General Pirates of the Caribbean Theme Discussion Thread

[Emperor Claudius Rome]

I think Lego POTC would be a good way too get some Redcoats and Bluecoats. And all you'll have to do is switch out the hands and heads. They would be good special infantry.

[Brick Britt]

Well...I certainly am excited now!

[The Green Brick Giant]

This is the least shocking topic ever.

He looks good, so that's something, but I rather my guys be yellow.

[jamtf]

Hmm, nice move I suppose. Let's hope it is for real and that this is not a fake try-out minifig that gets us excited for no reason. I would like to see more of it before I can say whether I like it or not.

Furthermore, wasn't Pirates of the Caribbean previously linked up with Megablocks sets??? I always thought they had the exclusive license.

[Rens]

hmm... I hope it's true, but isn't jack sparrow a bit too detailed for TLG??

[David Thomsen]

"Give me that wig for my Classic pirates, damn it!"

(Sadly, I'm more excited about the possibility of this mold than anything else)

[Dreamweb]

Furthermore, wasn't Pirates of the Caribbean previously linked up with Megablocks sets??? I always thought they had the exclusive license.

They HAD. But it expired AFAIK. That's no problem. Look at the example of Spider-Man. Lego had the license and produced sets for the first two movies. For part 3, Megabloks took over the license and made their own sets:

So I see no reason why the same (only in reversed order) cannot be done with POTC.

Edited July 24, 2010 by Dreamweb

[Blondie-Wan]

I think this remains to be seen. The Prince of Persia sets were very aggressively priced, while the Toy Story sets were not. But with the exception of the Target exclusive Pizza Delivery Truck, I don't think any of the Disney licensed sets have had as much of a markup as we see on the Star Wars sets.

You know, I think the Star Wars license markup is way overstated. I don't know that the price-per-piece ratio is really all that different from what we see in other themes, whether licensed or otherwise (take a look at Kingdoms 7949 - Prison Carriage Rescue or Toy Story 7590 - Woody and Buzz to the Rescue, for example).

The real way to look at it isn't just how many individual pieces one gets, but what kinds of elements they are. I think most Star Wars sets are fine by this measure (as are the two other sets I just cited - the Toy Story set is more than twenty cents per piece, but those pieces include lots of printed elements plus a motor).

[natelite]

okay, i'll discuss the possibility of a 2 piece headpiece. none!

it's simple really. you need enough clearance at the side in order to jam the hat into the hairpiece if that's how it was done. and the trend that TLC follows these days is to use higher tolerance molding which means cruder, not finer clearance. this can be seen clearly from the new space helmet which sits higher than normal therefore cutting off the minifig's mouth if you look at the minifig's face through the visor. hence, the possibility of manufacturing a 2 piece hair/hatpiece which can fit over the other? none!

it is also cheaper if they use chinese manufacturers for such a highly detailed piece. chinese standard is looser as well. so it is easier from a manufacturing and pricing point to just make 2 different pieces (one with hat, one without) using chinese factories.

the other way to make a 2 piece headpiece using the cruder technology is to make the hairpiece flat with a stud on top. then have the hat piece sit snugly on top. and possibly make a top hairpiece to sit on the hairpiece with a stud. kinda like a toupee. if you have to go through so much trouble and make 3 separate pieces (and molds), you might as well just make 2 separate headpiece and be done with it.

the final way is to make the hairpiece in the form of the dwarf's beard, i.e. bald at the crown, and as a neckpiece instead. again, this makes it 3 pieces (toupee, neckpiece and hat) vs 2 pieces. so as you can see, everything points towards 2 different headpiece vs separable headpiece.

also making a toupee piece is bad since it's hard to remove (i.e. like a tile piece you need to make grooves to make it easier to remove, hence destroying the aesthetic of the piece). and it's not like you can use the toupee on its own. who wants a bad bowl haircut from the 80s!

lastly creating two hairpieces, one with hat on and creating one without meant more potential sales. you can stick one in a $100 set and the other in another $100 set and fools collectors will snap them up with ease because they wanted both versions of cap jack sparrow. take a cue from the spongebob theme. how many spongebob and expressions do we have? and how many versions of luke skywalker do we have by now.

so... trust me, there's no way the headpiece is in two pieces. there will be plentiful versions of CJS in this new theme.

as for the validity of the new theme? very high. TLC desperately needs another home runner given that the SW licensing is about to end. anyone heard yet if they are renewing? POTC might just be it. who knows...

[Ogre]

You must remember the one factor why this would be very profitable for Lego....two words.....Johnny Depp !

Yeap, Willy Wonka and The Mad Hatter himself........boys and some girls feel he's COOL (much better than 21 Jump St.) and with Jack back on the scene Lego Pirate's is reborn or was it planned this way.....pirates short life to see if this theme would live or walk the plank ?

I'm a conformist! !

Oh, I think it was definitely planned this way...especially the release of the Imperial Flagship. IMO, LEGO was 'prepping' for the release ('greasing the wheels, as it were') and I think they were also testing to see if the 'hardcores' would be willing to fork out $200 for a pirate ship.

Now, personally, I think the movies got weaker and weaker as the series went on...BUT...I also believe that has ZERO bearing on how TOTALLY FRIGGIN' COOL a POTC line in LEGO would be.

*sigh*

I think I'm gonna have to win the lotto. Between all the new City, Star Wars, Kingdoms, POP, Series 2 Collectible Minifigures and POTC stuff, I'm going to be broke for my next three lifetimes and probably divorced too, if my wife gets wind of all this new swag. LOL

Honestly intriguing! I, too, was sad to the last Pirates to go on hiatus so quickly, but while I'm not a fan of the POTC series at all, I wasn't interested in Prince of Persia one bit either and that didn't stop me from absolutely loving the PoP LEGO line.

Ditto.

My interest in the movie licence (ANY licence) has absolutely ZERO bearing on whether or not I'll have an interest in the LEGO line.

I'm a LEGO fan. Have been since I was four. If they keep making cool stuff, I'll keep buying it, regardless of whether it's from a great movie, or a lousy one.

Edited July 24, 2010 by Ogre

[lightningtiger]

It's nice to know that most of us male AFOL's have the same wife trouble with Lego - you know they just don't understand !

There's no new pictures, no more information ?

At least with Lego it shouldn't be oversimplified designs like MB !

I'm a conformist! !

[Ogre]

They HAD. But it expired AFAIK. That's no problem. Look at the example of Spider-Man. Lego had the license and produced sets for the first two movies. For part 3, Megabloks took over the license and made their own sets:

So I see no reason why the same (only in reversed order) cannot be done with POTC.

Same thing with 'Thomas the Tank Engine'...I was flipping through a flyer and saw 'Thomas' sets branded by Mega Bloks and that was LEGO's licence not that long ago.

It's nice to know that most of us male AFOL's have the same wife trouble with Lego - you know they just don't understand !

My wife's been pretty good about it and actually thinks that a lot of the sets are "very cool"...BUT...every time I mention a new set or theme these days, I get *the look* and the same question: "And just WHERE are you going to put MORE LEGO?" followed by the now-infamous "We're going to have to buy a bigger house. Or better yet, just move into a warehouse!"

*sigh*

I'll miss her when she's gone. LOL!

[Swash Buckler]

okay, i'll discuss the possibility of a 2 piece headpiece. none!

it's simple really. you need enough clearance at the side in order to jam the hat into the hairpiece if that's how it was done. and the trend that TLC follows these days is to use higher tolerance molding which means cruder, not finer clearance. this can be seen clearly from the new space helmet which sits higher than normal therefore cutting off the minifig's mouth if you look at the minifig's face through the visor. hence, the possibility of manufacturing a 2 piece hair/hatpiece which can fit over the other? none!

it is also cheaper if they use chinese manufacturers for such a highly detailed piece. chinese standard is looser as well. so it is easier from a manufacturing and pricing point to just make 2 different pieces (one with hat, one without) using chinese factories.

the other way to make a 2 piece headpiece using the cruder technology is to make the hairpiece flat with a stud on top. then have the hat piece sit snugly on top. and possibly make a top hairpiece to sit on the hairpiece with a stud. kinda like a toupee. if you have to go through so much trouble and make 3 separate pieces (and molds), you might as well just make 2 separate headpiece and be done with it.

the final way is to make the hairpiece in the form of the dwarf's beard, i.e. bald at the crown, and as a neckpiece instead. again, this makes it 3 pieces (toupee, neckpiece and hat) vs 2 pieces. so as you can see, everything points towards 2 different headpiece vs separable headpiece.

also making a toupee piece is bad since it's hard to remove (i.e. like a tile piece you need to make grooves to make it easier to remove, hence destroying the aesthetic of the piece). and it's not like you can use the toupee on its own. who wants a bad bowl haircut from the 80s!

lastly creating two hairpieces, one with hat on and creating one without meant more potential sales. you can stick one in a $100 set and the other in another $100 set and fools collectors will snap them up with ease because they wanted both versions of cap jack sparrow. take a cue from the spongebob theme. how many spongebob and expressions do we have? and how many versions of luke skywalker do we have by now.

so... trust me, there's no way the headpiece is in two pieces. there will be plentiful versions of CJS in this new theme.

as for the validity of the new theme? very high. TLC desperately needs another home runner given that the SW licensing is about to end. anyone heard yet if they are renewing? POTC might just be it. who knows...

I really really hope that they will finally do 2 separate headpieces that fit- looks good because hat don't look to be connected with bandanna/hair but maybe that there indeed is hatless version in another set... would be cunning way to steal money away from everyone who wants all Jacks - but hey -after buying some dozen sets you can build Jack's nightmare from Davy Jones locker - those multiple Jacks i mean- lol that's actually clever because you do pretty much nothing with ten similar Luke Skywalkers or dozen similar Indys but dozen Sparrows actually appear in movie

Still i think that making hat separable is not that hard for TLG because playmobil for example did same over ten years ago....

[MrTools]

Very good news, even though i haven't seen the movies i will still get some of these just because it is pirate themed. I just hope that there will be a variety of ship that don't all cost over one hundred (US).

[ikensall]

I have two problems

1.they could have atleast had the decency to keep the usual tricorner hat rather than substituting a pointless redo

2.ITS A PEACH!!!! AAAAAAAARGH

[Mac-K]

Interesting development!

Unsurprisingly, Lego's rendition of Mr. Sparrow is fantastic. My only issue with his face would be, not nearly enough eye-liner. Seriously though, and as others have mentioned, you just can't totally capture the expressions of such a dynamic character like Jack Sparrow in mini-fig form. Although, if they go the route of double-sided heads, I suppose there could be some very Jack-like facial prints that might be surprisingly close. Time and more pictures will tell.

While the temporary loss of the Classic Pirate theme is really too bad, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't rather excited for the potentials of a POTC theme. While I only really liked Black Pearl, the possibilities in regards to mini-figs, pieces and accessories from the cumulative trilogy and the upcoming fourth film are really something to look forward to, IMO.

I think what I'm most interested in seeing will be the following:

1. The undead pirates of the first film. I expect these guys will probably just have special face/torso prints. Given their movie appearance, I think it's safe to say that they will also look a lot more kid-friendly, like the skeletons of the Castle theme.

2. The sea-creature mutant pirates of the second and third films. I'd expect mostly head molds for any of Davy's crew. This could be great potential for fantasy/castle creators.

3. Considering Jack's hat/hair piece, I'm intrigued to see how Lego will do the others, especially considering characters like Norrington, Barbossa, Governor Swann, Beckett, etc., with their tri-corn hats and hair or wigs underneath.

4. We'll almost certainly see at least a few Red-coat troops. I wonder if Lego will just reuse Red-coat torsos and other accessories from the Pirate theme?

If Lego does go to the lengths with this line that they've done for Prince of Persia, I think we can all expect to be treated to one hell of a good temporary replacement for the Pirate theme. I can't wait for more news in the coming months.

[natelite]

2. The sea-creature mutant pirates of the second and third films. I'd expect mostly head molds for any of Davy's crew. This could be great potential for fantasy/castle creators.

If Lego does go to the lengths with this line that they've done for Prince of Persia, I think we can all expect to be treated to one hell of a good temporary replacement for the Pirate theme. I can't wait for more news in the coming months.

why do you think we have those MF creatures in the atlantis theme? TLC was testing the waters... we'll probably have the same for davy jones and his merry crew, i.e. atlantis/space police style headpiece over regular mf head.

or possibly special mf head mold like brick daddy's. in fact, brick daddy's head mold does look oddly similar to davy jones'. it was probably delibrately made shorter than a regular mf's head in order for you to put DJ's hat and other nicknacks on it.

cool!!

i think many of the sets will be priced extremely high. think of all the new molds needed just to make the main characters. i think we can either expect prices higher than $100 for most sets (just like how SW sets are now trending higher too) or have butchered sets. most likely the former... it's riskier since POTC is a untested theme, but hey... if you want to hit a home runner you gotta be swinging for the fences and not punt every balls.

if indeed they butcher the sets and make half-arsed black pearl...then, well at least we have the mfs while they lasted!

[Apache]

Hmmmm..... I really don't like the idea of Flesh colored skin Tainting Pirate Legos. Especially when they show the tan skin on the shirt...arrrrrhhhhhh. I am excited for a Lego Black Pear. Seeing what they do for soldiers, soldier fort will be cool, and the Elizabeth Swann fig might become the hottest Minifig ever

[______]

I think these sets will be good for you AFOLs out there as well because you get some nice new torsos and new ships and the fans, having already owned some Lego produced pirate ships, they can make the massive battle in POTC3 or make a shipyard. Although I agree with getting annoyed about fleshies I think they are hardly gonna change it now. Imagine the wigs we will get, and the redcoats!

[Emperor Claudius Rome]

What about the East India Company minifigs. If I get them, I'll be a turncoats for sure.

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

The problem with me for this theme is all the supernatural elements Disney stuffed into the series as it evolved, with all the zombie pirates and barnacle mutants it's become famous for. Personally, the first movie was clearly the best, most likely because it was more of a pirate movie with sci-fi/horror elements rather than a sci-fi movie with a pirates setting.

We might get some great headgear, weapons and torsos out of the line, not to mention what will probably be some interesting sets... but I'm just not all that interested in hammerhead-heads or claw-fisted octopus minifigs. Isn't that what Atlantis is for??

[General Redwater]

When I first read the title of this topic I thought to myself that this would be the end of normal LEGO pirates, and the start of something new and based on the movies. Honestly, I was more than a little disappointed because it felt like LEGO was abandoning the old LEGO pirates.

Someone mentioned the lack of new bluecoats/redcoats - I'm no expert in POTC, I've only seen the first one and I'm pretty sure there were some soldiers in uniforms running around. So we may actually get a yet another kind of army to build.

This is one of the few things I'm looking forward to. Another type of Redcoat! Yes!

"Give me that wig for my Classic pirates, damn it!"

Yes, this is another one of those few things that I look forward to. A wig for the officers and higher class civilians.

-

General Redwater

Edited July 24, 2010 by General Redwater

[Fires-storm]

First off, I believe you mean fantasy Mr. Timms, as sci-fi implies science Second off, I honestly do not mind the fleshies, as they sometimes convey more of a nice realistic feeling in a moc then a normal yellow minifig's head can do, however if you do not like them, a little yellow marker fixes it right up!

A few of the things I'm excited about from this set are

1: New horizons for Lego pirates, be they ghost ships or horrors of the deep.

2: A true honest to God KRAKEN!

3: A possibility of getting back Lego Conquistadors! I mean really, the fountain of youth, most often shown in Florida, home of the Spanish back then? If they don't get involved I'll be shocked.

4: Blackbeard. Need I say more?

All in all, this should be a good set, and if it comes, I'm grabbing all I can.

[David Thomsen]

okay, i'll discuss the possibility of a 2 piece headpiece. none!

I don't think you should be so completely dismissive of the idea... five years ago I would have thought double-sided torso printing was impossible. And look at the amount of leg printing in the minifigures range, and the stripes on the mime's arm... time moves on, impossible things become possible.

I think it's extremely simple to mould a small, discrete hole on the top of hair pieces and wigs, and a peg on the base of hats. I don't know anything about plastic moulding, but if they can do it for hats with plumes, why can't they do it for hair with hats?

If everything has a standard shape, then you could easily swap hats between characters as well, adding hugely to the play experience.

Jack's hat.

Plain black tricorn, worn by most characters.

Black tricorn with gold trim, worn by some characters sometimes.

Elizabeth's Singapore hat.

Davy Jones' hat.

Barbossa's hat.

Will Turner's hat, which I think he wears at the end of the first film. Kind of a musketeer hat.

Darth Vader's and Yoda's pirate hats, in the inevitable SW/POTC cross-over.

Lots of hats. If interchangable, lots of customisation possibilities.

[Captain Zuloo]

Wow, this is sure some news! I was always against a POTC line, but when seing the look of that Jack Sparrow fig, perhaps it isn't such a bad idea. As much as I'd rather see the yellows continue, there is definately a lot of scope for a POTC line set wise. However I feel that there is a good chance that the sets will kinda suck. Now this is just complete speculation as I really have no idea, but I'm getting the feeling that although we'll have awesome minifigs, we'll probably also have ships containing massive pieces along with a massive price tag. Still, kudos to LEGO for producing such a cool minifig, and if the others are like this one I'll most likely be Bricklinking them. I'm really looking forward to seeing a Davy Jones!

But what's with the camel in POTC?