Playmobil Pirates!
Raft with Octopus, Dinghy, Lighthouse Fortress, and Large Pirate Ship
by Mr. Stinkhead

Click to skip to the free printable Pirate Map

Raft with Octopus - 4291
Let's go from smallest to largest. This pirate raft has a tattered sail, some strapped down treasure, two ragged pirates, a handful accessories, and the coolest octopus I've ever seen. You may be familiar with the miniature, color-changing Octopus from earlier sets. This one dwarfs that little thing, at a massive 8 inches in diameter. Big and angry, this black octopus has sculpted suckers under each of his tentacles, but wait, there's a surprise! His head hides a bulb, you can soak up and then squirt water out of his lead tenticle. Making him and the raft perfect for bath time as well.

I particularly like how these are the most worked-over pirates I've ever seen. The one has bags under his eyes, their clothes are torn, they're looking like they've spent a few weeks stranded out to sea. I like the rubber straps that easily keep their treasure chest secured. It's tight enough to keep it in place, but loose enough you can stick other random swords or rum bottles in between the chest an the band. There are also a few of the clear plastic tabs that playmobil has added for displaying your playmo. I like how they equally address the collector and the child at play with their additions.

When it comes down to it, the octopus is amazing. He looks like he can really do some damage, even to the large pirate ship below. I liked the earlier raft, however. Playmobil had a raft with really defined logs, this one, the sculpt looks kind of "mushed" which I suppose helps with the strapping, but in the long run I prefer their older raft design. Also, there is no groove on the bottom to attach the motor boat. I like that I can attach that one motor to multiple boats (or buy multiple motors and have races) but this one is missing out. You can pick up this set at your favorite local toy store or on playmobil.com

Pirate Dinghy - 4444
Target Exclusive
As far as we know, this is a Target exclusive. (It may also be available at Toys R Us or Wal*Mart.) For under $20, this set is an amazing value. When you think playmobil, you think quality, detail, imagination. With this set, the first thing I think is Wow! This is some great value!. For the price, you're getting a nice playmobil pirate ship, a cannon, two pirates, some treasure, and loads of play time. I don't typically think of playmobil as being a value purchase, because I love it so much, I can justify the cost, (you're also paying for a quality that lasts forever, and probably multiple kids, yeah, the kids...)

Taking a note from the large pirate ship below, there is some stealth play involved. The pirate flag is on a simple rope loop, so you can have it resting at the bottom of the mass, approach a port or other ship, and then raise the pirate flag, letting your intentions be known. It looks complicated, but actually is two simple knots. I love how this simple addition adds a nice level of imagination to the set, and raises the quality of the ship a few notches in the process.

I also like the included pirates, (not nearly as beat up as the raft pirates, this dinghy must have offered a little bit more protection.) I like the green tri-corner hat, and his little buckle shoes. These are original pirates and not simple reissues of earlier pirates (as far as I know). The other pirate, with the mutton chops, seems a bit fancier, but not something I would point out if I were to face him in a duel.

The treasure is nice, it's really shiny gold, unlike the gold or silver colored plastic dubloons, these have a great quality to them. I wish some of the other sets had come with these. The included treasure chest is almost too small to hold them all, but it does. I would have removed 2 or 3 of the coins to make the closure a little easier for little fingers.

Another cool little feature is the cannon mount. There is a clasp molded onto the front of the cannon's base that can pinch onto three brackets found in the ship. The first is at the bow of the boat, and then there is one on each side. You can clip the cannon to this bracket, to keep the cannon in place. Nice! I also want to point out that I'm fairly impressed with this recent cannon design. Let me give you a little bit of history. The first playmobil cannons (originating in Germany) were spring loaded, and shot pea-sized cannon balls an impressive distance... not too much force, but you could nail a cat at 20 feet away. Well because the pieces are so small, American safety standards had the springs removed, so that one could not shoot the cannon balls into mouths or eyes of other children. Some customizers learned you could easily restore these impotent cannons by adding a pen spring. Or you could do what I did, and pick one up overseas (it's one of my favorite pieces) But to satisfy the need for firepower, playmobil then introduced the Big Bertha which shot a cannon ball the size of a ping pong ball. Though it was nice to engage in real "firing" battles, the Big Bertha seemed kind of comical. So now we have these originally sized cannons, that shoot a spring-loaded cannon ball, that have quite a tail on them. Now they are rubber tipped, and the tail prevents them from being a choking hazard. I like the compromise.

There is also a nice amount of accessories. There's a parrot, some gun powder barrels, a compass with a linticular needle, and plenty of knives, swords and pistols to really terrorize the high seas. Instead of the clear plastic tabs, this set has several molded octogon tabs that help keep your pirates in place, perfect for display. What I love is that this a great set for collectors, but a perfect set for kids. If you want a nice pirate ship, without all the trappings or cost of the big mamma below, then this is just perfect. As far as we know, this set is only available at Target.

Lighthouse Fortress - 4294
This fortress is pretty sweet. I've always liked the "land" playsets that playmobil have provided for their Pirate theme. I have the French prison, I've lusted after the Paradise Island, but this year we got something completely new. The lighthouse fortress isn't just a lighthouse (even though it's a nice one) it also has a great deck for shooting cannons, and two different jail cells for locking up wayward pirates. There's a nice dock, some beautiful stairs, and the fire actually lights up and flickers (2 AAA batteries not included).

Not only is it a beautiful lighthouse on it's own, but it's a great piratey playset. Jails, cannons, a dock for tying up the boats...but I also love all of the little touches, such as the ladder leading up to the top deck, the swinging arm with pulley and attached jug, the "secret passage" in the rocks, and the trap door in the second level room. I love the carved stone bricks giving the whole thing a wonderful texture. One detail that they could have gotten away with skipping (but is a wonderful addition) are the carved benches in the prison area. They're pirate prisoners! Make em sleep on the floor! But no, they have "cots" carved into the stone foundation for the prisoners to sleep on.

There's also a lot of foliage, if you're into that type of thing. I like the ivy going up the side and all of the little cacti and palm trees that dot the "sand." Speaking of sand, one of my favorite subtle details is the way the sand is piling up against the one end of the stairs. Though it's really hard plastic, it's got the fluidity of sand.

Overall this set is pretty awesome. It's a great set by itself, it would look natural in any maritime playmobil display, pirates or not. It's not just a companion piece to the big mamma pirate ship. And at first you're thinking, a lighthouse? That's not a load of fun, but it really is a fortress, with a jail, and cannon deck. This is a beautiful compliment to the pirate ship, yet is also a strong stand-alone playset. You can pick up this set at your favorite local toy store or playmobil.com

Pirate Ship - 4290
Ahoy! This is one massive pirate ship. I have the pirate ship of a few years ago, (3940) and this one seems even bigger. And don't think that because you have this or an earlier pirate ship that you don't need another... take a look at all the improvements in this one, and you'll see its a whole new toy.

The first new addition is the stealth mode, infact the whole ship is designed around the idea of a stealthy pirate ship full of surprise attacks. My original pirate ship came with 2 cannons, and I slowly beefed up my artillery by buying additional cannons from direct service and the add-ons catalog. This one comes fully armed with 5 cannons (and no room for any others). These cannons are like the one on the dinghy, that actually fire rubber cannon balls that have a "tail." Actually you get enough ammo to load up four of the cannons, you can place a grappling hook in the fifth. Sweet! The first tractor beam of the high seas. Just point, aim, shoot, and drag the victim's boat up to your side. It's nice not having to outfit this ship any further. It feels complete.

The the real cool think about the cannons is that they're on a rotating wall. Pull back on the notch, and they quickly fall below deck, to appear that they're unarmed. It's quite fluid actually. So you can quickly hide your cannons if your ship starts coming up on an unsuspecting boat. They're not so unsuspecting if you use the grappling hook though. Speaking of which, you can lift two panels and stow that cannon in the Captain's quarters, for further protection.

In addition to hiding the cannons, you can also roll up the flexible pirate flag, and hide it in a hollow tube. Yank the rope and the tube reveals the pirate flag in a flash! This seemed cheesy as I was putting it together, but I really got giddy about how it pops out. SNEAK ATTACK! (remember that from the Empire Strikes Back Kenner commercials?) It's easy to roll it up and stow it again, and I can see the kids getting a kick out of it. I'd like to point out that the set comes with non-pirate flags, if you want to be a "good" ship... but seriously, who does that? I like the option though. And the masthead can easily rotate, displaying either a harmless coil like the top of a Roman pillar, or the dread pirate skull.

My other favorite addition is the plank! My old pirate ship didn't have a plank, but this is nice. The portion of the railing flips down easily (on either side) and there is a clip in which to securly hold the plank. Line 'em up and march em off. Now you can really relive that scene from Goonies. Above the plank, on the main mast, there is a great pulley driven crane. There are two cranks on either side of the crows nest. Turn the one side for raise and lower the hook at the end of the rope, turn the other crank to raise the arm itself (bringing the payload closer or further away from the ship's galley. And because it's ratcheted, you can display it any any position. I'm impressed with all the detail that went it to this.

There are one or two downsides. I love this ship and think it'll be a lot of fun, for a lot of kids, but there were one or two sacrifices of "features" that I missed. Actually they're not features, it's space. The Captain's Quarters are downsized now as it's mainly a hiding area for the cannon. In myship, that part of the deck came off, to give you full access to the room, and I loved hiding all the good guns under the captain's mattress. In fact I proposed to my wife by hiding her ring inside the treasure chest inside the captain's quarters. Classy stuff I tell ya. Also, allowing room for the rotating cannons, there's less room in the galley. It's more of a storage spot rather than a whole "below deck." But to be fair it is somewhat of an improvement over the old ship, because you couldn't do much more than retreat the loose cannons, and lose the little tiny pieces down there.

But here's my favorite part, the sail rigging has been replaced with very easy to snap on plastic pieces! The pirate ship I had before took about 2 hours to complete the rope rigging. In fact, they gave you one piece of string, and you had to measure where to cut! This was so much nicer, one-two-done. Now some elitists may not like it, but I don't think they really sacrifice any detail here. I was happy to have it put together that much faster, and it was still enjoyable.

>Overall it seems bigger. There are two sails on the two main masts, there's a lot more play function to this piece. There are also loads of accessories. There are some cool pirates (I love the bald pirate!) Two of the pirates have a cool sash that lets them hold two pistols (or swords) Awesome! There's also a parrot, a bell, a spider monkey with a clip on rubber baby monkey, and lots of food for them to keep them happy over the long voyage. No accordian however, I wonder if that is an improvement too?

I love this ship, I think it's really well done. It goes in the bathtub (though no ballast weight was included), and you can purchase the underwater motor and attach it to the underside to really get it going. You can pick up this pirate ship at your favorite local toy store or playmobil.com

This pirate line really knocked it out of the park. I was initially expecting rehashes of earlier sets, but each one of these is really bringing something new and worthwile to the table. I think it's great of playmobil to keep revamping their classics. Though play value is injected more here and there, I think that the collector is still being addressed, and served, well.

I put together a Free Pirate Map you can download and print out. It has pictures of these three sets, plus the Nessie monster. You could even print it out in black and white, and your little pirate could color it if they wanted to. Either way, enjoy!

Check out the rest of our playmobil coverage, including the Car Wash, dinosaurs, and video podcasts. You can also get more pirate fun at the Playmobil Pirate Web site (official).

All images and article ©2008 MillionairePlayboy.com.

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