Mister Phes

I have been trained in project management and applied these skills to found the LEGO Pirates Forum and Classic-Pirates.com then devise a system which enables others to maintain them for me... And that's perpetually, whereas this project will be limited to a certain time-frame. So I'm well aware of what's involved, however it's beneficial to have others with an understanding of systems and project management to bounce ideas off. Your feedback has proven beneficial as it has challenged me and thus prompted me to think more deeply into certain aspects of the project which I may not have done otherwise. So keep it comin'! It is a very good point to make because designing sets won't be like building a MOC in which there aren't any creative boundaries except perhaps for time and part availability.

Yes, I forgot to mention that it is a licensed theme. So there are two pirate theme licenses the LEGO Group have acquired...

His points are excellent, but his comment "The first way would be as a small-scale theme like the recent Castle theme or the 2009 Pirates theme" is the path we'll need to take. The in depth Chima/Ninjago story approach won't suit us because we don't have a television series to reinforce the storyline and characters, nor is the aim of the project to create one. Without that familiarity we could end up with a Knights Kingdom II situation which will not serve us well. One of the aims is to reposition Pirates as one of LEGO's "evergreen" themes alongside City, Castle and Space, starting with a new sub-theme which is a modern continuation of what has been released previously. So THE_COOK, another aim to add to the list.

Let's not forget the LEGO Group does currently have a small Duplo pirate theme in production. I.e Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Also consider the children's market is not the sole determining factor of whether a theme goes into production. The "Forest Fire" and "Farm" City sub-themes along with Castle's "7189 Mill Village Raid" were inspired by AFOL demand delivered via the LEGO Ambassador Program. There are also video games... My 12 year old nephew was showing me "Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag" a couple of months back... I'm not overly familiar with the Assassin's Creed games but from what I understand they're a fairly significant video game franchise and for them to produce a sequel with a piratical theme must be an indication of something.

This is a good point, however I should mention in the past, LEGO Ambassadors have successfully submitted ideas for themes (most recently the "Forest Fire" City sub-theme) without providing any market research or assessment of viability. So a good idea alone can suffice. However, it would be desirable to take this approach and provide supporting research to increase the probability of the LEGO Group's acceptance. But in reality we may not be able to collate the necessary information so what shall we do? Not try at all, or submit something anyway and see what happens?

Garner interest was the sole purpose of this expressions of interest thread... When the project commences there will be a series of highly specific threads each containing their own set of rules to dictate the flow of information. I've been involved in a few projects of this nature and the final result has far exceeded the expectations of the LEGO Group.

The project hasn't commenced and as stated various times throughout this thread, we're just acquiring expressions of interest to determine whether it's viable in the first place. Was that not sufficiently stated in the first post of this thread? Since I'm the LEGO Ambassador I'm in charge and I'm currently in the process of drafting this information. I had not done so previously because I required a sufficient level of interest to make it worth my time.

Design a NEW LEGO Pirates Sub-Theme ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We shall credit everyone involved and include portfolio and/or professional contact information in the acknowledgements of the presentation which we will submit to the LEGO Group. Nothing may ever arise from this but the LEGO Group occasionally recruits AFOLs so if your name seems familiar this may or may not be advantageous if they hire in the future. Please provide the information you want to include in the following format: Please keep this thread solely for registrations and submit any queries in the Questions & Answers thread. DISCLAIMER: While every effort will be taken to include the contribution(s) of all participants, each submission must be of a professional industry standard or they will not be accepted. All participants acknowledge the LEGO Group does not offer any acknowlegement, compenstation, renumeration or reward for ideas and designs submitted through this project. Participants agree the LEGO Group has the right to refuse any and all ideas, or modify an idea as deemed necessary. We take no responsibility for the LEGO Group's or any third party's use of your professional contact information or portfolio content. There will be no recourse and the LEGO Group's decision is final. Before contributing please read the full Terms & Conditions.

We'll have to aim for a one-year theme like the recent 2009 Pirate sets because ongoing releases aren't a foreseeable option. At this stage convincing the LEGO Group to produce an ephemeral theme will be challenge enough, however we could sow the seeds for a much larger story to encourage future continuation. Maybe the term "sub-theme" has evolved since Pirates were first introduced because back then each "faction" was considered a "sub-theme". Using the 2009 Pirate theme as an example, in the traditional sense it could be said that it contained two sub-themes, Pirates and Imperial Guards, but given the handful of sets perhaps "factions" would be a more appropriate term. It's important to consider Ninjago and Chima have television series to reinforce their brands which must vastly help establish familiarity amongst children. A decade ago the LEGO Group attempted the storyline approach with the Knights Kingdom II theme and the sets were met with harsh criticism, so perhaps this approach is better suited to established brands. The barebones story approach is certainly working for City, it's selling very well according to LEGO Group CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp who speaks favourably about it in his presentation for the 2013 LEGO Group Financial Report.

Have you got any ideas how we may be able to acquire some feedback from the German market? Matthias130182 has offered some suggestions but kindergarten is a little too young, the target demograph is German boys ages 7-12. Plus MiloNelsiano is right, interviewing children is a precarious venture without parental consent so we'd need a particular system for acquiring the information. That is excellent! As the project progresses I'll create an official thread for registrations so don't worry too much if you haven't expressed absolutely certainty in contributing.

Basing themes on established brands is obviously advantageous given the LEGO Group has progressively increased the number of licenced themes over the past 15 years. However, that's a formality we have to accept because we're not aiming to produce a sub-theme based on a licence, so we'll need to tap into why the Castle and City themes are successful enough to warrant annual set releases. We're not aiming to produce the most successful theme, just one that's sustainable enough for production. Even if the LEGO Group decided to put our sub-theme into production, it wouldn't happen until after the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie was released in 2016. In which case they may continue producing sets under the their license for that franchise, but whether this will be the case remains unknown.

Based on what evidence? The Pirate sets released 4-5 years ago sold very well apparently so is there any particular reason they would not do so currently? These are very good points! I liken it to making an animated feature like Shrek - ultimately it's a film aimed at the children's market but there's enough mature subtleties to captivate an adult audience.

Yes indeed, many of our suggestions acquired during past Ambassador Projects have appeared in future sets. However, it would be nice to the push the bar bit higher and provide some market research data that supported why a entire Pirate sub-theme should be produced, rather than having the LEGO Group cherry pick our ideas for their own agenda. But ultimately whatever we come up with has to suit the LEGO Group's agenda anyway.

This is a very good point, however Chima doesn't seem like the best example for a future Pirates sub-theme because its straying too far with is crazy vehicles and brick beasts. What we should be looking at is the modern Castle or City themes because they were prominent when the original LEGO Pirates Theme was in production but have since evolved to appease modern tastes.

That would be ideal but the feasibility of packaging and shipping the larger sets may prove cost prohibitive. Market research is a valuable skill to possess. Apparently the LEGO Group uses the German market as a benchmark the success/profitability of all new LEGO products - so is there similar research we could undertake for our Pirate sub-theme? It may be for prototypes but that will be determined later in the project.

Thank you for the sub-theme and set suggestions but we'll determine the most appropriate sub-theme in the next stage of the project. For now just ask questions or offer your skills if you wish to participate. We should strike a balance and devise a sub-theme that equally appeals to child and adults. Although that may be easier said than done. Yes, there definitely will need to be guideliness to prevent self indulgence. The sub-theme will need to follow a similiar formula to the previous Pirate sub-themes but perhaps absorb some influences from contemporary LEGO themes. What you've listed is a very good starting point.

We're talking official LEGO sub-themes of a parent theme, for example the original SYSTEM Pirates Theme had four sub-themes; Soldiers, Imperial Guards, Indigo Islanders and Imperial Armada. So by this definition a sub-theme consists of a range of sets with a common asethetic to their parent theme but with unique design motifs pertaining to the sub-theme. The mofits are usually most distinguishable in the minifigure torsos and flags, but they can also be evident in the set design and building elements. Maybe this commonality has become obscured in some of the contemporary LEGO Themes but visit Fibblesnorks LEGO Guide and observe the Pirate sub-themes solely on their own. You'll notice a trend running through each of the sets in the sub-theme.

The object is to produce a new LEGO Pirates sub-theme which will be submitted to the LEGO Group via the LEGO Ambassador Project. A couple of the larger sets could also be submitted as CUUSOO projects. UPDATE: April 5, 2014The Ambassador Project has launched! Please read the rules carefully and leave your suggestions in the Sub-Themes Suggestions thread. The sub-theme would contain a range of sets targeted at various price points and there would be a minimial backstory with a couple of significant characters. The aim is to capture the essence of the late 80's/early 90's pirate sets and produce a fresh new sub-theme.The project would involve a forming a team with a range of skills, so we'd require set designers (I.e. talented MOCers), customizers, graphic designers, creative writers or anybody with something valuable to contribute.The process would be: Determine the most popular sub-theme to develop. Determine which sets and minifigures the sub-theme should contain. Produce prototypes of the sets and minifigures Compile everything into a lavish presentation which will be submitted to the LEGO Group via the Ambassador Program and possibly CUUSSOO. At this stage I'm just seeking expressions of interest to determine the project's viability.So what are your thoughts on this project? Is it worth pursuing? Are you interested in being involved and do you have any skills to contribute?But hold the theme suggestions! Determining the sub-theme will be the next stage of the project.

Thanking you kindly sir, I shall insert the images and links into the first post of this thread.

Indeed the image links are broken - is there any chance of reposting them as Eurobricks image attachments?

Thank you Louie, these are pretty good! However, I'm not sure when I'll get back to working on the skin at this stage. Do you have any Pirate related minifigures from the Minifigure Series?

Ah yeah... They seem to have included an Island Warrior one of their recent minifigure series...

The LEGO Pirates Forum was originally part of the LEGO Historic Themes Forum but grew to a size which warranted a forum of its own. At one point in time it had the most replies of any of the Eurobricks Forums. Currently the publically accessible LEGO Pirates Forum has 105,312 replies versus the LEGO History Themes Forum's 132,353 replies. Including all the hidden sub-forums the LEGO Pirates Forum has a total of 127,996 replies, so all the pirate themes equate to almost the same number of replies as all the history themes combined. Also there is some synergy with the Classic-Pirates.com blog and the LEGO Pirates Forum provides a platform for more indepth discussion of the content posted on the blog.

I see... Given the expression on the minifig's face, these appear to have been recently used...

It would be excellent if you could build the real thing. Look at any large pirate set and there will be a palm tree... A palm tree is a MUST! You know how some sets like Lagoon Lockup incorporated one? They just put a 2 x 3 yellow brick for a sandbar and placed the palm tree on top. Eldorado Fortress didn't even bother with that...