2015 LEGO Pirates Rumors and Discussion

[AFOLguy1970]

I was at a huge toystore yesterday. I have bought all the sets at Lego.com and 2 more at a little local store (to support them). I wanted to look how they present the Pirates. And what must I see. There was only a little cardboard standup. Only 3 boxes where missing at this standup. The BB was nowhere to find. I asked the boss of the Legocorner and he told me:

“We don´t have the ship, we are selling Pirates not very good. Children have no interests in Lego Pirates, they want Chima and Ninjargo…. Only Fathers buy Pirates but then the children don´t play with it.”

What is your impression is the line selling well or is "the stupid" ( I hate him he slanders my Pirates ) staff of the toystore right?

There could be some truth to that. My boys are mainly interested in Ninjago. They chose those sets over Pirates when they were given a choice. No one in our house is interested in Chima. Perhaps the theme particularly appeals to people coming out of their dark ages or reliving the age of earlier sets. Granted, there is obviously some interest in Pirates from young children, but it does have fierce competition from other lines.

[VintageLegoEra]

There could be some truth to that. My boys are mainly interested in Ninjago. They chose those sets over Pirates when they were given a choice. No one in our house is interested in Chima. Perhaps the theme particularly appeals to people coming out of their dark ages or reliving the age of earlier sets. Granted, there is obviously some interest in Pirates from young children, but it does have fierce competition from other lines.

Truw,,those who are interested in Pirate themes thats because their parents are interested into it

[Colossus]

My 5 year old son loves tall ships. When we went to Brickfest last year, I had to pry him away from the Pirates MOCs. We didn't have anything in our collection related to Pirates, and having a limited Lego budget, we had no plans to start. For his birthday this year, we went to the Lego store, and he immediately went straight for the Pirates stuff. Now we have the BB. He plays with it alongside his Ninjago stuff and my Sea Cow. We've had some epic sea battles between the ships, and now my daughter wants in on the action. Now I just have to reconfigure her Friends Dolphin Cruiser to hold some cannons.

[Matthias]

My 5 year old son loves tall ships. When we went to Brickfest last year, I had to pry him away from the Pirates MOCs. We didn't have anything in our collection related to Pirates, and having a limited Lego budget, we had no plans to start. For his birthday this year, we went to the Lego store, and he immediately went straight for the Pirates stuff. Now we have the BB. He plays with it alongside his Ninjago stuff and my Sea Cow. We've had some epic sea battles between the ships, and now my daughter wants in on the action. Now I just have to reconfigure her Friends Dolphin Cruiser to hold some cannons.

That seem to be a wonderful time for all of your family :) I hope kids will like pirates for ever

[TheMomiX]

Hello,

In Italy, ITALY LEGO Group will not distribute the Pirates in 2015 in ordinary toy stores.

We Italians can only buy them on-line in the LEGO shop.

Or from the store with a parallel import at a higher price

[Sigolf Brimabane]

I kind of get doom vibes now... All this stuff about the sets selling badly and only appearing in select stores or online. In Scandinavia, BR is the only store that sells them (unless there are official Lego stores as well? None in Sweden yet though). Will this be the last time Lego releases a pirate series? :(

[Dreamweb]

UCS Imperial Trading Post confirmed!!!

That'd be the dream, eh? I won't get my hopes up untill there's something more substantial than one guy hearing a rumor. But it'd sure be nice, especially since I (sadly) missed out on the Imperial Flagship - one of the best damn LEGO sets ever released.

Haha, while that would not be such a bad idea to me, I'd still prefer a ship for the Bluecoats, and not necessarily something as special as the 10210 Imperial Flagship. Just a decent looking sailing vessel. So my reaction to such news would be pretty optimistic, but in no way would I be as excited as some people here might...

[Slurpifier]

Where I'm from, the big local toystore is cleaned of all their Pirate stock (Including the little Juniors set aswell) Which I found surprising!

Also, my local Argos is also out of every Pirate set, but the Juniors set is still in high quantities.

As for Ninjago and Chima, I honestly don't check them, as I have lost interest in both themes.

[josykay]

I found it rather odd, that none! of the stores in larger towns i visited had pirates at all. Looks pretty grim in germany as well, at least where I am living. They got tons of Ninjago, they got that Legend of Chima crap, both themes I think, are nothing but silly..., but they seemingly sell very well, because of those fancy weapons and stuff I guess. Anyway... it is really sad, going into the stores, in a childlike excitment for the new pirates, only to see no set. They aren't even sold out, they just don't have them.-.-

Surprisingly though a toy store in the small village I am living got the Bounty, and the two soldier buildings, but none of the smaller pirate sets. How comes, the smaller stores got it, and have the smaller sets sold out, while the larger stores don't have a single set?

Damn, I hate that Chima, and Ninjago... taking the spot of Castle and Pirates. going on for years, getting tons of silly, stupid, ridiculous stuff, while Castle and Pirates are edged after small waves.

Edited April 14, 2015 by josykay

[Matthias]

I found it rather odd, that none! of the stores in larger towns i visited had pirates at all. Looks pretty grim in germany as well, at least where I am living. They got tons of Ninjago, they got that Legend of Chima crap, both themes I think, are nothing but silly..., but they seemingly sell very well, because of those fancy weapons and stuff I guess. Anyway... it is really sad, goind into the stores, in a child like excitment for the new pirates, only to see no set. They aren't even sold out, they just don't have them.-.-

Surprisingly though a toy store in the small village I am living got the Bounty, and the two soldier buildings, but none of the smaller pirate sets. How comes, the smaller stores got it, and have the smaller sets sold out, while the larger stores don't have a single set?

Damn, I hate that Chima, and Ninjago... taking the spot of Castle and Pirates. going on for years, getting tons of silly, stupid, ridiculous stuff, while Castle and Pirates are edged after small waves.

I can suggest the group "Idee und Spiel" it is a community of little local town and vilage toystores. I was in 2 stores and they have a lot of pirate stuff.

[eldiano]

I honestly noticed the same trend at my Lego store, I was there for 45 min with my twins paying with duplos, the Pirates line seems the fullest, except for the chess that's sold out, I noticed that parents selected the smaller sets for their kids, but their kids ran off to the Chima and ninjago, then two adults at different times bought the entire pirates sets, but they had a ton of BB.

The assistant manager told me about the upcoming space line being brought back like he 70/80's sets

But the most plausible evidence that I found is in the chest set, the two "islanders" king kahuka mini heads. I hope they bring them back...

[blarghiflargh]

Here in the US I've noticed Pirates selling pretty well in my local stores. My local TRU has definitely sold through dozens of the $20 sets. Treasure Island was difficult to find locally for a couple of weeks. Not sure they've sold any Brick Bounties, as they are charging $10 over MSRP.

[Kolonialbeamter]

And in the back ground of the lego spring catalog there is always a ship in the back ground as seen here!

That's what I'm holding onto as well

Loooool...looks like we Fathers/Adults make more money for Legos when it comez to themes variety hahahah

Hmm... seems we could run out of pirate supporters in the long run...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: toys are simply too important to leave them to kids

[kabel]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: toys are simply too important to leave them to kids

that's right, just bought my first new pirate sets and am hiding them from my kids ... the bigger these small dudes become the more they are eying into my collection. Must defend bricks and figs ...

[David Thomsen]

I was going to point out that the 2009 Pirates competed with series like Ninjago and they still brought it back in 2015, but apparently I'm wrong, Ninjago started in 2011. It just feels like it's been around forever, especially for a theme I thought would last one or two years. And now we have Chima as well. And for kids who in previous years had collected Ninjago and Chima, I imagine they'll be looking for the new sets in those ranges and barely notice the Pirates stuff.

So, if Pirates were around for more than one year, and had the same kind of media presence, would it build up the following that those themes have? Or is there something more inherently appealing to children about fantastical ninjas and animals and stuff?

[Bobbtom]

Chima's ending early compared to Ninjago, so maybe not that many kids like silly looking things like Ninjago.

[banshee3]

I was initially very excited for the pirates return. I have been concerned lately for many reasons.

1) no "launch" notices or events surrounding pirates release.

2) no pirate themed anything in the way of advertising.

3) lack of the brick bounty in my local wal-marts and smaller stores

4) stiff competition from established brands that have associated media tie-ins (tv shows)

these just off the top of my head.

[Hive]

I guess kids have changed since I myself was one. Back in the late 80's/early 90's, the Pirates theme was red hot. I was all over it myself (alongside Castle) and I don't think I knew anyone who didn't have any Pirates LEGO themselves. We loved stuff like that. So exciting, so full of adventure.

But I guess it's hard to compete with the exposure of tv shows, video games, named characters, a storyline to play out and an overall impressive marketing campaign...

[David Thomsen]

It's odd that themes like Castle, Pirates and City never get their own tie-in media like other themes do. Maybe it's because they tie in with 'real life', so they don't need to tell you why you should buy toys with animal heads?

[kabel]

@Hive: since I trashed my last TV about 15 years ago, my kids grow up up watching videos on DVDs on my comp. So basically no advertisement and controlled exposure. And guess what, they love Lego Pirates and Castle, and certainly don't know what the heck to do with Star Wars!

[Zeya]

Ninjago simply has a lot more going for it, for the not-yet-AFOL audience. :) A wider range of sets, more collectible minifigs, flashier elements, more action figures and weapons, the spinner card game thing, the tv shows. I hate to say it but... pirates versus ninjas? I'm afraid the ninjas are winning... I mean corrupting our youth!! Arr!! Yeah, Lego knows where the bread is buttered, in terms of profits.

On the flip side, at least we got a pirates wave free of some of these extraneous things that AFOLs aren't generally keen to. And if you go back and read a lot of the grips about past Pirates waves, TLG did listen! A lot of people didn't like BURPs, big panel pieces, and giant molded baseplates; the new wave has none of that. Everything is brick-built, which is what a lot of AFOLs prefer. With the 2009 wave, a lot of people complained about some of the silly maniacal face prints - seems better to me in 2015. More back and leg prints too. I haven't yet built all the sets (I've just built the Brick Bounty actually), but I'm happy so far. Sure I have gripes, but I consider this a solid Pirates release. Sure I wish there were more or another wave, but I'll take it. At least we don't have spinning wind-up pirates fighting alligator men, know what I mean? (Wait a minute, maybe that does sound kind of appealing... lol).

[David Thomsen]

At least we don't have spinning wind-up pirates fighting alligator men, know what I mean?

That was my feeling... I'd rather have a strong Pirate theme every five years or so than an ongoing theme where pirate ships are powered by Wind Crystals that are hidden inside Temples of Ngc-t'churang.

[banshee3]

That was my feeling... I'd rather have a strong Pirate theme every five years or so than an ongoing theme where pirate ships are powered by Wind Crystals that are hidden inside Temples of Ngc-t'churang.

In theory I'd agree, but looking at 2009 wave (that I missed) and this wave which has very similar content, does it not feel like half a release? It feels very shallow to me and if they're going to rehash a shallow pirates wave every five years. I dunno. I shouldn't complain. at least we have more pirates. For that I am thankful.

[TeufelHund]

On the flip side, at least we got a pirates wave free of some of these extraneous things that AFOLs aren't generally keen to. And if you go back and read a lot of the grips about past Pirates waves, TLG did listen! A lot of people didn't like BURPs, big panel pieces, and giant molded baseplates; the new wave has none of that. Everything is brick-built, which is what a lot of AFOLs prefer. With the 2009 wave, a lot of people complained about some of the silly maniacal face prints - seems better to me in 2015. More back and leg prints too

There are BURPs in this Wave, some of the face prints are just as silly as anything in the 2009 wave (cook and pirate captain anyone?) and every figure in 2009 had back printing. If anything I would say they're actually pretty compatible. You could even argue a few things went backwards (no gold coins, for instance). I’ve put sets from both waves side by side and they both look ok together so if you’re a priate fan you can’t go wrong with sets from either (or both) waves IMO.

[David Thomsen]

Yeah, I don't think the 2015 faces are any more silly than 2009? Except for the guy in the Pirate Building Set with his somewhat cartoonish grin and eyepatch. And yes, I'm sure every figure had back printing.

I have all of my 2009 sets built alongside the 2015 and aside from some stylistic inconsistencies here and there, you could barely tell they were designed six years apart. The new sets use a different shade of green for the foliage, but also has some vegetation with traditional green. The two Skull Islands obviously look completely different. The ship's stern is different. The flags are different (this is the point that bugs me the most, the switch from flexible to solid plastic flags). The fort now has the new brick piece instead of stickers.

On balance I'd say the new range is slightly more AFOL-appropriate, but not by much. And I tend to stockpile any available gold coins whenever I make a BrickLink order, so no problem for me there.