POTC - Black Pearl!

[Piranha]

And while the 3 new figures are great, I would have much rather actual Black Pearl crew, like a new Elizabeth, Pintel, Ragetti, Marty, Cotton, etc. I also hope that the inclusion of Davy Jones and Bootstrap Bill doesn't mean that's the end of PotC Lego...

It is possible Jack has a new torso, so possibly 4 new figs.

[WhiteFang]

Yes, it's a shame the minifig assortment wasn't more appropriate. Here we have lots of Davey Jones and his gang now in multiple sets, but we haven't received some of the more important characters at all.

Apart from the current cast of the LEGO Black Pearl, we only seen "Hadras" and no one else. So I am really hoping to see the whole gang. Otherwise, we might all have to resort to those Atlantis sea creatures such as the Manta Ray, Squid Warrior, etc.

And I guess what I meant about it not quite 'being' the Black Pearl was more along the lines of this:

Take the Millennium Falcon for example - it's well enough recognized in society that anything even marginally the same shape could be passed off as being the ship. The Black Pearl though hasn't become as well known of an icon, so unless the Lego version were to be very accurate, it could easily be passed off as just a generic pirate ship at first glance. If this weren't part of the POTC line and didn't have the name of the ship slapped across it, I'm not sure many people would know what it's trying to be. Hope that makes sense.

I get your point. I will suppose and boldly assume that the significant trademark of the Black Pearl is her "black sails". No other ships ever hold the black sails. I might be historically wrong on that.

[punkkid364]

I don't think it's atrociously bad, it looks like any number of ships that have come out in the last couple of years, though I do have a couple of nitpicks. The stern is too low, though I understand why LEGO put it where they did. HATE the pearl gold windows on the back. Hope these are changed for the final version. Am I the only one who thinks that the mizzen mast is just WAY too tall? Either way, both of those problems are pretty easy to fix... Did anyone else notice that the figurehead is holding one of these in dark bley? Great way to do that, IMO. I'm also excited about the inclusion of Bootstrap Bill....I didn't know if or when we'd be seeing him in a set. Maccus and Jones look great. That's not a new torso on Jack, unless it's a new version of his coat print.

My opinion then, based on this one PRELIM image, is that the ship isn't perfect, but a good start for a MOD or MOC BP, and has a few sweet minifigs.

[TeufelHund]

It looks ok, but it would be nice to see more detailed shots. On the basis of this shot, I think I fancy the QAR a bit more. A shame the kraken couldn't make it either but I guess that would have been too much for the piece count.

As to the minifig selection, is there another wave of POTC sets coming this year? It may be some of the "original" crew (either Barbossa's or Jack's) will appear in other sets at that stage.

[Piranha]

That's not a new torso on Jack, unless it's a new version of his coat print.

Hmm I can't tell but you might be right at first I thought it was dark blue but now I see it is more dark brown

[Cad Bane]

Hmm, interesting.

Looks very similar to the Queen Anne's Revenge though, and might be smaller.

Actually, in a random trivia moment, I found out that The QAR and the BP were "played" by the same ship named the Sunset. So, I guess they should actually look similar (which they did very much so in the movie).

I am of two minds about this set. I am super excited for pics of this set, but the perlim pic is kind of a let down. It's quite small. I mean, come on! This is the single most prominent ship in the series. It should be UCSish or something. I know we've know the piece count for some time now, but it still turned out small. I like that some of the Dutchman's crew are included, but would like to see more of the Pearl's. I'm not 100% convinced that that is Bootstrap, it makes some sense, but it could also be a pirate from the Pearl (Pintel, Ragetti, Cotton etc.). And finally: Where is Cotton's Parrot? And Jack the Monkey?!? Hopefully we'll see further (non-perlim) pics soon that shed more light on this set.

[Dr.Cogg]

I think the Bley pieces should be replaced with black pieces and the back should be raised. The reason the ships is black is because it was set on fire and sank.

[Routemaster]

After an outstanding ship like the Queen Anne's Revenge I'm really disappointed

about the Black Pearl.

I don't believe we will see any changes until it's final release.

I'm sorry to say that but I really expected more.

Optical the Black Pearl is far behind the Blackbeard's Bounty.

[TheBrickHitHouse]

At first sight this set falls in that category that I solemly hate - the category of "The set is terribly disapointing but you still can't go on without buying it".

Think that sums up my feelings for now.

Cheers

Exactly

I'll end up buying it anyway because it's still the only black pearl where getting. It will then sit on a shelf unnoticed because it's such a ghastly design

I'd have happily made more for a quality set

[______]

I still think we will see an UCS Black Pearl for all us AFOL's and TFOL's.

[Such]

Does anyone know how well the pirates sets have been selling up to this point?

[Hewman]

Does anyone know how well the pirates sets have been selling up to this point?

In Australia, very poorly. This is both from my own observations but more importantly from a couple people in the know about such things. So if this is a worldwide pattern, the Black Pearl might be the last PotC set we see. Anyone hanging out on the assumption that a bigger and better UCS version will be released later might be regretting that decision come next year some time.

Edited June 20, 2011 by hewman

[jonwil]

The only reason I havent bought any POTC sets beyond the Captain's Cabin is that they cost so much.

Cut the price by 25-30% (so say the London Escape goes from $99 to $70 or $75 or so and I will buy it.

But when I can buy the Hillside House for $99 (or $80 with a %off sale) and it has more pieces and less money in the pocket of Disney, why would I spend what money I have on the London Escape (cool pieces or not)

[______]

In Australia, very poorly. This is both from my own observations but more importantly from a couple people in the know about such things. So if this is a worldwide pattern, the Black Pearl might be the last PotC set we see. Anyone hanging out on the assumption that a bigger and better UCS version will be released later might be regretting that decision come next year some time.

The thing is that the sets are amazing, they look really great, although they are just way too expensive. POP gave us high quality sets at a cheaper price, especially for a licensed theme. If LEGO made POTC sets cheaper then I and I assume many others will buy a LOT more.

[BasOne]

Looking at the picture i'm really dissapointed.

The Pearl is such an iconic ship it should be more in line with the Imperial Flagship.

The thing that really bugs me are the sails, they look new and shiny, The Pearls sails are ragged and full of holes, they just look to new to be the pearl.

Not to mention it's.... small... tiny even.

TLG really dropped the cannonball with this one.

[Jack Bricker]

In Australia, very poorly. This is both from my own observations but more importantly from a couple people in the know about such things. So if this is a worldwide pattern, the Black Pearl might be the last PotC set we see. Anyone hanging out on the assumption that a bigger and better UCS version will be released later might be regretting that decision come next year some time.

That could just be there in Australia. In my area the Queen Annes Revenge has been selling rather well and the rest of the sets have been selling ok too. But, I have to somewhat agree with your point. The black Pearl does look only half finished. There is no upper deck, the incline towards the stern in all wrong, the sail on the mizzin mast is way too high, and half of the minifigs are just not a good fit with this set. Yes, I know that Davy Jones and his crew were on the Black Pearl once or twice but, come on, this is the black pearl and it should have lots more of the Black Pearl's Crew. Very disappointing.

Edited June 20, 2011 by Jack Bricker

[Aanchir]

Alright, I'm not quite happy with what we see in this preliminary pic either. But I'd like to point out several things people seem to be ignoring:

• A set with just the Black Pearl's crew would not work at all, because that doesn't allow for any actual conflict-based role play. There have to be some adversaries for Jack and Will, and I think Davy Jones and his crew are as good a set of adversaries as any. Don't get me wrong-- I would have loved to see Cotton (and his parrot), Anamaria, and other members of Jack's crew as minifigures. But frankly, they couldn't have been included in this set unless they were added in addition to Davy Jones's crew or in place of the other main characters already included.
  
• Since it's a preliminary pic, I imagine the sails will probably be one of the most likely things to change before the final version. Glad someone else pointed that out, because I was too afraid I was just misremembering the films; however, the sails were the first problem with this model that stood out to me, and one of the things I feel needs to change most urgently.
  
• In terms of size, perhaps this is just another area in which I'm inexperienced, but besides a couple from my childhood that were just two prefab hull pieces in length, I've never seen a pirate ship set that could be considered "small". So it's not on par with the Imperial Flagship in size. It's still a fairly large pirate ship with as many sails as the Queen Anne's Revenge-- certainly larger than any pirate ship sets I've ever owned.
  
• Lacking detail is a charge I'll concede. The front in particular isn't very substantial-looking-- the figurehead looks like it's practically just floating there, which doesn't look good at all. With that said, all we've seen is one preliminary picture. We haven't seen anything of the interior or the stern, which could both potentially have a lot of detail. Furthermore, it's slated to be $20 cheaper than the QAR, and not a D2C set. Knowing those two things, I don't think anyone could expect it to be the "flagship set" of this theme.
  
• If we're lucky, then January might bring us an extremely-high-priced, extremely-detailed set of something even more breathtaking like the Flying Dutchman. After all, that's a ship that couldn't easily be rendered in detail on the same budget as this or the QAR, and with enough detail to make a great D2C set. If Diagon Alley could be released the first January after the theme's debut, the same could apply for a D2C set in this theme.

[Fives]

This set looks awesome! The ship itself looks rather bland, but the minifigs are nice! Looks like Jack, Will and Gibbs are the returning figures, and as for new ones, Davy Jones (He looks perfect!), Maccus, and Cotton. But, I must say, this ship is really plain in comparison to QAR. Maybe that is just the fact that this is a prelim and hopefully the final image will seem a bit more flashy.

[Zeya]

I like this. It's not perfect, but for the complexity of a Brickbeard's Bounty sized ship, it's pretty good. I would like to have seen some dark brown instead of gray; they really could add a little more color just to break up the monotony.

The black sails are fantastic! Look at me with a straight face and tell me you weren't yearning for black sails. (Okay okay, you can just cut them out of black cloth at any time. Fine.)

I don't see anybody mentioning the true gem of this set - check out the statue on the bow! I want to see some detail of that. I wonder if she has a face print and what her torso looks like! Does her dress have a print?

And of course the minifigures are top notch. I wish they were all exclusives, of course. If I could trade one out, I'd swap Will Turner for an undead monkey.

[MstrOfPppts]

I really agree with you Aanchir about what you're saying, but still, there could be a better way of doing it! For example if they exclude Maccus or Bill and also exclude Will or Gibs, then they could simply introduce other Pearl crew members. There's two reasons for it: Gibs and Will can both be bought in previous sets, so there's no point even for true collectors to have more than 2 of the same figures. Since Will and Gibs are sold in sets where other figures are exclusives, to complete the collection you need them all. The other point is that at least Davy Jones should be exclusive to the Flying Dutchman! It should be one of the reasons why you buy that ship! Also all other Jones' companions belong to that ship, which will again cause a lot of duplicated minifigures (Can't imagine the Flying Dutchman without Maccus nor Bill) Even worse, we might think it will never get released. It relly looks like this set is the last one, and LEGO is still considering the continuation of the theme, which is very disappointing!

What I'd do is this: Take away Davy Jones or Maccus or Bill and also take away Will (he's already in two sets, Gibs is just in one), add Pintel and Ragetti and maybe even Cotton. Release the Flying Dutchman in the January and include as many of the crew as possible (7 or 8). The characters in the game are really awesome, and I'll be very upset if the Flying Dutchman is released including another Jack Sparrow!

There everyone would be satisfied - kids still getting the bad guys (there were never more than two from opposite fraction in classic pirates ships) and AFOLs getting more characters and less duplicates!

When it comes to size - the ship is mostly considered small for the lack of height, because the cabin is build straight on top of the floor piece. For me it looks like a bad design of a western train engine ... with some sails.

Edited June 20, 2011 by MstrOfPppts

[______]

If the theme must end, end it with a bang! A UCS Flying Dutchman, that is all I can hope for now. . I would also like to mention that

A) The figurehead is totally wrong, the real figurehead is a bronze colour, not black.

B)The bow is unfinished. They have literally added those new gate pieces and left it like that.

C)The sails are fine, as aforementioned this is the 2nd or 3rd film. The sails do have some patches on but no holes. The holes are only present in the first film as like the pirates, it is cursed, and every time the Pearl is seen inonly the moonlight it has holes.

D)The cabin is terrible. The whole window area sticks out a bit on the real pearl and has a grey roof over it, if they added this it would be tons better.

E)TLC could of at least added 2 more pieces, the prefab rigging on the first mast, even Brickbeard's Bounty had this!

F) A long shot but it would be nice if LEGO included some string in their ships like they used to which connects the front mast to the back mast.

Rant over.

P.S If this is a prelim they may change some things about the ship.

[Jack Bricker]

Alright, I'm not quite happy with what we see in this preliminary pic either. But I'd like to point out several things people seem to be ignoring:

• A set with just the Black Pearl's crew would not work at all, because that doesn't allow for any actual conflict-based role play. There have to be some adversaries for Jack and Will, and I think Davy Jones and his crew are as good a set of adversaries as any. Don't get me wrong-- I would have loved to see Cotton (and his parrot), Anamaria, and other members of Jack's crew as minifigures. But frankly, they couldn't have been included in this set unless they were added in addition to Davy Jones's crew or in place of the other main characters already included.
  
• Since it's a preliminary pic, I imagine the sails will probably be one of the most likely things to change before the final version. Glad someone else pointed that out, because I was too afraid I was just misremembering the films; however, the sails were the first problem with this model that stood out to me, and one of the things I feel needs to change most urgently.
  
• In terms of size, perhaps this is just another area in which I'm inexperienced, but besides a couple from my childhood that were just two prefab hull pieces in length, I've never seen a pirate ship set that could be considered "small". So it's not on par with the Imperial Flagship in size. It's still a fairly large pirate ship with as many sails as the Queen Anne's Revenge-- certainly larger than any pirate ship sets I've ever owned.
  
• Lacking detail is a charge I'll concede. The front in particular isn't very substantial-looking-- the figurehead looks like it's practically just floating there, which doesn't look good at all. With that said, all we've seen is one preliminary picture. We haven't seen anything of the interior or the stern, which could both potentially have a lot of detail. Furthermore, it's slated to be $20 cheaper than the QAR, and not a D2C set. Knowing those two things, I don't think anyone could expect it to be the "flagship set" of this theme.
  
• If we're lucky, then January might bring us an extremely-high-priced, extremely-detailed set of something even more breathtaking like the Flying Dutchman. After all, that's a ship that couldn't easily be rendered in detail on the same budget as this or the QAR, and with enough detail to make a great D2C set. If Diagon Alley could be released the first January after the theme's debut, the same could apply for a D2C set in this theme.

I agree with everything you said except the part about the minifigures. I mean seriously. They release two other figures we already have and then release Davy Jones and his crew in place of the rest of the Black Pearl crew. Now I wouldn't mind if they had a flying dutchman with Davy Jones and his crew to fight with the Black Pearl but, being that there is no Flying Dutchman as of yet and it would be impossible for most kids to construct a detailed version of the Flying Dutcham I think they should have just stuck with Jack's crew. Also, if they do come out with a Dutchman why not include all of Davy Jones and his crew on that ship and keep the Black Pearl's crew on the Black Pearl. It just makes sense.

I really hope that you are right about this ship just being an early preliminary picture because if this is the final version or even close in terms of minifigs, design, etc... I do not think I and a lot of people are going to buy it and I am saying that for Lego's benefit if they happen to read this.

Edited June 20, 2011 by Jack Bricker

[Haltiamieli]

I don't see anybody mentioning the true gem of this set - check out the statue on the bow! I want to see some detail of that. I wonder if she has a face print and what her torso looks like! Does her dress have a print?

I mentioned it on the first page, and nothing else It was the first thing that got my attention, admittedly that might be in part because it is so poorly attached to everything else. Anyway I really hope the figurehead will have some print, though I suppose it's not very probable. As someone else commented, using the feather piece as the bird in figurehead's hand is quite clever.

I seem to be in the minority that quite likes the look of this ship, hopefully I will like it even more once it has passed the prelim stage. Compared to QAR, it seems less cartoony (no skellie heads or towering rear cabin, for example) and looks (to my completely landlubber eyes, of course) much more pragmatic and no-nonsense ship, one that has been built to do it's job well and not to look fancy. In my case the problem that some have with the set, that it looks like a ship and not "the ship from the movie" (and I can agree with that observation, to some extent), is rather a strength. Obviously I can also admit that the design does have some problems even I can notice, like the hind mast and the aforementioned non-attachment of the figurehead.

This looks like a ship that might even end up to be my first big Lego ship ever. If I could find it for a low enough price, that is. So, probably not.

[David Thomsen]

I'm still waiting for my Indiana Jones D2C set. Circus Train? Brunwald Castle?

Until then I don't see a POTC D2C set happening of any sort.

Regarding the low cabin... I think this is to make the silhouette look more like the BP from the film. The raised cabins from previous ships are kind of cartoonish. Having said that, I do prefer cartoonish cabins to suitable silhouettes.

What Aanchir said about the inclusion of Davy Jones makes a lot of sense, I think I would have preferred some soldiers though, maybe with their own small boat à la BB. The new torso from London Escape is horribly underused in only one set. However, if this is possibly the last POTC set (maybe even TLC don't know for sure), it's best to have Davy Jones in this set than risk not releasing him at all.

While this isn't the most ideal possible representation of the Black Pearl, I do honestly believe that this is all they could do within certain limits.

[Piranha]

I think the sails are fine and should stay as they are. They are the best part of the ship along with the black hull. If you want holes in them get a hole puncher out and destroy your copy

It is based on the second movie not the first.

Edited June 21, 2011 by Macoco