jamtf

The shako is the most wanted part. Don't forget the governor / admiral head and the white fancy bicorne. Hard to get at a decent price. Got 3 shako's this past week and 2 admiral heads and I was quite happy I got them. In the past, I remember losing eBay auctions for just 10 shako's despite bidding accordingly. Some people obviously wanted them more than I did. Blue epaulettes can be expensive per piece also.

No intention on my behalf Mr. ImperialScouts! ;-) I was only trying to say that I had not checked - and still have not since the darn thing is stored away 10 miles from where I live - the contents and that I would be surprised if I found a green baseplate inside. I wonder if Lego would be able to replace wrong parts from old sets if you complained about getting a second hand market but new and unused copy. I think it is highly unlikely that Lego would switch baseplates since they do not want to risk a huge amount of complaints from customers who are not happy with the new set the way they bought it. Especially a wrong big part like that makes the set itself pretty useless and people would perhaps not even consider building the main model since the box and instructions show a different part.

I doubt it, the buyer is British, Phes is from Australia or a different location down under as far as I know.

I have a 6277 MISB stored away. At the time of purchase (it came from Germany) I did not look further than to check if the seals had not failed. I did not check the inside of the box too thoroughly since a sealed set is supposed to be new and in order. I will check which baseplate is inside the box. I have a used 6277 as well with the raised sea cliff baseplate. Furthermore, ITP comes with extra blue baseplates, it would be hard to imagine an ITP with a green mountain and forest type baseplate and flat blue baseplates (sea) surrounding it. A trading post is not an invincible fortress nor a fully guarded castle and it should certainly not be located in a forest environment but in a harbour or sea port with access to sea. That's just what I can come up with.

Quite an astonishing display with excellent buildings and ships if you ask me.

Who are we talking about here, me or the Islander fan? If it is me you were referring to, yes, I admit living in The Netherlands and in fact I am proud of it. We (the Netherlands) were once an unbeatable sea force which explains my interest in pirates etc. And yes, I have quite a few MISB sets, acquired them over the past couple years and by doing that of course you get contacts all over the world. Quite inevitable I would think. Did not have the time to make a picture, it was a busy weekend.

Picked up 2 used sets today, a 6263 imperial outpost with instructions and a boxed 6289 red beard runner.

Welcome to Port Royal... Mr. Smith!

I agree. The hull color ain't that bad but the sails do not fit. Either one should use the Armada Flagship sails or those from the Caribbean Clipper and change the crew into Spanish Armada or blue Imperial soldiers. Or make new sails that fit. Paperwhite for instance.

White hulls... I am not too fond of the color choice. Brown 6285 hulls (or with red accents like the 6286) would make the ship look a lot better and more impressive. Even the reddish hulls from 6289 or 6290 are better if you ask me. Everything is a bit dusty as well...

Picked up a relatively cheap boxed 6286 Skulls Eye Schooner (used) yesterday with partially missing and incorrect crew but fortunately "Mr. Steve" was there (!) and am currently negotiating the purchase of a used 6263 Imperial Outpost with instructions (unboxed but supposedly complete).

I posted before that I am still looking for 6292 legend in order to get the complete islander collection. I have 3x 6278, therefore the one for sale is the original 1994 first release.

Not yet and tonight I do not have time to make'em since I have an appointment that will take a few hours at least. Set + instructions are pristine, box has its fair share of wear.

Correct, I have a sealed copy for sale. The box is OK, box seals broken unfortunately and with some price sticker tear damages here and there (about 5 of them, only explanation for this I can come up with is that it must have been in the same store for ages and priced down several times). Of course the parts etc. are sealed in their bags and also the plastic tray with the figs and some accessories is also still sealed and unopened. Pristine instructions as they were never used and I think there is also a 1994 line islander / pirate theme poster included in the box (with the islanders and the Skulls Eye Schooner drifting in the back) and perhaps even a small Lego service bags pamphlet but I am not entirely sure. Truly a great set. F.Y.I., I am not going to give this away, got to protect my own investment.

I have seen it for real last month at Legoworld Holland 2006, basically some sort of European brickfest. It is a huge castle with nice scenery. It was occupied by all sorts of Belville size figs. I have even spoken to the builder (in yellow "De Bouwsteen" shirt). Nice build with lots of tan and old grey bricks and no wall pieces.

Let me try to help. November sales on BL: 6245 harbor sentry for $10.00 6247 bounty boat for $8.50 6266 cannon cove for $27.00 (used copy) or $42.00 (new copy), my guess is the first one 6276 eldorado fortress for $137.00 8-

Yes, I went back and purchased everything they had that I considered interesting enough to own. There were no pirate sets left, got them all the first time I went there (only 2 or 3). :-( I got all of the Town sets but even bought Technic, Time Cruisers, M-Tron, Blacktron, Futuron, Fabuland and a few Basic sets with mainly bricks. And I also got 2 sealed 6370 houses (with the shrinkwrap plastic still in perfect shape) and 2x sealed 6380 hospital, which was the biggest surprise. These were found in their attic and had been there for over 20 years!! It was a good buy altogether but I do not expect to find something similar again. Problem is that I have trouble parting with the extra sets I got since they are in such good shape. I did not buy everything though. The store still has the Duplo, some Technic and sets from series such as Spyrius, Life on Mars, etc. since these did not appeal to me. Besides, I ran out of money as I literally felt like a kid in a candy shop. Could not stop picking boxes! :-$

Well, that happened to me too a couple weeks ago, except, I am not from Spain |-/ . I got mostly Town sets, only a couple Pirate (2 or 3 at the most incl. 6270 Forbidden Island and 6255 comic book) and Castle sets (5 or 6 maybe, from the 1995-1998 royal knights / fright knights era) and also some Paradisa, Technic, Basic, Time Cruisers (great for parts) and Space, Blacktron and M-Tron related stuff. Bought the stuff for original and actual retail prices converted into Euro currency. The sets were bought in a small store that had been abandoned by collectors for years so it seemed and I decided to buy about 80% of their current Lego inventory since most were older sets. All they have left is the less interesting sets such as Spyrius, Life on Mars, those kind of things. Lucky me! :-)

Yes, many sealed boxes Mr. ImperialScouts... lost counting actually. Anyway, the first 6296 Shipwreck Island has arrived in my collection. Got some new additions to announce: 6247 Bounty Boat (used with instructions) 6265 Sabre island (used with box and instructions) 6268 Renegade Runner (used with instructions) 6270 Forbidden Island (used with box, plastic inlay and instructions) 6280 Armada Flagship (MIB opened box / seals cut / unopened sealbags) 6289 Red Beard Runner (MIB opened box / seals cut / unopenend sealbags / decided to buy one anyway despite the mediocre design that is Davy Jones' Locker material) Still on the way: 6248 Volcano Island (MISB) 6286 Skulls Eye Schooner (MISB) 6278 Enchanted Island (MISB, my 3rd one... anyone who needs one may contact me) 6264 Forbidden Cove (MISB, finally, only one more set to go for a complete islander collection, the 6292 enchanted island legend) 6279 Skull Island (MISB one but price was OK) 6296 (MISB, 2nd one but again, price OK) Well, the US did have their share of Lego pirate theme sets, didn't they? Why not list your collection? Yes, Europeans might be lucky but all you need to do is search BrickLink, search on eBay and / or other sources. There are still many sealed sets out there waiting to be found. Recently, I got a sealed 6285 that was located in a cellar where it had been for the last 16 years. More of that kind will turn up, trust me. And there is always that rare old store with old sets, just like the one that was cleared out by eBay seller onebreeze. Admit that the prices were steep sometimes, but he chose the best way to sell things quickly at the best prices: the eBay auction system that provides worldwide attention.

I voted for the lady at the bow from the 6285 black seas barracuda, coincidentally my fav ship. A cool figurehead would be the female islander torso, a random lady head (the islander / pirate lady / 6071 forestwoman / 6081 maiden head will do fine by the way) and then finally add a piece of the mid length female hair or a ponytail hairpiece, make your own choice. Done!

I voted for 6278 enchanted island for obvious reasons. Excellent large baseplates, a rope bridge, lots of figs including a female, some green plant leaves, a couple boats and overall nice colours. Add it all up and there is no rival to this set. I do not own 6264 forbidden cove and 1788 pirate's chest although the latter seems to be a great set that is still on my wanted list.

Yes, once I got a few sets from a seller in France. They were many new sets at decent prices, only 1 type of pirate set was included, the 6237 Pirates Plunder but I got 6 of them or so. That was a good experience. A less good experience was when I bought 6405 Sunset Stables. On arrival it appeared that the box was damaged.

Added following sets: 1747 Pirates Treasure Surprise (1x used with instructions) 6204 Buccaneers (1x MISB) 6245 Harbor Sentry (1x used with instructions) 6248 Volcano Island (1x MISB on the way) 6260 Shipwreck Island (1x used with instructions) 6268 Renegade Runner (1x MISB) 6274 Caribbean Clipper (1x used incomplete set without instructions, restoration project) 6278 Enchanted Island (1x MIB opened box / seals broken / unopened sealbags) 6286 Skulls Eye Schooner (1x MISB) 6296 Shipwreck Island (1x MISB on the way) As you may notice, I have started to buy used sets for a change!

Ouch!

I live in a relatively small town as well and that did not help me either! Actually, you need a car and drive to towns smaller than yours. Mine has a 7,000 population which is too big and also the storekeepers here want to keep their stock up to date with the new line of sets to keep up with competitors (i.e. other toy stores nearby). :-( For them Lego is a building toy for children and they focus on that. :-/ I found a rather sleepy town with maybe 1,000 habitants or so and a store that does not specialize in Lego but on a whole different area of merchandise. Lego is a side product they occassionally sell but most customers come in the store for pens, paper work and printing. That's why most people would not expect to find the stuff I did. *pirate* A genuine toy store is not the place to go, you must look for shops that sell toys as a side product. For them, it is not their core business and occassionally you might be able to find a thing or two. Maybe not much but be happy with it. I must admit that I was extremely fortunate to find so many old stock from Lego's golden ages (mostly before 1995, shortly after that Legoland pirates were discontinued). You can not foresee this to happen, you just have to go out the door and keep on looking for trails. Eventually, you might get the same sort of luck I did. Believe me, there is more out there. I would think a country like France or Italy could provide the same sort of things.