Martin_B Posted October 23, 2012 (edited) Excuse my newbie-ness if this has been asked before, but there was no such thing as the internet when I was nine years old... I've been a fan of the Pirates line since they first went on sale, but right from the start I wondered why the pirates themselves seemed to have the biggest and most impressive ships while the 'good guys' seemed to use vessels that were, well, smaller. The Pirates II line seems to be an exception to this, but in the 90s at least there were huge ships like the classic Black Seas Barracuda and Skull Eye Schooner (confusingly, they were given different names in the UK, but I digress...) while the Caribbean Clipper, Imperial Flagship and Armada Flagship were single-masted and had much smaller crews. The Renegade Runner and the Cross Bone Clipper are the only pirate ships that I can find that were actually smaller than those of the 'Imperial' side! I never did understand why. I assumed that the pirates were independent renegades who sailed around looking for treasure and causing mischief while the 'Imperial' fleet were supposed to keep order. Even as a kid I wondered whether the pirates would've preferred smaller ships that were easier to hide, and why the Imperial commanders didn't use bigger ships to make a statement and match the size of the pirates'. I'm not sure if it's Nostalgia Goggles at work here, but Brickbeard's Bounty and the Imperial Flagship don't seem to have the charm of the old ones. I owned the CC in my childhood, but when I realised my dream many years later to own the BSB to go with it, I thought that the CC still isn't as cool! Edited October 23, 2012 by Martin_B Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sebeus I Posted October 23, 2012 I think a pirate ship is generally more popular among kids, it's what you see most in cartoons as well. I don't think historical context was relevant for the theme back then, more likely they focused on how cartoons presented ships. But that's just what I think, It never bothered me that the pirate ships were bigger than the god guys' ships, after all I make MOC ships. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grimmbeard Posted October 23, 2012 Yeah, as Sebeus said, I think the majority of children always had the Pirates "winning". Also, when it was tested to either go with Europa or Pirates, Pirates was more popular. The soldiers weren't as well received, and thus, the ship sizes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rotaser Posted October 28, 2012 But never forget about the amazing "new" Imperial Flagship: http://brickset.com/detail/?set=10210-1 Bigger than anything else and just lovely on the shelf. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mazin Posted November 13, 2012 But the Imperial Flagship is rather the collectotes item, not a thing for the kids really... course they can play it but the model itself seems to be very out of Lego simplified style. t's much different than other new sets... I agree with guys above, Pirates are the main heroes in the theme, and heroes always get better and bigger "guns" - like in G.I.Joe. And I'd never say that Soldiers were the "good guys"... they used the classic "romantic" pirate aproach here - good buccaners and corsairs kicking ruthless king's soldiers like in "Crimson Pirate", Polanski's "Pirates" and so and so... It was always obvious on the dioramas in catalogs. Soldiers on the other hand are just a back up... other thing is that Legos were created very artistically back then, and making a big set with so many soldiers would look weird... pirates give you a much bigger variety of figures and posibilities. I'd even say that making the Imperial Trading Post was a mistake, cause it would sell ten times better if such a big set was actually full with pirates still... I wanna have it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hive Posted November 13, 2012 I don't think the old ships are better than the new ones, except for maybe the sails. And even then, only the sails on Brickbeard's Bounty were worse than in the old days - the 3 other ships we have gotten since 2009 have had great sails. Also, it sounds like I was the only one who treated the soldiers as the good guys when I was a kid... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mazin Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) Also, it sounds like I was the only one who treated the soldiers as the good guys when I was a kid... Hang him! To gallows with this traitor naah... to say the truth I never enjoyed Pirates kicking Soldiers' butts on offical dioramas Used to spot for those rare moments when it was actually pirates who got beaten/tricked... same with Castle series... never liked that Knights got beaten by the Forestmen... and I'm not sure about the way I played... I used to have a whole well of ideas... and so did my friends... so sometimes I had a princess kidnapped by damn pirates with soldiers as the good guys... on the other occasion I had good buccaners rebel against ruthless governor so... but I guess I used to mix those side all the time, making my own factions... Same with G.I.Joes... Joes and Cobras together fighting other Joes and Cobras but this is always the way you play with toys when you have more sets from one faction than from the other... Edited November 13, 2012 by Mazin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheLegoDr Posted November 13, 2012 I loved the Imperial Soldiers, but I think Pirates were the market for sure. I never really noticed the ships were of different size. Meaning, I enjoyed playing with both the BSB and the CC and didn't think about it. I think the Imperials were under the notion that it isn't the size of the vessel, but the motion in the ocean (perhaps meaning they were able to outmaneuver the Pirates and get the upper hand). Although modern times, I was trying to convert the BSB into an Imperial ship of some sort and I was modding the QAR into a more impressive ship to counter the IFS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mazin Posted November 13, 2012 I'd actually love if they would make one set with two ships of similar size for both sides... surely smaller ones... but with the same number of figures and so... would be a lovely one... very playble from the start These could be different in appearance of course but that would still make it a close-fought encounter About the ship sizes... I remember that being a child I was actually ABSOLUTELY SURE that they will release Soldier's ship similar in size with Barracuda some day... Was kind of "obvious" back then Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
