LEGO Duel by Moonlight: Cursed Pirates Ahoy at 4181 Isla De Muerta!

Released in April of 2011, the LEGO 4181 Isla De Muerta set is part of the Pirates of the Caribbean collection. Based off the ending of the Curse of the Black Pearl, the 4181 Isla De Muerta set allows you to recreate Jack and Barbossa’s epic duel, but will they be fighting ‘til Judgment Day and the trumpets sound or will a certain fem fatal intervene? Only you can decide! The set contains a part of the cavern, the chest of the cursed Aztec gold as well as four LEGO mini figures (Captain Barbossa, Skeleton Captain Barbossa, Captain Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann). The set also contains part of the poster that has been released with this collection. What’s the secret? You’ll have to get all the sets to find out!

The cave itself is not large, made up of a waterway that you can row up into, the altar and a platform on which Jack and Barbossa can fight. But wait! A rotating pillar opens up the cave to the moonlight and reveals Barbossa’s cursed form! In the middle of the cavern, surrounded gold is the brick build chest that holds all the pieces of the cursed Aztec gold. Every piece of gold must be put back in the chest and contain blood from all of the repentant pirates to lift the curse, but are a couple of the pieces missing? You can turn Jack’s face around to reveal that he has stolen some of the gold and is cursed too!

Gold coins, gold goblets, gold bars and a few crystals liter the cavern and are just waiting to be picked up by an opportunistic thief waiting for the right moment. Behind the arch is a mast from a sunken ship. Upon hitting the axle that the mast sits on, the mast can be made to collapse upon the small boat. The boat has two benches for minifigures to sit on, comfortably holding up to six people, and also features a lantern and two wood oars.

All of the minifigures are extremely well detailed by LEGO standards. Captain Jack Sparrow’s headgear includes his mop of long black braided hair as well as his red headband. He also carries around his magic compass, which points towards whatever he wants most in the world. Though not accurate to the movie, Elizabeth is wearing the red evening gown that Barbossa lent to her. Her long brown hair flows past her shoulders and her face has two expressions: panicking and smiling. Barbossa is by far the most complex. Wearing his large hat with a feather in it, he also sports an amazing pirate coat and pants. The minifigure is also equipped with a green apple (to be eaten when the curse is lifted) as well as a cutlass and useable scabbard. Barbossa can also change into this skeletal form, wearing only his shoes, hat and sword belt. The sword belt, however, does not fit well on skeleton Barbossa. Both minifigures have the same face, although skeleton Barbossa’s version has a white background. The only person needed to make this set perfect is a certain blacksmith, Will, who is mysteriously absent.

Though exciting and full of danger, this 152-piece set is not terribly difficult to build. The company recommends it for builders age 6 to 12, owing to the fact that it is a small set without any super-complex moving parts of traps. The perfect set for a young builder who wants a lot of action but can’t necessarily handle some of the larger builds, they will be able to handle this one by themselves. With lots of adventure and action waiting to be discovered, this is a must have set for any LEGO fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

If the Pirates Of The Caribbean collection interest you, you might also want to look at the LEGO Star Wars sets!