That's a set name that can be taken two ways...

Loved this set as a kid. Is that Redbeard who’s fallen on hard times, or maybe his less successful brother?

@B_Space_Man said:
"Loved this set as a kid. Is that Redbeard who’s fallen on hard times, or maybe his less successful brother? "

Loved it also, such a cool raft.
It's not Redbeard, the hair is brown. He is called Ironhook, you can have the reason on brickipedia.
Weirdly, sometimes he has a peg leg, sometimes not.
When I was a kid he was a lieutenant of Redbeard, but also his rival so they were fighting often.

@MCLegoboy said:
"Made from sea turtles and hair!"

...from my back.

Lovely set. I like the sail, how it's held by rigging and a rope with studs at the ends at the bottom.
The base of the raft is a substantial build too. And there's three figs and a shark. Overall, a nice set from the Islanders era.

@WokePope said:
"Can't wait for the 2026 remake with 396 pieces and no cloth sail, 32 stickers and an MSRP of $79.99 USD."

Only 32? It's nice to see Lego showing that much restraint.

@Binnekamp said:
"Lovely set. I like the sail, how it's held by rigging and a rope with studs at the ends at the bottom.
The base of the raft is a substantial build too. And there's three figs and a shark. Overall, a nice set from the Islanders era."

There are no modern solutions like studs at the ends of that rope. It's just a piece of string.

One of my childhood sets, still have it stored disassembled. Lovely indeed. Used to play out some scenes together with 6274 and 6267. Never had any larger pirate ships.

Ironhook isn't my favourite pirate, but his era IS my favourite Pirates era (one could also call the "Skull's Eye Schooner" era or "the red Imperial Guards" era). Pure nostalgia, of course, but sets like this are a classic. The colours-reversed Jolly Roger sail makes it stand out--and makes sense on a raft. I ended up getting 6240 in large part because I had fond memories of pirates-on-rafts thanks to 6261--which, alas, remains the superior set and NOT a part of my collection.

@WokePope said:
"Can't wait for the 2026 remake with 396 pieces and no cloth sail, 32 stickers and an MSRP of $79.99 USD."

You're thinking of Pirates Of The Caribbean. As long as they have that license, I don't think we'll be seeing any LEGO Pirates sets besides whatever massive display piece Bricklink puts out. Those are nice, though.

But this set is an absolute classic.

@Lego_lord said:
"Beautiful set, reminds me of 6257. "

Yes! my brother had 6257 and later I received 6261. I think this was superior and it was the only pirate sail I had until 6296 later on. I always wanted to turn it into a regular ship but I never did because it was well designed.

@Formendacil said:
"Ironhook isn't my favourite pirate, but his era IS my favourite Pirates era (one could also call the "Skull's Eye Schooner" era or "the red Imperial Guards" era). Pure nostalgia, of course, but sets like this are a classic. The colours-reversed Jolly Roger sail makes it stand out--and makes sense on a raft. I ended up getting 6240 in large part because I had fond memories of pirates-on-rafts thanks to 6261--which, alas, remains the superior set and NOT a part of my collection."

Of course 6261 isn't part of your collection, it doesn't exist.

(salesman slaps a barrel)
"This raft can hold soooooo many raiders."

Ah pirates! My favorite theme. Was so thrilled as a kid to get mini-figures that had the new details. I am sure a lego historian would correct me in saying another theme was first to break out of the generic style heads, but for my collection, it was the pirates!

@markisnot said:
"Ah pirates! My favorite theme. Was so thrilled as a kid to get mini-figures that had the new details. I am sure a lego historian would correct me in saying another theme was first to break out of the generic style heads, but for my collection, it was the pirates!
"

No you're right and it's even more impressive, Pirate minifigs were the first with new faces, modified hands (hooks), and modified legs (peg legs). Plus it was the first theme to put minifig arms on monkeys.

https://blocksmag.com/retro-lego-sets-the-historical-themes/

Ironhook's debut!

I really like that sail, but unfortunately I lost mine and have to live with a paper replacement for now... Also this used the thicker type of string to secure it.
Also this one really had a lot of barrels - and the new for 1992 short ship's rigging pieces.

Strangely without a ship that year, this set introduced a new faction for Pirates, with the more "evil" Pirates as opposed to Redbeard's/Roger's "good" ones.

Ironhook and Redbeard know each other, but see themselves as rivals, often hanging around the tavern on the hidden pirate island, gambling over their treasures (which often involves cheating anyways). While Ironhook is never shown directly to display open cruelty, his crew is quite infamous for slave hunting, shanghaiing, and mistreating lower ranking crew members on the "Sea Star" (6268). Whilst Admiral Woodhouse doesn't make a difference between good and evil pirates, the Indigo Islander do, often battling Ironhook's men, while being good friends with Redbeard.

(Captain) Ironhook was known as "Blackbeard" in some localizations, which is a bit odd given his clearly not-black beard. Actually some might mmistake him for an alternative version of Redbeard, given the two look so similar. His actual hair color seems to be 13 Red Orange/Fabuland Red as opposed to Redbeard's Bright Red. Also he still had both legs in that year.
There was also a re-use of his torso for the 1996 character Jake "the Snake" Blake, who seems to be an ally of Redbeard rather than a rival.

Another character of interest in this set is to red-stripe pirate with pegleg - the first time this part was used for another figure but Redbeard. This exact combination was used again in 6246. The audio drama mentions one of Ironhook's lieutenants being thrown in that prison. He was called "Scar Johnny" - I wonder if he is meant to be that minifigure.

1992 was steep in adulting for me, so I don’t have this set, but it is properly wonderful. I love a Jolly Roger flag.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Formendacil said:
"Ironhook isn't my favourite pirate, but his era IS my favourite Pirates era (one could also call the "Skull's Eye Schooner" era or "the red Imperial Guards" era). Pure nostalgia, of course, but sets like this are a classic. The colours-reversed Jolly Roger sail makes it stand out--and makes sense on a raft. I ended up getting 6240 in large part because I had fond memories of pirates-on-rafts thanks to 6261--which, alas, remains the superior set and NOT a part of my collection."

Of course 6261 isn't part of your collection, it doesn't exist."

Which, given I see that number right on the image at the top of this page, is most odd indeed!

@Zordboy said:
" @WokePope said:
"Can't wait for the 2026 remake with 396 pieces and no cloth sail, 32 stickers and an MSRP of $79.99 USD."

Only 32? It's nice to see Lego showing that much restraint."

They have to keep profits high somehow!

@Formendacil said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @Formendacil said:
"Ironhook isn't my favourite pirate, but his era IS my favourite Pirates era (one could also call the "Skull's Eye Schooner" era or "the red Imperial Guards" era). Pure nostalgia, of course, but sets like this are a classic. The colours-reversed Jolly Roger sail makes it stand out--and makes sense on a raft. I ended up getting 6240 in large part because I had fond memories of pirates-on-rafts thanks to 6261--which, alas, remains the superior set and NOT a part of my collection."

Of course 6261 isn't part of your collection, it doesn't exist."

Which, given I see that number right on the image at the top of this page, is most odd indeed!"

Seems like the site has interpreted the dash right after the number to be part of the link; so it's trying to link to 6261-, rather than 6261. I guess the dash is rolled in with the number because of the way that when multiple sets have the same number they're differentiated by a -2 on the end; but it looks like not having a number after the dash broke the link.