ThrowbackThursday: 1989
Posted by Huw,
When looking back through old catalogues, it seems that in almost every one you can find something new and innovative that changed the course of LEGO history.
1989 however was a year that had more of an impact that most, thanks to Pirates.
In the 1980s, minifigure scale sets were branded LEGOLAND and up to 1988, as we saw when perusing the 1986 catalogue a few weeks ago, they consisted of Town, Castle and Space, the original three themes that were introduced with the minifig in 1978/79.
Then, in 1989, something new and exciting came along that would become an evergreen LEGO theme: Pirates.
To herald their arrival two double page spreads were dedicated to Pirates in the UK 8" square catalogue. Each is illustrated with a stunning photograph full of atmosphere and excitement that set the scene for the battle between the pirates and the governor's soldiers. The actual product pictures are tucked away on the third page and are almost of secondary importance.
As I have mentioned before in these articles, in the 1980s and 1990s LEGO sets were named by regional offices rather than centrally. There's an interesting discussion about it in the forum. The US names became the de facto once global communication was facilitated by the Internet so those used in other countries are not so well known.
It's very interesting therefore to compare the US names (left) with the UK ones (right) for the first Pirates sets:
- 6285 Black Seas Barracuda / The Pirate Ship 'Dark Shark'
- 6276 Eldorado Fortress / Governor's Fort Sabre
- 6274 Caribbean Clipper / Governor's Ship 'Sea Hawk'
- 6270 Forbidden Island / Pirate Island
- 6265 Sabre Island / Governor's Bastion
I think we can agree that the US names are full of excitement and intrigue and the UK ones are just plan boring!
Looking at the prices, the largest set, Black Seas Barracuda cost £67, a whopping £150 in today's money!
The Pirates theme introduced minifig heads with expressions other than the classic smiley, alternative legs and hands (wooden legs and hooks), parrots, sharks and shooting cannons. 1989 truly was a landmark year!
As a result of the launch of Pirates, the Castle theme was neglected a bit, with just three new sets, none of which are shown in the UK catalogue.
That was not the case for Space though. The Blacktron bad guys arrived on the scene in 1987 and had presumably been wreaking havoc in the galaxy for two years before the Space Police turned up in 1989 to capture and imprison them. In the UK, five sets were introduced. Four of them were designed around the transportation of mobile prison cells
In addition to Space Police minifgures, they also contained a Blacktron bad guy to incarcerate, which is (I believe) another first for 1989: the first time that good and bad, or 'conflict', has appeared in the same set.
Once again an excellent double-page photo sets the scene perfectly.
The year's innovation was not restricted to minifig themes though. In 1989 the second Technic pneumatic system was introduced. Previously the cylinders had one hose connector that was used to suck and blow the piston back and forth. They didn't work particularly well so were replaced with ones with two connectors, one at each end, to enable the piston to be blown in both directions.
Two new models were introduced with the new cylinders: 8854 Mobile Crane and 8862 JCB Excavator (Backhoe Grader in the USA). Actually, thinking about it, it's surprising that it's been named 'JCB' in the UK given it's a company name.
Finally, feast your eyes over the fantastic selection of spares that were available:
I think you will agree that as far as LEGO is concerned, 1989 was a fantastic year!
Our collection of catalogues is growing rapidly and we have now scanned every one I own up to 1990 which includes every large UK catalogue from 1966. We will be working our way through the 1990s this week and next.
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39 comments on this article
Wasn't the Pirates the first time Lego produced firearms? Space had things that you could use as guns, but were not explicitly weapons.
That was a turning point for Lego.
Spare monorail parts, airport runways, cyprus trees! And some of my favourite photographic spreads in this catalogue too.
very important year. I recieved my very first LEGO for Sinterklaas (a second hand 6061 Siege Tower, the only set I still have complete with box and instruction). My parents never imagined what that would start...
Also, didn't I read somewhere that in the US the shooting mechanism of the cannons was disabled ?
And I really love those little dioramas. It's why I keep browsing through the catalogs I own from time to time. They were full of personality (and nostalgia, obviously).
I just realised that from sets on the technic page as shown in the article I own 7 of them.
I am wondering if there was a difference between the UK catalogue and the Dutch ones. I remember that we got 2 catalogues a year.
@PJMcC, good call, yes I think you are right.
@darthmar, in the UK we didn't start getting 2 large catalogues a year until 2001.
Yes. Easily the best year ever for me, since I don't remember late 1970's. (To be honest, I don't remember 1989 either, but we were quite delayed back then in Poland. We had 1989 in 1991 ;)).
Aah, nostalgia, the Best year ever.
the pirates Theme changed my live forever.
Totally agree and they are all the more impressive given they were produced before the days of digital photography, Photoshop, focus stacking and so on...
The Pirate's theme featured arguably the best sets of the 80s. One of my all time favorite series!
Seeing that catalog for the first time was glorious. My neighbor got Eldorado Fortress for his birthday, and I remember sitting there just investigating the new baseplate with him for a great deal of time.
Back then I would've given a kidney to own one of those flagship Space Police sets or the Dark Shark (I'm going by the British name, because reasons).
Nowadays I can just walk into a shop on pay day and buy what I want. It's too bad that Space Police and the Dark Shark are a distant memory. I can buy a Millennium Falcon or the new pirate ship (and indeed I have done with the latter) but it just isn't the same!
Great article, even though I don't remember much since I had entered my dark age already in 1989. I would love to see a next Throwback Thursday article dedicated to the year 1980 because of the introduction of the grey 12 volts rails, remote controlled switch points and signals. I think Lego launched an incredible (greatest ever?!) number of train sets that year.
Do you guys think some of the photographers of this catalogue and the one from 1986 are still around? Would be cool to get a sort of behind-the-scenes look at how this was done, how the dioramas were set up etc. Especially the 1986 catalogue that looks like quite an elaborate setup of airbrushed cardboard.
Dark Shark! The UK names are so much better ;) True of Aquazone as well. When did they start syncing the names up I wonder?
^ I hope to make that a subject of a future article. I believe it was around 2000.
Yeah! Let's go Taylor Swi--oh wait it's the real one.
In the US the cannons fired originally and then they were disabled a year or so later.
You're right: in the US 1989 catalog it shows firing cannons: http://images.brickset.com/library/view/?f=catalogues/c89us2&p=7
The pictures in the brochures from this era made me decide to actually build a table that has the city theme on display. I still love how they made the LEGO come alive as much as it does on these photos.
Thank you, this is the year I was waiting for. I was seven years old in 1989 and Lego Pirates made an enormous impression on me, maybe especially because of the beautiful photography in the brochures. I really wish there was a way to have those Pirate pages enlarged and put on my wall. The love put into them really captures my imagination.
It's an amazing loss that modern brochures don't do anything like that any more. I've often thought of doing that for a hobby, recreating modern sets in the style of these old brochures.
I agree with _roland, it would be fascinating to hear about the behind the scenes for these dioramas.
Thank you for picking this year! What happy memories of my childhood!
The photos are so lovely and atmospheric! I'd also love to hear more about that... I wonder if TLG would be able to help track the photographers down?
The Technic range for 1989 looks really good as well - four boxes that let you build multiple models (I wish this would come back; it was a really good way for a kid to learn the principles of Technic), and I really want that JCB even now!
Great timing, I just put both the crane and jcb into our local exhibition two days ago, still great models now. I remember the excitement when I got both of them that xmas, one from mum an the other from dad. I'll echo everyone else's opinion about the dioramas too. Far better than what the digital age comes up with!!
I do love all those old pirate sets.
Thanks for the memories Huw! 1989 was a couple years before my Lego Dark Ages started, aka adolescence. Pirates are still an all time favorite theme of mine, and I even rebuilt my Black Seas Barracuda last year, although the sails had to be tossed due to mold caused by a flooded basement, big bummer. As for the cannons in the U.S. I can definitely confirm they did fire, maybe even a little too well; I lost more 1x1 round bricks that way...
I was 6 in 1989, and loved the new pirates sets. They were amazing.
Rare White Ape? I feel the exact same way. These days, I have the money to buy whatever set I feel like buying ... but the sets I really want to be buying are the ones from the late 80s and early 90s (the 9V train system, specifically) so I can't, and it's a darn shame ;).
I collected pirates religiously in the 90s. I don't ever remember cannons that did not fire. Maybe CANADA got firing cannons and USA did not? I dunno!
This is one of my favourite catalogs of all time. Thank you for reviewing it!
i was 12 in 1989,all my friends were moving on to sega and nintendo but i just wanted castle,pirate or space lego. Kept it all,even thru my dark ages which lasted until 2009 and picked up all the sets i didnt have recently. The golden age of lego,keep up the good work!
Oh I remember these! I had so many of the Pirates sets, I mean I was only 4 years old 1989, but my parents where rebels against the age restrictions... ;)
Fantastic year for Lego and its fans and fantastic catalogue. I've spent too much time as a kid browsing its pages :) One thing I have noticed and that has been bugging me as a kid was 6251 and Pirate Captain's iron fist that was not there when I received that pack of figures. I guess they have changed production but then, it was a massive disappointment for me :)
I was 5 in 1989 and I believe this was the first LEGO catalogue I ever owned. I wore the thing out! I used to stare at the sets and dioramas for hours and imagine creating similar scenes in my own home - needless to say I never achieved such a feat! I do think these older catalogues definitely have a very particular charm about them, and it's a shame we don't get the same these days.
3 of the first LEGO sets I ever got were from this catalogue - 6270 Forbidden Island, which I got for Christmas in 1990 and 6285 Black Seas Barracuda, which I got for my Birthday in '91 (my actual first set was 6375 - Trans Air Carrier from 1990). I also remember ending up receiving 6276 Eldorado Fortress from a friend somehow! I used to play with those 3 for hours, destroying them in sea battles and re-building countless times. Memories!!
The dioramas in the catalogues back then were great and they really pulled out all of the stops for the Pirate launch - I was flicking through my copy at Christmas and marvelling ether setups.
And the Service section with all those 12v Train components - I wish you could still get them for that price (or even close to it) now!!
I was 7 years old in 1989 and LEGO was already the center topic for me. Definitely one of the golden ages when versatile sets, catalogues with dioramas and LEGO innovation captured children imagination and did not let it go. I collected many of these sets later and agree that new pneumatic system was a major development in Technic line. I never owned a Pirate set unfortunately in my childhood but later I had the opportunity to play with some and first Pirate sets are pure awesome (with working cannons of course). I have fond memories of playing with Town and Castle theme in 1989 and this was the year I fell in love with Technic. The result was I had to collect all the flagships as an adult. Thanks for great nostalgia again. Thursdays are becoming more and more feast-days.
@PJMcC I used to read somewhere that basicly the LEGO founder will not allowed anything that has to do with fighting or war. Not only weapons, but also army colour like green or brown. Well, maybe there are some exception like nature colour (trees, flowers, baseplate) or then some weapon in Castle Theme. But you won't find any green or brown bricks back then, nor a gun.
This is a great bit. 1989 was truly a fantastic year for LEGO.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the 1987 Castle set 6062 Battering Ram the first to have conflict? The 1989 Castle set 6077 Forestman's River Fortress had conflict as well.
Great Article Huw. Wow, the Governor's Sea hawk name now makes more sense as to why the governor was on the clipper in the first place :-)
Just look at all of the 12V rail and level crossing parts (Flashing light unit and the actual black prisms for the crossing signs). I love the old parts packs available for purchase.. if I could go back and get just those, let alone the sets.
Sadly in 1989 I was nearing my dark ages. I do recall wanting a LOT more of the Blacktron and Space Police one than I had gotten. I was not too much into pirates until well after my dark ages ended and I started seeing these show up in lots I purchased, the Barracuda is really a well built set, and I would take it over almost every other ship (the exception being the 10210 imperial flagship and the 6286 Skull Eye Schooner, which was even more elaborate)
For me, it just doesn't get any better than this catalogue
@svohljott: totally agree with you, 1989 was a special year.