David Thomsen

This is a depressing surprise. Nothing I've seen for 2010 interests me so far, and I'd been hanging out for new Pirate or Indiana Jones sets. I guess now I'm just hoping for Indiana Jones and maybe some good Exclusive sets. I really, really wanted an Imperial ship to battle my Bounty. I would have bought the 2009 Pirates anyway if I had known this beforehand, but why did they wait until now to tell us? I mean, they must have known for ages. I'm not putting my faith in POTC sets either, though they would be awesome. I guess I'll just have to wait and hope something catches my interest.

I really like the iron-on sails, but just a couple of things... Why do the flaps for the lower ports open upside-down? I've never seen that on a ship before, although I guess just because I haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't happen... Also, do you have photoshop, or better lighting equipment? The dark images don't really do the ship justice, I think...

Most likely means Lego dropped the quality control ball. I don't really think this signifies much. I don't mean to be negative, but these don't seem like compelling reasons to me. I think these reasons are more persuasive: With the exception of some licensed sets like Avatar, Lego have never introduced a line only to have it run for one year before. I think the minimum run is two years, and even that's pretty rare. Three or more seems to be the norm. Also, I doubt they'd be producing lots of Pirates merchandise if they didn't intend to continue the line. Also, the company is soliciting ideas for new pirate sets and pieces. The only thing that indicates to me that the line might be discontinued is that the Pirates advent calendar didn't have any new minifigs like the Castle one did... but it looks like they blew their entire budget for new minifigs on the 2010 Disney sets.

I sign, even though I'm not in the US... but I am a fan of pirate Lego, and the more pirate Lego fans generated around the world during Christmas, the better!

Small-scale treasure chest. I haven't got the proportions quite right, so it looks like the bottom would be flat, but it should have a standard 2x2 lego base. Minifigs need to be able to hold it. The hole in the centre is a little touch I thought of. Jewels could be inset in the middle, making them look more valuable, like an engagement ring in a jewellery box rather than just loose. p.s. I know I should have just added this picture to my original post, but I went to quite a bit of trouble to draw it... I wanted to make sure it got seen.

I like the swivel gun in Phred's post more than the mortar cannon. The swivel gun could be a smaller version of the current cannon that can either be mounted on a swivel-like device like the one pictured or a smaller version of the carriage. My reasoning is this: for playability purposes, it's easier to aim and shoot a cannon on a swivel than a mortar, where the arc is much steeper and would very rarely hit the intended target. Also a swivel cannon could be mounted on the side of a ship, maybe where the rifles on the Brickbeard's Bounty go. Ships would be able to shoot at each other without having to awkwardly angle the gun ports. As everyone else has mentioned, powdered wigs are essential. Both a male and a female version if possible, but definitely male. Civilians need a much greater presence in the new pirate range, and having their own hairpiece(s) and clothes would help establish them as a faction. The wigs could be worn by the faction 'leaders'. Silver coins. It's hard to make a case for them, except that they would give a greater diversity to the treasures, but since pirates are all about stealing other people's treasure, it makes sense to give some focus to the treasures themselves. A small merchant ship, for example, would seem strange with a gold chest full of gold treasure, but a brown chest full of silver treasure would be appropriate. Save the gold for the larger ships. Along similar lines, a smaller treasure chest that one person could reasonably carry on their own. It need only be large enough to carry one or two coins, and could open on a hinge similar to the book and suitcase pieces. I picture it as having the same dome shape as the current treasure chest, maybe with handles sculpted in such a way that it can be held between both hands. I'm just brainstorming here. It could have ornate carving as well, because ornate carving would be awesome. A more 'piratey' treasure map, a metallic brass spyglass, a metallic grey hook and another design of parrot. The current versions/colours of all of these are nice, but not very authentically piratical. When I say 'metallic brass', I don't think that's a colour that's been used before... but it should be. There's so much potential for it, not just in the Pirates range but in a lot of ranges. Also, the stand for the globe that everyone mentions could be metallic brass. Also, the re-introduction of the sextant, in metallic grey or brass; red bandannas; brown tricorns; dark-skinned pirates; in short, more variety of existing pieces.

I kind of think of modular building sets as being separate from City sets in the same way that Star Wars sets are different from Space sets... same idea, entirely different product. Oh well... I can see why this thread doesn't exist now, no one wants to write anything in it.

I've already contributed to the Pirates wish-list thread and the City wish-list thread, and was going to contribute to the modular building wish-list thread... but couldn't find one. The closest I got was 'predictions', which isn't the same thing at all. So I thought I'd start my own thread, which can of course be deleted if there already is a thread for this topic. * Before the fire station was announced, I was hoping there would be an old-fashioned police station in dark blue. I actually started designing one myself before I gave up. Now that there's a fire station, however, I'm not so interested... I'd hate for my modular city to turn into a large-scale regular lego city, i.e. dominated by police and fire and other emergency services. Maybe later down the track? * A library/book store would be awesome. It could have an open plan so you can stand at the bannister on the second floor and look down to see the first and ground floors. (When I say 'you', I mean your minifigs of course). It would be a sophisticated companion to the other buildings. * An embassy. A rich-looking white building with pillars and classical architecture and flags hanging from poles outside. As you can see, I'm a fan of things that look 'sophisticated'. It might be a little boring on the inside, though, since an embassy is basically just a big office - desks and filing cabinets and water coolers. I guess there could be a guard minifig and an 'embassador'. * A chocolate store. I started designing one of these as well, I made the layers beige, white and brown and tried to make it look a bit like a chocolate cake. I was going to use these bricks and these ones to give a nice texture. It was going to look delicious, but then I gave up... as usual. I'd also like to see more vehicles... I wasn't expecting any ever, so was pleasantly surprised by the old-school fire engine. Maybe more detailed vehicles from that era could be introduced? A dark green tram, maybe?

They're all still easily available in Wellington, although for some reason the two impulse sets were never released here. I got mine from S@H with some other orders. Of course, everyone who wants to earn higher wages to buy expensive things like Lego has moved to Australia, so it's not surprising that you'd have sold out of Pirates and we'd still have them...

Ah... daydream time. I'll try to keep all of these realistic, it would be easy to suggest 'museum' or 'library' or 'school' but TLC have never shown any interest in that kind of municipal building, so there's no point. A motorcycle shop would be good, and it's been done before, a long time ago. There are several different types of motorcycle available now, they could all be used. I want to get Mutt's motorcycle without supporting a film I thought was disappointing. A car shop. It would be an easy way to increase the civilian traffic in my city. It would be neat if each car had spare parts for two or three different designs. Or, a vehicle transporter, like 6753 but in minifig size. Another good way to introduce lots of cars. Um... a cottage for my farmers would be awesome. Especially if it had a lot of detail, like the christmas house this year. A picnic area, could be a small set with a park bench, litter bin, trees and a family with lunch. Would go well with the horse trailer and campers sets. A house or two. I know... very simple. But seriously, my figs need somewhere to live! Maybe even an apartment building, like the one in 7633 but more functional. A drive-in motel. Similar idea... somewhere for figs to sleep. I agree that boats/marinas would be nice, but my minifigs live in a rural farming town, where would the boats go?

I think everyone is over-reacting a bit. This isn't the entire City range for 2010, it's just the things that were kind of predictable - fire stations, airports etc. And these things are always going to be released every three years or so, and why not? If boys can't buy their big fire station when they're young, they won't go on to become AFOLs. To expect AFOL desires to dictate the entire Lego range is rather naive. Just be grateful for the fact that Lego are doing AFOL sets in the first place. Anway, what I was saying is that there are at least 20 new city sets in a year, and assuming many of the ones listed in this thread are DUPLO, the majority could still be anything. ANYTHING. And it's as unlikely for the Lego company to alienate their adult fans as it is for them to bore their youngest fans. Be patient. Lego always keep their biggest surprises the most secret.

Quoth my girlfriend: "I feel sorry for the redcoat beaten by the guy with a fish."

I suspect Lego of heavily using artistic license in all of their historic sets... for example, the Spanish conquistador helmets should have been used long, long before the shakos. But as far as I'm aware, the shakos really do belong to the 'grunts' of the army. I think the reason the hats are reversed in the chess set is that the bishop traditionally has a higher hat. Edit: Another factor is that the Lego company probably doesn't want to make it too easy for you to build your armies...

I'm charmed by the pirates fighting with bits of chicken and fish. I might include that in my own designs in the future. Also, I was wondering why they didn't give any of the pirates daggers at the start of the line... it seems a natural weapon for them. However... inferior quality parts? If I wanted them, I would have bought that cheap Skull Island knock-off I saw in a supermarket last year.

I know I'm in the minority, but I kind of like the stickers... they produce decorations that would be impractible or expensive otherwise. And you get the option of having clean bricks if you want to use them for MOCs, if that's where your interest lies. While I do quite like the idea of a single ghost ship, I wouldn't want to see an entire line of them. If you do that, soon you'll have mermaid islands and before long pirate lego has gone the way of Castle lego, and the realism is diluted. Just one ghost ship and a haunted base of some sort would be fine. Yes to both of those. This might sound odd, but I really like the idea of 'modular islands', which can be rearranged in all manners and added to. YES!!! I'm picturing this in my mind and it's brilliant. In fact, I feel an MOC coming on right now. I hope you don't mind if I steal your idea. I never had any Spanish sets before and to me they always belonged to an entirely different era... but I guess I wouldn't mind seeing another distinct faction besides pirates and soldiers. Absolutely. And this gives me an idea for another faction: Singapore pirates. Yes, I know Singapore pirates and voodoo witch doctors have both been used in lots of other stories like Pirates of the Caribbean and Monkey Island, but they really do belong in the pirate world - that's why they're used so often! I find it a little bizarre that so many AFOLS fixate on bluecoats, a minor variation on redcoats, when there are so many other possibilities... Singapore pirates, racially mixed pirates, swamp villages... Lego should be looking to new ideas for the future, not old ideas.

Thanks for the info... I actually had no idea before now that Lego had different standards of minifig within their own product lines. I was thinking of getting the vintage minifig sets too, but this new information puts that possibility firmly in the 'no' category. Of course, the people who refrain from buying these sets because of this information probably only counts for about 0.01% of potential sales... not enough to discourage the Lego company from releasing more inferior product in the future.

Don't worry, I'm in the minority with you. I think it's unlikely they'll switch to bluecoats so early, if at all - look how much disagreement they generated in the classic pirate line by switching from blue coats to red coats. Why start that up with a whole new generation? I think it's very unlikely that Lego will switch to bluecoats just because of nostalgic AFOLS. However, if they DID introduce bluecoats, this is how I think it should be done: they should be introduced as a rival army. Instead of just substituting red for blue on all the minifigs and flags, they should completely redesign the uniforms, hats and flags to make it clear that these two armies are at war with each other. Not just red and blue versions of the same thing. Otherwise there's no practical purpose to be served whatsoever.

I think I have to abstain from voting. When it comes to choices like this, nostalgia is going to win every time, even when I can see the improvements of the 2009 sets over the 2008 sets. Now that I'm used to them, I prefer the colour palette of the 2009 sets. I prefer the 2009 minifigs with their printed backs. And yet, when I look at the sets side by side like that, there's no way I can possibly vote for the 2009 sets over the 1989 sets. Nostalgia won't let me.

I know a lot of these ideas will have already been suggested, but I'm thinking the more people suggest them, the more likely they are to happen. First off, an Imperial ship... I almost didn't mention it because it's so obvious, and almost certainly in the works already. An 'exclusive' ship, something big and expensive for adult collectors. It could be a big navy frigate, for example, with multiple rows of gun ports. Something with 2000+ pieces. More fort parts to add on to the modular fort set I've already got. A civilian port, the pirate equivalent of the Medieval Market Village. A civilian ship, something for the pirates to raid, or to trade with the previously mentioned civilian port. Actually, I'd like a whole sub-line of civilian stuff, instead of the Islanders. I wouldn't mind the Islanders, but I'd much prefer the Civilians. No blue coats. Why does everyone want blue coats? They've gone with red coats, I'm happy for them to stick with that and not confuse things. Someone mentioned a ghost ship? I really like the sound of that... just one though, I wouldn't want a whole sub-line of undead pirates. That kind of spoiled Knights for me... A large island playset. It could be four large rearrangable baseplates covered in foliage, jungle pathways, hidden treasures, a cave and a hut on stilts for the castaway to live in. Lots of new pirate heads, torsos and hats. New treasures, like gold plates, goblets and tiaras. Silver coins??? Land-based units, like horses and carriages.

Hi, I've been following pirate MOCs for a long time but this is the first time I've been compelled to say anything. The detail in this set is fantastic, from the ramshackle stairs to the top of the arch to the curved wall to the broken plank to the little cavern at the base of the tower. It gives a real sense of place, I could almost imagine myself being there. In a way the smallish size is a good thing because larger forts become simplistic and repetitive quite quickly. But at the same time, even with all the fine details, this set doesn't look too 'busy'. I really wish I had the time and resources to be able to do this sort of thing.

Hi, not sure if anyone has already discovered this, but there are a few Lego books on the way from DK. One is a 'celebration of 30 years of the minifig', the other two are castle and pirate books with about 130 pieces each, two minifigs and ten different instructions. Both scans are here. There's nothing really new or special about the pirate and castle sets... they just look like new versions of Pirate Building Set 6192 and Castle Building Set 6193 for slightly older kids.