Pictorial Review - 6267 - Lagoon Lockup

[Lorentzen]

It's been a while since I last did a review (my other ones being Skull's Eye Schooner and Rock Island Refuge )

This review will cover the very popular 1991 set Lagoon Lock-Up, Lagoon Lockup, or Soldier's Tavern

6267 - Lagoon Lockup

Released: 1991

Pieces: 193

Minifgs: 5

Price: (according to peeron.com) $29

OVERVIEW

THE REVIEW

This set was probably one of my favourite sets as a kid. I loved the fact that it featured Will, Captain Redbeard's young friend, and I loved the rowing boat with the red and white sail.

Fearless Captain Redbeard sets off to rescue his young friend Will, imprisoned in the Lagoon Lockup a few miles away from the Soldiers' main base, the Eldorado Fortress.

Will Redbeard succeed, or will he fail miserably? Read my review, and see the pictures that tell the tale of Captain Redbeard's dangerous and selfless mission to save young Will.

First things first:

THE BOX (more pictures of the box with alternate models can be seen in this thread, concerning only the box art of this particular set)

THE MANUAL

The manual is pretty standard for this kind of set, and for time period. TLG has made a lot of positive changes to manuals today, which makes sets easier to build. This was not the case back then. I don't think this is a difficult set to build however, so kids would easily be able to enjoy this set. There are many guidelines throughout the manual, as you can see from the two pictures below.

First page:

Random page:

THE ACCESSORIES

You get a nice collection of weapons, a canon with six cannon balls, a brown rowing boat with a beautiful red and white sail. You also get a parrot, some wine glasses, a barrel and two flags.

I also want to remind you, that the blue 32x16 base plate is great for building forts, islands and other piratey stuff.

THE MINIFIGS

You get 5 minifigs: 1 officer, 2 soldiers and 2 pirates: Captain Redbeard and his young friend Will.

To give you a better view of this magnificent set, and an idea of the simple yet great design, here are some pictures from different angles.

If you will bare with me for just a little longer, I'll let you know if Captain Redbeard manages to save young Will later in the review.

LAGOON LOCKUP

From the back: Notice the beautiful arches

From the very top: Classic 90's Blue Coat architecture

The prison:

Behind the prison:

Outside the small (but popular amongst soldiers) tavern:

Behind the tavern:

The weird angle:

THE ESCAPE FROM LAGOON LOCKUP:

The fearless and, at rare occasions, selfless Captain Redbeard sets sail from his beloved Rock Island Refuge miles and miles away at sea to rescue his young friend Will, imprisoned at an outpost in a lagoon far away from civilization.

The Pirate Captain has waited for several hours behind a large rock, and as the night falls he grabs his oars and silently approaches the Lagoon Lockup. He hopes that his plan has worked, because he has sent ahead his mystery friend from his Skull's Eye Schooner Crew:

This guy gave the soldiers one barrel full of rum before he again sailed away. Luckily the soldiers never hestitated and they quickly got drunk while their attention towards young Will was long forgotten.

Now Will has been able to break open the rusty prison door and has been waiting patiently for his captain, while listening to the drunken soldiers sing and chat.

The once so strict and regular officer falls asleep on the front docks, just as Captain Redbeard approaches the Lagoon Lockup:

It looks as though Captain Redbeard's plan has worked - he saved Will, and can return safely to his headquarters at the Rock Island Refuge.

THE VERDICT

Design: 9/10 - The Lagoon Lockup has a great, funtional design without any weird "ideas" from the LEGO design team. I think it's almost flawless, and it's still one of the most popular Classic Pirate sets out there. The only thing missing is some sort of feature like a trap, or hidden room. But you actually don't see those features in any of the Soldier's sets. So maybe it's not so bad anyway ;)

Playability: 9/10 - The possibilities are many when you have a boat, a prison and a tavern.

Parts: 7/10 There's not a lot going on here. But the rowing boat with the red and white sail, plus the five minifigs add up, and makes this worth it.

Price: 9/10 All things considered: Large base plate, rowing boat with a rare sail, five minifgs and a canon, this was actually a pretty great purchase.

All in all, this set certainly deserves all the praise that it gets on this forum, no doubt.

This concludes my third review. I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know if I forgot something, and I'll add it as soon as possible.

[prateek]

Great review! Thanks for the comic too

[Commodore Hornbricker]

Very well constructed review. I love all those little classic pirate sets. Thanks

[Fluyt]

This is such a great set, unfortunately mine (got it 2nd hand about a year ago) isn't in the wonderfull condition yours is in (yours looks allmost new, mine has some slight discoloration and dirty bricks, allthought not too bad).

Very solid set, 2 pirates, 3 imperials, plenty of accesoires to go around and good specialty parts which add a lot to this set (mainly the sail and lattice window).

[Erdbeereis]

Wonderful review! The pictures are lovely.

This is one of the best small Classic Pirates sets in my opinion. A lot of great minifigs, and the buildings are simple but look very nice.

I'll get this indexed straight away.

[Inconspicuous]

Nice review Lorentzen! This set always felt like the big brother of Broadside's Brig, and I had not looked at it too closely. This review definitely opened my eyes to it, so if I see it cheap, I'll definitely pick it up! Thanks for the great review!

[General Armendariz]

Magnifacent review! This and sabre island were my favorite soldier sets!

[the Inventor]

Great review,

I really like this set but unfortunately I do not own it (yet).

the Inventor

[Rick]

This and sabre island were my favorite soldier sets!

My favorite *small* soldier sets as well. I don't own any of the two yet.

I like that it's built on a little dock and has a blue baseplate. The window, doors, and arches give it a really nice look for such a relatively small set.

[Lorentzen]

thanks for the comments :)

I would love to be able to take better pictures with white backgrounds and great a light setup, but I don't have any good lamps, so instead I'm just fooling you all by photoshopping the pictures instead

But I actually enjoy to read reviews that have sharp pictures of the different things in a set, with a white clean background.

[Captain Stoneface]

Great review, the comic was even nice.

[gormadoc]

I think lagoon lockup is a fantastic set. The design is simple but effective and the boat is good because of the little sail. I would have liked the pirate in the jail to have a better head, not just a standard one. There isnt realy that much I can say about this set but you can just tell its great by looking at it.

[Admiral Croissant]

I give it a 'good'. It's a good set, with some nice minifigs and enough weapons. And also the white/yellow window is very useful. But the prisoner looks too kind to me. Not the mean scurvy dog I'm used to think of when I think of a captured pirate

[Lorentzen]

The nice looking minifig is a young guy called Will. He's in the cartoons LEGO made back in the day. That's why they've included him in a set :)

I like the idea

[Dreamweb]

I think it's the best middle-sized Pirate set, or at least one of the top 3.

I remember back when it was released that my friend, who was more a Castle guy, had one assembled and standing on his desk. I was really impressed with it - all the details, the jail, the overall look - it's just a perfect composition. Plus it comes with this small sail - I remember wanting one of these so badly! Definitely a 5 from me.

I didn't have the chance to get one myself until only a few years ago. This is THE set to buy if you want to have a base for your soldiers and cannot afford bigger sets like Eldorado Fortress.

[Big Cam]

Great review, the number of figs in this set is impressive. A great deal when it came out.

Nice water effect too.

[Steel Dragon]

This set is one of my favorites (although I don't own it), because it includes bluecoats AND Will, my favorite pirate. I've captained him in my Pirates storyline, I like him so much!

Great, good-looking review. I voted Outstanding for Minifigs, mostly, and the sail.

[Legorski]

Awesome set, 8D

[Jack Bricker]

Great review. I also enjoyed you little comic. I will have to get this set when I get some more money.

[curtisrlee]

Nice, I've always wanted this set myself!

[funkybrick]

Nice review of a nice set. Good work!

[Andre1983nl]

Lovely set

[Lauriator89]

OUTSTANDING!!! 5 minifigures and a boat! superb structure and a jail, what else?? :)