Pictorial Review: 6274 Caribbean Clipper

[Lorentzen]

Pictorial Review - 6274 - Caribbean Clipper

Hello again - last week I wrote a review of the wonderful 6285 Black Seas Barracuda - this time I have reviewed my beloved 6274 - Caribbean Clipper, which I have had in my possession since it was released

- many people dislike the ship due to its lack of a true cabin, but I'd like to take you on a tour that might make you change your mind

If you want, you can always take a look at some of my other reviews:

Pirate theme:

6267 - Lagoon Lock-Up

6270 - Forbidden Island

6273 - Rock Island Refuge

6285 - Black Seas Barracuda

6286 - Skull's Eye Schooner

Other themes:

6353 - Coastal Cutter

6376 - Breezeway Cafe

6062 - Battering Ram

And some shameless self-promotion:

My article on the "classic" LEGO houses

Join me in my celebration of a small but VERY well designed beauty - Governor Broadside's Caribbean Clipper released in the first wave of Pirate sets in 1989.

You should also read SirSven7's excellent blog with articles on all the Pirate waves released by LEGO here - the blog contains many more great LEGO articles, including a Castle-theme rundown.

Well, onto the picture-tour of the Caribbean Clipper

6274 - Caribbean Clipper

Released: 1989

Pieces: 372 (peeron.com) 357 (bricklink.com)

Minifgs: 4

Price: (according to peeron.com) $54.00

THE BOX

Front

Back

Inside flap

Sides

As you can see, the box is quite large, and has a flap which makes it possible to take a sneak peak at the set and parts before actually opening the box. It also has pictures of the play features and some alternative models.

God I miss those old boxes. When did they stop making boxes like this?

ALTERNATE MODELS:

THE MANUAL:

The building process is pretty straight forward, although the lack of "piece call outs" makes it a little bit more difficult than sets today. I love a good challenge, so it's rather nice to build this set.

VARIOUS PARTS:

As you can see from the below picture, having only one middle hull piece makes the ship very small compared to today's ships. As a result, the set does not contain many bricks and pieces, but it was instead possible for many more families to buy the set, and still get to enjoy the glory of the Pirate Theme out on the open sea.

The yellow parrot is a great idea for a figurehead. I just love it.

There are only three sails on this ship, while the much larger Black Seas Barracuda from the same year has 5 sails. But hey, they are beautiful in blue/white.

MINIFIGS:

We get four minifigs with this set. I still can't decide whether or not that's too few or fitting. Perhaps instead of three sailors, one of them should have been replaced with a pirate in order to add to the playability of the set. A huge plus is the fact that the rare "Governor Broadside" is included in the set. I forgot to photograph him with his yellow "triple plume" - sorry

BUILDING THE SHIP:

Here's a fun little comparison shot between the Caribbean Clipper's hull and the Queen Anne's Revenge:

I've decided to include some photos of the actual building process below. There aren't many steps in the manual, and it's actually a pretty fast build. But it is very enjoyable none the less.

THE FINISHED MODEL:

The cabin is very well designed, even without doors to close it off. The blue and yellow bricks go really well together, and this ship looks so much better than the later released 6271 - Imperial Flagship from 1992, and the 6280 - Armada Flagship from 1996. Yes I know that the Caribbean Clipper has more bricks, but it still seems as though the designer had spent much longer designing this ship, as the details from back to front are of a much higher quality than its younger "sisters".

FRONTAL SHOT:

BIRD'S VIEW:

I have presented some positive views about this ship, but I still think that there is room for improvement.

One thing that I would have loved is a door to close off the cabin, but even without, the ship looks beautiful.

Perhaps the ship would have benefitted from having a sail above the cabin, just like the 6271 Imperial Flagship has.

Another thing that would have been good, was to include a pirate instead of one of the soldiers.

That's about it. The rest is perfection, it really is.

I hope that you enjoyed the pictorial tour :)

Well, now that I have shown you my view on this classic ship, there is not much more to do than release her, and let her sail into the sunset:

Crap - I forgot to add a proper topic title

Can somebody please change that? And btw my old review of the Skull's Eye Schooner has a mistake in the title too, if anybody can correct that as well.

Dang... I obviously suck at writing topic titles

Edited December 11, 2014 by Lorentzen

[Horry]

Oh, I just love your reviews and your manipulated photos. I was always very font of the clipper though I did not own it, I always longed to have one as a child. The design is great, it has a very fierce and smooth look - and in my view, the lack of the cabin adds just more room for customization without having to lose too much of the original design. I agree on the figure-thing - a pirate or maybe even a pirate in a boat would have added greatly to this set. Thank you for your great review!

[prateek]

Outstanding review. Great pictures. This is my favourite ship of Classic Pirates, but sadly I don't own it. Hopefully Lego will come to their senses and start releasing smaller ships around this size to go along with the bigger ones (i.e. Imperial Flagship)

[SirSven7]

Another excellent review

truely outstanding

Keep them coming

p.s thanks for the promotion

Edited June 28, 2011 by SirSven7

[Lorentzen]

I'm tired now - it takes a lot of effort to do reviews

*goes to play Pirates of the Caribbean on his PS3*

[Big Cam]

I'm tired now - it takes a lot of effort to do reviews

*goes to play Pirates of the Caribbean on his PS3*

I appreciate the effort you put into these, but can I please request that in the future you name your thread a little more specifically. Your title currently reads, Pictorial Review . This is incredibly vague, you could be reviewing a box of rocks for all we know.

I have changed your title to Pictorial Review: 6274 Caribbean Clipper , which I feel much better describes your thread.

With that said, it is a fantastic review.

[Lorentzen]

I appreciate the effort you put into these, but can I please request that in the future you name your thread a little more specifically. Your title currently reads, Pictorial Review . This is incredibly vague, you could be reviewing a box of rocks for all we know.

I have changed your title to Pictorial Review: 6274 Caribbean Clipper , which I feel much better describes your thread.

With that said, it is a fantastic review.

It was a simple mishap. At the bottom of my first post is a request to rename the topic :)

I knew right when I saw the title that I had forgotten to give it a proper name.

But thanks for the great feedback :) It's always nice when people appreciate hard work

Edit: did anybody notice my little easter egg in the last 'sunset' picture?

Edited June 28, 2011 by Lorentzen

[Big Cam]

It was a simple mishap. At the bottom of my first post is a request to rename the topic :)

I knew right when I saw the title that I had forgotten to give it a proper name.

But thanks for the great feedback :) It's always nice when people appreciate hard work

Edit: did anybody notice my little easter egg in the last 'sunset' picture?

Ahh, looks like I owe you the apology for not thoroughly reading your thread. I see the reflection in the water, but is it just the ship, or a lego box? Or are you referring to the island in the background?

[Lorentzen]

Yeah it was the island in the background - It's not much of an easter egg, but I thought it was cute to include in the picture

[Cap'n Crunch]

Thank you for the truly excellent review. I loved the comparison pics and the visual effects like the reflection of the sails. Your review really changed my opinion on this set. I initially thought it was rather short and stubby but after your review I really want to purchase this set.

P.S. Could you do some photos of the Caribbean Clipper viewed head on and some birdseye view shots?

[Lorentzen]

Thank you for the truly excellent review. I loved the comparison pics and the visual effects like the reflection of the sails. Your review really changed my opinion on this set. I initially thought it was rather short and stubby but after your review I really want to purchase this set.

P.S. Could you do some photos of the Caribbean Clipper viewed head on and some birdseye view shots?

Yes of course - I'll try and do them in the next couple of days

I'm glad I changed your mind about this set

EDIT: I've added a MUCH better INTRO-picture from a better angle and with the yellow plume in the Governor's bicorne and the black string put correctly in the mast on the cabin.

I've also added a "frontal view" of the ship and a "bird's view" shot

Edited June 29, 2011 by Lorentzen

[Cap'n Crunch]

Thank you for all the effort you put into your reviews. The ship looks so intimidating head on, pirates will flee before it! I marvel at the speed you added the rubber duck background on the bird's eye view shot. It looks as if the ship is floating in a bathtub.

[Scorpiox]

Thanks for this wonderfull review of one of my favourite sets of all time.

I am lucky enough to own both this and the 6271 Imperial flagship and this is clearly the better ship. It is wider, has a cabin, has a figure head and many other awesome features. All the flaws can easily be corrected, I'm working on some cabin doors and (when I have a scan of the bluecoat emblem) I will soon add another sail with the bluecoat emblem on!

This review really puts the Clipper's beauty in perspective and the exellent photography gives people an idea of what she is like in person.

Nice to see a ship other than the new IF and the QAR getting some attention.

[Erdbeereis]

Another great review Lorentzen, thanks!

Your pictures show the set beautifully.

I just put it in the index.

[Eilif]

A great review of my first -and still favorite- "pirate" ship.

I rebuilt mine a few years back and it really is a very nice build experience. If only my sails were in as good a condition as yours. As you note, it doesn't have a true cabin. However, I vaguely recall (I was young then) that enclosing the cabin and the bow were done soon after it was first built.

[emiryener83]

Excellent review Lorentzen ! thank you so much. It was really nostalgic to have a look again to one of the childhood dreams and one of the best designed lego ships ever.

[Rapseflaps]

I like these smaller ships. I wish Lego had done one or two of these in the new Pirates line, before ditching it for that licensed rubbish they've got going on now.

[TheLegoDr]

I always liked this set too! I had forgotten the size of it though until now. I will need to rebuild all of my Imperial sets in the near future. Great decade for legos!

[Dreamweb]

I will always have a soft spot for this set. This was my first LEGO ship, and my biggest set back in the old days. I had to vote for "outstanding".

Anyway, your review is so good it has to be blogged - so it soon will be!

[bloggedcp][/bloggedcp]

[Deadna]

Fantastic productr review!

My favorite picture is the 33rd picture or bird's eye view. Hilarious!

[Lorentzen]

It's nice to see that people enjoyed the review - I've found some great pictures of a mint/near mint set

I wish I had these sails

[Big Cam]

Wow, I don't remember sails coming attached like that, of course I got the BSB when I was like 8, my mom probably had to cut them for me.

That box has some really bad sun damage though.

[Sebeus I]

I have the box in excellent condition "lying around" here

I am simply not capable to throw it away, I also have the box of the SES, that one is huge

Btw, I just bought a second hands Caribbean clipper, the parot figurehead was missing though.

When I was looking for my first big hulled lego ship I hated the caribbean clipper because it looked so short and only had one rigging part instead of two.

But I learned to love it (I sure do considering it's the second I buy ).

[just2good]

Nice review, 'Lorentzen'! This set has always been a classic to me. I almost got it on eBay at a cheap price a few years back when I was into the Pirates theme, but someone out bid me at the last minute.

Edited January 30, 2012 by just2good

[Nagyzee]

A few days ago a used Caribbean Clipper came up on a local auction site I follow. It had instructions and even the box in good condition. It came together in one lot with 3 or 4 smaller Pirates sets. And the asking price was a mere 50-55 € altogether. Needless to say it was bought by a trader about 15 minutes after it was uploaded. I was 5 minutes late to the party. You can imagine how mad I was that I missed it.

Even though I strongly prefer the old Imperial Flagship over this ship (as CC suffers from serious disproportion problems) I certainly would have taken it at that price.