Shackleton's Lifeboat

"A Recommended BrickScore of 79.5 reflects solid historical craft and strong companion value to The Endurance, even as the 3.29/5 owner rating tells a different story: most of those low scores came from buyers who missed the limited GWP, not from any fault in the model itself."

Shackleton's Lifeboat (40729) is a historically rich 232-piece GWP (Gift With Purchase) that Brickset describes as an almost essential companion to 10335 The Endurance, capturing the James Caird lifeboat in impressive historical detail. The expert verdict is Recommended at a BrickScore of 79.5, but the set carries a striking owner-critic split: LEGO.com buyers rate it just 3.29/5 from 20 ratings with only 52% recommending, almost entirely driven by frustration at failing to secure the limited GWP rather than dissatisfaction with the model itself. The reviewer explicitly addresses this context, noting that negative reviews predominantly come from people upset about availability.

Where they split: The owner rating of 3.29/5 and 52% recommendation rate stands in clear contrast to the Recommended expert verdict and Brickset's positive review. The expert reviewer directly attributes negative owner sentiment to GWP availability frustration rather than model quality, a context-driven split rather than a genuine disagreement about the set itself.