The new LEGO Ideas Ship in a Bottle set is now officially part of the pirate bar! Although their stock was low, I was able to pick it up at our local LEGO store. It does look like the set is available online again now, after quickly selling out at first. It retails for $69.99, and is totally worth it. Check it out here.

The set is a lot of fun to put together and is a testament to the LEGO System’s functionality for model-making. As such, this set most definitely falls more into the model category vs. a toy. The components are very small and intricate and when finished, looks pretty legit.

The aptly-named “Leviathan”‘s sails feature a dragon-like sea monster, the general appearance of which hail back to the classic days of LEGO Castle sets (for those of you who remember). 

The building experience is fun. You build the ship first, followed by the bottom half of the bottle. After inserting the ship, you finish the top half, then the base that the whole bottle sits in. The compass featured on the base is a nice touch.

Despite being a LEGO piece (and classically thought of as a toy), this truly resembles a model and looks great on the mantle next to my model Spanish frigate.