Toys
 

Pirates

From Brickipedia, the LEGO Wiki.

This article is nominated to be highlighted as a good article!
Feel free to review this page's entry and voice your opinion.
Pirates
Years:

1989-1997, 2009

Subthemes:

Pirates (faction)
Imperial Soldiers
Imperial Guard
Imperial Armada
Islanders


Pirates was a LEGO System theme introduced in 1989. It was the first completely new theme that appeared after the three initially introduced main themes Town, Castle and Space from 1978.

After a longer hiatus that started in 1998, Pirates was introduced in 4+ series in 2004 and first launched in DUPLO series in 2006. Pirates was eventually relaunched in 2009 for a year.

Contents

[edit] Overview

The Pirates theme was featured on the cover of the 1989 catalogs.

Pirates was a highly popular theme of Lego introduced in 1989 and ran until 1997. A comic book titled "The Golden Medallion" was released in 1989 to boost the popularity of the theme and give some backstory on the main characters. As the series progressed through the years, more factions were introduced and the older ones were phased out of production.

In 1992, the first major change was seen when the Imperial Soldiers were replaced by the Imperial Guards, who wore red coats instead of the traditional blue. In 1994, another change came, and a third faction, the Islanders, were introduced to be a neutral faction. Then in 1996, the Imperial Guards were replaced with the Imperial Armada. The theme came to a close in 1997, much to the dismay of consumers.

In 2009 the Pirates theme was relaunched with the release of eight new sets. Also, the Imperial Guards made a comeback in a visually upgraded version.

[edit] Factions

During the first years of the theme the pirates were pitted against the Imperial Soldiers.
The Skulls Eye Schooner vs. the Imperial flagship
The Imperial Armada was modeled after spanish soldiers of the 16th century.
The Islanders encounter the pirates.

[edit] Pirates

See Main Article Pirates (faction)

The Pirates were one of the first two original factions in the theme to be introduced. They were the only faction not to change over time, but they expanded with more and more sets added with each change of the good faction. Their symbol was the Jolly Roger, a black flag with a skull and crossbones. The Pirates boasted three of the largest ship sets, Black Seas Barracuda, Red Beard's Runner, and Skull's Eye Schooner. They operated out of the Forbidden Island, Rock Island Refuge, Skull Island, and Pirates Perilous Pitfall sets.

The initial release of the Pirates was hugely popular. The sets released in this era were some of the largest in the theme, including Black Seas Barracuda, Forbidden Island, and the Rock Island Refuge. Some still consider this the "Golden Age" of the Pirate theme, with a comic book and several other books released to boost the theme.

Around late 1993 to early 1994, there was a minor split in the Pirate faction. Another captain emerged as the leader of the new Renegade Pirate faction. The two sides were not enemies, nor were they friends.

The final year of the theme saw radical changes to Hispanic themed Pirates, and much of the Pirate sets were redone to match the Imperial Armada. The theme only ran for 1 year before it was ended.

After more than ten years without any new Pirates releases, the theme was relaunched in 2009 with visually upgraded minifigures.

[edit] Imperials

The Imperials were the good side of the Pirate theme. They were the one side that saw the most radical changes over the years, and actually worked backwards through time, starting with the Imperial Soldiers/Guards, based on the British and French Empires, and ended with the Imperial Armada, based on the Spanish Armada and the Conquistadors.

[edit] Imperial Soldiers 1989-1993

See Main Article Imperial Soldiers

The Imperial Soldiers were released in 1989 along with the Pirates. They were the good faction to the Pirates, and were the protectors of the Carribean. They were led by Governor Broadside and Lieutenant de Martinet, and their only goal was to capture or kill Captain Redbeard and his crew. Their flag was a blue flag with a large white cross that divided it into four small blue fields at each of the corners,(based on Quebec's flag)with a crown and crossed cannons in the center.

[edit] Imperial Guard 1992-1996, 2009

See Main Article Imperial Guards

Introduced in 1992, the Imperial Guards were essentially the same as the Imperial Soldiers, the only main difference being the color of the uniforms. Instead of the traditional blue jacket with red or gold epaulets, the Imperial Guard wore a red jacket with blue or gold epaulets. Their flag also saw a change to a red and white horizontal striped flag with a crown and crossed cannons in the center.

The soldiers that appear in the new Pirates sets use the same flag and similar uniforms.

[edit] Imperial Armada 1996-1997

See Main Article Imperial Armada

1996 saw a different turn in the Pirate theme. Almost the entire theme was reworked and revamped. The result was two completely different factions. There were still the Pirates and the Islanders, but the Imperials changed to a more Spanish Armada based theme.

Even in this new theme, which only introduced a few sets, the Imperials were still outmatched by the pirates. Their main ship, the Armada Flagship, was still small in comparison to the Skull's Eye Schooner.

The Armada wore two colors, red or green, and wore the metal conquistador's helmet and metal breast plate armor of the era. The symbol of the Imperials also changed to a crown above a large shield divided into 4 sections.

[edit] Islanders

See Main Article Islanders

The Islanders were introduced in 1994, during the Imperial Guard era of the theme. They were loosely based on natives of the Pacific islands, and introduced a third faction into the theme. The Islanders were considered to be neutral, but were known to have pirate and Imperial prisoners.

The Islanders were based out of their Enchanted Island, and had a smaller outpost at the Forbidden Cove. They used no firearms like the other two faction, but instead used bows, arrows, and spears, as well as traps.

[edit] Weapons Used

  • Saber: Short sword used by high ranking Imperials and most Pirates. It featured a handguard to protect the wielder and a slightly curved blade.
  • Flintlock Pistol: Pistol used by high ranking Imperials and most Pirates.
  • Flintlock Rifle: Weapon used mainly by the Troops of the Imperials.
  • Bow: Weapon used mainly by the Islanders as a long-range weapon.
  • Spear: Weapon of the Islanders used for short-ranged, hand to hand combat.
  • Axe: Used by merchants and dockworkers in the Imperial Guard era.

[edit] DUPLO Pirates Set

Four DUPLO Pirates sets were released in 2006. The theme ran only for 2 years and then was discontinued. 4 sets were the only ones released.

[edit] Sets

This list is incomplete, see List of LEGO Pirates sets instead

2009

This is the set "Cannon Battle"

During 2009, Pirates was rereleased for one year[1]. This may have been due to the 20th anniversary of LEGO Pirates. But the old Pirate ships used more bricks instead of the new ones. The following sets were introduced in 2009:


[edit] See also

[edit] External Links and Sources

[edit] References

  1. ↑ No new pirates in 2010! (Brickset)
Retrieved from "http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/Pirates"