[BDP] "Coconut Cape" by BallisticBricks

[Jack Sassy]

11 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

the fancy and flamboyant Pirate Pub

Is that so? 

11 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Would Lego Pirates sets sell so badly, that it would be a loss-making business?? 

Within the context of the 2015 line - it had been six years since the last proper pirates wave. I believe that back then people could look at these sets more critically than they would after 10 years of no pirates. Perhaps it be time for a change. I have been waiting for a new wave since the 30th anniversary of the original line in 2019. 

 

Therefore, this BDP set be a worthy champion among new offerings in the West Indies that we know as LEGO markets.

[Mister Phes]

18 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

The question is, how all these companies can live off these pirate sets while Lego can not. So what is the answer?

As fans, we're not privy to the necessary economic data to arrive at the actual answer, so instead we must speculate.

The LEGO Group is now a large, multi-national company, but have these competitors you've mentioned, reached the same scale in their business operations?

Financial management is also a crucial aspect. If we look back to the past, in the late 90s/early 2000s, LEGO was a much smaller company and operating at loss.

They were in financial turmoil and didn't that get turned around until later in the decade.

So how do you know these other companies are generating a substantial profit from their pirate-themed products?

 

[Yperio_Bricks]

Sorry, but why do you ask questions when you know the answers already? Lego is the biggest toy manufacturer in the world, so of course none of the other companies has reached the same scale of business operations.

And of course you know that I don't have the financial data from all the other companies that are producing pirate sets  

 

[Mister Phes]

1 hour ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Sorry, but why do you ask questions when you know the answers already?

To keep the discussion moving... and help you to arrive at the same answer.

Perhaps I should have just written:

As fans, we're not privy to the necessary economic data to arrive at the actual answer, so instead we must speculate.

[Black Falcon]

On 7/5/2025 at 10:48 AM, Yperio_Bricks said:

10 years have past and there are much more people into bricks right now.

All the other companies sell pirate sets. Just some examples:  Bluebrixx offers ships and the whole modular island line, Pantasy offers the fancy and flamboyant Pirate Pub, there are brick companies I have never heared of selling pirate ships such as the Flying Dutchman and locations and even the smallest company of them all, the new Kiddicraft, sells a pirate battlepack with 5 minifigs. The question is, how all these companies can live off these pirate sets while Lego can not. So what is the answer? Would Lego Pirates sets sell so badly, that it would be a loss-making business?? A loss-making business for Lego while all the other companies make profit? And there's always POTC for Lego.

I would say the answer to this is quite easy. It is not a question whether they could make a profit with those sets, but if they would make more profit if they produce something else instead - and since we know they do a lot of research on what kids like etc., I would guess they just prefer something more modern, and probably cooler (like Ninjago) over those themes.

If we look at past sets for those themes, all of them were marketed towards adults, aside from the creator sets - which I think shows that Lego can sell those sets, even towards kids (though many adults bought them too ofc), hence we got a new castle, even though the old retired not that long ago - and maybe there will be another pirate ship too, since the last one was on the shelves for a quite long time, which would genreally speak for it selling not that bad ;).

Anyways, what I was getting at, Lego can sell them, but it is likely just not worth it for them to make it an own line - but who knows, maybe one day...

[Mister Phes]

On 7/6/2025 at 11:14 PM, Black Falcon said:

It is not a question whether they could make a profit with those sets, but if they would make more profit if they produce something else instead

You've probably hit the nail on the head here!

Quite often that something else is a set based on a licenced property.

And many of the competing brands Yperio Bricks mentioned can't afford the licence / won't generate a substantial return because they haven't scaled large enough, so they focus on producing niche sets instead.

I.e. they don't have pay licensing fees and they can capture an area of the market that The LEGO Group has been neglecting.

Now someone point out how certain third-party manufacturers have little regard for violating intellectual property and produce licenced sets anyway...

[Black Falcon]

16 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

Now someone point out how certain third-party manufacturers have little regard for violating intellectual property and produce licenced sets anyway...

Yeah, this and stolen mocs or even straight 1 to 1 copies of Lego Sets. Always surprised how many people just don´t care about that... (though of course especially with stolen mocs it is very hard to even know something was stolen).

[Mister Phes]

Anyway... Back to Coconut Cape...

We now have an article with lovely artwork and more images of the fortress.

 

[Jack Sassy]

4 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

We now have an article with lovely artwork and more images of the fortress.

Thank ye! I find the news of changes to the minifigures rather interesting.  I think ye and I both would benefit from the return of the morion. 

[Mister Phes]

7 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

I find the news of changes to the minifigures rather interesting. 

Aye Jack... although "news " perhaps isn't the correct term in this scenario.... "teased" is more accurate, given BallisticBricks doesn't confirm anything but hints the minifigures may undergo revision.

Be interesting to observe whether they're brought closer to the Imperial Armada of yesteryear, or evolve into something completely different.

 

7 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

I think ye and I both would benefit from the return of the morion. 

That we would!

But what are the chances of it happening?

 

[Jack Sassy]

4 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

although "news " perhaps isn't the correct term in this scenario.... "teased" is more accurate, given BallisticBricks doesn't confirm anything but hints the minifigures may undergo revision.

Aye, for all we know, the facial expressions could be the only change.

4 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

But what are the chances of it happening?

It still seems to me an impossible thing - introducing new moulds and bringing back some old ones through BDP. One would require a set that is more... available, to the other scoundrels beyond ones like ourselves on the internet, to revitalise a good old morion helmet.