Random set of the day: Skeleton Ship Attack
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 7029 Skeleton Ship Attack, released during 2007. It's one of 8 Castle sets produced that year. It contains 628 pieces and 7 minifigs, and its retail price was US$69.99 / £49.99, which equates to about US$111 / £84 in today's money.
It's owned by 1,577 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at Brick Owl, BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $618.60, or eBay.
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37 comments on this article
Skelebois!
I kinda remember liking the idea of this set, until I realized it was only half a ship.
There will never be a theme as epic as Fantasy Era, change my mind.
I have no real familiarity or affection for this theme, but I can see why kids would enjoy it a lot. There's a lot of play value here.
Oh how I miss you Fantasy Era Castle!! Such an awesome and unique castle theme. Wished I got more sets. This one in particular I never saw, probably since it appears to be a limited release.
While Fantasy Era made great strides in new factions and fun settings for Castle, these skeletons committed the greatest sin of all: the slow extinction of the classic floppy arm skeleton...
It also took until Ninjago to get arms that looked good on skeletons and allowed them to hold weapons naturally.
@AhsokaTrooper08 said:
"Oh how I miss you Fantasy Era Castle!! Such an awesome and unique castle theme. Wished I got more sets. This one in particular I never saw, probably since it appears to be a limited release. "
In the US I believe it was Toys R Us only. I got two in a buy one, get one 50% off IIRC.
@pguenthe said:
" @AhsokaTrooper08 said:
"Oh how I miss you Fantasy Era Castle!! Such an awesome and unique castle theme. Wished I got more sets. This one in particular I never saw, probably since it appears to be a limited release. "
In the US I believe it was Toys R Us only. I got two in a buy one, get one 50% off IIRC."
Just enough to make one complete ship.
@PurpleDave said:
"I kinda remember liking the idea of this set, until I realized it was only half a ship."
"Not to worry, we are still sailing half a ship."
I love how random yet awesome this Castle sub theme was.
My onlt Fantasy Era Castle set is 7079 Drawbridge Defense because it had a king in gold armor, a queen, a jester and a black skeleton. This one also has some interestin elements. That ship can be modified to be even more menacing.
Been on my wanted list for so long, but the prices are just extortionate. How ironic that it’s a ship and captain that are my white whale
Both this and 7090 share the same launcher and projectile design. 7038 and 7048 have similar launchers as well. The "arrows" would look so much more threatening if they had 1x1 cones as tips.
Legendary set from a legendary theme.
I've been on a real Fantasy Era kick lately, even finally managing to get a few of the sets beyond the smallest four (three of which were the at the time impulse sets), which had long been my only ones. The theme is wonderful! It's a return to form for Castle after the more divisive and story driven Knights Kingdom II, but now -for the first time- with many fantasy elements. The trolls and dwarves in particular are amazing. And there's four well rounded factions! The sets also just have a very refined late early 2000s charm and with a gloomier but still bright color palette.
Now, this set. This set!!!! Wow, it's so cool. The skeleton ship is surprisingly well rounded despite the lack of a back hull element. Mainly due to the cabin and the launcher at the front.
The port gate is great with a section that collapses on the dock, a food hall and a large catapult. It even came with an extra Zamor sphere as ammo, stored at the base of one of the towers. It's also modular and the system is compatible with 7094 King's Castle Siege.
The figs are great as always. The FE minifigs are just great to have. But this set comes with one of the most notable skeletons from the entire line: the skeleton pirate. It's nothing too unique, but it's a great addition for this set.
Unfortunately, getting this set is very difficult now. It was one of the many limited release sets of the time. Also being a castle set, this is inflated far beyond reason. Some of the FE sets can be found for a more regular inflated price if you're diligent, patient and lucky. Not this one. You'd be lucky to find one for sale at all.
I think all of our skeletons should strive for the level of manliness that Captain Bonebeard over there displays.
No, I'm not talking about your fleshy bits. I don't care about those. It's the beard inside that counts.
I still find it odd that Legoland Theme Parks and Discovery Centres still have rides and entire newly built hotels themed around the Castle theme, but it hasn’t existed as a theme for over a decade. My son’s best friend is a 10 year old who is obsessed with the castle theme. He buys second hand sets and minifigures, his favourite shop only sells second hand LEGO. Because he is such a close friend of my son I splurged and bought him the Bricklink Medieval Seaside Market for his last birthday and he was beyond thrilled. He built the 2560 piece set every night after school and finished it in less than a week. He saved up his pocket money for a whole year and bought the LOTR Barad-dûr set. He wants to army build with Minifigures but it is cost prohibitive. If LEGO had an affordable full castle theme he would be buying small sets every month. Kids still love Castle!
While the skelly vessel could do with some improvements, I appreciate the idea of a secured harbour area. This set works well for a town setting.
I loved this set so much. The build was fun and the design had so many features packed in. You could tell the set design was inspired.
Still have one sealed and the 4 foot Toys R Us featured set display with this set on the right and 7094 on the left.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"I kinda remember liking the idea of this set, until I realized it was only half a ship."
"Not to worry, we are still sailing half a ship.""
"Eric the Half-a-Ship"
Double non-Pirates pirates.
@bigginsd said:
"He wants to army build with Minifigures but it is cost prohibitive. If LEGO had an affordable full castle theme he would be buying small sets every month. Kids still love Castle!"
I don't know what PAB is like in Australia, but when between the "remakes" of Medieval Blacksmith, Lion Knight's Castle, Medieval Town Square, and the two 3-in-1 castles, there have been a good number of medieval minifig options. It appears to be a bit sparse at the moment, but it's worth keeping an eye out. I have supplemented a lot of sets with minifig/accessory orders from there, and it gives options to swap out heads and hair/hats as well.
I think it's really cool they basically made a pirate set in the castle theme. It's great as the skeleton's ship in the castle theme, but it works really well as a "ghost ship" in a pirate setup, so I got a cannon to put on it in such cases.
Love this set.
Fantasy Era is One of best Lego themes ever.
Its so weird Lego is not making proppr fantasy theme all this years while fantasy is litteraly on raise.
Not collecting Fantasy Era Castle is one of my bigger Lego regrets. Really wish we could get a return of this theme.
Pirates and Castles in the same set? It's like a dream come true.
Man, if I could revive any Lego theme, it would be the Fantasy Era Castle theme.
This happened after I grew out of Lego, but before I got back into it as an adult. I really wish I had picked up these sets.
With the knights, skeletons, trolls, and dwarves, there's a whole world to work with. With as hot as fantasy media is right now, I'm shocked Lego hasn't done more to capitalize on it. From what I can tell, the D&D sets and anything vaguely Castle-adjacent has sold well, so I would think the market research supports it. Give us a Castle theme, please. You've got a half-dozen kingdoms/factions. Combine that with the classic fantasy tropes: elves, dark elves, dwarves, orcs, undead... it's all there, and rife for utilization.
My mom got me this set. I didn't even know it existed and I was always looking through lego magazines, I think this was because it was a toys r us exclusive. Sweet memories
@PurpleDave said:
"I kinda remember liking the idea of this set, until I realized it was only half a ship."
Someone’s already made the obvious reference. That’s the perk of having a good sleep schedule: I’m not awake at 2 AM for these Random articles because I neeed to be awake at 5 AM.
@LuccaTalksYT said:
" @PurpleDave said:
"I kinda remember liking the idea of this set, until I realized it was only half a ship."
Someone’s already made the obvious reference. That’s the perk of having a good sleep schedule: I’m not awake at 2 AM for these Random articles because I neeed to be awake at 5 AM."
Time zones also make a difference. Most of the year, RSotD posts at 10pm here. If I lived further west, that would shift it forward anywhere from 9pm to 5pm. In Hawaii or the western Aleutian Islands, now you’re looking more at work being a conflict than bedtime.
@mikesray said:
"Man, if I could revive any Lego theme, it would be the Fantasy Era Castle theme.
This happened after I grew out of Lego, but before I got back into it as an adult. I really wish I had picked up these sets.
With the knights, skeletons, trolls, and dwarves, there's a whole world to work with. With as hot as fantasy media is right now, I'm shocked Lego hasn't done more to capitalize on it. From what I can tell, the D&D sets and anything vaguely Castle-adjacent has sold well, so I would think the market research supports it. Give us a Castle theme, please. You've got a half-dozen kingdoms/factions. Combine that with the classic fantasy tropes: elves, dark elves, dwarves, orcs, undead... it's all there, and rife for utilization. "
It would be fun for them to make a return. I got into Castle with Kingdoms, which is arguably the best castle period, but I also really love fantasy. I recently revisited Kingdom Rush and am considering doing some mocs for the games. I loved how Kingdom Rush tackled fantasy.
It's crazy how some exclusive black boat hull pieces and a limited retail availability could drive this set costing hundreds of bucks now. I still haven't managed to find a fairly priced used copy to this day.
I got this and Dwarves' Mine from my parents for my B-DAY as a kid. Good times!
@Binnekamp said:
"Legendary set from a legendary theme.
I've been on a real Fantasy Era kick lately, even finally managing to get a few of the sets beyond the smallest four (three of which were the at the time impulse sets), which had long been my only ones. The theme is wonderful! It's a return to form for Castle after the more divisive and story driven Knights Kingdom II, but now -for the first time- with many fantasy elements. The trolls and dwarves in particular are amazing. And there's four well rounded factions! The sets also just have a very refined late early 2000s charm and with a gloomier but still bright color palette.
Now, this set. This set!!!! Wow, it's so cool. The skeleton ship is surprisingly well rounded despite the lack of a back hull element. Mainly due to the cabin and the launcher at the front.
The port gate is great with a section that collapses on the dock, a food hall and a large catapult. It even came with an extra Zamor sphere as ammo, stored at the base of one of the towers. It's also modular and the system is compatible with 7094 King's Castle Siege.
The figs are great as always. The FE minifigs are just great to have. But this set comes with one of the most notable skeletons from the entire line: the skeleton pirate. It's nothing too unique, but it's a great addition for this set.
Unfortunately, getting this set is very difficult now. It was one of the many limited release sets of the time. Also being a castle set, this is inflated far beyond reason. Some of the FE sets can be found for a more regular inflated price if you're diligent, patient and lucky. Not this one. You'd be lucky to find one for sale at all."
Completely agree. it was a great set from a great theme and had connectability to 7094. Luckily I got 2 of these in Japan and three of 7094 due to a 30% discount for 'damaged boxes'. I built two of those and one of these.
Everyone's saying great things about this set, which is fine, but no one's pointing out that the 'unique figure' that was so prominently advertised on the box was just a skeleton with a beard and hat... That was a disappointment, but easy to get over. I was rather impressed with the way they made the ship and it encouraged me to 'half' other ships to double my fleet size. Awesome set and series. so happy with all of it.
Not exactly a White Whale for me, but it is high on my "Wanted, but not likely to actually get" list.
Great set, I've it on my shelf, inherited from a friend, for long time I desired it.
It was not available where I live so it was a discovery and it was to late to buy it.
I agree the ship is not long ad one could expect, anyway it is not an half ship and it makes a good impression on the shelf.
Fantasy Era is the theme that brought me out the dark age, so I'm particularly fond of it.
@ElephantKnight said:
"Not exactly a White Whale for me, but it is high on my "Wanted, but not likely to actually get" list."
That is a very specific list, although I think I'd rename that to "Appreciated", which is still several steps above "Acknowledged", "Aggressively Indifferent", "Unwanted" and "Secret Shame".
@Crux said:
" @ElephantKnight said:
"Not exactly a White Whale for me, but it is high on my "Wanted, but not likely to actually get" list."
That is a very specific list, although I think I'd rename that to "Appreciated", which is still several steps above "Acknowledged", "Aggressively Indifferent", "Unwanted" and "Secret Shame"."
IWhere does "Guilty Pleasure" fall on that list?