[BRICKLINK] The Thieves of Tortuga - Enters Crowdfunding in June 2025

[Jack Sassy]

12 hours ago, bingowaldorf said:

I like it! It kinda reminds me of this old Tortuga moc

Aye, these builds do bear a resemblance. 

[Arjo]

Guessing there is an overlap between castle and pirates fans, which of Tortuga and Forestmen stronghold has you most interested? Given expected price points, hard to back wave after wave, so if you could only have one of the two which would you go for?

[Mister Phes]

37 minutes ago, Arjo said:

Guessing there is an overlap between castle and pirates fans, which of Tortuga and Forestmen stronghold has you most interested? Given expected price points, hard to back wave after wave, so if you could only have one of the two which would you go for?

As you're asking this question in a LEGO Pirates Forum so there may be a bias towards Thieves of Tortuga.

Or maybe that's just my wishful thinking and everyone would much rather Forestmen.

 

[Arjo]

Who knows! I think I like the forestmen set better on this occasion, hence why I was curious as to others’ views. I can’t quite say what it is but in my eye there is something missing from tortuga.

[Yperio_Bricks]

Which forestmen set do you mean? 910001 Castle in the Forest?

[Arjo]

Nope, the next bricklink designer program which goes for sale in the Fall. I think it’s called “forestmen stronghold”.

[Yperio_Bricks]

31 minutes ago, Arjo said:

Nope, the next bricklink designer program which goes for sale in the Fall. I think it’s called “forestmen stronghold”.

Got it! So it must be this one:

Between Thieves of Tortuga and the Forest Stronghold I would choose Tortuga!

We've seen a truckload of castle mocs in recent years and the Forest Stronghold 'is just one of them'. Maybe I am oversaturated by looking at all these castles that look the same, but to me Tortuga is much more unique and a more lively moc. But I also want to take into account that we see much more castle mocs than pirate mocs and of course there will be much more repetition in the castle theme just because of the sheer number of mocs. I also feel, like mentioned before, that the black background is doing Tortuga no good and it would be received better with an other background.

Then there are the black trees. I understand it is part of the forestmen folklore but to me it just looks so wrong. Tortuga has brown docks at least

[Arjo]

Yes that one! You’re right it might be the backdrop of the render holding Tortuga back, something feels off though I can’t put my finger on it.

anyway this program is going to be a challenge to budgets if they have cool (but pricey) sets twice a year!

[Retrocity]

I think the set I'm more likely to have interest in from a mindset of one or the other is Medieval Seaside Market.  It's a little bit smaller than either Tortuga or Forest Stronghold though.  If I opt to get only one, I'll likely stick to Tortuga (since I'll get the Medieval Market Village eventually), but we'll see a finalized Seaside Market up for crowdfunding first.  I also like the Wild West Train from that series a lot.

This may be slightly veering a little off topic, but what are the overall thoughts on how finalists are chosen?  A little relevant since the potential price (due to the total piece count) is a big topic on Tortuga.  While there is the fan vote, the selection team is also looking at additional criteria beyond the vote in selecting their 5 finalists (potential future official sets, hype around the set, a well rounded selection by theme/size for each series, ect..).  I'd love to see the behind the scenes process.

It seems that for say castle theme, they've stuck to larger sets and have yet to select a smaller build despite there being quality submissions.  I guess you could say they anticipate a castle set to consistently sell the full allotment whether it costs around $100 or $400 whereas a different theme might have trouble selling 30K copies at the higher price point.  The big set probably has more hype going for it as well.  We're also seeing a lot of builders with their second or even third submission selected as a finalist.  Some of these subsequent builds follow the same theme, which can be nice.  There are the perks to having your submission chosen, so designing a set that goes along with one that you previously had selected will probably help it gain support, especially if it's part of a theme that LEGO is not currently making sets for.  No discredit to the builders as they are creating some amazing sets and you'd be hard pressed to say they don't deserve to be selected with all the work that goes into the process.  I personally don't look at who created a submission when I vote for one, but I do recognize a lot of names from seeing other builds they have previously shared (either with BDP, Ideas, or various media).

I just wonder if there will eventually be fatigue with BDP for buyers if some themes are almost exclusively sets on the upper piece/price side or for designers if it feels a small subset continue to make up a bulk of the finalists.  I don't think the design side would necessarily hurt from the buyers perspective if that subset continues to pump out quality submissions, just that over time there may be less options to select from. 

And hey, Series 6 might be the complete opposite with all new designers and more reasonably sized sets.

[Arjo]

I think repeat participants finding success shows there are talented builders out there who are willing and able to design sets TLG choose to ignore, all things castle being a good example. I am not in the secrets of the gods but my guess is that having “mostly-AFOL-only” large sets on the shelves is not worth the trouble for them when they can lock in 30,000 buyers within a few hours and be done. Even 10305 and its large box struggled to find pride of place in very large lego stores I visited.

TLG are producing too many sets these days, even for their own good, as they can’t seem to have enough shelf space for all. Ironic as most of us face the same predicament at home! 
which brings me back to Tortuga, the width of the set will require a whole shelf for it alone which is an inconvenience. Would have been good to be able to break it down in sections and rearrange.

Also, whilst it contributes greatly to the overall visual impact the set has, a substantial amount of bricks will be eaten by the base structure/foundations. Money in the ground literally!

[sporadic]

13 hours ago, Retrocity said:

This may be slightly veering a little off topic, but what are the overall thoughts on how finalists are chosen? 

They have gone into the selection process in detail in their webinars, on their forums and in a few youtube videos.  The basic idea is that they automatically pick the set with the most votes first whatever the piece count.  That set 'locks' whatever theme it belongs to out of selection for the other slots.  They then look for high vote sets that balance the piece count in other themes.  They aim for around 2500 pieces on average between the 5 sets.  So if the first set(s) are large that locks both their themes and the size of later selections.  The result is ~2 very large sets and ~3 medium/small sets.  They have repeatedly requested more small sets and encouraged builders to target smaller piece counts, but I think that's a hard sell because bigger sets have big wow factor so likely get many more votes.  So small sets have to be both excellent and have a piece count compatible with the other selections, which for obvious reasons can't be known before submitting.

The method has changed over the series though.  I think they refine it as they go.  A notable exception is series 4, which because of some things outside of BL's control they ended up with multiple castle related sets in the final selection.

[Retrocity]

2 hours ago, sporadic said:

They have gone into the selection process in detail in their webinars, on their forums and in a few youtube videos.  The basic idea is that they automatically pick the set with the most votes first whatever the piece count.  That set 'locks' whatever theme it belongs to out of selection for the other slots.  They then look for high vote sets that balance the piece count in other themes.  They aim for around 2500 pieces on average between the 5 sets.  So if the first set(s) are large that locks both their themes and the size of later selections.  The result is ~2 very large sets and ~3 medium/small sets.  They have repeatedly requested more small sets and encouraged builders to target smaller piece counts, but I think that's a hard sell because bigger sets have big wow factor so likely get many more votes.  So small sets have to be both excellent and have a piece count compatible with the other selections, which for obvious reasons can't be known before submitting.

The method has changed over the series though.  I think they refine it as they go.  A notable exception is series 4, which because of some things outside of BL's control they ended up with multiple castle related sets in the final selection.

Thanks for the info!   I'll have to look up the videos. 

[Mister Phes]

On 8/27/2024 at 2:50 AM, Yperio_Bricks said:

Between Thieves of Tortuga and the Forest Stronghold I would choose Tortuga!

There's another poll topic for you.

[Yperio_Bricks]

1 hour ago, Mister Phes said:

There's another poll topic for you.

Did i miss something?

[thewatchman]

3 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

There's another poll topic for you.

Forest stronghold all the way

[Mister Phes]

2 hours ago, thewatchman said:

Forest stronghold all the way

[Marooned Marin]

Interestingly enough, both sets, Tortuga an Forest stronghold, were made by same designer - Krackenator.

I think Tortuga lacks conflict. Almost every Classic-Pirate set has some sort of conflict, even those small ones, i.e. shark attacks the raft. Conflict drives the story and imagination.

Even though, given the limited "pirate parts palette" during the Series-5, it's a great design and I like it better than Forest stronghold (I'm too biased toward the pirates).

[Arjo]

The same builder?!? Crazy! I didn’t realise when I brought the comparison up. Suffices to say I like his style and choice of theme. He’s basically doing what I wish I could (with more time and talent).

[thewatchman]

2 hours ago, Marooned Marin said:

I think Tortuga lacks conflict. Almost every Classic-Pirate set has some sort of conflict, even those small ones, i.e. shark attacks the raft. Conflict drives the story and imagination.

Couldn’t agree with this more, it feels a bit too boring, the colour palette is off too. I bought ominous isle because it had consistent bright colouring band excitement. This is just a “oooh a ship would look good in front of this” background piece.

26 minutes ago, Arjo said:

The same builder?!? Crazy! I didn’t realise when I brought the comparison up. Suffices to say I like his style and choice of theme. He’s basically doing what I wish I could (with more time and talent).

I think this is symptomatic of a problem. 
 Iv seen much much better ideas sets get overlooked and I don’t feel this was even in the top ten of sets submitted for approval. 

[Yperio_Bricks]

12 minutes ago, thewatchman said:

Couldn’t agree with this more, it feels a bit too boring, the colour palette is off too. I bought ominous isle because it had consistent bright colouring band excitement. This is just a “oooh a ship would look good in front of this” background piece.

What is wrong with the color palette? I am sure, if Tortuga would be build with bricks, it would look much better and the reception would be much more positive.

[thewatchman]

6 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

What is wrong with the color palette? I am sure, if Tortuga would be build with bricks, it would look much better and the reception would be much more positive.

Far too much tan and brown. 
 It’s just not interesting to look at (in my opinion). Pirates sets have always used outlandish bright colours and I feel like ominous isle seems to pop with bright colour, this, I’m not overly drawn too.

[Yperio_Bricks]

23 minutes ago, thewatchman said:

Far too much tan and brown. 
 It’s just not interesting to look at (in my opinion). Pirates sets have always used outlandish bright colours and I feel like ominous isle seems to pop with bright colour, this, I’m not overly drawn too.

I guess we agree to disagree. For me it is the other way round. Omnious Isle and Forest Stronghold are mainly grey and i find Tortuga to be much more visually pleasing. Build with bricks Tortuga will look great!

[thewatchman]

12 minutes ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

I guess we agree to disagree. For me it is the other way round. Omnious Isle and Forest Stronghold are mainly grey and i find Tortuga to be much more visually pleasing. Build with bricks Tortuga will look great!

Yeah forest stronghold suffers from far too much grey. I’ll agree with that for sure. I actually expect the final model to have a lot more plant life / mix up of brick colours. 
 Totally! It’s what I love about lego most of all, there is something for everyone’s tastes and it’s why I love the bricklink designer program. 
 

I think I’m just salty that seagull bay lighthouse wasn’t made.

[Mister Phes]

5 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

I guess we agree to disagree.

Can we settle this with sabres at dawn?