Set ID: 6210 Jabba's Sail Barge
Number of Pieces: 781
Year of Release: 2006
Minifigs: 8
Purchased Price: About SGD190
I hesitated whether to build this set or not for a long time. 6 years to be exact. My hesitant lies on the fact that LEGO never produce another Sail Barge since 2006, and therefore this is the ONLY one that has been released and possibly, ever released. All it took was a look on my son's face for me to make up my mind and break the seal on the box. He wanted to build it so badly that I relented without hesitation. This review is based on my re-construction after my son's first attempt to construct it himself, and it is only during my own effort that I realised this is not an easy job. At 11, my son can be proud to pull this off. I might now seriously consider to let him build the Sandcrawler too... (Just saw the information that the Sail Barge will be re-relaeased in mid 2013!! Start saving now!!)
This set consists of three parts - The Sail Barge, the Sand Skiff and the Sarlacc Pit. My main focus will be to review the unique and very exclusive Sail Barge. The Sand Skiff and Sarlacc Pit have been semi-reviewed (as a comparison to the 2012 versions) in my last entry (9496 Desert Skiff) so I will just briefly include them in this review, just to make a point that they do exist. The star of this set is still undoubtedly, the Sail Barge.
Sailing ... Sailing ...
The completed Sail Barge bears a very close resemblance to the actual barge in the movie. At almost 50 cm in length, I can even say the size is proportionate to the minifigs too. Two panels on each side of the Barge open up to access the interior. On each panel are multiple windows that I will encourage to flip open at varying degree. This will give a more "natural" look to the Barge, rather than keeping the windows flushed to the panels. Located just behind the sloping nose of the Barge is the prison cell. This cell has its own additional lock up doors to keep the prisoners inside. Luke is supposed to be the interim occupant but he will not find it difficult to break out of the cell, given that it is not totally enclosed and has a direct access to Jabba's compartment! What an oversight! Jabba's elongated body will take up the rest of the space in the Barge, with limited allowance for a kitchen where some cooking and pleasure apparatus and be found. A couple of drumsticks hang on the beam above the kitchen and a snake and a spider complete the list of creepy food for Jabba's massive diet.
And then, there are the Skiff and the Sarlacc Pitt.
(Re)Building Experience
I dismantled my son's masterpiece and re-construct by myself again. Armed with a brick separator, it took little effort to sort out the 781 bricks into colours first, and that's when I realise that some of the stickers have be applied across 2 bricks!!! That is so annoying! These are the studless window bricks for the Barge consisting of a piece of a 2X2 and a 2X1. In the end, I pretty much left them as it was as I did not want to risk ripping up the stickers in any way, bearing in mind that these stickers have been around for some time already and experience tells me they don't really stand the test of time.
Numbered packs were not invented in 2006 so this set very much requires some brick sorting before building can commence. As I was re-building it, I had to be even more disciplined in sorting the bricks out, classifying them by colours rather than shape or sizes. The only exceptions are the smaller single studders or technics connecting pieces. Putting them in a pool will certainly aid the finding of the correct ones when warranted.
The rare mistake
A rare find in this set (probably only the 2nd time I have seen this), is the issue of an amendment sheet to the instruction. LEGO normally gets it right but for reason unknown, they have backtracked from their original instructions and issued an amendment. The brick(s) in question here are the 8X8 beige ones used for the construction of the deck. They were printed as the "grilled" version in the instruction booklet but what were found in the box as the conventional opaque ones instead. I am not sure if this amendment was issued for all the sets released around the world but considering how high a quality LEGO always boost about their product, this amendment sheet is indeed a rare one.
Basically, the Barge was put together in the following sequence:
1. The middle hull (prison, kitchen etc) constructed from base up to the deck;
2. The four hinging side panels for the hull;
3. The nose of the hull;
4. The two masts on deck.
Ok. This was followed by the Skiff and the Sarlacc Pit.
The sloping profile of the hull was created by a series of assorted hinging panels and the very uniquely designed nose. The hinging mechanisms for the rear hull are a little different from those on the sides of the hull, allowing little degree of movement as they are not meant to be accesses in to the Barge. Whereas for the side panels, they are able to open fully, showcasing the luxurious interior of the Barge. Whilst the front of these side panels are primarily brown and black bricks (which are the main theme colours of the Barge), once you opened the panel, you will be greeted with quite a number of beige and grey bricks, used to hold the panels up from the back. Not a very sightly design though. My immediate answer to that will be to change all these supporting bricks to brown ones but that could also make it look monotonous. Well, I can't make up my mind on this.
There were a number of struts used in this set, the 64mm, 120mm and 144mm ones to be exact. As these dimensions will make no sense to a builder without the ruler, the 1:1 illustrations in the instruction booklet will come in very handy in these situations. The struts were used as railings on the deck (to prevent sailors overboard) and to hold the multitude of hinging windows on the side panels of the hull. As railing, the struts were put in place by the single stud clip bricks. The challenge here was to bend the struts for the front and rear deck in order to create a round profile to fit the shape of the Barge. A bigger challenge confronted me when I administer the struts on the side panel. The 144mm strut was deployed to hold 10 hinging window panels here. With two clips on each window panel, the strut should be long enough to accommodate 20 hinges. Lo and behold, at 144mm, the strut has only space for 18 clips! That essentially left 2 clips on both end "dangling". However, there is no danger of the last 2 window panels coming off as they are subsequently secured to the main panel. Still, it felt "inadequately" designed.
The Barge took me close to 2 hours of building effort, i.e. excluding the sorting of the bricks before I began. And I have to admit a fair share of time was spent on me fumbling over the application of the struts, and trying to figure out that the struts were actually shorter than what they look like in the instruction booklet.
Then there was the Skiff. Worth mentioning are the use of transparent brick at the bottom of the Skiff to create the hovering experience beside the Barge. Minimal effort to build. Oh, then there was the Sarlacc Pitt. Period.
Minifigs
If I remember correctly, 2006 was probably close to the period when the skin colours of the minifigs started to take on a more natural look rather than the traditional "yellow" LEGO minifig colour. That was also when more details were starting to surface on the head and torso pieces of the minifgs, and frankly, LEGO never look back since then. There are 8 minifigs in all in this this set and should this set be re-released today with the same number of minifigs, it will NEVER be even close to the price quoted above (Just look at the recently released Jabba Palace).
The bad guys
Jabba is uni-coloured in this set, with a 3-segment tail that allows some posing if you desire. Hands are also poseable but with all the slaves around him, those hands are rather redundant. Boba Fett looks very simply designed relative to today's standard and he still holds the "old school" LEGO laser blaster with the orange stud. As much as it doesn't resemble anything close to the blasters in the movie, this is what made LEGO... LEGO. Collectors will be able to relate to me on this. A Gamorrean Guard is also included to provide the menacing presence on the Skiff. The guard shares the same green colour tone with Jabba and only its arms are brown. The headpiece extends downwards to the torso to create the fat profile of the guard.
The good guys
Luke and Han Solo offer little surprises (What do you expect when Leia is around?). Luke is rather emotionless here while Han has a smirky expression on him.
The not-really-a-guy
Compliment to LEGO for designing this R2-D2! In order to make R2 serves drinks to Jabba's guests, all it took was to include a 4X2 brick between his head and torso piece, and VOILA! R2 can now hold a couple of glasses of drinks while maneuvering between the guests.
I will not rate this set highly for playability as it is rather difficult to access the deck and the interior of the hull. However, this set (especially the Barge) is certainly a looker! Once I placed it beside the other sets on the shelf, the spotlight seems to inevitably gravitate towards it. Its commanding size and unique shape do catches the right attention regardless of how you pose it. Collectability? Are you kidding me? Hell yes! Especially when it comes with a skiff and a Sarlacc pit ...
This set consists of three parts - The Sail Barge, the Sand Skiff and the Sarlacc Pit. My main focus will be to review the unique and very exclusive Sail Barge. The Sand Skiff and Sarlacc Pit have been semi-reviewed (as a comparison to the 2012 versions) in my last entry (9496 Desert Skiff) so I will just briefly include them in this review, just to make a point that they do exist. The star of this set is still undoubtedly, the Sail Barge.Sailing ... Sailing ...
The Sail Barge is Jabba's personal pleasure craft that hovers around the desert area of Mos Eisley. He brings along his entourage of fellow bad guys as well as prisoners awaiting execution by feeding them to Sarlacc, the monster camouflaged under the desert sand. For all the above purposes, the Sail Barge comes with a prison cell, plenty of food supplies, creepy looking creatures and an awesome looking cannon on the deck.
A pair of large sails share the deck with the swiveling cannon and the primitive looking catapult (used to launch Boba Fett into the air) and provide the additional thrust for the vehicle. But seriously, why would Jabba need the catapult when he has his jet pack? Duh... In any case, I tried to use the catapult to spring Boba into the air but guess what? He couldn't even take off! The catapult was a little too tight to accommodate Boba's feet and despite my repeated effort, Boba jwas stuck to the catapult.
I frankly cannot remember if the two large sails are found in any other LEGO sets before but they certainly look very customised and match well with the body of the Barge. Both masts supporting the sails are identical and consist of a combination of technic struts and joints. The swivel ball design in the heart of the mast allows the sail to be posed in various positions, very useful should you wish to photograph the Barge from different angles. A couple of points that irk me regarding these sails are (1) The 2X2 round stud used to secure the masts to the deck is never really too, well, secured. I have lost count on the number of times the masts came off when I tried to contort them in various poses. (2) They do obstruct your view of the deck and made it a huge challenge to move the minifigs around on the deck.
 |
| Jabba's kitchen in the barge |
A pair of large sails share the deck with the swiveling cannon and the primitive looking catapult (used to launch Boba Fett into the air) and provide the additional thrust for the vehicle. But seriously, why would Jabba need the catapult when he has his jet pack? Duh... In any case, I tried to use the catapult to spring Boba into the air but guess what? He couldn't even take off! The catapult was a little too tight to accommodate Boba's feet and despite my repeated effort, Boba jwas stuck to the catapult.
I frankly cannot remember if the two large sails are found in any other LEGO sets before but they certainly look very customised and match well with the body of the Barge. Both masts supporting the sails are identical and consist of a combination of technic struts and joints. The swivel ball design in the heart of the mast allows the sail to be posed in various positions, very useful should you wish to photograph the Barge from different angles. A couple of points that irk me regarding these sails are (1) The 2X2 round stud used to secure the masts to the deck is never really too, well, secured. I have lost count on the number of times the masts came off when I tried to contort them in various poses. (2) They do obstruct your view of the deck and made it a huge challenge to move the minifigs around on the deck.
 |
| Nice rear ... |
And then, there are the Skiff and the Sarlacc Pitt.
(Re)Building Experience
I dismantled my son's masterpiece and re-construct by myself again. Armed with a brick separator, it took little effort to sort out the 781 bricks into colours first, and that's when I realise that some of the stickers have be applied across 2 bricks!!! That is so annoying! These are the studless window bricks for the Barge consisting of a piece of a 2X2 and a 2X1. In the end, I pretty much left them as it was as I did not want to risk ripping up the stickers in any way, bearing in mind that these stickers have been around for some time already and experience tells me they don't really stand the test of time.
 |
| Concealed weapons in the hull |
The rare mistake
 |
| How did LEGO get this wrong? |
A rare find in this set (probably only the 2nd time I have seen this), is the issue of an amendment sheet to the instruction. LEGO normally gets it right but for reason unknown, they have backtracked from their original instructions and issued an amendment. The brick(s) in question here are the 8X8 beige ones used for the construction of the deck. They were printed as the "grilled" version in the instruction booklet but what were found in the box as the conventional opaque ones instead. I am not sure if this amendment was issued for all the sets released around the world but considering how high a quality LEGO always boost about their product, this amendment sheet is indeed a rare one.
Basically, the Barge was put together in the following sequence:
1. The middle hull (prison, kitchen etc) constructed from base up to the deck;
2. The four hinging side panels for the hull;
3. The nose of the hull;
4. The two masts on deck.
Ok. This was followed by the Skiff and the Sarlacc Pit.
 |
| Sail Barge with side panels fully opened |
 |
| Struts can be longer |
The Barge took me close to 2 hours of building effort, i.e. excluding the sorting of the bricks before I began. And I have to admit a fair share of time was spent on me fumbling over the application of the struts, and trying to figure out that the struts were actually shorter than what they look like in the instruction booklet.
Minifigs
If I remember correctly, 2006 was probably close to the period when the skin colours of the minifigs started to take on a more natural look rather than the traditional "yellow" LEGO minifig colour. That was also when more details were starting to surface on the head and torso pieces of the minifgs, and frankly, LEGO never look back since then. There are 8 minifigs in all in this this set and should this set be re-released today with the same number of minifigs, it will NEVER be even close to the price quoted above (Just look at the recently released Jabba Palace).
 |
| Drinks, anyone? |
Jabba is uni-coloured in this set, with a 3-segment tail that allows some posing if you desire. Hands are also poseable but with all the slaves around him, those hands are rather redundant. Boba Fett looks very simply designed relative to today's standard and he still holds the "old school" LEGO laser blaster with the orange stud. As much as it doesn't resemble anything close to the blasters in the movie, this is what made LEGO... LEGO. Collectors will be able to relate to me on this. A Gamorrean Guard is also included to provide the menacing presence on the Skiff. The guard shares the same green colour tone with Jabba and only its arms are brown. The headpiece extends downwards to the torso to create the fat profile of the guard.
 |
| Jabba with his snack |
Luke and Han Solo offer little surprises (What do you expect when Leia is around?). Luke is rather emotionless here while Han has a smirky expression on him.
Princess Leia made her 2nd appearance in bikini after first appearing in the first Jabba's Palace set. She is now in skin colour (rather than yellow in her predecessor) and even come printed with a little cleavage! A chain on her neck keeps her in custody and within the reach of Jabba. Lando Calrissian played a big part in the whole rescue mission and his inclusion in this set is a foregone conclusion.
The not-really-a-guy
Compliment to LEGO for designing this R2-D2! In order to make R2 serves drinks to Jabba's guests, all it took was to include a 4X2 brick between his head and torso piece, and VOILA! R2 can now hold a couple of glasses of drinks while maneuvering between the guests.I will not rate this set highly for playability as it is rather difficult to access the deck and the interior of the hull. However, this set (especially the Barge) is certainly a looker! Once I placed it beside the other sets on the shelf, the spotlight seems to inevitably gravitate towards it. Its commanding size and unique shape do catches the right attention regardless of how you pose it. Collectability? Are you kidding me? Hell yes! Especially when it comes with a skiff and a Sarlacc pit ...
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