Pirates Wishlist

[Flynn]

So, according to LEGO, Pirate's taking a break. That sucks. Luckily, though, they say that the line may return in the near future. Given what we've seen out of the latest Pirate sets, when the sets do return, what would you like to see in the line? Here's my hopes:

1. More Imperial Sets: I'd blame the lack of Imperials this time on the fact the line was intended to be a one-year theme, so there was only 1 (2 if you count the Flagship) Imperial set in the mix. However, even looking back at the original theme, Imperials were severely lacking in sets. Sure, what we've had was fantastic (Imperial Flagship, Trading Post, etc.), but a little more would be great. Also, I'd like to see a base that would be far better (By that I mean larger) than the pathetic escuse we got this year (Not that it wasn't a good set, it was just so dang small...).

2. More small ships: This year in Pirates, we got a total of two ships (I'm just going to count the new flagship in as a Pirate set)- both of which were rather pricey- 100 and 180 dollars. Now, they are pretty dang good ships, but it'd be nice to have a couple smaller, cost-freindly ships. I sadly missed out on the original theme, but I think that it had 3 differently-priced ships- A large, 100 dollar one (Like the Black Sea's Barracuda), a smaller, 50-ish one (Like the Imperial Flagship), and a tiny, 30-ish one (Like the Crossbone Clipper). Personally, I think repeating this pattern for a future line would do wonders (It'd also allow for more Imperial ships *hint hint*)

3. A return of the old ship parts: Now, I'll admit this is probably just wishful thinking on my part. I'm sure that the only reason they'd use the new mast and hull parts would be either because the original molds were lost, or it'd be more cost-effective to use the new ones. However, the more I look at Brickbeard's Bounty, the more I think how much it could've been improved with the older boat parts. The new masts in particular look so juniorized in comparison to the original (I mean, they're both extremely large parts, but the old ones looked so much more refined- the new ones just look weird). If it were possible to bring those old parts back, it'd be for the better, IMO (Oh, and I'd also like to see a more traditional Jolly Roger rather than the one used now...).

4. Merchants: This was a problem in the old line as well, that there were no simple merchants, it was always either Imperials or Pirates (Or Islanders or Spaniards, but they were later in the line). Personally, I'd like to see more trading posts or simple merchant ships (You could always have a 40-dollar merchant ship with a small little pirate ship attacking). It might seem kind of boring to have sets based from that, but I say if Castle can have a marketplace, Pirates can at least have a trading post. Also, another small wish- could we stop with the Jolly Rogers being emblazened on the sails all the time? Do you have any idea how jarring it looks? I'm fairly certain that kids don't need gigantic skulls and crossbones to tell them it's a pirate ship- a simple flag will suffice...

So that's my personal wishlist for the future pirate line. I have a ton more, but they mostly boil down to having the line last a lot longer than the recent excursion did.

So, what are your hopes for a new pirate line?

[Kevin Koala]

Doubt it. When I go to a store that sells LEGO, pfft, not a single person buys a pirate set.

[Coret]

Well you have never been a store with me. Pirates still sell, just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't sell. Maybe the people in your area aren't very "Talk like a Pirate Day" kind of people. LEGO Corp decided they wanted to bring it back, and they may bring it back again. Pirates have never been a bad thing, Playmobile sells pirates, and they don't seem to have a problem selling them.

Sorry if I go off on you, but just because you don't see someone buying the pirates, doesn't mean they don't sell. And frankly Pirates are one of my favorite themes.

[Kevin Koala]

FYI, I have seen it happen more than once.

[onions]

FYI, I have seen it happen more than once.

what other events have you not witnessed that we should know about? moon landing perhaps? i guess since you didn't actually see that happen then the conspiracy theory is true then?

some themes do better in different areas. take lego trains for instance. some lugs are huge on trains, others, not so much. so just because no one in my local lug is into trains does that mean no one else is buying it?

[ThinkingImpaired]

As much as I want to think they were great sellers, they were rarely in the top 25 sold on legoshop.

[Crusader]

A lot of sets rarely grace the Top 25 list at Lego.com. The vasty majority of sets sold are not sold thru Lego.com, so the list doesn't mean a whole lot. For several years, some version of a Police Station has been the #1 worldwide seller. I've never seen a Police Station bought or sold and it doesn't seem to stand out on the Top 25 list, but clearly they are selling them.

Back on topic my boys liked the Pirate sets I got them, but not as much as I expected they would. It's possible the good versus evil lines are not as clearly drawn which makes it harder for kids to play with them. It's pretty obvious that red-eyed skeletons, orcs, battle droids and stormtroopers are all bad. I'm never sure where to come down on on the soldiers verus pirates thing. So while its not what AFOLS want, I think Lego would sell more sets if the pirates would be depicted fighting sea monsters or undead evil pirates or something.

As I wrote earlier, I realize this is exactly what most AFOLS do not want to see, but I do think it would sell more sets to kids.

[Coret]

That's actually more of a sign of the times. Pirates have always had a blurred line of who was good and who was bad, and movies like Pirates of the Caribbean does for Pirates what Godfather did for Mobsters, makes you like them.

Back when I was a kid, and the original Pirates came out, I always had the Pirates outwitting the Imperials.