Overall, this set is amazing. It displays very well, a great amount of minifigs, and is an awesome set. My only complaint is that the sails are only one-sided. The red and white print on them is only on one side, and is completely white on the other. For most of the sails this is fine, as you're mostly displaying the ship so that the viewer only sees it from the front. However, if you're displaying it at an angle, only the left side of the ship facing forward looks good, as the jib sail is just white if you display the right side forward instead. Fairly minor complaint, but the images don't really show it. 4.8/5 stars. Amazing set, but a little difficult to display if the white side bothers you.

Bought this set a year ago (October 2015) and though I did not like it from the start and that's because I kept comparing it to the old Pirate ship 6285 Black Seas Barracuda, but later on it grew on me and I started to love it before buying it, plus I never had a Galleon, so I could say it fulfilled my needs and I just needed to add few touches here and there.

Box/Instructions

• The Box: the front side displays the ship with a battle between the pirates and the Blue coats on the sea and on the back of it it displays the features. The size of the box is big, I could say the standard 100 $ set box size.
• Instructions: it comes wrapped in nylon with a carbon board to protect it from folding, also the sails were included in this pack. As for the instructions it self it was easy to follow but still there were few steps that could've been combined in one.

Parts

Since this is my first pirate ship, most of the parts are new to me as of course you get the hulls, masts, steering wheel, cannons, lattices, Pirate flag, Treasure chest, Anchor as some sets even from the older ones does not have an anchor, technic pieces for the rigging, dark blue row boat, round corner fence, windows and a cabin door, lots of gold studs and some normal usual bricks. There is also a saw-nose shark and a rat. Sadly NO monkey and/or a parrot :( .

Minifigures

You get 7 minifigures, 4 pirates and 3 Bluecoats, although my favorite figures were the pirates especially the captain because he's like he came out from the classic theme only modernized, the Pirate chef and the boy are great to have, the other pirate with the brown hat is ok but he's the only angry pirate.

As for the Blue-Coats, The Admiral is an exclusive figure and the only one with double-sided face, you also get a Soldier with his tall hat and backpack and finally you get a Sergeant only he's not wearing a hat.

Regarding to the new pirate bandanas, I too prefer the old ones, but with these new ones you could use a double sided face as the back of the new bandana will cover the other side very well, I tried it.

However, this set could be 8 figures if you unattached the skeleton body from the bow of the ship and add the skeleton legs that are in the treasure chest.

The build

Though the Instructions was easy to follow but it was fun, you start from the bow and all the way to the buildable stern, the cabin was a fun build, you could say it is the most serious build in this set, the front side was a quick build but I liked the Anchor technique, sometimes the simplest ways are the best.

Regarding to the cannons, though I hated the set because it has no cannon wheels but later on I learned to accept it, and even where a lot of people complained about the flaps does not close fully where the cannon is located, it could be fixed, Just put replace the position of the 2x2 flat piece with the 2x2 1 knob piece, this was you could place the cannons 1 stud backwards and the flaps will close fully. If you still want the cannons on wheels and without scratching the surface, you shall need minimum 16 of the 1x2 grill piece, 4 for each side, this will work as a track for the wheels.

I did not like the crane, not only because it does not go fully down, but because when you hook the treasure chest and move it up and down it some how vibrates, and if you filled up the chest the cover will get weaken and open immediately, which is why I crated my own technique, pulling strings are always better, effective and much more realistic.

The completed model

The model looked much more nicer than the images I saw, and though I read that people complained about the red color and that it should be darker because the bright red made it a bit junior look, I thought the same as well, but its much better in real life, and I don't think the bright red was the problem, its just because we were used to see black colors for the masts and on the sides of the ship, this time a lot of Reddish brown, I think if the reddish-browns were a darker brown would be much more nicer (my thoughts).

The cabin itself is quite nice, a bit empty but you could redecorate, I liked the secret compartment that holds the chest, I also liked the long desk with the lighting system in the middle, there is a map in the right side and it looks like the old prints, on the left there is a sexton. I wasn't sure about the open area on the other side of the door cabin, I wasn't sure about it whether to close it or to keep it, but somehow I kept as it gives some depth to the ship, just imagine that there is a sliding door to open and close, I do think of it as a feature.

The sliding plank is new technique in a pirate ship, and what's a pirate ship without a plank???

Overall opinion

The ship itself is nice, and though I had plans to personalize it a little bit, I just loved it the way it is, I only changed the mechanism of the crane and added a bed in the cabin, added few touches here and there and that is much about it, I did not do anything major, even the bottom back part of the rear, though you could adjust it and use all brown colors, but seriously I came to the point to love it just the way it is.

If you have are an adult and have any of the classics it will depend on you if you wanted to add an extra fleet or not. I As an adult I had fun building it and displaying it, although I did try and play with it, it was fun so I am sure kids will love it and have much more fun with it, its a different time, era, generation and economy so for a 2015-2016 set its perfect.

This is an awesome set. It is one of the best sets that I have bought in a while.

Box/Instructions

The box art is amazing as it captures the action of the swashbuckling pirates.

Parts

This set has a wide range of parts and is full of accessories and extra guns, swords etc.

Minifigures

The minifigures are awesome also.

The build

Again. Awesome!!!

The completed model

Well,....... It was Awesome. EVERYTHING IS AWESOME

Overall opinion

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! This set retired in the United States Nov. 27, 2015. I was surprised to find this set, it has been retired for almost a year. I bought this set on 7/7/2016 at a toy store that still had it in stock. :) AWESOME!!!!!!!

As a child of the 80s/90s I was at the peak of my Lego enthusiasm when the initial pirates line was released. Needless to say, along with Castle, this theme was the highlight of my childhood Lego memories. Back then, like many others, my family of modest means weren't in a position to afford the ultimate set 'Black Seas Barracuda.' Instead my parents opted for the Caribbean Clipper (or 'Sea Hawk' in my region). I loved it and it remains in my top 2 favorite vintage sets I own. However the pirates in the other small sets in my collection could never quite challenge the Bluecoats' might with this vessel largely unopposed. Now after a 20 year dark ages, the Brick Bounty has arrived to even the score.

Box/Instructions

Nice, standard box art, though like many modern sets I've found it still doesn't quite do justice to the finished model in real life (it's always a positive when the final product ends up looking more impressive than expected). Instructions come in a well bound A4 tome, in it's own sealed package along with the cloth sales.

Parts

One of the main differences between this and the older ships seems to be the lack of traditional stern piece, instead brick-building this portion up off the rearmost mid-hull piece. Overall it seems to give a more realistic appearance of a ship actually sitting in water. Nice additions include the sturdy mast pieces, the large rear flag and the top crows nest. A saw-fish rather than the more common shark is a welcome inclusion.

Minifigures

A nice throw-back with a recreation of the original Redbeard to captain the ship, complete with hook and peg-leg. The chef is a good addition and I feel could join in the fight using either sword or frying-pan (why not both?) depending on the situation. The remaining crew are a standard pirate with tricorne and a cabin boy with two good eyes and a telescope, making him ideal for crow's nest duty. The Bluecoats are well represented with an Admiral/Governor with wig, an officer with more standard hair and a run-of-the-mill soldier.

The build

An enjoyable build which, while using more modern techniques, still brings back the nostalgia of building the Sea Hawk. The only part I would consider even mildly repetitive was the multiple technic-heavy sail rigging parts. The best part about building the old ship (and it holds true to this model as well) is the abrupt change of pace, from constructing a largely flat and sturdy 'platform' to building vertically with masts and sails to find you now have a suddenly much more impressive display piece.

The completed model

While apparently not the size of the Barracuda, this is surely the next best thing, with similar red sails, nostalgic minifigs and is terrific as both a playset and display piece. It is a significantly longer ship than the Sea Hawk. I love the angled rear windows and the way the front sail is held together without string/rope. The interior is of course far-superior to my previous ship though I can't personally compare it to the Barracuda.

There are only a few complaints. The sails are printed on only one side, and thus are plain white on the backs. This is particularly a problem for the vertical front sail which means the ship is therefore only ideally viewed from the port side. While the rat is ok, the inclusion of a monkey or parrot would have been nice for the flagship (!) set of this theme. The cannon shutters are also not a great fit when the cannons are in place. Finally it feels like the ship is slightly understaffed; with the captain at the wheel and the boy up in the crows nest that leaves the standard pirate and the chef to fend off the Bluecoats. I feel like one more pirate would have been ideal.

Overall opinion

Despite the 20+ year gap, the Brick Bounty makes a beautiful companion to the original pirates line. The designers of the 2015 pirates theme have gone out of their way to make modern sets that somehow feel right at home on display side-by-side with the vintage sets, which is much appreciated. Now if only my Sea Hawk's sails looked as shiny and new as the Bounty's!

When the first Pirates wave came out in my childhood, I have laid my eyes on the “Caribbean Clipper” as I didn’t even dare to dream about the “Black Seas Barracuda” because I knew I won’t get it, yet I didn’t get any other pirate ship as well until I got myself this one, so to be compared with the “Clipper”, to me, it has so much to offer. Speaking of getting it, not only I got the last piece available in all of Hamleys branches in Jordan, but the sky suddenly rained heavily when I was heading there after it was clear.

Box/ Instructions:

• The front of the box displays the ship with a battle between the Pirates and the Bluecoats on their tiny navy rowboat and on the back of the box it displays the features of the ship and the entire set, not to forget lots of yellow color.
• The instruction booklet was easy and too thick, there were steps that could’ve been combined in one step and could’ve saved tons of paper.

The Parts:

The parts comes in 6 numbered bags, it has the main parts for a pirate ship like the hulls, masts, sails, steering wheel, cannons, windows and a door for the cabin, an anchor, slope parts and many more. Whether you are an adult or a child and this is your first pirate ship, then mostly all of the parts and the figures are new and valuable to you. As for the golden parts they are not shiny but it gives you a feel of a metallic gold.

Minifigures:

The set comes with 7 mini-figures, 4 pirates and 3 bluecoats; you could also detach the skeleton from the bow and add the skeleton legs.

Pirate Captain: an uplift of the 1989 classic with a modern print on the torso, front and back, I actually liked his face, you will feel that this captain has lots of adventure stories to tell, he has a peg leg, a hook and an eye patch and wears a golden epaulette. Somehow, he reminds me of the Looney-Toon character, Yosemite Sam.

The Pirate cook: one of the coolest mini-figures in the set, he is wearing an apron with a fish skeleton tied up on his waist, his back is also printed to complete the look, also he is the only one with a printed legs to complete the apron, not to forget that the apron has some grease on it. He has a smiley face with one tooth missing, an eye-patch and an unshaved beard and he holds a pan.

The Pirate boy: I like to think of him as the captain’s son learning his way from the ground-up to become a real pirate. The torso is double printed on both sides with red and white stripes and he is wearing a rope as a belt and has short legs as he is a boy. The only mini-figure who is not wearing an eye-patch.

A Pirate: out of the 4 pirates, he is the only one with an angry face, his torso is double sided print, he is wearing a brown vest and open from the chest as you can see his ripped muscles and a tattoo of an anchor on his right chest, also there are lots of stitches on his vest which means either he is poor or cheap to get himself a new one.

Admiral: the most unique mini-figure of the bluecoats, with a golden epaulette, a neat double sided torso and his face is the only one with a double sided face, a confident and a fearing face, plus he is wearing white gloves and a white wig with a bow.

A Sergeant and A Soldier: both of them have the same body print and a white epaulette, only the soldier is wearing a backpack with a tall black hat and has a sweating face, while the sergeant has a brown hair and a trimmed beard with a smiley face.

The Build:

Although I have built the set several times using Lego Digital Designer, but when I bought the set and started building it with my own bare hands it was completely different and it was a fun to build, I won’t say its that easy or that challenging, but there was a flow while you are building, the cabin was very fun to build as I liked using the arched parts on top of the windows and building the secret cargo hold inside the cabin to hide the treasure. I also loved that there is a small balcony to look inside the ship, I think its design what gives the ship some depth to it, and though I did not like the idea at first and thought of different ways to close it, I ended up loving it.
The cabin is also wonderful, it has a nice long desk with lanterns inside and has a map and sexton, a small table attached to the floor that covers the secret compartment to hide the treasure chest in it.

Regarding to the flag, some people hated its position but I liked it, and what I liked about it mostly that it is the old classic mold and printed from both sides and not stickers.

The front of the ship was a little bit a quick build and it has round rails on both sides and a working anchor and In the middle of the ship you have the sliding plank.

I have only one complaint, since there is already a mini-figure as a cook, why there is no place to cook or something to cook on???? I could hear Uni-Kitty says “Embarrassing!”

Building the ship took me about 2 hours or so to put it together in the first time, but when I took it a part and build it again adding my own personal touches and upgrades I spent around 4 hours.

The Complete Model:

It’s a pirate ship and quite impressive, its much more beautiful than in the photos you see on the catalogs or on the Internet, and since it is my first Lego pirate ship and regarding to the complaints I read or heard about its size, to me, it's big, as I was expecting something a little bit smaller. I have never seen an actual Lego pirate ship in my own eyes before but only in the catalogs or the Internet nowadays, it made me wonder how big the 6285 or even the 6286. Still, I love it.

Though there are some similarities to the previous pirate ship 6243 Brick-Beard's Bounty, I could say that its like the Olympic & Titanic, both of them has almost the same design but with a little bit of difference in between, this however will place the 6285 as the Brittanic or what was named before "Gigantic".

Overall Opinion:

I don't want to compare it to the 6285 as there is a time gap between 1989 and 2015, lots of things has changed, the ship has the essential elements and parts to become a Pirate Ship.

I like to think of this set that it has been left open to add our own touches and imaginations, which I already did, and even without all the modification I have done, it looks wonderful. I liked the sliding plank, a new technique on a Lego pirate ship, the secret cargo inside the cabin that could fit a mini-figure and the crow-nest on top of the front mast.

I as an adult, had fun with it, I am sure kids will like it, but for the adults it depends on you and how you think, if you never had one before, think of the things you are getting most instead what you’re not getting, then if you like, think of what you can add to the ship to make you feel satisfied. I have spent months working on it, and every time I feel I have achieved something, new ideas keep popping out in my head, but in the end I loved it just the way it is, not that I was not confident about my personal touches but I simply loved its simplicity or in other words "Just the way it is".

My only complaints were:

• The triangle sail not printed on both sides
• Instruction booklet is too thick
• Not only in this set but in the entire wave as well, the treasure chest has no golden coins but only gems. However, this set comes with 5 spare golden studs that I have added to the chest as gold and used one of them as a door knob to the cabin.
• The captain’s hook, I accidentally pressed hard on the hook which made it break, so perhaps in the near future Lego could create a hook in a bit more rubbery material. However I have placed a replacement and the Lego Company sent it to me.
• The selection of animals:
  • If I had to choose between any kind of a shark and a monkey, I would choose the monkey.
  • And if I have to choose between a rat and a parrot I would definitely choose the parrot as I am not that fascinated about the rat, seriously, even as a toy it looks disgusting.

To make the cannon shutters close completely with the cannon in its place, switch the places between the 2x2 flat piece with the 2x2 jumper piece, this way you could move the cannon one stud backwards. As for the other complaints I have on the set its either I have changed, fixed and add pieces from my own, this set has pumped me up with ideas for enhancement and use Lego pieces in a way that I have never had done before as a kid.

In general, the “6285: Black Seas Barracuda” and the “6286: Skull’s Eye Schooner” will remain the King and Queen of all the Lego Pirate ships, I will exclude the “Imperial Flagship” of 2010 because it will be an unfair compression even to the 6285.

All the classic sets whatever theme that came out from the 80s and 90s are the best sets to date, in my own opinion, but it’s an era that has gone with the wind, so for a time and economy we are living, it is a Great set if at least it is not Neat.

It is fun to play, display and upgrade, just think of the others who does not have a quarter of what you have.

Here's a link to see my personal upgrades, sorry if the photos are not so professional, I have done some other changes later on that sadly I did not take pictures of, and in the end I have just accepted the ship just the way it is, I only kept the bed and my own crane.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30181223@N08/albums/72157660229064360