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28 March 2020

LEGO® Ideas review: 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay - the new pieces & minifigures

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Jonas Kramm already took a look at the construction of the new LEGO® Ideas set 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay and saw that it can change from a pirate hideout into a complete ship, but there was so much to say he didn’t get around to taking a detailed look at all the new pieces and minifigures included. So we do that today!

LEGO® Ideas try their best to work without creating any new moulds, so we don’t get any in 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay. That statement turns out to be not completely true however, as you will see later.

Recoloured LEGO® pieces in 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay

Most interesting are the recolours – existing elements changed to new colours – and there are more in this set than I thought.

The first surprise while building was the colour of the palm leaves used in this set. From the picture on the box I would have bet that they are the usual Dark Green/ Green (shown top right), but all 16 are actually Bright Green (6299808|10884, shown lower right).



For the island that the ship got stranded on, the designers used two types of curved 33° slope to make a very smooth beach. Both pieces – Circle 90G 6X6 Roof Tile (6310952|95188) and Circle 90D 10X10, Wry 18D (6310951|58846) – are new in Brick Yellow/ Tan.

To give the ocean a very Caribbean flair, the water colour is Medium Azure and brings the Corner Plate 10X10 (6315800|92584) to that colour for the first time.



It’s great to see that the square lattice pane, which hasn’t been around for too long, now also comes in a different colour than Black: it appears five times in Warm Gold/ Pearl Gold (6295686|38320) here.


Until recently, storage compartments were of a bigger size, like the 2x4 chest or the 3x4 box. Originally introduced in Collectable Minifigures as a present carton, this box now also comes in Medium Nougat (6312464|59121). This set contains seven.



Talking about compartments, I also have to mention the barrel in Black (6300358|26170), which isn’t totally new but was only ever included in one set: 1682 Space Shuttle from 1990. That set was an American exclusive, so it’s totally new for me as a European. And, as set designer Milan Madge hinted in our recent interview with him, he didn’t actually have the allotted budget to include this colour change but a colleague came to the rescue. Great to see it here, even though there is only a single one.


The nose of the ship has some excellent detailing, especially because four Flex Rod 12M newly cast in Yellow/ Bright Yellow (6315263|32200) get used.



I was expecting this next recolour to appear in the upcoming Super Mario sets as it was visible in the teaser video, but was surprised to find it used here first. The masonry brick (6314383|98283), a fan favourite, comes five times in Dark Orange in Pirates of Barracuda Bay (shown second from the right in the picture above).



For the Sand Yellow/ Dark Tan deck of the ship, Plate W. Angle 3X12 now also come in that colour; two instances of the left (6310956|47397) and two of the right (6310957|47398).



New in the same colour is designer Milan Madge’s favourite recolour from the set: the mast rigging piece (6310958|47996), which comes four times here.


In the official pictures everything gold always looks shiny, so I wasn’t actually expecting the ingots to be Gold Metalized/ Metallic Gold (6294492), shown in the centre of the above picture. (I expected Warm Gold, as per the one on the right.) It’s less shiny than the Metalized Gold/ Chrome Gold one on the left, but a good compromise in my opinion.



While not completely new, a few pieces caught my attention while building. It was the first time for me to find the Spike Prime 2x4 brick with axle holes (39789) in a set. The poop piece in White (6292800), here used for shells, was only released recently in the Disney Storybook Adventures (read our parts review here). This is the second use of Plate 1X1 Round W/ Horizontal 3.2 Shaft in Reddish Brown (6306775), previously only being available in one BrickHeadz set. The five cow horns (6310197) in this set will make this piece a lot more accessible.

Prints

As we are used to seeing in Ideas products, this set also satisfies the criteria of all pieces being printed. There’s only a small number though, perhaps due to the need to spend much of the available budget on changing element colours.


First to point out are the two types of flags; we get two of each. The bigger one is 6x4 (6317072) and the smaller one 2x2 (6317075).


Both are redesigns of the flag designs used in the old Black Seas of Barracuda, having a bit of a different look. (Ignore the original one being a bit yellowed!)



As mentioned in my review of the build the sign of Jose’s tavern (6317074) is a homage to the sign from 6067 Guarded Inn from 1986. And as graphic designer Austin William Carlson explained in our interview, Jose is the name of the real-life father of Pablo Jiménez, the fan designer of the Pirate Bay LEGO Ideas submission.


Perhaps one of the pirates might be going to Hogwarts soon, as you can find a 1x2 letter tile that I only previously knew from the Harry Potter theme. And not only the existing version in Brick Yellow (6284163) but also new in White (6299836). While making the pictures I further realised that, even if they look very similar, they have slightly different prints.



Also there is a new print pf the pig (6308842) in this set, shown to the left of all versions of the pig that exist to this date. Most have been cast in Nougat; a Light Purple/ Bright Pink pig was only offered in Nexo Knights and has a very cartoonish eye printing. (And also, is called Hamletta.) The eyes in this new version look much more realistic.

Sails of the Barracuda

The six sails come in an extra bag which is strengthened by paper, and have excellent quality. Unfortunately I don’t have the old sails to compare, but here are shots of each of the four types.




The Minifigures of Barracuda Bay

When talking about new and printed pieces we of course also have to mention the minifigures. This set comes with eight, each having a name and a role as explained in the instruction booklet.


Compared to the old crew of the Black Seas Barracuda, we can see that some figures have more resemblance to their ancestors than others.





I’m glad they didn’t stick too closely to the designs of the old crew members, who often shared the same torso designs. I like the use of the new moustache piece on the left, and that the kid on the right wears a bag that has only come with one Star Wars set before.


One figure I want to take a closer look at is Captain Redbeard, who has aged a bit and now has some grey in his beard. Surprisingly the colour of his hook is new: Dark Stone Grey/ Dark Bluish Gray.


It has been made in seven other colours previously. (I’m missing a Transparent Red hook in my collection.)



New and good-looking is the torso of the pirate named “Tattooga” which comes with some cool decorations on both front and back:

Treasure

And then I found a new mould.


I would have bet I had seen it before, but when I did the research for this article couldn’t find it in a set. Then I realised it’s part of the latest series of Collectible Minifigures that was recently revealed: the Pirate Girl there is wearing this headgear in a different colour combination: Black & Medium Nougat.

©2020 The LEGO Group
So technically speaking this mould is new for this set, as CMF S20 isn’t released until 1st of May, but was not designed for Ideas. The combination of the Reddish Brown hat and the Brick Yellow hair definitely looks good and I can imagine it also be used for men with a ponytail.

Stowaway Slope Incident

When building the set I got quite confused, which was caused by a production error: instead of of the slope on the left, I had a copy of the slope on the right in my bag. Interestingly, in the whole set not a single slope of that type/colour is used, so how this error occurred is a mystery to me. I had a spare one of the missing piece in my collection, so the building could go on! If you have the same issue, be sure to contact LEGO Customer Services as they like to hear of these problems and will send you a replacement.

Conclusion


I’m very pleased with the variety of different new pieces this set brings. There are some excellent recolours of existing, useful elements, even though sometimes only in smaller quantities. The few printed elements and the new crew of minifigures are all excellent designs.

When looking at the total inventory of the Barracuda Bay I have to say that the colours are a bit basic: mostly browns, black, white and yellow. But I guess in times where each new Creator Expert car comes in a new, uncommon colour, we are a bit spoilt.

Making such detailed reviews is always more time-consuming than expected, but I hope you like it. A huge thank you at this point to my New E colleague Ben Davies for collaboration and helping me out with the photos of the old Black Seas of Barracuda set!




LEGO® Ideas 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay will be available from 1 April 2020. It contains 2,545 pieces and the price point is US$199.99/ CA$259.99/ €199.99/ £179.99/ 1599DKK.

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16 comments:

  1. I believe the simple coloring was somewhat intentional, as the designers have mentioned they wanted the set to bring LEGO fans back to the feel of the original ship. The classic colors combined with the superb use of newer parts and techniques (that inverted stern section!) strike the perfect balance in my opinion. Thanks for another article, well-done all around!

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  2. Good review of an amazing set!

    Despite the theme having been gone for over a year now, one of the questions I often ask myself when looking at new recolors is "could I use this in an Elves MOC? This set has a few parts that would work wonderfully in that theme, most notably the rectangular lattice pane in gold (which matches the larger opening lattice panes as well as the arched lattice pane, both of which are great for that sort of ornate fantasy).

    The curved 33 degree slopes are great in tan, used well here. I love when parts such as those are used for less angular landscaping than is usually possible with regular slopes, wedges, or wedge plates.

    The Medium Nougat box/carton is a fantastic recolor since it can be used for either wooden boxes like in this set or cardboard boxes in a more modern scene! I'm glad to see this container being used more.

    The black barrel is another good recolor, though I'm almost a little surprised at its inclusion in this set. Only one is included and it's not even placed prominently, so is mostly a fun "extra". Certainly appreciated, but I am left wondering what upcoming theme or set this recolor was borrowed from...

    The metallic gold ingots are great too! I generally prefer lacquered or "pearl" metallic colors to chrome ones—not only do they not show damage as much as chrome (many of my childhood chrome parts certainly look worse for wear), but chrome can look unnaturally reflective when used for metal objects or surfaces that typically wouldn't be polished enough to reflect a clear image.

    The new letter tiles are both fantastic. I'd actually missed that the Harry Potter theme had introduced a new sealed letter tile, replacing the original one from that theme and its ambiguous signature. The more generic appearance of this one feels much more versatile, and getting a new variant in a separate color makes it that much easier to include multiple letters in a scene without it feeling repetitive.

    I hadn't noticed the oddness of Hamletta's eyes before, either. I appreciate the more classic "Lego" appearance of the eyes on the pig in this set, though I'm not sure that I'd call the beady black eyes of Lego figures any more "realistic" than cartoon eyes with whites.

    The flag prints are slightly refreshed but mostly similar to their original appearance. I appreciate them in this set for their classic flavor, but otherwise can't help but wonder whether it's time to move past printing a waving black flag on a rigid white part—I sort of prefer the thin plastic film used for flags like in the Ninjago "Skybound" sets, for which the border of the flag can be trimmed to match the shape of the part instead of leaving a conspicuous and uneven border.

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  3. I am very excited about the dark bluish grey hook hands! Wonder if it'll show up on BAP like regular hands... I could use a few hundred for 3mm hose builds.

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    1. Hope so too! I got some silver hooks back then, but when I tried again just before the break at B&P I couldn't order them anymore.

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    2. Oh, yeah. I hope the BAP will be running again relatively soon. The PAB selection is too small for my demands.

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  4. Great review! sadly like I said before, the set doesn't particularly fancy me since it's aimed to strike the nostalgia factor and the dad/son bond (just like the designer wanted) which I simply do not share.
    I am more than pleased with the new recolours and the abundance of some very niche parts which is always nice to see. Still not gonna buy the set itself but I'll be sure to order some parts off of BL when possible.

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  5. What about the large hull parts, aren't they new in reddish brown?

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    1. No, they're the same ones that have been used for ships since 2013 or earlier (the three hull components date from different years since a few of the 2009 era ship hull parts were updated between then and now). All three were used in Reddish Brown in 2015's The Brick Bounty.

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  6. I find the "Stowaway Slope Incident" very intriguing. I recently purchased a 76897 1985 Audi Sport quattro S1 Speed Champions set. One of the Angular Plate 1.5 Bot. 1X2 1/2 (6000606, 99780) pieces was absent. Instead, I also received the same 1x2 slope piece in the same colour. I feel like there may been a slope spill at one of the Lego factories.

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  7. Thanks for the info! What I really want to know is where do the transparent minifig hooks come from, they look stunning and I can imagine that they would be perfect for some DIY sci-fi minifigs.

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    1. the Trans-Neon Green came in Aquazone sets in the 1990s and the Trans-Medium Blue just in a couple of Alpha Team sets in 2004. So warm up your wallet and search for 2531 on Bricklink or your favourite 3rd party supplier site!

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  8. Wow, there's a lot more interesting recolors here than I anticipated. I'll definitely have to scour bricklink and see if anyone's parted this thing out. The part I'm actually most excited for here is the Wedge Plates in Dark Tan. Those have proven very useful for me in my figure building in the last few years, and DT is a very versatile color since it can be the color of a peasant's robes, wood, dirt, even skin color. Here I'd most likely use them as clothing.

    I've seen some pretty intrepid builders use stripped sails in figures before, so I'd be inclined to pick up these sails to. Though I imagine they're going to fetch a pretty penny. Thanks for the review Tim, new parts and recolors are always my favorite part of you reviewing sets!

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    1. It was all Jonas' work :) but I'll thank you on his behalf!

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  9. I allow myself to write this comment on both parts of this review to let you know that Pablo Jiménez (aka Bricky_Brick) also has proposed an imperial flagship that you can vote for : https://ideas.lego.com/projects/d9520a0b-a039-4e20-a966-8d1e59151ad1

    I also came across 3 very nice ships from aka Babyteeth : https://ideas.lego.com/profile/Babyteeth/entries?query=&sort=top

    Especially the Caribbean Clipper wich already has 6.5k supports so far and also has the labbel "staff pick" : https://ideas.lego.com/projects/ac55921b-a2cd-45a8-a870-4b761892cf1a

    We could hope to get one more ship in the future produced by Lego if they reach 10k votes ! :o)

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  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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