Since One Piece found its way onto Netflix, its popularity has gone through the roof;
accompanying the anime, manga, video games and trading card game. It’s no surprise, then, that Lego has taken on the franchise in a new range of sets.
Bringing famous locations such as Arlong Park, Buggy’s Circus among many others to life, I
couldn’t resist adding the largest set in the collection to the One Piece themed corner in ourhouse. And so, in this review I’ll be making everything you need to know about The Baratie Floating Restaurant set as easy to digest as a devil fruit; just don’t go swimming after reading.
Building the Baratie
The Baratie is known as the finest dining establishment on the East Blue, where all walks of life flock to find the greatest food around.
At first glance, this set is a complete replica of the restaurant that you see in the TV show, and comes really close to the anime and Manga versions. Every bit of space both inside and out is crammed full of items, figures and references to the show; serving up a delight for any fan.
And although the set didn’t have any mind blowing building techniques included; the coolest part of this set by far had to be building the staircase. What started out as a block of individual bricks ended up being fanned out to create the grand curving staircase that diners descend on their way to their table.
The biggest wow moment I found from this set was the sheer size of the model when it’s
finished. It takes up most of the shelf it’s stored on and the finished height enables it to catch the eye of anyone walking by. Needless to say, it’s definitely a sight to behold.
Another surprise from this kit was the lack of repetitive building parts. Throughout the kit, each step was unique and offered a varying style of building technique which kept the kit exciting through over 20 bags of building.
Minifigures
Fans of minifigures will be pleased to find a total of 10 models that are unique to this set. Each one is printed in their well known costumes, and comes with various accessories that their character is known for wielding.
I also loved the extra touches that some figures had, such as Zeff’s wooden leg and Zoro’s three wieldable swords. These extra touches were clearly added for the fans to enjoy, and the extra attention from the designers really makes this kit pop.
And if that wasn’t enough, you’ll also find 5 unique wanted posters inserted randomly into bags throughout the set. There’s a total of 8 to collect, and all of the ones I received were unique, meaning that I only had three left to find in other kits. Obviously, Gol’d’Roger and Luffy are the most sought after, so good luck with your pulls!
As far as difficulty goes in this set, I found there to be a lot of fiddly parts which required several layers of the same coloured brick. The front of the restaurant, for example, takes a lot of brown bricks to make up the wooden sides, and this can get quite confusing when trying to follow the instructions in the booklets.
A nice surprise for this set was the three large booklets of instructions that were included. This allowed a lot of room to display each step, making it easy to follow and limited the risk of missing a vital piece.
Display Value
If I haven’t already sold the display value of this set, then it bears repeating that this set looks absolutely incredible on display. With so much detail to take in, you’ll find yourself noticing something new every time you stop to look at the model. From its sheer size, to the easter eggs and moving features; no part of this set lets up on the wow factor at any point.
As I mentioned earlier in this review, this model is an exact replica of the restaurant that you see in the hit Netflix show. Every part of the establishment, from the kitchen to the balcony, is included in painstaking detail, along with each of the characters you’ll recognise inside.
Unfortunately, I do have one gripe with this set, and it’s the stickers. It comes with two large sheets, one of which is entirely transparent; meaning that you need to get the placement right first time as peeling it off will remove the finish and ruin the look. My advice is to pay close attention to the edges of the pieces you’re applying the stickers to, and this should help align them the first time around.
But enough of the downsides and back to the good parts. A fantastic feature of this set is that it can be displayed either way round, allowing you to show off the exterior of the ship and the battle ensuing outside, or the bustling service that’s being provided inside the restaurant.
Personally, I have the exterior showing as it displays the grandeur of the piece, but I’ve left
enough room on the shelf to turn the model around if friends want to look inside.
Functionality
As far as functionality is concerned, this set is the definition of a display piece; but that’s not to say it can’t be interacted with. Each minigure can be used to recreate your favourite scenes from the series, and the inclusion of cogs on the outside platform means that the furious showdown between Dracule Mihawk and Zoro can be replicated with frantic spinning swords.
Just be sure that you take care if you’re moving the model around as the sheer amount of bricks and its size makes it quite a heavy model to maneuver around. Because of this, I recommend finding a spot on the shelf with plenty of room to spin it around so that you can enjoy every detail that the display has to offer.
Value for money
Personally, I would say that this kit is worth every penny spent on it. I’m no stranger to the
disappointment that you get from spending a lot of money on a kit to find that the build itself is short and disappointing, with oversized pieces that make up most of the kit.
Thankfully, most of the pieces in this kit are small bricks or accessories; with the only large parts being the doorways and figurehead for the ship. And although some builders may not like this, I would argue that this adds more building value to the kit as every part of the model has to be intricately crafted.
It’s also worth noting that this kit has over 3,000 pieces in, which definitely satisfies the Price per Piece ratio that a lot of fans look for. Even if you’re building a few bags a day, you’ll get a good week's worth of building time from this set.
So there you have it, a five course breakdown of everything you need to know about this
delicious set; along with several excuses why you should make it your next kit to buy. Although, given the price, I would definitely recommend catching it in a sale to make it even more worthwhile.
And finally, if you’re going to indulge in this set, I would highly recommend picking up the Windmill Village Hut set to store all of your wanted posters on. It makes a great small display piece for the collection and ties the series together.
