6250 - Crossbone Clipper

Rating:
Pros: Female pirate mini-fig; boat sections in black and green
Cons: Not a lot of bricks to do anything with. Design is kind of unique, but why another pirate (as in bad guys rather than good guys) ship?
Contents: 151 pieces including 3 mini-figs
Price: $29.99 - Discontinued
Reviewed: 21-Jan-1997
Reviewed by: Joseph Gonzalez

Cassandra Claymore is the daughter of the infamous pirate, Heflund Claymore. On her eighteenth birthday, her father bequeathed the royal clipper La Justicia (stolen in a raid on a Spanish fleet) upon his daughter. He then sent her out upon the seas to make a name for herself (as if getting kicked out of six preparatory schools wasn't enough). Armed with a small crew of her childhood friend and one of Heflund's own more experienced mates, Cassandra has now been on the seas for six years and has basically held the row of colony islands known as the Altaplayas hostage. She has collected two larger ships but stays aboard the smaller ship which she has now repainted and rechristened Golden Earing. Heflund will be proud indeed when next he sees his daughter, unless of course he decides to visit the islands unannounced and in an unknown ship.

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I'm a pirate collector (mainly boats), so acquiring the Cross Bone Clipper was mandatory. Also, it didn't hurt that I had a gift certificate for a nearby toy store.
The color coordination of the Cross Bone Clipper is an interesting black, green and red with highlights in yellow, which I think works well, but there isn't a lot more I could add to the description of this small ship. It sports a single rectangular sail and a working rudder. A black lance element is attached to the top of the rudder, running into the interior of the ship so shipmates can turn the lance and thus guide the rudder. This then begs the question, why is there also a ship's wheel?
The set comes with two males and one female mini-fig, and while it is nice to have another female pirate mini-fig, I did feel the need to make some minor modifications to her (put on black arms and legs, and added the captain's hat).
New/unique pieces include the obvious black/green fore and aft specialty boat pieces, a flagpole element (not a lance because this has a ball on one end and a small dissecting eyelet toward one end of the post) in red, extra-long black rod with an open eyelet, and a 4x4 octagon grate with 2x2 stud face in red. I've previously only seen these octagons in white (they sit atop the masts in this and 1996 pirate ships).
If the price on this set was just a few dollars less, I could add one more star to the rating and encourage you to buy a few to build up a small fleet. I might even find it more attractive a purchase if they had doffed the pirates' insignia and made it a merchant ship with regular sailors; but as it is, I find it a little expensive for a set whose only redeeming features are two new boat sections.