Mister Phes

I remember being really excited about this set before I owned it, probably because it looked really interesting in the yearly LEGO catalogues. Problem was the price tag was creeping up near $30 of the local currency which is quite expensive for something this size, and even more expensive back in the early 90's. After months of chopping my grannies' wood and watering their gardens to earn some money, the set went on sale at the local Kmart for 25% off. This was my chance to own it. So I bought one as soon as I could! Finally this set I'd been yearning for what seemed an eternity was mine! Only problem was after I built it, the set didn't seem that exciting... The smaller images are clickable thumbnails which open larger images The set comes with all the essential pieces for building a Pirate island, only problem was for its retail price it didn't come with enough. I think this is why I was initially disappointed, I was expecting more and The LEGO Group did a wonderful job of making the smaller LEGO sets look so much bigger than they really were. Fortunately now, the set can be acquired much cheaper from eBay and my budget has vastly increased so that initial disappointment has long faded. Now I can look at this set for what it really is! The design looks cohesive, not a "hotch potch" throw-together like its mid 90's counterpart, 6296 Shipwrecked. Everything is well balanced and the set is a marvellous depiction of two shipwrecked survivors who've built a small shelter with what little they could muster. Still, all these years later I feel the need to reiterate its a bit on the small side. The smaller images are clickable thumbnails which open larger images Probably the most alluring aspect of Shipwreck Island is the attention to detail - there's a cannon complete with cannon balls, a palm tree, a flag, a palm tree, some leaves, treasure chest with treasure, even a tub with an oar to assist one of the pirates in seeking help. There is also plenty of mini-figure weaponary and ample fauna for the size of the island. Shipwreck Island is definitely a good set for parts and if you were MOCing with 6270 Forbidden Island the pieces might prove useful. However, Shipwreck Island by itself would seem to have limited MOCing possibilities even if more than one was used the problem would persist due to lack of substantial building elements. As a set Shipwreck Island would make a charming addition to your collection, it has a nice design and plenty of accessories to keep thing interesting. I'd give it a 2.5 out of 5, but this rating system forces me to round up to 3. And now its your turn! Rate the set (not the review) and then leave some comments!

I've never seen Deadwood before so I don't know how accurate these MOCs are. If anyone who is familiar with this wonderful TV Show could post some compartive photogenic images that would be very helpful indeed.

This looks like it would make a nice little set... Just like in the good old days... :'-)

You're making good progress Mr Ghoulrealm! I agree with Mr Wout, this MOC has a certain enchantment about it, but I guess that arises when you go and put a face right in the middle of a tree X-D It is supposed to be a tree isn't it?

Well before you scuttle it could you take some more pictures of it so we can we what it looks like from different angles and close-ups?

Are you scuttling it because you're going to buildiing another Piratey vessel with the pieces?

How old is "The Dragon" Mr Maedhros? Or put a better way: How long ago did you built it and does it still exists - or has it since been scuttled for its parts?

Ahhhhhh but when the treasure is the size of a

Our mission to reignite his interest! We must devise a plan at once! How long ago did he lose interest in LEGO?

Ahhhhhh some international pirates! Some may debate this thread is verging on History & Adventure, however the key word "pirate" was mentioned so I won't move it. It occurred to me that I know very little about Greek Pirates so I did some Googling and came up with this: From Notorious Pirate Havens Part 1: The Ancient World Ancient Greek pirates used the Lipari Islands as their base for over 2500 years. Istria offered Illyrian pirates sanctuary until they attacked a convoy of Roman ships laden with grain in the Adriatic Sea. Rome launched two punitive strikes against the pirates that destroyed their bases in Istria. For over eight hundred years, beginning in the tenth century BC, Dorian Greek pirates operated from Crete, which was located along busy shipping lanes. Not until the second century BC, when the Rhodeans began patrolling the eastern Mediterranean with the express purpose of stamping out piracy, did Crete cease to be a pirate haven.

By all means invite him to our humble forum...

That's correct Mr Imperial Scout. The LEGO website doesn't appear to have changed much from 1996 to 1997.

I was playing around with Way Back Machine and I thought it would be interesting to see what the LEGO website looked like 10 years ago. I've been wondering about the legality of this too. I was looking at another website which was ordered to remove music lyrics from their website about 6 years ago and they did promptly. However, using Way Back Machine I discovered these copyright infringing webpages are still in tact.

The LEGO Group launched their official website back in 1996 when the Pirate theme was still prevalent, so naturally they dedicated a section of their website to the theme. So here's a link to what little they had. The website doesn't work very well nor is it all archived on Way Back Machine, but still we can have a fascinating glimpse to a time when Pirates mattered to The LEGO Group.:'-) I feel the need to capture the story in text form:

I've added the title graphic to the first post since it looks intriguing. Did you design that yourself, Mr Maedhros?

If you click on the Contact Me link you'll discover his current Email address is rockinghippy@aol.com

I know I don't like to go "chasing" parts and prefer to buy everything together in the one the package. To get all the necessary parts I'd (I presume others would too) have to buy from several Brickshelf sellers and to make that viable I'd have to buy a reasonable amount of other parts to get value for postage. Not to mention some BrickLink sellers have a minimum order of US$5 or US$10 forcing buyers to buy extra parts.

Errr... Where did this come from? Not too badly. Well done!

Greetings Maedhros! There have been some Pirate stories in the past, however the stories which were only text tended to recieve fewer responses. I'd assume that the big blocks of text were very daunting and put some off, but you might not have that problem given you've spaced the text with nice images.

That wasn't the question I was asking. I'll try rephrasing it. Do you get better sales when the instructions are part of a kit or when you sell them on their own?

Did you decide to go ahead with the redesign Mr Attack?

So exactly what is Brick World? Is this something you participate in as well?

Yeah, it would be great to show off the Pirate might of the Midwest. MOCs like yours would surely be an inspiration for others to build their own awesome Pirate MOCs. I wonder if you could contact the Brickfest organiser and arrange something?

What about selling the instructions with the pieces? Does that increase the probability of sales? Or are people generally not interested in instructions at all?