Introduction

Skull's Eye Schooner (in US) or The Black Skull (in EU), is the largest ship in the Classic Pirates Series and it was released in 1993.
This Ship was not promoted as it was Black Seas Barracuda (The Dark Shark), but even without such promotion, this ship earned its reputation among the best Lego sets of all time.

Parts

This set has lots of unique parts that can be found only in this set.
The blue tree palm top can be found only here and the Imperial Flagship 6271.
The panel with Jolly Roger Pattern can be found only in this set and also the Hull with the Red Top is present only here.
All these are ordinary bricks that can only be found here, but here are many other parts that are completely dedicated.

The Sails are completely unique and they were made like they couldn't be better.
The combination between black and white makes the vessel to look far more agressive comparing to a different one that has red or blue combined with white.
The Jolly Roger on the top sail may look a bit too childish, but comparing to Brickbeard's Bounty, at least this one is more serious and can pass the critics.

There is a total of 4 cannons which is a lot to play with or to expose against any potential enemy.
They are connected through a system which lets the player to rotate them 360 degrees and place them on both sides of the deck.

Another beautiful part is that this is the only Ship ever made that has a safe boat.
The back of the main Ship has a system to attach the safe boat which let the player to release it only in a case of emergency.

Skull's Eye Schooner is the first and one of the few Ships that have a mast above the Pirate cabin.
The Pirate cabin has 2 white doors (also used on western sets), and the player would have access to the cabin by opening the side walls by releasing the system which stops the walls to open unwanted.

If you look at it, the first triangular sail can be considered the head of the shark and the last triangular sail can pass as being the tail of the shark, so I'd say that this ship indeed has a very nice shape.

There are also 3 different animals, a little of everything, a parrot, a monkey and a shark.

Another important thing to mention is that Lego 6286 is one of the two sets who have the system to controll the helm by rotating the steering, the other one being 6271.

No matter how much I talk about Skull's Eye Schooner parts, I feel like I'll never finish, so I'll stop here and I'll let anything else to be discovered by you when you'll build it.

Minifigures

These minifigs are a "classic", and a classic will always remain memorable and awesome due to their mark over the decades.

Captain Roger (Redbeard) is considered the best pirate captain of all time, even after Pirates 2009 were released, and this set will prove why he is in the top of the pirate captains list.
He has a bit of everything, and he is full of charm without trying to catch your attention with shiny epaulettes or shiny hook.
His hat has the basic skull on it which makes it more natural comparing with the cartoonish skull present in later Pirate sets.

Pirate Merchant is the most rare pirate of all time.
He is present only in two large sets, (6286 Skull's Eye Schooner & 6277 Imperial Trading Post).
His brown vest makes him elegant and unique.

Pirate Female is also a very nice adition to your Pirates Collection.
She is very well detailed on her torso by having painted a classic corset and a belt.
Her red corset among her blue bandana makes a very nice combination on the deck.
Her head is detailed with very large lips which makes her impossible to get confused with any other minifigure.

All other Pirates in the crew are very nice due to their simplicity, and you will be wondered how you'll never get bored of them even if they are are extremely basic.

The build

Building Skull's Eye Schooner is a compete challenge for everyone of all ages, no matter if you're a boy or a girl, a man or a woman.
You will never get bored to place another and another brick and with the every step you go further, you will become more and more addicted to finish.
The combination of colors will be combined in harmony and when you'll say "it's done", you will be looking at something what some Pirate collectors consider "The Best Pirate Ship".

The completed model

The complete model looks absolutely amazing.
It has 66cm (26inches) long, 23cm (9inches) width and 49cm (19inches) tall.
At first point, you will probably consider this the best pirate ship of all time, but later, once you look at it over and over again, you will be surprised how the best can become even better.
It becomes more beatufiul each day, day after day, and you will be surprised how you never get bored of looking at it.

If you'll try to add something to the completed model, you notice that it is indeed completed and there is nothing else to add there.

Summary

As a summary, I recommend to buy it, no matter when or from where.
If you mind to have the shooting cannons, then you should aim for a European version and to recognize the EU version you should look for the box that doesn't have the Pirate Flag at the Top-Right corner of the front picture.
If you don't mind to have the shooting cannons, then you can aim for the US version, and this one will bring to you a short Pirate Story on the Lid of the opened box.
As this set has been released in 1993 and today it is extremely hard to find it new and unopened, you will probably have to buy it second-hand from eBay.
Its price is preety expensive comparing to all other Pirate Ship, but you will consider it worth.

Now we see another reason why these years are looked back with such fondness, this ship has been argued by many as the better of the two pirate ships, It contains all that the previous ship contained, but also came with a nicer colour scheme (the red and white works really well) there is also the inclusion of an extra sail at the back and the pirate figure head at the front looks better (in my opinion). It has to noted that the set also contained a greater variety of minifigs (including the Wench and Brownshirt Steve). In honesty both the sets are of a very high-class, and it is nice to have the luxury of choice over a favourite rather than there being only one good set, more of this say’s I arrrg.

If you like this review click on the link to find it and all reviews of the pirate sets

http://legosteveblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/lego-pirate-wave-2-1992-1993.html

SES and BSB are both just amazing looking but if BSB and SES will start to fighti think at SES will fin, it has 4 cannons more and its just looks cool,

Pros:
It has lots of minifigs and cannons and the hsip is very big

Cons:
Can you say that? Because i cant its just PERFECT!

i give absolulty 5/5 for this set

Now I own the bsb and the ses i finally feel able to post a review.

This set was recently dragged from under my bed at my parents house which due the unfortunate position of a window and careless nature of cats came out alittle worse for wear.

It has now been rebuilt (and all the white parts replaced) and takes pride of place within all my lego sets. Firstly is massive, really big, contains nine minifigs and loads of pirate themed weapons.

The trimming on the ship is excellent and really makes it stand out, I like the black and white sails and even quite like the skull and crossbones design on the larger sail at the back.

The colours flow nicely from the brown hull of the ship, red to grey to black and finally white. Theres plenty of storage at the front although it seems with pirate ships never enough detail goes into the front section (cover it with a lid and don't ask questions).

The captains cabin is nice although interupted by a clumsy steering mechanism, and gives good access with two hinged walls and a removable roof.

Four cannons available on one side make it the meanest ship out there (until 10210 anyway), i would like more detail and completion of the floor of this ship, something like the bsb has would have made this set almost perfect.

If we are going to compare it with the bsb, it is better (IMHO) in the following regards.

Working winch, extra mast at the back, cool storage for the little boat, working (albeit badly) rudder and the extra minifig.

The bsb is the more asthetically pleasing boat and I think overall the better but this is about the ses. Its an easy five star set for me, the few cons i've found can't out way the hundres of positive things about this set.

Pros
-Massive ship, loads of pirate weapons and minifigs
-Very striking model when built
-Four working cannons and enougth ammo to take out 6276 and 6274
-Brilliant storage for the little boat
-The view from the back is stunning with arches and mix of colours

Cons
-White doors (into cabin) look wrong on a pirate set
-No detail on floor of boat (its just cannons down there)
-I know its picky but why green flags?

I just received a Skull's Eye Schooner this morning, and I just completed building it. My ship isn't entirely complete, it misses the four great sails, two cannons, the monkey, a big pirate's flag and some very small pieces. But it's about 97% complete I think and it was about one third of the regular price on Ebay.

She's gorgeous. She's slightly longer and taller than the #6285 Black Seas Barracuda, and exactly the same width. Her crew is one man larger, thanks to the mysterious brown vested sailor that looks like a renegade blue French officer. Her third mast with small sail makes her faster than her older sistership BSB. But the BSB has more loading space.

The steering mechanism of the SES is nice, and it takes up far less space than I had expected. But if it were real, her turning circle would be to big. But that's okay. THe SES has a nice crane mechanism, better than the one of the BSB I think.

Her color scheme is good, but I prefer the gold black of the BSB. The few blue elements of the ship seem to make a strange contrast with the rest of her, and I don't really like the statue on the bough, it too dark. But the SES is better armed. Although hated by some here, I really think the turning system for the four cannons is good thinking. The hanging life boat is smart thinking as well.

Pro's:
-tall
-long
-faster (more sails)
-crane
-able to carry more cannons (8)
-better armament/more weapons
-large crew (9), shark, monkey and parrot
-working steering mechanism
-life boat on the back

Cons:
-color scheme
-bough statue
-smaller cabin
-smaller storage space
-skull on main sail (based on pictures)

9.5 out of 10, but five stars for the record!