TalonCard

Hey everyone! I'm back, and with plenty of new planets to add, from Clutch Powers and the Bricks 'n Pieces magazine scans posted here. Thanks to Simon and Oky for keeping the list clean and updated in my absense...I think I accidentally messed up some of the nice formatting work when I updated the list, though. :( I have some more thoughts about the futuristic world of LEGO Space after reading through the Bricks 'n Pieces back issues, so I'll be posting them soon. I will say, though, that I'm pretty sure that X2½ is the Imperial Throneworld...it would seem to make sense. TC

Martin, I know how time-consuming scanning can be, but we'd love to see them! In the meantime, if you want to share story and character information (about any themes, but particularly Pirates) I'd be really interested in hearing about it! TC

New names!!! New names!!! As I posted here, the site miniland.nl has been posting scans of old LEGO Club magazines. These have yielded some new Pirate names. From a winning poetry competition in Bricks 'n Pieces Autumn 1992 we have Jake the Peg, a pirate whose peg-leg is made of LEGO rather than wood. The,Bricks 'n Pieces Spring 1994 has an alternate name for King Kahuka: Chief Quextil. (Or perhaps they're just cousins?) The May/June 1996 issue actually has names for the Armada characters! Captain Valiant is the green shirted figure, while Sergeant Speedy (oh dear) is the red shirted soldier. The March-April Mania Magazine has, as has previously been reported, names for every figure from the Red Beard Runner. I finally found the missing one: Gonzo Goldbar, the patch-eyed pirate with the blue bandanna. This page is missing from my copy, and I've been wondering what that last name was for YEARS! :) There's also a contest to name the Armada Admiral--the options were "Billy Cannonball Cordoba", "Don Diego de LEGO" (my personal favorite) and a write-in option. The winner was never announced, but some of the write-in names were printed in the July-August issue: "Sir-Sail-a-Lot", "Don Juan DeMented", and "Chrislego Columbia". Like the Admiral, the new collectable minifig Pirate Captain lacks a name, but it's part of his character. Until he finds a good Pirate name, he'll be the LEGO equivelent of Gideon Defoe's equally nameless Pirate Captain. Finally, the new LEGO Friends Brickmaster book briefly mentions a pirate called Dark-Eyed Kate. TC

Hi all, I've been lurking for a bit now, but I've been gone for awhile so I apologize if some of this has been posted already. The site miniland.nl has been posting scans of LEGO Club magazines from around the world, some of which I've been meaning to scan and some I've never seen before! Here are the Pirate highlights: Bricks 'n Pieces Autumn 1989 This is the magazine of the UK LEGO Club. This issue has pictures of a touring LEGO World show with a Pirate theme. Does anyone remember going to see this?! There's a massive island fortress with some Caribbean Clipper variants docked, and a secret Pirate cave that can hide the Black Seas Barracuda. If I'd been taken there as a kid I never would have left. ;) Bricks 'n Pieces Summer 1990 News of a national (British) Pirate competition called Escape from Shark Island. The brick-built pirate figure from makes an appearance. Shark Island was the subject of one of the Ladybird books. It would be nice to see if the competition forms from the shops had more story details; the magazine story is pretty vague. There's also a Governor Broadside keychain I hadn't seen before; he's wearing a tricorn in place of his usual bicorne.Bricks 'n Pieces Summer 1992 There's a brief piece on Pirates here, but it has some interesting details. I think this may be the first time I've seen Admiral Woodhouse named in a contemporary official source. Backstory here: Woodhouse built the stronghold at Port Royal (Imperial Trading Post), and Ironhook is an "old friend" of Roger (Red Beard) called in to fight the Imperial Guards. This is interesting as Red Beard and Ironhook are fighting against each other , but they are pirates, after all. ;)The image used of the pirate in the red barrel is aparently an old prototype picture, since the ones used in the sets were always brown. We saw this picture before in a 1989 issue. There's also a cartoon "spot the difference" game featuring the Imperial flagship, a schedule for the Pirate tour, and a Pirate poem competition... Bricks 'n Pieces Autumn 1992 This one features a Pirate cover, with a brick-built scene, apparently from the aforementioned tour, showing De Martinent and Broadside stranded on a raft. (The characters are in blue and red coats respectively--I keep telling you people they're on the same side, but the feud continues... ;) ) It's interesting that the characters from the 1989 launch are still around at this point. There are more pictures of the tour displays inside--I wish we had more! Apparently they were interactive--visitors could animate the scenes with push buttons. Also in this issue are the two winners of the Pirate poem competition. Michael Porter's Aboard Darkshark [black Seas Barracuda] gives a surprisingly accurate summary of the characters introduced in the comic and book series. Adam Robert's contribution tells of Jake the Peg, a slightly more interesting character whose replacement limb is made of LEGO rather than wood. ,Bricks 'n Pieces Spring 1994 This issue has a lot of information about the Indigo Islanders, with more background than I'd seen before. Here the Islander leader is called Chief Quextil, which is probably an alternate name for King Kahuka. The story in the first couple of pages also mentions his cousins, who've had encounters with the Pirates before, though, so I prefer to think of Kahuka and Quextil as cousins--it gives me an excuse for all the Islander chiefs I have running around! ;) The story has a cliffhanger ending, inviting yet another competition to finish it. There's a nifty Islanders shirt on the back page--I'd love one in my size! Bricks 'n Pieces Summer 1994 Here we have a continuation of the Islander story, but it's one written by the magazine staff as opposed to one of the competition winners. The conflict between the Pirates and the Islanders is settled quite anti-climactically--it turns out Red Beard isn't so bad after all; he just has to act tough to keep up the piratical image. (Quite a complex character, Red Beard.) As it turns out, Chief Quextil shares a birthday with Red Beard...this is interesting as Red Beard sharing a birthday with Governor Broadside was a plot point in the Ladybird book series. What can be made of the fact that three faction leaders share the same birthday? There's also a cute MOC of a giant Imperial Guard minifig, a nifty Islander patch, and a "Beano Competition"...which apparently means something different to UK readers than it does to US residents... Bricks 'n Pieces Autumn 1994 This issue has a few pictures of a "Treasure Hunt" exhibition in Dublin, which promises all kinds of information about the Islanders...if only someone had visited the exhibit to document it! :( Interestingly enough, the exhibition has little to do with Pirates, and instead focuses on Professor Stanley and his assistant George, 20th century treasure hunters. Apparently island life changed little in 200-odd years. Bricks 'n Pieces Issue 2 1995 Not much for Pirate fans in the next couple of issues, but this one has a bit about the new (tiny) wave of Pirate sets. No new info here, but it's interesting to see the UK names of these sets, which have since faded into obscurity. Bricks 'n Pieces May/June 1996 This is a full-on Pirate issue, and supplies some much-needed names for the Armada characters. Captain Valiant is the green shirted figure, while Sergeant Speedy (oh dear) is the red shirted soldier. Bricks 'n Pieces August 1996 Mostly a Western issue, but it reprints the Pirate comic from the September-October 1995 Mania Magazine. Apparently Bricks 'n Pieces was a few issues behind here. Bricks 'n Pieces October/November 1996 Features the winners of a Pirate flag contest and a small pirate section with short but astonishingly accurate descriptions of Captain Hook and Long John Silver. (Looks like someone actually read the books!) Also has a rediculous segue into the Robin Williams character from Jumanji, as a video of that film was the Pirates-related prize. (No one wanted Cutthroat Island, I'm guessing.) LEGO Mania Magazine Winter 1994 The first issue of the relaunched US LEGO Club magazine was Pirate themed (as it should be) but focused mostly on the Islanders. The short comic is worth checking out--Red Beard is after the Islanders treasure. (Apparently he got on better with Kahuka's cousin Quextil than with Kahuka himself!) Unfortunately the comic is the only thing from that issue on the site. LEGO Mania Magazine September-October 1995 Fortunately this issue is presented in its entirety, as it has a short story about the Pirates and a Pirate comic! LEGO Mania Magazine November-December 1995 This issue has a brief bio on Red Beard and an expose on missing Islander Christmas gifts. (Which Red Beard had absolutely nothing to do with...) Red Beard also shows up in the comic. LEGO Mania Magazine March-April 1996 This is one is all about Pirates! There's a bio on the mysterious Armada Admiral, a comic, and names for every figure from the Red Beard Runner. LEGO Mania Magazine July-August 1996 Red Beard makes a brief appearance as a victim of Rob N Hood's time-thefts. The following issue would state that Red Beard is the great uncle of Flatfoot Thompson from the Western theme. LEGO Mania Magazine November-December 1996 There's a brief reader-submitted story about the Pirates and the Armada. That's pretty much it for the Mania Magazines. The divers in the May-June 1997 comic are exploring the wreck of the Cross Bone Clipper, which Red Beard apparently sunk himself for unknown reasons. Non-Pirate related but amusing is the cover blurb from the March-April 1997 issue: "Twist off to Roboforce!" That sounds...inappropriate. The Netherland's LEGO Club magazine has lots of features that don't appear in other countries, as far as I can tell. The issues are tough to navigate, but there are some nice black-and-white pictures of the 1989 Pirate line that I don't recall seeing anywhere else. Each issue also appears to feature a prose story of some length, at least one of which features Pirates. I can't tell if these are reprinted non-LEGO stories or if they are about the LEGO themes and characters...perhaps someone who reads Dutch can translate? TC

Switzerland has no LEGO store? Bizarre. TC

It would be interesting to see how long some real-life 18th century historical figures lived for comparison. Life expectancy was shorter then...50 or 60 would have been very old indeed for a pirate or soldier. TC

Ooooh, Frankenstein again! I missed out on getting a Frankenstein minifigure when the Studios sets came out, then again when they had a Frankenstein in the Collectable Minifigures line. The Light brick part of the Frankenstein set sounds fantastic too. My friend also really wanted a Frankenstein minifigure, so maybe I'll grab an extra one for her too. :) I think LEGO may be leaning a little too heavily on the steampunk prosthetics, but we'll see... TC

I love the use of the space helmets and the chairs in this MOC--this deserves to be blogged! [bloggedcp][/bloggedcp] TC

Great job! I love how the wheel operates both the cannon and the rudder on the Bounty. :) Look for this to be blogged soon. :) [bloggedcp][/bloggedcp] TC

Hmmm...the Ninjago storyline actually takes place on another planet...if Pirates vs. Ninja(go)s had to happen, at least it wouldn't happen in the context of "historical" LEGO... TC

Here you go! It would also be interesting to see the islands from the treasure map tile incorporated as well... TC

I seem to remember him being called Steve way before that, during my Lugnet days. Anybody remember Lugnet? TC

Interesting idea for a story! I've always wanted to see a continuation of the original Pirate storyline. I liked that you incorporated names from the comic and the Plus Four sets. I think your map may need some tweaking, though. Have you seen the map of the Tropical Sea from the Pirate storybooks? It lays out a pretty definitive geography for the Pirate world. It's honestly hard to tell if you used it as a starting point or not, but it does provide names for a lot of the islands, which is cool. In any case, it's definitely blog-worthy! [bloggedcp][/bloggedcp] Look for it to be blogged in the next couple of weeks--incentive to finish the next part of the story! I also liked your interpretation of the soldiers and Imperial Guards as the forces of fictional powers, rather than, say, the British or the French. I'll be honest, though, I don't much care for naming their respective nations the Bluecoats and Redcoats...it's just too fanish. The idea that they are rival factions is also unsupported by the official material--during the years in which both were on the shelves, the soldier sets were sold under the Imperial Guards banner in the catalogs, and the leader of both has always been Broadside in the US, even though the faces change. The logical conclusion is that they're different divisions of the same military. Also, the soldiers have been portrayed as forces of an explicitly European nation protecting settlers and colonists in the comics and on the boxes...like the real-life 18th century colonies in the Caribbean, it doesn't seem likely they're anywhere near the homeland. TC

Very nice work! I particularly like the brick built sails; they have a very authentic shape. Expect this to be blogged soon. [bloggedcp][/bloggedcp] TC

I always thought they were the same faction, so the insistence on separating the two never made sense to me. But to each his own... TC

This may end up being moved to the MOC forum, but it is an awesome model and deserves to be blogged. [bloggedcp][/bloggedcp] TC

I LOVE the Pirates in Hawaii pictures. They're too good not to share, so expect them to be blogged soon! [bloggedcp][/bloggedcp] TC

My brother gave me the Fountain of Youth set for Christmas, but the big surprise was my uncle giving me the Queen Anne's Revenge! I've never received a LEGO pirate ship for Christmas...or as a gift...or a set that big as a gift...I'm so excited! So now Blackbeard can really set sail to find the Fountain of Youth. :) TC

I love these tiny ships! It was neat seeing those big Red Beard Runner sails made to look even bigger. :) And great detail work; I liked seeing the Collectable Minifig stands on the side... Look for this to be blogged soon! [bloggedcp][/bloggedcp] TC

Hey everyone, I wasn't aware until recently that LEGO has teamed up with DK to put out a new LEGO Ideas book. Like the 1990 and 1997 idea books, this one has several pages devoted to Pirates. I haven't been able to get a copy of the book yet, but several of the pages can be viewed at Amazon. There's a neat little brick built pirate ship, parrots, and a shipwreck. I'd like to see an entire Idea Book devoted to pirates one day, but it's good to see that the Pirate theme is getting some exposure even while the focus is on POTC. Look for this topic to be blogged in the near future. [bloggedcp][/bloggedcp] TC

After almost two decades of waiting and wanting, I finally tracked down a copy of the comic The Golden Medallion! This means that I have everything Pirates-related from the release year of 1989. Now to tackle the other years... TC

True, but there is the fact that the minifigures are the ones invading the monster's habitat. It's rude if nothing else. Added Ninjago to the list. I managed to track down a copy of the comic Jim Spaceborn and the Unknown Galaxy, and added Zonia, Commercia, and new information on Robus from the book to the list. One interesting thing about the book is that the unknown galaxy is controlled by a faction that looks like a proto-Blacktron. They have the same color scheme, black and yellow, and they have black space suits. They're led by a minifig named Kazak and they share Blacktron's status as technological innovators/galactic imperialists/space criminals. Could this be Blacktron Generation 0? TC

I remember reading these back in the day! I loved the little stories, and reading reviews about sets I really wanted but didn't have was always exciting. :) The best part about the stories is that many of them are interconnected, so reading all of them can be rewarding... TC

Hey all, EDIT to reflect that this is not new. Thanks for the save, Captain Becker. :) I saw the fantastic Republic of Texas Navy on display at Brick Fiesta this year, and wanted to share it with those who may not have seen it. Eurobricks member RTN LNA has put together a Navy from an alternate history of my home state of Texas. There are several vessels here, so it's definitely worth a look! This model, the RTS Zavala, has a working paddlewheel! Check out several more ships here. Look for this topic to be blogged soon! [bloggedcp][/bloggedcp] TC

You know, if we don't get any LEGO original pirate sets for awhile, it'd be really cool to see one or more sets based on Peter Pan...wouldn't it be cool to have Captain Hook and Smee minifigs? TC