Captain Dee

@Itaria No Shintaku, that is one seriously impressive army of bluecoats. I'm curious: how many are there? Did you get them through a LUG or some other way? You could do some fantastic army or battlefield scenes with all those!

Teaser Time! The following PREVIEW has been approved for ALL AUDIENCES by the Still Picture Association of Corrington.

Wow... that is a lot of soldiers on horseback! This cavalry unit looks very well-prepared, and the different divisions are neat. They should be all set for some serious action. And it sure beats another infantry army - not that there's anything wrong with them, but there are just so many... Good work.

This is an exceptionally good vessel. The shape alone is fantastic, and the exposed-stud design of the hull is actually refreshing to my eyes. You've built a masterpiece by most standards, even if it is somewhat lacking of decor. The pics of the inner workings show a very well-planned design, and one that looks fairly realistic at that. And the classic BSB colorscheme looks nice as well. It all comes together as a beautiful ship. It's been a while since anyone earned the "Ship Expert" tag/title. What do you think, folks? Excellent work.

Beautiful rockwork on the cliffs and cave. And I think the water turned out well, although it almost looks too smooth for the studded sand. I like those plants scattered over the cliff face too. The cave scene looks great, particularly the way you've shown the prisoners bound and gagged. I can believe the pirates would've been easily overtaken while playing darts; no one knows about their hideout, right? It's good to see those ladies set free, but someone really needs to find some appropriate attire for the one from far, far away. Having the next part (or two) of the story ready is a good way to keep this rolling, and must be keeping you busy. It's been a fun read.

Aha... so our Intrepid Explorer Extraordinaire wasn't lost at sea after all... *whew* Good work with the ocean and micro island. It's very convincing. Perhaps his swimming vision was actually a flashback to his younger years... Did he set any records during his latest swim? Perhaps he topped the charts in the 100-stud backstroke? Keep it up.

Beautiful courtroom. It looks perfect for the time with the lovely stained glass, wood paneling, and the earth-toned walls. The colorful cast of characters make for yet another amusing installment to the story. I take it you don't have much love for those scurvy cutthroats... I like your approach to storytelling, by keeping things fairly simple and then taking lots of detail pics to illustrate. It works very well.

Ouch. Or should I say *glub glub* That's the problem with sharks: they all failed obedience school, so even the trained ones just leave you floundering on occasion... Brickinson will be swimming some distance I assume? He must be a man of great physical stamina. But I suppose until now he'd been taking it easy, just chillin' in the sun, watching Jaws or whatever was showing... And the ending scene sounds ominous...

Hmm... I'm not totally sure if I can believe all this... some of it sounds, well... Believable or not, it's a great read, and you've done a good job illustrating the story. The marine commandos sneaking up on those scurvy sea dogs look hilarious to me. And the Shark I and II look like some serious transportation... where can I get one? Do they serve meals? Do they show movies? Good stuff.

Uh-oh... Our hero has been captured?!?! Argh!! Something tells me he isn't too concerned with his "predicament." The build reminds me of some of the classic sets - kind of like combining Sabre Island with Lagoon Lock-up or Broadside's Brig or something. It looks like a fun play piece. Keep up the story...

Oooh... so the infamous Captain Cookie survives this tale... But what about his cookie on the floor? Does he follow the three-second rule? (And if that's the same cookie he's been carrying the past year, I suspect it's more like hard tack by now...) Nice action scene, and a good plot twist as well.

This vessel looks somewhat cartoonish - and I love it! It reminds me of the illustrations from a children's book I had about 25 years ago... The first pic looks really nice and the stern is lovely too. The brick-built sails turned out pretty good too; usually I don't like so many exposed studs but the overall shapes are fine. Looks like a fun play piece.

Nice fort. Or at least it used to be... It looks like a fun play piece and the micro version is cool. Those bushes are perfect for showing explosions. It warms me heart to see those scurvy dogs getting their just dessert. Encore!! Good work.

Lovely brig. The hull looks great and that colorscheme always looks nice. Perhaps the rigging could be a little more detailed, but the basics are there. I especially like those white gunports for some reason. Keep it up.

Nice job with the microscale ship, and I like that setting sun a lot. But the detail shots of the large ship look great too - even if it's been posted before. And the micro explosion looks very good considering the small scale. Good work, and good job with the intrigue. I'd like a banana shake...

Lovely outpost Captain. It has a classic look to it but still manages to be very nicely detailed. The position atop those rocks is good, the walkway out front is great, and the overall shape is unique among outpost designs. And it should be well defended with that big gun. In short, it appears to have everything an outpost needs. The flag is pretty much mandatory, no? And as I study your lovely rockwork, my eyes are drawn to the big curved slope brick mounted vertically that's on the right front in the last pic. Is there an opening or crevace behind it? I ask because its shape and appearance remind me of some hiding places from official sets. Good work, and a good story to match. Edit: Oops, forgot to mention that I agree - reality does indeed beat most fiction these days...

You're right, Treasure Island would be a lot easier as a wave than a single Ideas set, just because there are so many possibilities. And yep, you'd need several minifigs (Long John Silver, Jim Hawkins, Doctor Livesy, Squire Trelawney, Cap'n Smollet, and Ben Gunn would pretty much be mandatory, and maybe a Billy Bones for good measure). And you're right, it gets big fast. I've been wanting to try my hand at building some Treasure Island-themed "sets" for quite some time, hence my interest in this topic. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

This is just fantastic. It looks absolutely perfect and would make an excellent display piece. The limited color palette looks amazing and I simply can't imagine a better version in Lego form. I'm sure it will be a hit at the show, and I'll bet Johhny Depp, er, Captain Jack Sparrow would approve.

Blue and yellow make green, si? So if you remove ze yellow (ie ze color of gold) you are left with - voila blue! Ooooh. Zat is a strange shade of blue if I ever zaw one... :grin: But what are these "DBs" everyone keeps talking about? Doughnut boxes? Dark bananas? Deep-fried bacon? Deli barbecue? Dubble Bubble gum? D... Actually, don't answer that. I'm well aware of the fact that "DBs" means "Delicious bagels."

Well. I saw the title and thought "Food!" and now I feel like I'm tiptoeing around shards of broken glass... Oops. Anyway, nice little scene and good collection of minifigs, although the bald head and rag hat look slightly out of place to my Red eyes. But what does a Red know about Green-eared affairs anyway...

I generally don't pay any attention to Ideas because... the overwhelming majority of all submissions never make it. Sure, some are ridiculous with astronomic piece counts and really advanced techniques, but lots of good ones that would make nice sets get axed, and some that have made it to production had me scratching my head and asking "Really? How? Why?" To attempt to answer your question - unfortunately I don't have any good input to offer with regards to the best approach. But I think you have some good ideas. I often wonder if sailing ships just might be too specialized for Ideas though. They'll always be somewhat expensive unless they're really small. Darwin and the Beagle: the first one might have just been too big (too many parts). Lose the brickbuilt sails, possibly shrink it down or dumb it down just a little, and it might stand a chance. I doubt any potential controversy played a role in the outcome. The explorers sounds great to me, but... it would likely appeal to a very small audience. I'm thinking the models would have to be tiny (like the narrow prefab ships such as the Cross Bone Clipper) to stand any chance at all, and I have little faith it would ever happen in any capacity unless the set(s) were fantastic designs with good value. Not holding my breath on this one. Fictional navy: you said it with small but dedicated audience. Lots of fun for fans, boooring for non-fans. (I think historic stuff suffers more in that regard than sci-fi/futuristic.) Probably never gonna happen, despite having good potential. Boston Tea Party (or similar ideas): I'm American and I wouldn't touch this with a ten-foot pole. Revolutions don't exactly make good material for the international market. Moby Dick: again perhaps too small of an audience. Never read it, and not planning to. Perhaps a bit more limited in terms of set possibilities. And whaling isn't exactly popular these days... Chinese: you pretty well nailed it. Excellent history lesson potential, but I doubt the ships would sell as well as the European types. I could be wrong though. Clippers: excellent idea, again probably too limited of an audience, and they'd need to be pretty big sets to look sensible at the normal Lego ship scale. America's Cup: perhaps the most unique idea here, and sadly perhaps too specialized. It doesn't really fit as Pirates-related to me - but it doesn't have to either. A modern version could work with City... I saved Treasure Island for last because I think it has the most potential, if not for Ideas then for a complete replacement to the same-old same-old Pirates set ideas. It would mesh with prior sets/waves of sets really well and there are numerous options for set ideas. It's a classic, it's known worldwide, and I dare say the original 1989 sets drew some inspiration. It wouldn't be a drastic departure from what Lego has done before, and I think things like the Admiral Benbow Inn, the Spyglass, the stockade, the Hispaniola, and scenes from the island would sell well. Plus they could be re-imagined a few times (the way TLG does Star Wars) without getting stale. And of course they would have an excellent story and lots of colorful characters: who doesn't want a Long John Silver minifig? As for doing this through Ideas, though, I have no clue. Perhaps a single set to test the waters, but it would have to be fantastic. I do think Treasure Island has a much larger potential audience than the others and might stand a better chance that way. The rest are all fine ideas, but they seem too limited to ever sell well, and I think Lego probably suspects this too. But you don't know without trying.

I just can't get excited about the thought of the Flippin' Dutchman being released as a set... unless it is absolutely loaded with good building parts. This is due mostly to it being entirely fictitious and therefore beyond my interest. Sure, it's iconic, but then so is The Pearl. The latter is more appealing to me, but still has an unusual appearance due to that color scheme. Either one would have to be incredibly good for me to buy; I got 10210 IFS and was immediately disappointed by it, but this should be better with the higher price tag... assuming, of course, that it does actually happen...

Xenia Onatopp... from the Bond film Goldeneye. Killed men just like you've shown here...

My first thought upon seeing this! I suppose the poor pirate has an Eye for Gold. Nice entry, and good job with the build.

This topic has been pretty well covered, but I'm with David on this one. I also can't help but wonder where the "special anniversary release" idea comes from, beyond simply being wishful thinking and a pipe dream. Where is the precedent? Yeah, I like the idea, but I'm not aware of this routinely happening with other themes, if at all. Regarding the topic question: I wouldn't say that the newer Pirates sets are necessarily worse. The minifigs are generally better (some are still cartoonish) with their more detailed designs and back printing, and some of the newer accessories are really nice. I agree too with the thought that the sets were all a product of their times: as the basic company design criteria change, the sets change as well. I can find good and bad from across the range of sets - based of course on my opinion. The 2015 Soldier's Fort is a joke, but the Outpost is nice. I actually liked the Loot island base (if not the set) for building small island MOCs. The last two pirate ships - the Bounty's - seem rather uninspired and bland, but the big IFS was pretty good. I think part of the perception of a worsening theme is based on oft-replicated ideas, which I find uncreative and unimaginative, and also the lack of big land-based sets like El Dorado in particular. The short shelf life and lack of a second wave don't help the perception either. If we had numerous new sets (and new set ideas) to occupy our attention each year (like the classic sets from 1989-96) I think we'd probably all have a little better appreciation for the new stuff. I'm glad we got the '09 and '15 sets, and while I definitely agree they could've been better, I'm not ready to say the entire theme has worsened substantially just yet.