2015 LEGO Pirates Rumors and Discussion

[ArtGONG]

Love the skull and the gold tooth:P

[lego tripper]

After seeing Iomis' renders, I must say I'm really digging the (however limited) modularity of this theme.

[Rapseflaps]

A lot has been said over the past 33 pages, but I'd still like to put in my two cents:

I didn't have a lot of Pirates sets in the early nineties, but I always really liked them. I finally splurged on LEGO Pirate sets in 2010, when I picked up the entire 2009 line, as well as the gorgeous Imperial Flagship. Seeing the Pirates line replaced by Pirates of the Caribbean sets was a little sad, but understandable. There's no use for there being a LEGO Pirates theme alongside a very similar licensed theme at the same time.

So when I heard LEGO Pirates was coming back in 2015, it was pretty exciting news.

Unfortunately, this looks like a complete misfire.

It's essentially a remake of the 2009 series and it doesn't look like they've improved much. Of course I'm saying this based on nothing but the box images, but it's about first impressions here and first impressions matter. These are small, compact playsets and the line lacks a good central play hub (although a good central hub was also missing from the 2009 line - we'll get to that later). The new pirate ship is basically the same as the previous one, but with different colors. Most of these sets look like they are aimed at the lower end of the age range printed on the box. The soldiers' fort is rediculously small.

While I loved the 2009 line, it wasn't perfect. My main gripe would be the relatively small size of its fort and lack of small-to-medium-sized vessels. There were no ships in any size between the raft from Kraken Attackin' and the big ship from Brickbeard's Bounty. Any activity in the soldiers' fort with this big ship looked weird. Never mind making it the Imperial Flagship's port. Honestly, I'd love to see something like this: a small hub of land-locked activity with a smaller boat that fits with it. Or this: an actual fort that can be shut down (both the 2009 and the 2015 forts look pretty easy to storm - after all, neither has an actual inside). Some smaller boats would also be nice for assembling small fleets.

These things could have been adressed in a second wave in 2009, but that never came. This new Pirates line was an opportunity to set these things straight and turn the Pirates theme back into a world-building theme of old. Unfortunately, judging by this first wave, LEGO has opted to go in the other direction instead: simple models, aimed at standalone playability.

As of right now, this line is not worth spending my money on.

I can see how, after LEGO Pirates has been off the market for almost five years, LEGO might want to reboot the series. Hopefully when and if a new wave arrives, they'll take the chance to expand this theme, rather than simply revisit it. The world of Pirates has almost limitless possibilities for expanding and world building and it would be sad to not see those possibilities explored.

[Pulp Detective]

If this new wave means a reboot,then I'm sure we'll get better sets on the future.But I hope it wont get the same treatment the 2013 castle line got.

[Emettin]

I am wondering if it's possible to build a decent square fort out of 2 x 70410 Soldiers Outpost and 1 x 70412 Soldiers Fort

[Count Bricktooth]

I haven't bought any sets for a few years now, but I'll be picking up these Imperial sets for sure- with the intention of combining them to make a decent fort.

[jaudeau]

I buy it but do not expect. I hope a little more large-scale set.

[Matthias]

The biggest german classic catalog company says the sets are available in two weeks!!!! Maybe wrong or not???

https://www.otto.de/p/grosses-piratenschiff-70413-lego-pirates-lego-446897904/#variationId=446897906

[Matthias]

I just phoned with "OTTO" and they told me that they would get it earlier but only the 2 bigger sets. I don´t trust them^^ but I ordered the sets. I will see in 2 weeks if they told me the truth.

[The_Cook]

It's not unusual for the New-Year sets to sneak out a little before Christmas. TLG have to get the sets shipped out to retailers prior to delivery networks shutting down for the Christmas/New Year period and some retailers ship it on as soon as they've got it rather than waiting for any official release dates.

Good luck, you might have an early Christmas surprise.

I'm surprised that we haven't seen some sets sent out for review by CEE (Customer Engagements & Events); although they may well have done so but imposed restrictions on when the reviews can be published in order to provide some news and exposure in the post-Christmas lull rather than putting it out now when it could well be lost in the noise that is the build-up to Christmas.

[Zeya]

The January calendar for the Lego brand stores mentions new sets from certain themes coming, but Pirates was not one of the themes listed. Perhaps this will be a summer wave. (Summer sets start appearing here in the US around March/April, iirc.)

[_Oceanblue_]

The biggest german classic catalog company says the sets are available in two weeks!!!! Maybe wrong or not???

https://www.otto.de/...ionId=446897906

You are not wrong because the Lego official stores in Germany do expect several of the Pirates sets ( but not all ) to be available for us as from 16.12.2014.

[tafkatb]

The January calendar for the Lego brand stores mentions new sets from certain themes coming, but Pirates was not one of the themes listed. Perhaps this will be a summer wave. (Summer sets start appearing here in the US around March/April, iirc.)

It doesn't mention Friends either, even though those are definitely coming as well. They're not going to list every single theme that will be getting new sets.

[Darth Punk]

I was curious if anyone had thoughts about altering the length of the brick bounty? I have no real experience in building lego ships but am currently collecting pieces to build 7018. That got me to thinking about expanding the length of the bounty to add a third mast in the middle.

Anyone have such experience?

[Blondie-Wan]

There is a reason why Treasure Island uses the new design. It is possible that Soldiers Fort used it for conformity. While I'm not a real fan of the tree as it is, it does provide pieces to give variety to your tree building collection. Also the tree from Soldiers Fort lays a good foundation for modding the leafy section of a palm. So while I do hope they haven't done away with the old palm trunk, I'm not really upset with the new design.

Not to mention this approach is what allows the frog to cling to the side of the tree. That might be the very reason why they went with this design, actually.

[Mazin]

So, are we all here buying the whole thing as soon as it comes out? Or is anyone objecting?

There's not that many of them and looking at the possible prices its gonna cost around... 160 $ to get all of them. Which is not bad at all. Still, these are original prices so in "less lego-lized" countries such as Poland they should be twice that expensive. Well, le'ts hope not, but i'd rather buy 50 of them at the original prizes than just like 10 sets with a large markup.

Still, I would gladly exchange 100 of these new sets for like 20 of classic ones... there's still something magical missing in both design and packaging.

The biggest german classic catalog company says the sets are available in two weeks!!!! Maybe wrong or not???

You are not wrong because the Lego official stores in Germany do expect several of the Pirates sets ( but not all ) to be available for us as from 16.12.2014.

You Jerries just remember not to buy all of these sets before we'll even have a chance to put our hands on them

Edited December 9, 2014 by Mazin

[Zeya]

I'll probably rush out and buy all of them the first week. I did that with POTC when it came out.

[Mazin]

All of the POTC sets? Did these come at the same time. Sadly I do own any of them. Were a little bit too expensive for me at that time, not mentioning that human SKIN was rather repelling for me.

EDIT: I've just realized one thing - where the hell is a MONKEY? There is no monkey! Not a sinle one.

Maybe the're preparing a big monkey offensive with another wave

Edited December 10, 2014 by Mazin

[gedren_y]

EDIT: I've just realized one thing - where the hell is a MONKEY? There is no monkey! Not a single one.

Maybe they're preparing a big monkey offensive with another wave

It is entirely plausible that the monkey mold is undergoing redesign, and was simply not ready when the sets were finalized. Even if that isn't the case, that old monkey design needs work. Compared to the current lot of animals produced, it is severely lacking.

[Mazin]

Severly lacking what? Monkey was without a doubt the coolest animal in the whole Pirate theme, and one of the best within the whole Lego universe.

I still prefer old parrot to that new speckled one, old shark to that new oversized one, old matte epaulettes to those new shiny ones and so so. From what it looks, it seems that they're chaning lots of things just to change it, for not a specific reason really, because there is this "fashion" of remodelling everything from time to time.

Being old doesn't necessarily mean that it's outdated and needs a redesign. And it's not because i'm sentimental and can't see changes everywhere and within Lego itself. It's just that some things are still good and fresh, even if decades have past

To say more I'd rather be lazy and keep all of the old designs, than waste time on creating needless things like those frogs, that don't resemble anything and are completely useless in the universe. Crabs and snakes are a little bit funnier but do we really need them?

A fish is a pretty good addition on the other hand, cause it looks nice, classy, and there's lots of things one could do with eat. Rost over fireplace, or catch it, whatever...

What I mean is, 20 years ago everything added to Pirate theme had it's reason, was rather obvious. It all worked well and looked well together. You can't really say that about new Lego sets.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Mazin

[gedren_y]

The monkey was a wonderful design for the time, but its aesthetics no longer fit with the current Lego animals. For AFOLs who have/had this monkey, there isn't an issue. For the kids in the target age group, though, the classic monkey would seem unfinished and a bit large when compared to the chimpanzee and orangutan currently in production. Hopefully if the monkey does get a redesign, it will retain its articulation and gripping hands, but be improved in detail and size relation.

[Mazin]

I thought that chimpanzee never really matched the Lego-verse, always considered it out of the place and ugly. Was there a certain research or something proving that it's that much enjoyable?

I may not be novadays kid and a member of a target group, still, i don't find the monkey unfinished. Lego was always cool and so playable because of it's simplicity. Giving everything new colors, eyes and details is only turning this whole franchise into Playmobile. I don't mind some changes, even major ones, but seriously, redesigning the good stuff is absolutely pointless.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

We need the monkey!

Every set is much more fun with a monkey in it.

[Pulp Detective]

I don't see what's the big fuss about the absence of the monkey.You can add one of your own or buy one from bricklink.

Edited December 10, 2014 by LOTR343

[Mazin]

There's no fuss about the absence of a monkey, we're just joking and having fun On the other hand, there's a fuss about whether the monkey should or should not be redesigned