 3626cpb1335 only adds to the point.

He should consider himself to be lucky to have an army position at all... he didn't even catch captain Redbeard in all these years! Probably his daughter saved his job 

[F1stzz]

8 minutes ago, _R_R_ said:

Agreed on the minifigures, I understand TLG aims to be more inclusive these days but female blue coats don't really fit the lore or the time period and as I mentioned previously female pirates would've been much better. If they really want to go the extra mile there's badass pirate ladies from real life like Anne Bonny and Ching Shih they could take inspiration from, especially the latter which could come on a very exotic pirate ship and bring a new faction to the theme. As far as Governor Broadside I agree the face print seems a bit lazy but it doesn't really bother me at the same time, what I'm currently planning on is replacing the female heads with male ones, using a different head for Broadside and piece together a merchant for the small ship, that is if I don't completely revamp the minifigs with fleshy parts so they can fit my PoTC display.

As far as the built itself I don't have big issues aside from the all black docks, to fix that I will add brown plates on top to give the impression of wooden boards but I will leave the black beams, I feel that will create a nice contrast.

Well, generally speaking I can also swap Broadside's head for 3626cpb1335 easily & use the one in the set for my take on Black Jack Hawkins custom figure (that head is more fitting for this particular guy if you take a look at his original faceprint), but the point is — for the love of God, Governor Broadside is THE main character here! I appreciate the fact that we have a new torso for him here, but why the hell TLG f'd things up with the faceprint so badly! I was really hoping to get a cool refreshed Broadside with this set, but instead there's another generic "Admiral guy" 

[Aanchir]

12 minutes ago, F1stzz said:

Going from governor to admiral is quite the opposite of being promoted, I should say. If anything, the description totally gives away the fact TLG didn't even have the character of Governor Broadside in mind while designing the main figure for this set, them using a 3626cpb2144 faceprint instead of 3626cpb1335 only adds to the point. 

Huh — I'm not really a naval history buff, but I always got the impression from old LEGO Pirates catalogs and story material that Admiral Woodhouse substantially outranked Governor Broadside, and was sent in by the crown to clean up Broadside's messes when it was clear that the governor was either too lenient or too inept to deal with the local pirate problem!

Not doubting your word, though! After all, it's not as though pirate fiction (especially the sort aimed at kids) has ever had a sparkling reputation for historical accuracy! And you're right that the figure's design isn't obviously modeled on Broadside aside from the uniform. All the more reason I'm eager to learn if the instruction manual offers any more specifics about the characters and setting.

[Captain_SoyBeard]

OMG time to make a soy face! Then I will read your comments with great interest...

[F1stzz]

4 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

Huh — I'm not really a naval history buff, but I always got the impression from old LEGO Pirates catalogs and story material that Admiral Woodhouse substantially outranked Governor Broadside, and was sent in by the crown to clean up Broadside's messes when it was clear that the governor was either too lenient or too inept to deal with the local pirate problem!

Not doubting your word, though! After all, it's not as though pirate fiction (especially the sort aimed at kids) has ever had a sparkling reputation for historical accuracy!

"Admiral" is the leader of naval forces and "governor" is basically the person in charge of the particular colony or even the whole colonial system, in other words — "the New World's King". Ground forces, Navy, the whole trading system & etc. are all being governed, so to speak, by this person in charge, so yeah, Broadside is indeed by all means THE character  

13 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

And you're right that the figure's design isn't obviously modeled on Broadside aside from the uniform. All the more reason I'm eager to learn if the instruction manual offers any more specifics about the characters and setting.

If this set's manuals contain something similar to the stories we've got with 21322 — yeah, I'd also like to know TLG's reasoning behind butchering my Governor 

[eldiano]

1 minute ago, F1stzz said:

"Admiral" is the leader of naval forces and "governor" is basically the person in charge of the particular colony or even the whole colonial system, in other words — "the New World's King". Ground forces, Navy, the whole trading system & etc. are all being governed, so to speak, by this person in charge, so yeah, Broadside is indeed by all means THE character  

If this set's manuals contain something similar to the stories we've got with 21322 — yeah, I'd also like to know TLG's reasoning behind butchering my Governor 

Have you seen the Lego promotional

video of this set? It was all the singing monkey’s fault hahaha, it’s actually pretty catchy and well done 😍😍

 

 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

I find the ship a little under proportioned but otherwise this set is more than ok!

[Yperio_Bricks]

27 minutes ago, eldiano said:

Have you seen the Lego promotional video of this set? It was all the singing monkey’s fault hahaha, it’s actually pretty catchy and well done 😍😍

 

Yeah, the stop motion video is great!

Edited June 14, 2023 by Yperio_Bricks

[Roebuck]

Expect reviews soon
 

 

[Jiesdeo]

Any indication if this will be exclusively DTC, like the Lion Knight's Castle, or if it will be available in retail as well?

[Robert8]

Set of the year 

[Jiesdeo]

Also, it would be great to get a Sabre Island that fits with the modular system as a GWP (most probable scenario).

[dimc]

There are 5 torsos on PAB that can be turned into pirates at the moment.

Red/white stripes with bare arms
Blue/white stripes with bare arms
Red/white stripes with blue vest
Blue jacket with brown belt crossed across the torso. This feels most appropriate for the cargo ship captain.
Robin Loot, which is green with white sleeves and some buttons on the front. This might also work for the ship captain.

Sadly it doesn't appear they have the tricornes with attached hair, but the regular black tricorne and admirals hats can be purchased, along with brown muskets, dark grey flintlock pistols, and the classic sword. Dual molded legs are brutally expensive, so trying to make boots-ed up figures is going to be pricey.

Anyways, in my infinite desire for random pieces to add details, that's $70 in my PAB cart so far...

[TalonCard]

1 hour ago, _R_R_ said:

Agreed on the minifigures, I understand TLG aims to be more inclusive these days but female blue coats don't really fit the lore or the time period and as I mentioned previously female pirates would've been much better.

We do know from the LEGO lore that the 18th century Imperial militaries were more inclusive than in real life history: there's Miranda Valentina in the LEGOLAND Florida stunt show, lady Armada officers in LEGO Chess, and Cadet Rita LaQuay from LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed. 

I like this set a lot--cheers to those bold enough to speculate that the Imperial Trading Post ship would be included, I'm shocked but delighted; I didn't think they'd really do it! 

[dimc]

16 minutes ago, Roebuck said:

Expect reviews soon
 

 

I don't know who this is, but they are so dorky about it and I love it. This is basically how I would be if Lego sent me one of those. Maybe I need a youtube channel...

[TalonCard]

9 minutes ago, dimc said:

I don't know who this is, but they are so dorky about it and I love it. This is basically how I would be if Lego sent me one of those. Maybe I need a youtube channel...

Do it, it's fun!
I didn't get a really good look at the alternate configuration until just now, but that's actually pretty awesome too. I wonder if they considered having that be the main model and the classic Eldorado as the alternate, ala Barracuda Bay.

[Sir Dano]

What a beautiful set. Only downsides are the monkey and palm tree, fortunately I have plenty of old ones of both so they're easily replaced.

[jodawill]

You've got to love how the website says, "The gang's all here!" and we're missing Captain Redbeard, Governor Broadside, de Martinet, Will, Spinoza, Popsy... pretty much literally every character from the original comic.

Edited June 14, 2023 by jodawill

[dimc]

3 minutes ago, jodawill said:

You've got to love how the website says, "The gang's all here!" and we're missing Captain Redbeard, Governor Broadside, de Martinet, Will, Spinoza, Popsy... pretty much literally every character from the original comic.

Can you point me to this comic? Was this a thing not in every market?
I admit, I had very few pirates sets growing up, and now I have a lot, but lore is always good to know!

[jodawill]

2 minutes ago, dimc said:

Can you point me to this comic? Was this a thing not in every market?
I admit, I had very few pirates sets growing up, and now I have a lot, but lore is always good to know!

It was definitely available in the US. Here's a scan.

Edit: Sorry, that wasn't in English. Here's the English version.

Edited June 14, 2023 by jodawill

[dimc]

1 minute ago, jodawill said:

It was definitely available in the US. Here's a scan.

Ha! I was just looking here (https://bricknerd.com/home/everything-you-want-to-know-about-lego-pirates-6-8-21) and it mentions you discussing the comic on eurobricks! Thanks for the link, I'll take a read!