Laura Beinbrech

I always check the bags, have since series 1, and I'm pretty darn good at it (I've only ever made a mistake 3 times, but that was with series 1 & 2, and in the series 1 case I got 2 Forestmen instead of Tribal Hunters, but I was after either of those, so I was OK with that)... I do "army build", however, there are always at least 3 minifigs from any given series that I want to get, and I've committed myself to a strict budget of no more than $20 per week on collectable minifigs and/or impulse sets (i.e. PQ Scarab attack), which means that I can get 6 CM per week MAX. This means that, for example, for series 5, I'm going after Zookeepers, Mobsters, Evil Dwarves, Gladiators and Royal Guards, with the occasional pick for Cleopatra (love her head and hair, plus I needed at least one for a queen of the undead) and the lizard suit guy (Lizardmen!)... Now, I go through the box sequentially, and this means that, on average, I hit my 6-fig limit when I have a Zookeeper, maybe 1 Mobster an evil dwarf or two, a gladiator or two and a Royal Guard or two, leaving the rest un-checked, and giving any hypothetical kid an entire WEEK to grab any that I didn't pick up during my weekly foray. Furthermore, I've actually helped people complete their sets/find a figure they wanted, even when they were looking for figs I was (such as the Kimono Girl for series 4)... But that's just the way I roll... Of course, it helps that I tend to go after figures that seem to be somewhat less popular for some reason (i.e. Series 2 adventurers... I got a ton of those guys, Series 3 Samurai and series 4 Kimono Girls and Sailors... hey, I have a ship in the works that needs a crew).

Actually, I was just about to say that this MOC looks like a jet-propelled version of the Gee Bee Model Z Sportster, a.k.a. the "Flying Engine"... I really like this MOC, I must say, you captured the classic 1930's/40's look quite well.

Well, as Captain Hornbricker posted earlier, I'd like to re-iterate that your typical Pirate (and Privateer) ship was, in essence, a commerce raider: I.e. a fast, lightly armed ship whose purpose was to run down lightly or unarmed merchantmen to swipe their goods, but be fast and maneuverable enough to run the heck away from any kind of actual warship... That said, however, I would put good odds on the Black Pearl and the QAR.... Either them or the Durmstrang Ship from the Harry Potter line. (yeah, it doesn't have any cannons, but it's got a crew full of wizards casting Avara Kevarda and who knows what else) In all seriousness, the IFS would send any of the other original LEGO ships to the bottom in a 1 on 1 fight, due to the open-decked nature of the other ships and the fact that they don't have the ability to bring anywhere near the weight in broadside armament to bear that the IFS can.... Now, if the Flying Dutchman were to ever be made, what with its tri-mount breech-loading swivel gun bow chasers, then the IFS would be in trouble.

Love your diesel-punk fighter plane.... It looks just like something from that nifty alt-timeline flight sim game "Crimson Skies", or as Lightning Tiger said, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow."

I just got done checking out the pics, and while most of the current Ninjago Line was rather disappointing to me (I was hoping for something like the 1998-2000 Ninja line with Samurai and such), I did pick up a few impulse sets for parts and to add to my previously existing Red and Black ninja armies... That said, I'm actually looking forward to these sets: The new snake tail leg piece will be perfect for creating some Nagas (Nagini for the females), who will be good guys, and use the snake heads/torsos to make some Yuan-Ti, who will be on the forces of evil. (Do I happen to have D&D 3rd ed. Oriental Adventures and Rokugan sourcebooks, why yes I do!) In addition, I'm loving that they've included the samurai armor with some of the sets and the "kendo" spinners, and what looks like Samurai Nya (need moar Samurai). Finally, I really like the new snakes, and is it just me, or do Cole ZX (Black Ninja) and Jay ZX (Blue Ninja) look almost exactly like Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden and Shadow from Final Fantasy VI?

Nice stop motion video... Some of the parts, especially the ork squishing and then eating the spider and scorpion made me laugh.

I'm really digging this pirate moc! Will the Pirates hold off the Islanders? Will the Imperial Guard show up and own everybody in sight? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Desolation Island!!!

That is one beautiful ship! What material did you make your flag and sails out of? I'm trying to find a decent cloth for making my own flags for my stuff. I also had the honor of setting foot on the current USS Essex when I was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan in 2003 (I was on the USS O'Brien, named after a certain famous Revolutionary War commander).

I used to have the Caribbean Clipper, but gave it away when I went into my first dark age. Currently, not counting rafts (Raft Raiders & Castaways Raft)& small boats (2x Harbor Sentry, plus about a dozen or so rowboats that have been MOCed into fast-attack boats), All I really have is the Sea Serpent, since people seem to be willing to include Castle Ships (i.e. Skellie ship and Troll Battleship)... I also have the Islander Catamaran, but I'm not sure if that counts (it IS the biggest Islander vessel, though). I have three other ships, but I don't think the Federal Navy Ship (FNS) Hawkwing, FNS Inferno or MV Merry Maid would fall under this heading (even though the crew and officers of the first two use standard Pirate torsos)....

I have a Neo-Confederate Armored Cruiser (for my post-apocalyptic setting) semi-planned... Just need to get a set inventory off BrickLink (when it's added) so I can play around with the parts in LDD until it is actually available in stores around here. I'm currently working on designs for converting my Sea Serpent (old 1992 Black Knights castle ship) into two Neo-Confederate gunboats to provide escort for it.

I definitely favor the Pearl: Not only is it cheaper, but it's got a black hull! That might not be much of a factor for some people, but I've been wanting something I could use for making an Ironclad/late-19th century Armored Cruiser/Sidewheel steamer (i.e. Commodore Matthew Perry's "Black Ships") for a long time. I was sad that I couldn't afford the Time Ship when it came out, because it had a nice, gray hull for much the same reasons, and now, along comes the Black Pearl with a solid black LARGE hull, which will be perfect for one of my next major projects....

Here's another one I'm surprised nobody added: The Series 2 Circus Ringmaster's torso would make an excellent British Officer's/Dragoon uniform, or even a "Dinner Dress" (i.e. fanciest) uniform...

I think it would be perfect for Parliamentary "New Model Army" troops in English Civil War MOCs: English Civil War Soldier by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr ...But that's just me, glad you liked the idea, though. Also, thanks to you and Big Cam for merging my thread.... Perhaps this topic should be added to ye olde Master Pirate Index? Hiawatha: Yeah, the Indiana Jones Arabs and the various figs from the Prince of Persia line would be great for Barbary Coast MOCs (throw in some blue-uniformed US Marines and you could have the invasion of Tripoli :D) Anyways, If I find anything else that might be useful, I'll be sure to post it here.

I got 6 Series 5 Minifigs at 5-Below (discount store chain): 2x Royal Guards, 2x Evil, 1x Cleopatra and 1x Gangster. I also made a BL order for 15 Imparial Armada helmets, a pearl gold Epaulette, a Crownie Euro-Armor, a Samurai Armor and a silver pikeman's helmet.

Hello, all! I'm not sure if this has been brought up, but I did a search of the main Pirate index and found nothing, so here goes: I got one of the garden gnomes from series 4 a good while back, just for fun, and while messing around with the parts I noticed something: The Gnome's Torso: looks rather similar to the Imperial Armada torsos.... ...Of course you'll have to BL the morion helmets, but IMO, the combo works pretty good. I would have mentioned this earlier, but I only recently discovered Eurobricks. Soooo.... What do you think? Please forgive me if this has already been brought up.

I definitely mix them, well, sorta... I use the regular Imperial Guards (and Imperial Soldiers) to represent the regular Federal Marine Corps in my steampunkish post-apocalyptic setting (the enlisted and junior NCO's wear brodie helmets instead of shakos, though), the Imperial Armada soldiers as the elite "Black Morion" unit (kinda like the Marine Special Operations Regiment), and the Royal Guards as the Marine Corps Ceremonial Guard Unit (duties include guarding VIPs, Federal Embassies, etc)...

Well, my initial idea is to use ME Models Metal Rails (since LEGO 9v rails cost a King's Ransom on BL) and some kind of motor brush or slot car brush as pickup, with a 9v brick (as in one of those heavy-duty DC adapters, which are usually rated at 3-7 Amps as opposed to the small "wall wart" ones that are usually only good for 1-2 Amps max) providing a steady voltage supply to the rails (and using flex-track pieces to isolate reversing loops so you don't get any shorting problems)... But enough OT, I'll see about posting some schematics and such when I get the idea more down-pat. Well, I looked closer, and it was just being sold by the same reseller... It was actually made by SLUBAN, which, IIRC, actually makes MEGABLOKS look high-quality! ...but here is the link anyways...

Nice review, and a really decent set... Looks like there is finally a clone brand that can just about match LEGO quality (well, since the demise of Tyco Bricks). My only beef with this set would have been that the mobile AA could use "more dakka", but since it's based on a real vehicle (and looks just like the original, I might add), its current "dakka" must be sufficient (although if I got this set, I might have to replace the current twin guns with a vulcan cannon or twin miniguns :D). The figures look pretty decent for a clone brand, too, although I'm not a huge fan of the legs... It looks like you might be able to mod the torsos to take LEGO legs, though, and I may have to see about swiping their idea for an 8-wide Humvee. ;) I do really like the roof-mounted TOW and the other weapons. Thanks for the review (I've been going through your other reviews, and may have to see about ordering some of their castle sets... I definitely could use some Korean stuff, but I'll probably do some mix and matching with Brick TW accessories.)

Hmmm.... Normally, I don't bother with clone brands due to the fact that their quality is usually crap... Tycho being the one exception, in my experience, whose bricks were as good as LEGO (I still have a few Tycho Bricks from before my first dark age). Having checked out some of the sets in the link, I may have to somewhat revise my opinion... I'm definitely going to see about possibly ordering at least one track pack ($8.99 for an entire oval track's worth that looks like it will work with LEGO train tracks? Why yes, I WILL take that, thank you very much), although I may not, since I'm thinking about using ME Models metal rails and rigging up some kind of pickups to modify some PF motors to run off track power (supplied via 9v DC-adapter)... I'm also thinking about getting their "Train Head" powered unit as a cheap way to move my trains around without investing in PF stuff that I may or may not end up really wanting.... Plus I want to see how it works and/or if it can be modified (if anyone here bought one and could provide some more info I'd be grateful). Plus I do agree with Lord Insanity's statement about competition being good for keeping prices down and quality up: I remember some of the gosh-awful sets from the mid-late 1990's (I nearly went into my second dark age early, but was only kept out of it by the Adventurers, Ninja and Star Wars themes). I happen to have a 1993 Shop at Home catalog, and well... I see people around here, and on other LEGO sites, constantly complaining about the high price of LEGO, but I found some interesting things after doing a quick comparison with sets listed in the latest S@H catalog, i.e. 1993: Black Seas Barracuda, 865 pieces for $125 vs 2011: Queen Anne's Revenge, 1097 pieces for $119.... Yes, a LICENSED SET released this year is actually CHEAPER than an in-house theme set was 18 years ago, and I found similar comparisons, meaning that LEGO's prices, on average, have stayed virtually the same for the past 20 years, give or take... I sure wish I could say that about OTHER things (anyone remember the last time when gas was under $2.00 a gallon?), and I'm sure that "teh eval clones!!!11" are one of the reasons for that. ...Just my $0.02 on that topic, though. I'm still tempted to get that power unit, even though it's basically a single piece. I think it's a pretty good looking piece and looks like it is worth it for the money...

I like this build! It kinda reminds me of the hover "mule" on the Serenity in the Firefly series....

While I'm not a huge fan of Spongebob Squarepants, this set definitely has potential: First of all, Pirate Patrick's torso would make a great fleshie pirate, and Davy Jones' torso would fit in with my green Imperial Armada figures... In addition, you get a cannon and some other generally useful pieces. I'm going to try and make a fast-attack craft or ship's boat with the hull piece.

Thanks for the headsup and review, Capt. Beerbeard! I'm definitely getting at least one of these, mainly for the black hull... Ive wanted t make a LEGO Ironclad for some time now, and this black hull fits the bill perfectly!

Man, I'm lovin' these! Was I the only one who saw the Space Marine and thought, "In the grim, dark future of LEGO 40,000, there is only war..."? XD I'm going to have to get some of them definitely. Also, the Female Viking will make a nice addition to my small, but ever growing, army of Chaos warriors, as will the Tarzan dude (with some serious additions, mostly of the BF kind), and the black knight.... Let's just say that I'm going to need 9 of them. ;) Also must-have's for me from this set are the Aztec Warrior (Caribbean League Spec Ops), and at least one bride and hippie (that hair is perfect for female dwarves), and probably Little Red Riding Hood, just because....

Ahh, a man after my own heart. :D How much does something like that cost, I wonder? Definitely want to see it when you've got it working.

That is one sweet, beefy piece of machinery! I love all the greebly bits. How well does it handle standard curves/switches, though? Also, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who thought of possibly using a standard 9v Battery as a source for the PF motor... (Recently, with the advent of ME Models metal tracks, I'm considering the idea of modding the PF motors to be track-powered).