Pirate ship for 3 year old

[SpanielFace]

I'm thinking about christmas (sorry!). DS will be 3 years and 4 months by then. He is very into pirates at the moment, and I was thinking of getting a pirates ship / pirate playset, but I'm struggling a bit. The playmobil one looks amazing, but I think will be too old for him, especially as DS2 is due early January, so I could do with it being something that he can play with by himself while I am looking after the baby. I think Happyland etc are a bit babyish - he does still play with the toys but I dont know for how much longer. Besides that, ones I have seen online mostly seem to be Jake and the Neverland Pirates toys (he's never seen it), or wooden ones where I'm going to be worried about how sturdy they are. Has anyone got any suggestions? Budget is also a slight issue, as I'm going to be on SMP by then, so trying to save. I don't mind up to £40 or so for a really good one, but would rather not have to pay for lots of pirates separately. Although I suppose we could ask grandparents for them! Thank you.

I've just been pointed in the direction of the Asda wooden pirate ship. Has anyone bought this? What is the quality like?

Ds2 got the play mobile one for his 3rd birthday. He loved it and it floats in the bath so we get a lot of use out of it. He's nearly 5 and still plays a lot with it.

Thanks. I've read some reviews that have said that it's too frustrating for younger ones, little parts get lost etc. Did you find that? I do like the idea of getting one that he will play with for longer.

Another vote for the Playmobil one. They are awesome and my DD nearly 8 still loves hers. I think she'll be playing with it for years to come! They even have firing cannons and the resell value is good too. Have a look at second hand deals on eBay and download Playmobil catalog on their site to cross check all bits are there.

To answer qu about being frustraying fir younger kids - well, in general most Playmobil is aimed at slightly older kids, just because their dexterity does improve with age. That said, a younger child may be frustrated at the doll's house, where your fine finger control has to be good to position smaller bits and pieces and where access is harder....but in the pirate ship, it's all very open and with a bit of help to attach the odd pistol to a person's hand, or too fill a chest with treasure, he'll be fine. The canon shooting is great fun and you can always set it up for him first . Beauty of PM is that it is timeless and he'll play with it for years to come as well.

There's the Imaginext one, its on Argos - would that be any good? Great reviews.