F1stzz

They might be, Idk The timing of dropping 4k printed shakos at the lowest price point on the market couldn't be more perfect, which is kinda sus, ngl. Gotta say tho, it's not the first time I see some German shops selling particular items for the lowest price around while having the highest amount of product available. I've seen new Hector Barbossa minifigs being sold for like €8-10 each last year for about a month, and the seller claimed to own nearly 40 of them. This short period of sale has ended with the store still having around 25 minifigs left, but it closed for vacation or whatever, opened again couple months later — & not only the amount of figures was reduced to only 3, the shop has also doubled the asking price for 'em. I have no idea where the rest of the figs went, considering the seller was not active for couple months, but it all did seem weird for me

Now, gents, I know that's gonna be hard, but I want you to imagine yourself in a situation, when you have no PaB/BaM & "we'll send ya what's missing" options as there are NO official LEGO representatives in your country whatsoever, while having to pay not $215 — $300 for this set. That's a real situation for me, btw Can't wait to pay approximately $600 for a couple of copies to have some possibly crucial pieces missing on top of the cons you've mentioned Hopefully this is going to be the case for you this time as well, bcuz I've checked a couple of Polish reviewers lately, and they've practically torn 10320 & the company itself apart. Not to mention the dumpster fire that's happening in the comments there, as I've already seen Poles calling for boycott of 10320 as a product, quote, "to show those Danes how Poles are capable of voting with their wallet". So yeah, from what I've seen so far, mixed opinions become even more mixed when people actually get their hands on the set.

Gotta wait a little before people fill this thread with their creative takes on modifying/improving 10320, but once it all kicks off — I believe we'll have a GREAT time here I personally have quite a few ideas in my mind, like merging 2015 Imperial Soldiers sets with 10320; mirroring (& therefore — widening) the governor's office & that lookout with a mounted cannon nearby using the second copy of the set; making an inner part of the fortress actually playable & valuable by adding barracks, arsenal, wine vault/cargo hold sorta things while providing an option to open up the whole structure in a Lion Knights Castle manner; instead of rebuilding the dock with reddish brown pieces (which won't match too well with yellow, imo) — actually scrap the whole idea of the wooden dock & continue on with the cobblestone motif of the ramp; bringing back some of the signature design choices of the OG Eldorado Fortress such as teardrop-shaped gunports, adding more of the yellow, etc. So I rly can't wait for this thread to come alive in full force

It'd be awesome to see what's on your mind there If anything, I think the MOD/MOC potential for 10320 is actually through the roof, I won't be surprised if we end up getting a separate thread like the one that was created for 21322 mods back in the day — and I'm all for it

Glad you like it, sir, that's one point of yours I respectfully disagree with Should've payed more attention there, those are indeed the masonry bricks and here... ...is the confirmation we needed Thanks @eldiano for your reply, much appreciated That was the topic of our discussion with @Khargeust — seemingly TLG just tried to go for similar design choices like those being performed by many MOC builders out there, but kinda missed the point of this particular technique & splattered it all over the place inconsistently (I'd even say tastelessly). Simultaneously boosting up the piece count, ofc.

I'd like to ask the guy how does he like me living rent-free in his head, but he said I'm ignored Anyway, the initial build was merely perfection — and the latest update landed on the same spot Seriously rooting for this one to take it all

Nope — you just gotta put the instructions for your builds on Rebrickable for a reasonable price

First of all — I appreciate the whole first paragraph of yours & completely relate to it It's mesmerising to witness people coming up with & building huge LEGO dioramas including forts, ships, jungle areas of all dimensions, etc. — but I know for a fact that I'd prefer to own Marooned Martin's Black Pearl to the one by MOC Your Bricks, no matter how detailed & close to the real ship the latter is. The reason: Martin's version is fairly close to the original while being cheaper, playable (and when I'm saying "playable" sitting at 25+ years of age I mean "suitable for mods, stop motions and photography") & compact enough for me to put it in my closet. LEGO is a collectible toy, which implies "collectibles that you can put into action" — and this is what makes the whole thing so special. If I want something to sit on a shelf to be touched once a month during a clean-up (since I have no intent or option to participate in various kinds of exhibitions & contests) — I don't need Legos in particular, as there are lots of other collectibles to suit the task while being miles more accurate to the source material & have a more elite appearance at that. But that's not what I want in fact, is it? I want to constantly mod & change things up to my taste & imagination without having to spend enormous amounts of cash or reserving the whole rooms of space for my builds — how do I do that with a glued & painted models or huge display MOCs? So I feel ya there, m8 About your question tho, I really don't know if there were any researches made in that regard, but I don't think those are needed either. One word, lad: efficiency. Classics are efficient at what they're meant to be: a collectible toys. Every detail put in those builds has a clear thought behind it, serves its purpose and provides an opportunity for expansions without any sacrifices. Example: how do I expand on the idea of those teardrop-shaped windows in 6276, which are just there for aesthetics? I put cannons in each of them & there we go! Now, how do I expand on the idea of rectangular windows in 10320 (which ain't even on the same lvl aesthetically compared to 6276)? I don't. I just take the whole section out, throwing it into the bin & proceed to recreate the original design, cuz ain't no way the fortress is being defended from the front with muskets, lol. Same with the governor's office: in 6276 there's nothing in there! But you know what is there in fact? Yeah — THE SPACE! Space, which you're allowed to fill however you wish. 10320 puts a table with accessories in the office — but there's no space in the room whatsoever, so the figure's only option is to STAND ON THE EDGE OF THE WALL or hug a cannon, kek. Not to mention the half-roof, lmao. That's why classic sets, which have three times lesser piece count, are more efficient at being collectible toys & therefore better than some of the modern stuff — because they're designed with kids in mind & provide opportunities for kids to play and mod, and expand on the initial build using their imagination & just a few additional parts. Modern stuff, while representing classic sets, is designed for adults to pay a hefty price for it, build it once, put it on a shelf & leave it there. That also explains the presence of those silly gimmicks like a trapdoor in the middle of a courtyard/secondary dock, which is not even accessible if you go with the main display option; a meaningless "letter in a box" & as meaningless canal plug skeleton, etc. Classic sets are great collectible toys — modern sets have dropped the "toys" part & therefore lost the spirit & the plot. Yeah, I mean it WOULD'VE REVIVED playability if the inner layer of the fortress was not trying to pointlessly continue on simulating the rocky base & actually had that space open for utilisation: dungeons, barracks, cargo holds, etc. — it was easy for TLG to execute, but we've already established the fact we're not dealing with a toy here, so there was no need to, I assume. I might be wrong here, we need @eldiano to tell us for a fact, but I guess there's actually not a single masonry brick in dark red used in the set — only few of those in light bluish gray. What you're referring to is actually a combo of various 1x2/4 plates and something else, I suppose.

We've had a little convo about it earlier in this thread and I'd say it's a matter of preference rly. I do think that masonry bricks would've done the job better in this case while saving a considerable number of pieces. I suppose my problem with the use of multibrick combos in dark red here is: 1) This is a playset, which has a strict piece count & dimensions — not a specifically designed MOC, which is generally not meant for sale and where the amount of parts can potentially grow limitlessly (even tho 10320 is desperately trying to make an impression of such a build); 2) The use of the aforementioned combos is a bit too chaotic. It would've been enough to simply imitate the printed walls by copying the pattern of those with bricks & additionally placing some of these copied patterns in fitting areas (such as the prison walls) — and it would've looked nicer. Unfortunately, as I've said previously, 10320 tries too hard to mimic some MOC builds for its own good, that's why the use of multibrick combos in here feels kinda inconsistent (if not completely random) to me.

Those custom print designs make me wanna cry off joy Imagine we had something like your take on Captain Ironhook in 10320 in place of some generic pirate figure — dang, TLG did miss an opportunity BIG time there. The modern King Kahuka is excellent, same goes to the rest of the Islanders figures I believe we've had only a couple of female Islanders back in the day for a whole line up, and to have 3 of them with new prints & some exclusive hair moulds in a SINGLE set — that would've been a blessing if provided by TLG Frankly, I prefer when the original ideas are being expanded on instead of simply being copied brick to brick. The way you've handled swapping the pre-moulded baseplate in favour of the fully brick built foundation is admirable & honestly looks cool, but as been mentioned earlier — there's more to be desired in the playability department, and I personally would love to see some new exclusive features & easter eggs added maybe. So far it looks too much in line with the way 10320 & 40567 were designed, which for me is not a good signal (even tho you've done a stellar job with the minifigs ). Perhaps try to hide something inside the rocks or make their insides usable & reachable for minifigs, cuz I tell ya: if there's one set to highly benefit from a deep and thought-out cave system — it's indeed the Enchanted Island

@CapnRex101 has the picture you're asking for in his review posted on Brickset Another photo found on Insta, courtesy of steinaufstein_official 👌

Oh, I'm all into it as well Yeah, absolutely — some sections being mirrored with a second copy could expand certain areas A LOT, I believe TY for providing the pics, m8, rly appreciated

Perfect in terms of space utilisation & just goes really well overall with the rest of the build

I mean, you may give these soldiers an order to wash their uniforms, maybe then the printing will gain some quality, Idk. Sry, couldn't resist, that's just me being me here — in all seriousness tho, with all the stuff that I said, in the meantime, I was really hoping that my fears will turn out to be a huge overreaction, but with this... ...being the first live feedback on the minifigures in this thread, unfortunately, I now have the actual reason to be disappointed. Maybe not exactly "2015 line up had more details" but "had more quality put into their printing", even tho your statement is totally correct when it comes to the flag — we've discussed the latter earlier & I just don't understand why in the world TLG decided to drop such a gorgeous design (pretty expensive on the aftermarket also) in favour of 1989 copypasta with minor corrections, while not even bothering to provide us a 2x2 version of the new flag. This just screams "carelessness". Back to the figs: 2023 Imperial Soldiers have a buckle on their belts just like the OG Bluecoats & OG/2009 Redcoats had — it wasn't there in 2015 wave for some odd reason. 2023 Imperial Soldiers have a more, say, pronounced black'n'yellow/gold (Idk exactly what is the second colour there) edges of their jackets resembling the OG printing more as opposite to the 2015 iteration, where the golden linings were just playing a role of button holes or whatever (even tho I personally like this approach better, but that's completely up to the taste). 2023 Imperial Soldiers have some sort of an aiguillette or whatever that is hanging from under the belts — nothing like that in 2015 prints (albeit I'm not even sure if it's needed there at all). So TECHNICALLY 2023 design is more detailed than 2015 minus shakos (which must have been printed in a $215 set, FFS) — it's just the atrocious quality of printing, the execution that makes the former feel a whole lot worse in comparison to the latter. I gotta honestly say, btw, that when I firstly saw the pics of the 2023 torso prints — my initial thought was literally "are these, like, pre-production designs?". So maybe there's something about these prints that my eyes can't quite see which makes 'em worse for real than their 2015 counterparts. Bruh, the °45 angle was a complete necessity, right, TLG? I wanna tell you this tho: look at the design of PoTC 4194 Whitecap Bay's gates & think about the ways to brick build a tiny copy of that with some changes in order to fit this goddamn doorway. I'm not claiming it's a 100% working idea, but something about the design of those brick built gates makes me think a similarly executed structures can fix the issues with the entrances to the fortress itself (those lattices provided with the set AIN'T NO GATES, I tell ya) & the office. I'm sure there's a solution without the need to rebuild the whole doorway, just gotta dive deeper into our options. This is what draws the line for me in 10320 minifigs discussion. The last hope for the aftermarket was the PaB option, which could've allowed the new designs to have a greater market supply. If at least new soldier parts ain't gonna be put on PaB in future (which sadly is about to be the case, I'm afraid)— then, just like we've mentioned earlier in this thread, down the road we'll end up having three different expensive Bluecoat designs (as well as 3 various expensive flag designs on top of that). Needless to say all of the aforementioned mess could've been easily avoided if the officials in TLG actually cared. I'm 100% with you on this one, sir, that's a completely reasonable demand The set is £189 in your country, am I correct? Now imagine being asked to pay twice as much for it, like I'm assuming I'd have to pay in my region — and on top of it there are no PaB/BaM options available whatsoever Turns out as quite the opposite of the special moment I imagined 10320 release to be. Given the fact Lt. de Martinet had the same torso print as the soldiers he was in charge of — I really think that's a great idea, especially considering the aiguillette type of thingy present on a new print, which gives us a new detail for distinguishing in addition to the epaulettes.

The "Blue Lagoon" scenario here

So do I, and I don't quite understand why there's necessarily a need to make the windows as squarish as some of the other parts of this build, but considering the convo has already went this way — I see keeping a little of both suggestions actually being a nice consensus

Why not opt for both, actually? Let's give it a thought: if we keep the upper arch in combination with the °45 2x1 slopes on the bottom — we're actually getting the signature Eldorado Fortress teardrop-shaped windows That would've been a pretty cool little homage to the 6276, what do you think?

This

I'd say the "Stockholm syndrome" at this point, lol

I have an evil theory (ofc I do, lol) this was done by TLG purposefully in order to test out how much of a pure income the nostalgia factor can actually bring right off the bat, how hard the set is gonna sell right at the start on its price point without any additional motivation for the customer except nostalgia + excitement for the build/theme in general. I guess that info can actually showcase something for 'em about the whole idea of producing the nostalgia driven remakes going forward.

It's kind of a perfect blend between the fundamental ideas of the Broadside's Brig, Cannon Cove & Sabre Island For real, Cutlass Reach is essentially a cool playset to have many bits of all the features previously included in the aforementioned classics mixed in ideal proportions Oh, lovely Awesome stuff indeed

Lol, filigree work right there If you'd be so kind, sir, yes, I'd appreciate it a lot

Nah, I just didn't get exactly what you've meant at first, all's fine That's a hell of an introduction made for the set tho! Really appreciate the presentation, I bet there's nothing like that in a local shop @Arjo was talking about and it's a shame really. TY for the photos, what's the location exactly?

@Elephant Knight is this a custom printed OG Jolly Roger I see there waving on top? Or is it a sticker? Cool idea! The whole build is just lovely, works especially fun as an opponent to the remade Trading Ship from 10320, which makes me wanna get the instructions for your Cross Bone Clipper sometime down the road

Plz do, sir This build will go INSANELY well as an expansion for 10320, it's brilliant! The influence of the OG sets you've mentioned is clearly visible here, and considering this cool build of a kinda cutlass-shaped island (in my eyes it works better to slightly imitate the cutlass silhouette as a whole instead of building a literal sandy cutlass model, if that makes sense, lol) is named "Cutlass Reach" & has a familiar looking tower — I'd even say it's worthy to be called a "Sabre Island successor" really If TLG revealed this model as a GWP Sabre Island reimagination or a completely new Imperial Soldiers set — I'd be sold in an instant, I kid you not Marvellous work, m8, I'd seriously love to get the instructions for it one day