David Thomsen

Yeah, I kind of thought he went without saying... I just read the first post and realised that we're supposed to be voting for minifigs or minifig accessories to go on the first post, and there are a couple of recent things notably missing. Here are my thoughts: Calamity Drone: Musket, and also I think the hairpiece with hat might look good on a female swashbucker. Unfortunately the grey stops the rest of her from being as useful as it could have been. William Shakespeare: Torso, trousers and ruff could be useful for naval explorers. Very similar to the Thespian, who is already in the first post. Wild West Wyldstyle: Dress could be appropriate for a bordello owner somewhere in the Caribbean. Definitely a bordello owner. Marsha: For those who have a fantasy element in their Pirate theme. Fortune Teller: Voodoo lady of the seas. Islander: Is an Islander. Also, and I know this is somewhat late, I'd like to see Faefrost's idea of the Barbarian torso swapped out to make a bare-chested pirate. And once proper images of the Swashbuckler are available, I think he should definitely be included. And I agree with Elrond that that the Pretzel Girl's torso would make an excellent girl pirate.

I also think it would be great to see a piece similar to the book or suitcase that can be opened to store a 2x2 tile, but I think it's more likely he'll just have a 2x2 printed tile for a box, and maybe a new pizza piece. I'm not sure if a special pizza box piece would have many other uses anyway.

If I have to decide between 'history was gender biased and therefore toys based on history should always be gender biased' and 'girls should see women represented equally in the way they play', historical accuracy doesn't stand much of a chance. Admittedly this 'Research Institute' doesn't really match my latter criteria either... to have more men than women in city sets, and for the intelligent women to be segregated into 'special' sets, is still a form of inequality. But I'm willing to accept it as a token of progress.

I never said that. Preferably I would like more female pirate minifigs with the main sets, but this seems unlikely to happen. I'm sure we'll see the same thing we've always seen in a 2015 Pirates theme - mostly male pirates and soldiers, with one token female pirate and a 'Governor's Daughter' and/or a 'Admiral's Daughter'.

What I would like, if they do a series of these sets the way they did with Minecraft, is if they do female minifigures in different themes... this is clearly city based, but I'm a Pirate enthusiast, so I'd love to see a set with three female Pirate minifigures. And since a new Pirate theme is (hopefully) being delivered next year, that would be perfect timing. Instead of having three separate elements, they could have a single small brickbuilt boat... maybe they could be explorers instead of pirates or soldiers, to keep in with the 'intellectual women' theme...

More information and a video here: https://ideas.lego.com/blogs/1-blog/post/11

It shows had badly people need gender equality in Lego sets... and releasing this set will do a lot of positive PR for the Lego company. Apparently it's been renamed 'Research Institute' and will feature three scientists. I won't be getting this for myself, but I do think it's very positive. Correction, they have better male to female ratios...

I think along with brickbuilding everything as much as possible, the pieces have to be transferable to the alternative models in the set. If the yellow car in the primary model had yellow fenders, they would be useless on the blue vehicle in the secondary model. And while the large fender pieces often get used in windows and other architectural features, the classic fender pieces can only really be used as fenders. The weird blocky vehicles don't match any vehicles in the City sets, but they do match each other, and that's all that matters to me as I am purchasing the Creator house sets in lieu of City sets. I was going to ask if anyone had three copies of the set and could take a picture of all the alternative buildings in a row, then I glanced over and realised that this exactly what they have done on top of the box. Almost all of the buildings have unique colour schemes, it's quite an achievement. Even the awnings above the shops have unique colour combinations (white/yellow, white/green and yellow/green).

I'm wondering what size categories and factions still need to be covered... I can try to think of sets to fill in gaps that might be missing.

This 'prospector' figure might be in S12 of the Collectible Minifigures. I think the hat would look good on a pirate, shame about the bright orange patch though. If it were all black I think it would look good on a Herman Toothrot style castaway.

I remember him now! I remember thinking how odd it was that he was wearing a hat that didn't seem to exist as a Lego piece (yet). This makes sense now. Now I'm wondering if any other S12 minifigs appeared in the movie...

I picked up my Bike Shop & Café today, why hasn't someone done a review yet? It doesn't compare very well to the modular buildings (of course), but I still like it very much. The interiors looked sparse in the photos I'd seen, but when you have the buildings closed and you look through the windows they are actually quite packed. And I didn't realise the pavement went all the way around the buildings, so that was a nice surprise. Also, I love the way the staircase piece is incorporated into the building.

I'm going to have to test this before I use it any of my new sets (I happen to have a spare sheet of clear stickers I'm not using), I'm just a bit sceptical... the glue from the stickers doesn't get weakened? The stickers are stuck fast without any water damage? These are the things that I'm worried about, otherwise it sounds like a really good idea.

I agree with this, to me 'Imperial' has more negative connotations than 'Colonial'. In popular culture, an 'Empire' tends to be a fascist and/or expansive force of domination and subjugation, whereas a 'Colony' is more likely to be a peaceful group of settlers. I guess my perspective comes from living in New Zealand, which is a British colony with very good (contemporary) race relations.

This is a fantastic project, and 6694 was always a favourite of mine, keep up the great work.

I think he's more along the Captain Blood style of pirate... ...than Monkey Island. He's just a different way of romanticising the same subject. I won't mix him in with my existing pirate crew, though... the conversation would go something like this: "I say, approximately what day would this vessel be making landfall in Rio Bueno?" "YARRR!!!" "If I may be given a glance at your navigational charts and have access to a sextant I would be most obliged." "DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES!!!" I doubt he's any indication of the future direction of the Pirate line, though. Striped shirts, peg legs and eyepatches will always be more popular with kids than blouses and épées.

I think it is this one here. Edit: No on closer inspection it isn't. It does look like it's new, I can't find anything else like it on Bricklink.

I like the Swashbuckler, though I think his shirt looks a bit silly to be open all the way down to his belt buckle... but I'm glad to see the hat and épée in different colours. He will be the adventurer of my Pirate theme, not aligned with any other faction, except perhaps the hearts of the ladies... The others are okay, though I didn't immediately understand what the 'Dino Tracker' was supposed to be, which makes her a bit of a fail. The fact that no dinosaurs are currently available... also not that great. Though I'm sure her parts could be used for other things. Is she supposed to be able to shoot syringes from her bow? I don't get it.

I voted for 'Colonial Guard' just because I think it's something the Lego company are more likely to use, but if that wasn't my consideration I would have gone with Haven Guard. The name has kind of grown on me.

Here's a look at the 'Swashbuckler' minifig from S12, and a few of other others. I don't know if he fits in with my pirate crew, he might need to be some kind of lone wolf pirate figure. I can imagine him taking on all three of my musketeers. Nice to see the hat in brown, and the épée in gold.

Ah, whoops! I never bought any Armada sets, I've only ever had redcoats and bluecoats. I always found the Armada sets to be slightly out of place alongside the pirates and soldiers, like they're from the age of Discovery, while pirates and soldiers are from the age of Colonisation.

I almost wasn't going to mention it, but I have the 2009 Pirates range and the Imperial Flagship. I long ago lost the original Pirate Lego I had and I haven't really tried to get it back. Actually, I did make a vague attempt to piggyback parts of 6270: Forbidden Island onto other BrickLink orders I was placing, but sort of lost interest in finishing.

I agree that orange looks good, but like you said, green is at a disadvantage because it doesn't go with blue very well. What if the blue was replaced with gold? That could make it look better, though I still think I would favour the orange. On the other hand, for those of us who would be mixing these sets with those of previous years, the orange might be too similar to red. Green hasn't been used before.

I feel like smaller sets are going to be neglected here, as most people focus on exciting larger sets... here are several small-scale sets. I have tried to give the smallest sets fun features, rather than just being 'Soldier's Arsenal' style accessory packs. Set Name: Card Challenge Category: 1 Faction: Merchants. Description: The merchant invites you to play a game of chance. Will you pick the right card to win the prize? Main Elements / Play Features: A table set up with three 'cards' on it and a silver ingot. Minifigures: One Merchant. Accessories: One table, three 1x2 tiles with playing cards printed on them, one silver ingot. Set Name: Soldier's Watch Category: 1 Faction: Haven Guard Description: The Soldier keeps watch and is ready to light a fire the moment he spots Smuggling activity. Main Elements / Play Features: I don't know if this can be done in a very small set, but it would be neat if there could be a pyre set up with some kind of flip-action fire so that a flame piece hidden within the pyre can be rotated upwards to be revealed. Minifigures: One Haven Guard. Accessories: Spyglass, a couple of weapons, alarm fire. Set Name: Smuggler's Camouflage Category: 1 Faction: Smugglers Description: This smuggler is ready to blend into the jungle to avoid being noticed! Main Elements / Play Features: Accessories to clip onto the smuggler to 'disguise' him as a plant. Minifigures: One Smuggler. Accessories: Five accessories. Two clip onto the base of the feet, two are held in the hands and one goes around the neck or on the head. When worn together, the minifig 'transforms' into a tree. The piece worn on the head could have a parrot on it to give the set more character, and one of the handheld pieces could be mounted on a rifle to make it look like a 'branch' and also so the smuggler has a way of defending himself should his disguise fail. Set Name: Harbour Patrol Category: 3 Faction: Haven Guard / Smugglers Description: The Smugglers like to work at night, but the harbour is always being watched. Main Elements / Play Features: Two main parts, one being a small harbour section with crates and bollards, the other being a small rowboat with more crates on in and a lantern at the front. Minifigures: One Haven Guard soldier, one Smuggler. Accessories: Weapons, crates, lanterns (smugglers work at night and so does the guard), maybe a mounted fishing pole to give the harbour more character, and/or because the guard gets bored.

According to this rumour, the next collectible minifigure range is going to include a 'Swashbuckler', although this is translated from Hungarian so that might not be the final name. Either way I hope the rumour is correct, there has been a sad deficit of Pirate-themed characters in the Minifigure range, and only one actual pirate. Still, if we get a whole new Pirate theme in 2015, we'll have all the pirate minifigs we need.