F1stzz

Did you post "The Lucky Seashell" & "Small Pirate Brigantine" twice intentionally? Again with the "Armada Cove"/"Broadside Bay" examples: different names — same pictures, m8 And once more, lol, the "Imperial Fort" & "Imperial Outpost and Barracks/prison" are the same build, just showcased from slightly different angles

Just wait a few years until we actually see how the brand-new prints would impact the aftermarket prices for both designs I bet most of us will be repeating to ourselves this exact quote of yours for a long time Except we have no Broadside nor his men in the new set :>

At least it's easy to slap some fine pricetags on what's suddenly become too difficult to do properly these days

Bruh, yeah, these people are all around no matter the theme, I think I've already experienced enough to confirm That's one thing when audience is defending the quality & reputation behind their favourite company's product if it's truly deserving, but stans, who are desperately protecting brand's careless approach and parasitism on previous accomplishments, eventually become the very reason of their beloved company being ran aground.

Ah, yeah — don't remind me of that failure, lol. Up to the point of 10320 reveal I have never been so disappointed in a LEGO set ever — actually, I can say 4184 kinda kickstarted my "dark ages" It was so bad it made Mega Bloks BP look outstanding, LMAO ...and downgrading some of their higher priced builds in the meantime, absolutely.

Is that the famously known MOCYourBricks BP design? Insanely good one indeed, if that's the one you're talking about, probably the closest ever in its appearance to the original ship Oh, got you, m8 Yeah, in terms of the form TLG minifigs are impeccable, no debate here

With how TLG prints are going down in quality these years overall & the fact that Rivendell minifigures, as well as the new Peter Pan ones, actually have worse detail on their torso prints than the figures from 2012 & CMFs respectively — nah, gotta hold our horses here I can definitely tell you, for example, that Ktownbricks have outstanding Castle minifigs (used to have some for Pirates too), custom printed maps, signs, all kinds of stuff — and I'm sure there are many more of those custom shops providing a great product on par with TLG in that regard. Just gotta look for them Yeah, I guess I do: you mean they feel much like a pure display model, like it's not an ACTUAL play set or something to have fun with apart from building it — something more like those wooden or whatnot collection models, but brick built. And I agree if that's the point, cuz I always loved that playability/storytelling aspect of LEGO too. To make it clear, I'd prefer 6276 or 10320 to the HUGE 6000+ pcs Eldorado Fortress MOCs anyday, lol I respect those gigantic builds & love when people are showcasing 'em, but I'll never go for it myself just because for me it's all in the original set, it does its job perfectly for what it is with less, doesn't eat thousands of dollars + endless volumes of space, gives you some great play possibilities and actually tells you a lil' story in the meantime with the minifigs, accessories, all that — it's just comfy & cool, Idk That's not even funny at this point, lol, probably not a single LEGO product in its history has ever had such an amount of cannons provided in a single set for 75€ or even higher 😂 I believe a single reddish brown cannonbase on BL costs like a third of the set you've mentioned

And just like that the rug of historically based themes is gonna be pulled out from under TLG's feet by BB in Germany if LEGO continues to put out these highly priced lazily executed remakes instead of providing something to be truly awestruck about. I can totally see that market being lost for TLG if things will keep on going this way.

Thanks for sharing your insight on the matter, now I see that I've measured the room temperature somewhat correctly Actually, since I've seen so many praises to Bluebrixx while doing so, now I think it's safe to say those convos about 10320 being TLG's late reaction to some of the Bluebrixx products do have a solid ground

Let me get this straight: does anybody really, REALLY believe that the "island + ship", which are 2 different builds indeed, in 21322 = "closed Fortress ↔️ opened Fortress" in 10320 & Lion Knights' Castle? How's the wide-open layout a "B-model", when it's clearly just an additional display option & not an alternative build? It's the same thing structurally all along, you don't have to spend over 30 minutes to rebuild any of it — you just get to choose how to display the whole thing. Therefore, it's not a "main/alternative build" — it's a "main/alternative display option". I can't believe there are people who are falling for this manipulation. Also, there are clear reasons why people loved PoBB & Lion Knights' Castle and have mixed feelings about 10320. Earlier examples featured tons of accessories, supplies, easter eggs and their builds were like nothing ever before. 10320 doesn't contain even a half of everything those sets did. Comparing the response to a $/€200+ product with the response to a GWP, which people are getting basically for free, is also a manipulation. You can forgive some flaws to a set, which is given to you by the company almost for free simply for the fact you've made a purchase in their store, u know, especially — when it's a remake of some classics. Those GWPs are also nowhere near of being on the same level with an 18+ ICONS high-end product, for which you do get to pay quite a sum & have your expectations set accordingly. So I'd prefer to review each of these cases separately and in detail instead of making manipulative generalizations, especially considering that TLG do know their products better & are analysing them behind the curtain in the same exact way.

TY for clarification, that means it's a brand-new colour for the piece! Wanna see it live

He's done some great photography for Pirates back when PoBB was released, one shot in particular was just awe-inspiring — the pic of the Black Seas Barracuda sailing into the sunset That's what kills me rly. I want Pirates sets to sell great, but I don't want TLG to get away with the "half4ssed remakes will do fine anyway" formula they're testing rn. This is a dangerous ground to step on if they do. Here's one more thing I should bring up here. Today I've decided to check the review of 10320 on the YT channel called "Brickstory" or something like that, I don't remember the exact name cuz I'm not its viewer & not subscribed. The fact is the owner of this channel is German, who seemingly has his own LEGO history museum, so the whole thing is popular amongst German LEGO fans. Not sure what was his opinion on the set (because, well, I don't speak German), I'd say it's positive in general, but the actual reason why I'm bringing this up is what I've seen in the comments section while checking the vibes there. It's much easier to understand the language you don't speak in YT comments, where you have a built-in translator under every single statement — so what are Germans saying there? Out of 200+ comments literally the half is talking about TLG going crazy with the price tag for 10320 while trying to COPY BLUEBRIXX's IDEA OF THE PIRATES LINE OF MODULAR SETS (!) which are two/three times cheaper, or that Bluebrixx overall makes better value & quality Pirates sets than TLG does currently, therefore there's no need to spend crazy amounts of money on 10320 when they can get Bluebrixx's superior "Governor's Fortress" (or whatever that's called) for the lesser or equal price, or that TLG is only releasing overpriced 10320 as a late answer to the aforementioned set (or, I suppose, a number of sets) by Bluebrixx & so on. For me that's a clear signal of German audience partially starting to lean more towards their home brand (I believe Bluebrixx is a Germany based manufacturer, am I wrong?) & leaving TLG behind, at least when it comes to historically driven themes. So yeah, I totally agree that TLG shouldn't be taking anything for granted indeed.

Why? It's just a brick. Bricks can be used & stacked with other bricks, lol, that's a "part usage". Slightly changing the structure of a particular build is all it takes to fit anything in. It's not the matter of usability here, it's only about the overall appearance. Some would love to see masonry bricks more, some like the rounded + regular plates combos. I believe we're allowed to post links here, albeit I know for sure there's a separate topic dedicated specifically for such fabulous pics like those you've mentioned Am I right, @Mister Phes? I think recent work of Brick Central deserves to be posted there, those photos of 10320 are just another level

I'd like you to share the number of your therapist with me, if you'd be so kind, plz, cuz the way you've framed the quotes does give me a headache :> Always love to be gaslighted into thinking the cons are actually a stuff to be drooling about, btw Nvm, here's another quick review of the set posted by Tim Brighton-Jones on the Brick Banter blog: https://www.brickbanter.com/2023/06/20/lego-icons-10320-eldorado-fortress-review/ Tim also didn't quite get the "WOW" effect from 10320 for some reason, I wonder why?

THE EPAULETTES! Is this a reissue of the legendary yellow ones??

And while I respect that — I also never insulted anybody here up to the point when you labelled me "vitriolic" & "hostile". Somehow, you decided that would be appropriate because I agreed with the point about TLG bringing an outdated dock design to the modern set, which just happened to be made by the guy, who called people buying the set "suckers" (which means he called ME that too, since I'm about to buy 10320 as well, lol). I agreed with some particular points the guy made, cuz those are spot on — not with him insulting people (insulting me just as much, btw). Yet this brilliant thought somehow didn't cross your mind & u jumped at me with your labels. That's how you get a backlash you've earned all by yourself. Happy for ya, lad, I sincerely am, but that's not the case at all in my country. We don't have a single official LEGO Store in existence here, not to mention that half of BL sellers & the entirety of eBay has stopped any shipping to my country due to the war happening. So yeah, for me personally it's quite the opposite from being "cheap as hell", & I suppose it's somewhat the same for multiple countries around the world. I hear you, m8 Same thoughts here & it honestly drives me mad when I think this is what we get before the company sends Pirates to another 3 (or more) years break. And when the break for the theme eventually ends, the next thing we're gonna get might also be a butchered remake of a classic. The probability of entering this circle does make me angry, tbh.

The so-called "price-per-piece" metric is pretty much useless for customers as it doesn't represent the actual value of the set. Saying "price-per-piece is good" while implying "the set is good" is in fact a manipulation that only serves well to the manufacturer, not the customer. To make it clear: you can have 200 of various gray bricks which cost the same as the complete set built with this exact amount of different coloured bricks/plates/pins/whatever — but it doesn't mean the value of both is equal just because one pile of blocks has the same price as the other pile which is a complete set. It's just a pointless argument really. Oh, so now I'm allowed not to like the cons & talk about it openly without being blamed for hostility towards anybody in this thread (which never existed in the first place)? That's nice, I guess the name-calling did help to some extent then. People, who do like 10320, are free to like it & there's nothing wrong with that. Something's wrong tho with people, who are jumping at those who dare to criticise the clear negatives of this set. It's not a normal behaviour to start labeling rightfully disappointed & frustrated people as "vitriolic" & stuff — those who do that are indeed outta their senses & should indeed stop pandering. I have no idea why all of a sudden it's critiques who have to defend their position & not the company who has F'd up the expectations for the product big time. "Agreeing or disagreeing" works both ways, in case some have forgotten. I really hope that from this point forward we're not gonna climb out of our skin trying to justify the existence of a long time outdated/lazy 4ss designs & approaches in modern LEGO products with a high price tag, which are aimed for the collectors and adults, just for the sake of disagreeing.

M8, the fact I can replace the dock with whatever I see fitting doesn't automatically make the aforementioned dock a masterpiece & nicely designed. It doesn't work this way. In fact, when the customer needs to replace the entire section in a pricey set on his/her own — that more often than not indicates the problem being there with the initial design. That's what people are addressing here — the problem with the initial design. Also, you may sometimes change things even if you like the initial approach, so all in all this argument is pointless. The fact of the matter is, there were dozens of years of evolution & progress in building techniques — I'd like to see the culmination of this development in a new $200+ releases, not a degradation, please, thanks. T H I S. Wholeheartedly agree with the whole take, as this is how things should always be look at. Hats off to you, sir That's true & I admit it, tho I have a very clear reasoning behind everything I said. "PoBB was a better value for money than what we have with 10320 now" & "we didn't buy 21322 cuz of reasons" are statements that kinda lie in different areas, don't you think? You may have passed on 21322 & gonna grab 10320 — but that circumstance doesn't suddenly make the Eldorado Fortress a better value set overall. You're putting words in my mouth here. I've clearly stated earlier that I'll most likely go ahead & buy this set, cuz I don't have the original 6276 & don't wanna miss on the modularity of the new one, which gives some good space for mods. You're confusing frustration & disappointment with a definite pass here. There's a difference between paying something over for a certainly great product overall — and paying as much for a set that has numerous widely exposed cons in it. As I've said once, while PoBB purchase felt like a holiday & resurgence — 10320 already feels like a bittersweet one. The choice I personally get in this situation is either to pay God knows how much for a new 6276 copy — and then modify it, which will be harder to do since the set has a pre-moulded baseplate & the upgrade will still be pricey; or buy a used 6276 — but it's "used", so I'll have to wait & search for the better copy, & deal with all the trouble I've mentioned previously anyway; or buy 10320, cuz the main point is I need to have the Eldorado Fortress for my Bluecoats regardless. What do you think is the most reasonable solution here? Isn't it obvious? My frustration with 10320 cons comes from the fact that I don't want to pay three times more for an OLDER model, which I'd still be upgrading, while the new set makes the modification process miles easier & cheaper — but at the same time 10320 has quite a list of flaws that are disappointing & were possible to avoid if TLG cared for real. But with all that, buying 10320 is still the cheapest & the most convenient solution in my case, so what else I have to do. This is where the talk about "the value for the price" comes from & it's reasonable from my standpoint. I've been constantly saying that people are free to agree or disagree with my statements & those shouldn't influence the mindset of anyone towards the 10320. We're just having a discussion here & voicing opinions, nobody's in control of anybody's wallet. Tho I do find quite worrisome the fact that those who are openly & rightfully criticizing the obvious "in yo face" negatives of the set are receiving a backlash (in few occasions — an aggressive one) towards them, which tells me we have a case of TLG worshipping that's gone a bit too far & is not healthy at all. I'd like to enjoy this set, but it just doesn't allow me to do so with its lack of accessories, supplies, wacky part usage & designing, questionable minifigure selection & so on. I'm not gonna unconsciously enjoy & sing praises to what's obviously badly & cheaply executed set at such a price point, as well as I'm not intending to make the audience to turn on it (I don't know how am I supposed to turn anybody on the set I've personally proclaimed I'm gonna get, lol). Again, there are pretty obvious flaws in this set, a great amount of them, some of them are overshadowing the positives, so I'd suggest we can talk about it openly & admit their existence instead of trying to inhale more copium every time those get to be mentioned.

Welp, at least we can have that No, sir, you don't understand: stacking 2x2 black bricks on top of each other and slapping some narrow 2x6/8/12 black plates on all of it is a masterpiece and costs $200, TY I believe I wasn't hostile towards anyone here, lol, but if you wish so... No, it's not, and I provided clear examples of why that's the case. If you love to spend hundreds of dollars on pieces in general that have little to no clear thought or creativity behind them — you're welcome, there's a line called "Classic" for you to explore, which has all the pieces to pay for, stack 'em crates all you like Such a logic should never be applied to anything outside the "Classic" line tho, otherwise you're at a high risk of being fed with tasteless lazy shite for your own money. If you're enjoying such a process & asking for more — good for you, don't expect me to join tho First of all — pay attention, we were not talking about set's good aspects. The recent convo was about the dock in particular, which looks like it was thrown together by a 5 year old child rather than experienced designer, OR it's because some guys in the company thought it'd be a great idea to save some production costs on what happens to be a front of the model in 2023. Whatever the reason — this kind of jetty design is BS in 2023, and that's a fact. Basically, you, as a customer, were robbed of an elegant modern & advanced design, but still asked to pay the full price for it + 10% for inflation. That's what's happening for real here. You have to be downright outta your senses as a customer not to recognise it. Second — I'm not vitriolic towards anybody in this thread, I am tho towards The LEGO Group itself. They've lost the touch & are trying to sell us highly priced but cheaply approached copycat of the legendary classic purely by pulling the two key strings: nostalgia and hunger for the theme to return. This set screams "carelessness, corner cutting, lack of inspiration" & I don't want Pirates theme to turn into a "lazily made nostalgia driven cash grab once in few years". If you see all the obvious shortcomings & cons of this set that were mentioned in the reviews, comments on social medias, in this thread by various people, but still prefer to defend TLG's BS in disputes with me to the point of sacrificing your own interests as a customer — then yes, you may consider me vitriolic towards you, Karen, & justifiably so. Pirates theme is the GOAT for me personally, so I care about it accordingly & won't let anybody in their sane mind call the severe quality degradation in the theme's set "immaterial" in my presence. Such a type of careless mindset shown by consumers is truly one of the reasons the Pirates theme was brought into "once in a while (maybe)" category — alongside all the other great themes that made TLG what it is today. So I encourage you to stop pandering to TLG's tricks too much for your own good & more so at the expense of the Pirates sets quality.

They honestly did. Yeah, that's pretty much what I was trying to say few days ago mentioning the potential costs of army building from this point on. I just don't get why we couldn't bring those prints back, not only for figures, but for flags as well (even tho I rather appreciate the new torso print for "new governor" & find it a bit more interesting in details). Down the road we'll have 3 different sorts of Bluecoats & all of them will be expensive to a various degree, same stuff with their flags. The price to value ratio isn't tho. I don't think it needs to be thoroughly explained over & over again, you're all grown up people here & can tell the difference, which is quite noticeable between what we've got in 21322 for 2500 pcs at $200 & what we have now in 10320 for the same amount of pieces at $215 (even at $225 in some places). PoBB offered the customer: tons of accessories (from basic weaponry to agricultural tools, to daily use items); two massive striking builds (and I mean structurally) like nothing ever before in the theme; lots of living creatures, plants; proper homages (dat Islanders one is a prime example) etc. On the other hand in 10320 we're mostly paying for the rocks. Accessories are quite limited from what I've seen in the reviews (limited to the point of considering 2 flintlocks a "cargo", in fact); there's little to no treasure & gold in a Fortress called "Eldorado"; plants? Forget about it, here's some dated palm trees (no coconuts for ya there too, btw) & foliage, guys; supplies? Well, soldiers may enjoy eating cannonballs from their plates; fauna? Here's your parrot & monkey, F off — and we can go all day. So yeah, "price to piece ratio" could sometimes be a two-sided coin, innit, lad? Fixed the sentence for ya a little I like how somebody formulated it on Insta somewhere: "as a standalone set — it's decent, as a remake — it is bad". The colour isn't. The design of the build itself is the epitome of primitiveness & should never be a thing in 2023 at the price point of this set. That is true frfr. Designers have lost the plot & couldn't differentiate the "remake" & "copypasta" in this case (and quite a few others). People who've seen all the complaints about the jetty (both build & colour related ones, including those coming from some reviewers), but still choose to defend TLG's lazy 4ss approach are just coping too hard at this point.

Thanks for a reminder, lad, didn't use that link for a while, lol. U can bet I'll have a few slaps to throw at 'em

Actually sums it up perfectly. Exactly how this set makes me feel. "Hey, so plebs are ready to just throw their money at us for some half4ssed remakes of the sets they've owned back in the day — sounds like a PAYDAY, BAIBAY!", lol. As a proud owner of the 2009-2010 pearl dark gray cannons, which have all sorts of different shades on them, I can confirm & agree with everything mentioned I'd put it on top of the prison cell instead of the governor's office. Such an obvious option to go for, but TLG had to make this cannon a gimmicky feature, so we got the nonsense with a parapet instead. Great point there! I wanted to comment on this stuff, but my pasta was already enormous enough That's so much fun to see all those plates & bowls, & barrels being empty as if they were cleaned just a minute ago, innit? Just compare this to the grocery list our pirates had in 21322 at a lesser price point, I mean, that's ridiculous. E x a c t l y. I want more PoBB type of reimaginations at a $200+, not some Creator type of travesties (as was rightfully pointed out by many all around the AFOL space) under the "remake" title at the same price. The fact we don't get Pirates sets for years & crave for them to be released more frequently doesn't mean we would be or should be satisfied with a lazily approached product released once in a while. Quality & care should always be there 100% of the time. TY, m8, it's really unfortunate that such a pasta even exists when we're talking about the set named "Eldorado Fortress", but I insist that we shouldn't close our eyes on this disappointingly raw product and call BS for what it is. Bullseye, dear! The inclusion of the Merchant Ship from 6277 is a key problem with the minifigure selection for this set, cuz the dilemma is: if you don't have canonical merchants on the ship (or any of them, frankly, but many would still love to get the refreshed torso for Ascot/Steve) — most certainly there'll be complaints about it, but if you do include the merchants figures — then all of a sudden they're taking place of the soldiers in a set that originally never had any merchant boats! So what should've TLG done to avoid the trouble? Correct — they should've made the Merchant Boat a GWP, which would've cleared some space for additional pieces AND soldier minifigs in the main set, while giving a general customer & targeted audience a pleasant surprise in form of Merchant Vessel with a full crew of merchants (could even pump the number of figs up a little to a 3, just for a bonus). In this case we would've had a more detailed (with a lid over the cargo hold! And even anchor maybe!! And an actual cargo on board too!!!) & better executed Merchant Ship as well, btw. But instead the company has chosen the laziest play imaginable, for which I'm calling 'em out.

Oka-a-ay, so I've looked through the Brickset review as well as RacingBrick's video I've shared earlier (btw, I recommend you to subscribe to his channel as he's planning to upload an interview with the 10320's designer soon, I bet it's gonna be an interesting content ). Now I'd like to leave my comments on some of the Brickset's review theses & express my feelings this way. Get yourself ready for a long 4ss read, me hearties, bring some tea or coffee, or beer, or RUM — whatever you'd like to have this evening, cuz it's gonna be a hell of a ride So first of all, as can be seen in the aforementioned video review by RacingBrick & was already pointed out by @TalonCard, we have a page in the instruction manual that is dedicated to the "Golden Medallion/Sovereign" comic. Now I'm starting to boil, ladies & gents. TLG does recognize the source material, yet Bluecoats faction in the manual is called "Imperial Guards" for some reason instead of "Imperial Soldiers", as it's been for decades. They do recognize the comics, but in a 200+ bucks remake we have "a new governor & guards", tho nobody bothered to mention their names & give them stories in the instructions to smooth out the introduction of new characters. This, unfortunately, proves all the doubters were right: even while having the "Golden Medallion" in the back of their minds & directly mentioning it in the manual, TLG just simply didn't care to put any original characters in a quite expensive set that is advertised & built as a remake, not a "reimagining" — but a "remake". Bonkers. No, it does not. That's why I've been talking about the 2015 Governor's faceprint (that's still in production, btw) all along, this is why I had a feeling we've been given a character replacement for Broadside (with a description calling the figure an "admiral" on the website only adding to the suspicion). Was right indeed, again. Having the main character being replaced by a no-name in the pricey remake of ... and yada-yada-yada. You get how I feel about this. I do have a 3626cpb1335 head tho & I need the head that belongs to the "new governor" in 10320 for my take on modern Black Jack Hawkins, so no problem there, but I am disappointed we didn't get a great refreshed Broadside faceprint in the set that claims to be "a faithful remake". For 200+ bucks. Yeah, I wish we had any explanation provided for this... Thrilling, I'd say, minifigure selection. Again, if TLG wants to bring in new characters into an established 30 years ago storyline — plz, give 'em names & a little story at least, especially when you're mentioning the legendary comic that had all the great stories and took care of depicting the main characters, ESPECIALLY when you bothered to do so earlier with 21322. Without any of that the whole thing feels like a letdown, in my eyes at least. Once again — that is a matter of a minifigure selection which is a letdown of 10320 in my estimation. I had a few thoughts on that & came to a conclusion that the optimal range of minifigs in this particular set could've been, IMHO: 1 for Governor (Broadside preferably, aye?); 1 for officer (Lt. de Martinet); 2 for soldiers (1 male & 1 female or we may replace one of the soldiers with Camilla — what a blast that would've been to have her featured for the first time ever!); 2 for merchants (1 for the update of our dear Merchant Ship Captain from 6277: new torso print, all that, may even call him "Ascot Stevenson" to crack a few smiles — or you may still just give this figure a female faceprint while not making any distinctive accents on the refreshed torso print; 1 for his/her fiance/friend — a female merchant accompanying Ascot? LOVELY if you ask me!) 2 for pirates (1 for Anne Anchor, she's a stunning minifigure, but when it comes to 1 pirate — here we have a plenty of options: we may just leave it at that with giving a random pirate a different faceprint instead of Redbeard's 2015 one; we may put a remade Bo'sun Will Cavendish in the place of a random pirate — can you feel it, lads? Already sounds A BANGER, innit? Especially when we have the "Golden Medallion" mentioned in our manuals, lol; if we do need a pirate captain in this set & want to keep the exclusivity of Redbeard's 2020 faceprint to 21322... Let me think of another Captain that could've potentially take Redbeard's place in plundering the Eldorado Fortress... HEY, THERE'S ONE! CAPTAIN IRONHOOK! The remake of another classic Captain that is yet to happen! Damn, what a surprising appearance this one guy could've made! And btw, this is where 2015 Redbeard's faceprint could've worked marvellously) That makes for an 8 minifigures in total, just like the number we have in 10320. Now dare you say the selection I proposed is by any means worse than what we actually got with the set. Btw, for those who say "just change some heads" — due to my minifigure selection's logic, you have an option to swap the heads in any order & make whomever you want whoever with what you already have in the set without any extra spendings, as there are still 3-4 female faces in my suggestions & the roles are more diversified. Meanwhile in this case the probability of any complaints about minifigures is SIGNIFICANTLY decreased, cuz in my variants we have the original & new characters coexisting in harmony. But hey, at least I'm not the one in charge of the disaster that is the minifigure choice for this 200+ bucks "homage", gotta be satisfied with that, I guess. Red epaulettes is a W, zero debate here. Plain shako hats in a 200+ bucks set is a BS. And this is also BS in a 200+ bucks set. Even tho there will be lots of copies with a great printing quality across the board, we all know that a similar amount of sets will contain the aforementioned printing defect on minifigs. Considering the fact we seemingly don't have a separate colour for a buckle on crossed belts, some might expect those buckles to have a bluish flair to them as well. That's absolutely true. Just in general, many fans were waiting for a modern take on 6276 in style of PoBB, but instead we've got a copycat that uses a number of modern pieces & techniques only where it's absolutely necessary due to some of the 1989 parts & moulds being long out of production & unavailable, kek. Those appear 30 years outdated, to be exact Seriously, one of the biggest "WTF?!" moments of this set build-wise. It's underwhelming to the point of disgust to see such an uninspired take on the dock after what designers presented us with in 21322. Throwing that one in a bin & rebuilding from the ground zero once I have the set on hands. I assume the integrity of the front defensive wall has fallen victim to modularity of the "crane tower", that's why we have a narrow gap there. Also that staircase... Ugh, whatever. Aren't we all? But we've made it far enough already to suppose that "half4ssing" is the motif under which many things have been done in this set. Changing palm trees as well once I grab it, btw. It absolutely is, except we still have literally nothing to do with the space under it — just like in the original Eldorado Fortress We're talking about the main tower here, & while the decision making with modularity in mind resulted in lacking a wall to close out the parapet, we can always pretend this was intended to be a substitution for "walking a plank" lol. And I prefer the 2015 version of it. But that's just a matter of preference — the true crime here is not receiving a 2x2 variant of this new Bluecoat banner. In a 200+ bucks remake. Is it? I thought we've moved a few miles forward from regular plates imitating doors over the course of 30+ years, but I guess it's still considered "wonderful" in 2023. That's actually crazy how we still have a °45 doorway there, but from 1989 to 2023 we've moved backwards from a door mould to a couple of plates thrown together. It's like the evolution of part selection & applicable techniques never happened. This one is also — "to be swapped ✍️...". Another victim of the modularity here — (admiral's) "new governor's" office. I'm starting to second-guess the necessity of this feature in 10320. So far it looks like most of the build's shortcomings are direct consequences of its modular design — strangely enough, considering such a feature should improve an overall structure rather than set any limitations. It's atrocious and uses twice as many pieces as it should've in a set, which has a strict piece count. Gotta make my own crane there, a more simple one — but effective & that would fit the composition better. Also, there are kinda too many things already to "change/swap" in a 200+ bucks set, don't you think? A LOT better. Look no further than the MOC of this exact ship by @Samarth — this is how it's done, TLG. ...while the new ship misses the lid over the cargo hold that was featured in the original one. Score is tied here! Just use a dynamite piece (if you have one, ofc, he-he) and blow the wall off like in 6242 set of 2009 Pirates wave In all seriousness tho, the fact soldiers can't use their own crane & pirates have nothing to blow the wall with is a low-key reminder that 10320 is a set for adults, so u should do everything on your own (as if there were not enough reminders already with all those docks & door designs ). One should've learned already that it's all about "missing opportunities" with this set. Having a four gold bars & 4 coins in total for the amount of chests & barrels included in 10320 is a joke. Eldorado Fortress has little to no gold stored in its dungeons. And that, ladies & gentlemen, is a 200+ bucks set. Given everything above & more, I find this quote fitting for a closure. Things that were not mentioned in this long 4ss read were probably mostly mentioned & talked about earlier in this thread. I don't have the original Eldorado Fortress. My hopes for 10320 were extremely high because of that. I LOVE the idea of refreshing the classics & paying them respects via modern touch. 21322 was, in fact, the set that brought me back into collecting LEGO after almost 10 years of a so-called "dark age". I expected 10320 to be a masterpiece worth of its predecessor & surpassing it twice as much (just like 2020 BSB was twice as better feature-wise compared to the legendary 1989 BSB, which I also don't have: double the amount of gunports, double the amount of decks, additional sail & flag, much better executed roping & anchor system, captain's cabin furnishing, everything & all of that). Needless to say the only thing that could be called "twice as much" in 10320 is the fact its baseplate is brick built, therefore a lot more suitable for expansions & mods. I didn't get a refreshed cool Governor Broadside like I wished I would, nor Lt. de Martinet, nor Camilla, nor Bo'sun Will Cavendish, nor some remade Pirate Captain — none of it. The build I got is an uninspired clone of an outdated 34 years old design that didn't even try to improve on the original apart from making its baseplate brick built & modular. This Eldorado Fortress doesn't even have "twice as much treasure & gold" as I expected it would — frankly, it's quite the other way around. This set can't be named "twice as better in comparison to 6276" — it's rather an inferior in many ways nostalgia driven cash grab. And the amount of cash being grabbed here is 200+ F'ing bucks. I'm still gonna buy this set, might even grab a couple of copies — I ain't missing on the modular Imperial Fortress that I know for a fact I can upgrade myself. But the amount of things I have to "change/swap/upgrade" in what could approximately be a 430+ bucks purchase is disgusting. Twice as disgusting, considering the fact this is probably the last proper Pirates set we get before the theme goes into another extended break. Thanks to those who made it to the very end & I'm sorry — but it is what it is. Feel free to agree or disagree & don't let my reflections on the matter bring your hype & mindset towards 10320 down, after all — to each their own

We've also got the answer about the bigger dock — it's indeed meant for 2020 BSB as being pointed out straight in the instruction manual, just like somebody mentioned earlier in this thread.

And speaking of video reviews — here's the first one I've managed to find in the space: I'm gonna hold off my judgement up until I'll look through the Brickset review in its totality, cuz I'd really like to discuss everything they've mentioned by theses 👌🏻