Will the new Pirates theme last?

[Derek]

As you may have noticed by now, I don't usually post in the pirate forum too often. However, I did start collecting the new Pirate sets that came out this year.

One thing that bothers me is that while Pirates is probably one of the best and most promising lines of the year (out of Pirates, Power Miners and Space Police), it has really gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to its promotion. Both PM and SP have marketing campaigns and what not, but there is none for Pirates.

Another thing that bothers me is the lack of a summer release for Pirates. Power Miners has a whopping 13 sets released this year alone, whereas Pirates only having 8, 2 of which being tiny Impulse sets. Perhaps this is because Lego doesn't have plans to continue Power Miners for the longterm, and wants to release a bunch of sets this year, and abandon the theme next year, and they may wish to continue Pirates for several years, similarly to the Castle theme.

Maybe Lego feels it doesn't need promotion to sell its "evergreen" themes (Town, Castle, Pirates, etc) and wishes to dedicate its advertising to its original themes. However, a 3 or 4 Pirate set release for the summer would have made me happy, as I got most of the 2009 Pirates sets for Christmas and find myself waiting desperately for the next release.

So what do you think? Does a lack of sets and promotion mean a short life for the Pirates line, or does it mean Lego is confident in its potential?

-darthperson

[SlyOwl]

We have news of a pirate advent calendar for this year. Which other themes have had calendars? Town/City and Castle, the two longest lasting themes.

Makes me think we'll see be seeing some more pirates at some point, otherwise why bother?

[martinsuper]

I think LEGO would be idiotic to end it. Where I live, the shelves cannot stay stocked, and the impulse sets are gone the same week they are brought in. We were all hoping for more sets and are keeping our eyes open for late fall/early winter pre-christmas sets to arrive.

Pirate has a huge following, and I am hoping for and expecting more.

[Emperor Claudius Rome]

No, LEGO can't discontinue the pirates after one year of new realese. One more year

Edited July 21, 2009 by Emperor Claudius Rome

[Spyder]

Of course they'll keep it running, it just came out beginning of this year. Here in the US, there have been a few Pirate commercials, in fact, there were quite alot of them earlier this year. I've probably seen more Pirate commercials than Power Miners to tell you the truth. However, I do not watch alot of TV, so I might not see all of the PM commercials. I also have seen a few SP commercials, but not too many. I think you are right about the evergreen themes, I saw a City commercial today that I've never seen before, and how often do you see a Castle commercial. Lego is promoting those temporary themes the most because they want people to buy those too. They already know people will always buy the evergreen themes. I do agree with you about the short of sets. They need to come out with more later this year. An idea that just popped into my head is that maybe they didn't make alot of sets this time, so that kids could afford to collect them all during Christmas and birthdays, and then this Christmas, TLG will release a whole boatload of sets, so that parents are forced to buy them all for their kids, because the kids want to have the entire collection, like they did with the first wave. :pir-skull: I doubt it, but it's just a thought. Lego knows how popular Pirates was, so they brought it back. They haven't done that with any other theme. I don't know why they even discontinued it in the first place. TLG wouldn't discontinue it again after only one year. That would be crazy.

Edited July 21, 2009 by Spyder

[Mister Phes]

Everybody can assist by participating in the official 2009 AFOL Survey and let the LEGO Group know you they want more pirate sets.

One thing that bothers me is that while Pirates is probably one of the best and most promising lines of the year (out of Pirates, Power Miners and Space Police), it has really gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to its promotion. Both PM and SP have marketing campaigns and what not, but there is none for Pirates.

That probably depends on the regions. Different regions will have a different marketing approaches, like Spyder mentions there are commericals in his region but in my region LEGO isn't advertised on TV whatsoever. However there is merchandising like clothing, ice cube trays, keyrings, board games, etc. which despite being products themselves are also marketing tools.

Maybe Lego feels it doesn't need promotion to sell its "evergreen" themes (Town, Castle, Pirates, etc) and wishes to dedicate its advertising to its original themes. However, a 3 or 4 Pirate set release for the summer would have made me happy, as I got most of the 2009 Pirates sets for Christmas and find myself waiting desperately for the next release.

It seems you're doing better than here, it's only been the past couple of months that the Pirate Impulse sets have entered retail circulation - the larger Pirate Sets are nowhere in sight.

[Captain Zuloo]

It seems you're doing better than here, it's only been the past couple of months that the Pirate Impulse sets have entered retail circulation - the larger Pirate Sets are nowhere in sight.

Sadly, that is very true for Terra Australis. I was forced to buy my Brickbeard's Bounty and Soldiers' Fort from Shop@Home as they aren't out in the shops yet. A LEGO customer service member told me that we should expect them in stores from July 1, but it's already more than halfway through! But I grabbed the impulse sets from the shelves of Big W, and it was brilliant to be able to walk into a LEGO retailer and buy my favourite line again. It's been a while...

[Mister Phes]

I still must go to Big W and grab 20 or so Impulse sets at $4.88.

Last time I went to Big W they still had the Impulse sets released this time last year, so unless the Pirate Impulse sets are selling unusually fast (which they should thanks Classic-Pirates.com ) I should have plenty of time.

[WastedGrunt36]

I buy all my pirates and other sets online. It's cheaper, has a wider selection, but the only downside is that I have to wait until they arrive instead of having them right in my hands. At the store I went to, they had impulse sets selling for 7.00 USD! It's ridiculous.

[Mister Phes]

At the store I went to, they had impulse sets selling for 7.00 USD! It's ridiculous.

At that price the Pirate theme will ceratinly last in that store because nobody will want to pay that much for the sets!

[Voodoo Hand]

Since the new Pirate theme came out, I boughed a lot already.

1x 6242

1x 6239

1x 6243

40x 8396

20x 8397

Wanted:

3x 6242 (1 will be boughed this wednesday)

9x 6239

1x 6243

60x 8396

2x 6253

2x 6240

2x 6241

I do however own a lot of the old theme already, so in man power:

10 Spanish (including 1 Governor)

48 Red coats (including 2 Governors)

60+ pirates (including 6+ Captains)

20 monkey's

I do not have blue coats unfortunately and unfortunately there are no official Dutch sailors in the theme either

Dutch sailors can however be created by using pirates and spanish troops and for officers use the new red coat Governor!

[Mister Phes]

Maybe this thread would work better with a poll...

[WastedGrunt36]

Since the new Pirate theme came out, I boughed a lot already.

1x 6242

1x 6239

1x 6243

40x 8396

20x 8397

I am more about getting each one, rather than quantity:

3x Soldier's Arsenal

2x Cannon Battle

1x Pirate Survival

1x Kraken Attackin'

1x Magnet Set

1x Loot Island

1x Shipwreck Hideout

1x Soldiers Fort

1x Brickbeard's Bounty

Want:

Pirate Code

And a new set: Pirate Tic Tac Toe

[Mister Phes]

We have news of a pirate advent calendar for this year. Which other themes have had calendars? Town/City and Castle, the two longest lasting themes.

Makes me think we'll see be seeing some more pirates at some point, otherwise why bother?

Not only that, in the past couple of days we learnt of the release date of the Brickmaster Pirate Set and Pirates Tic Tac Toe game. Plus there's recently been the Pirate T-Shirt Review.

So this seems to be a substantial investment in Pirates and like SlyOwl said, why would the LEGO Group bother to release so many Pirate LEGO related products if Pirates were a passing fad?

[Voodoo Hand]

I am more about getting each one, rather than quantity:

...

Thanks to my parents neer giving me the sets that I needed the most (and yes I usually got the smallest sets and usually contained pirates only) and the fact that the Pirate line stopped, I really did not have enough red coats nor spanish soldiers. So trying to get the balance between pirate and red coat more up and specially getting more buildings for the red coats, since I had none in the first place. 6 red coats against 40+ pirates is kinda over kill, dont you think?

[Hound Knight]

I think that the new Pirate line will be continued for at least one, if not more, years.

6 red coats against 40+ pirates is kinda over kill, dont you think?

6 Redcoats could beat the megabloks out of 40+ pirates any day.

[Voodoo Hand]

I think that the new Pirate line will be continued for at least one, if not more, years.

6 Redcoats could beat the megabloks out of 40+ pirates any day.

who said anything about megablocks I don't even have megablocks or any other different producer for bricks!

[Capt. Redblade]

Alright, first off, in my time I have only seen one theme get a rerelease in its original form. I'll give you three guesses as to what I'm referring to, and the first two don't count. Give up? Let me give you a hint. It starts with "P" and ends with "irates". This shows you just how popular it is. It did not "reappear in a new form", it "reappeared". Lego knew that we wanted it back. They brought it back. They know we want it to stay. It'll stay. We see that Pirates has been incorporated into a coin bank, a minifigure pack, Tic Tac Toe, a T-shirt, a video game, etc. This brings the total of '09 sets to at least thirteen. If Pirates was set to vanish, it would have already. Pirates is here to stay. End of discussion.

[Hound Knight]

who said anything about megablocks I don't even have megablocks or any other different producer for bricks!

Only Redcoats can beat the megabloks out of LEGO pirates. But that's besides the point.

BACK ON TOPIC: I really hope that Pirates continues for several more years, as I was not able to obtain many of the original sets.

[Mister Phes]

You can still buy the original sets on eBay or BrickLink, unless you have issues buying used LEGO.

[Hound Knight]

You can still buy the original sets on eBay or BrickLink, unless you have issues buying used LEGO.

Yeah, I know, it's just that the new sets are less expensive. I do plan to buy some more of the classic sets as well, especially Eldorado Fortress.

[blueandwhite]

With the exception of City and Star Wars, nothing seems to last with LEGO these days. I still think that the four staples of LEGO; City, Space, Castle & Pirates should remain a constant but I expect that this Pirate line will last for three years and then silently disappear. It looks like that's exactly what is happening with the Fantasy line, so I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen with Pirates as well. It would be nice if a collector-oriented ship was a send off like the market village seems to be for Castle.

[Captain Green Hair]

I think they will be around for a while, it will all depend on the sales figures.

As I've understood the new sets sold very well, and we are seeing new items as the coin-bank and battle pack being released.

I've got my hopes up for some new sets before Christmas!

So if you want pirates to stay, then buy as many sets as you can!

[Zorro]

I think they will be around for a while, it will all depend on the sales figures.

As I've understood the new sets sold very well, and we are seeing new items as the coin-bank and battle pack being released.

I've got my hopes up for some new sets before Christmas!

So if you want pirates to stay, then buy as many sets as you can!

Yes, and I expect more new sets to be released, and lets not forget the LEGO Pirates community now has its own ambassador (Bonaparte) who can put some presure on it!

[Hound Knight]

Yes, and I expect more new sets to be released, and lets not forget the LEGO Pirates community now has its own ambassador (Bonaparte) who can put some presure on it!

They would not dare go against the will of Le Empereur!