With a total of 1440 parts and just under 1.5 kg, Sabres Island by designer SleeplessNight arrived at my home in a box printed with a photo of the MOC. It took just under 25 days from order to delivery and the set came directly from China. However, I didn’t have to worry about customs or import sales tax in Germany, because LETbricks takes care of that for you.
If you now open the boxes, the already partially pre-sorted bricks from reusable Zipp bags laugh at you. Also included in the package is a 4GB USB stick, which contains the instructions in PDF format. After an initial inspection of the bricks, no consistent manufacturer could be determined, but the quality makes a very good impression despite all this.
In order to build the Sabres Island, a total of 235 construction steps are required and the set is indirectly built in 4 construction stages, which I will now look at individually.
Construction stage 1 (The Baseplate)
In the first stage of construction, the baseplate is built with a part of the beach and the substructure of the tower and a landing stage. A big advantage of the baseplate is that there is no banding due to the construction method and the part that is supposed to represent the Caribbean Sea is not unnecessarily expansive, so that no extra space is taken up on the shelf or the construction table.
The first building section is also very easy to build and has a varied design. It should also be mentioned that only necessary parts are used and obviously care was taken to save unnecessary parts.
The only small drawback, which is due to the nature of the flowers used, is that they do not hold in the studs of the 1×1 Round Plates provided for this purpose. However, this problem is not unknown and is present in all sets with the flower type.
As a small detail, the small yellow crab is to be mentioned here, I really like it particularly well.
Construction stage 2 (The warehouse/jail)
In the 2nd construction phase, the warehouse or prison is now being built. To achieve the desired slope of the walls, an interesting construction technique is used, which I have not seen before. Here, the wall is mounted on 2 pcs. “1×2 Plate Modified with Bar Handle on Side” and 2 pcs. “1×2 Plate Modified with C-Clems” each on the substructure and pressed into the desired inclination by a substructure of the lower wall edge. This is then overall faced with Tiles on the outside and Plates on the inside so that it blends organically into the structure.
Again, the section can be built very well and is also not boring due to the different construction techniques. Here it is now also apparent that the tower on the island is built modularly and the respective floors can be played individually.
This section also impresses with some details like a small wooden bed as well as an ammunition box and some barrels. Also the prison door can be opened and is not rigidly inserted in the set.
Construction stage 3 (The Map Room)
In the 3rd construction stage, the map room of the tower is now built with a table, a clock and a card rack as well as a small safe.
A small flaw, which is to be mentioned in this construction stage are the missing stickers / prints. The tiles provided for this are therefore only available in the corresponding color and thus some details are missing in the interior, which would have loosened up the set a bit.
I really like the sabers attached next to the entrance door as well as the window construction in this build section. Also the building techniques of the interiors are very pleasant and really fun.
Construction stage 4(The Viewpoint)
In the 4th and last construction stage, the lookout tower with a flag and small binoculars as well as the palm tree are finally built.
This section can be built very well and the stucco under the balusters is built interesting and makes the final set definitely special.
Unfortunately, the missing sticker/print on the flag is also a small shortcoming, as it is not colorful as seen in the pictures, but only white.
Finally, I would like to give a conclusion, which I would like to divide into a conclusion about the set and a conclusion about the used bricks.
Conclusion about the set:
All in all, the MOC 71657 Sabres Island is a visually very appealing set and is except for the missing prints/stickers a detailed MOC. The MOC is suitable for both children and adults due to the modular design and play options and fits perfecvt into any pirate setting. The construction time is depending on the speed in about 3-4 hours (so you manage to watch so 1-2 of his favorite pirate movies during).
Conclusion to the used bricks and to LETbricks:
As I mentioned at the very beginning, the bricks do not come from a uniform manufacturer and are mixed commissioned by LETbricks, which leads to occurring color deviations. However, since the set is an old pirate tower, which is exposed to the rough Caribbean sea, the color deviations are not a disadvantage, but even in the overall picture very coherent and realistic. Overall, I had no missing parts and even still have some bricks over. The clamping force is excellent and I had neither missing castings nor greatly scratched clamping bricks. All in all, LETbricks really does a very good job here.
P.S.: I received the set from LETbricks for a review, but this has of course not influenced my opinion of the set.
