WhiteFang Posted February 23, 2009 Hello to all Eurobricks members and avid Pirates' Fans, With the current excitement of the launch of these Pirate sets, I managed to complete an 8396 Soldier’s Arsenal impulse set review, a month ago. Right now, I will bring again another new impulse set review which is bound to excite the pirates’ fans with this new addition to the current pirate theme. Shall we walk through the live of this lonely pirate? Name: Pirate Survival Theme: LEGO System / Pirates Year: 2009 Pieces: 17 Minifigs: 1 Price: USD$3.50, GBP 1.95, SGD$6.90 Resources: Brickset, Peeron An image of a 8397, Pirate Survival The cunning castaway Pirates have been spotted on the faraway islands. Fishermen have been sending in reconnaissance reports to the Imperial Royal Navy on a regular basis that some straggling sea rats are hiding and lurking in those areas. It’s time to discover what the essential survival kit is for stowaway pirates. Another pirate impulse set army builder, for building up more Pirate crewmembers for their menacing ships. This set enable builders to expand more of their crewmembers by purchasing more of this and adding it to your crew count. This set does not offer much building experience. Instead it offered more useful accessories and parts which could be added to your inventories. Mini Instruction Manual This is the overview of the 8397 instruction manual. As usual, this is the typical size for an impulse set built. The building process is extremely simple. Most of us should be using the box art as a good building manual instead. Perhaps, we could use this miniature manual as a mini poster for alternate usage, like what I have done, by pinning it in my office cubicle. Pirate's personal survival kit Now, let us take a closer look on the stowaway survival kit. It seemed whenever there is pirate presence, there is bound to be some loot within their possession. In here, there is an emerald and ruby gem. A pick axe and wooden box is useful for treasure burial in case the pirate has to separate itself away from its loot when the authorities are closing in. A brown flintlock pistol is essential for protecting your back. Never trust anyone, even your own crewmembers. You will never know when you are sold out. There is a warm fire keeping you warm. You can use it to grill your small fish for your daily consumption. This is how a stowaway pirate maintains itself from dying. Lastly, beware of the slithering red snake lurking around looking for its victims. The nasty lone pirate crew Look at that rugged fierce looking pirate. He does appear to be dangerous looking with that beard and moustache on his facial. With that green rag or beret looking, a torn brown open vest and shabby green pants, his attire does look awful. On the other hand, you are able to notice his anchor tattoo on the right of his chest and a rope slinging over his body. The amount of detail done onto its torso is simply superb especially the revealing chest hair. You might want to note, that this minifig's head and hairpiece has appeared in 6241 Loot Island as well. Comparison against former crew member On your right, this is your classic looking typical pirate crew which was largely available in many Classic Pirates’ sets such as 6262 King Kahuka’s throne and 6286 Skull Eye Schooner from 1992 to 1994. He has a messy brown hair, matched with an eye patch on his left eye. This crewmember does lead a hectic life. While, the current looking pirate crew offer a much different looking, especially on its facial appearance. The newer looking face, does look much unfriendly compared to the Classic looking. Despite of such differences, the point which I want to bring across is, both minifigs could be integrated as part of the pirate crew regardless of their designs. Whatever the case, these are still your pirates’ minifigs that is giving your Imperial Royal Navy a hard time. A shanty house set up? This lone pirate sure knows how to make his ideal way of camping when he is out alone. A fire pit and a cooked fish which is enough to fill his hungry stomach but not his crave for rum. How about a bottle of rum included? I am sure it is much complete than the current set up. You don’t need multiple fire pits. Eventually, this set is broken up into useful parts for future modifications and parts usage. This is a great way to garner these parts for an affordable price. What is your best buy for these precious gems? This is not one of the best impulse sets, compared to the 8396 Soldier’s Arsenal. I bought more 8396 sets compared to this. However, I will like to emphasis that this is still one good impulse set which is mainly commended for its wide variety of accessories such as the new molded fish, gems, pick axe, wooden box and an unfriendly looking pirate to be recruited into your crew. This is indeed one of the good impulse sets which you can grab without much hesitation. Summary review Playability: 8/10 (Pirate member could be use to increase the crew count.) Design: 7/10 (Firepit is extremely simple. This set has very low design attributes but offer good amount of accessories ) Price: 9/10 (Price is affordable to obtain a pirate crew plus a good range of accessories.) Overall: 8/10 (One of the best impulse sets of all time and defintely an essential one for those whom are keen to build a core pirate crew cleaning and washing your deck.) I gave it a "4" based on my Review Score Card. What about yours? Hope everyone of you enjoyed reading this simple review of mine. Comments and Critics are strongly welcomed. Pictures can be found in My Brickshelf (When moderated) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erdbeereis Posted February 23, 2009 Excellent review as usual WhiteFang! While this set isn't as good in my opinion as the Soldier Impulse, it's still one of my favorite impulse sets out there. It's a great way to get a new fish piece, and the pirate is a nice minifig as well. Thanks for the review! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
strider406 Posted February 23, 2009 Good review. This is a nice little set. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ILikePi Posted February 23, 2009 Great review! I just got this set yesterday (on Saturday), and it's great! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lorentzen Posted February 23, 2009 I'm really impressed with how much text you managed to put into a review of such a small set... I agree with you that this is one of the best impulse sets - I have a couple of these sets, and they are great both as army builders, but also because of the crate, fish, fire and the staff - just like the Soldier's Arsenal is a great army builder due to the minifig and his weapons... I really think that TLG has spent a lot of time thinking about how to make the Pirates line as good as possible Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ditto Posted February 23, 2009 nice review. althought adding a cutlass would have made it a better set. how can a pirate not own one? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorbas Posted February 23, 2009 Thanks for another great and detailed review WhiteFang! Combining the two eras was a very good idea! The photo you 've posted with the two minipirates minifigs side by side does the job! The evolution of the pirate line is clear there and also it made feel nostalgic. On to the set: Although the minifig is great I think that this impulse set is probably one of the most "empty" i've seen lately. Almost all impulse sets -and not just pirates- include a small structure together with accessories. This one has none. This is not one of the best impulse sets, compared to the 8396 Soldier’s Arsenal. I bought more 8396 sets compared to this. My thoughts exactly. When I visited a toy store last month to buy some 2009 sets, I saw this one and the 8396 Soldier’s Arsenal. Guess what i bought. Yes, Soldier's Arsenal. Not only for the outstanding minifig but also because the set itself looked more full. On the other hand this is a great buy for anyone who wants to recruit more pirates in their fleet. .....i'm still gonna buy it though! Who can resist to impulse sets? Thanks again for sharing the pictures and the review! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JadeIceGreen Posted February 25, 2009 Overall: 8/10 (One of the best impulse sets of all time and defintely an essential one for those whom are keen to build an army of Imperial Solders.) Is there a mistake here? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lordofdragonss Posted February 25, 2009 This set is useful- fish, stick and box of diamonds are really nice, byt fireplace is ugly... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WhiteFang Posted February 25, 2009 Guys, thanks for all of your words of encouragement. I enjoyed reading all of your views and thoughts towards this set. Many of us do have mixed feeling about this set especially if we compared it against the Soldier Arsenal. However, this is an impulse set and being a Pirate theme, I can easily rate this as one of the much valued impulse set compared to many others which might have lower rating than this, mainly because of its accessories and parts such as the fish. The biggest downside in this set, could largely be its building process. In fact, there is bare minimum building experience involved in this set. It appeared to be more like some useful parts group together and launch it as one set. Despite of this major disadvantage, this set still command a higher score for many reasons which I have mentioned. Is there a mistake here? Yes. I had corrected the mistake and reflect the correct terms in it. Thanks for pointing it out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ratshot Posted February 25, 2009 review, I returned from Saskatchewan today hauling 1 pirate survival,2 soldier arsenal and 1 Kracken Attacking :pir-grin: Anyway I would rate Pirate survival 4/5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Legoist Posted February 26, 2009 Nice review! I'm not so positive on the set tho. It seems one of the least useful impulse sets to me, if not the worst of them. The minifig itself is great, no question. Actually I like this face more than most of the faces in 2009 pirate sets. But the accessories are IMHO not good at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
74louloute Posted March 19, 2009 Great reveiw for a such small set ! I like the minifig and its head ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soc399 Posted March 21, 2009 Thanks for another great review, WhiteFang. I agree that the soldier impulse is the better set, but this one is pretty good. The fish is a nice addition, but one of the new flame pieces would have made this set much better. If it had a fish and a new flame, I would be buying this set by the cartful. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorro Posted March 21, 2009 Great review WHitefang, as usual. And I just love the set, not as much as the soldiers impulse, but its close . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt. Kirk Posted March 21, 2009 Better buy a lot of them because I think the fish gone cost some money in the future. I you look now at the food list on bricklink... haloa !!! Some parts are expensive !!! By the way thanks for the review WhiteFang... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Admiral Woodhouse Posted March 30, 2009 Good review on Pirate Survival. I like this set because it is great for arming a ship and for making army. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martinsuper Posted April 14, 2009 I like this set because for the mini-fig, tools, fire and other neat little accesories, it seems worth the money to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
legotrainfan Posted April 14, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the review! I simply wanted to get this brand new pirate minifig; that's why I bought this set, but I also like the high number of different utensils. The minifig also has print on its back, which was not the case with the classic pirates. And I like that print! It's a lovely detail. Looks like the pirate is not starving too quickly. After eating the fish, he can still fry the snake as well. PS. I voted "above average." Edited April 14, 2009 by legotrainfan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Legomaster34 Posted May 24, 2009 Great review! I like how you fit an interesting little story into it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
