27 replies to this topic

[Antsa Antero]

I guess majority of Pirate fans can agree on that Black Seas Barracuda and Skulls Eye Schooner are the best ships lego has ever come up with. Red Beard Runner released in 1996 was a big disappointment for many
and it's not nearly as admired set as older ships. I guess when you make something legendary as BSB or SES it's going to be really hard to beat them with the new stuff.

For me, it's hard to believe they ever will do that. I think it would demand them to go back to pretty simple and traditional look they once had. But going back in time is something lego probably won't do. But we need more great pirate ship from Lego don't we?


There's no doubt one couldnt build ship good as these old ones were, afterall all the MOCs here
are good prove of that. But will Lego ever gonna release a big ship that could in time even pass
old ships in popularity? Will they ever gonna release a ship that you think will be better than BSB or SES?



PS. Maybe a mod could add a vote for this topic ;)





Edited by CGH: Poll added and title fixed.

[Commander Red Hat]

Interesting question, i've added a poll and made the title somewhat more attractive for you

As to the question i really have my hopes up for a new pirate line in 2009 or 2010.
Seeing what they did with the new castle line, i think it will contain some great sets.
As to ships this is hard...
Though the Viking line had some decent ships, i certainly wouldn't take those over the BSB or SES.
Though i must say i really like the BSB and hate the SES. (Bad color, swivel guns...)
So i voted no, but only the future can tell if i was wrong, and boy do i hope i'm wrong!

[Skipper 24]

I voted yes! I reckon TLG can pull it off with a new pirate theme.

[Hairy Ruben]

My opinion is rather simple

Technically, it's not that hard to design a ship even better. Simply judging by the many MOCs here it is very simple to improve on it just by adding features such as a capstan, davits and what not. Or even designing a whole new ship on a new sort of hull section never before seen or perhaps even a brick built hull. (though the latter seems extremely unlikely except as a collector's set or something)

To make it a success though it would sort of have to have the same feeling that the BSB had and thus I believe it would have to more or less follow in the footsteps of the old pirates line look and feel which I don't see happening any time soon.

TLC caters for kids, not AFOLs or TFOLs. It is probable that most kids who would buy a hypothetical new pirates line are so young that they have no experience whatsoever with the first pirates line and hence, to them, it would matter little what the -line looks like as long as it looks 'cool'. Throw in the fairly recent success of POTC and we'll probably end up with a product far from what were the 'classic prates'.

And that is 'IF' we even see a new pirates line.

However I'd love to be proven wrong on this one

Edited by Hairy Ruben, 11 August 2008 - 08:23 PM.

[blueandwhite]

This is a decision that ultimately rests in the hands of LEGO.  As Hairy Ruben pointed out, given the fantastic MOCs seen here and elsewhere, there's no reason that LEGO couldn't improve on older sets but that will depend on any number of factors including cost, target demographic and the set designers themselves.  Still, I'm voting yes if only because I'd like to be optimistic about what the future holds for the pirate line.  Even though I am a diehard castle fan, the pirates theme was always a close second for me so I would love to see it return bigger and better than ever.  Given the recent success of the Castle line, I don't see why we shouldn't expect great things from a new Pirate theme.

[Fluyt]

I don't think they'll be topped. I'll be very happy if they will make ships of RBR quality, I really like that ship, even thought I don't own it (but it isn't close to BSB or SES).
I liked the recent viking ship (mostly because of the hull design) so I think they can manage a RBR-like ship if they try a little harder, but I hated the sail-type and the absolutely horrendous mast-pieces of the viking ship. I really hope they go back to the old mast-type.

Edited by Fluyt, 11 August 2008 - 08:23 PM.

[Gen. Knowledge]

I think if or when the new line of Lego Pirates comes out, we are going to see a lot of integrated pieces.  I've notice over time the piece count goes down ever so slightly.  There are exceptions like the exclusives and some of the hard to finds.  But if Lego wants to appeal to children, they have to make the theme more durable and playable.  It wouldn't surprise me to see fully enclosed hulls like the city ships that can float.  Let's just hope our questions are answered soon my Lego.


Tony

[Mister Phes]

Captain green hair, on Aug 12 2008, 05:25 AM, said:

Interesting question, i've added a poll and made the title somewhat more attractive for you

You've done well Captain Green Hair, and Antsa Antero this is a great poll topic!

My short answer is: I bloody well hope so!  

That's not to say I don't think the Skulls Eye Schooner and Black Seas Barracuda aren't good, in fact I think they're brilliant.  But I believe there is potential for something far greater, say for example, a gigantic 500+ piece Imperial Armada galleon.  A proper galleon that is, not something simply labeled "galleon".

[Wes]

Small is nice, too.

Even a little ship similar to the "cutter" in the 6277 Imperial Trading Post would make me happy.

[Antsa Antero]

When I was a child Pirates were in theyre golden age. So as I grew in that time it's feels really strange that they are currently not in production.  I always thought Pirates are something like the Lego's city sets, they would exist all the time!!

I agree seeing ships of RBR quality would be a nice suprise! What's wrong with the kids nowdays? I thought Pirates- theme would be everlasting

[Captain Zuloo]

Captain green hair, on Aug 12 2008, 04:25 AM, said:

Interesting question, i've added a poll and made the title somewhat more attractive for you

Hey men,
IT seeems th titl hs a tipo. It shoold bee than not then. I wood neva make a mistak lick that...

Edited by Captain Zuloo, 18 October 2008 - 11:26 PM.

[Commander Red Hat]

Well here's a prelim picture of the ship we will propably see next year:


I think it contains great parts and has a great colorscheme.
The figs are awesome as well.
I like this better then the SES, but i certainly doesn't top the BSB, IMO.

[Guss]

I think there will never be a better ship than the BSB , I really loved it ! but maybe TLG will release a better ship ! RAHH I don't know ! I voted no, but I don't really know^^

[Cameron_Talley]

I think part of the problem is that our memories are tinted with nostalgia.  We like the BSB and SES because we grew up with them...

Looking at the new Pirate ship for the 2009 line, whilst I don't think it's in the same league as the BSB, I do think it's a step in the right direction.  With some proper rigging and a few modifications it looks like the new ship could me make to look almost as good as the BSB.  If the Pirate line continues, perhaps we will get an even better ship the following year.

[Black Rabbit]

I think the new ship is a bit too small .also i think the middle of the ship should be one brick higher anyways it is a nice ship (i hate the new skull on the sails).

[Razzer]

I gotta agree with Black Rabbit on that terrible skull...
It means that I can't use the sails for an imperial ship (they would be some strange imperials...), hopefully this won't be the only pirate ship coming out next year though so I voted yes (heres hoping)...

Edited by Razzer, 19 October 2008 - 06:36 PM.

[Zorro]

Sorry Green Hair and some others, but I really dislike the new ship, I never used "bad words" on this forum before except in my other post about this ship) but I must do so now if I want to be true to myself:
I think this new ship looks like S**T (yes, I used stars...I don't want to be banned/enchambered you know ) This new line is for the younger fans and while there is  nothing wrong with that, I do pity the fact that even then the boat looks a bit simple.
I hope that, at some point, a BETTER ship then the BSB or SES will be released, but I am afraid it won't be for the near future.
I hope the EB forum will continue to grow, especcialy the Pirates section and Classic-Pirates, so TLC will be forced to listen to our opinions in some way...

Why did I say that I think the new ship looks like that what I typed above??
Well, I could say: "The ship could be better", but that wouldn't be my entire opinion, and you never know someone of TLC reads our opinions, and I don't want them to think everyone likes it and that they have to continue this line/way of engineering their new sets.
There is also another feeling present in me: namely the feeling that I am not alone with these thoughts, and that they are MANY others that are just so dissapointed with the looks of (some) of the new Pirate sets. But maybe they are "sparing" TLC, or hoping the next line WILL be overwhelming. I am hoping so!

Edited by zorro3999, 19 October 2008 - 07:12 PM.

[Captain Zuloo]

zorro3999, on Oct 20 2008, 04:10 AM, said:

Sorry Green Hair and some others, but I really dislike the new ship.

Ah, but would you prefer to purchase the new ship (some pretty neat figures included) or the Crossbone Clipper?

[Norrington]

There will never be a ship better than the BSB or SES. Unless, of course, they take my suggestion and make a special edition Cafe Corner-esque Modular Ship-of-the-Line.

That will never happen, though.

[The Daphne Blue Strat]

I think it's possible. We'll have to see. The Pirates line so far looks promising, and if it continues for a long time, who knows what they might come up with?

[Thee Pirate]

Here's my take on it..

The BSB is a classic.. It had great style, playability, it was a fun ship to build. While I never personally owned it, I had a cousin who did. One day while we were visiting, I put it together, and every time after that, I played with it until we had a falling out.. because of that ship, I fell in love with Lego Pirates.

The SES is also a classic. There's two points that've been made against it in this thread, the color scheme, and the swivel cannons. Those two issues aside, the SES is a very well designed ship, and it looks amazing. My father bought it so he could play pirates and soldiers with my brother, sister and I, so I had a lot of play time on the SES as a kid. Funny thing about is, the two points that were made against it, I agree with them being the downside of the SES.

I think that perhaps the only way Lego can ever design a ship and release it as an original set, is to blend the BSB and SES.. 4 ports per side, 4 cannons total, but allow them to be moved from side to side like the Imperial Flagship, have a gun deck, and upper deck similiar to the BSB. If you combine that with a much more realistic color scheme, and you have a recipe for what would go down as the best designed official ship Lego has put out..

That's kind of what I'm aiming for in a MOC I'm working on, but it might be awhile, I'm waiting on a BL order before I can do too much more work on it

[Admiral Blockbeard]

I said yes, as we have not seen the extent of all the new pirate theme or the pirate theme after that etc.

two words...  IMPERIAL FRIGATE.

Have an imperial ship capable of policing the seas and i think the bsb may just lose its crown!

Regards, Cpt. PB

[furious]

i would love to see a new ship better than either the BSB or SES.

[ditto]

Cpt. Pegleg Blockbeard, on Jan 9 2009, 11:22 AM, said:

Have an imperial ship capable of policing the seas and i think the bsb may just lose its crown!

TLG has a very good opportunity to design an imperial ship to rival the BB in the next release.
what they do with next wave may very well determine whether the new pirates can succeed the old line.

sure, to be consistent the cartoony nature like skulls and stuff will stay, but the next ship (since it's imperial - read empire)
has the potential to be a very grand one, which TLG should do if they want to please it's customers, both kids and adults.

[TheBrickHitHouse]

Hairy Ruben, on Aug 11 2008, 07:49 PM, said:

TLC caters for kids, not AFOLs or TFOLs.

I'd say the opposite

The price of Lego means Lego depends on wealthy parents

...they are focused more on that parent than the child, a child will get anything an advert tells them to, the wealthy parent wont

Lego needs to convince the parent that a set twice the price of the latest Xbox game is worth while

Therefore they need to design a set that the adult likes, what the child wants is secondary - there are 1 million things a child wants after all

Sets like the Death Star were never intended to be a child's toy - face it, how many parents would spent £270 on a plastic toy??