TalonCard

I bought this one along with #3 and #10. There's some nice photography in the article, but nothing particularly new. (I did like the page with pictures of most of the main ships, though.)

Update: I visited LEGOLAND and the LEGO House for the first time last week, and my only consolation for having to leave Billund was that this magazine was waiting for me. I'd definitely recommend this issue to all Pirate fans; it's a pretty cool article. A few interesting facts: - The theme was pretty much ready to go as early as 1986, but LEGO held off on releasing the sets because the Castle line was selling so well that they didn't have the capacity to make more sets. - A Western theme was developed in tandem with the Pirates, but didn't see release in the 80s. (This might explain the early Western prototypes with bison and such that we've seen pictures of.) - Early prototypes for Pirate hulls were designed to float in water, before the idea was dropped. - The crocodile was designed early on for Pirates, but didn't make it to market until after some of the elements were re-used in Castle dragons. - The ramp-and-pit raised baseplates were a huge pain to design; they had to be printed on a piece of flat plastic and the only way to make sure they looked good after the plastic had been molded was trial and error. (!) There's only one piece of never-before-seen concept art; a simple but extensive sketch of all the original 1989 sets together--pretty neat to see, but nothing particularly earth shattering. The original pictures are nice, but fairly small scale. I also picked up Brick Fanatics #3, which has a small piece about how the ad agency Advance put together the marketing materials for the 1989-1992 Pirate sets. Very cool behind-the-scenes stuff. Here's hoping Brick Fanatics has more behind-the-scenes Pirate content in the future!

My heart sank a little bit when I saw the Sesame Street announcement today, (though I love that one too) because I thought it meant that the Pirate Bay hadn't been picked. I'm so excited that we're getting both. It's about time! I never look too closely at Pirates Ideas projects because I don't want to get attached, but I've been taking a closer look now and I really love the shape and all the tiny details inside and out. I wonder if they'll incorporate the raised baseplate into the design. I hope we get some completely redesigned Pirate figures, but with the 2015 flags and hats since they weren't around much.

Brick Fantatics has posted a nice article online about the firsts of the Pirate theme ahead of the actual issue. They've even linked back to discussion threads on this forum, so you know they've done their research. This article also promises never-before-seen concept art for the Pirates theme in this issue, so that's something else to look forward to. There are also several classic Pirate images I had never seen before, sourced from another great web post on Rambling Bricks. Most are just variations on images I'd already seen, but there's a Japanese LEGO magazine from 1989 with a Pirate themed cover that I don't recall seeing before. TC

Hi all, I'm bumping this topic as I will be visiting Billund in October! Not only is this my first LEGOLAND theme park, this is my first time in Europe, full stop! This is a lifelong dream of mine, and I'm very excited. Obviously, I'll be going to the LEGO House and LEGOLAND. I would really like some advice: Does LEGOLAND allow adults on their own? I'll be travelling with my brother, also an adult. I don't see any reason why not, but I thought I would ask since I know LEGOLAND Discovery Centers require you to attend with a kid. (That's a somewhat different setup, since those are basically indoor playgrounds and not theme parks. Still, better find out now then when we arrive...) What is the best way to get around the city without a car? Is there a short term bus pass? We'd need to get from the airport, to our Airbnb, to LEGOLAND (about 9 km away), the LEGO House, and back to the airport. Are there any cool second-hand or resale shops that have old LEGO sets? Are there any Danish restaurants nearby that are a must-visit? The House and LEGOLAND both close early the days we'll be there, and I'd like to use the time to try some local food. Thank you all in advance for any help.

Ahoy all, Brick Fanatics just put up issue #10 of their magazine for pre-order. It looks like they're creating new photos based on the classic Pirate catalog images, and they'll have an exclusive interview with the lead designer of the original theme! It's supposed to ship late September/early October. I can't wait!

They could kill a lot of birds with one stone by re-releasing the same Imperial Flagship model, but use the flag and minifigures from the 2015 Bluecoats. Although, this sounds like a lot of speculation. Is this Out of the Vault series a regular thing, or just something they've done recently with a couple of sets? TC

Phes, I literally listed my reasons for liking them right after I made that statement. Did you not read any of that? I mean, I don't want to come across as rude, but that's a weird response. I think the solid flags were an intentional throwback; the Ninjago Sky Pirate flags went back to soft plastic. TC

I actually quite liked the soft plastic flags. The original "solid" large plastic flags had a tendency to break, especially the early versions of the pieces. It was quite sad to have such a large, iconic, and rarer piece snap soon after you got it. (I had several that ended up taped to their flagpoles.) The intended effect of a ragged black Pirate flag was also undercut by being printed on a large white piece. I thought the fabric flags from 96-97 were an improvement (albeit one that had its own flaws), but the soft plastic ones seemed to me to be the best solution. They're somewhat transparent, like real flags, and have their own shape with none of the odd white chunkiness of the older flags. (That being said, when they went back to the old style for 2015 I loved it specifically because it called back to the 1989 sets, lol.) The lack of a decent palm tree in both recent incarnations is annoying. Creator and Ninjago have both had really nice brick-built palm trees; it's a shame they were haven't yet been used in a regular Pirate set. TC

You're absolutely right. I know I have been ignoring this important point, and I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe being the oldest in a family that didn't get much LEGO passed down had something to do with that bias. But, just the other day I saw a library display put together by kids from donated LEGO parts, and the 1996 Pirate sets were very well represented (I was just a tiny bit irrationally jealous, truth be told!) alongside Star Wars and Ninjago. If you add up all the years that Pirate/Pirates of the Caribbean sets were available in stores (not just years when new sets were introduced), there's over 15 years worth of Pirates floating round in the greater LEGO ecosystem. That goes a long way to explain why LEGO Pirates have such a great presence in media and theme parks when it's been such a long time since we've had new sets. That's a great analysis. I know the original basic Playmobil pirate ship mold was used from the 1970s through the 1990s, with some minor retooling. That's true too. I adore the aesthetic and nostalgia of the original Pirate line, and anyone who wants to take my Pirate sets will have to beat me in a cutlass duel first. But honestly I've had more fun building the 2016 Ninjago Sky Pirates stuff than I ever did on any of the classic sets. (Though the 1995 sets come pretty close.) And while it feels like it's been forever since 2015, these gap years have actually been pretty decent in their Pirates adjacent offerings: Ninjago, Ship in a Bottle, LEGO Dimensions Goonies, Mixels, Pirates of the Caribbean, the various Metalbeards, Angry Birds and Minecraft pirate ships, Pirate tree house, Pirate roller coaster, the Friends Pier, Isle of Peril...can't complain too much. TC

I think part of it may be that Playmobil simply doesn't have sheer number of popular licenses LEGO does (though it's certainly trying now), so there's more of a place for a traditional play theme like Pirates in their lineup. Also, if anyone really wants LEGO Pirate models, they're easy enough to make even when LEGO isn't selling them, which isn't true of Playmobil playsets. (Things like large Pirate ships are harder, true. It would be nice if sails, flags and boat hulls were available directly from LEGO during breaks between Pirates.) Regarding potential future Pirate sets, it's always amazing to me that Pirates continues to be a huge presence in the LEGOLAND theme parks, even though it's been some years since the 2015 line. I know that LEGOLAND is owned by a completely different company now, but it must be strange to work in the gift shops in, say, the new Pirate hotel in Florida that's opening this year, and have to explain why they don't actually have any Pirate LEGO sets for sale, have never sold any, and probably won't have any for a long time. What file name are you talking about? TC

So by "exact" you didn't actually mean an exact number, or a real book then? That's just such a weirdly precise number that could correspond to an Idea Book between the 1990 and 1997 books, but does not apparently exist. TC

Is this something you're remembering or something you heard about? Do you happen to remember what the cover looked like?

Nope, the last pages of 260 are space themed.

Still curious about this mysterious Idea Book. What can you tell us, @kelceycoe? TC

That's interesting, the only 90s idea books I'm aware of are #260 from 1990 and 697 from 1997. Where did you come across this idea book, and why do you believe it's the original source for Europa? TC

No need to apologize, that was a great guide! I like the behind-the-scenes pieces Brick Journal runs, but it's hard to tell which issues actually have them, so I really appreciated all the information. Wow, great catch on the carriage and other parts! I never picked up on those details even though I've seen the pictures many times. Earlier in the issues there's a Castle mine prototype that's said to be from the 80s; I could see someone assuming all the prototypes were from the same time. But 1994 makes a lot more sense for most of them, given that there's prints on figures released in 1992 and the big half baseplate underneath the BURP castle you posted appears to be a version of the one from Enchanted Island and other sets from 1994 on. The towers even seem to have the round 6222 part that came out in 1995 for Launch Command and later saw a lot of use in the Star Wars sets. Still, we do know that a lot of these prototypes sat around for years before they were included in sets--the same magazine mentions the skeleton horse dating from 1996 and the skeleton from around 1984! TC

Close, it's this one: Got it at a LEGO fan convention many years ago. I also have the Brickbeard keychain. TC

It's cool to see them side by side like that. Could just be the picture, but it looks like the LEGO logos are slightly different too. I thought I might buy one of these for my keys when I got my driver's license. In retrospect, maybe it's best that I didn't as these do NOT last long at all if you use them for their intended purpose as keychains; the figures become damaged very quickly. Still, I wish I had ordered one while they were available. TC

What exactly was your original point, before you started applying technicalities that only you understand? "Formulating as a country"? No one phrases it like that. What American authors are you even talking about? Can you try to be a little more coherent? That's a really good point! (I loved Ranger Rick, BTW!) If I remember correctly, comic books in the UK were even published on a twice-monthly basis, and most of the LEGO magazines with premium content like comics and minifigures launched in Europe first. Kids there just had more incentive to visit a newsstand. As I was reading the list of magazines you mentioned, I was like "Wait, I also read Disney Adventures, which had lots of entertaining stories and comics," but then I remembered that LEGO did partner with DA for its proto-Maniac comics with trading cards (even if they were ads), so they certainly tried every available avenue for story based content in the US. TC

Wow, great work as always! It never ceases to amaze me how many abandoned LEGO media projects there have been over the years. The buildings in Adventures in LEGO World reminds me a little bit of that Jack Stone video from a couple of years later. TC

How about "Hey, Runamuck, I'm sorry, I must have overlooked that list. I see you worked hard on that. Looks like some of the links are broken, but we could probably fix that with about a half hour of Googling." Or if you'd like to share some of those new technologies and new ways of doing things, we'd be all ears.

Neat! You think he's the same as the blue coated pirate in the gundeck scene, or from somewhere else? TC

Oh wow, that's a great find! I wonder if that version of the activity book was available anywhere besides the mail-in promotion--if not, it's probably extremely rare. I'd love what else they changed to reference the American version of the story. Wasn't sure what else to call him--Torn Red-shirt pirate with brown tri-corn? Personally, I agree with you that he's probably a different pirate character; as I said, I'd prefer for there to be both Captain Ironhook, renegade pirate, and Jake Blake, loyal crewmember of the Red Beard Runner. (For argument's sake, though, there's no reason he couldn't be the same pirate with a different hat, but that's neither here nor there.) Actually, I think you're completely right about the WWF wrestler Jake "the Snake" being a partial reference for the name. The 1990s Mania Magazines had lots of little nods to American sports and pop culture, and the red, torn shirt even looks a little like what a wrestler might wear. Good catch! Yeah, but it's not like Americans are only interested in American history at the literal point at which the US became a country, nor would we group our colonial history under the heading of European history before 1776. I'd wager that pirate history and stories were just as popular here in the 1990s as they were in Europe. TC

Noticed that @kelceycoe has dedicated an entire section of his LEGO Pirate website to this timeline. Since he's taken most of the identifying information out (I'm only credited at the very bottom of the timeline, and the user names have been removed in the discussion between myself and @kabel , which have also been included), and in fact there's no direct link to this topic at all, I thought I would bump the thread so folks could see it in its original context. (I'm sure it's an oversight that will soon be corrected.) TC