Set Sail On The LEGO Icons The Endurance (10335) – Review By BrickShed

Last year LEGO chose the Endurance as their big Black Friday set, and I have to say this wasn’t a ship that I had ever heard of. I really liked the look of it and decided to get it, one of the reviews I watched by Tiago recommended watching the Endurance documentary on Disney+, which is just what I did. I also listened to Dan Snow’s history hit podcast on Shackleton, which provided a bit more info about the ship and what happened. 

Shackleton is regarded as one of the greatest explorers and was part of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Between 1907-1909 he led the Nimrod expedition to become the first person to reach the South Pole but failed in his pursuit just 97 miles short. Whilst Amundsen and Scott, would all go on to reach the South Pole in 1911/12, Shackleton missed out. In 1914, at the break of the First World War, Shackleton set out to not only reach the South Pole but also be the first to traverse Antarctica from The Wendell Sea to the Ross Sea. The ship that took him and his crew was the Endurance as part of the Imperial Trans-Atlantic Expedition. Originally the ship was called the Polaris but was renamed by Shackleton to “Endurance” after his family motto which is “By Endurance we Conquer”.

Shackleton took Frank Hurley with him to document the trip by using photos and a camera. As a result we have pretty accurate photos and videos of the Endurance, some of which have been colourised by professionals.

The ship sank in 1915 off the coast of Antarctica (more on that later).

The LEGO version comprises of 3,011 pieces and retails for £229.99, it does need a fair amount of shelf space as its 80cm long and 47cm tall.

The Build:

The set has one instruction book and 28 bags, along with some extra pieces in separate bags and the sails in their own paper bag.

The instructions set out the history of endurance, right through to how the wreck was discovered 100 years to the day Shackleton was buried (5th March). The wreck was remarkably intact with the name of the ship in golden letters and the star clearly visible.

I had an absolute blast building this set from the first bag all the way through to the final bag 28. Throughout the book there is information on the ship itself and what the designers were thinking when they designed the set. Thankfully there are no stickers included with the set and just three printed pieces, which is all you need, they are the name of the ship, a map of Antarctica and then a printed UCS style plaque.

Bags 1 – 5 build the bow of the ship, Bags 7 – 12, the midsection, Bags 13 – 20 the stern. These three sections are joined together by a long technic axis. One thing to add is that because the keel is very narrow, the first thing you build is a stand that you build each section in separately before adding it to the main build. One slight gripe is that the pieces of the stand are not part of the finished build and are effectively spares left over, which is a shame they couldn’t be incorporated into the build.

The triple expansion engine which can be removed from the ship and put on display next to the ship if you wanted to. Although removing it is a little fiddly as you have to remove sections of the ship to get to it.

Once you built the three sections you then move onto the top deck. This includes the kennels for the dogs and a steering wheel for the rudder before moving on to the lifeboats to the ship, which were all named after the main sponsors for the exhibition. The lifeboats have two different designs.

The final few bags sees you put together the sails and rigging. Building the rigging was probably my least favourite part of the build, as it was very repetitive. However, once you done this and started adding the sails it all comes together to look amazing.

The Price:

The set retails for £229.99 and is a Lego Store exclusive and I haven’t seen it anywhere else so is unlikely to ever be discounted elsewhere. For the build and number of pieces, I think this is great value for money.

The Minifigures:

The set has no minifigures that come with the set. Which is a shame as the most famous part of the expedition is what came after the ship sank and Shackleton’s actions to save his crew. The crew were stranded hundreds of miles from the nearest ports. Having taken three of the lifeboats with them and camping on the ice for several months they set off for the remote Elephant island off Antarctica, which was just outside the ice shelf but unfortunately was too remote as it was rarely visited. Shackleton therefore converted the James Caird lifeboat into a sea worthy ship and five of them incredibly sailed 800 miles to raise help from South Georgia Island. Along the way they encountered giant waves of up to 80 – 100 feet and slid down the side of a mountain in the pitch dark! They were eventually able to reach the Whaling Stations in South Georgia to raise the alarm and go back and rescue the rest of the crew stranded on Elephant island. Incredibly none of the crew of Endurance passed away, despite the ordeal they went through! This makes it all the more surprising that a Shackleton minifigure wasn’t included with the set itself.

However, there is a Shackleton minifigure if you purchased the the set at launch as it came with the GWP, James Caird Lifeboat. Personally I think this should have been a mini figure included with the set rather than a GWP or not included at all. I bought my GWP on aftermarket and did enjoy the build and thought it was one the better GWPs Lego have done.

The Display:

Once you’ve built the ship, you’ll sit back and look amazed at it, everything comes together really well.

There is one play feature which is that moving the helm will also turn the rudder. The top deck can be removed at the back which has Shackleton’s cabin in it and uses the map of Antarctica tile. As already said, one section can also be removed to access the steam engine, which is fully removable from the ship. Other than that it is not possible to access the rest of the ship and it is effectively closed off.

Final Thoughts:

Building the Endurance has sent me done a rabbit hole and I’ve listened to a few of the History Hit podcasts that cover the exploration of Antarctica in the 20th Century and found it fascinating. In fact I am currently reading the biography of Shackleton. It’s amazing to think that after Shackleton passed away the next attempt to reach the South Pole wasn’t until 1958, by none other than Sir Edmund Hilary.

If you can pick this ship up then it’s an awesome build and a great introduction to the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

The Scores:

• Build – 10
• Display – 10
• Price – 10
• Overall – 10