I tested for you: LEGO 71042 The Silent Mary

Pirates of the Caribbean are the adventures of several pirate gangs in the Caribbean. And to get around these pirates use boats. And when LEGO decided to make a range of derivative products, we had certainly obtained a few boxes with a little simplistic content to furnish, but the fans especially remember the two superb boats sold in the sets. 4184 The Black Pearl (2011) et 4195 Queen's Anne Revenge (2011)

And then the set 71042 The Silent Mary (2294 pieces - 8 minifigs - 219.99 €) has been unveiled.

The set is now available for members of the VIP program and the product sheet has also been updated on the LEGO Shop, it now includes the visual of the box and the two ghost sharks.

With the announcement of the marketing of a single set around the new episode of the cinematographic saga, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), there were many who logically expected something new with a hull, cannons, sails and pirates. Not an aquarium decoration.

Some will tell me that LEGO is only reproducing here one of the important "actors" of the film, the ghost ship of the Spanish captain Armando Salazar set out again in pursuit of Jack Sparrow after having miserably disintegrated on the rocks. That is true. And LEGO fulfills the contract.

Aesthetically, the SilentMary In the end, it is doing quite well if we do not forget that it is no longer the ship in perfect condition commanded by Captain Armando Salazar and that the minimalist hull here embodies the skeleton of the boat.

It is not so much the realization as the choice of departure which is here in my opinion criticizable. Six years that fans have been waiting for the great return of this range and LEGO only offers them this box. A remake of the Black Pearl would have satisfied many fans of the saga who do not want to spend several hundred euros to afford the version of 2011 today.

Around the film's release date, this reproduction of the SilentMary will obviously have its small effect. This boat in an advanced decomposition phase seen in the film trailer is impressive and the passage from the cinema version to the model "that you can display on your buffet"is rather convincing.

First reaction from me to the unboxing: "Where are the 2294 pieces in this set? Certainly not in the hull."But they are there, in the countless details that dress this ship.

No stickers, that's a good thing. The eight sails are rather well packed and protected, that will prevent you from finding them crumpled at the bottom of the box. Although in the context, it wouldn't be so bad.
LEGO has taken the trouble to indicate on the box that this ship does not float. We would have suspected it.

Good news about the instruction booklet: LEGO presents the different characters from the film along with their respective minifigs and a short description in English. These few sentences are translated into several languages ​​on the following page, including French. Thank you LEGO, the activist that I am for a systematic translation of the editorial content present in the instruction booklets is delighted!

If symmetry and order is an obsession with you, you are going to suffer. This set is the representation of a ghost ship in a sorry state and its LEGO structure is therefore deliberately messy and composed of many unique details that help to stage this SilentMary according to his condition in the film. We are sometimes tempted to think that parts are missing in certain places and then we see that it is normal, it is wanted like that.

Structure based on Technic parts for the heart of the ship, everything else is stacked and clipped on. The assembly phase is pleasant despite the few repetitive steps.

Do not be presumptuous during editing by skipping pages or trying to blindly duplicate what you believe is an intended item in duplicate or triplicate. There are still a few such as the side panels that dress what is left of the ship's hull, but some of the sections that face each other are not necessarily symmetrical.

The fragility of the whole is annoying. This ship is impossible to move without something falling off and the hull / skeleton side panels don't hold up for long, they inevitably fall down.

Small regret for me: The 11 cannons that equip the deck of the ship and which are therefore clearly visible would have deserved a dedicated room, even smaller than the existing cannons at LEGO. The solution put in place by the designer is correct, but it lacks character for a model intended for the exhibition.

Another notable flaw in my eyes for a model, the too flexible material of the sails which gives a very average rendering to the whole. The sails are not tight between the attachment points, it hangs a bit too much and it probably won't get better over time. I would have preferred a thin but rigid plastic for the canopy, which would have allowed the passage to make dust more easily after several weeks / months of exposure of the set.

The main mast, which swings in all directions, has an unfortunate tendency to fall with the slightest movement. The designer got it right with the binding. This is once again the real problem with this set: the excessive fragility of the set which makes it impossible to handle.

The mobile prow which lifts thanks to the mechanism based on Technic parts tends to fall at the slightest contact and the two transparent supports out of three which then remain in contact with the ground are no longer sufficient to ensure perfect stability of the assembly which will tilt then occasionally on the flank.

On the playability side, it's minimum service. Either way, it's next to impossible to play with this 68cm long boat without breaking everything. The bow rises and the main mast tips over. That's all. This is a pure exhibition product, a model with its transparent supports that almost deserves to end up in a giant bottle.

The minifigs are superb. After all, it's also LEGO's goodwill and that's the least of it. Salazar, Lesaro, Magda and Santos all benefit from really gorgeous pad prints with proper continuity between the torso and legs for the three of them that have legs. Santos even has a transparent pad-printed leg. Magda and Salazar are entitled to a transparent polycarbonate head. Santos uses the same base as the Specter from the 14 series of collectible minifigs released in 2015.

Big problem, however, on Jack Sparrow's minifigure: The flesh color (Flesh) which should have been pad printed on the top of the chest, and which is present on the photo of the box and on the official visuals, is replaced by a gray which has nothing to do there. This is not an isolated problem, it is at least the case for the boxes which were all provided free of charge by LEGO to the various sites which already offer "reviews"And that's a shame. LEGO may correct this error in a future production run of this set.

On Henry's minifigure, the color difference between the Flesh of the head and the impression on the torso is noticeable at first glance. Only Carina is spared from this problem.

To have used pad printing in my spare time, the only solution that allows to obtain a consistent shade on a dark-colored support is to put a layer of white under the surface concerned before applying the desired color. It is a procedure which involves an additional step and which therefore generates additional costs. I imagine that LEGO prefers to ignore this additional "strike" which would solve this recurring problem.

All in all, and to be totally honest with myself (and you), I would say this set is both an acceptable reproduction of the ship as it appears in the movie (or at least in the trailer until then. more) and a bad choice: He's far too fragile, even as LEGO touts the potential for playability in the official description of the product, which will cause guaranteed disappointment in some buyers.

Unconditional fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga will treat themselves to this box whatever it contains, those who hoped for better than a skeletal ghost ship to embark on this range will undoubtedly be the dead end. For others, the two ghost sharks that can be "stowed" under the ship will be enough to motivate them to spend the 219.99 € requested by LEGO. A public price under 200 € would have been a good thing.

I don't know if it was Disney who forced this style exercise on LEGO, but the manufacturer is doing quite well given the initial challenge. And the real weakness of the thing probably lies more in the fact that LEGO will only offer us this box to celebrate the release of the film. The BrickHeadz of Jack Sparrow (41593) et Armando Salazar (41594) will not be enough to compensate ...

No Dying gull to accompany this LEGO set 71042 The Silent Mary, and yet this ship, also unprecedented in the saga, would have deserved its LEGO version, we would have gladly found a small place for it on the living room buffet.

Note: The set presented here is involved. To participate, you must intervene in the comments. You have until 24 March 2017 to 23h59 to contribute to the discussion and a draw will determine the winner. The winner's name / nickname will be posted here within 24/48 hours of the contest closing date.

Update : The winner has been drawn, his nickname is indicated below.

2nd draw made on April 3, 2017: