Pictorial Review - 6289/6290 Red Beard Runner

[Bricverson]

A little introduction before the review

Hi fellow eurobrickers,

My name is bricverson and I just registered on this forum yesterday. All I want to say about this place is AWESOME. I never know there are so many AFOLs around the world and could even gather in such a wonderful community like here. So with the beginning of my membership, I want to contribute with a little review of my latest purchase: 6289 Red Beard Runner.

I've just got out my decade long dark age and is in the process of collecting sets I've always dreamt of in my childhood(poor kid from a poor family). The Red Beard Runner, though being heavily criticized by many serious Lego fans, is not a set that I would afford to miss. As there is currently no other reviews on this set in this forum, I'll make it up by presenting to you my pictorial review.

Name: 6289 Red Beard Runner

Theme: LEGO System / Pirates

Year: 1996

Pieces: 703

Minifigs: 7 minifigures

Price: USD$99

Red Beard Runner is an official pirate ship set released back in 1996. The ship is a large pirate vessel featuring an unique red 16-stud wide hull, two mast and three sails. The ship is designed with "playability" at heart so that the front mast and stern could "collapse" once triggered by certain mechanism.

Let's begin with the usual "instruction shots"

This is the instruction booklet that came with the set I purchase. It is in very good condition clearly showing her glory in full.

A random page of the instruction. This page gives you the exact lengths of the studed rope required for the step and some close-up picture on smaller component build.

Here comes the three war-torn sails of the ship. The grey and white stripes are one of my favorites and I think it looks better than the main sail of 6286 SES.

I wish TLC has ever released smaller sails with this color scheme so I can MOC them to the lower part of the mast.

The next big thing about this set is its unique RED ship hull. It looks very elegant in real and makes it stand out among other brown-hull ships. Here I've added several other red pieces to give you an idea about how "red" they are.

Some of the interesting pieces: three non-shooting cannons, studed ropes at different length, a rope fish net and a working compass.

The set comes with some nice animals such as monkey, shark and a parrot. The minifigures are not quite interesting except for Captain Red Beard. The print and color on the torsos looks extremely mediocre especially the one in the green vest. Anyway I don't care too much about minifigures so I can accept whatever I get as long as its genuine Lego.

The Build:

I do take some pictures during the build to share with you some interesting designs in this ship.

The stern:

As you can see, the treasure chest is perched on a hollowed spot so it can be removed easily. As to the hole, I'm not sure what it is made for. Maybe a hidden passage to the cabin?

One of the signatures of this set is probably white skull design at the stern. There are some great details with the skull head including the use of white stud as teeth and the red tongue(throat?) inside the mouth arc. There is also a string comes out through the eye of the skull head which the other end ties to a little landing boat.

This is the trigger mechanism that will cause the stern to "collapse". All you need to do is to pull the technic beam from both side and the cabin floor will be leveraged by the weight of the skull head in the back. It will also be used to topple the upper deck once the build is complete and we'll come to that in a second.

The bow:

This little trapdoor at the front of the ship is where the front mast is going to sit on. The flat grey piece is connected with a 1x8 black plate and will be used to control the tilt of the mast.

Finished Model:

Here it is, the completed Red Beard Runner ready to sail the high sea! She is fully equipped with a working crane, fish net and a landing boat(safety boat) to ensure it's crew's survival on the sea. She's three cannon broadside also gives it enough fire power to gun down any imperial/armada vessels(before the year 2010).

A clear shot on the tilt front mast. This design could be perceived in two ways:

1. The mast was shot broken by an enemy ship and is now crippled this way.

2. The Red Beard Runner was after some merchant ship and only until the last moment, will it tilt its front mast and sail to reveal its true identity: Pirate, Arrrrr!

A close-up on the trap door below the mast. Interestingly enough, the yellow flat pieces around the trap door serves both functional and aesthetic purposes. It helps stabilize the mast when its straight-up and does a good job keeping the bow consistent in color.

OOPS! The stern collapsed and captain Red Beard is about the fall into the water! What happened to this mighty ship? faulty design? or else.....

Bad! Bad! Bad! Looks like the even mightier Imperial Flagship has just arrived~~

RUN! As her name suggests is the only chance to stay alive....

Summary:

It took me 4 hours to build this ship and the process is generally interesting. Nothing is repetitive and the building of these "collapse" mechanisms do add a lot fun to build. Here are some Pros and Cons I found after the build:

PROs:

+ Unique ship hulls in RED color, very elegant.

+ Detailed white skull head design at the stern.

+ Simplistic cannon track on deck.

+ Great sail patterns.

CONs:

- Not enough riggings, the studed ropes are extremely annoying and are likely to break after repeated use.

- Three sails are not enough for a ship this size. The lower part of the mast simply looks too empty.

- Not enough details throughout the ship.

- No real cabin for the captain, every space inside the stern has been occupied by the "collapse" mechanism.

I cannot say I particular like or dislike the tilting/collapsing designs of this ship as it seems to be a attempt for TLC to make breakthrough from its traditional ship designs. It compromised a lot of details and displayability in return of increased playability for kids.

As an AFOL, however, this ship is a must-have for every Pirate collector as it give you great many MOCing possibilities. You can use your imagination to "stabilize" the stern and masts, adding as many detail as you want, and even redesign the rigging to your liking.

I should admit that Red Beard Runner is a perfect set for both children and AFOL alike and it deserves it's long due credit!

[Boomchil]

Great review!

I must say that I love this ship, even if it's obviously not as mighty as 6285 BSB and 6286 SES. It has a great color scheme (though not really realistic), the skull is fantastic, the black bandanas were very rare at this time, and the sails are beautiful. The rigging is also very smart.

[Runamuck]

I own this ship, and I like it. It is probably the worst of the big pirate ships, but the average quality of the pirate ships is very high so that it is not completely terrible.

I must disagree about the crew, captain Roger Redbeard is the least interesting figure, since he is in about a billion other sets. I like the other pirates for having new torsos, heads and black bandanas, which make the stand out a bit from most other pirates from the old theme.

I think that the ship has some flaws. I hate it when there is a clear place for a canon and they didn’t include it. Also the canon system is a bit too simplistic for my taste. The ship could use 2 or 3 more sails and maybe some rope over the top of the masts. I wouldn’t mind some doors for the cabin, but a lot of ships are missing those. At least the cabin kind off has a table inside it. I don’t mind the gimmicks too much even if they are a bit unnecessary; they are in places that usually aren’t used for anything else anyways and they function very well. It could use some mechanism like those on the Skull’s Eye Schooner to keep the cabin side from flopping around when it is being moved. I don’t like the figure head, why didn’t they use a skeleton; they had been invented by then.

I like the somewhat cartoonish piratey bits of the ship. While realism is fine, the cartoonish symbols also have its quality, even if it is a somewhat childish mindset. The skull on the back is quite well made. While the plank easily falls of, it is an ok addition.

What do people actually mean when they say that there aren’t enough details anyways? The ship does have some neat details in my opinion.

[Skipper]

Thanks for the review!

I had no idea about a lot of the features that you showed. I like the set more now, although it definitely needs lower sails.

Edited September 23, 2011 by Skipper

[Bricverson]

I own this ship, and I like it. It is probably the worst of the big pirate ships, but the average quality of the pirate ships is very high so that it is not completely terrible.

I must disagree about the crew, captain Roger Redbeard is the least interesting figure, since he is in about a billion other sets. I like the other pirates for having new torsos, heads and black bandanas, which make the stand out a bit from most other pirates from the old theme.

I think that the ship has some flaws. I hate it when there is a clear place for a canon and they didn’t include it. Also the canon system is a bit too simplistic for my taste. The ship could use 2 or 3 more sails and maybe some rope over the top of the masts. I wouldn’t mind some doors for the cabin, but a lot of ships are missing those. At least the cabin kind off has a table inside it. I don’t mind the gimmicks too much even if they are a bit unnecessary; they are in places that usually aren’t used for anything else anyways and they function very well. It could use some mechanism like those on the Skull’s Eye Schooner to keep the cabin side from flopping around when it is being moved. I don’t like the figure head, why didn’t they use a skeleton; they had been invented by then.

I like the somewhat cartoonish piratey bits of the ship. While realism is fine, the cartoonish symbols also have its quality, even if it is a somewhat childish mindset. The skull on the back is quite well made. While the plank easily falls of, it is an ok addition.

What do people actually mean when they say that there aren’t enough details anyways? The ship does have some neat details in my opinion.

Yes, I am also annoyed by the absence of the extra cannon. Perhaps TLC intentionally left it out to make it less powerful than 6285 or 6286. But that's no big deal as it's easy to add cannon to the empty slot.

As to the cannon rail, I'm totally fine with the design. I used to love the 6286 design but it kinda occupies too much space and implement it would probably need another mid-section to make it feel less crowded.

Anyway, I'm not satisfied as she is so I'll probably carry on with some MOCing. I'm thinking of removing the collapsing triggers of both the mast and stern and adding some real riggings to her. A string overhead for example. But I cannot find triangle sail with decent color pattern to go with her. Any suggestions besides DIY?

[Dreamweb]

Welcome to the forums Bricverson!

Thanks for the review. We really needed it, it fact it was the only officially released ship that wasn't yet reviewed here! Now we have'em all (except re-releases, but that's another story).

The problem with this set is that it has some very cool features, and some poor ones, and it does look like they were trying to cut down on piece count here. I for one think that the skull at the stern looks really good, and so do the big white arches at the base of the main mast. The blue walls of the sterncastle aren't bad either. But I think the tilting mast and falling-off stern were unnecessary - a proper captain's cabin would've been better. It also needs more sails. And the way the cannons are placed doesn't make much sense.

Actually, lately I've been thinking about leaving the best features of the set intact, and building a much better ship around them, improving the rest - kinda like Red Beard Runner ver. 2.0. I think a really good-looking ship can be achieved that way, because this set definitely has some potential.

Once again thanks for the great review!

But I cannot find triangle sail with decent color pattern to go with her. Any suggestions besides DIY?

Maybe that's just me, but I think the black and white sail from Skull's Eye Schooner/Renegade Runner blends in quite nicely with Red Beard Runner's grey and white sails:

Edited September 24, 2011 by Dreamweb

[Bricverson]

Welcome to the forums Bricverson!

Thanks for the review. We really needed it, it fact it was the only officially released ship that wasn't yet reviewed here! Now we have'em all (except re-releases, but that's another story).

The problem with this set is that it has some very cool features, and some poor ones, and it does look like they were trying to cut down on piece count here. I for one think that the skull at the stern looks really good, and so do the big white arches at the base of the main mast. The blue walls of the sterncastle aren't bad either. But I think the tilting mast and falling-off stern were unnecessary - a proper captain's cabin would've been better. It also needs more sails. And the way the cannons are placed doesn't make much sense.

Actually, lately I've been thinking about leaving the best features of the set intact, and building a much better ship around them, improving the rest - kinda like Red Beard Runner ver. 2.0. I think a really good-looking ship can be achieved that way, because this set definitely has some potential.

Once again thanks for the great review!

Maybe that's just me, but I think the black and white sail from Skull's Eye Schooner/Renegade Runner blends in quite nicely with Red Beard Runner's grey and white sails:

Thank you Dreamweb. I'm really happy to be here.

I have actually built a refined version of this ship, or as you may say, the v2.0 RBR. I have removed both the tilting mast and falling skull-head. The cabin is now quite empty and can afford as many furniture as possible. I've also added a cellar below the cabin floor to address the space once occupied by the leverage. Besides these, the ship looks exactly the same as the original: opening stern walls, white arc below the mast, beautiful white skullhead.

I'll be adding some pictures of the refined ship to the post and hope you will like it.

[Dreamweb]

It would be better to start another thread in MOC subforum about your modified RBR, and leave that one just for the review of the original, I think.

Expect this review to be blogged on our frontpage soon!

[bloggedcp][/bloggedcp]

Edited September 26, 2011 by Dreamweb

[Sebeus I]

I have the ship and I like it a lot, the sails with holes in it are awesome, too bad there isn't a jib, tricorner sail on the prow, I tried using one from my skull's eye schooner but the sails' color don't really match unfortunatly.

I loved this ship whan I was 7 years old, what did you expect, the awesome skull stern, collapsing features and sails just made it look cooler than any other official ship I had seen back then.

I also like the hull proportions, wide hulls with 2 midsections. I still think it looks thougher than the new imperial flagship eventhough it's smaller

The studded ropes are usefull as long as the studs don't become loose, I use them a lot on moc ships because they are easy to use, especially for connecting sails such as spanker sails and jibs.

Nice review, I'm in the mood now to rebuild the Red Beard Runner

[Norrington]

Other than the skull on the back (and even that isn't so bad), this is a very well designed and proportioned ship. 10x better than the tosh that's been put out for ships by the Lego company recently (with the exception of the Queen Anne's Revenge, kind of).

If one were to flesh it out (remove the destruction features, full in gaps and do a little MODing), this would be one of the neatest offical Lego ships around.

[TalonCard]

Great review! This set has nostalgic value for me: it was the first BIG LEGO Pirate ship we ever owned. Sure, it's easily the least well-executed (although I do like the action features), and I even knew that at the time...but for once all our Pirates could fit on one ship. ;)

TC

[Captain Roger]

I haven't got the RBR but i guess it has shooting cannons and you have put non shooting cannons in your photo. I think you should indicate in your reviews when you are changing original pieces and accesories.

If the RBR had non shooting cannons and i am wrong, let me know

[Runamuck]

I think there might be variations of the cannon types in some sets. I have seen it in the Peeron inventories rather often. Oddly enough Peeron only lists non-shooting cannons for either number that this ship has. The one I have, 6290 version judging from the plans, has shooting cannons though. It could be that the former owner switched them, I bought it secondhand, but out of the many cannons I own and have seen, there has never been any non-shooting among them.

[Bjornu]

Nice review,

About the dark ages, I also had a poor family that couldnt afford the expensive lego toy....

But we Growed up to make thing change right?

Greetz Bjornu

[Dreamweb]

Sets in USA (and some other countries) had non-shooting cannons, sets in Europe had shooting cannons. So there's nothing wrong with the review as far as I know.

[Bricverson]

I haven't got the RBR but i guess it has shooting cannons and you have put non shooting cannons in your photo. I think you should indicate in your reviews when you are changing original pieces and accesories.

If the RBR had non shooting cannons and i am wrong, let me know

I suppose everyone is aware of the cannon variety back then so I didn't address too much.

Yes there are two types of cannons around: the U.S non-shooting cannon(with a cross-sword engrave on it) and the non-U.S shooting ones. I bought this set from a U.S seller on BL so it doesn't surprise me and these are my first nonshootings by the way.

Nice review,

About the dark ages, I also had a poor family that couldnt afford the expensive lego toy....

But we Growed up to make thing change right?

Greetz Bjornu

Definitely! Bjornu, it feels wonderful to buy myself sets without having to ask consent everytime from my parents.

The new problem is: I still cannot afford those vintage MISB sets, lol. That's what can truely make up those lost memories.

Edited September 26, 2011 by Bricverson

[Deadna]

I must say, VERY nice review.

A small note you may like to know is that on the 6th picture, of the minifigures is that the 1st and the 4th minifigs are unauthentic lego minifigs. I know this because I recently bought two sets, (Click here, it's the set #302 1nd #301), and they were FAKE legos. Just though you would want to know that!

[Bricverson]

I must say, VERY nice review.

A small note you may like to know is that on the 6th picture, of the minifigures is that the 1st and the 4th minifigs are unauthentic lego minifigs. I know this because I recently bought two sets, (Click here, it's the set #302 1nd #301), and they were FAKE legos. Just though you would want to know that!

Thanks Deadna,

As to the minifigs, are you sure the 1st and 4th ones are fake? I double-checked this set on Brickset and it shows exactly the same thing.

Maybe the photo doesn't do them justice.

Here are the pictures FYI:

I did mix-match some accessories (like the black bandana) on these minifigs but it doesn't matter.

[Bricverson]

Hey guys!

My MOCed version of this ship is now complete, come take a look: MOC - Red Beard Runner Improved

[Dreamweb]

A small note you may like to know is that on the 6th picture, of the minifigures is that the 1st and the 4th minifigs are unauthentic lego minifigs. I know this because I recently bought two sets, (Click here, it's the set #302 1nd #301), and they were FAKE legos. Just though you would want to know that!

Those minifigs are real LEGO, but they also exist as fakes - I have a few of those green-shirted fake ones myself. They are from Enlighten brand or whatever it's called.

As for the cannons, there was also a third type - non-shooting with no crossed cannons pattern - they appeared very briefly before the standard non-shooting ones were introduced, and they were basically shooting ones with the spring mechanism removed.

Anyway, can someone add this thread to the review index? Thanks!

[Deadna]

Thanks Deadna,

As to the minifigs, are you sure the 1st and 4th ones are fake? I double-checked this set on Brickset and it shows exactly the same thing.

Maybe the photo doesn't do them justice.

Here are the pictures FYI:

I did mix-match some accessories (like the black bandana) on these minifigs but it doesn't matter.

Yes. I see what you mean. I was only speaking my mind, mostly because I was VERY dissapointed at the condition they were in. I just didn't want a fellowmember to buy from BL, and come out with what I did!

[Captain Fortune]

My favorite ship has always been the 6286 Skull's Eye Schooner. I finally found it in may 1998. But first, my parents bought me the Red Beard Runner in Christmas 1997, when I was 9. And now, while writing, I have it here at my side, in a perfect condition.

When I saw it in the 1996 catalog for the first time, I remember that I felt very disappointed. I didn't like it at all. Smaller and simpler than its predecessor, it looked destroyed and wrecked. However, once I get used to the ship, I started to like it. When I had it at home, the more I played with it, the more I liked it. And now, I love it.

It was a very original ship, it broke the molds. That's why I felt surprised and disappointed. It looks weird compared to the more classic BSB and SES. But now I think that we should celebrate this originality, I'd go as far as to say that it's the most original ship Lego Pirates ever made.

We all now its flaws, and I now them, believe me. But the final design looks really powerful. And man, these sails are f****n' cool. The white parts of the forecastle and the poop deck (with that skull in the back) are really beatiful. And I like the new flags. We have only three cannons, but we have space for 4 cannons in each side, that's a lot. And there are nice minifigs; and the string, very useful.

My conclusion is that RBR is a very special ship that needs time to de accepted and get used to it. Once you do it, you love it!

Edited October 16, 2015 by Captain Fortune

[VintageLegoEra]

My favorite ship has always been the 6286 Skull's Eye Schooner. I finally found it in may 1998. But first, my parents bought me the Red Beard Runner in Christmas 1997, when I was 9. And now, while writing, I have it here at my side, in a perfect condition.

When I saw it in the 1996 catalog for the first time, I remember that I felt very disappointed. I didn't like it at all. Smaller and simpler than its predecessor, it looked destroyed and wrecked. However, once I get used to the ship, I started to like it. When I had it at home, the more I played with it, the more I liked it. And now, I love it.

It was a very original ship, it broke the molds. That's why I felt surprised and disappointed. It looks weird compared to the more classic BSB and SES. But now I think that we should celebrate this originality, I'd go as far as to say that it's the most original ship Lego Pirates ever made.

We all now its flaws, and I now them, believe me. But the final design looks really powerful. And man, these sails are f****n' cool. The white parts of the forecastle and the poop deck (with that skull in the back) are really beatiful. And I like the new flags. We have only three cannons, but we have space for 4 cannons in each side, that's a lot. And there are nice minifigs; and the string, very useful.

My conclusion is that RBR is a very special ship that needs time to de accepted and get used to it. Once you do it, you love it!

I do Agree with you!....The 6289 was also my first Pirate Ship bought it in 1997....I loved it at the same time i saw it at the shop and bought it...i still remember it costed me $161. It is very special to me and the box it had is just AWESOME compared to to re-re one. It hold a lot of great memories>

[Captain Fortune]

I do Agree with you!....The 6289 was also my first Pirate Ship bought it in 1997....I loved it at the same time i saw it at the shop and bought it...i still remember it costed me $161. It is very special to me and the box it had is just AWESOME compared to to re-re one. It hold a lot of great memories>

Thanks for your story!

In fact, my first ship was the Armada Flagship, early in 1997. Then, it came the RBR. After it, the SES and the IFS. And finally, de Caribbean Clipper. Just the opposite chronological order! And I'm speaking about the late 90s, without internet!