REVIEW: 4184 Black Pearl

[SkaForHire]

For what it is worth, some Walmarts are still clearing them out, I am up visiting my mom in Erie, PA and I just picked one up for 60 dollars. Well worth it in my opinion. Although, I did not like paying full for it when I originally bought it. Now, If I could just find a QAR on sale. In Fort Worth, TX, They are either all cleared out or not on sale.

[The_Chosen_1]

I finally bought a much-needed addition to the Black Pearl set off of Bricklink. I always felt the set was incomplete without Jack the monkey, so this guy will just have to do:

[Cervantes]

^ definitely a lacking feature. =)

I'm considering getting a Black pearl myself. But I have a few pet peeves...

-lame anchor

-Only two cannons to outfit four cannon hatches. I think if we're spending a hundred or more they could have the decency to pack in a cannon for each hatch. ;/ The QAR seems to be even worse in this regard in sporting four times as many hatches as cannons, without so much as wheels to rotate the cannons around with if needed on the other side.

-Ship seems kind of small for the price tag. BSB doesn't even have 70 more pieces, yet the pearl is dwarfed by it. One more piece of hull plating would have done wonders

-no upper deck

I don't know. It doesn't seem to quite be worth $100, but sadly there are few other ships these days I can get my hands on and I'm eager to finally get something bigger than the renegade runner. If only the only people still making new Black Sea Barracuda's weren't gimmick brands pushing low quality parts.

[Hive]

I finally bought a much-needed addition to the Black Pearl set off of Bricklink. I always felt the set was incomplete without Jack the monkey, so this guy will just have to do:

Why not use one of the classic Pirates monkeys instead?

[IamF4u5t]

@cervantes: i have to correct you. about the missing cannons, it is even worse. there are only 4 canon ports on the black pearl model, 2 on each side. u see 3 port on each side, but the 2 ones under the stairs connot be filled with canons because of lacking space, they are only dummy ports. also on the qar - u see 6 ports each side, only 4 each side can be filled with canons, 2 each side, the first and last are dummies... =) the missing canons are not the main problem - u can buy from bricklink or use from other sets u already own but even dummy ports - i hate it^^

[Sebeus I]

The only official ship that has all the spots covered is the Black Seas Barracuda with two cannons on each side.

What I hate more is the absence of wheels for the cannons, the new ships are cheap but not literally unfortunatly. Perhaps these lacking features are a result of an attempt to reduce the price, considering the licence

Either way, it makes perfect sense that buying a non-licenced ship gives you more for your money.

The only thing that attracts me in this set are the minifigures but it's kind of lame to spend 100€ just for those.

[IamF4u5t]

i bought this model twice when it came out for 72 euros, there was a nice discount at toys r us and also sold one of the davy jones minifigs for 20 euros at bricklink xD. i bought it to make one bigger BP - to have a good basic start. i really like the black hulls - useful not only for black pirate ships, but also for frigates, most people moc them in colorshemes like the IF, which looks really nice but not really "real". i think most of the frigates looked like the hms surprise which has alot of black and yellow...to come back to topic - for a hundred bucks i would rather buy a qar- only if u really want to have a black pirate ship/frigate u should buy a black pearl model. the qar comes with more hull parts, canons, more (seldom) parts all in all...u can make any sip of it, sebeus for instance made an own nice qar or his spanish sloop of war which also seems to lack in canons filled in the ports (if ever possible? :P) but looks really really good =)

[Cervantes]

The Queen Anne only has one more cannon than the Pearl (3), but it seems to end up feeling even MORE stripped down. While the Pearl only has 2 guns for 4 working hatches, the Anne has only 3 guns to serve 12(!). I can't imagine tossing in a few more would have broke the bank for Lego. (What is 18 more pieces in the scope of 1100?)I imagine much of the cost is going into the license/development/middleman wholesale price/packaging and transport. The piece cost to mass produce are small potatoes in comparison.

@cervantes: i have to correct you. about the missing cannons, it is even worse. there are only 4 canon ports on the black pearl model, 2 on each side. u see 3 port on each side, but the 2 ones under the stairs connot be filled with canons because of lacking space, they are only dummy ports. also on the qar - u see 6 ports each side, only 4 each side can be filled with canons, 2 each side, the first and last are dummies... =) the missing canons are not the main problem - u can buy from bricklink or use from other sets u already own but even dummy ports - i hate it^^

Yeah, that was kind of what I was trying to say. You have four usable hatches, but only two actual cannons. And in regards to the one on each side that are dummy parts, that is what I was getting at when I said the pearl really needed one more chunk of hull plating. That would have put it on comparable stature to most other pirate ships like the barracuda, while also ensure the third hatch on each side was not obscured by stairs.

I think what annoys me most are the lengthy hoops we need to jump through to get the rest of the cannons we need. Lego SERIOUSLY needs to sell separate cannon packs/pirate swag accessories mini packs if they're going to pull shenanigans. I would be pretty mad if I were Jack Sparrow, swearing a life debt bargain for a ship with flaws like stairs getting in the way of the cannon hatches rending them useless while only having one cannon on each side of the ship anyway. Going into battle with the Black Pearl would be SUICIDE! XD

[Axis600]

I'm just kind of curious, what does Davy Jones' head look like without his beard? I tried to find it on Peeron and Bricklink, but no go.

[parysm]

I'm just kind of curious, what does Davy Jones' head look like without his beard? I tried to find it on Peeron and Bricklink, but no go.

Edited July 31, 2012 by parysm

[Axis600]

Ah, I see. Thank you.

[Darth Caedus]

The Framingham Massachusetts Walmart still has 5 Black Pearls for $69.00 each. A solid set, not worth 100 but a bargain for that price - for the minifigs alone, almost. Davy Jones is incredible, and going for $20+ on the secondary market!

[dundunk]

it's pirates!!! welcome jack sparrow

[coolguy2323]

If anyone has one of these they'd be interested in trading for some SW legos please PM me!

[VintageLegoEra]

In the poster, the Hadras Minifig shows at the top, where the set has no....

i got my self one , so my Black pearl has a new member ( Hadras )

:)

[Capn Frank]

I had rebuilt her after being in storage for a few years.

Lets just say I was not impressed with the design of this set. I believe the Cross Bone Clipper is the only ship that's worse in set design. And that ship is terrible.

Cons:

The masts and yard arms are poorly done. Attaching all of the yard arms to a 2X plate is a poor solution to the type of mast pieces used. I am also not a fan of axels and technic connectors being used for the yard arms and the mizzen mast.

The way that the jib is mounted looks awkward to me.

As already mentioned in the review, the rudder is pretty pathetic. There is no hope of utilizing existing pieces to make a better and/or working rudder.

The captain's cabin is very plain, which is where a lot of detail should have been.

There is no deck or even gangway planks over the gun deck.

No captain's gig.

Not enough cannons and no wheels on the cannons it comes with.

Pros:

Captains cabin is enclosed.

The colors of the sails, pre-fab hull pieces, and other bricks used in the set are awesome.

The ship is just screaming to get modded, which is what I hope to do at some point to fix all of my cons with the set.

I would definitely recommend this set to anyone that wants a Modded Black Pearl or wish to build a MOC utilizing a lot of the great pieces that come with the set. I don't recommend building the set and not changing it.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

You might want to take a look at this: (which is My Own MODification = MOMOD)

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=94699

But as I wrote, even after some modifications, it is still a poor ship!

[Hive]

I rather liked The Black Pearl. Is it perfect? No, of course not. But it has a nicely different look with some fresh colours and versatile sails. And the build really ain't that bad, in my opinion.