Brinstar

Congratulations on reaching 7,000 + plus votes. I think its not a matter of 'if' but 'when' the 10,000 target is reached.

A second BSB would certainly allow you to make a much more substantial ship, if you have the money go for it!

I think so. This is the largest sailing ship Lego has released and to my mind the best as well. I didn't think any model could surpass my childhood favorite, the BSB but the flagship certainly has done. The detail of the model is most impressive, albeit regularly surpassed by some of the excellent MOC'ers here on Eurobricks. I think its recognition of the quality of the Imperial Flagship that the sometimes lukewarm reception given to the POTC ships stemmed from them not living up to the standards set by the flagship, although I always found those comparisons unfair given the substantial differences in price. If you want one, I would get it fairly soon. As I'm sure you are aware retired sets usually skyrocket in value and the price continues to go up. $300 is a lot of money but at the moment the set hasn't been retired for that long and there are a fair few copies around. Leave it a few months and you may find the price has got even steeper.

The beauty of the BSB is that it can be modified into an Imperial vessel very easily. In fact its as simple as removing the pirate flags and replacing them with Imperial Armada ones. Of the pirate ships its certainly the most suitable to be converted to a soldiers vessel, I can't really imagine the QAR being suitable for that role. It shouldn't be to difficult to increase the BSB's broadside although you will need modify the decking. Those two middle hull sections could be used to make a larger and more powerful vessel. I'm not sure what the going rate is for BSB's nowadays but it should cost a lot less than an Imperial Flagship would.

Nice work, the Guarded Inn is one of all my all time favorite castle sets. I like the way you've created your own interpretation of the set rather than simply swap the pieces around. I particularly like the stone paving and the improved entrance. The brick built castle wall is also an improvement over the original.

Great review. I think this is a great set, probably the best of the marvel line. The Quinjet itself looks to be an accurate rendition of the source material and is a very substantial model. It actually looks to be good value for money which is not something that can be said for a lot of licensed sets. Its perhaps a little disappointing that buyers of this set aren't rewarded with a better exclusive mini-fig than Black Widow but then I think the quality of the model more than makes up for it. I hope to pick this one up fairly soon.

Very impressive and an excellent representation of the original source material. I'd love to see this one 'in the flesh' but I imagine the number of pieces and the cost of sourcing them could be prohibitive. Anyway, excellent work!

A fine review but I'm less impressed by the set. The Hulk is undoubtedly one of the best parts. I'm actually glad Lego went the way that they did, a regular sized Hulk mini-figure would have looked totally out of place in my opinion. Thor and Hawkeye are also good figs although they are available in other sets. As for the model itself, although I realise its a play-set I think its very insubstantial for the price. The Shield jet is quite nice but very small and there just doesn't seem to be a lot to the rest of the model. For the £20 extra, the Quinjet looks a better bet.

I think its far to early to ask this question, you are comparing a single wave of LOTR sets to years and numerous sub-themes of Lego castle. I'm very excited about LOTR and I think it will be a great theme but I can't see how it will usurp Lego Castle for me any time soon. I prefer not to compare them, lets celebrate the fact that we have a rich and varied history of Lego castle and the excitement of LOTR to come.

7946 would be your best option. As already mentioned it will probably cost a lot less and in my opinion is a better castle. 7094 is a large and reasonably impressive structure but from an architectural standpoint it is somewhat lacking, for example the open kings tower is poorly designed. In contrast 7946 has an enclosed kings tower (although open at the back) and a proper gatehouse. The dragon in 7094 is a major plus but could be sourced separately. The Joust would be a worthy alternative but its not a proper enclosed castle so it really depends on what you are looking for.

I'm hoping to pick this one up soon. The vehicle looks to be much better than in the Wolverine's chopper set, although I don't think the figures are as strong. Hawkeye and Loki don't really excite me and I'm going to reserve judgement on Iron Man until I see it in the flesh. Still its really nice to have a good selection of figures in an affordable set.

Just picked this set up. The figures are excellent, really worth the price of the set alone. I particularly like Magneto, probably my favorite mini-fig of the new line. Wolverine and Deadpool are also excellent and I for one am glad they didn't try and include Wolverine's mask as I'm not sure how the proportions would have looked. I'm less convinced about the helicopter, its small and with to many open spaces for my liking. That being said I realise the helicopter is obviously filler and a more substantial model would have pushed the price up, so I'm happy with the way things are.

Welcome to Eurobricks! Its really great to see all the POTC models built up together. For me the ships standout as the most impressive sets, although I also like Whitecap Bay a lot. Any plans to get any classic pirate sets? The Imperial Flagship would make a great addition to your set up.

Its not really a fair question as classic pirates as a theme was in existence for several years whilst POTC has only seen one batch of sets. That being set its classic pirates all the way for me! There were so many great sets, not just the ships such as BSB and SES but also Eldorado fortress and Imperial Trading Post. Many of the smaller sets such as Broadsides brig, Saber Island and the Imperial Outpost are also classics. Then the 2009 relaunch gave us the wonderful Imperial Flagship. POTC hasn't really had the opportunity to make that sort of impression and although both the QAR and Black Pearl were good ships, they arguably didn't live up to the standards set by previous pirate ships. Whitecap Bay was a good set but London Escape and the Mill both felt lacking whilst the smaller sets were really all about the mini-figs. I think the theme had a lot of potential for future sets (not least a Dutchman and HMS Providence) so its unfortunate that Lego seem to have brought it to an end.

I think the BSB is a much nicer ship but in terms of firepower its wanting for a ship its size. With twice the broadside I'm convinced the SES would be victorious in this battle.

This is absolutely incredible. I know you have made some fine MOC's Sebeus but I think you have really excelled yourself this time. Its a strangely beautiful model and captures the original source material very well. Any idea how many pieces it took to make?

Nice mods. Subtle, but definitely enhances the original. I particularly like the chasers and this is something I would like to add to my own flagship. I'm thinking about carrying out some more extensive modifications including enhancing the number of cannons but to be honest its difficult to improve on the brilliant original model.

If you really want the ship then at that price I think its a reasonable deal. There do seem to be MISB copies of Brickbeards Bounty still going but they frequently go for in excess of £130. Even used copies sell for not much less than you are planning to pay. I would agree that the BBB is a superior model to Red Beard Runner. If I were you I wouldn't wait for a better deal, with out of print sets you could be waiting for a long time...

Another great read Sir Sven 7! I agree with pretty much everything you said about these sets. The Bull Knights are a difficult faction to love and the quality of the sets was generally substandard compared to the 'golden age' of classic castle. I will say that I really liked the premise of Bull's Attack (6096) in providing a collection of siege engines in just one set. Unfortunately the actual models were not as well designed as they might have been. I think its a shame that Lego haven't returned to this idea since. A collection of Dragon Knights siege engines would have made an excellent Kingdoms set...

I enjoyed reading your blog. It is always fascinating to hear the thoughts of someone who is clearly taking their first tentative steps out of their dark ages. For me one of the most exciting parts of taking up the hobby again was that it provided an opportunity to acquire sets that I had previously missed out on in my childhood. I think 6080 is a great choice for your project. Its undoubtedly a classic set and I think the design still holds up today. In fact I always see the Kingdoms castle as very much a modern interpretation of 6080. The question is are you going to try to acquire the mini-figs? One of the great things about those old castles is that they came with a very generous compliment of soldiers. Sourcing them should be easy enough through bricklink but they will most likely be the most expensive part of the set to acquire.

This is a huge improvement over the original Red Bear Runner. For a start I'm delighted you have given the ship a full complement of sail's as this was something that really bugged me about the original. I also like the fact you've given the ship a proper cabin, again a major improvement over the original which didn't even have one. I never really liked the skull at the rear but I think you did the right thing by preserving it as it probably wouldn't feel like the Red Beard Runner without it? As mentioned I think you could maybe a add a little detail to the deck, maybe a place for the ammunition? There is certainly plenty of firepower, this thing can now outgun the Imperial Flagship!

Great idea Hive! I'll definitely make these modifications to my own Drawbridge Defense. This was definitely one of my favourite sets from the fantasy line and I think it works as a Kingdoms set just as well. I guess other crownie fantasy sets probably lend themselves best to this sort of 'Kingdomisation' as I would call it. I can imagine the tower from 7037 and the harbour from 7029 would be appropriate for such modifications. Trying to find sets that could be modded for the dragon knights might be more problematic...

Those are some really fantastic MOC's Sebeus. I really can't wait to see the finished versions. At the moment I particularly like the Frigate, the little details really make it stand out. The building techniques have given me inspiration for my own models. That being said the WIP Flying Dutchmen looks like it could be something really special, the scale of it is very impressive indeed. I envy the incredible amount of parts you have that allows you to work on several projects at once. I'm currently trying to get the parts together for a work in progress Brig-of-war and have been surprised by the cost in assembling the parts for what is a fairly small scale project. Anyway, keep up the good work!

Another great theme review Sir Sven 7! Your criticism of many of these sets is justified. Although the concept is interesting the execution leaves a lot to be desired. I see this as the real beginning of a 'dark age' for castle that was only to be finally lifted with the arrival of the fantasy era in 2007. The only set worthy of any consideration is the Night Lord's castle which is at least a unique design but still pales into comparison with many of the earlier lego castles. The Witches Magic Manor is just about as bad as Lego Castle gets in my opinion. Out of interest do you own all of the sets that you review in these blogs? Because if so, you have an incredible lego castle collection!

Picked up 7037 Tower Raid. I'm delighted with it overall and consider it to be one of the better fantasy era sets. The tower could have been a little more substantial but the siege tower is excellent and is probably the best lego siege tower.