23 replies to this topic

[TalonCard]

Ahoy!

I've recently come back into Pirates after a long dark ages, and I've been really excited to find so many other Pirate fans here on EuroBricks.  I'm also a huge fan of the Classic-Pirates website--it's a really great looking page that gives the Pirates theme the kind of attention it deserves.

I've recently written an article for the site, a guide to the minifigures of the Pirate theme.  Part one, a look back at the Pirates themselves, is up now.  Part two will feature the the Islanders, Soldiers, Guards, and the Armada.

I'm also gathering material for a guide to LEGO's Pirate characters, as well as a look at the various LEGO Pirate comics.

Please take a look--I'd appreciate any feedback!

TalonCard


Download: A Guide to the Pirates Minifigures - Part1

Edited by Bonaparte, 09 August 2010 - 09:34 AM.

[El Bucanero]

I'm happy you've came out your Dark age to join the piratehood again TalonCard!
That's a very good article! I enjoyed reading all this and I'm looking forward to the next part. *y*

Although....:

Quote

Next month: It's A Pirate World--We Just Live in It:
Imperials, Islanders, and the Undead!

The undead?

Edited by Mr Tiber, 09 September 2007 - 09:18 PM.

[TalonCard]

Mr Tiber, on Sep 9 2007, 03:17 PM, said:

I'm happy you've came out your Dark age to join the piratehood again TalonCard!
That's a very good article! I enjoyed reading all this and I'm looking forward to the next part. *y*

Although....:
The undead?

Thanks!  That'd be the skeletons that were all over the place in the last few years of the theme.  Whether or not they were actually undead is something I'll be delving into...

TC

[Shadows]

Dead men tell no tales. :skel1:

Oh, and welcome back to the land of the living, and Pirates! We're always glad to have one more on board! *y*

Edited by imperialshadows, 10 September 2007 - 05:42 AM.

[Sir Norman Ray]

Hey, nice article mate!  :)
I can't wait for the next one, with Imperials  :-D

[Shadows]

Just got around to reading the article. Very nicely done, the perfect mix of information and entertainment. *y*

I look forward to your future efforts.

Oh, only one thing I would have included, or maybe it would be best after you've introduced all the characters: solid vs hollow stud heads since the change occured during the Pirates era.

Do you also intend to carry this beyond minifigs, into the various hulls, sails, and cannons?

[Bonaparte]

This is great news for the Lego pirate fans.
Articles like this one is what we need.

Thanks for writing this wonderful article.
I hope it is the first in a long row !!

I will headline this on Classic Pirates at the end of this week and I'll search for a place on the site where the articles can reside.

[TalonCard]

Thanks again for all the kind words!

>Oh, only one thing I would have included, or maybe it would be best after you've introduced all the characters: solid vs hollow stud heads since the change occured during the Pirates era.<

That's a good idea!  I have several nice examples of both kinds of figures.  Perhaps as an appendix in the second part?

>Do you also intend to carry this beyond minifigs, into the various hulls, sails, and cannons?<

That's a good idea!  Assuming someone with a bigger collection doesn't get to them first, I'd be interested in doing them somewhere along the line.  Cannons would be first, I think.  The subject interests me no end, and I'd love to explore the various stages of shooting vs. non-shooting cannon and the different colors of carriges.

After part two of the mini-figure guide, I'm planning on doing a two-part guide to the characters and places from the storyline created for the theme by LEGO, followed by a picture-packed piece on the LEGO pirate comic.  I'm hoping to bring in a lot of new information with those, as there was quite a lot of story released just in the US.

TC

[Bonaparte]

TalonCard, on Sep 11 2007, 06:22 PM, said:

After part two of the mini-figure guide, I'm planning on doing a two-part guide to the characters and places from the storyline created for the theme by LEGO, followed by a picture-packed piece on the LEGO pirate comic.  I'm hoping to bring in a lot of new information with those, as there was quite a lot of story released just in the US.

TC

I would be most interested in this.
I'm not so familiar with the original Lego storyline.
How long did it take you to finish the first article?
Where/how did you do your research?

EDIT: Now headlined on Classic-Pirates.com.

Edited by Bonaparte, 14 September 2007 - 08:21 PM.

[TalonCard]

Bonaparte, on Sep 12 2007, 04:09 PM, said:

I would be most interested in this.
I'm not so familiar with the original Lego storyline.
How long did it take you to finish the first article?
Where/how did you do your research?

EDIT: Now headlined on Classic-Pirates.com.

Great to see it up there!

LEGO had a pretty consistant storyline for the original Pirates line, which was seen in the famous Pirate comic, the Ladybird Pirate books, and reflected in certain areas of the Pirate section of LEGOLAND.  The larger American sets also had small stories printed on the box covers.  These were different in tone than the European books, but the two were somewhat reconciled in the American version of the comic, which had the names changed to match the box background.  After the initial wave, though, additional information is spotty and comes from brief and often absurd backgrounds given in catalogs and magazines.

It took me about two days to write the article, and two more to scan all the pictures in.  Of course, that's not all in a row...  ;)

Research for this first article I did mostly at Peeron and Lugnet as needed.  This was mostly looking at old catalog scans to refresh my memory--having spent many, many hours as a child committing pirate sets to memory, I already knew most of what I needed to know.   :-D

For upcoming articles I have a whole stack of books, catalogs, and magazines, as well as the discussions we've already had here at the forums, for reference.  I would love to be able to talk to designers who actually worked on the Pirate theme, but I have no idea how to even go about it.

TC

[Mister Phes]

Mr TalonCard you've done quite a marvellous job of this article!   *y*

TalonCard, on Sep 15 2007, 06:25 PM, said:

The larger American sets also had small stories printed on the box covers.

I've noticed these stories too but have only read the one on the back of the Pirates Perilous Pitfall box which I posted in a thread months ago.

It would be great if we could obtain all these stories and achive them somewhere.

[Paradosis]

That was an awesome read! Thanks for taking the time to do something like that. :)  I look forward to the 2nd part.

[TalonCard]

Mister Phes, on Sep 16 2007, 06:10 AM, said:

Mr TalonCard you've done quite a marvellous job of this article!   *y*
I've noticed these stories too but have only read the one on the back of the Pirates Perilous Pitfall box which I posted in a thread months ago.

It would be great if we could obtain all these stories and achive them somewhere.

Thank you!  Yes it would!  I've posted all the stories I've been able to find in the thread you've mentioned.  I'm not sure how long the good stories were printed on the boxes--at some point after 1992, the stories became rather basic and generic.  The earlier ones were more extensive and had sections unique to the set.

Fortunately, they haven't vanished the way I thought they might.  A surprising number of American Pirate boxes were preserved by collectors and can be had on Ebay and Bricklink.  As I go about rebuilding my Pirate collection, I try to buy sets with boxes, so it's only a matter of time (I hope) before I have access to all of them.  It may take years, however.  :(

TC

[Mister Phes]

Ahhhh bless those collectors who preserve our Pirate LEGO-ish heritage!

[Kamzel]

It is really a great article! I am mainly into Castle and Space, but after reading this I've become interested in Pirates as well.

Quote

Next month: It’s A Pirate World--We Just Live in It:
Imperials, Islanders, and the Undead!

It's "next month" now, when can we expect part 2?

[Bonaparte]

Kamzel, on Oct 12 2007, 07:37 AM, said:

It is really a great article! I am mainly into Castle and Space, but after reading this I've become interested in Pirates as well.
It's "next month" now, when can we expect part 2?

Hi Kamzel. Welcome here!!
Our Pirate Journalist Mr. TalonCard is working on part 2.
Hopeful it will come available in the near future.
We'll certainly headline it on classic-pirates the moment it comes out.

Edited by Bonaparte, 12 October 2007 - 09:04 AM.

[Sir Norman Ray]

He better hurry up, I'm wanting to see the follow up so badly, I refuse to take pictures of my army and garrison until he does.
Seriously, hurry up please!

[Mister Phes]

Is Mr TalonCard aware that his next article is in such demand?

[Shadows]

Mister Phes, on Oct 12 2007, 04:08 AM, said:

Is Mr TalonCard aware that is next article is in such demand?

It really is, too. When I saw this thread moved back up I thought it was time for part 2. :-)

Then disappointment. *sad*

[Mister Phes]

Bonaparte, on Oct 12 2007, 08:04 PM, said:

Our Pirate Journalist Mr. TalonCard is working on part 2.

Is this a substantiated fact or are you being overly optimistic?  I haven't seen MR. TalonCard round there parts for a few weeks now...

[Bonaparte]

Mister Phes, on Oct 12 2007, 09:21 AM, said:

Is this a substantiated fact or are you being overly optimistic?  I haven't seen MR. TalonCard round there parts for a few weeks now...

I'll email him at once and check his progress.

[Mister Phes]

And if Mr TalonCard should continue to write these articles I think some kind of reward or promotion is in order for him.

That extends to anyone who regularly contributes to the Pirate Forum or Classic-Pirates.com.

[TalonCard]

I'm really pleased to see all the interest in the next part!

I started doing a little background research on 18th century military uniforms for the article, but I had to put everything on hold when my mother underwent heart surgery.  She's doing much better now.  I still want to get it out this month, but it may just be towards the very end of October.

After that I'm planning on skipping November in order to pull together the giant Guide to the Tropical Sea, as there isn't really a logical place to split it into multiple parts.  That should be out at the end of December as kind of a late Christmas present to all the fantastic folks on the Pirate forums!

TC

Edited by TalonCard, 13 October 2007 - 09:49 AM.

[Mazin]

Well done TalonCard  *y*

But just one thing...

About One-Eyed Jack ( is this actually his official name? )... I always thought about the one in brown hat and the one in black hat as of two different guys. Like first one being a lieutenant  and second being a petty officer, or something like that.
I even think of them as two different personalities. I mean... Darker colours make the one in black hat a more evil guy, probably much more then Cpt. Roger himself ( he still looks friendly despite his pirate markings/symbols ).