hmmm, they've done essentially what I've done to make the ship more seaworthy:
The original mould of this ship CAN float upright---- as long as there is no crew aboard, and NO CANNONS on the gundeck. I remember when I first bought my first 3286 ship, I purchased it with a full compliment of 8 cannons only to be disappointed that, when loaded with all 8 cannons, the ship wouldn't even stay upright in the water!
Looks like Playmobil became aware of this and remedied it by eliminating the cannons alltogether (and even the ability to add cannons.
Even though the captain's quarters can still house real cannons, note in the pics that the fastening hardpoints for the cannons to attach to are no longer there. So even if you do put real cannons anywhere below deck, they will slide around without the hardpoints there for them to fasten onto.
MY QUESTION: are the faux-cannon inserts water-tight (or at least mostly water-tight?) to keep water out from entering at the gunports? Since they removed all but the cargo hold on the gundeck, they probably should have remoulded the styrofoam insert to take up the remaining void in its place to make the ship unsinkable.
The 3050 mould is pretty stable, but isn't immunte to capsizing either, so I guess if at least they can make this ship MOSTLY stable, that's better than nothing.
But what's the point of adding real cannons yourself to this new mould if you have to semi-permanently close the gundeck off (screwing the deck on) and can't gain access to the cannons? All you'll see sticking out are the guntips. The only satisfaction you'll have is that in your mind you'll know that there are real cannons in there, but for practical purposes, it's kinda pointless, since you can't even play with them.
That's why I opted for faux cannons myself, though, unlike this mould, mine has the ability to be switched out for the real gundeck and real cannons, and still has full access to the real cannons if you want to play with them in battle (loading, resetting the cannons after recoil, and, in the case of the spring-loaded cannons, you can still access the guns to actually FIRE them.)
Too bad about the all-moulded-into-one-piece captain's quarters....maybe they did that to save on costs. And to minimize pieces floating away in the case of submersion. But, kinda lame.
About the only thing I think is cooler about the changes is we get a new colour, and new sails, and some new pirates. Otherwise, I prefer the original mould/attributes. Oh, and the real rigging from the old one is preferable to this plastic stuff, but nothing some string from a craft store can't remedy. I'll buy one of these ships to add to my collection, but I'll stick to buying 3286 hulls off ebay for $20 when it comes to customizing
