LEGO Ideas 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay: Everything You Need to Know

LEGO today unveils the LEGO Ideas set 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay, a box freely inspired by the project The Pirate Bay by Pablo Sánchez Jiménez alias Bricky_Brick. The project in question had in its time gathered the 10.000 supports necessary for its passage to the examination phase in just 25 days and it had finally been definitively validated by LEGO in September 2019.

Nostalgic fans of the Pirates range then found something to plead their case with the manufacturer and all their hopes were placed in Pablo Sánchez Jiménez's project. The manufacturer confirms that he has heard the message and is now offering a set that I believe can satisfy even the most demanding of fans.

For those who have a feeling of déjà-vu, this new set of 2545 pieces with its vintage packaging at will features the Black Seas Barracuda ordered by Captain Redbeard, seen in the set 6285 marketed in 1989 and reissued in 2002 under the reference 10040. This is not the first tribute to the set of 1989, a micro version of the Black Seas Barracuda was indeed present in the set. 40290 60 Years of the Brick offered in February 2018 by LEGO.

We therefore discover that the boat has run aground on an island and that it is now used as headquarters for Captain Redbeard and seven other characters all inspired by the Pirates range including Lady Anchor, Robin Loot, Tattooga, Quartermaster Riggins, Jack "Dark Shark" Doobloons and the Port and Starboard twins. Some animals also populate the place with a shark, a pig, two parrots, three crabs, and two frogs. No pirates without corpses, two skeletons are provided.

The real stroke of genius of the set is to offer the possibility of relaunching the Black Seas Barracuda by dissociating it from the island on which it is stranded. The hull divided into three modules can be recomposed to obtain a presentable boat that will prevent latecomers from spending their money in the secondary market to afford the initial version of the Black Seas Barracuda. The full model displays respectable measurements at 64cm wide, 32cm deep and 59cm high.

I sometimes criticize LEGO for straying a little too far from the spirit of the reference project when it comes to adapting an idea that has brought together many fans, but I think that here it was necessary, on the contrary, to frankly go with a clear and crisp reference to the Pirates range launched over 30 years ago. It is now done and even the most nostalgic fans who expected a lot from this box should largely find what they are looking for.

Nostalgia also comes at a price: the LEGO Ideas set 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay will be available from April 1, 2020 on the official online store at the public price of 199.99 € / 209.00 CHF.

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