Marooned Marin

Excellent as before. I really enjoy your awesome work and history lessons.

Yeah, that's what I had also. Forbidden Island is now in passed down to my nephew, while the Clipper is dissembled and patiently awaits my long planned remake. I agree with you, it's stunning how much both sets provide (in terms of play) with so relatively small amount of pieces. It's one reason why I love so much the [SMALL] category competition this year and the last, where it was an object to do as much as possible in given piece limit, to focus on the story and play and not the sheer size of the build.

Thank you @The Undo ______________________________________ DOWNLOAD FULL COMIC IN PDF HERE After being rejected on LEGO Ideas, since Islander's Island overlaps with prohibited Pirates Bay/Ship Island concept (although I'm not sure how in this case) I decided to give Tapu Island a run in the upcoming Bricklink Designer Program - Series 6. Unlike LEGO Ideas, BDP-program comes with somewhat strict framework regarding the parts and minifigures used. In a nutshell, designers are allowed to use only parts and minifigures which are in production, or will be in the near future. In my case this means: no Islander minifigures, no Pirates minifigures, no cloth sails! Besides that I was required to replace some plates and bricks which do exists now but their production, in that particular colour, came to an end. For instance, wedge plate in medium azure I needed to change to regular square plate etc... Not to go any deeper in that matter, you can read more about parts and BDP-series inside this blog-post on Classic-Pirates.com. CHANGES TO THE ORIGINAL DESIGN Instead of Islander's canoe the raft is added, with plastic sails (no cloths are allowed) New two characters, Lighthouse keeper Steve (Infamous Steve great great grandson) and Willy (his grandson). New 50-pages to the original story which explains in detail the newer version of the Island, and two new characters. (see prologue, and extra three chapters at the end) Apparition was transformed into black skeleton, but is still the main villain of the story. NEW DESIGN YOUTUBE VIDEO STORY SYNOPSIS After reading a scary Pirate story about the local “allegedly cursed” island, grandpa and his grandson indulge in some harmless pirate role-play on the very same island. All the fun and play came to an end when a violent storm broke out and forced two wannabe pirates to take shelter inside a dark and perilous island’s cave. Little did they know that the curse was not merely a kid’s bedtime story, but a real thing! Welcome to Tapu Island! PROLOGUE (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 1 - The King's Merchant (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 2 - Déjà vu (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 3 - The ISLAND (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 4 - The STORM (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 5 - NOT ALONE (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 6 - The CAVE (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 7 - The APPARITION (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 8 - KING KAHUKA (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 9 - The OFFER (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 10 - SWEET REVENGE (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 11 - The PLAN GONE BAD (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 12 - ENDGAME (CLICK ON SPOILER TO SEE) CHAPTER 13 - The CURSE OF TAPU ISLAND (Epilogue) CHAPTER 14 - The Adventure Continues CHAPTER 15 - Return to Tapu Island CHAPTER 16 - At Night They Come I hope you all understand and approve necessary changes, and will show your support when the voting phase comes. DOWNLOAD FULL COMIC IN PDF HERE

No, no, the blog-post didn't came in that way, you even highlighted the point of pirates parts in relation to rumoured retirement of ElDorado Fortress. I only say this because people sometimes have tendencies to jump to conclusions, often dividing into forms of camps, us vs. them, and here that is certainly not the case. Even in BrickLink sub-forum where new parts pallet is discussed among designers, here and there you can feel that impression coming from new designers, as if people running the operation decide about the parts where that's not the case. In every YouTube video, BDP crew highlights that point and again it completely misses some people. I am looking forward to new Gonnies ship because that is excellent opportunity for LEGO to bring back into production some of the much needed Pirate parts, which should be then made available inside the future BDP programs.

You have turned it into a interview. But it's important to highlight here, for someone who maybe skipped through new blog-post, that BrickLink Designer Program is not some "evil branch" of LEGO which has agenda with Pirates, they simply operate and comply with parts which are available and/or planned for production in the next year or two. BrcikLink is doing really amazing work with BPD program, and I like the whole concept far more better than LEGO Ideas.

It works like a charm. Thank you so much for this honour @Captain Braunsfeld

Oh I got really creative, but I don't want to spoil as you'll find out soon enough. Let's just say the adventure continues and extra 50 pages of comic book will explain everything. These will be available I think next week.

Ah, you confused the two activities. This was something like BrickLink Community Activity with goal of using the Studio.io with all available parts, past and present, to promote digital builds and creativity. Award was something like a badge or public recognition. Read the small print: Bonus, but not required: Use the BDP Series 5 or 6 Palette. This will significantly bring down the price of parts if you plan to realize your creation. BrickLink Designer Program is completely different matter, with strict framework for submissions and limited parts. Be assured, there are no islanders available in BDP, indigo classic or POTC.

No more Bluecoats whatsoever, no more flags or torsos. That's the big difference between Series 6 and Series 5, which is unlucky for Pirate builders. Also no more flintlocks and rowboats, which were also previously available. As for Islanders, they were never available on BDP program. Not considered as Islander, but there is also no crocodile. We do have one parrot and sharks, but for anything else directly related to pirate theme it's only what you see on this image. Oh yeah, and it should be noted that re-makes of any classic-set is forbidden, and ships are not allowed to use cloth sails. The Imperial flag can be made using the stickers, they allow stickers, with exception of minifigures - you cant use stickers for torsos.

"Does the Series 6 Palette include more pirate-themed parts than earlier series?" To quickly touch upon question above, which was posed inside the convenient article, the answer is NO! BDP Series 6 Palette of available parts showed even less pirate parts in contrast to previous series. For readers completely new with this program in a nutshell this means that BrickLink gives in advance allowed list of parts and colours which can be used by fan designers to create anything they like, as long as they use only those parts. I'm re-designing Tapu Island for the upcoming Series 6, and these are the most pirate parts which I'm allowed to use. Now it's time to become really creative!

What a wonderful experience this was, I'm absolutely thrilled. Thank you all for making this happen. I’ve received much and it's only appropriate to give something back. But to whom? To all of you who have in one way or another supported me via constructive suggestions, kind comments or votes. As a token of my gratitude please accept instructions of my most popular design to date (if one can believe Instagram). Please check your inbox for a private message from me containing the link for the instructions. If you haven’t received message in the next 6 hours, and yet you are one the list below, let me know. Thank you kindly: @Yoggington @NOD @Fraunces @MstrOfPppts @Jack Sassy @SevenDeadlyStreamers @Yatkuu @Rui Miguel @thewatchman @Elephant Knight @Horation @RabbiT_CZ @Autumn @Ben S @Math Wizard @FGMatt @CaptainDarkNStormy @Captain Braunsfeld @Filibbooo @A_Goodman @Andy-Roo @Barbatos @-DoNe- @Brendan McGnarley @Yperio_Bricks @Oky @SpacePolice89 @Black Falcon @zack-ta @MandoLando @Quotenotto @BardDandelion @F1stzz @YellowFrog Special thanks to @Mister Phes for making this contest happen. He is a true Governor in every sense of the word and we should give him more credit for the effort and passion he invests in keeping the Pirate theme alive through this Eurobricks sub-forum and Classic-Pirates.com, for over two decades! 21-gun salute to Governor Phes (not pointed at him!). DOWNLOAD FULL COMIC IN PDF HERE

Congratulations to @Elephant Knight and @A_Goodman for making it in the top three with their fantastic designs. Both showed great sportsmanship during the voting phase which makes me respect them even more as fellow builders and individuals. I’m especially happy for Al Goodman, considering the turn of events during last year's contest. From the moment Escape from Imperial Trading Post was submitted I felt it to be a winning favourite, and if voting went the other way and I ended up second, it would be justly deserved because it is a really terrific design in its own right. I have only words of praise for The Merchant vessel Margaret Hamilton. Beautiful curves, array of nice details and smart arrangement of sails. It’s a top-notch work! As a shipbuilder I can say from experience that ships are vastly more challenging than a land-based builds, have no doubts about that, and yet Elephant Knight makes it look so easy. Bravo! Congratulations are also in order to @YellowFrog and @Yatkuu, they both managed to jam as much as possible in as little as possible. Last but not the least; I congratulate @Horation for taking this year’s Creative Critique award. His overall effort, presence and speed of replying were amazing. I hope he will make great things now as a new member of Classic-Pirates crew, and who knows, maybe even try blogging. As for the contest, what I really enjoyed this year is the amount of new ideas and designs. Re-makes were kept at minimum, if it was any re-make at all, and I hope future contests will continue in this innovative creative spirit. Special thanks to @Mister Phes for making this contest happen. He is a true Governor in every sense of the word and we should give him more credit for the effort and passion he invests in keeping the Pirate theme alive through this Eurobricks sub-forum and Classic-Pirates.com, for over two decades! 21-gun salute to Governor Phes (not pointed at him!).

"From Merchant to Pirate" by Yatkuu/Gregory Coquelz

Thank you @Mister Phes for single-handedly organizing yet another Pirate contest. My thanks goes also to all the pirate crew who in one or another way still find time and energy to help you maintaining the Pirates subforum on it's course; @Captain Braunsfeldon frontpage news, @Yperio_Bricks as almost omnipresent regulator and to all others whose work is invisible to general public. This contest was a blast and thank you all for making it happen!

Interestingly enough, both sets, Tortuga an Forest stronghold, were made by same designer - Krackenator. I think Tortuga lacks conflict. Almost every Classic-Pirate set has some sort of conflict, even those small ones, i.e. shark attacks the raft. Conflict drives the story and imagination. Even though, given the limited "pirate parts palette" during the Series-5, it's a great design and I like it better than Forest stronghold (I'm too biased toward the pirates).