Cristian I.

Well, I paid that amount a couple of months ago and I was happy at that time. But here is something interesting, since you are in Greece. I have spent my summer holiday there in August, near Thessaloniki. There is (was) a chain of toy stores across Greece, named "Kou, Kou". Recently they closed the business and had a massive sale. I found 6243 in a store and bought it for 60 euro. Anyway, this set sells new on Ebay for around 80-90 euro, so if you are patient you can get a slightly better deal. The ship looks really nice once built, and even better with some upgrades. If you are into classic Pirates, try too look for 6280 and 6289. You can find these sets MISB for under 100 if you are patient. For instance, I got the 6280 for 50 euro and the 6289 for 85 euro. If you don't mind used sets, prices are much smaller.

Sorry to bump this topic, but I see too much hate towards the BB here and it doesn't seem fair to me. I have recently built both ships. Also, I am biased towards ships which were released after 1993 (SES, RR), so I think I am able to make a fair comparison. I think many of the people criticising the colour scheme of the BB, do not actually have the set. I used to criticise new Lego colours before owning this set. BB has a superb colour scheme, elegant and realistic. I don't think that dark tan, dark red, brown and black, are more childish than bright yellow, red and white. They are also nicely matched and the overall visual experience is better than the BSB. Not to mention the new cannons, minifigs and the superb blue boat. +BB The construction of the BSB is better indeed and the overall shape looks slightly more realistic. Space is actually used on the hull (+there is an extra piece). However, it doesn't seem to be used wisely to me. It would have been very easy to place 4 cannons on each side and still have storage space and other nice elements. BBs hull is quite empty though, so not much to say here. +BSB The cabin of the BB looks much better and more realistic to me, there is more space inside (easy to place some furniture), there are more windows (more light coming through) and the cross swords on the back are a nice detail. I also prefer the new doors because they have windows, but the old ones look good too.+BB The rigging/masts are better on the BSB, can't argue. +BSB The sails are ugly on both ships in my opinion. Yes, the skulls on the BB are awful, but I don't think that replacing those sails with regular ones (or rolling them) makes the ship a MOC (so the comparison would still be fair). == Finally, I believe that both would be quite weak in a battle because they only have 2 cannons on a side. == So we have equal score, but with a very small investment and some patience, I think that BB can be improved to beat the BSB on every aspect. These changes would not be significant enough to make it a different ship and I intend to a add topic on this at some point. Anyway, my vote goes for the BB.

I forgot to mention the plates with clips. These have thick clips rather than thin. Also, the middle hull sections have 9 holes rather than 8 on 10040, but I didn't mention this because I am not sure it is visible. Peeron shows some of the differences but not all of them. Nor does bricklink.

Hi marshall, this is a thread I've opened some time ago, with the same topic (only for BSB). http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=66749 You might find it useful. The differences are too subtle to be noticed: I think the 10040 has "LEGO" printed on the triangular sail (but I might be wrong), the top masts have bottom nubs, the black hose holding the basket for the treasure chest has tabs, the pirates with blue-white torsos have black belt buckles instead of gold, all the minifigs have rounded heads (the older one might have a few squareish heads depending on the production year), the yellow wedge plate on the bow has 3x4 cutout..... I think these are all the differences that could be noticed when the ships are built.

Thank you, Brinstar! Well, I've just purchased the set. I still think it is a bit expensive, but I won't look back now. After all, I've been dreaming for 18 years to have a pirate ship. As I've mentioned, I am building the BSB (and other ships) brick by brick, but it is not the same feeling as opening a new set. Regarding BBB, I have many ideas and I think it will look much better after a few improvements. Removing any appearance of the cartoonish skull, improving the masts, the bow, adding an anchor, strings...just to name a few. I will actually open a thread at some point, now I can't wait to get the ship :)

Thank you, Cpt. Dan! I know there are better ships out there, but for MISB this is probably the best option. I could get Red Beard Runner for a similar price, but I don't like it , and the Armada Flagship which is too small for the price. It's funny, but I really feel the need of opening some Lego bags, because I could have purchased parts separately for a better price. This is what I do for the BSB at this moment, which is almost complete :) I also intend to modify the BBB at some point, to make it look like a proper pirate ship.

Hello everyone! I apologise if I posted in the wrong place. I was wondering how much would you pay for a MISB 6243 Brickbeard's Bounty. At this moment, I could get one on Bricklink for 75GBP, plus 25GBP shipping to the UK. So a total of 160$/120euro including shipping. Now after I converted to US dolars it seems very expensive, but what do you think? Should I wait for a better price (maybe something in the UK so that I won't have to pay that much for postage)? Or do you think that these would actually become more expensive over time. Thank you!

I agree with you, I also miss old pieces in general. The masts were much better looking and more realistic than the new ones. I also wish that Lego never changed colour shades. It is so difficult to find particular oldgray or oldbrown pieces at decent prices. I was also surprised by the differences between the new and old BSB. While I wanted to have the set exactly as it was out of the box, it might not have been worth the effort of keeping the exact specs. However, I already had many of the bricks as they were in the re-release, so I thought I should give it a try. I forgot to ask something. Is there anything printed on the sails of the re-release? Like "Lego" or "Lego Group"?

Thank you very much Skipper! So indeed the middle section has the bottom connector. Luckily, I have one like this so I only need another one :)

Thank you Skipper! I hope I have used the terms right, because to be honest I have only deduced what they mean. I think that the bottom connector prong of the middle mast is a small cylinder concentric with the mast, which sticks out from the bottom. This allows the mast to be connected on a stud. I believe that the nubs on the top mast are two very small pins on the lower part, which would probably allow the mast to have a better connection with bottom sections. Thank you very much Sebeus! I also believe that being a newer release, 10040 should have the prong on the middle sections.

Thank you very much! So the newer release had the small pins on the top masts or the older? Regarding the middle masts, they are the same in the sense that they both have bottom connectors or they both lack them? Thanks again!

Hello everyone! This is my first post here so please apologise if I'm writing in the wrong place or if my post is in breach of any forum rules. I've been a Lego fan since I was 4 and the Pirates series was without a doubt my favourite. Sadly, the larger sets from these series were very expensive and hard to find in my homecountry, so I could never own one. However, in the last years I have discovered the advantages of shopping on eBay, and by reading this forum I have also discovered BrickLink. I have decided to allocate some of my spare time on building the sets I have always dreamed of having. I've always wanted to have one of the large ships, so the BSB was clearly a must have. Now to jump to the subject, I am trying to build the BSB 10040 (in as new condition). I have managed to collect most of the bricks, with the exception of the middle hull sections and the masts. I have especially mentioned the 10040 set because I want to have the bricks as they were in the re-release. For instance: different wedge plate on the bow, new type of minifig torsos and heads, plates with thick clips. My first question is regarding the masts. I believe that the 10040 had middle mast sections with bottom connector prong, but could anyone confirm this? Also, could anyone tell me if the top sections of the masts had bottom nubs? I can't find this information anywhere and I can't figure out from the online instructions/pictures. Secondly, could anyone confirm if the middle hull sections had 9 holes? I think that the 6285 had only 8 (the 9th in the middle being covered). Lastly, I am very confused about the 50cm string used for the crane. In a set I bought from eBay for spares, the string was made from nylon and was what I would call of medium thickness (sadly it was partly painted and needs repacement). It was about the same thickness as the type of string with end studs. However, it is impossible for me to find this string on BrickLink. The thin string (x77a) is actually too thin and seems to be made of something different from nylon (cotton maybe?). The medium thickness one (x77c) seems to be as thick as the one used for rigging (I haven't bought a sample though). The thick string (x77b) seems to be far too thick. I've tried to use Peeron and Bricklink inventories to find the required type, but it is impossible. Again, the thin one is too thin and I am pretty sure that Lego has made string of a thickness in between x77a and x77c, and made of Nylon. As I've mentioned, I think it should be as thick as the ones with end studs. Could anyone please tell me how can I find the required string? That's all, sorry for this long topic. I'll try to keep them shorter from now on. Thank you very much! :)