The end of LEGO Pirates by mid 2010

[Front]

On what evidence do you base this conclusion?

Perhaps you should be greatful for your power miners instead.....

PowerMiners are not mine more than it's yours. Why do you try and claim that ?

[Brick Miner]

PowerMiners are not mine more than it's yours. Why do you try and claim that ?

without any supporting facts in your initial post, it appears to us readers that you are making a bias claim and favoring power miners.

to me, it seems pointless to differentiate between conception and execution of the two lines. this single wave of pirate sets has me feeling like this was one of LEGO's many "playthemes." It seems that LEGO marketing has chosen this playtheme strategy over building toward branding themes, or what we AFOL are calling "evergreen themes." with the current direction of the company, it is not hard to envision a future where the only minifig scale themes we see are categorized into "licensed", "playtheme", or "city."

As an adult hobbyist, this is disappointing. as a child we we presented with a much different market and much different LEGO product. those themes that lasted years enabled me to dream of massive layouts, composed of small models collected over the years - it was a truly epic feeling! those 1990's catalog collage images inspired those thoughts, and looking at the magnificent displays at Brickworld, it is not hard to see how many of us child fans were impressed by them. we were quite impressionable - almost all displays are layouts!

now, i am left with 750 USD of 2009 pirates that i cannot dream, collect, and build toward that massive layout!

i have no sails to match the new imperial insignia

i have no baseplate in the new colored grays on which to build that massive imperial or pirate fort.

and without these essentials, there is no massive (and visually consistent :) ) 2009 pirate layout!

as a hobbyist that builds only toward layouts, i will probably sell my stock on BL to fund a theme with a more comprehensive scope and with more layout potential.

- Brick Miner

[snefroe]

well i guess the pirate fans should at least be happy for having had a new pirate line. Personally, i didn't see any potential for several years. A decent pirate line needs a big ship and a fort. nowadays, it's commercial suicide to produce almost the same sets in two years time... kids move on so fast they're excited with a pirate ship today, tomorrow it'll be Atlantis or whatever...

[puddleglum]

As others have said, at this point I would be shocked if we didn't get a POTC line. The film is targeted for May 2011, making the January 2011 wave a pretty likely candidate to have POTC sets.

Personally, I don't mind fleshies. Prince of Persia has looked promising so far, I expect there will be a lot to like about (hypothetical) POTC sets as well.

[Zorro]

This is a disaster IMHO, but me and the rest of the Pirates staff and our dear Ambassador will do everything we can to get a new Pirates line ASAP!

[Joey Lock]

I was just thinking, Power Miners was a remake of Rock Raiders, Lego Pirates 2009 was a remake of Old Pirates. And Atlantis is going to be a remake of Aqua Raiders/Aquazone/Adventurers. So my guess is that Lego are running out of Ideas and mabye thats why they are cancelling all the smaller "Replica" lines. But what will Lego do when Star Wars gets cancelled? Will we see the end of Lego within 5 years time?

[El Bucanero]

Ah well, perhaps this is it after all.

[Front]

without any supporting facts in your initial post, it appears to us readers that you are making a bias claim and favoring power miners.

..............

- Brick Miner

I was just stating the obvious that power miners are a bigger seller than pirates. I hardly believe that takes a professor or a Lego employee to figure out. A few fans spending thousands, don't really compare to the average mom or kid grabbing a tempting box from the shelves. Which buisness discontinues a great selling product line ?

I have a few of the new pirate sets, even the christmas calendar, and I love them. They are basic builds, but the minifigures are nice.

[blueandwhite]

I was just stating the obvious that power miners are a bigger seller than pirates. I hardly believe that takes a professor or a Lego employee to figure out. A few fans spending thousands, don't really compare to the average mom or kid grabbing a tempting box from the shelves. Which buisness discontinues a great selling product line ?

I have a few of the new pirate sets, even the christmas calendar, and I love them. They are basic builds, but the minifigures are nice.

I don't think that it is all that obvious (or necessarily true) that Power Miners are a bigger seller than Pirates.

I'm very curious as to how you determined that Power Miners is the bigger seller? Annecdotal statements by themselves are hardly evidence of anything. How can anybody know what parents and kids around the world choose to purchase without concrete sales data? Also, let's not forget that any planning for the next year's lineup would inevitably begin before LEGO had any concrete sales data so it is very possible to discontinue a successful line after a single year. LEGO has to forecast what lines will be successful well in advance.

[Wout]

I would call this an Epic Fail.

Even If we get POTC sets in 2011, which could be nice, but apparently more expensive.

It would be a good idea to made a soldiers ship for next year and a bigger pirates Island/Fort/town.

An addition to the soldiers fort of this year would also be nice, or a soldiers battle pack.

These strange, economics decisions are far from logical. (I hope this is not a dutchism)

Edited September 18, 2009 by Wout

[Brick Miner]

I was just stating the obvious that power miners are a bigger seller than pirates. I hardly believe that takes a professor or a Lego employee to figure out.

I would agree with you, however (and despite my personal peeve of modernity in being so scientific with our economics) I would site the best sellers list @ www.lego.com, US.

a set in the power miners theme made the top of list for several weeks or even months after its release, usually in spots 2, 3, or 4 (especially the smaller sets in the initial release, but some medium sized sets too - crystal king and rock wrecker specifically reached #2 and #3 respectively) - selling better than city, starwars, and all the other themes that are mainstays for the company. the only pirates sets i recall on list were the smaller sets (specifically, the two impulses, and desert island, that was it!), and they appeared at the bottom. i don't think any of those set ever reached above spot #20. the fort and ship were never on the list compared to similarly priced power miners sets (titanium command rig for example) which did make the list.

- Brick Miner

[Mister Phes]

I'm very curious as to how you determined that Power Miners is the bigger seller? How can anybody know what parents and kids around the world choose to purchase without concrete sales data?

That's right.

Without the sales data nobody can determine anything for certain, and therefore any conclusions would be speculation based on assumption. And we all know assumption is the mother of

[CopMike]

Wow, this discussion turned the corner a bit. I would go with Front´s guesses about the situation and focus on the issue at hand!

[blueandwhite]

Wow, this discussion turned the corner a bit. I would go with Front´s guesses about the situation and focus on the issue at hand!

Fair enough.

I suppose the best thing to hope for is the possibility that the Disney licence yields a potential pirates offshoot in the near future. I guess the demise of Pirates also makes room for the Atlantis theme.

[Darth Caedus]

No LEGO! Why? Why did you destroy the awesome sauce pirates? I was looking forward to the future: Islanders, Bluecoats, and more pirates. Why oh why did TLC inject it's self with sales killer?

Awesome! I am glad the Pirates line is to be discontinued, the new look was far too bright and goofy, just uninteresting sets. I am really hoping that this will allow the arrival of a Pirates of the Caribbean IV theme - it's time for a decent licensed theme besides Star Wars (which less of a theme and more like the flagship line of the company). This is great news, I hope to have Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa minifigs in two years time...

What. You would prefer a licensed theme instead of a classic? You are a heretic!!!

I would absolutely prefer a licensed theme, I have wanted POTC Legos since the films and was disappointed with the bland Pirates 2009 theme. It had no flavor to it, just too dull. And POTC will offer much more interesting minifigs - here's hoping they do it like Indiana Jones

and have a January wave with sets from films 1-3 and then a Spring wave for the new film.

[SlyOwl]

Update from Steve Witt:

Pirates isn’t gone, its on hiatus like every other line that isn’t one of our primary themes:

CASTLE, SPACE, and CITY

Pirates isn’t going away, it’s just not going to be a constant theme. It’s going to phase in and out just like every other theme that isn’t one of those three… I just wanted to reassure you guys that pirates isn’t disappearing. Just taking a break. :-)

[Captain Blackmoor]

That means there is light at the horizon!

Now we should hope the break isn't taking too long.

[Svelte]

Maybe that would be more reassuring if the last 'break' didn't last 5 years like last time.

[Emperor Claudius Rome]

Maybe that would be more reassuring if the last 'break' didn't last 5 years like last time.

Which theme was that?

[Captain Blackmoor]

There is a small chance that particular theme is pirates.

d'oh.

[Joey Lock]

Update from Steve Witt:

Thats not reassuring at all. We have no Idea how long these phases are going to be.

"Pirates isn’t going away" Oh but it is. If Pirates is "taking a break" that usually meens its going away even if it is for 1 month. Its still "going" somewhere.

Im so annoyed Im just picking out little quotes! Oh what has happened to me!

[Admiral M]

Firstly, Lego Pirates was one of the first themes, one of only 4 up until around the 1980's (?) and really should be one of the more permanant theme. And also, remember the last time lego pirates went on a break? IT WAS GONE FOR 13 YEARS. That is not very reassuring.

[blueandwhite]

Update from Steve Witt:

Pirates isn’t gone, its on hiatus like every other line that isn’t one of our primary themes:

CASTLE, SPACE, and CITY

Pirates isn’t going away, it’s just not going to be a constant theme. It’s going to phase in and out just like every other theme that isn’t one of those three… I just wanted to reassure you guys that pirates isn’t disappearing. Just taking a break. :-)

This is a very loaded response and quite the blow to Pirate fans. Steve's comment could probably be taken as positive news for Castle and Space fans as the likelihood of both returning next summer seems pretty good going by these comments. From Steve's comments it sounds like LEGO is going to try and keep both Space and Castle in their annual rotation instead of phasing them out for a few years. Conversely, for Pirates fans this is a huge blow. The fact that LEGO doesn't consider Pirates to be a primary theme is disappointing.

As a fan of both Castle and Pirates, I don't no whether to be happy or sad. As a Castle fan I'm thrilled to hear LEGO's continued enthusiasm for the line (in whatever form it may take), but as a Pirate fan I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. That being said, at least I have a theme to fall back on as Castle is still my theme of choice. I feel really bad for you folks who are exclusively Pirates fans.

Edited September 18, 2009 by blueandwhite

[Edgehead]

Update from Steve Witt:

QUOTE

Pirates isn’t gone, its on hiatus like every other line that isn’t one of our primary themes:

CASTLE, SPACE, and CITY

Pirates isn’t going away, it’s just not going to be a constant theme. It’s going to phase in and out just like every other theme that isn’t one of those three… I just wanted to reassure you guys that pirates isn’t disappearing. Just taking a break. :-)

Thats not reassuring at all. We have no Idea how long these phases are going to be.

"Pirates isn’t going away" Oh but it is. If Pirates is "taking a break" that usually meens its going away even if it is for 1 month. Its still "going" somewhere.

Im so annoyed Im just picking out little quotes! Oh what has happened to me!

Hmm dont be so sure joey, me now thinks they r putting pirates on hold so they can do a one off release of PotC with the new film in 2011; and then return to the classic pirates after that

i hope im right

also tho to find out pirates isnt one of the primary themes anymore is a bit surprising

-edit for spelling

Edited September 18, 2009 by Edgehead

[Teddy]

Update from Steve Witt:

Pirates isn’t gone, its on hiatus like every other line that isn’t one of our primary themes:

CASTLE, SPACE, and CITY

Pirates isn’t going away, it’s just not going to be a constant theme. It’s going to phase in and out just like every other theme that isn’t one of those three… I just wanted to reassure you guys that pirates isn’t disappearing. Just taking a break. :-)

Dear SlyOwl,

I need to check my catalogs, but I'm quite sure Castle and Space have been on a break in recent years as well.

Or are Castle and Space defined relatively broadly in the context here?

On another note: I spend a lot of cash on Castle and Pirates this year.

So to be positive: it could be a releave for my Lego budget.

I guess I will do more BL and ebay bulk orders again next year.

I have serious doubts about the other licensed themes since some licensed themes tend to be limited in bricks per set and have limited staying power.

Therefore, usually, I prefer regular Lego theme sets to build my collection on.

But I have some hopes for the prince of persia sets. If they are as good as Indy I'll get those for parts.

As for a POTC license. Well I'll probably will consider those expensive parts packs.

I'm just not the ghost pirates kind of guy.

Kind regards,

Teddy