Overall 5 bricks : Like said in the my title I think this is the most complete Pirate set of all. It shows two warehouses with cranes defended by 2 canons on the left side and on the right side a small guardhouse to protect both the island and the scaffolding built port. To complete this picture we get a small pirate sailboat and a wonderful Imperial galleon in the right proportions compaired to the buildings. If you can find one and you're a fan of the Pirate theme try and get it if the price is reasonable. I think it's mostly a collectors item although it is one of the best playable sets I have ever seen. I found some years ago for a reasonable price and was lucky to be able to complete it with an extra galleon because the one I bought missed the sails. So I have it with 2 galleons now, one on sea and one in the docks.

Building 5 bricks : Building this set is big fun, starting with the small pirate boat and the the Imperial Galleon which is really an amazing little ship, probably a trading ship. After that you start with the built on the raised baseplate with the hatch for the underground loading area and the 2 warehouses in a wonderful white, yellow and red color scheme with a turret for a cannon and on one side a small loading scaffolding. The warehouses are both equipped with cranes and one has 2 small hatches which can really open. The second part is the loading dock part where the ships can drop anchor to get their load and maintenance which is not difficult thanks to to great way Lego made the instructions. Here you also get to built the cute guardhouse, yellow with white again but now with a black accent, and a cannon at the end of the structure. The overall result is amazing !!

Parts 5 bricks : a lot of great parts in this set, no less than 9 mini figures to start with. Of course the raised baseplate, the galleon sails, the white panels with different red brick paterns and the rare "slopes" used for roof plates. And so much more all useful pieces definitly worth 5 bricks.

Playability 5 bricks : I can write here a long story about playability but one look at the picture of the set tells the whole story. Pirates, tradesmen and soldiers with ships and a well defended port, 5 bricks !!

Value 5 bricks : For me it is 5 bricks considering how much I paid for it, some 7 years ago €65,00 for the (incomplete) set and an extra €25,00 to complete it with as a bonus an extra ship but without the sails that were missing. So a total of €90,00 which is for me a great deal still. If I would buy it today for the current used price of some €190,00 I'm not sure. If it is in good condition I think it is worth it if it is the one set you are still missing.

Just started to rebuild it, and many missing pieces to buy, this set is pretty awesome:

Parts

Really a lot of bricks composed this set, especially the raised baseplate (really hard to find everywhere, especially in good conditions) that you can find only in this set and in Eldorado fortress, lot of sails (even them pretty valuables to buy) and one of the most rare minifig of pirate era (the guy with brown vest, seen only in this set and in black sea's barracuda). So if you start to rebauild this from 0, be sure you'll have to seek a lot for some of this pieces.

Minifigures

9 minifig. in this set: 2 sailormen, 1 first mate (the guy with brown vest) 2 soldiers, 1 officier and 1 admiral for the imperial forces and 2 pirates. Finally a pirate-set with some no-armed men, with sailors/merchants

The build

You'll enjoy a lot building this set, working for 2 hours probably (for me it takes really longer, to find every single pieces from my huge box, discovering some missing others). The set it's pretty solid and, in case you can separate the two baseplates and they will work fine even by themselves (the fort from one hand and the port/harbour from the other). A lot of capstan to hoist coffin/barrels from the little ship used by the merchant to the vault in the heart of th fortress (or in the warehouse next to it). The little ship is really nice, with no big hull pieces (only built by bricks).

Overall opinion

Some of reviewer focus on the aspect that this set it's too much fortified (more fortified of Eldorado Fortress) to be a trading post. To me is exactly the opposed:

_This was the first base for the imperial guards (so you can't compare the two sets, sold in different period) so it's fair that they have their own fortress

_Commerce was really important during the golden age of pirates, providing new land with primary goods and selling them for a lot of gold (that attract a lot of pirates), so the place has to be very strong. During history a lot of famous pirates even conquer cities or harbour to pillage them and gain so much gold they cannot spend in their entire life. If you want to protect such a big treasure (gold, jewels, goods) and interests you need to have cannons, men and weapons!

To me a 5/5, an extreme versatile and colourful set

If you stand i front of the set, you feel the trading scene. The scene is perfectly built by lego. Colours, minifigures..... and the proportion of the set are great.
In combination with the bsb or ses, as a collector you can make a pirate scene which you will watch every day, enjoy it and be proud to have it.
Go and get it, if you have the chance

Now we have the large set released this year, it comes on two (yes two) full sized (32 x32) baseplates, one of which is raised. The idea behind this set is very good; we finally get a set for the large pirate ships to actually attack, a trading post must contain worthy booty for a pirate to plunder. Many have compared this to the Eldorado Fortress and said that this set is found lacking, I have never understood this, why are people comparing a Fortress with a trading post, one fortifies and one trades, they are supposed to be different.

The structures in this set are not the greatest, but the overall design of the set is, there is plenty of room for barrels and boxes, the set features a hidden storage compartment inside the base (which is very large), it includes a crane which feels like it has an important purpose being there, and best of all an actual trading vessel.

The trading vessel in this set is the only one every released by Lego, before this set (and after) pirates had no one to plunder and steal from (possible Islander exceptions here, to be reviewed later), only soldier to fight against, this set adds some much needed realism to the series. The biggest problem with this set is one seen throughout the whole wave, too few redcoat soldiers, for the entire base we only get two, in the fortress we received double that, I like the pirates standing in as dock workers and normal sailors (the men on the right of the picture with axes are assumed to be dockworkers not pirates) and I like the commander of the base and brown vested sailor in the ship (known as Steve), but why another officer, change this to three soldiers instead. Overall though a great and original set from Lego, seen by many as one of its best.

If you like this review click on the link to find it and all reviews of the pirate sets

http://legosteveblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/lego-pirate-wave-2-1992-1993.html

This is an amazing set. It provides a main "Hub" to your lego port. I think that with a combination of this set, Eldorado Fortress, Broadside's Brig, Lagoon Lock-up, and Sabre Island, all put beside each other in a certain way would make the perfect port.

Some people say that it's not really much of a "Trading post," but I think the cranes, chests, and barrels do it for me. It has a lot of features, like the Governor's office, a dock-house, cannons to defend it, a ramp for small boats, and a sort of office/guard tower for the soldiers. Of course, the trade boat is very nice too. It is a key feature in the set's ability to strike a balance between trade post, and navy base. Last but not least, I'll include a list of mini-figures included in the set:

Govener Broadside
Imperial officer
2 Imperial Guards
2 Pirates
2 sea men
Trade captain