Previously we established which is the best Lego Pirates ship and which is the better set between the new Eldorado Fortress and Barracuda Bay.

But we never had a poll about the best (bigger/big) Lego Pirates Set ever. So let's find it out!

Which set is your all time favorite? Which set do you consider to be the best Lego Pirates set ever?

Or is your favorite not on the list and you prefer a small set or something from POTC?

 

6270: Forbidden Island:

 

6276: Eldorado Fortress:

 

6273: Rock Island Refuge:

 

6277: Imperial Trading Post:

 

6278: Enchanted Island:

 

6279: Skull Island:

 

6281: Pirates Perilous Pitfall:

 

6242: Soldiers' Fort:

 

21322: Pirates of Barracuda Bay:

 

10320: Eldorado Fortress:

This is a tough one. All things considered, Pirates of Barracuda Bay should be the best Pirates set, yet I chose Imperial Trading Post. Even though it be not much of a pirate type set, it captures age of sail best out of all the sets released under 'Pirates' name. That be my reason.

 

But I think that Pirates of Barracuda Bay is the best pirate type set, so i would have voted it had it not been for Imperial Trading post (hope me gibberish makes some sense ). 

PoBB is the clearly the best, but is it really fair for classic set to be confronted to it?

On the classic side, I acquired the imperial trading post and enchanted island in the past years. I found both to have their charm but felt pretty empty on the built. But I guess I was also judging them from the new releases perspective. So I would have voted imperial trading post for a classic pirate selection.

I also voted for 6277 as it is the closest set to a proper port and is one of the few Pirates set that depicts civilians and merchants rather than just Pirates/soldiers/Islander factions

It was very difficult to choose between the original Eldorado Fortress and the Imperial Trading Post. I like both very much. In the end I picked Eldorado Fortress but both feel equally good.

POBB, nothing comes even close. Lego absolutely nailed it with that set.

7075 - It was my first pirate ship, after all! 

In all seriousness, I voted for the 2009 Soldiers Fort. I ogled that in every catalog it was in for it's entire production run, but never had the money to buy and never received it as a gift. (I got Medieval Market Village that year instead, so I'm not complaining...)

This would be a much more interesting poll without B-Bay, which is my favorite Lego set of all time, pirates theme or not.

6270 Forbidden Island is an also-ran, and while it was part of the original line, it's hamstrung by its trapdoor mechanism that doesn't work (the same one used in 6081 King's Mountain Fortress), and it's outshone by Rock Island Refuge and other later bases.  Interestingly, this set looks better without the mast and rigging.

 6276: Eldorado Fortress is one of the best sets of all time.  'nuff said.

6273: Rock Island Refuge is a solid base with some neat play features.  It's probably the most realistic looking pirate refuge, and my favorite of the pirate bases.

6277: Imperial Trading Post is a classic, although the buildings by themselves are each simple and quite lackluster, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  Great play features, the boat is an amazing build, and together the thing looks like, well, a trading post.  Tied with Eldorado for the best of the classic bases.

6278: Enchanted Island is great.  It's got pretty much everything the Islanders theme has to offer.  It doesn't speak to me the way the Eldorado and the ITP do, and I can't quite put my finger on why.

6279: Skull Island has some great play features, but the goofy skull just doesn't work for me.  Still, this is my second favorite pirate base behind Rock Island Refuge.  There's almost no rare bricks here, so it's an easy set to Bricklink for dirt cheap if you have a lot of bulk.

6281: Pirates Perilous Pitfall is just confused. There's some OK play features, but the rope draw bridge didn't do it for my as a kid, and it still doesn't do it for me.  I don't currently own this set, as (like most of the last wave of classic pirates) I consider it pretty mediocre.  But hey, if you want to drop over a hundred bucks on a red trapdoor, at least it works, which is more than can be said of the one in Forbidden Island.

6242: Soldiers' Fort is one of the sets of all time.  The same can be said for most of the 2010s pirates sets.  I don't own any of these, and even the 10210 Imperial Flagship is IMHO not as nice as Skull's Eye Schooner.

Took me some time to figure out for which set i want to vote. Finally i decided to go with the 6277 Imperial Trading Post. Sure, Barracuda Bay and also the newest Eldorado Fortress are the more modern sets, using the latest parts and techniques, but the concept of the Trading Post appeals more to me and i also like the more "realistic" approach of a Caribbean port town.

Not surprising that Barracuda Bay is running away with the vote, it's definitely got the most piratest vibes out of all of them!

I own almost all the sets, so I have had first hand experience with them all (except Rock Island Refuge) and all have their merits, but in the end, I voted for Pirates Perilous Pitfall.

Because it has the best name. Is it the best set? no, not really. But I love the name enough, and it is a very unique set. So it gets my vote.

EKnight

44 minutes ago, Elephant Knight said:

[...] Pirates Perilous Pitfall.

Because it has the best name.

It's true, it's the best name for a Lego set ever (of sets that i know )!

On 3/27/2024 at 2:37 AM, Yperio_Bricks said:

6281: Pirates Perilous Pitfall:

I vividly recall emerging from my Dark Age back in the early 2000s...

I entered my Dark Age towards the end of 1993 so it had been almost a decade since I'd paid attention to any new LEGO Pirate sets released thereafter.

I was vaguely aware of couple of Islanders sets but beyond those,  anything released after 1993 was uncharted waters.

I think it was 2002... I'd just discovered LUGNET and was browsing through the Pirate sets for the first time.  As I was passing through sets released during the latter years, I somewhat got the sense that the Pirate theme was "winding down".

Many of the sets had  a reduced part count and were less nuanced than those released in the earlier years.

So it was a pleasant surprise when Pirates Perilous Pitfall appeared on my screen!

Sure, some may criticise it for being merely a couple of structures atop a raised base plate, but the concept was admirable - the designers had attempted something new, not previously explored in sets like 6270 Forbidden Island, 6273 Rock Island Refuge and 6279 Skull Island.  Ok, granted the ship skeleton was transplanted straight from 6296 Shipwrecked (or vice versa) but pirates defending a crown, hidden within mountain temple, protected by a devious boulder trap was completely fresh!

Even though Pirates Perilous Pitfall was 5 years old in 2002, it felt so new to me!

So that's how this particular set has became firmly lodged in the depths of mind for the past 22 years, even though it wasn't a set that existed during my childhood.

 

On 3/30/2024 at 5:32 AM, Mister Phes said:

I think it was 2002... I'd just discovered LUGNET and was browsing through the Pirate sets for the first time.  As I was passing through sets released during the latter years, I somewhat got the sense that the Pirate theme was "winding down".

I also joined LUGNET in 2002. Before that I didn't know any people my own age that liked Lego. At the same time I also discovered Bricklink and Brickshelf. It was like a dream coming true being able to buy all the sets I didn't get when I was younger and Brickshelf gave me a lot of ideas for my MOCs.  

Enchanted Island all the way.

 

So much play opportunities with the invading Pirates. Both factions getting cloth sails goes a long way. All those colors and so big. A true island playset with lush vegetation and wildlife. If I could have only ONE set, that would be it.

So Barracuda Bay snatched half of the votes with the Imperial Trading Post a distant second. The original Eldorado Fortress came in third while the new iteration of this classic set got zero votes

Come on! A set from the 21st century can hardly be the best ever. That's some megablocks!

The polls don't lie

9 hours ago, Captain_SoyBeard said:

Come on! A set from the 21st century can hardly be the best ever. That's some megablocks!

Huh? The "classic" sets are nowhere near the level of new sets, nostalgia is blinding you