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#2364 SET REVIEW: 10320 Icons Eldorado Fortress

Set sail with us as we deep dive into this beautiful and nostalgic set! Inspired by several vintage sets, Eldorado Fortress rekindles sea-faring with plenty of playability and story-telling opportunities. Recreate all your favorite childhood memories with an abundance of minifigures, mix-and-match modules, and then display this eye-catching model in any room! Let us know what you think of the set in the comments below!


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#2364 SET REVIEW: 10320 Eldorado Fortress  Our score: 21 out of 25. The cost: £189.99/$214.99/ €214,99 for 2509 parts. Swipe right for more!  Image of the Eldorado Fortress in a Caribbean island environment. The Fortress is white, with its garrison of soldiers, three canons, and an accompanying ship. Pirates are near.

Parts Selection:  The following parts are New recolors for 2023:  Ingot brick 99563 in yellow appears 18 times; row boat part 21301 appears once in dark brown; half-arch brick 80543 appears six times in white; and gate part 42448 appears two times in reddish brown.  Bulk Parts:   In this section, numerous parts highlighted: The following parts in dark bluish grey: 30136 appears 74 times; 3046a appears 91 times; 54200 appears 66 times, 3001 appears 63 times; 3040 appears 71 times; 3684c appears 33 times. In white, the following parts are present: 3070 appears 38 times; 3023 appears 48 times; 3004 appears 29 times; and 99563 appears 48 times. Part 35480 in dark red appears 73 times; part 3678b in light bluish grey appears 21 times; and part 3062 in black appears 32 times.  New Parts:  Sail part 103820 in tan, sail part 103821 in tan, and sail part 103822 in tan with crossed anchor printing.  Part 80326pb019: a printed skull and crossbones flag. Part 2525pb018: a white flag with blue printed squares and crossed black cannons.   The flag and sail components differ enough from predecessors in size & print to be considered new! Thanks to several hundred pieces in dark bluish grey, this is an amazing set for MOC builders of all themes!  Our parts selection score: 5 out of 5.

Minifigures:  With 6 Imperial soldier minifigures, including two brand new torso prints, wig recolors, and a new officer’s hat, this set offers amazing possibilities for army builders.  There is an image of blue torso part number 973pb5293c01 and hat part number 2528pb15 pointing at the governor’s minifig. He has gold epaulets, white pants, a black hat and red plume. Five total minifigs are shown with blue torso part 973pb5292c01. They have red epaulets. Special hats with alternative color hair pieces are shown. All have plain white legs.  The only aspect preventing a perfect score is the lack of leg printing on the otherwise fantastic minifigs.

Minifigures: To counter the soldiers, two living pirate minifigures are included, along with a desiccated skeleton. The female pirate features a new torso print, part 973pb5294c01, while the male pirate utilizes a gold-toothed head and red-striped torso. He is shown holding part 27063pb01, a blue and gold parrot. This head print, part 3626cpb1304, has been used on 9 minifigs across 13 sets since its inception in 2015. It has appeared twice as Captain Redbeard. Does the pirate seen here represent Redbeard before his captain days?  Lastly, a skeleton minifigure wearing red head cap part 18927, is highlighted.  Our minifigure score: 3 out of 5.

Techniques:  Hinges and slopes make for colorful window awnings. Schematics show hinge part 6134 in white and curved 1 by 1 brick part 49307 in dark red coming together to make the awning.    The bow of the brick-built ship uses hinges to great effect! Schematics show 6134 hinge part in black topped with part 99207 - a  2 by 2 inverted bracket - highlight how the bow is created.   SNOT brackets hold yellow ingots to create convincing window slits. Schematic shows 1 by 2 inverted bracket part 73825 in yellow capped with yellow ingot part 99563 to make the window in the fortress.  The techniques to build the fort itself are interesting, but they only represent the tip of the iceberg. A lot of time and pieces are dedicated to the massive rock formations below.




Eldorado Fortress History:  In the top left corner is a photo of the original LEGO set 6276.   Set 10320: Eldorado Fortress is a modern rendition of set 6276 from 1989.  In the right hand corner is a photo of the original LEGO set 6277.  Compared to the original, the 2023 set has an extra minifig, and 2,000 more pieces. The cutter is actually a replica of a similar boat from 1992’s set 6277: Imperial Trading Post. With no large baseplate, most of the 2,000 extra pieces can be found in the rockwork below the fort. This results in some repetitive building.  There is an image of a vintage yellow minifigure pirate in a red striped shirt with blue pants. This red-capped pirate appeared in the 1989 set. Is there any relation to the skeleton found in the rock caves of the 2023 set?   In the bottom right is an image of the inside of the rock foundation. A skeleton minifig with a red cap is wedged in the rocks.

Modularity:  Clips and part 77808 create connection points in the base of each section, allowing for a variety of configurations. An image of part 60475b and 77808 in dark bluish grey combining together to create connection points.  Several images of the set modules wrap around the frame. They include the governor’s office, the docks, the crane, and stockade.  An image of circular tile part 24246 in dark red is highlighted.  This single dark red tile is a simple, yet effective story-telling element below the fort. One of several!

Final Thoughts:  Its price per part of £0.08/$0.09/€0.09 is a good value in today’s LEGO market. Considering it offers a rework of two separate vintage sets, it comes packed with nostalgia. With its new recolors, new sails, printed flags, and no stickers, combined with the abundance of reusable pieces, this set offers great treasure – and value - for LEGO fans!  Our value for money score: 5 out of 5.  The Eldorado Fortress can accommodate any sized display space you have thanks to its modularity. Display it wide or condensed, or even keep separate sections in different places, such as an office desk or bookshelf.  Our display value: 5 out of 5.  Do you agree with our score? Let us know in the comments below!  Image is a male AFOL sitting at a table building the Eldorado Fortress set.




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