Mister Phes

All names and faction details are currently tenative. During this phase of the project we shall hold a discussion to define each faction and therefore the final outcome could be vastly different to the below synopsises. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Merchants The Merchants of the West Brick Trading Company hail from the bustling Port van Brickhaven which boasts more trade than the Imperial Trading Post... But the Merchants must be on guard or the LEGO Pirates will plunder their heavily laden Cargo Fluyts to restock their parrot's cracker supply! It has been suggested the Merchants should have a Dutch and VOC/West India Trading Company influence. While it won't be directly stated they're Dutch is this still the right approach? Thoughts? There has been concern Merchants won't be appealing to children. The City and Castle themes have demonstrated civilian sets can work so It's up to us to determine the playability. We need to incorporate a looming threat, smugglers alone aren't perhaps enough but they could be a precursor to something much larger. The cracker idea probably won't last - any better ideas? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Smugglers Adding to their challenges the Smugglers use stealth and cunning to sneak in and out of Port van Brickhaven to sell their own brand of crackers! The Smugglers are based in their guild deep within the Forsaken Bayou and have ways for concealing their identity so nobody suspects they're coming! There has been concern that smugglers are not as exciting as pirates. Superficially the smuggler minifigures will resemble pirates anyway and the sets will still have the same pirate accessories, so it's really only the faction backstory that's different. While smugglers aren't as popular as pirates let's examine a couple of examples in popular culture. While by no means related to Pirates of the Caribbean, Han Solo would have to be the most popular smuggler of recent generations. This character is by no means dull or lacks the swashbuckling excitement of a pirate. Lesser known is Doctor Syn, who started his career as a smuggler but later became a pirate. It may be beneficial to read what Wikipedia has on the character, as it's another promising example of how smugglers can be exciting. [*]Our smugglers sets will need to be more clever than just posessing hidden compartments. The smugglers should have their own flag and or insignia but we need to devise methods so they can quickly alter their identity. Maybe it could be as simple as designing a flag that looks like something one way up, turn it upside down and it looks completely different. Throw more ideas around like that... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Haven Guard But Mayor Verblocken has her suspicions and has called upon the help of the Haven Guard to put a stop to the Smugglers once and for all! Based in Fort Nassau, the Haven Guard patrols the port at all times. This is our military faction which could have its own uniform and bases. It has been suggested "Haven Guard" sounds like a religious cult although "haven" means "habour" in Dutch. Nonetheless, it may be more suitable to name the faction "Brickhaven Guard" to be consistent with the Merchants home port. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Feel free to discuss the above points or raise your own.

Design a NEW LEGO Pirates Sub-Theme DEFINING THE FACTIONS This is an open discussion in which we determine the backstory story and common design aesthetics for each faction. Remember, the faction and character names are not yet finalised! We shall combine this discussion with our Definition of Design Constraints and Suggested Sets to ensure consistency throughout the sub-theme. What to do Contribute ideas to the backstory. Suggest aesthetics for each faction to ensure they have different design aesthetics and are distinct from each other,this includes Colour palette Architectural/design elements Repeating motifs [*]You may post ideas in the form of written descriptions, MOCs, illustrations, 3D renderings or found images and videos which represent your idea. [*]You may provide feedback or expand upon something another contributor has shared [*]Reach agreement over which aesthetics and story elements will apply What happens next? After the discussion conlcudes we shall collate the suggestions and produce a report. Those who wish to participate should first read the Design a NEW Pirate Sub-Theme Project Overview thread. Those who wish to be credited for contributions should read the Acknowledgements thread.

Set Name: Fort Nassau Category: 8 Faction: The Haven Guard Description: A large fort acting as the main base for the Haven Guard. Inspired by real Dutch fort of the same name, Fort Nassau rivals Eldorado Fortress but is vastly different in structure. Main Elements / Play Features: Fort Nassau could built upon the 'Baseplate 32 x 48 x 6 Raised with Corner Pits and Mountinous Pattern' (30271px3) base plate (4990 Rock Raiders HQ, 5986 Amazon Ancient Ruins, etc). Further details to be determined during discussion. Minifigures: 1 Haven Guard leader, 4 Haven Guards and 2 Smugglers/Pirates. Accessories: The entire gambit of accessories present in the faction. As with all large sets in the LEGO Pirates theme a palm tree and cannons are essential.

Design a NEW LEGO Pirates Sub-Theme DETERMINE THE SETS This is where you get to suggests sets! Also, if you've like to help define the factions (change the names backstory, even the faction itself), please visit the Defining the Factions thread. What to do You may post ideas in the form of written descriptions, MOCs, illustrations, 3D renderings or found images and videos which represent your idea. You may provide feedback or expand upon something another contributor has shared. You may mention the minfigure(s) which may be included with a set but develop minifigure ideas in the Determine the Minifigures thread when it becomes available. Set Name Category (for part count and price point approximation) Faction (Merchants, Haven Guard or Smugglers) Description Main Elements / Play Features Minifigure(s) Accessories Please submit your suggestions using the following format: Categories Category 1 - $3.50 - 1 minifigures, 20-30 pieces Category 2 - $7.00 - 1 minifigures, 60-70 pieces Category 3 - $12.00 - 2 minifigures, 80-90 pieces Category 4 - $15.00 - 2 minifigures, 120-140 pieces Category 5 - $20.00-$25.00 - 2-3 minifigures, 150-200 pieces Category 6 - $30.00-$35.00 - 2-3 minifigures, 250 pieces Category 7 - $40.00-$50.00 - 3-4 minifigures, 400 Category 8 - $100.00 - 6-7 minifigures, 800-1000 pieces All prices are in US dollars. What happens next? After the closing date we shall collate the suggestions and produce a report. Those who wish to participate should first read the Design a NEW Pirate Sub-Theme Project Overview thread. Those who wish to be credited for their contributions should read the Acknowledgements thread. Timeline Set suggestions will be taken from Saturday June 7. The report of findings will become available afterwards.

And the Winner is... The West Brick Trading Company

Both the West Brick Trading Company and Quest for the Lost City appeal to me. However, if LEGO Pirates were ever to be established as a perennial or "evergreen" LEGO theme, I believe West Brick Trading Company is the better starting point. It has the familiarity of what's been released before but... You get a new spin on pirates with the Smugglers faction, you get a new spin on an imperial faction with the Haven Guard and you get this never done before civilian faction with the Merhcants (unless you count the small ship in the Imperial Trading Post). Once the ideas there have been exhausted, then it would perhaps be time to move onto the Quest for the Lost City.

The aim was to first exhaust ideas within a Caribbean setting, but in the future if a project such is this is ever conducted again, it may be extended other regions.

It doesn't matter. They will still look like pirates in LEGO form and then the individual can decide whether they're Smugglers or Pirates or both. "Haven" is Dutch for harbour. But as stated all names are tentative for the purpose of the poll so that probably won't be the final name. In the past there has been a strong demand for a civilian Pirate theme so that is why the military aspect has been kept separate.

Hypothetically, if we could produce 6-8 sets concepts per faction, then couldn't we treat each faction as its own sub-theme? But that is hypothetical because we might not have the capacity to produce more than one faction.

The distribution is something we probably should determine now. I don't think we should be too confined and present the LEGO Group with 7 sets concept and expect them to run with it. Rather, I think we should present them with as many quality concepts as we can produce and let them determine which concepts they want to use. Potentially they could like 14 concepts and decide to release them over 2 waves. But this would mean more torsos and heads indicated by The Cook's analysis. In reality, we don't know what the LEGO Group is looking for and we don't know what the market is demanding, so therefore a degree of flexibility is prudent. Having said that, we can't go too far in the other direction and assume infinite possibilities, so it's a matter of determining an equilibrium between the two.

Good work Cook! But how do these analysises fit with what we're attempting to achieve? Maybe we've been slightly overambitious by proposing three factions per sub-theme but we are endeavouring to keep the possibilities as open as possible. Or maybe it's my old fashioned mentality which harks back to when a faction was an entire sub-theme.

Joyous times indeed!

Yes, all suggestions include Pirates! The aim is to do something which hasn't been done before so the suggestions are deliberately moving away from the pirates which have been previously released. However! Smugglers are pirates! Just because they're not the pillage and plunder type doesn't automatically make them clean cut business men. Check out the Google Image Search for "Smugglers" - they're still depicted as your traditional pirate. Privateers are also pirates (just to other nations). The captain may be more smartly dressed but that doesn't mean his crew aren't rough as nails. Also consider, not all privateer captains were in uniform like Barbossa in On Stranger Tides. We get to determine how piratical our chosen sub-theme is.

Yes, all suggestions include Pirates! The aim is to do something which hasn't been done before so the suggestions are deliberately moving away from the pirates which have been previously released. However! Smugglers are pirates! Just because they're not the pillage and plunder type doesn't automatically make them clean cut business men. Check out the Google Image Search for "Smugglers" - they're still depicted as your traditional pirate. Privateers are also pirates (just to other nations). The captain may be more smartly dressed but that doesn't mean his crew aren't rough as nails. Also consider, not all privateer captains were in uniform like Barbossa in On Stranger Tides. We get to determine how piratical our chosen sub-theme is.

So far impoliteness hasn't been an issue, everyone who has posted has been objective in their criticism and therefore a reminder didn't seem warranted. But I've edited my posts to include one just in case.

No, this is not the final name, to quote the Winner Announcement blog post on ReBrick.com. Obviously there is a lot of AFOL disappointment over the chosen name given it's similarity to Brickbeard's Bounty, but this may not matter to the target consumer demograph, which is most likely boys ages 7-12. However, this is proving to be a good consumer review process, so if you feel strongly about the chosen name, you can post feedback in the comments section of the Winner Announcement blog post. This is your opportunity to send your opinion to the judges but please do so politely and objectively.

If anyone has a ReBrick account (whoever entered the contest obviously does), you can post your feedback in the comments section of the Winner Announcement blog post. That way your feedback will get back to the people who judged the entries, but please do so politely and objectively.

and the WINNER IS... The Brick Bounty Please congratulate legobuffproductions. He will receive a signed version of the undisclosed pirate set when it comes out in 2015. And obviously the chance to have their name suggestion be the name of the actual LEGO pirate ship… We cannot make any promises, but we’ve been told that the designers REALLY like the name. So fingers crossed! Source: ReBrick blog

But like Capt. Stabbin said, LEGO Pirates probably won't be a large part of the episode. Still, it's good publicity for us.

Apparently they will Email me once the information is ready to be published.

Jolly good then! Bombs away!

I just embedded the YouTube video into TalconCard's first post and interestingly enough the thumbnail selected for the video is the a frame containing the LEGO Pirate ship.

Yes, I must concur with this. And CUUSOO has become LEGO Ideas. Thank you for that evaluation, it seems reasonable enough.

Are there any impressive forts? Forts upon which MOCs could be based?

We can certainly request new hull pieces but... How feasilbe is molding our own hull pieces for the prototype sets? How likely is the LEGO Group likely to replicate our custom mold? Or to generalise... "Accessories" We have other artists here who may wish to contribute.