VeepNova

Illusion or not, that is still a lot of gold! Makes the total treasure of my pirates look tiny in comparison! Aside from the treasure, the cave looks really nice as well, the way it is textured, and with rock formations like that stalactite. I really like this. Keep up the good work.

I picked up two sets today, after seeing the movie. These are my first NEW LEGO sets since the 1990's. (I did pick up a used BSB a couple weeks back, though.)I picked up The London Escape, and Isla De Muerta. My decision on which sets to get was based mostly on the Minifigs, and secondly on Price. (The Mill will have to wait. I'm like most people, I like my minifigs yellow, rather than flesh toned, but I figured the torsos and legs would look good with some older heads and hands. Even so I have to give the artistic team credit for this one. Especially Gibbs. His face is amazing, especially the mutton chops. The multiple grays they used really makes them stand out. The level of detail on the torsos is also a lot higher than I'm used to, as someone who until today, only owned Pirates/Castle/Space sets from the late 80s to the mid 90s. The level of detail is just amazing. Though the older designs still hold a special place in my heart. As for the rest of the set, Overall I'm happy with it. The building isnt too big, but smaller is usually better in my opinion, as its easier to work with and move, as well as find a spot to display it. My only real complaint about the tavern is that it needs a little more floor space, so you actually have somewhere to put the table, and the keg. I'll probably modify it tomorrow to fix that issue. As for the carriages, they arent bad, but I wasnt really excited about them either. I dont really understand the use of the technic bricks for the horses, was this just to save a percentage of a cent on piece price? For me, I dont have anything else to say about the carriages, other than I wish they would have skimped on parts for the carts, and used them to make the building a little larger instead, maybe slightly longer, and more floor space! But overall, a good set, I'd say 4/5.

Alright. Today was an interesting day. First, POTC: On Stranger Tides, debuted today, and I saw it at the IMAX. Everything is over priced there, but thats a different story. Seeing the movie finally motivated me to head on over to Toys-R-Us today, to pick up some of the POTC sets. I only bought two, as I didn't expect them to be so expensive. I havent bought a new LEGO set since the 90's however. Anyway I picked up Isla De Muerta, and London Escape. The reason I am mentioning this is because my set of Isla De Muerta DID come with chrome gold bars and coins. The coins were the new type, not the classic pirate coins on a sprue. However, The London Escape came with the Pearl gold coins and a bar that everyone has been complaining about. Now, I don't know if the Isla De Muerta is a prototype, and I got very lucky, or if the sets containing pearl gold coins and bars were just a first batch, and I got a very new Isla De Muerta containing what is supposed to be the standard. If more Chrome bars and coins start popping up, I think we would all like to hear about it, and see what the trend is, as this is obviously something that a lot of people find important. On a side note, I did only get 2 of the chrome gold bars, rather than 3 of the pearl ones as shown in the review pictures. As for a quick review, It's not a bad set, and it did take a little longer to build than expected. There is a little, not much, but a little more to it than what it first looks like, glancing at pictures. The figures are nice, though I really could care less for the skeleton. I might put the Skeleton Barbossa head onto one of my old classic pirate/castle skeletons. Definately worth it if you get the chrome treasure, but I picked it up after reading reviews here, expecting pearl treasure, so I'd say its worth it either way.