favorite pirate ship

[playmo1989]

Nope, I had western and zoo, but no playmo pirates, only L*&^ pirates. I'm just now starting on playmo pirates, and I love them!

 
hmmm.... i would sudjest when you decide to buy one buy a 3750 / 3740 or 3940 

[cachalote]

hello kenny and welcome.
  i am glad my "all the pirate ships..." thread could help you.
  as your son is only 3 years old maybe a pirate ship will prove a little too "demanding".
a 3750 was the first set i ever bought as an offer to my nephew - he was older then and the ship soon lost its spares and rigging.
children that small still don't have the hand-brain coordination not to "destroy" such a delicate toy as a playmo-ship.
  but then again, maybe when you assemble it for your son you will soon become a collector of the pirate theme and you will always be welcome aboard.

[Kenny]

So 3940/3286 (and now 5135?) seems to be a popular choice.

Why?  What makes this pirate ship the best of the lot, particularly when compared to the current "Large Pirate Ship" (4290)?

-- Kenny

[playmo1989]

So 3940/3286 (and now 5135?) seems to be a popular choice.

Why?  What makes this pirate ship the best of the lot, particularly when compared to the current "Large Pirate Ship" (4290)?

-- Kenny

popular ... well my best are 3750 ,3550 and 3740 but it's difficult for you to find them in new condition that's why is not a good choice.. noooooooooooooooooooo 4290 is junk not worth it  5135 is the one you need , you can see the difference yourself it's prettier and more realistic  (only problem that scull on the 3 sail    )

[Wesley Myers]

So 3940/3286 (and now 5135?) seems to be a popular choice.

Why?  What makes this pirate ship the best of the lot, particularly when compared to the current "Large Pirate Ship" (4290)?

-- Kenny

The 3940 is a bit bigger than the others and has more options to it. (options being you can mount more cannons on it - 8 in total but it only comes with 2 so you have to buy the other 6). 

The rigging is not as complex as the older 3050 / 3053. 

He might love the 4290 - you have to take into account many of the people on here are adults who like more scale realism as opposed to play value from the eyes of a preschooler.  If I was that age I know I would love it.  It's got lots of interactive things about it AND it's a big pirate ship.  Honestly, what's not to love?!

There is a reason Playmobil got rid of the 3940 and changed to a different ship.

I would also suggest the 5736 (http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-CA-Site/en_CA/Product-Show?pid=5736&cgid=Piraten).  It is based on the original Playmobil pirate ship (same boat, different sails and colours) BUT it has a huge problem.  The hold where you store your booty has no sides to it so all the small things (big too) get lost and you have dismantel the ship with a screw driver to get the little pieces out.  There is a weight in the bottom of it for ballast and the little pices even get lodged under there.  It's very frustrating.  However the rigging is simple and the cannon is bg and easy to load.

All the ones that look like this: http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-CA-Site/en_CA/Product-Show?pid=7518&cgid=Piraten are good.  There is no hold to lose things under but there is a hold.  They're smaller though.

One thing you have to think about is what would the pirates do?  Maybe you need a couple ships so the pirates can battle someone else (the bad pirates, for instance).   

My advice would be to get the 4290 for your child, get as many add-on sets as you can (ie lighthouse, raft w/octopus), etc, etc and let him have fun. 

I would aslo suggest maybe getting some of the mermaid sets too and maybe the ghost pirates before you can't find them anymore.

Watch craigslist and see how many other pirate sets you can snatch up in the mean time.

One more thing - to you or I waiting 'till Christmas is only 6 months.  To a 3 year old that is 1/6 of his entire lifetime of a wait.

[Ds dad]

Kenny,

I bought my son his first ship (boat really) just after his 3rd birthday. It was the 4444 Cannon Boat and he absolutely loved it. Unfortunately that version is not readily available anymore.  Cachalote's thread is invaluable when researching PM pirate ships but one important thing to note is that there are not actually that many kinds of PM ships.  There are many different sets but the variations are often color and accesories and sometimes type of sails but not overall shape. 

Wesley gives you a good flavor above but basically they break down like this:

3050/3053/3550/5736
3055/3174/5775/
3940/3286/5135 (not available yet)
4290
4444
5140 (a growth of the 4444 and not available yet)

You can see pictures of all of them here:

http://www.playmodb.org/cgi-bin/sets.pl?theme=Pirates&sortby=setnum&focus=all&pics=on

From a kids point of view all are great. From an adults poinf of view (represented by this forum) the 4290 and 5736 don't get alot of love for their color schemes and overall lack of realism mostly.  The reason I picked 3940 as the best is it has many nice (realistic) touches such as the captains cabin and alot of cannon. It can double as a Navy ship (no skull and crossbones on the sails) and it comes with MANY additional accesories (mice, chickens, treasure, grappling hooks etc) so the play value is really high. Unfortunately they are not available retail but you can still find them on ebay. Another good kid set is 5775 because it comes with pirates and bluecoats for small battles. Still available at Toys r Us Canada as well.  Good luck.

[playmo1989]

I would also suggest the 5736 (http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-CA-Site/en_CA/Product-Show?pid=5736&cgid=Piraten)     

bliax ....    one of the most silly ships play/bil ever produced . that was the worst you could sudjest
 

There is a reason Playmobil got rid of the 3940 and changed to a different ship.

   

 
what ? what was the reason ??   

[bonniebeth]

bliax ....    one of the most silly ships play/bil ever produced . that was the worst you could sudjest
 

Alex, that's a little rude. Remember we're talking about what would have the best play value for a three-year-old, not which one looks most historically accurate to a collector.

[playmo1989]

Alex, that's a little rude. Remember we're talking about what would have the best play value for a three-year-old, not which one looks most historically accurate to a collector.

oh !!! sorry    even... what can a kid enjoy from this it's horrible in all ways    if i was a kid i woulden't buy it  ,i remember seeing cheapish stuff like that when i was a kid and i avoided them.. for ex. back then in 1997 this was the first ship they made that looked fake (the best though from all the fake ones made ) : http://www.collectobil.com/images/items/3860.jpg i never liked it .... so why a kid would love this comparing it with 3940 or 3550 

[Ds dad]

depends on the age of the kid. D just turned 4 and, even though I took him to see tall ships last year (including the Bounty), he doesn't realize that the PM ships are not realistic. So he is happy to play with them even if they are blue, red etc.