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16 September 2019

LEGO® Hidden Side review: 70419 Wrecked Shrimp Boat

Posted by Elspeth De Montes
Our third LEGO® Hidden Side set review is one of the cheaper sets, 70419 Wrecked Shrimp Boat. It has 310 elements, four minifigures and one sticker sheet with 15 stickers. It retails at £24.99 / US$29.99 / 29.99€.


Let's take a look and see if this set has any interesting new elements to float the boat of New Elementary readers.

New parts in 70419 Wrecked Shrimp Boat 


A Sou'wester (Mini Hat, No. 104 in Flame Yellowish Orange/Bright Light Orange - 6271841|57881) is a great addition to minifigures' headwear options. Up until this point LEGO mini-fishermen have been wearing little knitted hats to keep their heads warm but everyone knows that the real professionals wear a Sou'wester in the bad weather.

There are some new octopus tentacles that attach to minifigures via a neck ring. Tentacles with Suction Cups and Neck Ring (Mini Armour, No. 19 in Transparent Fluorescent Green/ Trans. Neon Green - 6271843|53800) is a new mould that will delight Lovecraftian horror fans.


The underside has raised suction cups on the tentacles, a very nice detail.  This element has an interesting texture almost like a 3D printed object. It is firm but malleable with a matt, slightly rough finish. This is something that is difficult to show on a photograph of course.

New colours of existing pieces


We have a new colour of crocodile in this set consisting of Crocodile Body (6273772|18904), Crocodile Tail (6275392|18906) and Crocodile Head, No. 2 (6276938|61571) all in Sand Yellow/ Tan. This particular crocodile mould is also available in Earth Green/ Dark Green.

Sword in Spring Yellowish Green/ Yellowish Green (6279133|35744) is a new colour for this element and joins some other new Spring Yellowish Green elements in this set.

All of the others have been mentioned in our previous Hidden Side reviews but are new to this theme.

There are three other Spring Yellowish Green elements in this set:

  • 1x1 Tooth Plate (6267420|49668)
  • 1x1 Downward Tooth Plate (6267422|15070)
  • 1x2 Plate With 3 Teeth (6267421|15208)




Triple Curved Wedge 4 x 6 x 2/3 in Sand Green (Plate 4X6X2/3 - 6274974|52031) is a new colour for this element. This element actually comes in 24 different colours and is most commonly used as a roof or bonnet for vehicles. Interestingly 11 colours only appear in two sets or fewer so it seems that while a new colour can pop up reasonably often, it might only appear in a very limited number of sets.

Minifigures in 70419 Wrecked Shrimp Boat

There are four minifigures in this set. 

From left to right we have the two shrimp fishermen, Captain Jonas and Jonas Jr. We already know the ghost hunters Jack Davids and Parker L. Jackson from previous reviews.   


Neither fisherman has a reversible head so poor Jonas Jr has a permanent "eh what?" look on his face. Jack has a scared, yelling face and Parker looks to be thinking about her options.


Captain Jonas is the unfortunate individual who has a hidden side and turns into an octopean-armed ghost with those new tentacles plus a new Ghost Head with Sideburns and Slime in Trans. Fluorescent Green (6279128).

Printed Elements

There is a new 1x1 Round Tile with Spooky Eye in Spring Yellowish Green (Flat Tile 1X1, Round, No. 122 (6275891|63784).  There are two used in the set and one spare. This tile also appears in another Hidden Side set - 70423 Paranormal Intercept Bus 3000 which we will be reviewing soon.

Jack and Parker both have smartphones that display ghosts from Hidden Side printed onto 1x2 tiles to appear like the app. 

This set has the same two tiles as others we have reviewed; the Black one (6271133) for Jack and a Vibrant Coral model (6275078) for Parker.

Stickers

There is one small sticker sheet with 15 stickers that are exclusively used to decorate the ship and give it a worn, wrecked appearance.



Elements of Interest

There are a handful of other elements that have only appeared in one or perhaps two other sets and are of interest.  This is a relatively low-cost set so it means that these elements can be purchased relatively affordably, if you want the set, or alternatively they are likely to be available more cheaply on the secondary market.


  • 6x6 Round Corner Plate in Olive Green (6218088|6003) has only appeared in two previous sets; 75208 Yoda's Hut from 2018 and 75936 Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage released a couple of months ago.
  • Wedge Plate 4x6 with cut corners in Reddish Brown (Plate 4X6 26 Degrees - 6233953|32059) has only been in one other set, 31083 Cruising Adventures from 2018.
  • Inverted Wedge 6 x 2 in Dark Brown Right (6179807|41764) and Left (6179808|41765) only appeared in one other set, 70618 Destiny's Bounty. 
  • In Earth Blue/ Dark Blue, Hull 6 x 8 (6220704|11295) and Hull 6 x 10 x 2 (6259779|47406) have only appeared in one previous set that had limited release in 2018 - 60196 Arctic Supply Plane.

Shipbuilding 

As this set is designed for ages 7+, it is a relatively simple and straightforward build.  There is a ship, a monstrous rocky outcrop on which to shipwreck the boat, a kayak with crocodile and the minifigures of course. The boat was my favourite part of the build.


The aforementioned Earth Blue hull pieces are used along with Inverted Sloped Wedge 4X6 (6220699|60219) to create the base of the boat.



The boat looks the part and is a compact little build that goes very nicely with 70422 Shrimp Shack Attack.  There is an App-related turning wheel mounted on the deck which can be turned to display different colours and interact with the Hidden Side app.

Play Features


The rocky outcrop is another simple build but the play features focus on this area. I can imagine this outcrop being expanded by an enthusiastic child or adult with their own bricks to be turned into a bigger island.


The monster is the hidden side of the central rock formation, presumably causing the ship to run aground. A simple but effective pop-up mechanism allows the monster face to appear.


The other play feature is the ship of course as the hull can be separated easily to allow it to run aground onto the Technic axles on the rocky outcrop.


Finally, as correctly pointed out by one of our readers, the reason why the Shrimp Shack has no shrimp is because the Wrecked Shrimp Boat never ever makes it back to the shack with its catch of the day!


There are two shrimp included in this set, rather cleverly designed with existing elements. The combination of a couple of 'Apollo Studs' (Pl.Round 1X1 W. Throughg. Hole in Bright Red/ Red – 6223427|28626) and a Barb/Claw (Horn W. Shaft Ø 3.2 in Bright Red – 6270107|88513) is strangely effective.

Conclusion

I have already seen this set discounted to £20 in the UK (£5 saving in a nationwide supermarket) and it is a great little set especially if you get it for that price. The two fishermen and their ship will be attractive to youngsters and the added play features of a monster and the ability to shipwreck your ship provide extra fun for all.

There are not a huge amount of attractive elements for those looking purely for a parts pack but the new fishermen (especially that Sou' Wester) and the basic hull and cabin elements to MOC a ship are worth a look for this price.

Finally, before anyone points this out I have to explain the inconsistency between ship and boat in this review.  While LEGO have named the set Wrecked Shrimp Boat, I was once educated by a senior Naval Officer that ships float on the sea and boats go under the sea. Ever since, I have struggled to call any vessel on the surface a boat!



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Products mentioned in this post were kindly supplied by the LEGO Group. All content represents the opinions of New Elementary authors and not the LEGO Group. All text and images are © New Elementary unless otherwise attributed.


4 comments:

  1. OK here we go with the nautical "well actually". An American sailor will tell you a boat is small enough to be carried by a ship and a ship is large enough to carry a boat. A commonwealth sailor will tell you a ship has a deck that goes all the way around the hull and a boat doesn't. So destroyers and carriers are ships but dinghies, patrol boats and especially submarines are boats. A normal person will just let it go because it's just one of those traditional word things that really doesn't matter. Call them what you will; you are right as long as others understand what you mean. OK "well actually" over. (Champs on pipe and thinks about the sea...)

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  2. Oh yeah. I also think that the main difference between a boat and a ship is the size, and this vessel is a tad too small to be considered a ship, I think.

    However, judging by the size of the catch, it might still be a 'prawn boat', though...

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  3. Rowship. Tugship. Cigarette Ship. Sailship.

    My understanding is that if it's built for bluewater, it's a ship (except submarines, which are always boats). If it's not built for bluewater, it's a boat. One odd exception I remember reading about a couple years ago is that, if you're in the US Navy, it's customary to call the ship you're assigned to a boat for as long as you're still assigned to it.

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