The end of LEGO Pirates by mid 2010

[Lord Markett]

Who needs Pirates when we can have Power Miners and Atlantis?

Everyone

[Islander King]

When exactly is it gonna happen, because it is nearly october (2010) so how much longer do I have to grab myself an Imperial flagship?

[Zeya]

When exactly is it gonna happen, because it is nearly october (2010) so how much longer do I have to grab myself an Imperial flagship?

I wonder that too. I have to voice my disappointment here also. I'm 28 and I just recently decided to get back into Lego a bit. I was so happy to see they still have the pirates line I remember from my youth (early 90s). (Although I now understand it took a hiatus and is just a 2009 limited run.) I thought it would be awesome to get some sets and look forward to seeing new ones and focus on Pirates. The only other theme that appeals to me is Castle/Kingdoms, and maybe some SW here and there.

We saw some photos of a Jack Sparrow and other things at a recent comic convention. Let's assume for a moment that Lego will be putting out some Pirates of the Caribbean in 2011. Now, what would happen if Lego had the generic Pirates alongside the Pirates of the Caribbean on the shelf? Who would win? From the perspective of a typical non-enthusiast parent at a toy shop, why buy a pirates set when you can get another one with Jack Sparrow and the new princess character (or whatever)? They don't want to confuse consumers either and risk a parent getting "the wrong pirates" for their kid either. I think what's happening here is that Lego scored a deal with Disney to make a Pirates of the Caribbean line, and they know it will be a goldmine. They have 3 existing movies to make sets from, with another on the way. Just checked wikipedia, and it looks like the release date for the 4th movie is May 20, 2011. I can easily see the Pirates of the Carribbean line lasting for multiple years: at least 2 years, probably more like 3 or more. In that time, we can expect there not to be the classic Pirates for the reasons I mentioned.

I secretly hope I'm wrong and Pirates of the Caribbean sets won't happen. (I think the movies are a bit overrated. That last one wasn't so good.) No Disney IP means a better likelihood of Pirates returning sooner than later. And by sooner I mean in something like 3 years instead of 6-10.

Edit: Good god. What if Lego and Disney partnered up for even more IP-driven sets? We would never see the end of Disney Princess and whatever cartoon-du-jour there is. *shudder* Let's just hope that doesn't happen. Of course if you love Disney stuff, then good for you I guess.

Edited September 30, 2010 by Zeya

[legodude116]

Oh no.

That's really bad news. I had hoped for a similar run just like 1989 (pause in 1990) and then new sets each year for 5 more years. Although I'd think that this time around it would be new line in 2009 (pause in 2010) then new sets in 2011-12-13 perhaps.

I hope they just put the whole thing on hold. I would realy have loved a ship for the soldiers. It could have been an epic set

they have one, the imperial flagship, which I recently purchased for 200 dollars. but, it was worth every penny. Unfortunatly, the ship only stayed whole for about a month, then a disaster accured. One of the bottom pieces holding the entire ship together came loose, then, when i picked it up to move it, the loose piece fell out, resulting in the snapping in half of my ship.