A born-again pirate fan looking for some advice...

[QuartermasterRobert]

I am so glad I found this site. I'm a pretty big pirate fan (in fact, me and my girlfriend are writing a rather long story involving pirates, but more about that later), but as a kid I never really had any money and therefore had maybe 3 total pirate sets, and they're all long gone.

SO. I need help getting back into the series. First of all, I really REALLY want to get ahold of all the ships, paticularly the big ships, and preferrably more than one, so I can try my hand at custom ships. Does anyone know how much this would cost in this day and age or how hard it would be to do such a feat? A list of all the "ship" sets would be nice too. I also really wanna get ahold of all the "Imperial" sets, because I know they were much more few and far between than standard pirates, and I do mean ALL of them. The "Bluecoats"/French navy, Redcoats/British Navy and the late 90s Spanish Armada types. The actual pirates are a lesser pirority because there's so darn many of em and alot of them were just generic Island outposts anyway. I currently have no interest in the Islanders.

And finally, "custom figure" tips and whatnot. I'm getting interested in the custom figure making hobby, so I wanna know what I'll need as a n00b and how expensive it'll all be. Also, I have a general list of "things" I want to obtain, so if you can tell me where I can get these parts in a set (and therefore eliminating the need to customize), that'll be appreciated. In general I need:

-A green frock/justacorps with gold trims.

-Red capes.

-Anything moderately Chinese looking

-Blue and red jackets

-Breeches and vests, as well as ascots, preferrably as painted on the torso decals.

-African/brown faces and hands. I know that there is a Lando and Mace Windu figure in the Star Wars series, but is that it? I need two female faces in paticular, preferrably two DIFFERENT ones (one I wish to resemble a woman in her 30s/40s, the other a young lady in her 20s)

-Hair. Long red hair, bushy red hair, black ponytails, long black hair, long blonde hair, tied back blonde hair, tied back brown hair, tied back white/grey hair, bushy black hair, thick black hair, "fros", long brown hair. In fact, if you could somehow show me a list of every LEGO hairpiece ever made, that'd be cool too...

-Common/Ragged looking clothes. You know, pirate-y clothes that aren't QUITE so flamboyant (ie: no belts, knives, and what have you.)

I think that's it for now, thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me and I look forward to many piratey adventures with you all :}

[LegoLyons]

Hi

All the pirate sets are listed at peeron.com , and they also list all parts needed.

That would be a good starting point for you. *sweet*

[QuartermasterRobert]

Hi

All the pirate sets are listed at peeron.com , and they also list all parts needed.

That would be a good starting point for you. *sweet*

Thanks a bunch, I'll go look there now!

[Mister Phes]

I am so glad I found this site. I'm a pretty big pirate fan (in fact, me and my girlfriend are writing a rather long story involving pirates, but more about that later), but as a kid I never really had any money and therefore had maybe 3 total pirate sets, and they're all long gone.

Greetings Quartermaster Roberts!

It's great to know you and your girlfriend are big pirate fans - like most of us here.

SO. I need help getting back into the series. First of all, I really REALLY want to get ahold of all the ships, paticularly the big ships, and preferrably more than one, so I can try my hand at custom ships. Does anyone know how much this would cost in this day and age or how hard it would be to do such a feat?

If you've got lots of money then you can go to a website like www.bricklink.com and buy them all. It will cost you a pretty penny though.

If you want to spend less money then try eBay. Although Pirate sets on eBay are getting more and more expensive but occasionally you'll find a good deal. It's a matter of preying upon sellers who don't understand the value of what they're selling and poorly list the item. Though you've got check EVERYDAY and it may take years to collect them all. But it worked for me!

[QuartermasterRobert]

Greetings Quartermaster Roberts!

It's great to know you and your girlfriend are big pirate fans - like most of us here.

If you've got lots of money then you can go to a website like www.bricklink.com and buy them all. It will cost you a pretty penny though.

If you want to spend less money then try eBay. Although Pirate sets on eBay are getting more and more expensive but occasionally you'll find a good deal. It's a matter of preying upon sellers who don't understand the value of what they're selling and poorly list the item. Though you've got check EVERYDAY and it may take years to collect them all. But it worked for me!

You've got the ENTIRE pirate collection??? XD; Wow dude. I'm currently finding all the sets online, but yeah, money is a problem right now (let's ignore the fact my other hobby, plastic figurines, is also expensive), so do you have any advice on customization? I'm afraid I'm only finding about half of what I need in actual sets...

[Mister Phes]

A list of all the "ship" sets would be nice too.

Unfortunately there weren't enough. Fibblesnork's website has such a list which you can find here.

You've got the ENTIRE pirate collection???

I've got all the ships. But there's a couple of small promotional sets only available in the USA I've yet to acquire. It's only a matter of time though.

So do you have any advice on customization? I'm afraid I'm only finding about half of what I need in actual sets...

Fraid not. They stole all the Pirate Customisation threads and put them here.

Exactly what do you need anyway?

[QuartermasterRobert]

Unfortunately there weren't enough. Fibblesnork's website has such a list which you can find here.

I've got all the ships. But there's a couple of small promotional sets only available in the USA I've yet to acquire. It's only a matter of time though.

Fraid not. They stole all the Pirate Customisation threads and put them here.

Exactly what do you need anyway?

I'm a noob at customization (literally just got into it), and I'd like to make some minifigs based off the characters in the story me and my gf are writing.

[Captain Zuloo]

As far as prices and availability are concerned, I would recomend perhaps having alook at e-bay.

Regards, Captain Zuloo ;-)

[Mister Phes]

-African/brown faces and hands. I know that there is a Lando and Mace Windu figure in the Star Wars series, but is that it? I need two female faces in paticular, preferrably two DIFFERENT ones (one I wish to resemble a woman in her 30s/40s, the other a young lady in her 20s)

The Basketball had a myriad variety of heads darkskin heads for it's mini-figures but I'm not sure if any of them are suitable to resemble a woman as they had facial hair - unless you want a bearded lady X-D

Anyway, we now have a Non-Pirate Figures Useful for Pirate MOCing thread so keep your eye on that in case something useful turns up.

I'm a noob at customization (literally just got into it), and I'd like to make some minifigs based off the characters in the story me and my gf are writing.

So you haven't made any customs mini-figures previously? This is indeed your very first voyage into these waters?

[QuartermasterRobert]

The Basketball had a myriad variety of heads darkskin heads for it's mini-figures but I'm not sure if any of them are suitable to resemble a woman as they had facial hair - unless you want a bearded lady X-D

Anyway, we now have a Non-Pirate Figures Useful for Pirate MOCing thread so keep your eye on that in case something useful turns up.

So you haven't made any customs mini-figures previously? This is indeed your very first voyage into these waters?

Exactly, good sir. This is my first escapade! Although as a kid I did "repaint" a few torsos behind my parents backs using my dad's old model paints, these were far from either professional or good looking or long lasting X-D

[SlyOwl]

SO. I need help getting back into the series. First of all, I really REALLY want to get ahold of all the ships, paticularly the big ships, and preferrably more than one, so I can try my hand at custom ships. Does anyone know how much this would cost in this day and age or how hard it would be to do such a feat? anyway.

I'd first ask where in the world you're from; what sets you can get and how much they cost varies hugely. Here in England, you can get the second biggest ship, the Black Seas Barracuda, for around

[QuartermasterRobert]

I'd first ask where in the world you're from; what sets you can get and how much they cost varies hugely. Here in England, you can get the second biggest ship, the Black Seas Barracuda, for around

[Mister Phes]

As for the Islanders, they may be cheap, but I currently have no need for generic Pacific Islanders (the closest thing I need are Fillipino natives, and they are neither yellow nor cheesy X-D )

You're not dissing the mighty Islanders are you!!! X-O

X-D

[QuartermasterRobert]

You're not dissing the mighty Islanders are you!!! X-O

X-D

Nah, just saying they don't fit my criteria at the moment is all X-D

Anyway, yes, this would be my first trip into ANY sort of professional customizing. And from what I've seen, customization is pratically an investment...

[Mister Phes]

I currently have my eyes on the Skull Eye's Schooner, just for the HARD TO OBTAIN torso (I really need that torso piece).

You mean "The Merchant" also known affectionately as "Steve".

I live in America, which I don't think makes it TOO hard to get older sets... though I'm sure England has it easier :}

I've noticed prices in the US and more generous than other parts of the world, so I thought the US had it easier.

[QuartermasterRobert]

You mean "The Merchant" also known affectionately as "Steve".

I've noticed prices in the US and more generous than other parts of the world, so I thought the US had it easier.

Yep, that's him. (Course I also need that blue bodice that came in just ONE castle set from the 80s... <_< )

And oh? I was assuming England would get it easier because they're in Europe, where all the LEGOs come from. X-D

[Mister Phes]

Yep, that's him. (Course I also need that blue bodice that came in just ONE castle set from the 80s... <_< )

Is this it?

And oh? I was assuming England would get it easier because they're in Europe, where all the LEGOs come from. X-D

I can't really comment on the distribution of Pirate LEGO in Europe because I don't have enough substantial information. But what I do know is it's cheaper in the US than it is here, so needless to say a lot of the MISB sets I procure are coming from there.

[QuartermasterRobert]

Is this it?

I can't really comment on the distribution of Pirate LEGO in Europe because I don't have enough substantial information. But what I do know is it's cheaper in the US than it is here, so needless to say a lot of the MISB sets I procure are coming from there.

Yeeeeeeep, that's the bodice. Looks like it hasn't aged so well though, but that could be me. Maybe I'll use a print instead *shrugs*

As for MISB, I'm not that keen on it. I wants Legos to, well, build with XD; as long as I get the set with all the parts and whatnot, I am happy.

[Mister Phes]

As I was discussing with The Brickster in his Islanders 6292 Help thread, if you go MISB the path, in some instances you'll be paying double for the parts, or maybe more! I saw a MISB Skulls Eye Schooner sell for over US$500 on eBay recently, so some of these Pirate sets are becoming investments.

Besides, you can get plenty of clean and undamaged second hand sets at reasonable prices so why pay more than you have to for MISB if you're not acquiring it for collection purposes?

Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud now...

[QuartermasterRobert]

As I was discussing with The Brickster in his Islanders 6292 Help thread, if you go MISB the path, in some instances you'll be paying double for the parts, or maybe more! I saw a MISB Skulls Eye Schooner sell for over US$500 on eBay recently, so some of these Pirate sets are becoming investments.

Besides, you can get plenty of clean and undamaged second hand sets at reasonable prices so why pay more than you have to for MISB if you're not acquiring it for collection purposes?

Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud now...

Exactly my logic! Personally I feel it should be a crime to buy LEGOs and not BUILD with them... X-D

As for prices, I once saw a MISB 80s castle twinpack (one which had the bodice piece i need) selling on Ebay for a WHOPPING $1400 8-

[Captain Green Hair]

Welcome to the pirate community of Eurobricks!

As some have already pointed out, i too would reccomend a Black seas barracuda for the start of a collection. Definetly the best ship ever IMO *sweet*

The torso's are easily available from Bricklink for about 10 dollar, that's were i got mine.

For customization check our minifigure customization workshop, within the forum.

For ideas on MOCcing ships you can check out out ship index.

The old sets are expensive, but well worth the money IMO.

Good luck on your journey! *y*

PS: Don't mess with the islanders, or King Kahuka will BBQ your megablocks! :-P

[SlyOwl]

I've noticed prices in the US and more generous than other parts of the world, so I thought the US had it easier.

And oh? I was assuming England would get it easier because they're in Europe, where all the LEGOs come from. X-D

The Yanks have it easy; more sets around, so therefore cheaper. |-/

PS: Don't mess with the islanders, or King Kahuka will BBQ your megablocks! :-P

Old School! :-P

X-D

[QuartermasterRobert]

The Yanks have it easy; more sets around, so therefore cheaper. |-/

Old School! :-P

X-D

The Yankees, eh? Maybe I should move up north then! (Heehee, I'm an American Southerner. A Dixie!)

Also, I just LOVE how creative people get with pieces when they need "still" special effects, IE: hat for water, helment fluff for blood...

Also, I see alot of recommendations for Black Seas Barracuda. I was originally setting my eyes on Skull Eyes Schooner, what are the big differences between the sets?

[Mister Phes]

Also, I see alot of recommendations for Black Seas Barracuda. I was originally setting my eyes on Skull Eyes Schooner, what are the big differences between the sets?

You might want to checkout the Black Seas Barracuda vs Skull's Eye Schooner Poll.

[QuartermasterRobert]

You might want to checkout the Black Seas Barracuda vs Skull's Eye Schooner Poll.

Hmm... this brings up alot of good points. Are there any good photo galleries of a completed BSB and a SES for comparison? Close ups on the little details and all that.