Reviews of Zebra Blocks 698998 Pirates of Barracuda Bay Clone of LEGO Ideas 21322

First thing first, who is Zebra Blocks? Our sources confirmed Zebra Blocks is the sibling of Jack, Queen and King, the revived LEPIN. Again, no lawsuit would deter China clones as long as there are money to be made. Zebra 698998 set is knockoff of LEGO IDEAS 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay. Thanks to brilliant design of Danish, this set is full of play features and we loved playing with it. Do purchase original if you could afford it. The photos in this reviews are contributed by A4.

OPEN BOX of Zebra Blocks 698998

The knockoff set came with 2545 pieces of parts, recommended age of 16+, which were exactly the same as the Danish version. Normally the clone will inflated the piece count and make modification to box art. However Zebra Blocks couldn’t care and copied wholesale. Looks like LEPIN boss never learnt his lesson.

You won’t find any details on manufacturer etc. This make the LEGO lawyer job a bit harder.

Standard two inner boxes labelled A and B.

Contents of box A and B. The manual was in box B.

Those who have built LEPIN, Jack, Queen and King would find the bag numbering system familiar. Printed Jolly Roger flag.

Two bags of big parts which don’t have any serial.

Two bags of minifigures and one bag of spares.

Instruction manual close to the size of A4 paper with 15 steps. That means there would be 15 numbering bags.

Building of Pirates of Barracuda Bay

Bag 1 with 5 bags of bricks.

The base plate are good, no warping.

One pirate and a boat.

We noticed there was a sticker paste over for step 26. We peeled it off and realized it’s modification of steps from the original. It’s unnecessary to begin with, and perfectly ok if you used the original step.

The modification was for the yellow 2 x 4 below.

Flipped the manual and step 28 actually didn’t change and still using the 2 x 4 yellow brick. Guess the designer forgot to make changes in following steps.

This was how it looks if you followed Zebra version. Changing the steps here won’t save Zebra from the wrath of LEGO lawyer.

A coconut tree, crab and frog.

The clip given was different to the manual. We understand there were two version of the clip and Zebra version was based on the earlier version that Danish company made.

First bag completed. Lying at the side is giraffe shape brick separator. Those of you who are guilty of buying LEPIN shall have plenty.

Bag 2.

Some flowers had smaller hole and couldn’t fit on the stem.

The dock was completed.

The ship hulls built with three big parts.

Bag 3.

The minifigure hat was molded in same color as the hair.

Ladder to climb on board.

The candle which Zebra replaced the fire with a different flame part.

Again, the designer forgot to make changes in following steps, showing discrepancy between two types of flame for the candle.

Bag 3 completed.

Bag 4.

Printed piece for the inn.

Black ingot part given was different to the one on the manual.

Bag 5.

A jail and a skeleton.

The ship masts which was 32 unit long.

Very crude finishing of the end of the mast.

The cone part didn’t hide the red axle pin completely.

The ship wreck was a tall structure. Those who wanted this set need to find space to display it.

The fabric used for sail prone to wrinkle.

You need to tie the string to the hook.

A machete was missing here. We couldn’t locate it.

Two cannons guarding the coastline.

Bag 5 completed!

Bag 6 with 5 bags.

Beside the flame, the cup has been swapped too.

Beware of shark!

Building continues on the island…

Treasure chest hidden under the dock.

Zebra Block swapped the piggy with cow here.

The designer forgot to adjust the size of the cow and made it same size as pig in the manual.

The jetty completed!

Bag 7 with 4 bags.

The ship wreck was full of food. The pirates were well fed.

A skeleton with broken leg, guess he was from the navy.

Bag 8 with 4 bags.

The ship bow done.

Bag 9.

This was for anchor winch.

Bag 10.

The protruding part needs to be inserted all the way into the winch.

You need to tie the strings, unlike the manual which showed they came pre-assemble.

The ship bow connected to the main island via two ball joints.

Bag 11.

The white cup was swapped, different to the original.

Getting the rudder done.

Bag 12.

Tea cup swapped with mug, typical “Lepin” way.

The golden trophy couldn’t fit inside the chest.

We just display the trophy in the end.

Side of the ship.

Bag 13.

Classic look of the pirate captain, with hook and peg. The head was loose.

Captain’s quarter with lots of lighted candles.

Bag 14. We realized machete was swapped with a dagger.

Clever use of part here to put extra decoration.

Insert the pin to the hole and flip upward to complete the wall.

A quarter fit for a captain.

Before you connect to the island, you have to remove one part from the rudder.

You could display the ship wreck and the island in three different sections.

The counterfeit Barracuda Bay completed!!

Minifigures of Zebra 698998

There were eight minifigures. The lady pirate had white hat which was the same color as her hair.

The kid has alternate face which is the printing of the pineapple.

Bag 15. This was to transform the ship wreck into pirate ship.

Took the three sections of the ship from the island.

Joined the ship sections together and wallah, you got a pirate ship!

Of course some changes were inevitable like removing parts and relocating them.

Raise the sail and we were set to sail.

Ahoy pirates! We are sailing.

Summary of Zebra Block 698998 Pirates of Barracuda Bay

After building this set, we were 99.9% positive this is ‘Lepin’. From the brick separator, the bags numbering, the swap of parts and the way the dimples appeared on the bricks, this was the work of LEPIN factory. Do buy the original if you could afford it. You may order Zebra 698998 Pirates of Barracuda Bay from Aliexpress.