Freak369's Full Review: Lego® Pirates (Style=7081:Pirate Harry Hardta...
I often wonder if the fumes from the production plant at Lego Central has some bearing on what the designers come up with. Imagine them locked in a room, furiously sucking down coffee, brainstorming to come up with the next big series that will have kids addicted and parents taking out a second mortgage to afford them. I doubt that anything from the Pirate 4 Juniors theme will have kids throwing their college fund to the wind but there are some that are worth getting. Harry Hardtack is one of the stranger figures in the 4 Juniors Pirate theme; he's a loner, he's unique and he wears a cleaver around his neck. This set is an add-on; it is something that you can pick up for a few dollars and add to a larger set that needs something to fill in empty spots. As a stand alone set it isn’t all that interesting because there isn't a lot that you can do with it. It contains two figures, a few accessory pieces and two swords.
Harry Hardtack has to be one of the ugliest Lego figures I have ever seen. There is so much going on with this figure that it's hard to pick a place to start. He's made up of red and green clothing – two things that should never be combined unless it is a Christmas item. Why he has a meat a meat cleaver hanging from around his neck still baffles me; he comes with a sword so why does he also need a meat cleaver? Is that how he ended up losing his hand? Yes, that's another oddity to Harry, he is missing a hand. Aside from the colorful clothing, missing hand and strange choice of bling, his facial detail is completely haggard. He's got beady eyes, red eyebrows and misaligned teeth but it's the ragged hat that completes the look. What exactly that look is supposed to be is best left up to personal interpretation.
It's always great to get animals with Lego sets so getting the monkey with this set was pretty cool. Why the monkey gets his own sword is questionable. I know that monkeys are talented and can be taught to do a lot of things but I wouldn't trust them with a butter knife let alone a sword. The monkey that you get with this set is your run of the mill version; the curled tail comes in handy if you want to hang him from a tree but in this set, the only thing that you might be able to hang him from is the flag on the flagpole. If you do that there is a good chance that it will cause it to tip over but if you are dead set on getting him to hang from it you can add some poster putty to the bottom of the 4 x 4 tile to secure it to a surface or just pop the 4 x 4 tile on to a base plate.
I bought this set as part of a package deal on eBay; I ended up getting seven sets for $40.00 plus $7.00 shipping. All of the sets were in the Pirates 4 Juniors and Pirates series and I don't think that the seller knew how much some of the sets were worth when they listed it with the $40.00 "buy it now" price. If you were to buy this set individually you might pay about five or six dollars for it but because it is a small add-on set it can be hard to find in retail stores. It's worth it to get the Harry figure as well as the monkey but you do have to know up front that the Harry Hardtack figure [also called Hardtack Harry and Horrible Harry in other countries] looks pretty gruesome. There aren't a lot of extra pieces with the set and for that reason alone I have to give this four stars. It is an add-on set; if you were to give this to a kid who had no other Lego sets the fun with it would last about 45 seconds.
The other sets in the 4 Juniors Pirate theme include the following: 7070 "Catapult Raft", 7071 "Treasure Island", 7072 "Captain Kragg's Pirate Boat", 7073 "Pirate Dock", 7074 "Skull Island", 7075 "Captain Redbeard's Pirate Ship", 7080 "Scurvy Dog And Crocodile", 7081 "Harry Hardtack and Monkey", 7082 "Cannonball Jimmy And Shark" and 7090 "Captain Kragg In Barrel". If you have a child that has other Pirate or 4 Junior sets and you want to get them something to add on to them, this makes for a nice pick. It's also great as a small gift, reward item or stocking stuffer!
wsinewsine Store LEGO Harry Hardtack and Monkey #7081 This item is NEW in box.NOTE: Box has some slight creasing and edge wear. Recommended ages 4+ Up...More at eBay
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