TalonCard

This is good to see...I love posts with lots of pictures like this. I'm a little concerned about when the time comes to clean my sails...they're all super dirty. I've actually replaced most of my original Pirate collection at this point, so they're not in bad shape, but they attract dust like nothing else. TC

I can confirm that--I have all four books in the series. The artists for the Pirate books were Sara Silcock and John Davis, though...is it possible that, like Castle Kids and Jim Spaceborn, there were more Pirate comics that were never released?! jacob_uno, would it be possible to get a list of all the Castle Kids and Pirate stories, published and unpublished? jamesster, thank you so much for posting the scans! I've been wanting to read this for ages. :) Now if only the second Spaceborn and Castle Kids books would resurface... TC

Added Veedo, Zorax, 814FTW and 214DAL from the Galaxy Squad game Bug Battle. :) TC

Added the Inner World from an old Swedish comic book ad, Jovan II and Nepton 13 from the text Space Police logs from the LEGO website. I had some help tracking those down. :) TC

I'd love to see scans of this comic as well--I'm working on a timeline of all the LEGO themes and stories, so it would be really useful. I was able to get a copy of the first Jim Spaceborn, but getting this book has proved more difficult. BTW, what issue of Brickjournal is that interview in? TC

Thanks for the kind words, all! :) I'm hoping to set up a website for the entire timeline once it's a little more completed. (It'll span from about 200,000,000 BC to 4,036 AD.) It actually didn't take as long as you might think; I was already familiar with the source material and either owned it or knew where to find them. The books are also pretty short--it takes more words to summarize the stories than it does to tell them. :p I was fortunate that most of the Pirates theme was released before the internet...the Adventurers section of the timeline took forever, because of all the information contained in websites that have been offline for years. The online Pirate game is only partially preserved in the Wayback machine--some of it is probably lost forever. :( TC

Hey all, I've been working on a timeline of all the different LEGO themes and stories in the format of the Star Wars Timetales and Star Trek Chronology and naturally the Pirates section is quite extensive. I thought I'd post a bit of it here to get some feedback. I've tried to include everything I could find--books, comics, audio dramas, magazine stories, etc. I have not included the LEGO Maniac comics, as they seem to be the fantasies of the Maniac himself. I haven't gotten to the computer games or the LEGOland stunt shows yet. I have opted to use primarily the US names, but only for internal consistency. Let me know what you all think! c. 1500-1520 AD The Conquistador learns of the newly-discovered Aztec Empire, and goes there in search of gold. The brave Aztec Warrior, an Eagle Knight, defends his country from those who wish to take the gold. The Conquistador and Aztec Warrior bios on LEGO.com. Montezuma, leader of the Aztecs, dies. His Golden Mask is lost. Helena Skvalling bio on LEGO.com. c. 1518 AD The Imperial Trading Post at Port Royal is established by a powerful ocean-going empire, and becomes the hub of all trading activity. Story from the US 6277 Imperial Trading Post box. It had been the center of trading activity for “centuries”. This set was called “Port Royal” in the UK, linking it to an existing location in the Pirates storyline. It is located on the island of Sabatina and is not the same as the historical Port Royal in Jamaica. That Port Royal was also founded in 1518. c. 1600 AD Ninja (1998) Hamlet was first performed around this time. It would later be performed by the Thespian, who does not appear to be from this time. c. 1620 AD Time of the Musketeer. c. 1664 AD During this time the ancestors (or, at least, antecedents) of the LEGO Pirates of the Sea capture gold from the Spanish, including the legendary treasure of Don Cortez, and hide them on islands all across the Tropical Sea. These pirates include Captain Snarlface and the Blackheart Cousins, John and Brian. After capturing a particularly large treasure, Brian and John Blackheart bury it on Shipwreck Island and carve a map onto a gold medallion. They then split the medallion between the two. John vanishes in the jungles south of the Tropical Sea, while Brian attempts to raid Port Royal. He is captured, sent to Europe, and condemned. Another crew member receives a twenty year sentence. Backstory from the US Pirate boxes, the “Golden Medallion” comic, and the 4+ Pirate line. The old pirate in the comic says that the Blackheart cousins were active “fifty years or so” before, which coincides with the historical first Golden Age of Piracy. c. 1684 AD Brain Blackheart’s shipmate serves the last year of his sentence, and becomes a shopkeeper in Port Royal. “The Golden Medallion” c. 1695 AD Pirates (4+) The brave and generous Captain Red Beard commands the pirate ship Hurricane in a number of adventures. His crew includes the young Jolly Jack Crow, ship’s cook Harry Hardtack, and the loyal Cannonball Jimmy. Red Beard is in possession of half a map to the legendary treasure of Don Cortez…unfortunately the other half belongs to his greedy brother Captain Kragg. Kragg operates out of Skull Island, and will do anything to get the gold. His small band of pirates includes First Mate Drake Dagger and the lazy Scurvy Dog. This theme is a prequel to the main Pirates line by virtue of the fact that the Captain Red Beard figure has two hands. By the time of the classic pirate sets, one hand would be replaced with a hook. 1700 AD “A Kidd’s Cool Treasure” September 22 – The Skull’s Eye Schooner puts in at St. Mary’s Island, off the southeast coast of Africa. The pirates trade a barrel of sugar for a monkey named Coco. September 27 – The pirates spot a merchant ship. Flying the Jolly Roger, they intimidate the crew into surrendering. The pirates capture a cargo of gold coins, jewels, silk, and spices. September 29 – En route to St. Mary’s once again, the Skull’s Eye is blown off course by a storm. The ship begins to take on water, and the pirates are forced to bury the treasure on Skull Island before the ship sinks. The parrot Squawks deserts the ship. October 31 – The pirates return to the island, only to discover that the Islanders have beaten them to it. The captain vows vengeance against the Islanders. (SHORT STORY – LEGO Mania Magazine – September-October 1995) Red Beard has a hook at this point, but does not seem to be the captain of the Skull’s Eye Schooner, or its first mate. The husband of Bessie, proprietress of the Keg and Cutlass inn on Forbidden Island, and father of Anne, future crew member of the Black Seas Barracuda, attempts to attack the Governor’s flagship in rowing boats. He is captured and hung. Date unknown, but sometime before “The Golden Medallion”. 1714 AD Pirates (1989) A group of European settlers, led by Governor Broadside, have colonized a large island in the Tropical Sea named Sabatina. Settlements on Sabatina include the long-established trading center of Port Royal, defended by the mighty Eldorado Fortress, and Fenzance on the other side of the island. The settlers begin to discover buried chests of Spanish doubloons, making them unexpectedly wealthy. The surrounding islands become known as the Treasure Islands, among them are John Silver Island, Shark Island, the Island of Fogs, Pirate’s Hat Island, Black Reef island, the Island of Skulls, Skeleton Island, Emerald Island, Hook Nose Island, and the Island of Ruins. Broadside dispatches the Caribbean Clipper to retrieve the gold, and bring it to Eldorado Fortress for safekeeping. Captain Red Beard is the first pirate to hear the news, and is disturbed. The pirates’ own ancestors had buried this treasure, and the pirates had been attempting to find it for years. He readies his ship Black Seas Barracuda, and sets off from the pirate’s nest of Forbidden Island to reclaim the pirate treasure, braving high winds and storms. Backstory from US set boxes 6274, 6276, and 6285. Sabatina and the islands of the Tropical Sea are from the Ladybird books. Some of the US set names and European catalogs suggest that the setting is the Caribbean rather than the fictional Tropical Sea—it’s possible that the Tropical Sea itself is somewhere in the Caribbean. The US boxes specified the 18th century as the time period for the Pirate sets, while the 1990 Netherlands catalog supplies a date of around 1715 for the 1990 line. All other dates are based around that year. “Aboard the Pirate Ship Dark Shark” Captain Red Beard orders Will and Rummy to drop anchor, but his peg-leg becomes entangled in the chain and he falls into the sea! When the pirate crew retrieves him, they find that the Captain’s hook has a shark attached to it. After the crew is stumped as to how to remove it, Will gets an idea. He ties a rope to the shark, and the other end to a cannonball. The canon is fired, and the shark sails high over Eldorado Fortress—and away from the Captain! “Hurrah for Will!” the pirates exclaim. (COMIC – Bricks ‘n Pieces Magazine – Summer 1989) Jimbo, a young boy, stows away on the Black Seas Barracuda. Red Beard allows him to join the crew. “Will and the Gold Chase”. Some time before “The Golden Medallion”. Governor Broadside’s spy discovers a monkey with half a gold medallion—a clue to the lost Blackheart treasure! He writes to Broadside, saying that he will send this clue on one of the governor’s galleons. Just before “The Golden Medallion” “The Pirates: The Golden Medallion” In the Tropical Sea, the Black Seas Barracuda attacks one of the governor’s ships. Captain Red Beard and his bo’sun Will lead the boarding party. Aboard the Imperial ship are Governor Broadside’s sister Prudence, and his niece Camilla. Camilla becomes concerned that a captive monkey, Spinoza, is frightened by the fighting. She goes to comfort the animal, but one of the pirates spots her pearls and tries to take them. Will rescues Camilla from the pirate, and the two are instantly smitten. Red Beard scolds Will for fighting his own men instead of the soldiers. The pirate captain calls for the Lieutenant De Martinet, leader of the soldiers, to surrender. He refuses, but his men see they are outnumbered and comply. De Martinet quickly follows suit. The pirates plunder the vessel, but allow her to continue to Sabatina. First Mate Rummy brings back a small chest, which contains papers and a letter for Governor Broadside. Rummy is disappointed—he had hoped it was rum. Red Beard orders Will to throw the chest overboard. On seeing Will gazing after the departing ship, he urges Will to forget Camilla—and is promptly hit on the head with a piece of rigging by Spinoza, who had jumped over to the Black Seas Barracuda during the fighting. Red Beard attempts to shoot the monkey off of the rigging, but then spies a piece of gold around its neck. Will volunteers to get the monkey down—and spends the entire night trying to coax the animal down. The pirates arrive at Forbidden Island and go to breakfast at the Keg and Cutlass, where Bessie the innkeeper greets them. She and Red Beard reminisce about the old days, when pirates were brave. Red Beard complains that kids today can’t even catch a tame monkey. Just then the ship’s cabin boy Jimbo interrupts, with Spinoza perched on his shoulder. Red Beard orders Jimbo back to the ship, and examines the gold piece around the monkey’s neck. It’s half a gold medallion—with half a treasure map carved into it! Red Beard wonders where the other half of the map is, and Will speculates that the letter they threw overboard might have had the answer. He is then immediately blamed for throwing important documents overboard. The other side of the medallion has a skull above two crossed pistols. An old one-legged pirate recognizes the symbol as the mark of the Blackheart Cousins, John and Brian, who he used to work for. He explains that the cousins captured a great treasure, scratched a map on a gold medallion, and broke it in two. He speculates that they have John’s half. Brian was captured after attempting to plunder Port Royal. He was never heard from again, but his old shipmate may still be living there as a shopkeeper. Red Beard decides to set out for Port Royal to recover the second half of the medallion. Unfortunately, their plans are overheard by Captain Foul and his henchman Culverin. Foul decides to keep an eye on Red Beard… Two days later (a Tuesday), Will and Red Beard are dodging Imperial patrols while searching for the shopkeeper. They find him selling bananas. The shopkeeper explains that Brian Blackheart was thrown into the deepest dungeon in Eldorado Fortress before being sent to Europe and condemned. He has also heard a rumor that Brian hid something in the dungeon…but that prison is only for condemned men and prisoners being sent to Europe. After interviewing the shopkeeper, Red Beard and Will run into a group of soldiers, and Will is captured. Red Beard realizes this could be his chance to get at the other half of the medallion, and decides to wait it out. Will is brought before Governor Broadside, and, in spite of Camilla’s intervention, is sentenced to hang at dawn. He is thrown into the dungeons, and manages to locate the second half of the medallion. Camilla arrives with some food, and the two almost share a kiss…before Red Beard blows a hole in the dungeon with stolen gunpowder. Will escapes, and Camilla, fearing the wrath of her uncle, goes with the pirates. Red Beard identifies the island in the map—Shipwreck Island! They arrive at the Black Seas Barracuda, only to find that it has been taken over by Captain Foul. Red Beard’s parrot Popsy escapes, but Camilla and the pirates are captured. The next day, Foul forces Red Beard to surrender the medallion, and he sets Will and Red Beard adrift on the Castaways Raft. Meanwhile, Broadside and De Martinet capture Popsy, who lets slip that the treasure is buried on Shipwreck Island. Broadside orders the Caribbean Clipper be made ready to sail. Will and Red Beard find themselves caught in a hurricane, which lands them on Shipwreck Island. Hearing Foul’s voice, they find Foul’s crew forcing the Barracuda’s crew to dig up the Blackheart treasure. The two pirates seize some weapons, and soon the two pirate crews are fighting over the treasure. Just then, Broadside appears, delighted that the pirates have saved him the trouble of digging up the treasure…and reducing their own ranks. Foul immediately attempts to form an alliance with Red Beard, but before the two can come to terms, a volcano erupts, forcing everyone to flee the island. Broadside, Camilla, and the soldiers escape to the Clipper, while Foul and his crew return to their own ship. Red Beard refuses to abandon the treasure, but is knocked out by Spinoza’s well-aimed coconut. Later, outside the Keg and Cutlass, Red Beard is inconsolable over the lost treasure. While he orders more rum to drown his sorrows, a peddler approaches Will with a map to Captain Snarlface’s buried treasure, also hidden on a volcanic island. Fed up with treasure hunting, Will pushes him into the sea. (COMIC BOOK – LEGO Publishing - Per Sanderhage – 1989) “The Pirates” Captain Red Beard has obtained a very promising treasure map, and so the pirates set sail from Shipwreck Island. Will tries (and fails) to lock Spinoza in the hold. Rummy soon spots Governor Broadside’s Caribbean Clipper, which opens fire. During the brief but intense battle, Spinoza escapes the hold, steals the treasure map, and leaps aboard the Clipper. Broadside returns to the Eldorado Fortress with the monkey and the map. Furious with Will for losing the map, Red Beard casts him adrift on the Castaways Raft. He then attempts to sneak into the Fortress, but trips over a barrel and is caught. Red Beard is sentenced to walk the plank—offshore of the volcanic island where the treasure is hidden. Will has arrived here as well, and manages to rescue Red Beard. When the Governor and his men go ashore to find the treasure, the pirates follow them. Suddenly, the volcano erupts, and Broadside and the soldiers flee to the Clipper. Red Beard and Will manage to reach the raft with the treasure in tow—but find they’ve nowhere to go! (SHORT FILM – ADVANCE – 1989) This film appears to have been released on home video to advertise the then-new Pirate theme. The plot shares many elements with the Golden Medallion comic, but is set after as Spinoza appears. One can assume that Red Beard managed to obtain Captain Snarlface’s treasure map in spite of Will’s efforts to prevent it. “Find the Pirate Map!” Will and Rummy go ashore on a desert island where a treasure map is hidden on the White Cliff. They take different paths to the Cliff, encountering dense jungle, large swamps, and an ambush by Captain Foul. (GAME – The Golden Medallion Comic – 1989) This game was printed in the back of the “Golden Medallion” comic, and was designed to be played with the two figures included with the set. Governor Broadside holds a birthday banquet with fireworks. “Pirates #2: Captain Red Beard’s Birthday” 1715 AD “Pirates #1: Will and the Gold Chase” Governor Broadside gives Camilla a golden heart-shaped pendant, which she wears everywhere. One day, she loses it while boating. She is so distressed that Broadside issues a reward to whoever finds the pendant. Fishermen search for it with hooks and nets, and pearl divers arrive from a far-off island to try to find it, but to no avail. Will hears about the lost pendant, and remembering their brief encounter during the hunt for Blackheart’s treasure, wishes he could find it for her. One night, a fishing boat approaches the Black Seas Barracuda, and the ship’s cook Flashfork asks Red Beard for money to buy fish. Red Beard gets out the key to the ship’s money chest. Before he can unlock the chest, Spinoza grabs the key and jumps into the fishing boat. The pirates decide to go after the key. Will knows that the fishing boats usually take their catch to the markets in Port Royal. The pirates decide to disguise themselves and the ship to sail into Port Royal. The Barracuda becomes the Skylark, and they arrive in Port Royal. Will and Jimbo question the fishermen, who identify the boat Spinoza stowed away on as belonging to Old Binnacle. Binnacle doesn’t come into Port Royal, they explain, preferring to sell his fish to the islanders. Will returns to the Skylark, and attempts to explain this to Red Beard. The Captain smells gold, however, and refuses to listen. He leads the pirates ashore to the fish market, where he trips over some barrels, revealing his disguise. Pursued by soldiers, the pirates return to Skylark, taking a barrel of fish with them. They escape from Port Royal, and change course for the islands. The pirates find Old Binnacle, and retrieve Spinoza from his ship. With the key safely in hand, the pirates prepare for a supper of fish. Will is cleaning his when he discovers Camilla’s missing pendant in its stomach. The Captain was right about the gold in the fish market after all! Will packages the pendant, marking the box with an anchor to match his tattoo. He then sends the package to Eldorado Fortress. Camilla knows who sent her back the pendant, and is very careful with it from then on. (STORY BOOK – John Grant – Ladybird Books – 1990) Red Beard loves fish in this story; he previously said he hated them in “The Golden Medallion”. Will’s anchor tattoo is mentioned for the first time; it is not seen at all in the comic book. Using the American name Black Seas Barracuda instead of Darkshark in this summary undermines the Darkshark/Skylark joke, but I’m trying to reduce confusion. “Pirates #2: Captain Red Beard’s Birthday” Captain Red Beard is annoyed at his crew, as none of them appear to be at their posts. Little does he know that they are crowded in the hold, planning a surprise birthday party for their Captain! Of course, they are also anticipating the wonderful food and drink at the party. A few days later, Will and Rummy visit the Keg and Cutlass to get the supplies for the Captain’s party. Unfortunately, Bessie informs them that Foul and his crew cleaned her out while having their own celebration not long ago. They visit Magpie’s General Store, hoping to buy some food, but Foul has emptied Magpie’s shelves too. Will comes up with another idea: Governor Broadside is greedy enough that he’d be sure to have plenty of supplies for a party. All they have to do is trick Red Beard into going to Port Royal, and then they can sneak ashore and nab the goods. The pirates tell Red Beard that a treasure ship is due at Eldorado Fortress, and the Captain orders the crew to get underway. The Barracuda lurks off Sabatina for three nights waiting for the fictitious treasure ship, and Red Beard’s mood turns bad. The next night, Will, Rummy, and Jimbo row ashore and creep up to the Eldorado Fortress. They smell delicious turkey, but can’t climb up the walls. Jimbo decides to send Popsy up to take a look, and the bird overhears de Martinet’s report to the Governor. Reinforcements have arrived: including Dragoons with (of course) their horses. Broadside notices Popsy, and angrily closes the window. She repeats what she was able to hear to the pirates: barrels are waiting on the quay with enough food to feed a hundred. Will decides that this must mean supplies for the Governor’s birthday party—coincidently, Broadside and Red Beard were born on the same day! The pirates return to their ship, where Will informs the captain that the treasure ship has been and gone, but its cargo is still sitting on the quay. Will, Rummy, and twelve other pirates go ashore armed and ready to take the cargo. The soldiers guarding the supplies surrender after realizing they are outnumbered. (By two!) The pirates quickly take stock of the supplies, which have been loaded into wagons. They find one box for the Governor…but the others are full of shirts, boots, and boot polish. Will finds the next group of wagons are loaded with something else, but before he can tell Rummy, Captain Foul and his crew spring an ambush—Foul had followed them from Shipwreck Island! Will calls a retreat back to the boats, and the puzzled pirates abandon the wagons. Foul and his men find only hay in the wagons…and barrels full of tar, which they soon end up covered in. Back on the Barracuda the pirates reveal everything to Red Beard, who is angry that the treasure was a lie, but laughs at Foul’s mistake. Red Beard is presented with a birthday present: a specially carved wooden leg, which he promises to wear only on special occasions. And as it turns out, the box for the governor contained a large birthday cake—as it turns out, Red Beard has the nicest birthday any pirate could wish for! (STORY BOOK – John Grant – Ladybird Books – 1990) Published as “Captain Roger’s Birthday”. “Pirates #3: Adventure on Shark Island” At Forbidden Island, Red Beard and Will add up the loot from their most recent voyage. It comes to exactly three doubloons—two of which are fake. Disappointed, the crew visit the Keg and Cutlass, where they spend the doubloon on one bottle of rum (and twelve straws). Just then, Captain Foul and his crew arrive from a highly successful voyage, a fact that they rub in the faces of Red Beard and his crew. A brawl ensues, and Bessie is unable to stop it. Her daughter Anne has an idea—she tells Foul’s pirates that their ship is under attack. Foul’s crew abandons the fight and head toward the docks. When Foul discovers the ruse, he decides to teach Anne a lesson. A day or two later the pirates trap Anne with a net and imprison her in a barrel hoisted atop the main mast of their ship. They sail to Shark Island, and send a ransom note via Popsy demanding one thousand doubloons to Red Beard. Red Beard declares that his crew never pays ransoms (and as Will points out, all they have are two fake doubloons!) But Will insists they rescue Anne and two days later the Barracuda arrives at Shark Island. Will and Jimbo go ashore, and spot Foul’s ship—and Anne’s barrel! Will and Jimbo return to the Barracuda and explain that only Spinoza can get to Anne’s barrel. He plans to send Spinoza up to the barrel with a line of rope, which Anne can use to climb down. Popsy is sent with a message explaining the plan, and that night Will, Jimbo and Spinoza navigate a small launch through the rocks near Shark Island. They board Foul’s ship, and everything goes as planned. But when it comes time to leave, Spinoza is nowhere to be found! Spinoza has made his way to the captain’s cabin, where he snatches a bag of gold coins right from under Foul’s nose. He then hides the bag in one of the ship’s cannons, and rejoins Will, Jimbo, and Anne. Culverin spots the escaping boat, but Foul’s ship runs aground during the pursuit. Foul orders Culverin to open fire…blowing the bag of gold right into Will’s boat! Red Beard and the crew cheer when Anne arrives safely on the Barracuda…and cheer even louder when they see the money. Red Beard orders the crew to make sail to Forbidden Island, where there will be roast beef and jam roly-poly all around…double helpings, even! (STORY BOOK – John Grant – Ladybird Books – 1990) The name of Foul’s pirate ship in the Ladybird Books is Barracuda, which would cause confusion if one assumes that Red Beard’s ship is the Black Seas Barracuda and not the Darkshark. The unlucky Captain Jonah of the Hesperus mistakes Port Royal for the pirate’s nest at Forbidden Island. He barely escapes alive, but his pet jackdaw Diogenes goes missing. One week before “The Royal Visit”. “Pirates #4: The Royal Visit” Captain Red Beard is enjoying his afternoon tea when he suddenly finds his serenity interrupted by an incoming cannon ball. He rushes on deck to find Broadside’s massive flagship Ironram bearing down on the Barracuda, with Broadside himself ordering the pirates to prepare for boarding. Fortunately, Red Beard manages to lose Ironram in the fog. That evening, Red Beard demands to know how Ironram could have snuck up on them. He discovers that Rummy was asleep in the crow’s nest, and Will was reading in his cabin. Red Beard is furious. A few days later the pirates return to Forbidden Island, and find all the pirates in a bad mood. The King is planning a state visit to Port Royal, and Broadside is to receive him in full dress uniform. Unfortunately, he’s missing his badge of office and believes one of the pirates has taken it. The Governor is stepping up efforts to harass the pirates, and with good reason: without his badge Broadside could lose his head! Red Beard realizes the pirates must help him find it—or they might lose a bad governor and get one that’s even worse! Red Beard calls a meeting of all the pirate captains, and they agree to halt their piratical activities until the badge is found. One captain is missing: Jonah of the Hesperus. With Anne’s help, Will realizes that Jonah’s pet jackdaw has been missing since his owner’s escape from Port Royal. After consulting his books, he tells Red Beard that he knows where the governor’s badge is. Three days later, the crew of the Barracuda find the Hesperus anchored in a sheltered bay, where the crew is making repairs after a close shave with a whale. Captain Jonah tells them that Diogenes has returned, and Will takes a look inside the bird’s barrel. Sure enough, Broadside’s badge is inside. Will explains that one of his books had a poem about a jackdaw who stole a diamond ring. On the day of the royal visit, Anne disguises herself as a washerwoman and smuggles the badge into Eldorado Fortress with the Governor’s laundry. The Royal visit is a great success—the King even gives Broadside a medal! Broadside goes back to governing, and leaves the pirates to their own devices. (STORY BOOK – John Grant – Ladybird Books – 1990) The poem Will refers to is likely “The Jackdaw of Rheims”, though this may be an anachronism. The Ironram appears to have supplanted the Caribbean Clipper as Broadside’s flagship by this point. The King hides a treasure worth millions of dollars on a desert island in the Tropical Sea. Story from the 6271 Imperial Flagship box. It seems likely that he would have used the state visit as a cover while hiding the treasure. “Pirates #2: The Governor’s Treasure” Governor Broadside obtains a treasure, and the pirates set out to steal it. (AUDIO DRAMA – H.G. Francis – Europa – 1990) “Pirates #3: Bo ‘sun Will Rescues the Governor” Officials from Europe arrive to review Broadside’s methods of governing. They find them unsatisfactory, and Broadside faces exile. The pirates, fearing a more effective governor will replace Broadside, set out to save him. (AUDIO DRAMA – H.G. Francis – Europa – 1990) “Pirates #4: The Mysterious Treasure” Will discovers that Camilla is betrothed to the loathsome McGeyer, and decides to save her. He concocts a fantastic story about a treasure to convince Red Beard and the other pirates to help him. (AUDIO DRAMA – H.G. Francis – Europa – 1990) “Pirates #5: The Secret of La Sceletta” Camilla has good news for Will: she’s discovered a treasure map with the name of his father! Will sets out to discover his past, only to run afoul of Captain Foul. (AUDIO DRAMA – H.G. Francis – Europa – 1990) “Pirates #6: The Golden Ship” A treasure ship passes by Sabatina, and Broadside falls prey to temptation. He snatches the prize right from under Red Beard’s nose. Red Beard refuses to give up so easily, and sets out to reclaim the ship. (AUDIO DRAMA – H.G. Francis – Europa – 1990) 1716 AD The pirates have yet to recover the entirety of the pirate gold stored safely in Eldorado Fortress. Red Beard and his crew establish a new base on remote Rock Island to coordinate efforts with the other pirates at Forbidden Island and Shipwreck Island. They feel the day is drawing near when the treasure will be theirs. 6273 Rock Island Refuge box story. Meanwhile, the settlers fortify many of their existing structures to repel the pirates. One such structure is the Lagoon Lock-Up, a former inn now designed to hold captured pirates and protect the lagoon. 6267 Lagoon Lock-Up box story. 1717 AD The Imperial Guards (1992) A wealthy king summons the best shipwrights to design and build the Sea Lion, a vessel that will serve as the Imperial Flagship. He calls upon the finest soldiers to man her. Their mission: retrieve a treasure the king had hidden on a desert island in the Tropical Sea. The pirates spot the Imperial vessel leaving the deserted island, and immediately guess what it is carrying. They decide to attack, and the battle begins… Story from the 6271 Imperial Flagship box. The Sea Lion name is from the UK catalogs. 1718 AD Islanders (1994) “Indigo” On his birthday, Indigo Islander Chief Quextil prepares for his tribe’s annual trip to the island where their treasure is hidden. He knows they will have to be careful, for one of his tribe has returned with a sighting of Captain Red Beard’s pirate ship! Sure enough, the as the Islanders leave for the Treasure Cave, the pirate ship appears on the horizon, ready for battle! The pirates land on the beach, and the Islanders make themselves scarce. Quextil hears the pirates mention gold, and tries to control his fear. As it turns out, the pirates are only interested in holding a birthday party for their captain! They send a pirate named Jack to get the golden…bananas that Red Beard loves so much. Quextil emerges from the jungle, saying that as he and Red Beard share the same birthday, they must be friends. The pirates agree, and everyone has a marvelous time. (STORY – Bricks ‘n Pieces Magazine – Spring-Summer 1994) Quextil was probably intended to be the UK name for Kahuka, but his good relationship with the pirates is at odds with most other depictions. Quextil does reflect on the nasty tales of the pirates told by his cousin Islanders—perhaps these are Kahuka and his tribe? Also: the LEGO Pirates of the Sea do love their birthday celebrations. Broadside, Red Beard, and Quextil share the same birthday…coincidence? 1719 “LEGO #2: The Island of Scary Masks” Captain Red Beard and Will take on the Islanders in a quest for gold. (AUDIO DRAMA - Hedda Kehrhahn – Karussell – 1995) “LEGO #6: Pirate Sails on the Horizon” Captain Red Beard and Will encounter Captain Ironhook and George and Susan Cunningham. (AUDIO DRAMA - Hedda Kehrhahn – Karussell – 1995) This story seems to have a date of Summer 1644, but this may be a flashback. More research is needed. 1720 Imperial Armada (1996) In the US Mania Magazines, the Armada is led by the chrome-armored Admiral, who was raised by the Islanders after a shipwreck. The UK Bricks ‘n Pieces made the green-shirted swashbuckler the leader, calling him Captain Valiant. These two characters can co-exist, though in the UK the Admiral was given a demotion to Sergeant Speedy. “Pirates” The Armada Flagship Santa Cruz is in hot pursuit of the Red Beard Runner. Captain Red Beard has stolen Armada gold, and is heading to Skull Island to hide. Captain Valiant signals Sergeant Speedy at the Armada Outpost, and Speedy is able to infiltrate Skull Island. He raises the Armada flag to signal the Santa Cruz, and manages to bring down one of the Red Beard Runner’s masts with a cargo crane. Red Beard escapes to Shipwrecck Island, however, and the chase begins again… (SHORT STORY – BRICKS ‘N PIECES MAGAZINE – MAY/JUNE 1996) c. 1725 “Treasure Hunt in the Pirate Sea” The King appoints a personal treasure hunter to seek out the legendary fortune of Captain Red Beard. According to legend, Red Beard hid all his treasures on a secret island in the Pirate Sea. Many have tried to find it, but all have been lost. The treasure hunter receives a ship and supplies, and questions several old treasure hunters in the King’s city. Armed with this information, the hunter explores the Pirate Sea and discovers Red Beard’s treasure. (ONLINE GAME – LEGO.COM – 1996) This game takes place years after the days of Captain Red Beard…although the player’s avatar seems to be Red Beard himself! Perhaps Red Beard posed as a treasure hunter to find his own gold? The Tropical Sea seems to have been renamed the Pirate Sea by this point. I'm still working on the new Pirates stuff, which has fewer named characters and almost no stories, but does seem to be set after the original Pirates theme--Broadside is visibly older in "LEGO Battles", and the book "Standing Small" indicates that Brickbeard has taken over from Red Beard, but Spinoza is still alive and is now Brickbeard's pet. TC

1. That's a good question! Though the good guys vs. bad guys notion of soldiers vs. pirates would seem to be obvious just by looking at the sets themselves, LEGO made quite a bit of effort to muddy the ethical waters of the Pirates theme in the storyline. One of the ways they did this was to include a third, more villainous pirate faction led by Captain Foul. We sort of got a similar figure in Captain Ironhook, but he wasn't as consistently opposed to Red Beard's crew, and was often allied with them. I guess it all boils down to how much of the pirate storyline was developed independently of the sets themselves. This is just speculation, but I think at the time the minifigures and sets would have been designed internally by LEGO without much of a storyline, while their go-to ad agency Advance would have been responsible for the characters and storyline applied to them. Foul was probably conceived by a writer working for Advance, rather than by someone at LEGO. It's a little different nowadays--characters and storylines seem to be developed internally as part of the initial theme concept. I think stuff like Adventurers and Bionicle were game-changers in that respect. 2. Yes, there's actually quite a lot! The Pirate storyline that began in the comic was continued in a series of four books from Ladybird and a series of six German audio dramas, and naturally Foul returns a few times to fight the soldiers and Red Beard's pirates. His picture appears on the title page of "Will and the Gold Chase", even though he's not really in the book (?!). He raids Port Royal in "Captain Roger's Birthday", kidnaps Anne (the female pirate) in "Adventure on Shark Island", and agrees to help find Broadside's lost badge of office in "The Royal Visit". I haven't been able to get the audio dramas translated yet, but judging from the cast list for the first episode, which is an adaptation of the comic story, Foul appears to be called Captain Baddog. He also appears in episodes 2, 3, and 5--you can see him on the cover of episode 5 here. I'm working with my dad (who teaches German) to translate the storylines of the German audio dramas that have been posted to YouTube, but it's slow going. TC

I'm all for creating a permanent index/discussion thread for commercials; either using this topic or by starting a new one--I looked around for one to post these in before I started this topic. Maybe the title can be updated each time a new commercial surfaces? Brickington, that's a great start! You're missing the and . (There's probably a better version on YouTube somewhere...) Also the 1991 commercial is actually from 1992.TC

Hey all! I was browsing YouTube recently, and found a couple of LEGO Pirate commercials I hadn't seen before. One is from , the other is from . Both have a modified pole piece used for a telescope--thank goodness we finally got a real telescope piece!I had seen a clip of the '93 commercial in a reel that Advance uploaded awhile back--it's good to see the rest of it! :) TC

The January/February 2013 LEGO Club Magazine at last revealed a few of the details of the Galaxy Squad conflict, giving us the planets Selva and the Hive Planet. Both have been added to the list. TC

The reference in the detective's bio went over my head...I had to learn about Drome Racers from the LEGO Book! I made sure to put it on my timeline, but I can't find much trace online of the comics and such. :( I was aware of most of the crossoverness, though I'm surprised that Professor Voltage shows up in so many other stories. LEGO has a surprising number of time travelers: the Time Cruisers, Time Twisters, Professor Voltage, Captain Indigo, Max Timebuster...and yet so many comics show themes interacting without the aid of time travel. ;) I would say that while there are many different ways of looking at the LEGO Universe, the LEGO characters exist in all of them. The Brickolinis would exist both in the LEGO Island universe and the "timeline" version of the LEGO universe. I noticed that, and had to laugh a little Maybe Techdroid 2 is just emulating his hero. ;) Also, somehow the red alien never got a name at all... :( TC

Doctor Who is a good parallel for the Space themes...trying to make any kind of sense of the "future" stories makes headaches inevitable, particularly since a number of the then-future time periods explored by the show in the 60's and 70's have already come to pass. Those are both good points, particularly since the Minifigures line continues to reference older themes that haven't been used in decades. That is the most common depiction...Pirates and Exo-Force both had a lot of stories where the minifigures were depicted as being more-or-less regular cartoonish people, but those are only two examples I can think of. We do see minifigures have descendants, grow old, and die in the various LEGO stories--the Clutch Powers movie refers to death as having one's "creation spark" extinguished. I'd tend to group most of the games under the LEGO Island universe, which has its own backstory and where every theme seems to happen at once... I've also often wondered what would happen if the Time Cruisers happened upon this more bizarre version of the LEGO World. ;) I have drafted a general LEGO Timeline, in the format of the Star Trek Chronology. It's really rough, but if anyone wants to take a look, PM me--I'd love some feedback. I'd still argue that the statue doesn't really tell us much, as it was showing some age as of Space Police III. We know it was made to commemorate 30 years of the Classic Space program, but not how old it was as of whenever Space Police III takes place. I kinda like both interpretations--the UFO aliens see themselves as heroic crusaders; their robotic allies see them as liberators--but they still come into conflict with Earth forces. It helps that Commander X of the UK story and Alpha Draconis of the US version are different minifigures--perhaps Draconis is the ruthless Emperor, and X the more idealistic military leader? TC

I hadn't thought too much about using LEGO Battles for timeline purposes, as it seems to use a mix of themes--didn't the Ninjago version have characters from a bunch of unrelated themes? I haven't played the game, though; the campaigns may be more consistent. I do know that the Pirate campaign features ninjas, but that's more of a geographic than a chronological stretch. If LEGO Battles is used, though, it might allow us to date the Exo-Force sets, which up to this point have been a mystery. :) That's interesting; I wasn't aware of the Classic Space faction in LEGO Universe. We haven't heard from Futuron in some time...perhaps they went back to using Classic Space uniforms? I was under the impression that the remnant of the Imagination nexus or whatever in LEGO Universe drew minifigures from all over space and time to the Crux system, which would account for Sky Lane and Johnny Thunder--was that an incorrect assumption? TC

Die Insel der schaurigen Masken is almost fifty minutes long--a pretty impressive length for a LEGO Pirate story! TC

Added more info about Mondo II, courtesy of the Wayback machine, and a separate entry for the Magma Moon. Added discussion of Arcae and Galaxy City to the list. Thanks! I was concerned that I was being overzealous in thinking that Xalax was a planet, so it's good to have that confirmed. Interesting...the city is called Galaxy City in most of the Space Police material, so it may have two names. That does indeed look like Earth in the background... I wouldn't say that the LEGO Universe planets cease to exists just because the game isn't around anymore...a lot of these planets are from older material that is now hard to find. I'm reluctant to separate the planets because I don't see that they necessarily have to be in different universes, since most Technic themes take place on planets other than Earth. Technic sets that are Earth based have had Octan logos, and Octan is pretty well established as a fixture in the "minifigure" world. Roboriders takes place in "Cyberspace", which would indicate another type of existance altogether. The number of planets coming from Hero Factory is pretty extensive...perhaps something like "HF" could be used to designate these for easy reference? That's exactly what I thought, until I delved into the LEGO Universe backstory...in a nutshell, the main locations of LEGO Universe are the fragments of the planet Crux, where a nexus of pure Imagination exists. This nexus makes it possible to bring any idea to life. The planet was found by four space explorers, and it is their ideas and those of others brought to the planet that bring the various other themes to life. So the basic backstory is compatible with LEGO Space. Similarly, the Clutch Powers movie has elements from Castle through the use of Ashlar, a planet described as a medieval throwback planet created by "might and magic", much like Ninjago. This allows the story to use elements of Castle while still being primarily a futuristic story compatible with what we know about the LEGO Universe. Whether Clutch Powers takes place closer to the time of Agents and Power Miners or closer to the time of the Space Police III sets is up for debate, though... TC

A few more named Pirates from the LEGOLAND theme parks... Captain Cranky, of Captain Cranky's Challenge at LEGOLAND California. Captain Red Brick and Captain Blue Brick, of the Pirate Reef, also at LEGOLAND California. of the Pirates of Skeleton Bay stunt show at LEGOLAND Windsor. (and former pirate) from the pre-show to the Battle for Brickbeard's Bounty at LEGOLAND Florida.Pepper the Parrot (from the same show) The pre-show confirms that Miranda Valentina is the admiral's daughter, so yep, there's an Admiral Valentina somewhere abouts. TC

Added Planet TECHNIC from the Turbo Command Expander CD-ROM and more info on Holox and Zotax from Insectoid Invasion. TC

Hey all, The Pirate comic book "The Golden Medallion" is pretty well known around here. Even though I never owned it as a kid, it was one of my favorite stories ever--finally, a story all about the adventures of Captain Redbeard! For the longest time I wished there were more. And there were, as it turned out. Even though I've been a LEGO fan online since 1997 and have always been on the search for Pirates-related stuff, somehow the four book Ladybird series escaped my attention. I was excited to discover it, and eventually tracked down all four books in the series. Again, my search was over. Or so I thought. A while back we saw this German catalog page, which I never bothered to translate. It clearly shows six installments of the Pirates adventures. If I'd looked closely, I might have noticed that while the art style matched the Ladybird books, the art itself was different. If I thought about it at all, I might have thought that the extra two covers were from the ever-elusive Pirate activity books, which I still haven't been able to find. Of course, if I could read German, I would have known right away what those images represented. Possibly there was even an explanation here on Eurobricks, but if so I forgot it. So imagine my surprise when, while trying to find information on the Adventurers German audio dramas, I discovered that there were not one, not two, but eight LEGO Pirates audio dramas in existence! (I should have known from the start--Germany produces audio dramas at the drop of a hat.) The website hoerspielland.de has a ton of information on each one, including the case artwork, runtime, and cast. With the exception of the first one, which is an adaptation of the Golden Medallion story, these are all completely new and original LEGO Pirate stories. Here are the titles, and what Google translate was able to make of the plot summaries: The first six appear to have been released in 1990 as part of the initial Pirate wave: Der Schatz der halben Münze (The Treasure of the Half Coin, aka The Golden Medallion) The dreaded Captain Roger captured half a mysterious coin, on the part of a treasure map can be seen. Instantly the gold-hungry Captain begins with the search for the second half of the coin. Willy finds his boatswain. Meanwhile, others know of it and are at least as greedy as Captain Roger. The Hunt for the TREASURE OF THE HALF COIN begins! Der Schatz des Gouverneurs (The Treasure of the Governor) Governor [broadside] brings in a very cunning way a treasure in itself. But he has not continued enjoyment of his prey, because the pirates they want for themselves. Even Captain Roger, boatswain Willy and the whole team of daring "Schwarzhai" participate in the hunt ... Bootsmann Willy rettet den Gouverneur (Bo'sun Will Rescues the Governor) Inspectors from Europe have declared themselves. You want to check the management of the Governor. All pirates agree: Governor [broadside] can not stand up to scrutiny diesr! The inspectors will send him to the desert. But who will be the new Governor? Everything can only get worse if [broadside] is gone. Therefore adopt the pirates to save him ... (Note: The concerns here about Broadside's theoretical replacement were also raised in the Ladybird book "The Royal Visit", but this seems to be a different story...) Der geheimnisvolle Schatz (The Mysterious Treasure) Camilla to marry the horrible McGeyer. As bo'sun Will hears about this, he immediately decided to rescue the niece of the governor. He fibs Captain Roger something of a "treasure" - and even lets the pirate captain set sail... Das Geheimnis von La Sceletta (The Secret of La Sceletta) Bo'sun Will gets exciting news: Camilla has found a treasure map, which bears the name of his father. Will immediately sets on the way to learn about his parents and his background. He is made up of great danger, because there is someone who wants to avoid the absolutelty... Das goldene Schiff (The Golden Ship) Governor Breitseit can not resist the temptation. Passes as a gold ship to La Sabatina, he strikes. He grabs the pirate Captain Roger the ship from under the nose. But Roger did not give up, and begins a perilous struggle for the gold... The final audio dramas are episodes 2 and 6 of a larger LEGO series, and introduce elements from later Pirate releases such as Captain Ironhook and the Islanders. There is a new voice actor playing Captain Roger (Redbeard), but Will is the same actor from the previous series. Die Insel der schaurigen Masken (The Island of Scary Masks) "All the people on board" roars Cap'n Roger. "Now we get the treasure!" Wading with greed in mind ie pirates on land. But what is it? Dull roar drums. A grauslicher idol growing out of the southern night. Piratensegel am Horizont (Pirate Sails on the Horizon) (No summary.) One might think that these stories, released on the now-ancient format of audio cassette, would be obscure and impossible to find like the rest of the LEGO audio dramas. Not so, at least for the first six! They were repackaged and re-released without the LEGO brand in 2004, apparently to capitalize on the recently released Pirates of the Caribbean film. (It's interesting to see the non-LEGO versons of Roger, Will, Camilla, and Broadside.) They are available for purchase on CD and immediate download on Amazon.de! Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 I tried to download them in hopes of obtaining a translation, as my father and brother both speak German. Unfortunately, it can only be downloaded in the UK, so perhaps those of you overseas will have better luck. :( I'd still love to obtain the audio dramas somehow... If we could get a translation, or at least better plot summaries that would be amazing. It just goes to show you that no matter how much you think you know about LEGO Pirates, there's always something new to surprise you... TC

Added the first Galaxy Squad planet: Lavoo, from the web game. The web game isn't up yet, but there's a screenshot with the planet info... TC

Those are good ones...the Galaxy City planetoid has come up a couple of times now... I would say that we still don't know the name of the planet/planetoid that it's on, but I'm starting to see that it might be too major a location to leave out. What do you all think? Normally, moons wouldn't be on the list...however, I did some digging, and it seems that the Magma Moon has been identified (at least online) as the second moon of the planet Mondo, in a LEGO.com game from 1996 "The Space Mystery". I've confirmed the game's existence here, but the game itself is probably gone forever. I've added it (tentatively) to the list. Thanks for bringing it up! Thanks! I've added them to the list. I've been adding some miscellaneous stuff here and there, from the Alien Conquest "Ask an Alien" feature and whatnot. Check it out! TC

It may be a slightly selective interpretation, but I would argue that the set description means the first Classic Space astronaut as it's clearly modeled after the classic minifigures. (Or at least as much as it can be, given that the helmet mold no longer exists.) Assuming the beginnings of the LEGO Space Program are anything like our own, the first true LEGO Space astronaut would have been in the 60s and would have looked more like the NASA or Launch Command figures than anything else. Thanks for bringing up those Life on Mars logs--I barely remember those! Do you have access to them? Are they still online somewhere? I'd love to find out more information for the timeline... And good points on those Collectable Minifigure bios. Just because there aren't any new sets for a given theme doesn't mean they aren't still around. The Space Villainess and Intergalactic Girl bios definitely indicate that the Alien Conquest aliens (who we might call the Xtwoans for short, given that they come from planet X2½) are still a power to be reckoned with in the Blacktron/Futuron era, though it's unclear if the Space Villainess participated in the initial invasion. Hypaxxus-8 has been shown to be involved in events thousands of years in Earth's past, so perhaps they live a really long time. Alternatively, time travel could be involved since they clearly have the technology... TC

Good catch, Fugazi! I don't have any classic space sets ( ) so I never would have found that piece of information! I added it to my timeline. A canon is difficult in LEGO, since some interpretations of the world are pretty wacky. After a long time in which I was extremely picky about what to include, I've settled on some personal rules: Any stories that have the minifigures acting of their own volition without aid from someone like the a LEGO Maniac are "canon". Any non-anachronistic information (particularly character names) from stories or magazine articles that do have references to pop culture and appearances by the Maniac are also acceptable. (I would hate to discout Beltar as a character even though he only appears alongside the Manaics!) Crossovers are acceptable only if the themes take place in approximitely the same period (Atlantis/Power Miners/Agents), or if time travel is involved or can be inferred (so no Red Beard getting together with policemen and spacemen to trim a Christmas tree.) Liscensed themes take place in their own seperate universes that largely resemble the properties on which they are based. It's a relatively simple set of rules that allow for the maximum amount of information to be used. As do I! The way I prefer to see it is that Zonia was originally an Earth colony world, and that by whatever point in the (now extensive) Classic Space period Jim Spaceborn takes place, many (but not all) spacegoing minifigures call it home. Captain Indigo seems to be from Earth, so that is encouraging. That's certainly a valid perspective--there are any number of ways of looking at the LEGO Universe. Even the idea that different themes correspond to different eras along a timeline is open for debate, given stuff like LEGO Island, in which each theme appears to occupy an island of its own. For the most part, the story material outside the sets is consistant enough that I enjoy making it all inclusive. It's also worth pointing out that occasionally the tie-in material is the only way of making sense of some of these themes--otherwise we'd have no idea that Rock Raiders takes place in the future on an alien planet while Power Miners takes place on Earth in the present. I like this idea! The name "Blacktron: Future Generation" certainly implies that it is at least a generation removed from the earliest Blacktron sets. There was enough overlap in the Blacktron/Futuron-Unitron period that it would make sense to assume that they all occured within a generation or two of each other, but there's no need to assume that they all existed only within that generation. Considering that the LEGO world seems to comit more resources in general to space exploration (Space Port, Life on Mars), and that their technology in the "present" often seems pretty advanced (Power Miners, Agents, Alpha Team) and that they undoubtedly have access to alien technology (Alien Conquest), I'd say 2079 seems a pretty fair estimation. I wouldn't discount the statue as just a homage--going by what we've established so far, it would appear to have been made in 2109 to commemorate the Classic Space program (and possibly the founding of Galaxy City). Assuming it's over 1000 years old by the time it's stolen is a bit of a stretch, but that would definitely make it valuable! TC

It's interesting that you bring this up--I was thinking of posting a similar topic! :) Producing a definitive Space timeline is quite tricky since there is a ton of story material outside of the sets suggesting that the various space factions are contemporary with the Town sets--in other words, everyone in Space is an alien. For example: The US Mania club magazines had contemporary criminal Jailbreak Joe attempt to reach Spyrius, and had contemporary Earth invaded by Spyrius and the UFOs. The comic Jim Spaceborn contains no references to Earth, instead stating that the planet Zonia is the homeworld of the Classic Space Minifigs. The Clutch Powers movie flits between seemingly-contemporary Earth and outer space, using elements from Mars Mission and Space Police III I'm not at all fond of this interpretation, but it's worth mentioning because of the sheer volume of story material supporting it. Fortunately, LEGO seems to be going the other direction now, what with the new Space Shuttle and the Mars Mission sets sporting a variant Classic Space logo--indicating a direct, Earth-based precurser to the Classic Space theme from which all others are descended. And there are a few references which place the Space sets in the future: The comic story “Captain Indigo Sets Out” in the Spring 1983 issue of Bricks ‘n Pieces states that the Classic Space theme takes place in the future. The new LEGO Ideas Book implies that the Classic Space Minifigs date from the 4000s or so. The March 1996 issue of Bricks n’ Pieces magazine has a date of 3200 AD for the Exploriens sets. Given that the 3200 AD date is the only definitive one I've been able to find so far, it's the one I choose to go with. It's relatively unusual for space stories like this to be set this far in the future--Star Trek and Babylon 5 were set within only a few centuries of our time. Given the glacial pace of space travel so far (weren't we going to Mars, guys?), however, I feel like it might be more realistic. Given that date, here's another version of the Space timeline, assuming that the Space series progressed at roughly the same time it was released: 1990 NASA (1990) At this point in time the US space agency NASA is responsible for launching space shuttles. (1682 Space Shuttle) According to the July-August 1996 Mania Magazine, Dr. Cyber was once a NASA scientist. 1995-1997 Launch Command (1995) Shuttles are still being used, but there are also missions to the moon. NASA appears to have been replaced by Launch Command. 1999 Space Port (1999) Launch Command in turn is replaced by Space Port. Shuttles are still being used. Rogue meteors threaten Earth. Note: Brickipedia says that a storybook has the Life on Mars character BB being trained at Space Port for an upcoming Mars Mission. I haven't been able to confirm this, but it does tie the two themes together. 2000 Arctic (2000) An Arctic expedition uncovers more meteors, containing the first known example of alien life. 2001 Life on Mars (2001) First contact with intelligent alien life. This seems to be set in the same year it was released; a comic in the LEGO club magazine has the returning astronauts encounter a Studios film crew and Alpha Team. 2010 Dino Attack/Dino 2010 (2005) Mutant dinosaurs attack in urban settings. An oddly common occurance. (See below.) 2011 City Space (2011) First variation on the Classic Space logo appears--the beginning of that famous space exporation program. Shuttles are still in use, though more advanced craft have reached Mars. (This is not uncommon in sci-fi franchises--both Star Trek and Doctor Who have more advanced space vehicles existing alongside actual spacecraft such as the shuttles in the 20th and 21st centuries.) Alien Conquest (2011) The alien forces of Hypaxxus 8 attempt a full scale invasion of Earth. 2012 Dino (2012) Having failed in his invasion of Earth, Hypaxxus 8 unleashes dinosaurs upon the inhabitants of Earth. (The LEGO Club magazine had a comic tying the two themes together. The LEGO Alien Conquest website had already established that Hypaxxus knew of a planet where dinosaurs still lived.) 2045 (?) Mars Misson (2007) An Earth mining expedition, wearing the Classic Space emblem, encounters alien interlopers on Mars. (The date is from this Wikipedia entry. It may not be official.) 2079-3192 (?) Classic Space (1978-1988) According the Bricks 'n Pieces Captain Indigo comics, intersteller flight, time travel, and additional alien contact all occur during the period of Classic Space. Earth appears, and is little changed from the 20th century. (This jives with the Clutch Powers movie.) Space exporation appears to be based out of the planet Zonia. Jim Spaceborn and the crew of the Spearhead encounter what appears to be a proto-Blacktron faction in an unknown galaxy. 3191 Futuron (1987) An update of the Classic Space faction. A mention of "FuturonCorp" in the Space Villain bio suggests that this might be a private corporation. Alternatively, FuturonCorp could be an outside contractor supplying the Futuron faction. Blacktron (1987) Strking out from the center of the galaxies, Blacktron appears to be a criminal organization/space empire. 3193 Space Police (1989) The Space Police appear to be part of the Futuron faction, as they wear the same uniform here. 3194 M-Tron (1990) By this year, the United Galaxies have been formed. Laws are made by a Galactic Council, according to the 1992 US catalog. There is also a Space Council, according to the Summer 1994 Bricks n’ Pieces magazine. 3195 Blacktron Future Generation (1991) The updated Blacktron logo will be used by Blacktron affilated individuals for years to come. By this point, the Blacktron forces are led by Commander Beltar. (Feb. 1993 Disney Adventures comic: Encounter at Ice Station Odyssey) 3196 Space Police II (1992) Now led by Captain Magenta, a new incarnation of the Space Police is born. 3197 Ice Planet 2002 (1993) In spite of the theme's name, no tie-in material I've found suggests it actually takes place in 2002. Instead, Ice Planet 2002 seems to refer to the planet Krysto itself. 3198 Unitron (1994) Spyrius (1994) 3199 Aquazone (1995) As most Eurobricks members know, Aquazone was concieved as a Space theme contemporary with Futuron and was set on an alien world. The final theme was more vague about its setting--it has Earth sharks, stingrays and octopi, but the blue rock formations featured throughout the setting didn't resemble anything on Earth. Aquasharks, a faction of Aquanauts-turned-pirate (according to Issue 1 1995 of Bricks 'n Pieces magazine) appear on Holox with the Insectoids in the Insectoid Puzzle Book, which would seem to indicate that this theme takes place at the same time as the other Space themes. Coupled with its origins as "Seatron", I'm inclined to assume that it takes place around 3199. Where it takes place remains a mystery. 3200 Exploriens (1996) This is merely the first known date at which the Exploriens were active--they've clearly been around for awhile as of the magazine story. 3201 UFO (1997) Interesting story point: the droids used by the UFO forces were not built by them! Instead, they were recruited (Bricks n' Pieces August 1997) or abducted and forcibly reprogrammed. (Mania Magazine September-October 1997) Roboforce (1997) 3202 Insectoids (1998) The Insectoid Invasion puzzle book describes the Insectoids as refugees fleeing their evil leader. As a kid, I speculated that they were part of the UFO empire, as they wore similar outfits. 3203 Rock Raiders (1999) Not LEGO's last journey underground, the Rock Raiders would be tough to place just by looking at the sets. Clearly there's some futuristic technology here, such as hovercraft and laser drills, but nothing too fancy. Rock monsters and energy crystals would also be used in the Power Miners theme, which is set on contemporary Earth. (!) It's only the backstory presented in the games and books that indicates a Space setting on another planet. Probably contemporary with other space sets, but with 3000+ years of space exploration, anything is possible. 3212 Star Justice vs. Space Skulls (?) I'm placing this here based on its year of release, but like Rock Raiders it could go anywhere on the timeline. It's unclear where Star Justice falls in the grander scheme of spacegoing law enforcement (which includes an impressive number of agencies at this point) but its logo is similar to the Futuron affiliated groups. Likewise the Space Skull Gang's nature is undefined: are they aliens who resemble skeletons, pirates wearing masks, or actual animated skeletons from Ashlar or Ninjago? 3213 Space Police III (2009) The latest incarnation of the Space Police fights alien criminals from the Black Hole Gang in Galaxy City and elsewhere. Definitely set after the two previous Space Police sets, as there is a Classic Space statue in the Galactic Enforcer set. Old Space Police uniforms are also seen on display in the .This is also apparently the time of Clutch Powers, who helps out the Space Police in The Adventures of Clutch Powers. Again, Earth seen here is little changed from 21st century Earth, with Power Miners and Agents still active, but this is not inconsistant with the old Captain Indigo comics. Presumably all the advanced technology is on Zonia. 3216 (?) Galaxy Squad (2013) Galaxy Squad's backstory remains unrevealed, but the LEGO Club magazine suggested that events in the Monster Fighters theme indirectly instigated the insect invasion. The time period of Monster Fighters remains unclear...possibly the 1960s. The Future Ninjago (2011-2013) LEGO Universe (2010-2012) The backstory for LEGO Universe involved spaceships, and is set around the remains of the planet Crux. It appears to be contemporary with Ninjago, which is set on (you guessed it) the planet Ninjago. The Ninjago episode The Royal Blacksmiths mentions Clutch Powers as having participated in historical events far in Ninjago's past, so barring time travel (which is possible) it seems LEGO Universe and Ninjago take place long after most of the Space themes. Themes that are difficult to place: Exo Force I've never seen anything that puts Exo Force in context with any other LEGO theme or time period. It could take place on Earth. It could take place on Ninjago. It could take place on another planet altogether. To those more familiar with the storyline: was there ever any information about the setting beyond some mystical mountain? TC

Interesting fact: the January-Febuary 2007 US LEGO Magazine issue features a mention of Captain Brickbeard by the Aquaraiders two years before his minifigure debut.... TC