Which is your preferred skull & bones emblem?

[General Magma]

I've been wondering about your thoughts about the new Captain Redbeard's figures skull & bones emblem, which is reminiscent of the hat emblem introduced in 2009's Pirates but made to resemble the classic emblem more.
It has more of a square head that seems to work for LEGO figures, but I'm curious to know what you guys think of it. Of course we've all gotten used to the classic one,
but I'm starting to think I like the new one better. It seems to suit the LEGO aesthetic more and it's also a more crisp and clear print on the pieces.

 

[TeriXeri]

I do like the new one better, fits well with the minifig-head shape being more flat on top.

Also the proportions with the smaller nose are more in line with more recent LEGO skeleton heads.

Old skeleton head 1995-2016 

Newer Skeleton head 2010-2020

I did have some skeletons back in 1995-1997 sets, but now also having some modern standard skeletons (I came back to LEGO after 2016), I must say they improved, not just the head, but also the way arms attach and can have different elbow shapes for arms.
 

Edited April 24, 2020 by TeriXeri

[Captain Becker]

Im sorry, but I must go whit the old Classic one on this one. Although I like the idea of bringing the old look back whit a twist!

Captain Becker

[kurigan]

I'd like the newer on better if the extra forehead didn't make it look cross-eyed. Sorry, now you can't un-see it

[Paradosis]

I like both, but it's too early for me for the new one to supplant the old one... 

[TalonCard]

For nostalgic reasons, I quite like the old pirate hat, even though the printing is less clear and consistent. The new designs have a subtle but visible black outline that makes the design feel less like a part of the hat.

Design wise, the new print is a fine update of the old Jolly Roger. I wish it would replace the 2009 pirate hat as the default LEGO pirate hat, although judging from the Creator ship that doesn't seem to be the case. (Sigh) The old Metalbeard hat and the 2015 hat have come and gone, but I think either one would have been fine for any LEGO pirate. Even the SpongeBob pirate hat is pretty nice.

[deraven]

I like both, but the nostalgia factor tips me towards the old design.  I agree, however, that the old one is not consistently well printed and doesn't feel as "Lego-y" as the new shape of the skull.  I think I'll quickly get used to the new design, though.

[Alexequith]

I'll go with the classic!

11 hours ago, TeriXeri said:

I do like the new one better, fits well with the minifig-head shape being more flat on top.

Also the proportions with the smaller nose are more in line with more recent LEGO skeleton heads.

Old skeleton head 1995-2016 

Newer Skeleton head 2010-2020

I did have some skeletons back in 1995-1997 sets, but now also having some modern standard skeletons (I came back to LEGO after 2016), I must say they improved, not just the head, but also the way arms attach and can have different elbow shapes for arms.
 

The classic skeleton is what I love.

[Mister Phes]

The classic Jolly Roger all the way!

I understand the newer version is meant to resemble a minifigure skull but it just look too "kiddified" for my liking.

 

[victorycount]

5 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

The classic Jolly Roger all the way!

I understand the newer version is meant to resemble a minifigure skull but it just look too "kiddified" for my liking.

Same here. I didn't even get that this should be because of the minifigure head until someone explained that.

[General Magma]

Yeah, I see what you guys mean. I'm still kinda torn between the two.

[allanp]

I much prefer the old one. The new one looks too big in the cranium, it's like a baby's skull and it's creepy in a very bad way! 

[General Magma]

Comparison pictures. Let be what I said about the new hat, I actually vastly prefer the classic one... already getting classic flags. And gotta get the big flag in good condition as well to use it on the ship.

 

Comparison. So... okay, let be what I said about the new hat, I actually definitely prefer the classic emblem.

Edited April 25, 2020 by General Magma

[Mister Phes]

On 4/25/2020 at 6:29 PM, victorycount said:

I didn't even get that this should be because of the minifigure head until someone explained that.

Me either... and this is something that I've learned in the past few months.

At the time the "boof head" design was released (2009 when it first appeared) I was thinking why did they make the skull look alien?

[mothman99]

I mean, there was a wide variety of pirate flags in real life, so it makes sense to use them all for different ships.

Also, my favorite Lego pirate flag is the one from the +4 sets from 2004. True, the figures are grotesque and the builds are pathetic, but it's nice to have a pirate flag that isn't black for once, you know?

 

[neonic]

I actually like the old one too.
I understand the 'new' design, Lego figures has also a flat head, so for that thought? it fits better with the figures. But ... I've never seen a figure with a flat head with hair so ... 

I think I just keep it with the old one.

[General Magma]

1 hour ago, mothman99 said:

I mean, there was a wide variety of pirate flags in real life, so it makes sense to use them all for different ships.

Also, my favorite Lego pirate flag is the one from the +4 sets from 2004. True, the figures are grotesque and the builds are pathetic, but it's nice to have a pirate flag that isn't black for once, you know?

 

Yeah those are pretty nice and it's cool to have different flags, too. I ordered some of these flags to use for some of my other pirate captains, however,
for Captain Redbeard I think the classic jolly roger should definitely stay.

There's also this excellent one they did in the most recent pirates line, it's a bit strange they reverted back to the 2009 style:

[ClassicLook]

On 4/24/2020 at 6:29 PM, kurigan said:

I'd like the newer on better if the extra forehead didn't make it look cross-eyed. Sorry, now you can't un-see it

Aggred, the new one's forehead is too big. I prefer the old one for that reason.

Edited April 27, 2020 by ClassicLook

[ClassicLook]

However, I think the graffic designer did a great job by creating the new logo based on a minifigure head.

As I was inspecting it over and over, I realized that my biggest problem is, that it's too bulky. Well, it's a LEGO skull, but feels very unnatural to me.

I've made a sketch only with smooth modifications (sorry for the bad quality):

IMG_20200427_014845_edit by Gyula Herr, on Flickr

It is more pleasing to my eyes with a litlle more angular scalp and jaw.

I'd like to vectorize it soon.

Edited April 27, 2020 by ClassicLook

[CaptainMoore]

6 hours ago, ClassicLook said:

However, I think the graffic designer did a great job by creating the new logo based on a minifigure head.

As I was inspecting it over and over, I realized that my biggest problem is, that it's too bulky. Well, it's a LEGO skull, but feels very unnatural to me.

I've made a sketch only with smooth modifications (sorry for the bad quality):

IMG_20200427_014845_edit by Gyula Herr, on Flickr

It is more pleasing to my eyes with a litlle more angular scalp and jaw.

I'd like to vectorize it soon.

It’s a nice modification!

[Aanchir]

I definitely prefer the square head over the round one. It fits more neatly into the world of LEGO, in my opinion. It's not that the round head is ugly or anything, but the discrepancy with actual LEGO minifigs and skeletons is a bit jarring whenever it catches my attention.

[Driver Brandon Grumman]

Just now, Aanchir said:

I definitely prefer the square head over the round one. It fits more neatly into the world of LEGO, in my opinion. It's not that the round head is ugly or anything, but the discrepancy with actual LEGO minifigs and skeletons is a bit jarring whenever it catches my attention.

I agree! Square head fits more. Not to mention its also a common sense type of thing. 

[General Magma]

24 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

I definitely prefer the square head over the round one. It fits more neatly into the world of LEGO, in my opinion. It's not that the round head is ugly or anything, but the discrepancy with actual LEGO minifigs and skeletons is a bit jarring whenever it catches my attention.

 

20 minutes ago, Brandon Pea said:

I agree! Square head fits more. Not to mention its also a common sense type of thing. 

Disagree. The square head does not resemble a regular stud head nor does it resemble anything like this:

 

I had the same idea in mind before but, the more you look at it, the more you realize the discrepancy and that the original simply works better in general.

[TalonCard]

I think there are three schools of thought when it comes to LEGO Jolly Roger design:

• Use a regular skull, with no LEGO reference (the 1989 Jolly Roger, the Queen Anne's Revenge flag, and the 2015 Jolly Roger)
• Use a skull that could conceivably fit *into* the regular minifigure head (2009 Jolly Roger)
• Approximate a minifigure skull as seen on the skeleton minifigure (2003 Jolly Rogers, Metalbeard's insignia, the 2016 Ninjago Sky Pirates)

The new design seems to try and blend options 1 and 2, and while I appreciate it, I much prefer either 1 or 3. 1 for nostalgia purposes and general appearance, 3 because it makes the most sense in a purely LEGO context.

[Mister Phes]

Maybe this topic could benefit from a second poll...  but how many poll options should it have?

The initial post just mentions the original and new jolly rogers, but we do in fact have three past jolly roger designs: