FoolECK waxes lyrical about a very popular set in the $50-100 price bracket today:

Year 2020 was extremely favourable for Pirates lovers. After five-years-long break we got not one, but two fully fledged pirate ships! As majestic as the return of Black Seas Barracuda is, this article will revolve around its little brother 31109 Pirate Ship

Who doesn’t love pirates? Who has never in their lives imitated an eyepatch and screamed ‘arrr!’ to their friends or kids? Before Marvel Cinematic Universe took over the mainstream cinema, Pirates of the Caribbean series was a go-to entertainment franchise. I myself love pirates and that’s why I’m so pleased with LEGO to release two marvellous pirate themed ships this year.

Don’t be fooled by the ‘little brother’ alias. 31109 Pirate Ship is not small by any means. It’s a properly menacing vessel of the ocean. The set comes with 3 minifigs plus a skeleton. Even if you doubled the number of figures, each of them would have something to do on the ship. I’ll go as far as to say that even of you tripled the original number – you’d still be able to find them a place on the craft itself. That’s not a thing you can say about Star Wars models.

I adore the Creator 3-in-1 theme. To me it’s quintessential LEGO in its purest form. It encourages you to follow the latest LEGO slogan and ‘rebuild the world’. For sure, there are cases where this concept falls flat. Sometimes you can rebuild a car into a different car or into a dragster, which also is a car. Or how many sets follow the path of helicopter-plane-boat? This set excels in its design letting you to sail the seas in the afternoon, to rest in a tavern in the evening, to venture forth the following morning to a close by island in search of treasures.

That said, none of those three builds is lacking. Per usual, the ship is the main course and uses all the pieces. It’s everything you’d expect from a pirate galleon: it’s big, it’s got a skull on the main sail, it’s ornamented in gold, it fires cannons, there’s a shark eating the insubordinate jumping down the plank.

The tavern has a working crane and water wheel, there’s area for leisure and a room for relax with beds for all three minifigs. The island lets you get into it with a boat and a raft, there’s a coconut tree guarded by a monkey and a hidden treasure guarded by a moving skull.

The three builds tell a story of their own.
The three builds all have play features.
The three builds all have brick-built animals.
The three builds come in one box.

It’s a wonderful set that would make a wonderful Christmas present.

Buy now at LEGO.com »

10 comments on this article

By capirus in United States, 16 Nov 2020 12:06

I actually forgot to buy this. Thanks for the reminder!

By rmarkworth in Germany, 16 Nov 2020 12:24

I totally agree. I also bought this set, just for the brick build pirate ship!

By chrichrichri in Costa Rica, 16 Nov 2020 12:28

extremely favourable would be an entire theme

By Nytmare in United States, 16 Nov 2020 13:06

I like this set for the brick-built sails, brick-built shark, brick-built figurehead on the bow, little brick-built birds, and for the alternate build - a brick-built horse and carriage.

I was disappointed there are only 2 cannons instead of 4. And there are some minor errors in the printed instructions.

By jdm in France, 16 Nov 2020 13:33

I have to say this is a great set

By ambr in United Kingdom, 16 Nov 2020 13:51

The brick build hull and sails make a change from the larger bulky pieces usually provided at this price range, and provide much needed bricks and plates for the alternative builds which are completely different from each other. With 1264 pieces available, making your own alternative builds is also possible.

By Kalhiki in United States, 16 Nov 2020 15:00

I'll probably get this one for Christmas. Looks like a great alternative if you can't quite afford Barracuda Bay!
I really hope this set goes on sale at some point. I wouldn't mind ordering a couple extra to have all three builds on display. Might be neat to incorporate the tavern into Barracuda Bay somehow...?

By thor96 in Poland, 16 Nov 2020 17:11

I absolutely love this set. I was very surprised how much i liked building the hull and sails from bricks instead of big, premade elements as usual. Its a pure lego experinece that way. And my favourite part is the little jolly roger flag at the back of the ship. Just two common lego elements make a perfect skull with eye patch, brilliant!

By UProbeck in Germany, 16 Nov 2020 21:05

Wonderful set! I can absolutely recommend it!

By DearMisterLegoBreaker in Belgium, 17 Nov 2020 08:17

It’s an amazing set !