Why friendly green-coloured explorer pigs make birds angry
Posted by FlagsNZ,
Last month LegoPegasister2015 (TFOL, bronze rated reviewer) wrote a brilliant review of 75825 Piggy Pirate Ship from the Angry Birds Movie theme. Reading this review caused me to take a closer look at a set that I would have, otherwise, given a miss.
Have a read of LegoPegasister2015's review before reading on to see the small amount of detail that I have written to add to her really good review.
Box/Instructions
The image on the front of the box shows the Piggy Pirate Ship ploughing into the beach of Bird Island. Red, the angry bird, is being catapulted in defence of the island's inhabitants and their eggs.
On the box are images of the four minifigures. There is an Angry Birds Bird Code as well. (More on the codes later).
The instructions look and feel like a comic book and they come complete in one book.
The parts are divided into six numbered bags.
There is a small sachet bag which protects the three cloth sails and piggy flag.
Parts
This set introduces quite a few new parts in a range of new colours.
For the first time in Medium Nougat are one tub, two drum holders, ten 1x4 tiles printed with a timber finish, and four hexagonal plates.
There are two frames 2x4x3 in medium stone grey. This part is new to the Angry Birds Movie theme and is seen in 75826 King Pig's Castle as well.
There are three Upper Bow Parts 2x8x2 in Dark Stone Grey for the first time.
There is one printed shield with piggy nostrils in Dark Stone Grey.
There is one Bow Top 8x8x2 and one inverted Brick Bow 1x5x4 in Reddish Brown for the first time.
There are two 1x2x1 2/3 with four knobs in Bright Red and one Bow Brick 2x3 in Bright Reddish Violet. This later part is seen in 41116 Olivia's Exploration Car, which was released this year as well.
A key component of the Angry Birds game and part of the movie's plot is the capture and recovery of the birds' eggs. Unique to the Angry Birds Movie theme is the egg parts. This set has five eggs.
There is one 1x1 round tile with hole (Apollo stud) and one mini crown in Warm Gold. These two parts make a King Pig's crown.
There is one white Brick 1x2x3. This part is new this year and has been seen in 60132 Service Station.
There are two Streamers in Brick Yellow which are unique to this set.
Finally, and somewhat morbidly, is a 2x2 printed tile showing how to cook eggs; mmm, delicious.
Interestingly, there are no stickers in this set: all details are on printed tiles or the nostril shield.
Minifigures
The set comes with four minifigures; Bomb, Red, Leonard and a pirate pig.
Leonard is armed with a stud-shooting crossbow, while the pirate pig is armed with a sword.
The pirate pig has a pirate hat which is unique to this set. The badge on the hat is made up with a knife and fork, and pig's nostrils.
The build
The build is divided into six stages which match the six parts-bags. The first part of the build is constructing Red's catapult.
Halfway through Bag 2, by build step 36, the internal mechanism of the Piggy Pirate Ship is close to completion. This mechanism will eventually operate the oars.
What is striking about the build up until this point is the vast range of colours used; it looks like it has been built using random left-over bits that are lying around.
By the end of Bag 2, the lower half of the hull has been built. Four oars are in place and there are two side compartments. In the port compartment is a green apple.
Bag 3 builds more of the hull and the main deck. When viewed from this side, you can see some dynamite stored in the starboard locker.
Through the use of the printed timber 1x4 tile pieces, the hull is beginning to have a patchy look to it.
By this stage, wheels have been added and so the oars will now row as the ship is pushed along.
Bag 4 makes the raised bow and finishes off the propulsion. Two paddle wheels are added to boost the power of the oars.
The windlass mechanism is in place. A 40-tooth gear wheel acts as the gypsy and the hawser is threaded through the spurling pipe down into the chain locker.
Bag 5 finishes off the forepart of the ship. The fo'c's'le is built in truest sense of the term.
The hawser is threaded through the bow sprit and is attached to a rock which acts as the anchor.
The pig nostril shield is in place in lieu of a figurehead.
Looking back into the fo'c's'le, you can see the kitchen. This is where the pigs will cook up the captured eggs.
The completed model
Bag 6 completes the model. The cargo net is suspended from a small crane. The net is designed to hold the captured eggs. The patchwork sails are attached to the disjointed masts and the piggy flag flies from the mizzen mast.
The pig pirate sits at the helm of the ship on a raised poop deck. He is protected by a windscreen, a part that took me on a nostalgic journey back to my Town sets of the 1970s when LEGO vehicles were four studs wide.
Overall opinion
This set is a great representation of the ship as it appeared in the Angry Birds Movie. Have a look at the official movie trailer on YouTube; the ship appears about halfway into the 2:45 clip.
The back of the box shows the Piggy Pirate Ship making a hasty retreat from Bird Island with the cargo net full of eggs. There are images that show that this set has lots of interesting play features.
There is a range of new parts in this set. It was the four hexagonal plates that made up the paddle wheels that caught my attention but the ten printed timber 1x4 tile pieces also have appeal.
Piggy Pirate Ship Mindstorms robot
At a recent LEGO show, I modified the Piggy Pirate Ship by adding two Mindstorms Large Servo Motors, a Light Sensor and an EV3 Intelligent Brick. I programmed the ship to follow the line as part of my Mindstorms display.
I like to merge the Mindstorms robots with existing sets that people can easily recognise, rather than have the usual Spartan Mindstorms chassis.
The next MOC to design would be a large Piggy Pirate Ship out of a 70810 Metalbeard's Sea Cow set, or to use this set and make a miniature version of the Sea Cow.
Angry Birds - Bird Codes
Bird codes are black and white badges in the real world that you can scan with the Angry Birds Action! app. The codes are found on the following Angry Birds products:
- LEGO Angry Birds Movie theme sets,
- Angry Birds sponsored food and beverage products, and
- on displays at your local movie theatre and retail stores.
By scanning the Bird Codes you can access mini games and get power-ups for Angry Birds Action. You can interact with the Angry Birds Movie characters in new and exciting ways.
Secure your set while they are still available in stores.
32 likes
9 comments on this article
This set actually looks way better than I thought that it would. I am not a fan of AB and will most likely not pick it up, but I am more apt to getting it for my nephews now.
There is a set number mistake at start of this post just in case you didn't know .. 72825 has been written instead of 75825. This set looks very interesting if not just for the great parts.. Looks like a good build. I'm gonna pick this one up, build it and I'll have some good parts for building too. Good review..????
^ Well spotted, and now fixed. Thanks for your comments
How much is this? 30 pounds?
The whole theme is an easy pass for me. Glad they keep doing one-off themes though (as I expect it to be). Each one is a welcome addition, even this. I prefer more themes with less sets within them.
Haven't seen the movie, and I don't really want to, TBH. But I have to agree that this is the best AB set.
I like that you have called out a review by a site member and expanded on a set which might otherwise be ignored. It makes me feel like the few people running Brickset do care about many people enjoying Brickset.
^ and ^^ I like to read other members' reviews and generally support them by ticking 'yes' to the helpful option.
LegoPegasister2015's review of this set - Greetings!!! I... am a PIG! - has risen from 8-out-of-8 to 28-out-of-28 people thinking her review was helpful, in the last 24 hours.
I bought this set when it was released - I love ships! The whole angry birds theme is a great one, even though I haven`t seen the movie or played the apps. I like to buy Lego that I think its fun (to build and play with) and I`m not prejudiced by ties to films/apps etc. I`ll definitely look out for another copy of this set if it gets heavily reduced at some point for the parts. Love the reviews. I should really think about writing some reviews because I have a lot of sets that Brickset hasn`t reviewed. Much like LegoPegasister2015, may be I can highlight sets that may otherwise be overlooked.