Random set of the day: Skull Island
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 6279 Skull Island, released during 1995. It's one of 4 Pirates sets produced that year. It contains 378 pieces and 6 minifigs, and its retail price was US$53.
It's owned by 2,287 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
115 likes
31 comments on this article
Phenomenal set: the Pirates sets of 1995 were few, but excellent. My brother had this as a kid and it was the crown jewel of his collection (I got 6090 the same day, so I can't complain). I pounced at the chance at one for a decent price a couple years ago.
No ship, admittedly, but otherwise this is pure Pirate goodness.
Clickbait! Or whatever that was in the 90s. No Kong; no Skull Island. You've all been hornswoggled!
@MCLegoboy said:
"Clickbait! Or whatever that was in the 90s. No Kong; no Skull Island. You've all been hornswoggled!"
At least there's a monkey. Probably the closest you can get without being sued by Universal. Remember Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. [1984] 746 F.2d 112?
This is such a fantastic set! Certainly one of the highlights of the later years of Classic Pirates!
This is one set where I can’t figure out why it is so expensive on the aftermarket. No rare figures, parts or anything special about it?
Cool set and all but unless I find one being sold by a newbie seller or discover it in a bulk lot I doubt I will own it anytime soon.
That raises the question: is it taking advantage of someone to buy an expensive set on the cheap, knowing you are getting it for a fraction of its value?
Red and black is an interesting color combo for pirates, but sells the villains vibe of skull island
One of my favorite childhood sets! And one of the reasons for me to visit the Caribbean.
A simplistic set, of course, though I enjoyed hiding the boat in the cave and shooting the cannon.
Recently I organized my childhood LEGO boxes by sets. This one is almost complete - but the monkey is missing!
Poor guys, their skull-shaped wall is falling off of their clubhouse. Maybe they should have checked more carefully to see where it was attached before they started carving a perfectly good wall into a giant skull.
Received this as a kid. Was a centerpiece in my pirate world. Still have it and now build it with my daughter from time to time. It’s a great set.
Castle Grayskull sank into the swamp, like the 8 weapons mentioned on random part.
I have been meaning to 'bricklink' one of these together as I have the figures and Instruction book,, just too lazy to do it right now.
Late Pirates is still great Pirates. So many play opportunities in this set!
@Formendacil said:
"Phenomenal set: the Pirates sets of 1995 were few, but excellent. My brother had this as a kid and it was the crown jewel of his collection (I got 6090 the same day, so I can't complain). I pounced at the chance at one for a decent price a couple years ago.
No ship, admittedly, but otherwise this is pure Pirate goodness."
This was the best biggest set i had as a kid too! And i actually just rebuilt it, because i want to put it and my other childhood pirate sets next to BB.
This was a centrepiece in my Pirates collection, which I sold off as a young adult. Been piecing it - among others - back together with spare and Bricklinked pieces. Will come out a lot cheaper than trying to buy the sets.
"Colleges? Universities???...Hmmm, methinks ye be wantin' 'Skill Island'; tis yonder that away..."
Also, kinda' makes me wonder: how do the Pirates always manage to find an island with a HUUUUUGE skull? Or, do they hire some sculptor to carve the thing...
I never owned it, but I looked at it 1000 times in the catalog. Such a fun design.
I could maybe accept that a rock wall would naturally end up looking like a skull, but there’s no way the hinging mechanism was done by erosion. Pirates made the whole thing themselves didn’t they, wanted their little hideaway to look cool?
The ultimate pirate stronghold (besides Barracuda Bay).
It's also apparently from an evil ancestor of Ogel, given the bug grey 2D skull on it!
My dream set. I recreated the skull so many times with bricks I had.
I'll always wish that I could've owned this set when I was younger, given how iconic it was even at the time. I'm so glad they included the option of a Skull Island with Creator set 31109.
Not sure why you would want to recreate this apart from nostalgia, when you have the far more cooler 3-D effect of Skull Island 31109 and the following detailed contest entry https://ideas.lego.com/challenges/2d3f47a4-66c9-4f41-92ee-87ccc9fbf2df/application/a545424c-6b49-4a9a-a7a1-3ebcb39a4c67
I've been looking forward to this. And as some people have mentioned above, I recall Skull Island playing out different.
Oh man, I always wanted this set to bad! When I got 6264 I tried to moc the gate to look like this skull, not perfect but similar, I was happy. :D
@brick_r:
Real estate market on islands with skull motifs is probably low enough that even broke pirates can afford them. After all, what reputable merchant would want to set up shop on an island that’s bound to be associated with pirate hideouts?
@RaiderOfTheLostBrick said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"Clickbait! Or whatever that was in the 90s. No Kong; no Skull Island. You've all been hornswoggled!"
At least there's a monkey. Probably the closest you can get without being sued by Universal. Remember Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. [1984] 746 F.2d 112?"
Strong work. However, the U.S. Bluebook citation requires the date at the end and not in block parentheticals.
Just being particular because your comment was likewise, incredibly AWESOME!! ;) That especially includes the reference to the Federal Reporter (Second Series).
That case was an example of the good ol' days when big shot movie studios thought they could muscle everyone. Kind of like Lego™ now.
Great set, I still like this more then the skull island from 31109 : Pirate Ship , but that was a nice alternate build still, considering how the blue green and tan came from insides of the ship.
The skull build from 31078 : Tree House Treasures was quite cute too.
Still, this one has the unique feature of a Sea Cave, so a MOC / mod would do nicely for sure and the island parts from 21322 : Pirates of Barracuda Bay (after making the Ship), would be cool base to start on as well, parts from 71722: Skull Sorcerer's Dungeons would also supply things like the crane and rocks.
So, is there a drop of a 90th anniversary Pirates set imminent, or why do we get such a pearl of nostalgia today? I am asking for a friend. ;)
Fond memories of this set
Lego Racers shortcut! Just shoot it with a cannon ball and it opens.
It's not really overpriced as a set vs parts for vintage... there's no single expensive piece, but there are lots and lots of $2-$3 pieces and parts + 6 figures averaging about $5 each.
If I had this, I'd possibly try to sell the whole set for $140 which is the cheapest currently available in the US, or I might just sell the pricier bits which would come to about $100 for the figs and the priciest 20 parts (lots) or so.
@MeisterDad said:
"This is one set where I can’t figure out why it is so expensive on the aftermarket. No rare figures, parts or anything special about it?
Cool set and all but unless I find one being sold by a newbie seller or discover it in a bulk lot I doubt I will own it anytime soon.
That raises the question: is it taking advantage of someone to buy an expensive set on the cheap, knowing you are getting it for a fraction of its value?"
I guess It's a nice Set If you Look at it in a Vacuum, but given all the Other Pirates Sets, I'd say this was the Most forgettable large Set of the Classic era.
It Just Lacks that little something that Made all the Other ones so desirable. It's only distinct Feature being the (really flat) Skull that appeared in similar ways in Other Sets.
No Special Baseplate, sails or rare minifigs might also make this the least expensive larger Pirates Set (I haven't checked though).