Review: 79008 Pirate Ship Ambush

[BrickBob Studpants]

Let's end my review frenzy with 79008 Pirate Ship Ambush Quite a strange choice for the flagship set of this wave (the pun-o-meter is still rising ), but more ROTK sets is fine with me, as ROTK is my favourite film out of the entire franchise (at least until now). Let's take a closer look at the box:

Great design and action shots as usual My favourite shot is the one with the trio jumping off the ship, that scene was awesome BTW, maybe it's my cruel side showing up, but whenever I spot the "Boat does not float" note, I think of some unfortunate kid plunging his new LEGO ship in the bathtub And here's what can be discovered inside the box:

Six numbered bags, lots of hull pieces, sails, the instruction booklets which are found inside a plastic bag along with the sticker sheet.

This is what bag 1 has to offer:

Nothing too special here, so let's move on

Bags #2-6:

Pieces of interest include the small dragon wings (which haven't shown up for quite a while I guess), the Batman wings in bley, those new printed shields and a tan baguette.

As you can tell by the last two pictures above, we also get our remaining minifigs, the Army of the Dead, Aragorn and Peter Jackson pirate of Umbar

Once again, gorgeous minifigs The King of the Dead and his soldiers all feature highly detailed prints on both sides and alternate expressions (even though the soldiers have the same head). The pirate looks great and it's very nice to have a minifig of Peter Jackson, now we need minifig representations of other directors (Steven Spielberg and George Lucas come to mind).

Love that grin on the king BTW

Now let's take a look at the ship:

Love the new maps, even though they're stickered and not printed, but oh well...

The tally is a really funny touch, especially with the birthday cake Poor prisoner...

Behold the frightening catapult! It's quite cute actually and anything but menacing

Another great set, another recommendation As I've said before, weird choice as a set, but it works both as a LOTR set as well as a pirate set. The design is rich in detail and features some very smooth edges here and there. The sails I also like quite a bit since they give the ship a very sleek look. Overall, I'm very happy to add this to my collection and advise you to do the same Even if you're not a LOTR fan, this might be for you in case you're into pirate ships or are looking for sets with nice assortments of various parts and minifigs

Edited June 7, 2013 by Lego-Freak

[deskp]

Another nice review!. I like that the choise of set was adressed in the designer video!

[brodey1]

Thanks so much for reviewing these , great photos and commentary. All these sets look great.

[Hive]

Great pictures, I'm even more impressed with the 3 "dead" minifigures now. I'll definately be adding this ship to my pirate collection, even though the amount of stickers is a bit disappointing.

[Ki-Adi-Mundi]

Thanks for this great photo review!

Sadly, it can't improve the value of the set itself. It will be the first to be skipped in my Lego LOTR collection. While in silhouette it seems fairly accurate to what we see in the movie, the ship remains a bad design. I don't like the ramming piece in the bow. That does not fit to non-antique sail powered ships which more rely on maneuverabilty and speed. Also it is more of a non sea-worthy, flat platform. In general much of the design appears custom and could have been done by any MOCer. The Umbarian Corsairs do not make for something iconic either (unless they had a well designed, seaworthy ship). Sry TLG, i'm not impressed. I would have preferred something more inspiring of RotK.

[yys4u]

Another nice review!. I like that the choise of set was adressed in the designer video!

Do you think you could link me to the designer video? I didn't know one was out for this set and tried looking for it but couldn't find it...

[Faefrost]

I know he LotR loyalists are miffed at this subject choice, hoping for something big from Gondor. But I don't care. This set is just gorgeous. Huge Pirate ship. 9 Minifigs. New sails and styling. Fantastic. It must be mine!

[Deathleech]

I really wish Lego would of made a bigger difference between the Undead King and Undead Soldier head prints. I also wish they would of included more Corsair and Undead and not even bothered depicting the orc scene. I understand why Lego did it with wanting to cover as many scenes as possible with one set, but the ship is barely in the movie anyways so its kind of like whats the point? IMO this set would of been significantly better if it had Aragorn, Legolas, the Undead King, three Undead Soldiers, and three Corsair. Heck, they maybe could of even ditched the catapult and lowered the price a few bucks?

While I understand Lego wanting to make a pirate ship to attract more buyers, I have to wonder how many LotR fans they turned off with a set that has such little film time. Dont get me wrong, the set itself looks decent, its just hard to justify $100 bucks for a ship only seen a few minutes in the film. The selling point definetly seems to be the exclusive minifigs which you can easily BL for half the sets total price right now and they will continue to drop rapidly. This set seems to be the one people are skipping over the most. I probably would too if not for my need to get at least one of every set. Of course I would of skipped the Riddles for the Ring set too and a few others if not for it.

Edited June 9, 2013 by Deathleech

[Lynx]

Thanks for another photo review! A minor suggestion would be to increase your camera's aperture to increase sharpness of anything not directly in focus.

As for the set, it's the only Middle Earth one that I have not purchased and have no intention to do so. Even if I would find it at half price (70 $), I would leave it on the shelf. I like the 'army' of the Dead, but without Minas Tirith (or the Paths of the Dead) I wouldn't have anything to display them with, anyway. The ship is space-consuming and doesn't scream "Lord of the Rings" to the casual observer.

The designer, Jordan Scott, commented that this ship was designed since "kids like pirate ships, and these are always popular", so I certainly understand why it was included, and I think Jordan has done a great job in its design.

The selling point definitely seems to be the exclusive minifigs which you can easily BL for half the sets total price right now and they will continue to drop rapidly.

I hope you're right! At the moment, they sell for 17 USD (king) and 13 USD (each soldier) which is just too much (especially if you're living outside the US).

Do you think you could link me to the designer video? I didn't know one was out for this set and tried looking for it but couldn't find it...

Here you go:

http://thelordoftherings.lego.com/en-us/Products/79008.aspx

[Only Sinner]

I love this set, and will definately get two of them if and when they go on "sail" The ship is a cool design and I actually like the ramming prow - it reminds me of ancient mediterranean style warships.

I would have done away with the lame catapault entirely, and traded the two orcs and Gimli and Legolas for four more undead soldiers. Then the set would be perfect. I really love the undead figs in this.

Nice review, too.

[Propicz89]

Nice review, although I dont see myself getting this set.

[TheLegoDr]

Thanks for the review. I was already planning on this set, but maybe I'll wait for a sale.

Those figures are a great plus. The ship looks decent, but I'd love to MOD it. But in reality, I probably won't because I don't plan on displaying this with my other pirate ships.

I like seeing the extras. It is unfortunate to have that many stickered things. That is the trend isn't it? I'd love some new printed map pieces!

[Skro]

now we need minifig representations of other directors (Steven Spielberg and George Lucas come to mind).

Just for the record, Steven Spielberg's minifig has already been released, in the 90es Lego Studio set:

Edited June 12, 2013 by Skro

[BlueberryWaffles]

And a limited edition George Lucas minifig was released too.

[The_Chosen_1]

^ I don't think a physical Lucas minifig has ever been released.

[BlueberryWaffles]

Yeah I think a Eurobricks member even has one.

[BrickBob Studpants]

How could I have forgotten about the Studios Steven Spielberg minifig? Quite embarrassing as I even own that minifig I know about the super rare George Lucas minifig, but I mentioned him anyway because I'd like to see an official minifig representation (like the one that was shown in one of the Indiana Jones animations)

[JohnGalt]

Thanks for the great review!

[Tym]

Very nice review! Never knew how much detail the soldiers were. Tanks for the great pics!