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Lego Pirates
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Pirates is a Lego theme launched in 1989 featuring pirates, soldiers, islanders and sailing ships. The theme has been seen in minifigure scale, Duplo and the 4+ theme.
The original Pirates sets included the first Lego minifigures without the traditional head with simply two eyes and a smile; they had a variety of different features including hair, eyepatches and facial hair.
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Encyclopedia
Pirates is a Lego theme launched in 1989 featuring pirates, soldiers, islanders and sailing ships. The theme has been seen in minifigure scale, Duplo and the 4+ theme.
The original Pirates sets included the first Lego minifigures without the traditional head with simply two eyes and a smile; they had a variety of different features including hair, eyepatches and facial hair. Alongside the Pirates released in 1989 were the blue-coated Imperial Soldiers (probably based on the French) who were to fight the Pirates. A comic book entitled "The Gold Medallion" was also released in that year, as well as a Ladybird Book series. In 1992, the Imperial Soldiers were replaced by the red-coated Imperial Guards (probably based on British Marines).
A sub-theme loosely based on a Polynesian concept, the Islanders, were released in 1994. In 1996 Lego changed the entire "feel" of the Pirates line and made it Spanish influenced. This meant the Imperial Guards were replaced by the Imperial Armada, heavily based on the Spanish Armada. Along with this change, the pirates were also given new faces. In 1997 Lego discontinued the Pirates theme; the theme's end at this time came as a shock to fans, because the Pirates line had always been a big seller.
Two 1996 Pirate sets, "Red Beard Runner" and "Armada Flagship", and one 1994 Islanders set, "Enchanted Island", were re-released in 2001. In 1989 Pirates set "Black Seas Barracuda" was updated and re-released in 2002 for the Lego Legends series. The Pirates theme was brought to 4+ in 2004 and Duplo in 2006. Lego reintroduced Pirates in minifigure scale for 2009, just in time for the theme's 20th anniversary.
Set list
Set names from UK, Australia & New Zealand given in brackets.
Pirates (1989-1997, 2001-2002, 2009)
- 1464-Pirate Lookout
- 1481-Pirates Desert Island
- 1492-Battle Cove
- 1696-Pirate Lookout
- 1713-Shipwrecked Pirate
- 1733-Shipwrecked Pirate
- 1747-Treasure Surprise
- 1788-Treasure Chest
- 1802-Tidy Treasure
- 1871-Pirates Cannon
- 1873-Pirates Treasure
- 1889-Pirates Treasure Hold
- 1970-Pirates Gun Cart
- 6232-Skeleton Crew (Skeleton Cave)
- 6234-Renegade's Raft (Pirate Castaway)
- 6235-Buried Treasure
- 6237-Pirates' Plunder (Treasure Hunters)
- 6248-Volcano Island
- 6249-Pirates Ambush
- 6204-Buccaneers
- 6251-Pirate Mini Figures
- 6250-Cross Bone Clipper
- 6252-Sea Mates
- 6254-Rocky Reef (Treasure Island)
- 6255-Pirate Comic
- 6257-Castaway's Raft
- 6258-Smuggler's Shanty (Pirates' Palm Hideout)
- 6260-Shipwreck Island
- 6261-Raft Raiders (Pirates Raft)
- 6268-Renegade Runner (Seastar)
- 6270-Forbidden Island
- 6273-Rock Island Refuge (Port Jamaica)
- 6279-Skull Island (Captain Rogers Hideout)
- 6281-Pirates Perilous Pitfall
- 6285-Black Seas Barracuda
- 6286-Skull's Eye Schooner (The Black Skull)
- 6289-Red Beard Runner (The Marauder)
- 6290-Red Beard Runner (The Marauder)
- 6296-Shipwreck Island (Shipwreck)
- 10040-Black Seas Barracuda
- 6239-Cannon Battle
- 6240-Kracken Attackin'
- 6241-Loot Island
- 6242-Soldiers' Fort
- 6243-Brickbeard’s Bounty
- 6253-Shipwreck Hideout
- 8396-Soldier's Arsenal
- 8397-Pirate Survival
Imperial Soldiers (1989-1991)
- 6245-Harbor Sentry
- 6259-Broadside's Brig (Governor Broadsides Prison)
- 6265-Sabre Island (Governors Bastion)
- 6267-Lagoon Lock-Up (Soldiers Tavern)
- 6274-Caribbean Clipper (Seahawk)
- 6276-Eldorado Fortress
Imperial Guards (1992-1995)
- 1795-Imperial Cannon
- 1872-Soldiers Forge
- 6247-Bounty Boat (Admirals Launch)
- 6263-Imperial Outpost (Bastion)
- 6266-Cannon Cove (Black Reef)
- 6271-Imperial Flagship (Sealion)
- 6277-Imperial Trading Post (Port Royal)
Imperial Armada (1996-1997, 2001)
- 6244-Armada Sentry (Water Outpost)
- 6280-Armada Flagship (Armada Galleon)
- 6291-Armada Flagship (Armada Galleon)
Islanders (1994, 2001)
- 6236-King Kahuka (Chief's Throne)
- 6246-Crocodile Cage (Crocodile Prison)
- 6256-Islander Catamaran (Chiefs Canoe)
- 6262-King Kahuka's Throne (Treasure Throne)
- 6264-Forbidden Cove (Treasure Cave)
- 6278-Enchanted Island
- 6292-Enchanted Island
Miscellaneous
- 3983-Captain Roger Key Chain
- 4224454-Captain Roger Key Chain
Non-System
- 7880-Big Pirate Ship
- 7881-Ghost Ship
- 7882-Shark Attack
- 7883-Treasure Hunt
4+ Pirates
- 7070-Catapult Raft
- 7071-Treasure Island
- 7072-Captain Kragg's Ship
- 7073-Pirate Dock
- 7074-Skull Island
- 7075-Captain Redbeard's Pirate Ship
- 7080-Scurvy Dog and Crocodile
- 7081-Harry Hardtack and Monkey
- 7082-Cannonball Jimmy and Shark
- 7289-Captain Redbeard in Box (Promotional Set)
- 7290-Captain Kragg in Barrel (Promotional Set)
Official merchandise
Lego Group has also released a variety of official Pirate Lego merchandise ranging from to stick-on tattoos to board games.
Characters
Captain Roger Redbeard is a fictional character created by the Lego Company for the Pirates theme of the Lego System. The Pirate theme, and along with it Capt. Redbeard, was first introduced in 1989. As the theme's chief antagonist, the leader of the pirates fights continuously against Governor Broadside’s soldiers. Captain Redbeard is in command of two pirate ships: the Black Sea Barracuda and the Skull’s Eye Schooner. During the years of fighting, he suffered three major injuries, which caused him to wear an eye patch over his left eye, an iron hook where his left hand used to be, and a wooden right leg. Additional trademarks of Capt. Redbeard are the skull and crossed bones on his bircone, his distinctive gold-trimmed black frock coat and green scarf, and a colorful tropical parrot. Together with his friend Will and his first mate Rummy, Capt. Redbeard encounters countless adventures of swash-buckling, sailing, treasure hunting, and piracy.
In later sets, the appearance of Capt. Redbeard was redesigned to look more intimidating, with him now wearing a shredded red shirt and sporting a massive knife slung through his belt.
Governor Broadside is Capt. Redbeard's chief enemy, and mostly chief victim as well, as Redbeard seems to always get the better of him.
Kahuka is the leader of the Islanders, a Polynesian-based sub-theme of the Pirates theme, and he cannot be mistaken for anyone else that Lego has ever conjured up. He wears a massive carved red face mask topped with white featers, a face painted white and blue, a necklace made out of teeth and a large round medallion, a red sash around his waist (which was probably a present given to him by a passing ship's captain), and a grass skirt. His ceneter of power is located on "Enchanted Island", a fictious island invented by Lego.
Captain Brickbeard is a fictional character created by the Lego Company for their 2009-line of Pirates sets.
He is the leader of the 2009 soldiers
Ladybird Books series
An official series of children's books based on the Pirate Lego theme was published by Ladybird Books in 1990.
Titles
- Will and the Gold Chase
- Captain Roger's Birthday
- Adventure on Shark Island
- The Royal Visit
The stories revolved around the misadventures of the crew of Dark Shark and their run-ins with Broadside's Imperial Guards. The stories developed a stronger characterisation for key characters and expanded the Pirate Lego universe. They also introduced a character known as Captain Foul who commanded the ship “The Barracuda”, however the captain or ship did not appear in any of the official Pirate Lego sets.
Like the comic Governor Broadside was given a family which included his Aunt Prudence and niece Camilla. The entire crew of the Dark Shark (6285/10050 Blacks Seas Barracuda) were given names, including the monkey and the parrot.
A short biographical description and illustrated portrait of each of the Dark Shark’s characters was presented on the first and second pages of each book.
Characters
Broadside's Family
- Aunt Prudence
- Camilla
- Governor Broadside
Dark Shark Crew
- Anne
- Bo'Sun Will
- Captain Roger (known as Captain Redbeard in Northern America)
- Flashfork
- First Mate Rummy
- Jimbo
- Popsy (the parrot)
- Spinoza (the monkey)
On the final two pages of each book is a map of the fictional archipelago named “The Treasure Islands” in which the Ladybird Pirate Lego universe is set.
Islands
- Black Reef Island
- Emerald Island
- Hook Nose Island
- Island of Fogs
- Island of Ruins
- Island of Skulls
- John Silver Island
- Pirate Hat Island
- Pirate’s Nest
- Sabatina
- Shark Island
- Skeleton Island
1993 World Lego Expo – Pirates Ahoy
For its 1993 World Expo, the Lego Group chose “Pirates Ahoy” as the theme. The exhibition contained various exhibits mostly depicting three dimensional sculptures of pirates made entirely from Lego, although the Pirate Galleon containing 13,280 pieces was built at System minifigure scale and was crewed by standard Pirate Lego minifigures.
Souvenir guide
A souvenir guide accompanied the exhibition and its main feature was a story which loosely tied the exhibits together in a first person narrative. The souvenir guide also provided information about each exhibit including its name, how many pieces it contained and the number of hours it took to construct.
The top-left corner of odd pages contained information and an illustrated portrait of infamous pirates from history including Blackbeard and Bartholomew Roberts. While top-right hand cornered of the even pages included a picture of that pirate’s flag.
Exhibits
| Name | No. of Bricks | Building Time |
|---|
| Pirate Galleon | 13,280 | 101 hours | | Galley | 103,688 | 955 hours | | Captain’s Cabin | 31,773 | 876 Hours | | L’ollonois | 46,075 | 298 hours | | Pirate Musicians | 29,274 | 1,432 hours | | Pirate Training Camp | 103,436 | 613 hours | | Paradise Canyon | 22,322 | 1,115 hours | | Treasure Cave | 31,445 | 921 hours | | Anne Bonny | 38,180 | 254 hours | | Henry Morgan | 49,875 | 330 hours | | Black Beard | Unspecified | Unspecified |
Storyline
One day a long time ago I sailed the ocean blue with old Captain Roger and his Lego Pirate crew. That balmy night we gathered in the galley for a fish of hot rate stew, and sausages, and boiled cuttlefish. And I overheard two mutineers whispering ‘bout a plot to steal our precious treasure map and make off with the lot.
But the Captain caught them in the act and roared, “You’ll walk the plank and live with old King Neptune on that galleon we sank!”
We found the Island on the map and camped by a lagoon, and drank and danced till midnight to a merry pirate tune. A training class was organised for all of those aboard, where everyone learnt how to fight with musket, knife and sword.
When we were fit to go the Captain said “Look for a grave. From there we’ll find the pathway to the secret treasure cave.”
“Aye, Sir,” we said, and shook our heads, so it was a great surprise when, lo and behold. We found the gold. It was immense in size.
Evil Stevie’s Pirate Game
Evil Stevie’s Pirate Game is a game which involves elements of both role playing and tactical combat in a similar vein of the Warhammer games yet the rules have been tailored to specifically suit Pirate Lego.
External links
- LEGO Pirate forum and information resource.
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