Bought a local CL lot this afternoon about 3 hours after it was posted, think I did fairly well but maybe not a slam dunk. Only a handful of minifigs (and none of the rare ones) but each set was bagged separately so no major sorting operation will be necessary. I saw the QAR sails (I added the set labels), so that's what made me jump on the lot, but I was surprised to find the Black Pearl as well (no sails, however). Hoping I can sell the Ghost Train, Podracers and other misc sets to be able to keep the ships for 'free'. Anyone have experience piecing these ships together? Do the minifigs add to the appeal of the ships when displaying them or should I just wait to find the figs in a future lot?

The ships display very well without the mini figs, it's worth picking up a set of sails for BP. For a long time I had only two sets displayed in my house, QAR and BP. They go together very nicely. For $85 you did well, even without the minifigures.

brotha, dont even sweat it out on this lot ... you made a good choice in getting these for dirt cheap ... sell of the rest and you will have the two ships for free and some more cash to complete the ships if need be ... 

im in the same boat as you as ive pieced together BP and QAR from lots and have completed them without the minifigs.  ive yet to build them but ive completed the sets using bricklink ...

FYI, the podracers are an excellent build and display very nicely ...too bad that doesnt reflect how theyre doing on the aftermarket but the podracers are really nice Episode 1 sets!

goodluck ...

Thank you for the encouragement, fellas!