Friday, May 22, 2009

Toybox of FAIL: Pirate (Again Again)




First time here? Please take a moment and read the Toybox of FAIL Disclaimer. Thanks!
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Today, something new and differrent! A set called....Pirate!


(No, this still isn't a repeat from yesterday.)





Okay, this one has me baffled. It's labeled "Pirate". It has a Western looking mini-figure and some sort of mini-playset. I'm not seeing a whole lot of "Pirate-y Goodness" about it...




...And yet the set ID reaffirms the designation. I just don't get it.



The Mini-figure is also puzzling. Where are his pants?



And why is his face so far up on his skull? This is not a pirate. This is a mutant.



Speaking of Mutants, here are some of the odd almost-but-not-quite LEGO pieces unique to this set. That's one massive hinge. The plant on the left, though, would make a decent addition to LEGO's legitimate greenery. Alas, it's a part I haven't seen before.



Here's the playset in "action." Our Mutant approaches... He's cautious. Perhaps he senses danger.


'
Gasp! The hinge moves! Revealing.....nothing!!! Absolutely NOTHING!



"And now what?" our Mutant seems to ask.

Good question, buddy. I have no idea. It's not like the hinge was hiding anything - it didn't even cover the front of the little hollow area. A tiny little hollow area with a window and nothing else. Heck, it didn't even have the Mutant's missing pants.

So mysterious.

I leave you to ponder the meaning of this set over the weekend. Be sure to post the results of your meditations in the comments.

EDITED TO ADD:

Amazingly enough, reader Martijn recognized this as a clone of an early LEGO Pirate Set. Check out Treasure Surprise! Of course, the LEGO set actually has something in the little cave...and that's why LEGO is good and Bootlegs are BAD. Got that?


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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

16 comments:

hungryhugo said...

the flowers look like a playmobil part

Monica said...

@hungryhugo: You're right! I had a TON of Playmobil stuff when I was growing up, and the green pieces in this set look like the Playmobil flower stems...without the flowers. The real Playmobil flowers are like a larger version of the Lego flowers, where you put the petals onto the stems.

The Bishop said...

On the box, the weird playset looks rather like an office desk with a Macbook and some potted plants - just as if the secretary had just left to tell the boss that a gentleman in Confederate garb, but with no pants on, wishes to see him.

A slightly Monty Pythonesque scenario, I admit.

dave said...

its missing a sword

Christopher Doyle said...

@dave

Actually, both the sword and pistol shown on the box are in the set. They just didn't make it into the photos for some reason. (Probably just off to the side.)

Ranger said...

You know, the hinge looks like a clone (probably Tyco, considering the half-brick height) hinge woth the top on backwards.

Bootleg clone bricks? What has the world come to?

Joel Hook said...

Your right, he is a mutant, he even wears a giant X on him! He is an X-man!

Cat said...

I'm going with outhouse.

C-Shorey said...

Maby he's recer x?

Chris! you miss spelled pirate! On the "Reasonably Blogged" link thing

@great escaper
You might be right, for the fact my word verification was:
mardi! which is what the Xmen call the MRD!

Ben said...

@bishop:
could be a very tall desk. a back pic of the minifig could be nice.

Martijn said...

There's one similarity between this and the first PIRATE:
they both are semi-copies of LEGO models.

SURPRISE!

Christopher Doyle said...

@martijn:

Good catch! Didn't know about that set previously!
(Off to edit the main post...)

Unknown said...

I hate having to use Mother's googlemail account to talk here, so much so that I hardly talk anymore, but I just had to mention: This set was given away free in a bag with a Wimpy kid's meal. I have it upstairs.

JimmytheJ

Word Verif: slessooe

Christopher Doyle said...

@Jimmy:

I'm moderating comments now, so anon commenting is turned back on. You don't have to spoof accounts.

And do you mean you got the LWD set as a promo? Or the LEGO version?

Jimmy Two-Shoes said...

I got treasure suprise as a kid, cool set, why the heck did the bootleggers take out the captain blackbeard type guy and put in no-pants fail man? ARRR!!! It puzzles me so.

BTW great review

Anonymous said...

Great review Chris. Its at least a fairly good set ( as far as bootlegs go) but at least the LEGO pirate didnt get dressed in the morning with a hangover.