Hive

I love this set. Good build, nice colors, decent figs and an octopus. What's not to like?

Another great review. And all of the figs can be used with non-fleshie parts without any problems! Yay! I'll have to get 1-2 of this one along with Helm's Deep and possibly Weathertop. Try reading the review.

Wow! Simply amazing pictures, thanks a bunch for sharing! I'm completely blown away.

I use pretty much the same line of thinking: I buy the sets when they are good value for money (which is when there's a good sale, at which point I buy multiple sets), not necessarily when I can afford them the most. In my mind, the money isn't definatively spent untill I actually *open* the boxes. So I want to spread out my purchases over the year that way. Don't sell it! It's such an amazing set, I wish I was buying Pirates back before it was discontinued... you'll end up regretting it!

I too have a bunch of sets waiting to be opened. The reason why I have not done so yet is two-fold: 1) Like the OP, I enjoy knowing that "the best is yet to come". Opening and building a set for the first time has the most magic, and I like saving special sets for a special occation. For instance, I have still to open and build Medieval Market Village and Mill Village Raid. 2) I see no point in opening *all* my sets untill I have room to build the layout I dream about, which requires a new table. As it is now, I build a model - and then tear it down shortly after because I have no room for it. Takes away some of the joy.

A very underrated set in my humble opinion, I like it a lot. Good buy.

I was merely making a cheeky comment on the fact that he is obviously an AFOL with good knowledge of the LEGO market, making it at least likely that he's a member of this board.

This is one of the most stunning and innovative creations I have ever seen. Well done!

I just discovered another shocking difference in pricing in regards to Europe and the US: licensed themes appears to be even more expensive than other themes in Europe, relatively. Let me explain what I mean with an example: An un-licensed set that costs $20 in the US is typically 200 DKR in Denmark - but I recently noticed that a licensed set that cost $20 in the US costs 230 DKR in Denmark (using MSRP as basis for all numbers)! That's an additional price increase of 15 % on top of the existing price difference, which is pretty significant as is! In fact, it means that these particular licensed sets are approximately TWICE the cost in Denmark as in the US! What the h... is up with that? Aren't licensed sets expensive enough as is? Aren't the price difference big enough as is? I'm baffled, absolutely baffled.

You just don't get it, do you? You are NOT entitled to these pdf files! They are a bonus that you should be thankful for ever getting at all!

I just built this set as my very first POTC set. Exciting! I must say though that I have no real interest in POTC as a theme and despise fleshie figs, so I got it only because I felt it had elements that could be used for regular Pirates (and perhaps Castle). As a set, I find it pretty unspectacular... the built elements are decent, though nothing special - and doesn't give you much of a structure, but only a scene (as is often the case with licensed themes). I don't personally care much for play value, but with 3 figs and 4 swords it's not too bad. As mentioned, I don't care about fleshie figs and will (try to) sell Jack Sparrow and Blackbeard on Bricklink - but I'm happy that Barbarossa does not contain any flesh on his torso, so I'll keep him and just replace his head with a good old yellow counterpart. I'm loving this fig already. The parts are pretty good though, as there are some unusual (at least for me) elements/colors in there. The dark green and trans-blue pieces in particular falls to my liking. And the map and compass are pretty nifty pieces as well. In fact, there aren't many pieces in this set I have too many of (if any at all). So good selection. The price, as with most licensed sets, is way too much though. Even though I got it for slightly below half price, I don't really think it represents terrific value for money. But decent. Would never ever have bought it at full price though. All in all, I find the set unspectacular but the individual pieces quite interesting. So that's my 2 cents, from the perspective of someone not into the theme as such.

I really don't see them doing another "fantasy"-based Castle theme while they have LOTR. So no trolls, orcs, elves, dwarfs and the likes. I could see them do another human-focused theme like Kingdoms, though. But I'm sorry to say that I don't see it as being realistic that LEGO will do any theme ever with that many factions as you propose.

I'm not quite sure how you can feel so entitled to behaving like that towards their customer service and even believing that you are the one being wronged here. It's not like anything is missing from a purchase you made; you are complaining about LEGO not being able to put these free *.pdf files up in a time table to your liking. This is an FREE service they provide at no cost to you at all, and given that it clearly sounds as if you have not purchased the set in question, I cannot for the love of it comprehend your strong reactions. From what you posted (and I may be wrong, of course), it sounds like a spoiled brat complaining about his mother serving his free, cooked dinner 5 min later than he would have liked it. Calm down and wait for them to get to it - or go out and buy the actual set...

I find it outright silly to see that people are still accusing the designer of copying that other house. After explaining himself more than once, it just seems that some people are hell-bend on sticking to that thought. I personally can't see a lot of similarities, but even if he *did* use some stuff from that other creation; so what? What matters here is that he designed an astonishing LEGO set of a quality we don't see too often. And thankfully, it seems that pretty much everyone who posts in this thread at least agrees on that much. The designer should be proud. Also, that Predator he did... wow. Just wow.

He's probably a valued poster on these boards. Makes you think, doesn't it?

Sure - though I won't be buying any LOTR sets untill I can get them for 40 % or more off, and I get the feeling that you won't wait that long. I'm also only getting rid of the figs I can't convert to ordinary yellow figs - that is the figs with torsos that has fleshie print. For those that doesn't (which, thankfully, a fair deal of the LOTR figs doesn't!) I will only get rid of the heads and hands and buy yellow counterparts instead. And of course, uruk-hais, orcs and trolls does not bother me and will fit nicely besides my Castle trolls/orcs. Oh I know that feeling! The thing is that I can't really afford collecting more themes. I can't really afford these two themes as is, and only buy at huge sales! In the beginning, I decided to focus only on Castle and neglect Pirates... so I missed most of the 2009 line and later regretted it (thankfully managing to get a few sets later on)... I then promised myself not to go near POTC... but, well, changed my mind there as well. And now LOTR... though, as mentioned, I don't buy POTC and LOTR for the figs and actual theme - but for the way they can contribute to Castle and Pirates. If I had the money (and space!) to get more LEGO, I'd likely be collecting Star Wars and Monster Hunters as well. So yeah, I'll join the "lose interest? I'm having serious trouble with the opposite!" chorus.

By pure luck and coincidence, I managed to find 4191 The Captain's Cabin and 4192 Fountain of Youth at between 54-59 % off! Great bargain, I only wish they had more of the line. But hey, I got myself my first two POTC sets! Yay! Now if I can only stumble across more such sales...

Since becoming an AFOL, I've only been into two themes: Castle (mainly) and Pirates (secondary). And my interest for either of those has not changed. Other themes doesn't interest me except for when I see something I feel I can use for Castle or Pirates, like with LOTR or POTC. I even have some Harry Potter and Ninjago for that purpose. But I certainly, like others in this thread, do not care for fleshie minifigs at all - and try to get rid of any I get. If not for potentially being able to sell those figs on Bricklink, I probably wouldn't buy licensed sets at all.

I like it because it's so damn weird and different.

Astonishing work, nothing less.

Hi Since I'm having serious trouble finding any one shop at Bricklink that has all the figs I desire, I thought I'd check here to see whether someone has them all or knows a shop that does. I'm looking for the following figs in NEW condition, with all accessories: 1-2 Evil Knight 1 Evil Dwarf 1 Grandmother Visitor 1 Highlander and, if possible (though I know they are rare now): 1 Elf Anyone? :)

That's pretty cool actually.

The set designs are (in general, not all of them) better in classic Pirates (as well as the 2009 release), and yellow minifigs are heaps better than fleshies (which I don't tolerate at all). But one thing PoTC really has going for it is the color scheme, which is endlessly better than the yellow/white (sometimes added weird blue and even green colors) they used back in the "classic" times. And the fact that they finally added land structures, carts and horses with PoTC is another plus there. But like others mention, the biggest problem with the PoTC sets is that they aren't so much sets as they are simply scenes. Big difference, though I think this is only the case with the smaller PoTC sets. The big ones are pretty good.

I agree: the dragon is good and all, but the cliff and fire are outright spectacular.

Yet another fantastic 2012 set by LEGO. They have been in good form this year.