21322 Barracuda Bay
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 10:31 pm
I assume that the readership around here has almost certainly seen [url=https://www.brothers-brick.com/2020/03/24/le ... ates-news/]the Brothers-Brick's coverage of 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay[/url], or similar coverage somewhere, but there's no thread here and I think this warrants one. Granted, this is Classic-Castle, there's a lot of overlap nostalgically for LEGO fans of a certain age between Castle and Pirates.
Full disclosure: I am 100% squarely in the demographic for whom this set is hitting ALL the buttons. Pirates was my first real theme-obsession as a LEGO fan (not my first sets--Castle actually predated my first Pirate sets), though the only ship, pirate or otherwise, that I ever had was the very last: the some crapulent 6250 Crossbone Clipper. Classic Pirate sets are probably the most expensive theme to try collecting on the used market, so I've only picked up a few small ones here and there.
All of which is to say: I fully understand the disappointment that a fan of the original Ideas project might have at seeing such a drastically changed design, but I do not share it. This has gone from "cool, that looks neat and I like the idea of pirates" to "if I can in any way swing it, I *must* get this set."
It is definitely geared to a specific demographic, though: old enough to remember the 90s--and old enough to drop 200 USD at once. I really, really hope it does well--not just because I'm always down for more Pirates (though I thought the 2015 was lacking excitement, even if the sets were generally solid--but, in fairness, that was my darkest of grey ages), but because if it DOES, I think we could see other "nostalgia" projects. Obviously, the Exo-Suit already hit the Classic Space button, but that was in theory more about the design than the theme--arguably, Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP was closer--and his Space Squad. From what my informal survey of shelves at the local Target looked like, those sold well. So if Classic Space did well, and Classic Pirates were to do well... could we see something "Classic Castle"?
Here's hoping.
Full disclosure: I am 100% squarely in the demographic for whom this set is hitting ALL the buttons. Pirates was my first real theme-obsession as a LEGO fan (not my first sets--Castle actually predated my first Pirate sets), though the only ship, pirate or otherwise, that I ever had was the very last: the some crapulent 6250 Crossbone Clipper. Classic Pirate sets are probably the most expensive theme to try collecting on the used market, so I've only picked up a few small ones here and there.
All of which is to say: I fully understand the disappointment that a fan of the original Ideas project might have at seeing such a drastically changed design, but I do not share it. This has gone from "cool, that looks neat and I like the idea of pirates" to "if I can in any way swing it, I *must* get this set."
It is definitely geared to a specific demographic, though: old enough to remember the 90s--and old enough to drop 200 USD at once. I really, really hope it does well--not just because I'm always down for more Pirates (though I thought the 2015 was lacking excitement, even if the sets were generally solid--but, in fairness, that was my darkest of grey ages), but because if it DOES, I think we could see other "nostalgia" projects. Obviously, the Exo-Suit already hit the Classic Space button, but that was in theory more about the design than the theme--arguably, Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP was closer--and his Space Squad. From what my informal survey of shelves at the local Target looked like, those sold well. So if Classic Space did well, and Classic Pirates were to do well... could we see something "Classic Castle"?
Here's hoping.
