Overview

Pirates of the Caribbean is a theme which did not last long, and I am not entirely sure why. One would think that sets based on a popular franchise, with well designed sets and minifigures, that also appeals to fans of classic Pirates, would be more successful. And yet the line only lasted a little over a year. However, despite having only this short time in which to operate, Pirates of the Caribbean managed to put out a great deal of excellent sets, including several based around locations rather than vehicles, which is an unfortunately rare sight. London Escape is my personal favorite of these location based sets.

The Parts

Just by looking at a picture of the set, you can immediately see that the parts selection is excellent. There are a number of useful pieces, as well as pieces that appear in unique or rare colours. The black brick 1x1x3 with clips appears in only 18 sets. The large black wagon wheel is unique to this set, while the small black wagon wheel only appears in three others. The dark green 1x1 brick with clip appears only in two other sets. The front door of the inn, extremely useful for castle builders, is found only in 18 sets. The horse is shared only with three other sets. The window shutter appears in only 18 sets, while the uncoiled whip appears only in 14. The white scabbard is unique to this set.

There are also two lovely printed pieces. One, the sign on the front of the inn, is unique to this set. It has a lovely print of a reclining woman with the words 'the Captain's Daughter.' While it no doubt refers to a specific inn in the film, it could easily be used in an MOC inn. The other is a 2x2 tile with a sailing ship, which only appears in 9 sets and can easily be used as a painting in any MOC.

There are also some parts included in chrome gold, despite Bricklink's claims to the contrary. The initial runs of this set featured an error which resulted in the coins and bullion being included in pearl gold, but all later editions feature the proper chrome. It is far more likely that the latter will be the case.

The minifigures

There are five of them and they're all excellent.

Captain Jack

This is the most common variant of Captain Jack, appearing in 4 sets, but he is an excellent minifigure nonetheless, with a great deal of detailing and a unique and fantastic hat/hair piece.

Coachman

Nothing of this minifigure is unique, but everything about him is very nice. The head is borrowed from Prince of Persia's Asoka, but it is fairly generic, and may be handily used wherever neatly bearded men are found. The body is from Harry Potter's Ollivander, but really works for any sort of 18th century man. The coachman also sports a common, but useful cape and a tricorne.

Joshamee Gibbs

An excellent minifigure. His face is grizzled and his head is double sided, allowing him either to look happy or angry. His hair is very useful for other men of this era. He is, I believe, a major character, and is found only in this set and the Black Pearl, making him fairly rare.

King George's Officer

This minifigure is excellent both in design and reusability. He features a new tricorne, printed with a white trim, as well as a new print for a redcoat officer. If his head and hands are swapped for yellow ones, he becomes incredibly useful for fans of the Pirates line.

King George's Soldier

This minifigure is not particularly exciting, as his torso is the same as the one used in the 2009 Pirates line, but he does feature again the new tricorne, making his inclusion quite nice.

The Build

For a $50 set especially, the build is great. The inn is fairly simple, but does feature some lovely architectural techniques, and the green carriage is very interesting, with the use of some SNOT techniques to pull it together into a very lovely product. The other cart looks nice as ell, but the techniques used are nothing particularly exciting.

The finished model

...looks really good, actually. The inn, while just a facade, creates a superb backdrop for display or play. The two carts and the soldier antagonists allow children or adults to create an exciting cart chase. This set feels satisfyingly complete, as it has everything that could possibly be expected of it.

Overall

This set was $50 when it came out, and I think it was reasonable at that price. It can now be got for $35 or so used, and at that price it is a no-brainer. Even sealed it can be had for just $15 over RRP, which is still arguably worth it. I would strongly recommend this set to anyone who enjoys POTC, Castle, or Pirates in general.

This set is second to the last set I built when I got the PotC last week. On this set, we have two stage coach and a house (well part of a house) that complete's the set. Minifigures are awesome as ever, love the Jack Sparrow with the pirate hat instead of the red bandana. I think the naval officers hats are new with the white lining, would have been nice if the have new torso specially made for the PotC, thier torso seemed to be the usual ones I have, but not to sure if they are. Gibbs is also a great addition. One good thing Im sure everybody agrees is that when there is no sticker, everybody is happy with it. Free poster is awesome, and Im glad I got the backing board for the instructions as well as the PotC character card :D

First build on the set is the green stage coach which is my favorite of the set. To me the build is quite unique and unconventional (or I haven't build that much stage coach). Just wondering why the minifigure have no peg to sit on to secure it when its inside the stage coach? The spring roof contraption is simple but effective, and does add a bit more playability. Second build is the smaller stage coach, this one has a simple mechanism that transforms what i think are coals being carried at the back, and when turned makes it on fire. Not too sure about the description as I cant really tell what it is, and I do think the gray brick would have been better if it was all black.

Third build is the house, the house is quite small and seemed that theres something missing when done building. I am guessing it is the best the can do for the amount of bricks they have for the price it was set. I dont know if the fans would response more if the house is built better but Im sure price would be marked up? It could have been better if they made a bigger floor area for the house for playability regardless if they put more house items in it. The rolling barrel is alright, could be better if the have better mechanism to make the barrell rolls other than taking out the brick that help it stays in place. Other than those this set is still cool, and is needed to complete the awesome PotC sets.

With the Prince of Persia, Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings sets TLC has moved exactly in the direction I was hoping for when it comes to design, part-use and theme. When I look at the sets I own next to each other, I can really see some form of continuity. They have a great deal in common.

The set in review here is a good example for the above. The three models (two carriages and the building) consist of many small bricks and a couple of features like the window design or the built carriage doors are clearly borrowed off the AFOL world. Building the set was really fun and took me about 45 min. I haven't seen the movie and don't know what exactly happens in that scene but presumably the old white-haired guy has to escape on the coal carriage and is being chased by the two soldiers in the green one. When they are firing a round on the fugitive the coals are catching fire and burn. This is illustrated by a little gimmick in the coal carriage: the coals can be flipped around and there are flame pieces and grey-blazing coals on the other side.

The main portion here, however, is the little pub called "The Captain's Daughter". The intricacy of design in this is cool and there are more parts in it than I thought. When I first saw images of the set a year ago or so I was immediately reminded of Poe's well-known short story "The Cask of Amontillado". That's maybe because the kegs and the arch make it look like a vault. I actually had waited for such kind of official set and it's great to have one now.

On display, this really looks great next to 4194 Whitecap Bay because both of them together form a neat little harbour scene. The set probably is a bit pricey for what you get due to the license but I have seen discounts on it everywhere so this is your chance.

One of my favourite scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides, Jack Sparrow escaping from London was a great decision for a set from Lego. It is well executed, but not incredible, this is a set which somewhat falls into obscurity among the other sets from this line, but still definitely worth purchasing.

Box/Instructions

The box focuses on our hero Jack Sparrow jumping from one carriage to another as they speed past the Captain's Daughter pub. The set sits on a cobbled street and has some wooden buildings behind the pub, Gibbs and a soldier stand behind the vehicles out of harms way but the officer is too close for comfort to the coal cart and is probably about to be trampled (although in light of the British soldiers in the films, I would not be surprised if he is just lost).

The instruction manuals, of which there are two, were fine with no mistakes and I had no missing pieces. The poster, instructions and card (Joshamee Gibbs in this set) are all sealed in a plastic bag which I hope they introduce in all of there sets. The poster in this set is spectacular with the speed of the pursuit really being shown. It might even be my favourite of any of the posters!

Parts

There are some nice parts in this set, the stand out one in my opinion being the printed tile with a picture of a galleon which is also appearing in the two limited edition Christmas sets recently released. There are also eight wheels of various sizes, two whips, a brown horse (which has recently been quite rare) and two very nice tricorn hats with some white bordering which belong to the two soldiers.

Minifigures

The Minifigures in this set are nice, but not the greatest ever. We have seen Jack in his hat a few times before, but he is very nice with loads of detail and back printing, as well as a double sided head. Mr. Gibbs is a good figure, he has the same hair as Will Turner and Philip, but in grey, a nice torso (with back printing like many recent Minifigures) and plain light grey legs. He has handcuffs in this set as he has only just escaped from the courthouse with a little help from Jack. The coachman is also a decent Minifigure, with a black tricorn, bearded face, a double printed torso which could be useful for creating other characters. He also has black and grey legs as well as a brown cape, the only figure so far in this theme with a cape.

The best figures however are the two soldiers. The King George's officer is a lovely Minifigure with a red plume in his black and white tricorn, which is lovely as I mentioned earlier, then there is a pair of gold epaulettes and a double printed torso as well as a white sheath and white legs. He carries a flintlock pistol and a cutlass. Then the redcoat soldier has the same black tricorn with white detailing, a simple smiling face, blue epaulettes, the same torso as the soldiers which have appeared in Pirates sets (but this time with flesh hands) and more white legs. He comes with a rifle.

The build

The build is quite simple really, very quick with few particularly complicated or interesting building techniques, it takes about half an hour and is split into numbered bags, like all Pirates of the Caribbean sets. For that reason I think this set would be a sure winner for younger children who are just getting onto the theme.

The completed model

This set is just full of features. The best set of the entire theme for playing with. The pub is really just a wall, which is a little bit boring, but it keeps the price down at least. It has a wooden door, two shuttered windows and two windows with grills on the outside as well as a burning torch and a printed sign. Inside there are two more torches, two barrels which can roll down a slope when a panel is removed and a balcony with a picture, a spider, a mouse and a bucket. There is some scenery which you can move around too, a table with some bottles and a goblet, and a stand with a beer keg on it.

The carriages are the best bit, the coal cart has whip, a shovel and a torch in clips at the front where there is also space for a driver who is not included. A white horse pulls this cart unlike the brown one for the other vehicle. There is coal in the back which looks great and can turn to reveal some flames to recreate the scene from the film. The other carriage is larger with an enclosed area. Two black doors on either side can open, allowing a Minifgure to sit inside. On the top there is a mechanism for launching Jack Sparrow onto the other cart which works quite well and at the front there is a space for the coach driver, a rifle, and a whip when the driver is not using it. Stored on the back is a chest with some coins and a gold bar in it, I was very lucky and got the shiny versions!

Summary

Overall, I would say you should get this set. Not as a first priority, but one which is a lot of fun and could be great for younger children to play with, who doesn't love a good chase scene? The two little problems I have with the set I have are the lack of an inside for the Captain's Daughter pub, and the fact that we only get one regular soldier, I certainly would advise purchasing more of them from eBay or Bricklink to bolster your army of useless cannon fodder. For each of those I knock off a point meaning that I give the set...

Overall - 8/10

Got this set from Toys R Us on saturday. The price was $60, which is more than lego's price, but it is a new release.