[OFFICIAL] 10320 Eldorado Fortress - Retiring SOON!

[Yperio_Bricks]

9 minutes ago, Jack Sassy said:

Well, that better be rum in those barrels rather than wine. 

There is this red tile on the floor, but maybe this is just blood, not wine

[dimc]

4 minutes ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

There is this red tile on the floor, but maybe this is just blood, not wine

The Overlook Fort, an interesting choice.

[Jack Sassy]

Just now, Yperio_Bricks said:

There is this red tile on the floor, but maybe this is just blood, not wine

 In that case, this is a line LEGO has not dared to cross since 2012:

 

Huh, not really, according to Brickset, this year's Harry Potter has blood stains:

 

Still, I require at least one dark rum bottle, those green ones seem like wine bottles.

[F1stzz]

21 minutes ago, CaptainMoore said:

What about using this head? If think that it would have been perfect

It's definitely fitting for the theme overall, maybe for some of the officers or soldiers, or merchants, but not for Broadside. A couple of things here: first — as many have rightfully pointed out, the governor isn't immune to ageing, so gray facial hair should be there anyway. Second — it's all about the signature sideburns & mustache for this guy  There's no sideburns on the faceprint you've suggested, nor gray hair — 2015 Governor (3626cpb1335) on the other hand has a complete package that meets all requirements 👌🏻

 

21 minutes ago, lomis said:

Not sure if anyone is interested... but here is the 6x4 flag from 70412: Soldiers Fort:

I might be called silly, but this version is such an upgrade over the classic one. It's even more impressive live with all those golden accents shining  Again — zero idea why TLG decided to create a third design, which is, IMHO, not as good, instead of using the 2015 style. And they also didn't include a 2x2 flag to accompany the bigger one, which is sad. 

[DonQuixote]

Has anyone the same ideas of putting Eldorado Fortress together with the motorized lighthouse. I think they will make each other look better. I didn't bought the lighthouse because it's too expensive for what you get. I will never use the gimmicks of it. But now I am tempted to buy the lighthouse afterall because it will look like an impressive fort with lighthouse. And the colors are some what similar. 

Any thoughts? 

[Mister Phes]

1 hour ago, dimc said:

And a frog!

Yeah, frog's love rum!  Ever heard of the pickled frog?

10 minutes ago, DonQuixote said:

Has anyone the same ideas of putting Eldorado Fortress together with the motorized lighthouse. [...]

Any thoughts? 

I think you should try it.

[jodawill]

7 hours ago, Marooned Marin said:

A thought occurred. With Eldorado fortress now soon on sale, will they forbid any new fortress entry on the LEGO Ideas, or even worse, will they retire all the running submissions?

Last update is on 21. April (at the time of writing) so I guess will find out soon enough.

I tried to submit an idea for Spacebabies. Other than being related to classic space, it was completely unrelated to the Galaxy Explorer. They rejected it due to not being an authorized third party license. I tried resubmitting it and they did it again.

7 hours ago, thewatchman said:

Agree mostly with this, but lore wise is kind of one of the things I like about this and pobb.

 Times moved on, people complaining that the admirals facial hair has changed is ridiculous, he’s older he cant have a beard?

The biggest reason we know it isn't Broadside is because the box calls this guy an admiral. Broadside was the governor.

7 hours ago, eldiano said:

I am curious though ,if Neils mentioned that LEGO lost money using the base plates, why did LEGO continue to make them until the 2010’s?  I mean it’s gone now but I’m just thinking out loud here. 

They didn't have a proper accounting system to understand which sets made money until more recently. Back then, they had didn't keep track of how much parts cost to produce for each set. They only tracked the costs at the aggregate level, so it's entirely possible that they had one or two sets each year that actually lost money or made very little.

1 hour ago, RichardGoring said:

Another pirate to add to the raid? A merchant for the ship? An admiral for the military? What would you like to see?

Well, we already have an admiral here in this set. I would really like to see Steve make a comeback. I'd also like more of the classic pirates to return. There's way too many to list them all here.

57 minutes ago, CaptainMoore said:

What about using this head? If think that it would have been perfect

That's a good one, except it's double sided. This is why I don't like double sided heads. They've been redesigning a lot of the hat and hair pieces to accommodate dual prints with varying degrees of success. There's one they're selling right now with red facial hair that would be perfect for forestmen, but it's printed on both sides. I might just wipe one side off with Brasso. I hate that it's come to this because I'm normally a purist.

[DonQuixote]

3 hours ago, MAB said:

But I imagine they will stick with the standard yellow in line with the other non-licensed sets.

 

That's how it should be! Yellow heads for unlicensed themes forever! 

[jan kusters]

24 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

Yeah, frog's love rum!  Ever heard of the pickled frog?

I think you should try it.

Arrr! Now there's men after me heart! Please let us know...

[Mister Phes]

Just now, jan kusters said:

Arrr! Now there's men after me heart! Please let us know... 

You should try it too, Jan!

[zinnn]

FYI, the female pirate torso is a new print - it's not the same as the PoBB one:

[dimc]

1 minute ago, zinnn said:

FYI, the female pirate torso is a new print - it's not the same as the PoBB one:

I dig it. Works great for cosplay/rennfaire type stuff too!

[Alexandrina]

2 hours ago, F1stzz said:

The fact of the matter is, LOTS of people would rather prefer having Anne Anchor, Camilla (or any other fancy figure to represent a pirate girl & governor's daughter) and a female merchant in this set than replacing a whole officer corps including Lt. de Martinet for the sake of "equality".

The fact of the matter is, LOTS of people (including almost every kid currently buying Lego, and a large swathe of AFOLs) has got literally no idea who Anne Anchor or Camilla or Lieutenant de Martinet is. These are characters only ever identified in an obscure comic from thirty-four years ago, which the vast majority of the buying audience won't have even heard of, let alone read.

The original set includes eight minifigures: Captain Redbeard, a pirate with a red vest, a Governor, an Officer, and four soldiers (all of whom were generic smileys, so were not explicitly male or female). Of those eight, we have the pirate with a red vest, the Governor, the Officer and four soldiers (not given generic smileys this time as they'd look out of place with the rest). The only minifigure from the original set not directly modernised here is Captain Redbeard, who we had in Barracuda Bay. When there's a full range of sets, you expect the main cast to be repeated at times. When the theme consists of a big set every few years, you don't really want duplicate minifigures (especially since, let's be real, all the people so irate at the figure selection have Redbeards galore). Instead of him we get a female pirate.

I'm not sure why you've put equality in inverted commas as if it's somehow a bad thing. This is a kid's toy. Boys and girls alike play with Lego, and I fail to see how there is any problem with putting a mix of male and female figures in a set.

If you limit yourself to only replicating the explicitly female minifigures of the original themes' runs, you're just going to replicate the same poor disparity. In the entire Pirates I line, there are five distinct minifigures - two female islanders, with and without a quiver; and three red-bodiced pirates, with varying leg and bandana colours. Fundamentally there are two minifigures. Islanders are never coming back for obvious reasons, so a rigid adherence to the 80s and 90s run would allow for exactly one female minifigure in the whole pirates line. (In fact, the other themes aren't much better. Castle had a few maidens in the 80s but the only female Castle minifigure introduced in the 90s was the Fright Knights witch. Space is even worse - Doctor Kelvin from Ice Planet is the only female minifigure other than aliens and a rare polybag exclusive until 2009(!!). There were no female Western minifigures. No Time Cruisers minifigures. No Aquazone minifigures even if you include the 2007 reboot. The only theme where there was even moderately good female representation in the 90s was Town, and even there it paled in comparison to male representation - outwith Paradisa, there was exactly one explicitly female face print in Town sets prior to 1999, and even that has 66% of its total 90s appearances in 1997 or later.

Lego is inherently unreal. It's a vessel for kids' play at its core, and fixating on female soldiers as the breaking point for historical accuracy over the myriad other concessions Lego makes to playability is just weird tbh.

[dimc]

19 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

If you limit yourself to only replicating the explicitly female minifigures of the original themes' runs, you're just going to replicate the same poor disparity. In the entire Pirates I line, there are five distinct minifigures - two female islanders, with and without a quiver; and three red-bodiced pirates, with varying leg and bandana colours. Fundamentally there are two minifigures. Islanders are never coming back for obvious reasons, so a rigid adherence to the 80s and 90s run would allow for exactly one female minifigure in the whole pirates line. (In fact, the other themes aren't much better. Castle had a few maidens in the 80s but the only female Castle minifigure introduced in the 90s was the Fright Knights witch. Space is even worse - Doctor Kelvin from Ice Planet is the only female minifigure other than aliens and a rare polybag exclusive until 2009(!!). There were no female Western minifigures. No Time Cruisers minifigures. No Aquazone minifigures even if you include the 2007 reboot. The only theme where there was even moderately good female representation in the 90s was Town, and even there it paled in comparison to male representation - outwith Paradisa, there was exactly one explicitly female face print in Town sets prior to 1999, and even that has 66% of its total 90s appearances in 1997 or later.

The female head from pirates/castle was the only one used until Dr. Kelvin in 1993 and then Willa in 1997. In Town and earlier Castle (like 383 from 1979), I believe they only ever used hair and torsos to indicate femininity, and the ratio was pretty terrible. The Paradisa head from 1992 onwards is not suitable for castle and pirates use.

Edit: Maiden's Cart and Guarded Inn from 1986 are the next females distinctly represented, using the hat and torso. Armor Shop, also from 1986, is a possibility with the hair. This would be the first case of an armored female. Knight's Challenge from 1988 is next, and King's (ironically named) Mountain Fortress kicks off the 90s with...a maiden (who is, I believe, the first instance of a figure with a slope representing a dress). Forestwoman also made an appearance in 1990.

Edited June 15, 2023 by dimc

[jodawill]

27 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

The fact of the matter is, LOTS of people (including almost every kid currently buying Lego, and a large swathe of AFOLs) has got literally no idea who Anne Anchor or Camilla or Lieutenant de Martinet is. These are characters only ever identified in an obscure comic from thirty-four years ago, which the vast majority of the buying audience won't have even heard of, let alone read.

The original set includes eight minifigures: Captain Redbeard, a pirate with a red vest, a Governor, an Officer, and four soldiers (all of whom were generic smileys, so were not explicitly male or female). Of those eight, we have the pirate with a red vest, the Governor, the Officer and four soldiers (not given generic smileys this time as they'd look out of place with the rest). The only minifigure from the original set not directly modernised here is Captain Redbeard, who we had in Barracuda Bay. When there's a full range of sets, you expect the main cast to be repeated at times. When the theme consists of a big set every few years, you don't really want duplicate minifigures (especially since, let's be real, all the people so irate at the figure selection have Redbeards galore). Instead of him we get a female pirate.

I'm not sure why you've put equality in inverted commas as if it's somehow a bad thing. This is a kid's toy. Boys and girls alike play with Lego, and I fail to see how there is any problem with putting a mix of male and female figures in a set.

If you limit yourself to only replicating the explicitly female minifigures of the original themes' runs, you're just going to replicate the same poor disparity. In the entire Pirates I line, there are five distinct minifigures - two female islanders, with and without a quiver; and three red-bodiced pirates, with varying leg and bandana colours. Fundamentally there are two minifigures. Islanders are never coming back for obvious reasons, so a rigid adherence to the 80s and 90s run would allow for exactly one female minifigure in the whole pirates line. (In fact, the other themes aren't much better. Castle had a few maidens in the 80s but the only female Castle minifigure introduced in the 90s was the Fright Knights witch. Space is even worse - Doctor Kelvin from Ice Planet is the only female minifigure other than aliens and a rare polybag exclusive until 2009(!!). There were no female Western minifigures. No Time Cruisers minifigures. No Aquazone minifigures even if you include the 2007 reboot. The only theme where there was even moderately good female representation in the 90s was Town, and even there it paled in comparison to male representation - outwith Paradisa, there was exactly one explicitly female face print in Town sets prior to 1999, and even that has 66% of its total 90s appearances in 1997 or later.

Lego is inherently unreal. It's a vessel for kids' play at its core, and fixating on female soldiers as the breaking point for historical accuracy over the myriad other concessions Lego makes to playability is just weird tbh.

I haven't seen anyone arguing that they should stick to only the original female minifigures. I think we'd all like to see more women introduced, and there are actually several women from the original comics that were never produced, and a lot of us would like to see them incorporated into new sets.

It may be true that most people don't know the characters. That's really because most people are just casual Lego fans. But to argue that people aren't aware of characters like Governor Broadside is like saying no one knows who Flatfoot Thompson is after they grew up with Fort Legoredo. Yeah, maybe the average person doesn't know his name after all these years, but anyone who's put any effort into learning about the theme beyond just assembling the set will know this stuff. Saying the lore doesn't matter because it was 34 years ago - well, this entire set is based off a 34 year old set. So if you're going that far back in time, you're already going that far back in time.

Personally, I'm not upset that they didn't bring back the original characters. It's not a big deal at all, although I would have preferred to see them. It feels like whoever did the marketing materials for this set is just completely ignorant of Lego Pirates lore. I just thought it was hilarious that the page says, "The gang's all here!" and not a single character from the original is present in this set, unless you count the unnamed soldiers.

Again, it doesn't actually bother me. I like the minifigures we have here. But it really is a head scratcher that they didn't put any effort researching this set like they did for PoBB.

Edit: I should also add that the comic is not the only place where we learn the characters's names. Their names are all over the printed materials from 1989 through the late '90s.

Edit 2: Actually, the names were even printed on the box.

Edited June 15, 2023 by jodawill

[thewatchman]

7 minutes ago, jodawill said:

I haven't seen anyone arguing that they should stick to only the original female minifigures. I think we'd all like to see more women introduced, and there are actually several women from the original comics that were never produced, and a lot of us would like to see them incorporated into new sets.

It may be true that most people don't know the characters. That's really because most people are just casual Lego fans. But to argue that people aren't aware of characters like Governor Broadside is like saying no one knows who Flatfoot Thompson is after they grew up with Fort Legoredo. Yeah, maybe the average person doesn't know his name after all these years, but anyone who's put any effort into learning about the theme beyond just assembling the set will know this stuff. Saying the lore doesn't matter because it was 34 years ago - well, this entire set is based off a 34 year old set. So if you're going that far back in time, you're already going that far back in time.

Personally, I'm not upset that they didn't bring back the original characters. It's not a big deal at all, although I would have preferred to see them. It feels like whoever did the marketing materials for this set is just completely ignorant of Lego Pirates lore. I just thought it was hilarious that the page says, "The gang's all here!" and not a single character from the original is present in this set, unless you count the unnamed soldiers.

Again, it doesn't actually bother me. I like the minifigures we have here. But it really is a head scratcher that they didn't put any effort researching this set like they did for PoBB.

Edit: I should also add that the comic is not the only place where we learn the characters's names. Their names are all over the printed materials from 1989 through the late '90s.

I agree with this.

 POBB felt like a true homage to the old sets because the designer included updated and expanded backgrounds and lore to the set. 
 The book that explained the crew made me feel like a kid building it again learning names and seeing how it had all changed. 

I think this is why some people feel el dorado is soulless, this is corporate stuff designed by comity, not something that felt fan inspired and built with love, more like a straight remake with some flashy features. 

[dimc]

8 minutes ago, jodawill said:

Edit: I should also add that the comic is not the only place where we learn the characters's names. Their names are all over the printed materials from 1989 through the late '90s.

Where? I just looked through some old catalogues and they only mention Broadside in the Brig description, and Woodhouse in the IPT. I don't believe instructions ever had that to avoid language issues, and I admit I have never seen any of the original boxes so I can't speak to them.

I did find in the 1993 holiday catalog a reference to Governor Broadside...in the Imperial Flagship. So I guess red and bluecoats are the same lol. It does mention that the "pirate" looking fellow in Imperial Flagship is in fact a crewmember.

I know de Martinet has a name, but I don't think I ever knew that as a child. I suspect that came from the comic.

[Conde]

2 hours ago, jan kusters said:

Groan! Not now you morons! Not now while I am up to my ears in working on ideas for another theme! I am busy! Sight....

Kidding apart,  I will get this set. I think it is beautiful, I love the fact that in can switch between a compact 25x25 cm fortress and a 70 cm long harbour front. I love that big wooden crane and the different docks (and I think black is good, wood would usually not be brown; it turns silvery gray when left out without painting, or is black when tarred). That mid-sized ship is a great addition, it is why I came up with my Black Ship, but this one looks a lot better! And I love the fact that the rum is not gone! Yoho and Ribbit!

I agree we are a bit short on 'average civilians' but that is a usual Lego problem; all minifigs must be heroes (except perhaps in City theme). I would love to see some old fashioned farmers/workers. Luckily, the very old simple blue and red minifings with their vacant smiles do well as general public . I would like some slightly less bright colours for them, though and some different head gear.

Also a minor negative; I see we are still doing roof top canons... Please don't fire them! Which reminds me to get a few yellow-heads with hearing-aid for my gunners.

3 years ago, while out on the high seas, I took forever to decide whether or not to get an old expensive Eldorado Fortress set. In the end, I decided against it and came up with my own Whale Rock Outpost to get some Imperial foothold in my salty world. Now it looks like there will be an Eldorado Fortress after all. It will be waiting on my 'yet to build' shelves, together with a Pirates of Barracuda Bay ship.

I'm glad I decided to skip Lion Knights Castle this year...

Is it 25cmx25cm "closed"??

 

Thank you :)

[_R_R_]

My complaint about the minifigures remains the same, they should've strayed further away from the classic set and give us 4 pirates and 4 blue coats, keep the all the soldiers as men, give them tricorns with the white borders, have Broadside and Brickbeard both present and then make the rest of the pirates all new badass ladies instead of just female heads on soldier bodies, that's my issue with the female representation in the set it feels tacked on and not something like TLG actually put effort in.

And before anybody calls me out on being a misogynist, the lack of good female pirates has always been an issue I've had with TLG for a long time, yes we've had several pirate ladies over the years but almost none of them look like actual pirates, there's some like the Pirate Girl from the Minifigure Series and Argenta but even the latter and the rest of female pirate minifigures are just variations of the same character, a brunette in a corset.

The harsh truth is TLG is still leaning more towards sexualized version of female pirates than actual female pirates, to this day I'm still hoping to see more female hair/hat combos and females in proper pirate attires, look up Black Sails Anne Bonny, Elizabeth Swann in DMC, Anamaria from PoTC, they would be an excellent source of inspiration for proper female pirate minifigures but instead we get just female heads on male torsos and another girl in a corset... So I don't understand why some people are applauding TLG for doing the bare minimum when it comes to representation in this set and female minifigures in Pirate themes, the day we finally get actual lady pirate minifigures in coats and long hair and hat combos then I will applaud them.

[jan kusters]

4 minutes ago, Conde said:

Is it 25cmx25cm "closed"??

 

Thank you :)

I just counted studs on photo's in the front and on one side, I expect it will be something along those lines. I have not seen or measured the real set!

[Alexandrina]

22 minutes ago, jodawill said:

I haven't seen anyone arguing that they should stick to only the original female minifigures

The people arguing that Lego including female soldiers is a bad thing because it's taking the place of the original minifigures from 6276 are indirectly arguing for only using original minifigures.

23 minutes ago, jodawill said:

That's really because most people are just casual Lego fans.

This is just gatekeeping to an absurd degree. Just because you don't know the name of old characters doesn't mean you're not a big fan. On top of that, lots of those who do know who the characters are won't be fussed about whether they're updated or not. (And every source I can find says that the Lieutenant was never actually included in any set. Certainly the scans of the comic bear no resemblance to the officer actually included in the original 6276).

25 minutes ago, jodawill said:

Personally, I'm not upset that they didn't bring back the original characters. It's not a big deal at all, although I would have preferred to see them.

Yeah, my ire is not aimed at people who would have liked to see those characters but don't see it as the end of the world. What bothers me more is people acting like not including the original characters is a cardinal sin, because the actual minifigures happen to be female. (It is interesting that nobody complained about Tattooga in Barracuda Bay, who was not in the original set but is a modernisation of a figure from different Pirate sets)

29 minutes ago, jodawill said:

Actually, the names were even printed on the box.

I'm not saying you're wrong here - I've never held the box myself - but do you happen to have any images on hand? All the ones I can find on Google are too low-res to actually read the text.

[jodawill]

5 minutes ago, dimc said:

Where? I just looked through some old catalogues and they only mention Broadside in the Brig description, and Woodhouse in the IPT. I don't believe instructions ever had that to avoid language issues, and I admit I have never seen any of the original boxes so I can't speak to them.

I did find in the 1993 holiday catalog a reference to Governor Broadside...in the Imperial Flagship. So I guess red and bluecoats are the same lol. It does mention that the "pirate" looking fellow in Imperial Flagship is in fact a crewmember.

I know de Martinet has a name, but I don't think I ever knew that as a child. I suspect that came from the comic.

I don't have the box either, unfortunately. It's hard to read, but here's a photo I found with a quick search. It talks about Governor Broadside. De Martinet appeared in the comic, the Ladybird books, and the cassette tapes, which are all rather obscure today, so I wouldn't fault anyone for not knowing him. The governor and Redbeard are the most obvious ones though. They were in many set descriptions, magazine comics, etc. I can understand them not bringing back Redbeard because they already did in PoBB. I think the exclusion of Governor Broadside was just a complete oversight, which doesn't bother me, but I think it's sloppy work.

If I'm being more kind, though, we could just say that since we know PoBB takes place years later, everyone who worked in Eldorado Fortress has long since moved on, even the governor. You can't go home. Right? 

[Alexandrina]

9 minutes ago, _R_R_ said:

the lack of good female pirates has always been an issue I've had with TLG for a long time

This is true (and it's always good to see new female pirates) but it's not - or shouldn't be - a zero-sum game. Minifigures of any gender shouldn't be loaded heavily onto one 'side' of a theme; there's room for female pirates but there can and should also be female soldiers. Eldorado as a set doesn't have lots of pirates full stop, though - which makes sense because it's a soldiers' base. Hopefully we'll get another set soon with more pirates, both male and female.

[_R_R_]

As far as the set itself I'm surprised to see so many people turning on it, I think it looks great, sure some things could be better like the simple black docks, the gates and docks, and the palm trees could be better but overall I think it still looks like a great build and I love the modular aspect and the having the ability to assemble in different combinations. I'm also glad with how they designed the ramp, it looks like stone and there's studs to put the minifigures on, they could've easily replaced it with stairs or something else like a lot of MOCs do but I think they made the right choice. The crane is the only thing I really don't like, it's kind of too big and a waste of pieces plus it's all black which just looks dull if you imagine the docks and the cranes with some brown pieces it really improves the look of the set so I definitely plan on changing those up.

[Alexandrina]

3 minutes ago, jodawill said:

It talks about Governor Broadside

Yeah, I'd argue that Broadside is the notable minifigure on the good guys' side in early Pirates. (In the same way, Colonel Jefferson is the head of the Western cavalry, but if the rest of the soldiers have names we don't need to know what they are). I think that complaints about Broadside not being included are distinct from complains about 'female soldiers' (which I'm not accusing you of, btw) - Broadside's replacement is very distinctly a male minifigure.