LEGO LOTR Pirate Ship Ambush 79008 Toy Interlocking Building Sets

My son, Kai gave me his money to order this for him using my account. Since it was for him, I assigned him this review as part of his home school curriculum. Here is his review in it's entirety: "Lego Lord of the Rings: Pirate Ship Battle, met my expectations. Everything about this set is great, and I couldn't really ask for more from it. The instructions were very clear, except that the part that shows you how to make the sails was a little bit confusing. It comes with 9 Minifigures, and most of them are new. This set has a lot of play-ability, and provides hours of endless fun. The set model is probably one every kid wants, it is a giant evil-looking pirate ship. It is very detailed, and looks like it sailed right out of the movie. There is a captain's cabin in the back, anchors in the front, and "crossbows" in the middle that have flick-fire missiles. The ship isn't the only model in this set, it also comes with an orc catapult. The catapult functions quite well, and has some fearsome looking spikes on the top of it. This set comes with 9 great Minifigures, and 3 of them are members of the fellowship. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are the same as they have appeared in previous sets. Aragorn comes with a sword, Legolas with a bow, and Gimli comes with an axe. The orcs are also the same as they have appeared in previous sets, except that their armor is arranged differently. One has a chest plate and an axe, and the other has no armor at all and a scimitar. The other four characters are completely new. The King of the dead has a glow-in-the dark head, a red cape, and a sword. The two soldiers of the dead have green capes, short swords, and glow-in-the dark heads. What makes the two soldiers different is their body pieces. Finally, there is a captured pirate. This pirate is based on the one played by the director Peter Jackson in The Return of the King. What does he come with to fight? A loaf of bread. This is a very enjoyable set, and I would recommend it to every Lord of the Rings fan and anyone who likes Lego pirate ships. It is a little overpriced in the stores, but we got it for 25$ cheaper on Amazon. It is definitely worth the buy, and a great addition to any Lord of the Rings collection." Read more

Pretty much the only negative with this set is that it depicts a scene from The Lord of the Rings films that one would be hard-pressed to call iconic. (The pirate ship here, commandeered by Aragorn, Legalos, Gimli and the Army of the Dead, only appears in the third film for a moment or two.) But, so long as you don't have a problem with that, there's a lot to love about this set: -- It comes with nine great minifigs: Our three heroes of the Fellowship I mentioned above, three ghost warriors, two orcs and one pirate of Umbar (specifically, the one director Peter Jackson plays in the film). Everyone but the orcs has two facial expressions to interchange. -- If you're buying this for your kid, it's a nice set to play with. The ship has an accessible jail cell, side-firing cannons and a pair of dangling axes that can be released from the ship and then reeled in. The set also comes with a working catapult for the orcs to man. -- Degree of difficultly on the build isn't too bad. It took me four days to put it together, working on it for an hour or less each day. -- If you consider yourself a master builder and are buying it for the parts, the set comes with six interlocking pieces that form the deck of the boat. Those six pieces could be used to build a variety of personally designed naval vessels of varying sizes. (Want a boat that's not quite as long? Just remove a piece!) The sails themselves are great too. -- The set comes with a fair number of weapons and a ton of shields, the latter of which are used in the boat's design but don't have to be. (My set even came with a few extra axe heads beyond what was necessary for the build.) I buy Lego sets for my kids and Lego sets for me. This one was for me, and makes for a great Lord of the Rings display set. It looks fantastic on top of my bookcase. Read more

I just finished building this one, and wow, what project. The flagship (so to speak) of the second wave of LOTR Lego sets, this is definitely for fans of more complex builds. At least I found putting all the little pieces together a bit of a challenge. I had a few minor problems with the sail assembly and a few times I had to backtrack because I misread the pictures in the booklet, but personally, that's what I enjoy about Lego--the challenge and personal involvement. Tho, to be completely honest, the real stars of the show, as always, are the mini-figs, and wow, what a selection you get with this set. You get the three main characters, a good representation of the Army of the Dead, a couple of Orcs with their own battle wagon, and to top things off, they included a Cosair Pirate as well. Needless to say, one of the most generous selections of mini-figs I've seen yet. Also, if your a fan of little tiny accessories--treasure chests, wine bottles, loafs of bread, gold coins, spare weapons--there's plenty of that included too. In short, a really worthwhile set. The hundred dollar price tag is more than justified. If your a LOTR fan, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. It's one of the better sets I've seen, and that's saying a lot. Read more

This product is great, and fun build for all ages. I suppose I'll do this in the traditional way, so here are the pros and the cons. Pros: -Great build, fun for all -9 Minifigs! -A King of the Dead Minifig! -Interesting Pieces that are unique to the set -Orcs and the catapult are a great feature to add -Also, 4 exclusive Minifigs to this set: 2 soldiers of the dead, The Pirate of Umbar, and The King of the Dead Cons: -None really, but if you have to pick one, it would be the silly increase of the addition of flick missiles into the newer sets. To wrap up, this set is worth the money, even at the 100 dollar price point. The 9 minifigs that this set come with, and 4 exclusive Minifigs build to the worth of this set. A great addition to any collection! Read more

Very nice pirate ship Read more