What location/scene come to your mind when thinking about Pirates...

[zinnn]

...that hasn't been explored by Lego yet (<---IMPORTANT)

I feel like designing a new set for my Pirates, but I'm not sure what else could be created that hasn't been done before.

We've had a ton of caves, shacks, rafts, treasure islands and, obviously, ships - anything else come to your mind that hasn't been done before?

Pub is one thing, but there are some nice MOCs out there, anything else?

Edited November 25, 2023 by zinnn

[Yperio_Bricks]

Do you mean something that has not been done as a set or a moc before?

[zinnn]

1 hour ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Do you mean something that has not been done as a set or a moc before?

Mainly official sets, I’m sure there are a lot of MOCs that sit outside the box, but yeah - anything new and maybe unusual that still fits the lore

[Jack Sassy]

3 hours ago, zinnn said:

Pub is one thing, but there are some nice MOCs out there, anything else?

A pirate pub is always a welcome build. 

 

Some time ago I had a discussion on this forum about Pirates in winter, particularly Canada or anywhere up north in North America. I think that sets featuring this climate would be interesting. Another thing I can think of are fortress ruins (camps, duels), such location could provide good play features.

[thewatchman]

A proper armada line would be cool.

 Maybe a supernaturally inclined line, sea monsters / ghost pirates v imperials.

[GeoBrick]

For something completely different, the Barbary pirates hailing from the Mediterranean ports of North Africa come to mind. Completely different ships (swift galleys), on which both Armada and Imperial ships are fitting opponents since the Pirate Era in this region lasted through the Renaissance -and pre-modern era's.

[thewatchman]

13 minutes ago, GeoBrick said:

For something completely different, the Barbary pirates hailing from the Mediterranean ports of North Africa come to mind. Completely different ships (swift galleys), on which both Armada and Imperial ships are fitting opponents since the Pirate Era in this region lasted through the Renaissance -and pre-modern era's.

Yeah Asian / African pirates would be pretty cool.

[Mazin]

Depends if You want to go toyetic, kid-friendly way, as in the past, or explore darker sides of piracy, cause there's obviously a lot of potential in smuggling, slave trade, fake lighthouses etc, all those fields that pirates were heavily involved with, but all of which play against the romantic image of pirates as "the good guys".

Tho, even in the very first pirates lego comics, it's said clearly that there were "good" and "bad" pirates, and i think it's an obvious route Lego should go, in reinventing the franchise and expandind it. Especially that "bad" vs "good" pirates was always a popular motif in hollywood movies, so i guess this says a lot about what was left out during the creation of lego sets. 

Also, except from some POTC sets, lego pirates didn't realy try to expolore land, everything was and is connected to the sea, while historically pirates ventured into land operations quite a lot. So there's also some potential.

But to keep ideas within the range of classic lego sets and name things that weren't done yet... 

I think that concealed vessels should be done among first. Pirates almost never acted in a traditional navy way, launching an open attack, they were much more cunning, relaying on deceiving their pray and showing their true face at the last moment. So i guess any ship that could pretend to be a merchant vessel, or a fishing/whalers boat would be a big thing, as it would alow a double play, one as a small pirate vessel, when transformed, the other as a civilian unit.  I'm surprised they didn't create a whole line of them actually.

Other than that, i always wanted to see a small secret pirate dockyard or careening place perhaps, where a set would allow a lot of playing possibilities, from "constructing" and repairing a small vessel, to launching it, and just using it as a fully operational unit.

Just like in other lego franchises, where they had some repair shops for cars, carts, bikes etc Castle had some own small sets like that as well.

And so there could a whole line of them withing pirate theme - shops offering steering wheels, weapons, cannons, hats and other clothing accesories, all those places that pirates and sailors would have to go to to quip themselves for new adventures... perhaps with other "unofficial dealings" taking place in the back of such businesses ;) 

Speaking of a secret rooms, since taverns had been mentioned by others, i always wanted to see something like they did in "Crimson Pirate", with a tavern being a tavern, but, with an extra secret hiding/dealing place, entered trough fake wine barells.

But anyway, i'd bomb You with more ideas before or during our last Contest, but i'm kinda burned out since it's end ;)   

[zinnn]

5 hours ago, Mazin said:

Depends if You want to go toyetic, kid-friendly way, as in the past, or explore darker sides of piracy, cause there's obviously a lot of potential in smuggling, slave trade, fake lighthouses etc, all those fields that pirates were heavily involved with, but all of which play against the romantic image of pirates as "the good guys".

Tho, even in the very first pirates lego comics, it's said clearly that there were "good" and "bad" pirates, and i think it's an obvious route Lego should go, in reinventing the franchise and expandind it. Especially that "bad" vs "good" pirates was always a popular motif in hollywood movies, so i guess this says a lot about what was left out during the creation of lego sets. 

Also, except from some POTC sets, lego pirates didn't realy try to expolore land, everything was and is connected to the sea, while historically pirates ventured into land operations quite a lot. So there's also some potential.

But to keep ideas within the range of classic lego sets and name things that weren't done yet... 

I think that concealed vessels should be done among first. Pirates almost never acted in a traditional navy way, launching an open attack, they were much more cunning, relaying on deceiving their pray and showing their true face at the last moment. So i guess any ship that could pretend to be a merchant vessel, or a fishing/whalers boat would be a big thing, as it would alow a double play, one as a small pirate vessel, when transformed, the other as a civilian unit.  I'm surprised they didn't create a whole line of them actually.

Other than that, i always wanted to see a small secret pirate dockyard or careening place perhaps, where a set would allow a lot of playing possibilities, from "constructing" and repairing a small vessel, to launching it, and just using it as a fully operational unit.

Just like in other lego franchises, where they had some repair shops for cars, carts, bikes etc Castle had some own small sets like that as well.

And so there could a whole line of them withing pirate theme - shops offering steering wheels, weapons, cannons, hats and other clothing accesories, all those places that pirates and sailors would have to go to to quip themselves for new adventures... perhaps with other "unofficial dealings" taking place in the back of such businesses ;)  

Speaking of a secret rooms, since taverns had been mentioned by others, i always wanted to see something like they did in "Crimson Pirate", with a tavern being a tavern, but, with an extra secret hiding/dealing place, entered trough fake wine barells.

But anyway, i'd bomb You with more ideas before or during our last Contest, but i'm kinda burned out since it's end ;)   

Brilliant post, thank you

[Yperio_Bricks]

7 hours ago, Mazin said:

fake lighthouses

That's actually very interesting. People would light fake lighthouses aka lanterns and lure ships into shallow waters and onto cliffs or beaches and then "plunder what the sea would present them". But i guess in terms of Lego the story would be greater than the build

Generally i think that North African (Barbary Coast) and East Asian pirates are a very much neglected topics, but very interesting ones. And a fine xebec or junk is something we do not see very often in Lego form.

[thewatchman]

Give me more islanders, krakens, leviathans, sirens, and skeleton crews. 
 These can be kept relatively kid friendly and be modded into whaling ships etc for adult fans.

[Mazin]

20 hours ago, zinnn said:

Brilliant post, thank you

Thanx! You most welcome :)

17 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

That's actually very interesting. People would light fake lighthouses aka lanterns and lure ships into shallow waters and onto cliffs or beaches and then "plunder what the sea would present them". But i guess in terms of Lego the story would be greater than the build

Generally i think that North African (Barbary Coast) and East Asian pirates are a very much neglected topics, but very interesting ones. And a fine xebec or junk is something we do not see very often in Lego form.

Barbary pirates could serve as a nice link to other historical themes, if the pirate world would be expanded to more areas of that period, and if they would opt to go that way they wouldn't nececarily even need to jump directly into arabian fashion as there were many christian renegades among those "muslim" cutthroats, with their very own infamous republic of Sale on the northern african coast... So i guess throwing some "european" dressed pirates into that new territory would be a way to play it somewhat safe, for starters, to try the new ground, and possibly exand it into more factions and more orient in the theme.

Edited November 27, 2023 by Mazin

[Lion King]

Pirates in space… Solar-powdered pirate ship populated by pirate humans and aliens.  Pirates hijack the blue oats’ fuel-generated ship. Treasures being found on alien planets.  A space harbor or a spaceport.

Okay,, okay, that’s not a pirate theme you want, I get it. I just like crazy ideas. 

[Captain Pirate Man]

More Classic Pirates, more POTC, more Imperials, just MORE!! Unlike some of you though, I prefer things to be kept inline with what has already been released, no major changes. NO steampunk kinda stuff, or space Pirates, etc. No thanks.

[zinnn]

10 hours ago, Captain Pirate Man said:

More Classic Pirates, more POTC, more Imperials, just MORE!! Unlike some of you though, I prefer things to be kept inline with what has already been released, no major changes. NO steampunk kinda stuff, or space Pirates, etc. No thanks.

I’m on the same page. Hence this thread, I want to expand the setup with some new exciting location for the pirates that is still rooted in the POBB style

[Yperio_Bricks]

31 minutes ago, zinnn said:

I’m on the same page. Hence this thread, I want to expand the setup with some new exciting location for the pirates that is still rooted in the POBB style

Well, then there are still a truckload of possibilities. When you take away the small rocky islands and rafts and small sets in general, Lego has covered only a very small portion of the caribbean setting. Basically all businesses and artisans that a pirate town needs, that every town needs, were neglected by Lego. So you could start there. When i browse through the Pirates sets, there are only jails, warehouses and cranes, a tavern (Lagoon Lock-Up) and fortresses that were made by Lego. POTC had a ruined mill and that Captain's Daughter building (Is it a tavern?).

But of course it all depends on ones preferences. POBB is more of a fantasy location. So first you have to decide in which direction you want to go. If you want to keep the POBB style, then add another island! Build the water and sand, palm trees and stuff like that in the same manner as POBB and then decide what could be the new islands purpose.

[Lion King]

Pirates saing through an uncharted sea that is plagued with Kraken, sirens sea witch, etc. Beyond the sea, here would be Atlantis (not yet to sink). 

I like fantasy pirates and sci-fi pirates. 

[TheCosmicTravelers]

A medium/large civilian merchant ship for the pirates to rob comes to mind (the closest official one we have is the small ship in 6277 (the remake ship in 10320 can also work if a civilian crew is provided)).  Speaking of 6277, a large port (with docks, cranes, and warehouses) that is not directly part of a soldier fortress would also be nice.

@Mazin:

Exactly, pirate ships would not have been large warships like many MOCs that I see - for one thing those would likely be too slow/unwieldy to catch most prey and the large crew needed to man such a vessel would be expensive (both in terms of necessary supplies/provisions and in terms of dividing up any booty/plunder into shares)!

[Pirate_King_1982]

There’s scene in the movie Hook with a pirate settlement in it. It’s a bustling little metropolis with all sorts of businesses in it like whore houses and taverns, lots of manual work like blacksmithing taking place and several ships on the docks. This is what I think of when I think of pirates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twzaorplSzE&amp;t=23s

Edited November 29, 2023 by Pirate_King_1982

[TeriXeri]

If it would be 1 giant hybrid type of set, it'd be like a mix between a Port and a Village, featuring a dock, inn, market, maybe some trader's stone outpost/mayor/monarch type of villa/embassy/place where trading money is stored (not military/cannon focused), and then some beach , rocks, plants, and hidden places for pirates to stash things or hide.

What I mean, is like Viking Village + Medieval Market Village + Imperial Trading Post , and then styled for Merchants/Civilians mainly, with perhaps some Pirates/Soldiers and maybe exotic visitors (mainly terrain, buildings, and figures, so no large ships)

Edited November 29, 2023 by TeriXeri

[SpacePolice89]

Pirates on land sounds like a great idea. Maybe something like the cancelled Europa theme? It could be Imperials vs highwaymen and bandits, I'm thinking about something like a 18th century version of Wolfpack. Many civilian sets could also be included like taverns and farms. Some regular pirate characters like Captain Redbeard could even make a cameo as a guest at the tavern.

 

[Lion King]

There is the movie, “Stardust”, and it has a flying pirate ship through the storms. The pirates collect lightnings and thunders and sore them into themo cup-shaped cylinders for trades later.  It’s cool to see a pirate shi in that fantasy movie. And it’s also hilarious that a pirate captian has women’s dresses in his walk-in closet. I love that scene.

Anyways, I think pirates in other location, such as East Asia sound pretty cool to me. (Not in Stardust, just to clarify). 

[Jeff of Clubs]

Imperial vs Imperial has never been a kit that I know of. The artwork of Frank Earle Schoonover IS the pirate theme in my mind.