2015 LEGO Pirates Rumors and Discussion

[Hesedguy]

Scratch that.

I found it.

No wonder I've never seen it before, it's pretty new.

[TeufelHund]

Ok - I think I've sorted out what I want from this range now - Shipwreck Defense, Treasure Island and the Soldier's Fort + the Juniors set.

That I way I maximise the variety of new Pirate torsos I get + get a bunch of bluecoats with shakos. The soldier's outpost I can skip because I already have the Kraken from the last wave and the minifig torsos are replicated elsewhere. The Brick Bounty feels unnecessary next to Queen Anne's Revenge.

The lack of gold coins is disappointing though. You'ld think they would be far more common than gems in a typical pirate's loot!

[Aura]

The new crocodile looks incredibly realistic, I am honestly amazed.

[TalonCard]

The final nail in this series’ coffin has to be this Treasure Island set, it looks strangely simular to the old Volcano Island set don’t you think… there is nothing new here, there is nothing worth buying here.

At this point, though, shouldn't it be okay to remake older sets? I mean, for those of us who have been collecting long enough to have most of the 90s and 09 sets some of this is same old same old. But for kids, those releases were an incredibly long time ago. To put this in perspective, Volcano Island was released in 1996. That's 18 years ago. That's a heck of a long time. 18 years before 1996 was 1978--my parents were in high school 18 years before I got that set.

Heck, I was six years old when I got my first LEGO Pirate set, so a kid getting one of these new pirate sets at the same age that I was wouldn't have been born the last time the Pirates had new sets. (Yikes!)

TC

[Hive]

Here's a new render, combining 70409 - Shipwreck Defense & 70411 - Treasure Island:

Thanks for the effort, they actually look pretty nice together. Better than the two fort sets.

[Mister Phes]

At this point, though, shouldn't it be okay to remake older sets?

It's probably no concidence the LEGO Group is releasing a new Pirates theme 6 years after the 2009 theme given its age rage is 7-12.

They're now marketing to a whole new "generation" of children so they can afford to recycle the ideas that sell best.

[The_Cook]

It's probably no concidence the LEGO Group is releasing a new Pirates theme 6 years after the 2009 theme given its age rage is 7-12.

They're now marketing to a whole new "generation" of children so they can afford to recycle the ideas that sell best.

At 18 years distance for the 90's pirates there's also a chance of nostalgia in parents, ie: I had that set as a child I'll get the modern version of that for my child that I now.

I also wonder if they've done some analysis around which price points sell best, and in what scenario's. It feels like they're producing a range focused more on the lower price brackets. In the UK it's the smaller sets that get picked up by the supermarket chains (they'll stock the £10-30 sets but not the £80 sets) because the supermarkets are in the business of moving boxes, therefore TLG is trying to hit the price points that get them the most exposure by being on shelves all across the country rather than just in specialised "toy" shops. Same logic probably holds for North America and continental Europe although I note that in North America Walmart, Target et-al tend to stock a much larger range because they're "one-stop for everything" type shops.

Whilst AFOLs might be annoyed by the repetition and the sets being small, it's perfect for the target audience of 8year old boys with pocket money or the ability to pester their parents into buying small to medium sets.

Edited November 6, 2014 by The_Cook

[tafkatb]

Treasure Island is definitely my favorite of the wave. The skull is really well done - similar enough to previous iterations for a good dose of nostalgia, but with a nicely contoured shape thanks to bow slopes and ogee arches that we didn't have back then. (And it's definitely a huge improvement over 2009's Loot Island.) The lady in red might be my favorite figure of the line, along with the ship's cook. And now that I know it connects to Shipwreck Defense, I might need to get both.

[Matthias]

Here's a new render, combining 70409 - Shipwreck Defense & 70411 - Treasure Island:

Obviously, the models are the best I could do without official instructions or the right parts/colors in LDD.

I think together the sets are beautiful. Better than 2009er sets. I like that TLG make their sets connectable. We get 1 ship, 1 piratebase, 1 soldieroutpost and a juniorset, when I connect the sets. Thats not a lot, but it is enough to have fun with it. (New CC would be great)

[lomis]

(New CC would be great)

That's really all I want.

[Captain Roger]

Nice sets. I really love all of them

About minifgs:

The pirate woman is really cool, much better than both 1989/2009 versions. The male pirates look cool too, but the bluecoats are absolutely awesome!!!! But a bad point about that them is the fact some of these bluecoats don't wear hat.

About sets:

I don't like Brick bounty's sails, they look so childish...arg!!! And obviously, that ship won't be as cool as Black Seas Barracuda or Skull eyes's schooner. By the way, Brick bounty's captain seems to have Captain Roger/Redbeard's torso. I like the detail of the shark's gills.

Treasure island is a nice and improved new version of an old 1996 set. I like the new crocodile, but I don't like the boat's firing weapon

Pirate treasure hunt is so lovely even being a junior set...is nice to have a new captain...but I must admit I miss a new version of Ironhook in the same way Brickbeard is a new version of Roger/redbeard. I like the shark's gills again

Soldiers fort has nice minifigs and accesories but is a poor set compared with the awesome Eldorado Fortress. Even 2009 Soldiers fort is better than this new set.

Soldiers outpost is nice but much worse than Lagoon lock up or sabre island. In any case I'm glad we'll have new pirate sets ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

[lomis]

The male pirates look cool too, but the bluecoats are absolutely awesome!!!! But a bad point about that them is the fact some of these bluecoats don't wear hat.

One great thing is that the printing on the shako looks to be the same from the 2009 line.

Which means, there are plenty of them out there in the world in case you want to Bricklink some extras.

[Jakorin Swiftsword]

I think its good they are bringing back pirates. I never got around to buying any back in the day, so this is a good chance for me to finally do that. Although I do have to say these sets look a little bit kiddy-ized. The only reason I would even consider The Brick Bounty is for the sails so I could make my own ship. But other that and, of course, the figs, I don't find it appealing.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Jakorin Swiftsword

[Regenerate builder]

I am a castle fan at heart but for some reason feel stoked about these sets! I do not have any Lego pirate sets but I think I will get these for sure. I might as well dabble in Pirates since there is no Lego Castle for 2015 or more LOTR

[rodiziorobs]

The Treasure Island set is the clear winner of this line, in my mind: great figs, nice new/useful parts for MOCing, and will probably hit the $20 price range. It is the only one I am sure to pick up (some of the others, maybe, if I can stretch my budget). The Juniors set also gets points for the goofy Jolly Roger.

The only drawback is the new crocodile. I guess with all of their animals getting new molds with printing--bears, horses, the Friends animals as well as licensed ones like the dewback or Smaug--they felt the need to update the croc as well. I guess I just feel it could have turned out better. Or it's just nostalgia talking.

Edited November 6, 2014 by rodiziorobs

[dr_spock]

I like the Treasure Island set too. It's great for figs and parts for MOCs. The female pirate is one i'd want to add to my collection of figs. The crocodile is going to stick out against my 2009 sets crocodiles. Maybe I can make him King Croc to my other crocs.

[wesker]

Love the new crocodile and modernized pirate wench. I probably won't be collecting this line since the sets are pretty similar to the last pirates wave, but I'll definitely be picking up some of those updated figures.

[Ardelon]

On closer looks, I dont like the eyepatched-mustached pirate head, it looks over the top. Not a fan of the new printed croc either. Like David Thomsen I would have rather wanted to see a new parrot. The new bandana probably will be ok, but its another wasted mold. The swivel-gun is growing on me I guess, though it might need a 1x1 round stud/"plate" on the back for aesthetic reasons.

As for the Treasure Island set, I never liked these skull-rock sets, they always seemed to cheesy. Nice minifigs though, the wench is neat but I would have preferred her without the eyepatch. Bummer that there are no coins. I wonder why?

Edited November 7, 2014 by Ardelon

[Lind Whisperer]

As for the Treasure Island set, I never liked these skull-rock sets, they always seemed to cheesy.

Look at Iomis's render, and see how everything is laid out. Basically, a ship crashed onto rocks, and they rebuilt the pieces into a hideout. At first, I also thought that it was a skull-rock setup, but when you look at as a shipwreck, you realize it's actually the back panel of a ship, fashioned in the shape of a skull!

[Ardelon]

Thats an original way to look at it, though Im not a fan of this theory. At least it somewhat explains the cheesiness, even if it doesnt lessen it...

Forgot to voice my appreciation for the new flags, as well as the pirate sails - much better than the 2009 versions. Though still not as good as the original take. Theres just someting eerie about a plain grinning skull that cant be matched by the later ridiculous frowny-eyes or even eyebrows-on-skull versions.

[The_Cook]

The new bandana probably will be ok, but its another wasted mold.

I can understand why people might have wanted other molds developed for new items but it's worth bearing in mind that it might have been necessity not waste; the original bandana mold is over 20 years old, has produced numerous million bandanas and was probably wearing out, therefore if TLG wanted to keep producing bandanas then it needed replacing so they might as well do a bit of a redesign.

[Bissspuren]

Now we just need a second wave with another boat so we can have some nice sea battles!

[Ardelon]

I can understand why people might have wanted other molds developed for new items but it's worth bearing in mind that it might have been necessity not waste; the original bandana mold is over 20 years old, has produced numerous million bandanas and was probably wearing out, therefore if TLG wanted to keep producing bandanas then it needed replacing so they might as well do a bit of a redesign.

True enough. If this is the case, I take my words back.

[Lind Whisperer]

I can understand why people might have wanted other molds developed for new items but it's worth bearing in mind that it might have been necessity not waste; the original bandana mold is over 20 years old, has produced numerous million bandanas and was probably wearing out, therefore if TLG wanted to keep producing bandanas then it needed replacing so they might as well do a bit of a redesign.

True, but "might as well" does not necessarily equate to need. The mold for the robot arm piece is going to be replaced soon, if not already, and it is highly unlikely we will being seeing re-tooling on that, and it has been around as long as the bandanna.

The original bandanna is actually a better part for them to keep, simply because it is more flexible. It can be a Santa cap, a bikers rag, Dengar's wrappings - how many of these can the new one successfully pull off?

[Hive]

Now we just need a second wave with another boat so we can have some nice sea battles!

Boats! Boats! Boats!