LEGO Creator 3 in 1 Pirate Ship Building Set, Kids can Rebuild the Pirate Ship into an Inn or Skull Island, Features 4 Minifigures and Shark Toy, Makes a Great Gift for Kids Ages 9+ Years Old, 31109

I have been a Lego Pirate fan since the summer of 1990 when I first bought myself the Black Sees Barracuda (Lego 6285) and the Caribbean Clipper (Lego 6274). In the years that followed my collection continued to grow (Thank you designer and creative mastermind Niels Milan Pedersen for making all these great sets bake then!!!).

In the later years I have re-gained my interest in the Pirates theme with the launch of great sets like The Brick Bounty (70413) that I bough for my son, and recently Barracuda Bay (21322) and Pirate Ship (31109).

I consider myself a Lego Pirates Expert, and the Pirate Ship (31109) is absolutely one of my favorites. This is such a great and unique set because everything is brick-built. The construction process and building techniques are really interesting. This gives the overall ship a really detailed and realistic look.

In the Lego Pirates World, the Pirates usually outnumber the imperial soldiers. So to even the odds between the Pirates and the Soldiers, the 31109 now is re-build with blue Lego brick-sails to help defend the Eldorado Fortress.

The ship build with the original set (which I did first) was challenging and interesting, but I wanted three masts (see why below), so I purchased the second set and figured out how to modify the first set. I didn't use the pirate skull/crossbones on the sail as my build is not a pirate ship :-)

I bought the ship to display at a family reunion celebrating our ancestors immigration. However, it needed to be a similar replica to clipper ships, which were used around the 1860s for people emigrating from the United Kingdom and Ireland. These ships had three masts, whereas the pirate ship in this set only had two. I ended up adding the central portions of the second ship, which gave more realistic dimensions to the clipper ship (but still not the scale).

I also filled in the top deck, and added in a hatch, as I didn't like the open deck of the original model (I understand this is done to allow easy access to the canons for play).

I ended up with a lot of spare bricks! So I decided to make the Pirate Inn using what was left (I needed to add some more from my spare parts collection.) It took a little bit of creative thinking at times, but I got there in the end. I tend to modify most of the sets when I get them.

I'm pleased with the overall look of both models. See photos.

My only disappointment is that the instructions quite clearly show on pages 2, 5 and 7 that there are TWO barrels. However, there only ONE barrel in the bag (this was the same for the second set).

In the parts list of the second booklet (for Pirate Island) Part No 6278989 (the barrel) is listed as 1x. So I'm very confused, LEGO, as to whether there should be 2 barrels in the set, or one? If there should be two barrels in each set, then I am missing 2x barrels in total.

Apart from that disappointment, it's an enjoyable build, especially with the 3 in 1 aspect. I'm not that keen on the shark or birds, as they don't really seem to fit with the set (someone else commented they are a bit cartoonish, and I agree). However, that is minor. It would also be nice to have a female minifigure. However, these can be added from other sets.

First off, this set is truly special - it's absolutely a centerpiece set with tons of playable bits and accessories, hidden features, 360 degrees of interaction, just wonderful. Build-wise, there are 1,260 pieces so many smart and fun little touches, as well as some really fascinating techniques on display - this can be a challenging build for sure, though. My Lego experienced 9 year old nephew built this himself with some guidance in just a few days. There is so much detail and fun to putting this together. The thing that stood out to me the most though is just the ingenious way some of the sections are engineered. The amount of detail and creativity that went into this set is truly admirable. This is a worthy Lego set to own and to build if you wish to relive the old Lego Pirate ship days. It is a top buy and it will keep you busy while building it and having fun at the same time. The product was beautiful after it was done it took a decent amount of time to build but, it is incredible it is extremely detailed and it also has a decent amount of play features that you can play with.