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It's just a packing "error", if you can even call it that--it wasn't at all uncommon to see different configurations of minifigure elements displayed in the plastic tray than the ones used in the instructions, but the elements were still the correct ones for the set. Not that there weren't more serious packing errors--my brother got a 6271 with a pirate hat in place of the admiral's hat in the sealed tray. Folks, usually modern collectors, tend to assume that LEGO in the 80s and 90s was very uniform, with discernable and consistent variants, but that really wasn't the case--elements would be tweaked, but no distinction would be made in packinging from the older version most of the time if there was stock available, there was still some box assembly and packing that was done by hand, and printing quality could vary from figure to figure.

Oh wow, that's fantastic! Especially the pirate/islander one; I've seen that display case type before but the diorama itself is completely new to me. Do you know where those photos were taken?

Also, there was no clear cutoff between when solid stud heads were discontinued and hollow stud heads were introduced. They could have even been used in the same sets, it was just a matter of how much of each they happened to have in the factory at the time.

Congrats! I was 200 points short!

Nah, I'm just saying that I don't see the point in bringing up the BAM figures at all since, in addition to Aanchir's excellent points, the whole idea is you can choose what heads (or any other accessories) you want. It's apples and oranges to the CMF discussion.

And, more to the point, if you were to go and buy the build-a-minifigs at the LEGO store as intended, you could put any head you wanted on them, male or female, so these figures aren't really relevant to this particular scenario.

I love it! The sword is blocking a lot of detail on the torso; I didn't notice the compass tucked into her belt. Looks like some cool layered belt styling there too. Regarding the complaints that she looks like a fortune teller/hipster/ren fair visitor I counter that there's a heck of a lot of overlap with those costumes and pirate wear. ;) As for having the quartermaster "look", pirate quartermasters were elected by the crew from among their own ranks, so there wouldn't be an established "look" for a pirate quartermaster. She was selected by her crewmates to represent their interests, maintain discipline, see to the ship's operation, and keep the captain in line. :) No wench here!

I got mine today! I wasn't expecting them to ship until January, so it was a nice surprise to have a giant pirate set to build again. (If not for my bank account--ouch 2x!) So far it's been a really fun build. The division of parts inside the numbered bags is as good as any regular set I've built recently; each set of the numbered bags has something fun to build. The rockwork in particular is better in person than it looks on the box; there are a few different techniques, some nice part uses, and it all fits together in a tight and satisfactory way. It is true that the interior scenes are really more for display than play. (I love the treasure room, but good luck putting your hand in there if one of the treasures tips over.) I'm excited to get this one finished as soon as I can. With both Eldorado and Barracuda Bay I ended up taking over a week to finish them (other priorities got in the way) but I don't want to lose the fun momentum this time around. I'm curious which of the recent ships will look the best dropping anchor off the Isle. Can't wait to find out!

Good question! I don't think I could get homemade sails to look right. As for third party sails...those do get better and better every couple of years. I've thought many times about getting some replicas for my display models and MoCs. The biggest blockers for me are: Price: Because it's such a niche thing, and because real LEGO sails are so expensive, whenever I go to price out sails, they're still just a little too much for it being non-LEGO. That may sound counterintuitive, but even as the actual vintage sails skyrocket, paying $40-50 for a set of non-LEGO sails seems pretty expensive for what you're getting. I'd rather brick build for MOCs at that point. (However, at this point I would definitely consider aftermarket replacements if any of my actual vintage sails were unusable.) Accessibility: most folks who make these don't have a storefront (real life or digital) I can browse. I've also never seen them in person, so I don't know exactly how they'd look or feel. Misc: For awhile, the folks who were making these would laser-cut them, so while they looked great otherwise, there was noticeable singeing around the edges that I didn't care for. For classic sails like the OG Clipper and Barracuda, not having the printing on both sides is also something that's a deal breaker, though only in terms of it being a replacement for the sails on the sets. I honestly don't know if this is still the case; I haven't looked in awhile.

I think this is really more of a "your milage may vary situation--famously the same designer did both Night Lord's Castle and the original Yellow Castle, so it was more that the overall corporate directive of the company had shifted more towards fewer and more specialized pieces, and the designers followed suit, rather than that there were a bunch of new designers mucking things up. But even that's not the full story--Forbidden Island, for example, is designed almost entirely around large specialized pieces. I love Forbidden Island for nostalgic reasons, but I'd argue that Pirates Perilous Pitfall is a more interesting, ambitious set with maybe the best shipwreck design in the whole of the original pirate theme, plus an island with a nicely varied environment.

Hmm, my first thought is "no", but I'd hate to pass on the sails for future MOCs...I wonder how expensive those will be on Bricklink....

It's a good question--the best image we have of Europa uses bluecoats extensively, but it's hard to tell whether they were using them out of convenience or if there was to be an intentional connection. According to the book The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks, the earliest version of the theme, as an untitled Napoleonic Wars theme, was proposed alongside the Pirate theme in the early 80s. It was definitely the case that many elements used in Pirates were developed with an eye towards potentially being used in Europa as well, like the cannon, flintlocks, muskets, and ship hulls. Pirates was ultimately chosen to be first, and I suspect that if Europa had ever been released afterward, it probably would have stayed away from the initial concept of featuring historically correct armies opposing one another. Turns out I mis-remembered the Europa image; if anything it's bluecoats-vs-whitecoats, not Redcoats, but even that is unclear. We also see highwaymen in that image, and according to BrickJournal via Brickipedia, other possibilities for opposing forces would have included trolls, witches, and dracula--maybe these ideas were folded in to Castle as Fright Knights instead.

A great analysis, @Jack Sassy! If I might blend some real world history with the established lore of the theme: First off, a couple of things to get out of the way: I do read and consume a lot of media about this time in history, but I am by no means a historian or an expert who can cite sources at the drop of a hat. All of the below information is incredibly generalized and simplified, and those more knowledgeable than myself can certainly correct me on some points. Also, regarding the "official" lore, one is certainly free to take it or leave it; LEGO is supposed to be about using your own imagination and making your own stories. I happen to find that the LEGO lore and pirate LEGO lore in particular is interesting enough that it's worth writing about, but it's not worth restricting anyone's imagination or creativity. That being said, I think Jack Sassy's theory about the Imperial redcoats and Bluecoats occupying former Spanish structures in the area makes a lot of sense. In the comics and storybooks, the setting for the 1989-1992 pirates is the "Tropical Sea", a fictional settings that is indicated to be either in or the same as in the real-world Caribbean, as indicated by the US name "Caribbean Clipper", the UK name for Rock Island Refuge "Port Jamaica", and multiple catalogs explicitly placing the theme in the Caribbean. The name "Eldorado Fortress" used in the US for the soldier's main base also gives weight to this connection. This roughly parallels real world history, where ports established by the Spanish were later taken over by other imperial powers. A good example of this is Port Royal in Jamaica, which was established first by the Spanish and then belonged to a whole succession of other groups, including pirates and the English. In fact, while it's a different location, being on the fictional LEGO island of Sabatina, the home base for the bluecoats and redcoats is literally named "Port Royal" in the lore, and was used as an alternate set name for the Imperial Trading Post in the UK and some European countries. The US backstory printed on the set boxes makes it clear that Spanish treasures had been buried on the islands generations before by the ancestors of the pirates. This Spanish connection would be doubled down on in the German Time Cruisers audio drama SOS aus der Vergangenheit, where Captain Redbeard directly states (with some sense of pride) that his ancestors came from Spain. So the LEGO pirates are, as a group, most likely descended from a group of people from Spain, rather than from a group of older pirates who had stolen Spanish treasure. This is a departure from real-world history, where most of the 17th and 18th century pirates you've probably heard of (not all, but most) were not Spanish, but rather often opposed to them. This was because Spain was at war off and on again with other imperial powers for a long time. Whenever those wars stopped, there were lots of experienced sailors, soldiers, and privateers who were used to fighting the Spanish (and taking a cut from seized Spanish goods in many cases) but were suddenly out of work. Meanwhile, Spain continued to ship all kinds of resources, including gold, in large quantities on regular schedules back to Europe. So it was extremely tempting and profitable to attack Spanish shipping in particular, and because there was a lot of anti-Spanish sentiment for a number of reasons, a lot of governors and other officials were happy to look the other way and provide safe havens, documentation (many pirates had some kind of "permission", however dubious, to attack ships of other nations), and markets for pirates to take refuge and sell their goods. They had an additional incentive to do so because it was always a possibility that war with Spain would begin again, and many colonies in the area were under defended in the event of a Spanish attack. So it made sense for them to be on good terms with a well armed force, even if they were pirates. However, even though the LEGO Pirates are Spanish in origin, they don't appear to have any particular affiliation with or sympathy for the Spanish government by the time the theme begins. The lore of the 1996 Imperial Armada era established the Imperial Admiral as a longtime foe of Redbeard, and while Redbeard does help out a group of Spanish sailors in the earlier German audio drama Das goldene Schiff (1990), it's only after the bluecoat Governor Broadside has stolen their ship while Redbeard had been preparing his own attack. So it seems likely that the ancestors of the LEGO Pirates were probably one of the many influential but marginalized groups pushed out of Spain around that time (take your pick), and into Spanish colonies in the Tropical Sea, before the bluecoats came in and established their own colonies. Now, one of the other points about LEGO Pirate lore that is consistent across decades of storytelling but is often overlooked, ignored, or rejected by fans is that the Redcoats and Bluecoats belong to the same faction. People really, really love to say that the Bluecoats are clearly French and the Redcoats are clearly British, and/or that they represent different fictional opposing empires, and they're welcome to do so, but it's just not the case in the lore. (In the "real world", militaries from these countries and many others would use red, blue, and other colors besides at the same time too.) In the lore, the "Bluecoats" are the local soldiers commanded by Governor Broadside, who administers the surrounding islands from the fictional island of Sabatina. The "Redcoats" are the Imperial Guard, an elite force answerable to the King himself, and responsible for protection of Imperial treasures, shipping, navigation, and exploration across the Empire. The fact that they are from the same side is pretty well established in multiple ways throughout the Pirates lore: While the field and color of the flags are different, the coat of arms is essentially the same: a crown and crossed cannon Because sets were in rotation for much, much longer in the 90s, there was considerable overlap in the availability of bluecoat and Imperial Guard sets, so they were shown in catalogs as belonging to the same faction The King of the bluecoat's home country wears a red coat in the storybook The Royal Visit Governor Broadside himself wears a red coat alongside his bluecoat lieutenant in sculptures created for touring shows and LEGOLAND Billund in the 90s. (You can still see the one in Billund to this day, I believe.) In America, the very similar Bluecoat and Redcoat leader minifigures were treated as the exact same character: Governor Broadside, so there was a clear continuity of leadership In the video game LEGO Battles, the leader of the 2009 Imperial Guard (who himself wore blue) was also treated as the same Governor Broadside character, and commanded Bluecoats in the game In the rest of the world, while the Redcoat leader was treated as a separate character named Admiral Woodhouse, he was presented as someone who was in conflict with Governor Broadside only in that as he disagreed about how to handle the threat posed by the pirates. The names used in the UK and other countries for the Imperial Trading Post Redcoat base include "Port Royal" and "Fenzance", both established ports (albeit two different ones) on the bluecoat island of Sabatina in the maps included in the 90s story and activity books. Woodhouse sails out of Fenzance in the German audio drama Piratensegel am Horizont. I think overall the most sensible conclusion to make if one takes the official lore into account is that the redcoat/bluecoat Imperial faction is from a fictional European power rather than directly connected to any existing one. LEGO made a clear choice in not including the flags for any specific nationality, but rather designed a unique coat of arms to represent both sets of soldiers. LEGO has historically been reluctant to depict armed conflict between two nations, so this is no coincidence, and I do respect that. (This is probably one reason why the cancelled Europa theme, which did seem to have large numbers of opposing red and bluecoats, never made it off the ground.) Because of this, there's also no evidence that the redcoats took over territory from the bluecoats--the political situation is treated as being stable throughout the entire storyline of the pirate theme, even though focus has shifted back and forth between the bluecoats and Imperial Guards up to and including the recent Eldorado Fortress remake. The names used for Imperial characters are a combination of French, British, Spanish, and entirely made up names of various influences. Still one could make the case that the redcoat/bluecoat Imperial faction is either British or French. There is precedent for this as the 1996 Imperial Armada and Fort Legoredo military members are clearly from Spain and the United States and are treated as such in the lore, even though in these cases LEGO also chose not to include national flags and opted for some kind of simplified coat of arms instead. The waters are further muddied by the fact that the original bluecoats were indeed based on 18th century French naval and marine forces, and the use of the fleur-de-lis, which was often (though not exclusively) used by French royalty, on the bluecoat flag. If one insists on associating the Imperial Guards/Bluecoat combined faction with a particular nation, France is probably your best bet. It's also possible that the Imperials in the pirates theme represent some kind of combined British/French alliance, and there are a few other scenarios also compatible with the lore. But while I can understand the play value and desire to see the two factions as representing separate, opposing nations, it's not supported by the story materials except maybe in the computer game LEGO Chess, where arbitrary opposing sides sorted by color are the rule anyway. We can at least rule out the Spain as the country of origin for bluecoat/redcoat empire, (in spite of the "Eldorado Fortress" name, which wasn't used much outside the American market in the 90s anyway) since in Das goldene Schiff (1990), the bluecoat Broadside captures a Spanish ship and then has to hide it from representatives of his own country, which is said not to be at war with Spain and is therefore a separate entity. That would mostly settle the issue, but when the distinctly Spanish influenced Imperial Armada was released in 1996, it too had some overlap with the earlier Imperial Guard sets, particularly the Imperial Outpost, which had only just been released the previous year. As they had with the bluecoat soldiers and redcoat Imperial Guards, LEGO treated both the Imperial Guards and the Imperial Armada as the same faction, putting the Imperial Outpost under the Imperial Armada banner in 1996. The game LEGO Chess also had a series of cutscenes that, rather than depicting the chess gameplay itself, told a new LEGO pirate story. In these, Admiral Woodhouse and the Imperial Guard are also shown to be part of the Imperial Armada. So while the two factions were initially unrelated, a strong case can be made that the bluecoat/redcoat empire joined forces with the Spanish empire of the Imperial Armada, at least for a time.

Ahhh! I love the Scallywag Sloop! There can never be enough high quality small scale pirate submissions, I really, really want this one.

Episode V is up; davisonspeaking returns to narrate some of the text from the American set boxes in the intro! We're slowly but surely moving out of the bluecoats era and into the redcoats era...