REVIEW: 4195 Queen Anne's Revenge

[Big Cam]

What a fantastic review of an epic set. I can't imagine the black pearl being better than this, it's just so badass.

This is absolutely on my list.

[gogocar]

I like your review. You've put a lot of effort in it.

However, the ship sucks. The Impreial flagship is a gazillion times better.

[Wout]

Thank you for the nice review.

[Sirens-of-Titan]

Great review Brickster!

I have a question: does Angelica's hat detach or is it a one piece mold with the hair like Jack Sparrow's?

EDIT: Nevermind, it helps to read ahead.

The ship itself looks good, and the parts are quite useful but the design seems a bit basic to me. A little too much reliance on the sails to cover up the jagged edges of the cabin, and not enough thought on interior except for the clever desk. I am not surprised stickers were included for the window, that is a trend that is not going away. is it just me or were stickers in the 90's a lot more durable than stickers today? I have some city planes with decals that are still looking as good as they did in 92, whicle stickers from 5 years ago are peeling away and breaking.

Unfortunately I'm going to have to just pick up the useful pieces from this on bricklink, 120 USD it is a bit too much to ask for.

Edited April 18, 2011 by Sirens-Of-Titan

[Aalak]

Wow, another great review and additional pictures against the Flagship for a mediocre set. Don't take me wrong, for the aspect of useful parts, this is a great set, especially the hull pices and the sails, I really like the sails but overall I don't like the design. There are many flaws in it. Can't tell you why, but I don't like the new mast designs of the new pirates and here as well. I don't understand the fact with three masts, why do we have only 2 shrouds for one of them in the set? Do the Pirates jump from the top of the main mast to get to upper parts of the mizzen or foremast?

The new headrail pieces are looking nice. Maybe they prove usefull for other purposes,too.

I agree with Bonaparte on this, I guess it would have make my wishlist as a kid (as did the BSB,which I never got ) as a mean looking pirate ship. But today I'll only buy her for her parts, probably when she is on sale,too, cause I'm cheap . Hopefully some of the sails turn up on Bricklink,too.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Great review Brickster! I personally am not a fan of this ship, I would have loved it as a kid, but it still doesn't come close to the BSB. It's strange how Lego have never beaten their first pirate ship that was released over 20 years ago. But, I do think it's better than the BB and I will still buy this for it's minifigs and some of the parts. Not a great ship, but not terrible either

[pedro]

Many thanks for the review Brickster.

She's a formidable looking vessel! The colour scheme is subtle yet striking - I love the dark brown hull and the crimson sails. Sure there are a few places where the designers have had to cut corners but overall she definately looks the part.

I really love the minifigures that come along for the ride too, so varied and interesting with a host of new parts that will see countelss uses for our MOCs. I was wondering: are the hair pieces and hats separate or separable on the main characters or are thay all one piece? (Just noticed the question answered above!)

Thanks again Brickster.

Edited April 18, 2011 by pedro

[SkaForHire]

I should add, great review - really top notch stuff here. So top notch it has really convinced me not to buy the set unless deep discounted! ;)

Good news for us in this boat, I am guessing by the extent of the previous POP release, that there is probably going to be tons of these sitting on shelves for the next year, and enough that will create some deep discounts later on. I still buy the battle for alumut (sp) every time I see it for 35 dollars or less - that set is freaking fabulous on deep discount. I believe this set will have the same value on deep discount. Had they released this at 100 dollars, I probably would have taken the plunge though. I just have too many spare parts to buy this for ship parts, and nothing about this ship screamed unique to me. I am also not into buying a bunch of them and holding them for 10 years. As that investment didn't really work for the extra MISB RRs I have laying around, lol.

[highflyingbean]

Has anyone noticed that the QAR used to have just striped sails in some of the early pictures we have?

[Big Cam]

Has anyone noticed that the QAR used to have just striped sails in some of the early pictures we have?

That's a good point, I must say I like the version TLG settled on much better.

I'm sure it's somewhere but I'm just going to go ahead and ask.

What the heck are the grey things around Blackbeards face?

[Invader Zim]

PART 5

So, how does the Queen Anne stack up against everyone's favorite Imperial Flagship? Let's take a look.

That was fun - perhaps I'll create some battle scenes. Wow! these ships take some floor space. Now I need some plastic water and some rocks. I can see how you pirate fans can really get into this.

Thanks for posting this last set of pictures Brickster. I think they look great together . . . I just wish I had the floorspace (and beautiful white carpet) for such great pictures.

[Dr. Charles Lightning]

Fantastic review.

I am going to pass on the set as it is expensive and I find the ship too dark to assimilate with my classic pirates. Nice to see they are including shooting again.

[pedro]

I believe this set will have the same value on deep discount. Had they released this at 100 dollars, I probably would have taken the plunge though.

Brickster's comparison and what you mention here Ska got me thinking... For someone like myself considering buying a large scale ship the choice rests between this and the Imperial Flaghip. Given the price I expect this will be in the UK and the price of 10210 there mostly won't be a massive gulf between their prices. It comes down to which is the superior model and in that case the Imperial Flagship is a far superior and wins hands down. The minifigs are nice but can't really sway it... and I do like the newest Pirate minifigs a lot too. They have a charm of their own.

Has anyone noticed that the QAR used to have just striped sails in some of the early pictures we have?

I've a big fan of the new sails. Very unique too.

What the heck are the grey things around Blackbeards face?

Good question! Rather curious myself...

[Fives]

Those grey things around Blackbeard's black beard ( ) are lit canon fuses. The real Captain would put lit canon fuses in his beard to intimidate his enemies. I think I might have mentioned this somewhere else, but I don't remember where.

[starstreak]

I'm so jealous you got this already.

Btw, did they do that again with the canons? Only give enough for half the ship?

[Dreamweb]

Judging by the pictures alone, I gave it a 4, although I'd rather give it a 3.5 had that been an option. That's what it is - slightly above average. Meaning, it's worse than Black Seas Barracuda and 10210 Imperial Flagship, and a tad worse than Brickbeard's Bounty. Definitely better than Red Beard Runner. I'd put it on par with Skull's Eye Schooner actually.

It is my belief actually that Brickbeard's Bounty was trying to be the 21st century verion of Black Seas Barracuda (similar sails, similar looking sterncastle, 4 gun ports and other details), while the Queen Anne's Revenge is trying to be the new Skull's Eye Schooner. They both have 3 masts, the mizzen-mast being very similar, both have a lot of gunports with not enough cannons to fill them (I never liked SES' rotating cannons), both have a very large sterncastle and both are rather sinister-looking. There's one more thing they have in common - both look great from a distance, but if you take a closer look you'll see they're missing a lot.

The QAR's overall look is great, but it lacks an additional deck, the way the cannons are installed is very cheap, the fore-mast needs ratlines and so on. That being said however, I still think it is worth buying for a pirate fan like me, and I am going to get it eventually, but I'll try to get it on discount. It is overpriced, but all licensed sets are unfortunately.

I hope no one got offended, I know lots of people like the SES and even some consider it the best ship there is, that's just my opinion.

I would have loved it as a kid, but it still doesn't come close to the BSB. It's strange how Lego have never beaten their first pirate ship that was released over 20 years ago.

This! Although they did get pretty close with last year's Imperial Flagship.

Btw, did they do that again with the canons? Only give enough for half the ship?

It looks like there's twelve gunports, but there's no room to place cannons in the two foremost hatches - the mast base gets in the way. That's strange as it almost looks like a design flaw... So that leaves ten working gunports with only three cannons to arm them. So it's much less than a half actually.

[WhiteFang]

Brickster, this is an excellent review especially with the good usage of the black frames that encompass the dark aura of this ship, and very much suitable for the whole POTC theme.

Despite the weak areas of this set which includes lack of complete cannons and high prices, I think the designers did a great job for a taste like myself. I am very much eager to place this together with the Imperial Flagship. At the very least, it is not as bad at the Blackbeard's Bounty ship. Perhaps that can't be placed on the comparison chart in the first place. Oh well, I think with the upcoming Black Pearl and putting this ship side by side. I am very certain it will be an impressive view.

As for the minifigures, I am definitely in love with them. Like what all licensed minifigures does, it simply filled with lovely details that yearn for more.

[Nikola Bathory]

Great review!

As for the set - as I don't like the POTC movies, this ship somehow isn't my type of LEGO ship... Red and black is a cool colour scheme, of course.

But as a whole, I woudn't buy this set.

[Legoist]

Thank you for the perfect review! This is exactly the kind of reviews we need most, you have highlighted so many details, good or bad, that we now know the set inside out :)

I can't decide on a vote tho... I'm not an expert of pirates sets, and frankly all large sized Lego pirates ships always looked fantastic to me.

[Captain Becker]

What the heck are the grey things around Blackbeards face?

I think those are some kind of "Ropess" what (In the rumors) blackbeard used to set on fire, so at he would be covered whit smoke when the battle was on. This was mainly at he would look more powerfull and scarier or so. Cant explain it right but hope you get the picture. Wikipedia is helpful if you need.

Captain Becker

[FlyBoy]

Excellent review.

However, for myself.. I think I can honestly say the only reason I'd buy this ship is for the pieces. The sails look cool but as far as construction is concerned I don't like anything above the gunwale and the interior is of lower design quality.

[henryhotspurs]

Great review!

[airsoftg36c]

I'm definitely giving this a 5.

So much better than the Black Seas Barracuda, I would buy it if I had the money, but sadly, it looks like I'm gonna have to pass on the pirate ship for the third time .(Does the 4Junior pirate line count?) I got the pirate ship from the Junior line for my birthday last year...

Also, amazing review!

Edited April 19, 2011 by airsoftg36c

[gotoAndLego]

Great review Brickster! I personally am not a fan of this ship, I would have loved it as a kid, but it still doesn't come close to the BSB. It's strange how Lego have never beaten their first pirate ship that was released over 20 years ago.

I'm of the mind that the Imperial Flagship beats all previous Lego ships.

However, the ship sucks. The Impreial flagship is a gazillion times better.

You mean a ship with 600 extra pieces is better? Crazy.

I like the set, but I'm not in a crazy rush to get it.

[fred67]

You mean a ship with 600 extra pieces is better? Crazy.

Yeah, I don't really get the comparisons... it's not as good as I.F. (my first ship, BTW, not generally being into the pirate theme), but in the U.S. the I.F. was $180 and the QAR is $120... the IF costs 50% more.

So, if you're trying to figure out "value," I thought I.F. was worth it... and while it's better than QAR, it's not 50% better, IMO, making QAR every bit as worth the cost as I.F. Of course, this is a casual fan speaking, not a detail oriented pirate fan.

I do plan on incorporating some of the mods people have suggested... supplementing the number of cannons and building a deck, but I think it's worth it and I think this review was terrific and certainly did nothing to curb my enthusiasm.

TRU forgot to exclude POTC from it's current BOGO50% sale... but they "coincidentally" sold out of QAR