New 2009 Pirates Sets - NEW closeups of the wench & mermaid added

[Cardinal Brick]

I didn’t notice at first, but I’d like to point to the fact there’s a female minifig in the main pirate ship, ok it’s only one but it’s still better than I expected!

[Mr Spielbrick]

Okay, okay, I take back my words. The new Pirates line is definitely coming and the names seem to be correct!

Yay for the new pieces and prints. Looks gorgeous.

Non-yay for the overal "happy mood". I would've preferred a more grim version of the Pirate world, like what was done with Castle. But that's just a personal thing. Annnnd I shouldn't forget it's a toy for kids, who are perfectly happy with bright colours and non-grim stuff.

Everything taken into account: well done, TLC. I'm very curious to see where this line evolves to. And I'll be picking up, oh... say... at least 6 of them Cannon Battle sets! Perfect army builder - on the imperial side anyway.

Arrrr, avast mateys! (Sorry. Had to. )

[Dovchenko]

Well, it's too late - once something leaks, it's all over the internet!

You're right. But why don't those people go look at it on Brickshelf instead of posting the pictures here and possible getting Eurobricks in trouble?

That would be the smart move.

[MagPiesRUs]

Wow, the sets look much better than I was expecting.

Canon Battle - A lovely little set. I love both of the torsos in this set, and the printed shako is fantastic. I wonder if it is a sticker though.. Brilliant to see the return of the cannon, and it looks like the handle part (that you pull back to fire) is silver.

Kraken Attackin' - Nice to have a red octopus, but it's hardly a kraken. Nice raft anyway, I like the colour scheme of brown and tan, and it's great to see a ladder leading up to the mast for once too. The pirates look good, I love those torsos.

The Island of Treasure (?) - In my opinion the weakest set of the line, with <insert that tiresome argument> baseplate and skull brick, technic catapult and... well, not much else. I'll admit that the figs are nice though, I love those ripped pants. I like the dark blue boat as well, and another dark green alligator is always welcome.

Soldier Fort - My favourite set of the line. Two gold eppaulettes (I may try these on the Imperials - the blue looks strange without a white torso), gold hoock and more beautiful figures! It's quite nice to see that the Imperials have the same flag as they did in the original line - it kind of makes you feel as if this theme is a continuation of the original rather than completely new line of Pirates. The buildings still generally have the same colour scheme too, not to mention that the weathered brick-type pattern is back. All in all, I love the blend of newer elements and techniques with all the flare of the older pirate sets.

Pirate Ship - Not a bad ship at all, certainly not as bad as some are making it out to be. In fact, I like it more than the pirate ships of the late 90's. The whole thing has plenty of detail, especially the back cabin part (?). I love the general look of the back, and the mix of yellow (or is that pearl gold? ) with the dark red and brown looks beautiful. I don't think that the hull looks too bad either, I actually quite like it (it doesn't look like it has two holes in it as the original did - I'm sure SlyOwl will be happy with that). My biggest problem with the set are the sails. I really don't like the cartoony skull and crossbones, and without them it would've been a generic ship, and the Imperials could've used it (as it was possible with the BSB). Other than that, I think that it's a pretty decent ship.

Looking forward to the release of these sets, 2009 is so ON!

[Tanotrooper]

our prayers have been heard...

shakos and epaulettes... after all those years finally back

And now let's hope for a battlepack like from castle

TT

EDIT: gold epaulettes for the pirate captain and the plumes are back too :)

Edited August 20, 2008 by Tanotrooper

[Teddy]

Dear all,

I think the main problem of the ship is proportionality.

The back seems too high compared to the overall length of the ship.

If the back would be slightly lower, there was an additional hull piece, and the slope at the back was at a lesser angle it would look much much better.

As for the sails, I would prefer neutral sails.

To be honoust the sails of the ship would go straight into my garbage bin and be replaced by neutral ones.

The cartoony skull logo looks realy weird, I would say do a redesign.

For me this ship is not worth displaying yet, hopefully lego will do a significant upgrade.

kind regards,

Teddy

[Darth_Legois]

True i wouldnt post it here, besides its already allover the internets.

[Mr Spielbrick]

In defence of the new skull (and crossbones): it's more minifig-appropriate. Don't you all agree? The new skull is less round and the overall proportions seem to match a minifig's head. The old design was based on humans, this one seems based on the actual minifig.

That said... I too kind of prefer the original. But hey, I've been living with the original for over 15 years. I've been living with the new design for about 15 HOURS. I might still warm to it.

[Lord Of Pies]

I'm gonna have to review more sets now....

As for the sets, I am glad they look more like the old pirate set of the nineties, I feared they would look completely different. but Lego has made them so they should integrate well with the old sets. And they have added new features as well as keeping the old!

I like the new gold pieces as well, I spy gold epaulettes!

[Sandy]

With as high expectations as some of you have, you were bound to be disappointed. Of course you won't experience these new sets the way you did the ones in your childhood - that's what nostalgia and golden memories are all about!

In my opinion, these new sets are in no way inferior, just different. I do love all the details, I adore the ship and want it right now (I never got a big pirate ship when I was a child), and considering that the target audience are the kids of today (not the kids of the 80's), I think these sets hit the mark.

[brickzone]

I'm not sure plumes are back. There's one of the large ones used, but it may not be like that on release, as it seems that in the large ship set, the new flame part doubles up as a plume in the soldier's hat. The large plume in the port set may be an error, just like the confusion over helmets on knights in one of the Castle 07 sets (even on S@H photos).

The good news is that the flame part in red looks like a more interesting wavy plume where it is used in the ship set.

I for one don't consider these <insert that tiresome argument>. Sure one set has a stud-scarce baseplate, but it looks interesting enough to use in my own creations. The Agents shark I can live with. I am actually very pleased about the ship not using string - I've always considered string a hassle and too far removed from actual Lego bricks. Those who wish to can still arrange string for themselves, but I am glad to have pipes for the sails. It does seem a bit silly to have chain for the front sail mind you.

I absolutely love the style of the ship. The back cabin to be honest looks more interesting and yet coherent than any of the preceding ships. The prow looks like it is indeed a solid hull similar to the ones of old rather than the Viking one, and has a interesting bow with mermaid figurehead!! Sure it might have been nice to have a bit of a bigger ship like BSB, but really, my pocket is happy to have a compromise size like this.

Edited August 20, 2008 by brickzone

[The Cobra]

On one hand, I think "Well, not bad, but they could be better".

On the other hand, that's exactly what I tought after I first saw 7990. Then it became the set that took me out of my dark years!

Edited August 20, 2008 by The Cobra

[Pencoin]

I dunno why people are complaning lets look at them for what they are NEW pirates

I like them so much ive chaned my avatar accordingly, I'm definaltey going to try and get them all there all so good. I really like the Kraken Attackin'

[The Rancor]

Can I remind everyone that the mermaid tail has actually been used before!

It was in a Harry Potter 'Mermaid Attack' or something Goblet of Fire set.

People talking about army builders have also got to remember there is an impulse set with no pic.

Here are some estimated UK prices:

1. Cannon Attack - £3.99

2. Kraken Attackin' - £5.99

3. Treasure Island - £14.99 up to £19.99

4. Imperial Fort - £29.99 up to £39.99

5. Brickbeard's Pirate Ship - £49.99 up to £69.99

[MagPiesRUs]

Hmm, it seesm that all of the visible patterns on the Imperial soldiers shakos are different: in the cannon battle, the pattern is a ball shape, in the island, the pattern is a shield-like shape, and in the ship, the pattern is an oval-like shape with the little plume coloured red.

I wonder if the patterns will stay different in the final versions? It's a shame that none of the smaller sets include red-plumed shakos.

[omega brick]

Well, the problem is just that…it is the NEW Pirate theme but there’s nothing NEW about it except for some new (and really cool) torso and head prints (and some few totally new mould parts). In this “new” line I think we can see the new strategy from TLC. Army building and multicolour pieces is what seems to catch the interest of youngsters today.

The large amount of small set is probably a precaution from TLC. I mean it’s not really the best time for a new pirate line. By this I don’t mean that they are releasing it to early but rather too late. This line should have been released a couple of years ago when the POTC-movies where new (in cinemas).

I’m glad for TLC that this new pirate line is so well appreciated among the most of you. I am, as I said, really disappointed. If you compare this whit the “rebirth of the classic castle line” it’s a huge difference. With that line TLC managed to re-create the old feeling but with a new twist and some really great sets.

With the pirate line it seems like they just have copied some old sets, changed the colour palette, made some new torso/face prints and hope for the best. There should be some sets that really make people say Ahh! Not just make a raft for the hundred time and put another name to it. And what’s all the adoring of the soldier fort? Haven’t you guys seen the old forts, Eldorado Fortress (6276) and the Imperial Trading Post (6277) ?!!....does were the days…

And I really doesn’t want to sound too pessimistic but don’t hope too much on a long lasting line. The times are different now. It seems like if the theme aren’t very, very popular it will only last for a couple of years. Have you for an example read the list that were on the eurobricks frontpage yesterday? Only three new castle set (and some impulse but I don’t count them as “sets”).

Well well, I will absolutely give the new Pirate line a chance but for now the only set I’m looking forward to are actually the ship. Of all the bad things this one is the best.

[Brainbox]

Just thought I'd wander over here and offer my thoughts on the new sets. You're not going to catch me though, oh no. I'm much to quick for that.

Okay, so they're not the Pirate sets of old. But they were never going to be. They were always going to be modernised somehow. That in mind, I have to say I do rather like these sets.

The cannon one is pretty nice. I mean, it's a small set, with two nice figures and a decent set of parts. The cannon is silver-grey I think, and that gold torch is a pretty neat idea. The figures are good, with nice torsos, sort of modern versions of the old ones. No surprises in the choices of heads though...

Um... that's not a kraken. That's an octopus. That aside, I rather like this set as well. Again, two cool figures, and a red octopus. The two-tone parrot is really cool and the raft itself doesn't look all that bad either.

The island one is probably my least favourite here, but there are still some nice bits. That's a dark blue boat for one. And is the bearded pirate wearing torn trousers?

I spy some dynamite in the fort. I'm not as keen on this set either, but it's still quite nice. Six figures, and flaky walls, it's all good.

I quite like the ship though. The mermaid figurehead is a nice touch, and I guess we've finally got the token captive female in a Pirate set. An Agents shark, another dark blue boat and some gold pieces as well, which is nice. I think I might have to get this one as well.

[MightySlickPancake]

i dont know if it has been posted but i found 2009w.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=337640"]2009[/url] after speculation we have now got hard proof. cb

[Hayato]

omg im so excited my first ever lego set was a pirate set and ive been an avid collector ever since

i quite like the new agents shark included in these means it can actually eat my pirates now :pir-skull:

[BoomZhanker]

Golden Shoulderpads!

[Joey Lock]

Golden Shoulderpads!

I love the Pattern on the Shako!

I dont care for the Ship, Its the same as BSB ill just buy it when it goes on sale unless its cheap...

Everyone is exicted about the Fort!

The battle for Pirate lego is ours Gentlemen!

HUZZAH! HUZZAH!

[metalandi]

Alright, i really would like to know WHY exactly some of you think the ship is <insert that tiresome argument>. What parts of it exactly make you think that? It's got no big ugly parts or something else, i really don't gt it! Just take a closer look to it. And i don't think these are yellow pieces, but gold ones, as the color the slopes from the newer castle sets have.

[Mister Phes]

It seems to me that the sets aren't really brilliant, but they don't disappoint me either. they're a nice compromise between lego's options and the public's dreams... I'm willing to except that for the first year but 2010 better has stuff that's a bit more innovative

You've summated my thoughts exactly Count Sneffy! And with forums such as ours plenty of feedback can be generated to help shape possible 2010 releases.

[Cardinal Brick]

Alright, i really would like to know WHY exactly some of you think the ship is <insert that tiresome argument>.

Wasn’t the same debate had when all the new Castle sets came out? I think this is just one of the things that occurs time and time again. I agree with you from what I can see it has all the parts that use to be used for the original line, but I guess some people wont be happy until everything is made using 1 x 1 plates!

Though I’m glad the ‘reduced creativity’ debate has yet to march on the pirate form.

[metalandi]

I guess you are right, the sets will have to grow on the people, because it's "newish" look. Anyway, the ship and the fort are must buys for me, i think when we get other pictures of thm which are not photoshopped so much (on some of the pictures i even got the feeling they are fully computer designed) they will look even better.