Hive

I'd argue that's exactly their job. It would be terrifying if they did anything else. I get that you're disappointed, and that's okay. But I, too, voted for the Pirate Bay - and what the designers did with the model has exceeded my expectations. Had I expected them to release the set as a 100 % carbon copy, I would personally never have voted for it - or bought it.

They did? Well, my bad then... Funny how they are so different while Redbeard, on the other hand, is nearly a carbon copy of the original...

The anchor on the chest is literally the only thing the two have in common, so proclaiming them to be versions of the same pirate might be a bit of a stretch...

If they re-introduce sand red, I won't ask for any other colours the next 10 years.

I wouldn't mind that one bit.

To those who are unhappy with how this turned out: did you really expect LEGO to release the original submission without huge tweaks, especially to the colour scheme? The figures look like a nice match between new prints and parts and old ones. There's no figure that really blows me away, but they're decent overall.

Yes, that's a fantastic bonus that I did not dare expect or hope for. And yes, we've had red/white striped sails many times before... but I'm thrilled that these are like the original BSB sails, without the huge jolly rogers the last few ships have had across the sails.

I may be in the minority, but... LOVE it. I even love it more than the Ideas submission, which although a great moc didn't look like a "real" LEGO set to me. Fantastic set, and the ability to turn it into a Black Seas Barracuda-esque ship... amazing! Didn't expect that. One of the best Ideas sets ever. I can't wait!

This is pretty cool. I get sort of a Masters of The Universe vibe from it.

I'm not saying that PoTC was as good as an inhouse pirate theme. And I too would have liked them to use less flesh on the torsos (a common problem across licensed themes for me) - but it did give us some parts and builds that we wouldn't have gotten in a regular pirate theme. And I didn't get the impression that PoTC took the place of an inhouse pirate theme; I got the impression that if not for PoTC, we wouldn't have gotten anything at all. And in that light, PoTC was pretty great.

I agree, that lineup gave us some very good sets, figures and new piratey parts. And the two first ships were great.

That's a weird comment. Unless you've actually seen me, who doesn't collect Star Wars at all, comment to such a degree, I fail to see the relevance of your remark.

Yet another Redbeard, how original... Oh well, at least it looks good. Though I could rather have them do another version of that other captain, Ironhook.

That's a pretty cool-looking torso. I really like how different it is from everything we've got already.

Really good looking, nice job!

You don't feel the standard of the 2015 sets were good? I think they were. Several of them were too similar to the 2009 wave, yes - but that doesn't take away from the good quality of the sets. For someone who didn't get the 2009 wave, which was most of their target demographic, it was all new, fresh and good quality. Doing Pirates, there's simply some sets that will always be on repeat, because they are so throughly associated with pirates in our culture; big pirate ship, treasure island, soldier's fort, a raft, etc.. If you want to deviate from those iconic types of sets, you'll end up with their Armada and Islanders stuff - and while I realize there are plenty of fans for that, it really wasn't for me. I'd rather have another 2009/20015-ish wave than something like that. Now, if they were to do more waves, they could broaden the lineup more - but if they are to release 7 sets for a single wave, they will of course always send out what they see as the "sure things".

The Brick Bounty was terrible, and the only set of the wave I did not buy. Too similar to the 2009 ship. As someone else mentioned, they could at least have given it sails with a different colour to throw us adult collectors just a little bone. But that said, I don't think we can blame them for doing the same type of sets they did 6 years prior - as the children who bought/received the previous wave are no longer the target demographic. As for the quality of both the 2009 and 2015 waves, I think they were overall pretty great. But I'd love to see a Pirate theme that lasts 2-3 years next time and not just a single wave.

I've had this set for almost a year without bothering to build it, but this absolutely fantastic review is making me want to now.

That would be nice, as I'm not all that impressed with the default one already seen. As a whole though, I'd much rather have seen something similar to your own female pirate figure, Robert. That one was far superior.

Not a huge fan of the knight's torso and legs, but I do love the shield. And if that is indeed a dark red plume, I'm happy. Love the beard on the viking as well.

Yeah but we already got an updated version of that classic figure in Pirates 2015. A better version than the upcoming one, in my opinion. I'd rather they had tried something a bit more fresh.

She's quite underwhelming for me. Sure, the face print (although weird) is refreshingly unique and the hair piece is great - but the torso and legs aren't anything to be excited about, they're rather plain looking.

What the... why are you quoting me? Pretty sure I never wrote that quote yoo attributed to me.

Found it, thanks!

Excellent news! Where did you get this info?