jamtf

My favourite would be this guy: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?M=pi047 At least not that typical run of the mill guy and the is quite versatile to use (usually he is one of my more important men on the ship or the one at the steering wheel). If I had to pick a second favourite, I would pick this one: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?M=pi056 Like it just as much as the one in the green shirt actually so they are my ex-aequo favourites. Least favourite is this: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?M=pi029 A bit weird colour scheme, the green legs and blue rag and I do not like the shirt that much.

Phes, your search keyword "pirate" on BL obviously missed the huge sets without pirate in the set name such as 6248 (7 available), 6277 (2 available), 6279 (7 available) 6285 (1 available), 6286 (3 available), 6296 (11 available) for instance and the sealed Islander sets which I consider pirate themed sets as well. 8-|

Oh, you think so? Well, then I have to drive 10 miles to see them each night. A remark such as yours is either based on jealousy or you are just ignorant. By the way, you just lost the 10 bucks you put at stake. I will gladly receive them and will invest those in a sealed set, just to piss you off.

I know what you mean. Today, I built my used 6289 red beard runner. Bricks were as new and I can only assume that the set was built only once or twice. Lots of extra bricks too. I washed the set, gave the white bricks some extra treatment to get rid of some yellowing and it really looks as new. No need to open my sealed example, this one will do fine for building purposes and it is the same except not new of course but fortunately the bricks condition is almost just as good (no bite marks or heavy scratching).

Some time ago, the same discussion has taken place on classic-castle.com. Opinions went 2 different ways, either you like to open the set, feel the new bricks and build it or you keep it sealed as long as you own it. There were people over there who would even consider opening a huge set such as a sealed 6081 king's mountain fortress. That would be a waste of money I would think since those kind of sets sell for a lot of money when they are new.

Nice sum. I presume 500 USD. You could buy a lot of Lego for that but this might be virtually irreplaceable. At least, you will need to wait a long time before you can buy one. A sealed 6285 is really a treasure to own, same goes for a sealed 6286 of course. They can be quite easily obtained in used condition but a sealed copy of this set is a rare species and they get rarer every day a new example is being opened for building purposes. Imagine a little boy getting this set for his birthday or at Christmas time. First thing he would do is build it which is quite understandable since children don't care about keeping sets such as this MISB. Usually, MISB sets of this nature come from adult collectors who bought more than one set when they were new (6285 between 1989 and 1993 and the 6286 between 1993 and 1996) or they got forgotten by accident and have been stored away in the attic ever since. That's why they will always fetch a high price since the adult collector who decides to part with it usually knows the market value perfectly well.

None taken, thanks for your consideration.

I happen to have a 6267 Lagoon-Lock-Up (yes, it is still sealed X-D)with the older yellow border Legoland box while I have seen it numerous times with the younger purple System box. US System boxes tend to have the black and red triangle in the top right corner with "Pirates" and jolly roger patern. European sets do not have this. The US Legoland boxes had the yellow Legoland border with "Pirate System" written underneath while European varieties just had plain Legoland in blue without additional remarks. Same goes for the Legoland "Castle System" sets and perhaps other sets of different lines. US boxes also had the name on the box, another difference with the European issues. You are again correct Phes. That's why so many US sellers perfectly know how to describe the set including the most common name for it since it is written on the box. They do not need to check out the internet to learn more. Also, Lugnet and BrickLink tend to use the US names for sets while they were named differently in other parts of the world such as the UK and Australia (Skulls Eye Schooner vs. The Black Skull) for instance. And yes, we went off topic for a bit.

True. Lego will never re-release in the exact same way. Look at the legends for instance, set is a perfect copy in the exact same colors and bricks as the real thing, box art however totally different. Discontinued sets can also be recognized by the year of first release on the box which will be different on a legend set. Check out the original boxes and box art of 6278, 6280, 6285 and 6289 and compare those to 6292, 6291, 10040 and 6290. Besides the obvious difference, even the set numbers have changed. Same goes for the classic town 6390 Main Street re-issue (10041).

Yes, it was a joke but you took it too far by exaggerating things a little too drastically which made it look like you were belittling me. :-/ A sealed set is a sealed set, no more and no less. :-/

Yes, I can sit back and look at things in a totally different way indeed! Don't worry, there are still many sealed sets to be unearthed. I suspect that there are still quite a few hidden in attics or in cupboards that got forgotten until someone rediscovers them and decides to put them up for sale, preferrably at a cheap price with a buy it now option.

Don't forget to buy some viking heads. Especially the one with the opened mouth can be a mean looking pirate! http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=3626bpb255 Also, the KKII Rascus head is a good one. Can either be used as a generic pirate or a Spaniard with his goatee. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=3626bpb216

Don't worry Phes. Everyone may look at it the way he or she likes. If Sting likes to build the Lego sets he acquired, let him do it. Then again, every opened discontinued is one less to worry about which makes the ones that remain sealed even more rare! X-D By the way, what sort of sets did you get for a sweet price Mr. Sting?

I think the minifigs are too generic. They are basically all black and all have captain like torsos, I mean they all seem to be the most important man on the ship. I like diversity and color myself. I tend to use the generic striped torsos and the other pirate torsos at random. Occassionally, I create some black pirates or officers. Torsos that fit the pirate series well are the Sam Sinister one and the ones used in the Orient Adventurers line such as the one from Babloo and the maharaja and palace guard torsos with knife from 7418 Scorpion Palace. For a captain I might point out that the black Lego studios vampire torso is a good one as well. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=973px165c01

In fact, my sealed sets are in an appartment 10 miles away from where I live. They are in a room in an abandoned house and remain there until I find time to sort things out. My own house did not have the room anymore so I had to drag them away. I occassionally go there to check them out. They are collector's pieces in their own right and lots of time and money were spent acquiring them. As long as I own them, they will stay sealed. No need to make fun of that with the bullet proof crap. I may be crazy but hey, at least I enjoy owning the sets in pristine unharmed condition. No bite marks, no heavy signs of use and guaranteed 100% complete factory new condition sets which saves me some frustrations. Besides that, a sealed set will always be in demand. No one can complain that the quality of the set leaves to be desired. The condition of the box is the only worry (price mark tear damage and storage or shelf wear). It is like Phes says, if you want to play, buy the sets in used condition. I do have some used sets such as 6244, 6265, 6277, 6285, 6286, 6289 (all with boxes) and lots of loose pieces such as hulls, sterns, bows, mast sections, rigging, sails, baseplates, white castle walls, palm trees, cannons, bricks, pirate minifigs etc. so I can basically build the sets I want to build (except 6276 since I do not own that).

I made a mistake. I have old and new versions of the musket. The reddish brown ones I have are the new type with the triangle cut out of each side. The new ones also have a small hammer. The old ones have a pointed hammer (the thing that hammers on the pan to make the flintlock rifle shoot) while the new ones have a more rounded and smaller hammer.

Yes, despite all of my buying lately, I am still without a 6276 Eldorado Fortress. Lost the bidding for a used one yesterday (I bid too low, if I wanted I could have gotten it) and added a boxed 6267 Lagoon Lock-Up instead. Did not add much lately, am awaiting arrivals of a sealed 6289 and a sealed 6285. The 6276 Fortress seems to be a haunted chase for me. Maybe, one day, I will get lucky. Might add that I am picky when it comes to adding new sets. When not sealed, original box and instructions are desired no less, except when it concerns the smaller sets such as 1747, 6235, 6251, 6260, etc. 8-|

I saw it yesterday on the box of my 6289 red beard runner, the legs and headgear of the 7 pirate crew have been swapped all over the place according to the back of the box. Neat to know that you can make and recreate some more alternate Lego approved minifigs based on official Lego (back) box art. :-$

I only seem to have the old models in old brown and reddish brown (wanted some variety in those). Besides that, I like the old model better. X-D

Neat set in very nice box. Too bad about the bonus set, would have been great to see that one in pristine condition also. Never new that this was sold as a value pack together. I was under the impression that allmost every big set went by itself, except I got a 4512 train set that came with 4514, 4515 and 4520 combined in a 65801 value pack.

My most prized Lego sets are 6277 Imperial Trading Post and 6285 Black Seas Barracuda. Both sealed. But I also like a smaller Lego set such as 6267 Lagoon Lock-Up, 6244 Armada Sentry or a minifig pack like 6251 Pirate Mini Figures. It does not necessarily need to be a huge set for me. Smaller sets can be just as much fun.

How about a 10 -20 minifig pack with all sorts of pirates and soldiers or perhaps a realistic well designed sunken shipwreck? I would certainly like to see an imperial trading post size pirate lagoon with rocks and lots of green or maybe some sort of port royal harbour scene with a dock, cliff and houses.

Have to correct this already after getting another 6285 BSB off eBay today. The score is therefore settled at 3-3 which is more like it! X-D

I hope that next year's Aquaraiders will be good. Although not a pirate theme, it has some pirate related things in the sets such as the shipwreck and the pirate treasure and skeleton. That is my only objective for getting those, the pirate related things in the set. For this reason, I also decided to buy diver sets such as 6559 and 6560, which are some of my most recent additions to the collection.

Well, 4 rotating cannons always are better than 2 cannons so in a battle, if there would ever be one, the SES would have the benefit over the BSB. I however think this is quite irrelevant. The BSB is the better and more realistic ship of the pair. It is nicely designed and the 4 cannons are "sliding" cannons which is how it supposed to be. Imagine the rotating cannons on a real pirate ship, never seen that in pictures, drawings, movies, etc. which makes it hard to believe that this mechanism was ever used. The BSB also has the better colour scheme, I am prepared to live with the red and white sails which fit the ship rather well. Also, I happen to like the figurehead of the lady at the bow. Designwise, I consider the BSB far better than the SES. My collection however has 3x SES and only 2x BSB. Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but if you would ask me, I would say the BSB is the most fancy pirate ship.