LEGO Pirates: A 'Cinematic' History
Posted by TheBrickGuru,
The history of Lego Pirates can be almost perfectly compared to a long running movie franchise. Its story is full of blockbusters, sequels, spinoffs, franchise killing installments and re-boots, the latest of which is going to be hitting shelves within the next couple of weeks. In honor of the latest installment in the Lego Pirates franchise which will soon be sailing onto store shelves let us briefly look back over this theme's storied and sometimes sordid history...
The Blockbuster Beginning: Wave 1 - 1989
Pirates burst onto the scene at the close of the 80s and the best analogy I can come up is that it was the Ninjago of its era. Every boy I knew at the time wanted Lego Pirates. Birthday parties featured it as the theme and an invitation to play at the home of one of the few kids whose parents could afford to get them the original flagship (set 6285 Black Seas Barracuda or Dark Shark depending on which side of the Atlantic you hail from) were coveted. I can remember in vivid detail the first time I saw each of the main sets from that initial wave. It was a blockbuster beginning, like a film that surprises everyone with its success and is so profitable that you know it is going to spawn a franchise.
The success of Wave 1 was grounded on 4 hallowed sets: the previously mentioned 6285, 6276 El Dorado Fortress, 6274 Caribbean Clipper and 6270 Forbidden Island. Put another way there was a Pirate ship, a Good Guy ship, a Pirate base and a Good Guy base; a perfect system of play and a formula Lego would repeat in every subsequent wave. Sea battles, land raids, burying treasure, it was everything that a Lego theme should be, and we couldn’t get enough.
The “Bigger is Better” Sequel: Wave 2 - 1991-1993
Wave 2 of pirates followed the logic of almost every movie sequel. Take everything that worked in the first film and do it bigger. Oh, that first Pirate Island was on a flat aseplate? Well then 6273 Rock Island Refuge is going to be on a 3D baseplate! What’s that you say? The first Good Guy base was on a 3D baseplate? Ok then 6277 Imperial Trading Post will have that same baseplate and another 32x32 stud ocean plate to double the footprint! Fortunately, unlike in most sequels, it worked for Lego Pirates... Beautifully.
The bases were not the only sets that got bigger, the ships did too. Captain Redbeard, the infamous leader of the swashbuckling crew traded in his two masted ship for the three masted, 4 cannon ports per side, bigger in every way 6286 Skull’s Eye Schooner (despite its size difference whether 6286 is better than 6285 is the biggest argument amongst hardcore Lego Pirate fans but I won’t digress into those shark infested waters!). The Imperials also got a nice upgrade (and color change) with 6271 Imperial Flagship (the original– not to be confused with its much bigger more recent brother).
The Spinoff: Islanders - 1994
What is a filmmaker to do after a successful blockbuster and sequel? Why make a spinoff of course! And in 1994 that is exactly what Lego did with the 6 set (and sadly never rebooted, hint hint Lego!) Islander subtheme. Adding a new faction into a theme does not always work but in the case of the Islanders it really added to the franchise. Giving Redbeard another place to raid along with a Swiss Family Robinson type tree house in set 6278 Enchanted Island made the Islanders incredibly successful.
The Franchise Killing “Let’s Try Something Different” Third Installment: Wave 3 - 1996
Lego didn’t break from channeling their inner film executive in green lighting Wave 3 of Lego Pirates. Cost limitations meant that they couldn’t just make a third round of sets bigger than the previous 2 so instead they decided to try something different: gimmicks. And it just. didn’t. work.
Wave 3 saw everything get downsized. Ships, islands, piece counts, minifigure counts– all of it shrank. To make up for such shortcomings as not including wheels on the cannons for example (seriously Lego!) TLC gave us “play features”. Both of the wave’s ships, 6289 Red Beard Runner and (the-way-too-many-colors-eyesore) 6280 Armada Flagship had “collapsing masts” a feature which, when a pin was pulled, tilted one of the masts at about a 45 degree angle. Really!?!? This is Lego, a construction toy! If I want to simulate damage to the mast I will TAKE IT APART! The Good Guy Base was shrunk to an anemic $8 set (6244 Armada Sentry) and the Pirate Island (6281 Pirate’s Perilous Pitfall) saw its piece count drop below 400 while its price tag soared to over $70 (not adjusted for inflation, over $100 in today’s dollars).
I wasn’t the only one who was unimpressed. So was the Lego buying public. Sales plummeted and the franchise was shelved for the next 13 years...
The Reboot: Wave 4 - 2009
Lego resurrected the Pirates franchise in 2009 with the same 4 set foundation that made its now aged cousins so popular. And like many reboots, us die hard fans walked out of the theatre saying something along the lines of “that wasn’t the complete disappointment I expected!”. The Good Guy Base (6242 Soldier’s Fort) and Bad Guy Base (6253 Shipwreck Hideout), though smaller than their predecessors were none the less satisfying sets. And choosing to model 6243 Brickbeard’s Bounty after the original Black Seas Barracuda was brilliant on Legos part. Though, again, smaller than its predecessors, she was none the less a very handsome ship.
Then like an alternate ending on the DVD release that dramatically improves the film Lego gave us Pirate fans their greatest gift to date: 10210 Imperial Flagship. 3 Fully rigged masts, 4 middle hull sections and a gorgeous color scheme to boot, this behemoth is the largest and most detailed ship ever produced by Lego. Though she didn’t keep the theme from being shelved again, 10210 set a bar that I don’t know if any other ship produced by Lego will top. A true masterpiece.
The “Inspired By” Other Film: Pirates of the Caribbean - 2011
As these sets were based on the popular film series and sold under a separate branding they were none the less a Pirate based theme and, as they featured two very nice ships, tided us over to the forthcoming 5th wave. I personally consider this theme’s flagship set, 4195 Queen Anne’s Revenge, to be one of the most eye catching ships Lego has ever released. She does not look out of place next to 10210 which is very high praise indeed! And 4184 Black Pearl made a very satisfying opposing vessel for sea battles at a nice price point. While some of the other sets were mediocre two outstanding ships at the helm make this theme a success in my book.
The Sequel to the Reboot: Wave 5 - 2015
That brings us to today. While it has been 6 years since the last official installment, Pirates of the Caribbean filled in the gap so I don’t know that this latest installment can truly be called a re-boot.
In any case Lego has gone back to its roots with this forthcoming round of Pirates. What has us die hard fans excited is primarily that they are bringing back the Bluecoats which have been absent since the very first wave of the theme. The Pirate Captain is also clearly modeled after the original Captain Redbeard minifigure that many of us grew up with. The only glaring issue I see with this forthcoming wave is the initial absence of a Good Guy Ship. But if history is any indication perhaps Lego has another surprise in store for us later this year...
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38 comments on this article
My first pirate set was 6265 Sabre Island. And now, 26 years later, I still love the pirate sets. So, even though I don't really like the newest pirate ship which is coming up the end of March, I probably will buy it, 'cause that is what I do. Collecting Pirates...
Loved the 89 pirates sets as a kid but could never afford the big boat. Last summer I passed a local charity shop and spotted it in the window (opened but in its original box) for £10.00. It now has pride of place on my sons shelf, it's an awesome set.
I was 10 by the time wave 1 hit and I absolutely loved it. Stopped asking for city, space and castle sets in favor of pirates. This reminds me I need to pick up my pirates sets at my parents place and get my sons hooked (my 6270 should do the trick).
Also could never afford any of the big ships, but 70413 sounds like the perfect birthday present for my son later this year...
As a child I always received at least one large lego set every Christmas and it 1993 it was the Skull's Eye Schooner. To me it is the greatest Lego pirate ship of all time!
Me and my brother we are such "die hard fans" of pirates. ;)
When he became an Afol and got a job, he began to buy all those he missed in the past (lego pirates till the year 2000). And now that he has already everything, he is thinking of buying them even a second time. :D
It's our favorite theme, with castle.
My first Lego memory is sittng under a table (why under a table I don't know) on Christmas day building Black Sea Barracuda. I still have fond memories of that set. I know I had Forbidden island and Imperial Trading post as well. Good times!
Thanks for a great article!
Strange enough, my first and maybe best LEGO memory is building Forbidden Island in my parents' living room, watching the pilot episode of the - first- Flash TV show.
Brilliant article...Wave 1 and 2 were about when I was growing up. I was lucky enough to own all of wave 1 bar 6285 - fortunately a friend next door had it. The sea battles traded over the addresses! The price points and sixes were spot on for an 8/9 yr old - the bigger sets even encouraged me to earn more pocket money! I look forward to the "re-boot"!
My first pirate set was 6257 - the Castaway Raft. I got it on Children's Day in 1990. This set was just awesome. I remember that day very well and the decision that I was made: "I choose the Pirates!"
The next one was 6270 - the Forbidden Island. I got it from my aunty and uncle when I was visiting them during my vacations in 1991. That was something! Ehhh, good times...
I had only these two sets from the Pirates series and they were my favourites of all my LEGO sets.
Now, when my "dark days" are over, I have collected almost all sets from 1989 and 1991. I remember that as a kid I just wanted to have BSB. But it was very, very expensive because it was a political transformation time in Poland. And finally - a few weeks ago - I got one! :-)
Fantastic article - informative and fun!
Hah! This article is spot on! My family couldn't afford the big sets when Pirates! was first released. So now I'm going to make up for it!
Disagree -Wave 3 Armada flagship was the best ship lego ever built .
I can only agree with @CaptainSpong...Great article, indeed. Good job! :-)
I love the Pirates theme- The first set I got was Imperial Outpost. Sets back then were great, with lots of playability in a small package.
I don't really like how the newest pirates wave is about the same as the last one- why get the new sets if I have ones that are the same or bigger?
Wasn't the original 1989 Pirates theme the first to have minifigure heads with faces other than the classic smiley face? I know at least personally that they were the first LEGO sets I got that had new faces.
^ They were indeed.
Nicely served! Thank you.
My and my brother we got Carribean Clipper for christmas in 1991. Since then I was hoping to get the Barracuda to complete the couple and start the real sea battle. On christmas 2012 it finally happened!!!
I'm very excited about the new line and think the sets look great.
Although, like many others, my fingers are crossed for a new Imperial ship...
The Caribbean Clipper was one of the best sets I've ever owned! It was the source of many adventures and powerful memories with my father. It was the last set he purchased for me before he died. I remember him loving the little yellow parrot and thinking the working cannons were the neatest thing he'd ever seen in a Lego! I entered my dark ages the following year but the Caribbean Clipper followed me all the way through college. I still have the pieces stored away and I someday I will resurrect it and attach that little yellow bird and fire the cannons once more!
Really good, well-written article. Pirates aren't my 'thing', but I really enjoyed reading that.
@Huw - if you can rustle up some people to give similar overviews of other major themes, this would make for a great series (as long as they're not as mind-boggling as the Bionicle ones!).
Nice article, but unfortunately can not be really satisfied with this wave 5 honnestly (pratically same than wave 4 in smaller pieces) only the minifigs which are interesting . And when we compare with wave 1 or 2 whats a surprise.
hope could get a similar or better 10210 later...
But sure, the new generation is waiting and will play with pleasure with these new sets (like us maybe ;) )
It's interesting that you refer to the Imperials, Islanders and Armada guys as the "good guys." I've always seen the pirates as the the "good guys," just wanting to live free on the seas while the government meanies want to impose their strict laws on them.
Sadly, all of my pirates sets were lost in the sea of love when I left a huge bucket of classic space, city and pirate LEGOs at an ex girlfriend's house. I would love to recover those sets, but alas, the sea is a cruel mistress. I probably became a US Navy Sailor because of my love for these old wooden ships. Now when I get the new Brick Bounty, I can relive my most harrowing adventures on the open ocean.
I got the Caribbean Clipper for Christmas as a child, and was hooked from that point on. I just recently built the Black Seas Barracuda from buying parts on Bricklink (except the sails) for about $20, so now I can finally wage war after 25+ years of waiting. My son is a little bit young for Lego, but already can't keep his hands off my pirate ships. I'll probably get the new pirate ship too, so he can play with it when he gets older.
Love this article, one of the best reads on the site! (Helps that I'm in film, as well as a LEGO fan) My first pirate set was Castaway's Raft ( http://brickset.com/sets/6257-1/Castaway-s-Raft ), a gift from my great-grandmother. While I had some LEGO before, it was this set that molded me into a life-long LEGO fan. To think, one could use the barrels to make a raft, ingenious to my 5-year-old brain!!! I was hooked and saved every penny for LEGO Pirates for several years!
Nice article, thanks.
Would be great if Lego kicked off the re-boot with a couple of promotional polybags. There have been a good few small pirates sets over the years which would make good polybag up-dates.
@Matticus_Bricks thank you for posting that! I have also seen the Pirates as the "good guys" while the Imperials were the "bad guys".
As a child I had only one Imperial Soldier from the 6270 set. And I remember that I came to the conclusion that if the Imperial Soldier looks ominously in the cap (doesn't he?), and all pirates are smiling, then it definitely means that the Pirates are the "good ones". I was stuck in this belief until last year, when my 3 years old son asked me: "are Pirates good or bad, daddy?"
And that was the tricky question... ;-) But hey! In case of the POTC, the Pirates were also presented as the "good ones", aren't they?
Great article!
I keep selling my classic Pirate stuff, but I keep finding it in lots and once again almost have a whole line of them again. Hard to part with the 6277 alone, let alone the 6285 . The one criticism I had though is the lack of a large Imperial or colonial ship to match with the Black Seas Barracuda (and be at its price point and not what the 10210 Imperial Flagship cost -even counting its 'lesser' RRP it was when out). 6271 and 6274 are really not the answer IMO. Would like to see the next line of Pirates after this coming on (if there will be another) to have a colonial/imperial ship to go toe to toe with the new Pirate ship, but that is just me.
Actually, I wouldn't mind smaller and gimmicky sets if the gimmicks actually WORKED... but seriously? A TILTING MAST? What on earth were they thinking?! Now if you built a ship like this year's Demolition Site, rigged to blow up, that would be AWESOME.
I do disagree with some of the stuff above... the Queen Anne's Revenge is a piece of junk, Pirate's Perilous Pitfall is tremendous fun (if more overpriced than the last Sith Infiltrator) and I can't bring myself to like this year's stuff. But a marvelous article!
Correct me if I am wrong but I seem to remember Lego republishing some of the successful pirate sets around 2000ish? It was about the same time as the remake of 10000 the Guarded inn. You could add this is a surprise re-showing of a great movie at the theaters!
Yes, indeed quite nice article about the Lego Pirates theme but for me like durazno33 said not complete. Beside the question about some re-releases of the main ships from Wave3 in 2001:
http://brickset.com/sets/year-2001/theme-Pirates
there is something more important missing!
A kind of spin-off theme in 2004 : 4 JUNIORS PIRATES.
Of course it wasn't on the normal minifig scale but it's still the part of Lego normal System bricks.
There were 6 main sets in this wave listed from 7070 to 7075: Captain Redbeard's Pirate Ship, and few more very small sets:
http://brickset.com/sets/year-2004/category-Normal/theme-4-Juniors/subtheme-Pirates
And frankly, we could call it The FRANCHISE SINKING Wave at least at the MARIANA TRENCH ;-)
I'm looking forward to the new ship. It's growing on me the more I look at it. The colors are striking. I just wish it had some new sail patterns. There is always something so fun and charming about Pirates and the sailing ships.
Oh and regarding PotC, I always feel one of the oft overlooked sets is Whitecap Bay. I had more or less passed on it until I picked it up on clearance, but I found it was a truly A list set. And a very good civilian port type set. (Although I do wish PotC had done nice Port Royal and Tortuga sets.)
I'm honestly hoping there will be more Pirate sets during or after wave 5. The bluecoats need their own ship, while the pirates need a port to dock their ship (Nassau, Pirates Republic anyone?). After all, big things have small beginnings.
I don't understand why people always criticize the "3rd wave" of Pirates sets. IMHO it's a good thing that they tried to do something new instead of copying the same ideas again and again. As for the new pirates sets, I'm very dissapointed. Hoped for something different, more ambitious, like they made with the castle/kingdoms theme in 2009-2012 when they released some sets that were appriciated both, by adults and children (for example: Mediaval market, Mill Vilage Raid, Kingdoms Joust). Upcoming 2015 pirate sets are so.. small, adding new cool minifigs isn't enough. Lets hope we will get something more and this is just a starter.
Thanks for an interesting article - I liked the movie idea.
Along with the first 'detailed' faces, Pirates was the the first instance of guns being included in Lego sets, along with the most definitive conflict yet between the soldiers and pirates.
Now I am getting persuaded... :-\
This is a great article, thanks to @TheLegoChronicler for it, and to @Huw for getting content like this on the site.