The Black Sea's Barracuda. Captain Redbeard and the Legoland Pirates, searching for the treasure the Imperial Colonists stole from them! Adventures on the High Seas Await! Released in 1989, I received this set for Christmas either that year or the next. I vividly remember the joy at this gift, and also my mother’s dismay as it lay, partially assembled, on the living room floor for weeks after opening it.

This is my second major rebuild down in my Lego Workroom, and possibly a project with the most nostalgia behind it. When I started pulling the old Lego sets from my parents house and sorting pieces, boxes, and instruction manuals, I knew I wanted to rebuild this beauty as one of the first things.

New In Box, $3000 USD. Used with Box and good condition sails: $500-$1000 USD. Without Box - $250 USD I have a bad box, and bad sails. Maybe 300? No that I'm going to sell this - one of my favorite sets as a child.

Here we go. Parts laid out and ready to go. I believed at this photo that I had everything other than a minifig head or three. It turns out I missed a lot when I was browsing through Bricklink's part list (or misread) but ... I still had all the pieces in my stash.

I had delayed putting this wonderful piece of early Lego engineering together because I knew there were several unique pieces that I only had the few from this set in my collection. And with a giant tub of unsorted Lego to get through, I waited until that was finally all organized and put away. I didn’t want to have to order too many pieces if I could find the ones I had. Turns out there were more than just a few - several long 1x16 blocks and 2x16 flats that I only had just enough for what was needed for this set.

This is definitely an older set. The instructions are much more obtuse than current standards. No fancy red lines, no “parts needed” for each step. The set is also much simpler in construction methods than more modern ones. This back of the cabin panel is the most complicated aspect of the entire ship, and it really isn’t all that crazy. Just a hinge and a very simple SNOT (Studs Not On Top) technique. Even small little sets currently in circulation often use much more complicated techniques.