Lego Pirates

Lego Pirates

Sub‑themes	Imperial Soldiers Imperial Guards Imperial Armada Islanders
Subject	Pirates
Availability	1989–2015
Total sets	71
Characters	Captain Brickbeard Captain Redbeard Admiral Broadside Blackjack Hawkins Islander Imperial Soldier

Custom LEGO Pirate

Pirates is a Lego theme launched in 1989 featuring pirates, soldiers, islanders and sailing ships. The theme has been seen in minifigure scale, Duplo and the 4+ theme.

The original Pirates sets included the first Lego minifigures without the traditional head with simply two eyes and a smile; they had a variety of different printed features including hair, eyepatches and facial hair.

Alongside the Pirates released for 1989 were Governor Broadside's blue-coated troops who were to fight the Pirates. These forces were based upon the French navy and marines of the colonial era, being known as "Imperial Soldiers" by fans, though explicitly identified as "Governors" on page 16 of the 1990 American catalog. A comic book entitled "The Gold Medallion" was also released in that year, as well as a Ladybird Book series. From 1992-93, the Governors were gradually replaced by the red-coated Imperial Guards, while existing Governors sets that continued in production were considered part of the Guards. Both the Governors and the Imperial Guards used two crossed cannons under a crown as their emblem.

A sub-theme loosely based on a Polynesian concept, the Islanders, was released for 1994. For 1996 Lego changed the entire "feel" of the Pirates line and made it Spanish-influenced. This meant the Imperial Guards were replaced by the Imperial Armada, heavily based on the Spanish Armada. Along with this change, the pirates were also given new faces. For 1997 Lego discontinued the Pirates theme; the theme's end at this time came as a shock to fans, because the Pirates line had always been a big seller.

Two 1996 Pirate sets, "Red Beard Runner" and "Armada Flagship", and one 1994 Islanders set, "Enchanted Island", were re-released for 2001. The 1989 Pirates set "Black Seas Barracuda" was updated and re-released for 2002 for the Lego Legends series. The Pirates theme was brought to 4+ for 2004 and Duplo for 2006. Lego reintroduced Pirates in minifigure scale for 2009, just in time for the theme's 20th anniversary. However, the series was only continued with a single set the following year to make room for a series of licensed products, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, based on the series of films of the same name.

Set list

Set names from UK, Australia & New Zealand given in brackets.

Image from a 1989 LEGO catalog depicting a Pirate Battle

Pirates (1989-1997, 2001-2002)

• 1989

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
6235	Buried Treasure (Bo'sun Will)	Pirate, Monkey
6251	Pirate Mini Figures	Pirate, Captain, 2 Imperial Soldiers, Parrot
6255	Pirate Comic	2 Pirates
6257	Castaway's Raft (Pirate's Raft)	3 Pirates, Shark
6270	Forbidden Island (Pirate's Nest)	2 Pirates, Captain, 1 Imperial Soldier, Monkey, Parrot, Shark
6285	Black Seas Barracuda (Pirate Ship "Dark Shark")	6 Pirates, Female Pirate, Captain, Monkey, Parrot	Re-released 2002

• 1990

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
6260	Shipwreck Island (Pirate's Treasure Island)	2 Pirates, Monkey, Parrot

• 1991

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
1481	Pirates Desert Island	Pirate, Shark
6234	Renegade's Raft (Pirate Castaway)	Pirate, Shark
6273	Rock Island Refuge (Port Jamaica)	3 Pirates, Female Pirate, Captain, 2 Imperial Soldiers

• 1992

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
1464	Pirate Lookout	Pirate
1492	Battle Cove	Pirate, Shark
1696	Pirate Lookout	Pirate
1889	Pirates Treasure Hold	Pirate, Monkey
6258	Smuggler's Shanty (Pirate's Palm Hideout)	2 Pirates, 1 Imperial Guard, Shark
6261	Raft Raiders (Ironhook's Escape Craft)	2 Pirates, Captain, Shark

• 1993

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
1970	Pirates Gun Cart	2 Pirates
6237	Pirates' Plunder (Treasure Hunt)	Pirate, Imperial Guard, Parrot
6252	Sea Mates	Pirate, Captain, 2 Imperial Guards, Monkey, Parrot
6268	Renegade Runner (Sea Vulture)	3 Pirates, Captain
6286	Skull's Eye Schooner (The Black Skull)	7 Pirates, Female Pirate, Captain, Monkey, Parrot, Shark

• 1994

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
1713	Shipwrecked Pirate	Pirate
1733	Shipwrecked Pirate	Pirate
1871	Pirates Cannon	Pirate
1873	Pirates Treasure	Pirate

• 1995

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
1788	Treasure Chest	Pirate, Captain, 2 Islanders, Crocodile
6254	Rocky Reef	2 Pirates, Skeleton, Parrot
6279	Skull Island	3 Pirates, Captain, 2 Imperial Guards, Monkey, Parrot

• 1996

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
1747	Treasure Surprise	Pirate
1802	Tidy Treasure	Pirate
6232	Skeleton Crew	Pirate, Skeleton
6248	Volcano Island	Pirate, Skeleton
6289	Red Beard Runner (The Marauder)	6 Pirates, Captain, Monkey, Parrot, Shark	Re-released 2001
6296	Shipwreck Island	2 Pirates, Armada Soldier, Skeleton, Crocodile

• 1997

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
6249	Pirates Ambush	2 Pirates, Armada Soldier, Crocodile
6204	Buccaneers	Pirate, Captain, 2 Armada Soldiers, Skeleton
6250	Cross Bone Clipper	Pirate, Female Pirate, Captain
6281	Pirates Perilous Pitfall	3 Pirates, 2 Armada Soldiers, Skeleton, Parrot, Crocodile

• 2001-2002

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
6290	Red Beard Runner	6 Pirates, Captain, Monkey, Parrot, Shark	Re-release of 6289
10040	Black Seas Barracuda	6 Pirates, Female Pirate, Captain, Monkey, Parrot	Re-release of 6285

Pirates (2009-2010)

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
6239	Cannon Battle	Pirate, Soldier
6240	Kraken Attackin'	2 Pirates, Parrot, Octopus
6241	Loot Island	Pirate, Castaway, Soldier, Crocodile
6242	Soldiers' Fort	3 Soldiers, Admiral, Pirate, Captain, Monkey, Crocodile
6243	Brickbeard’s Bounty	3 Pirates, Captain, 2 Soldiers, Admiral's Daughter, Mermaid, Monkey, Parrot, Shark
6253	Shipwreck Hideout	Pirate, Female Pirate, Captain, 2 Soldiers, Skeleton, Parrot	Limited Edition
8396	Soldier's Arsenal	Soldier
8397	Pirate Survival	Pirate
10210	Imperial Flagship	Admiral, Captain, 4 Soldiers, Admiral's Daughter, Pirate, Cook, Saw Shark, Rat	Largest ship ever released by Lego

Pirates (2015)

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
40158	Pirates Chess Set	10 Pirates, 10 Bluecoat Soldiers
70409	Shipwreck Defense	Pirate, Bluecoat Soldier, Fish
70410	Soldiers Outpost	Pirate, Bluecoat Soldier, Bluecoat Sergeant 1, Crab, Octopus
70411	Treasure Island	Pirate, Pirate Princess, Bluecoat Soldier, Crocodile, Parrot
70412	Soldiers Fort	Pirate, Pirate Gunner, Bluecoat Soldier, Governor, Governor's Daughter, Frog
70413	The Brick Bounty	Pirate, Pirate First Mate, Pirate Cook, Captain, Admiral, Bluecoat Sergeant 2, Bluecoat Soldier, Sawfish

Juniors Pirates (2015)

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
10679	Pirate Treasure Hunt	Pirate, Skeleton, Shark	The only Pirates set in the LEGO Juniors line.

Imperial Soldiers (1989-1993)

Reference	Name	Released	Minifigures	Notes
6245	Harbor Sentry (Governor Broadside's Boat)	1990	Imperial Soldier
6259	Broadside's Brig (Governor Broadsides Prison)	1991	2 Imperial Soldiers, Pirate, Parrot
6265	Sabre Island (Governors Bastion)	1990	3 Imperial Soldiers
6267	Lagoon Lock-Up (Soldiers Tavern)	1991	3 Imperial Soldiers, Pirate, Captain, Parrot
6274	Caribbean Clipper (Governor's Ship "Sea Hawk")	1989	3 Imperial Soldiers, Admiral
6276	Eldorado Fortress (Governor's Fort Sabre)	1989	5 Imperial Soldiers, Admiral, Pirate, Captain

Imperial Guards (1992-1995)

Reference	Name	Released	Minifigures	Notes
1795	Imperial Cannon	1994	Imperial Guard
1872	Soldiers Forge	1994	2 Imperial Guards
6247	Bounty Boat (Admirals Launch)	1992	2 Imperial Guards, Pirate
6263	Imperial Outpost (Bastion)	1995	2 Imperial Guards, Admiral, Pirate
6266	Cannon Cove (The Black Reef Bastion)	1993	2 Imperial Guards, Pirate
6271	Imperial Flagship (HMS Sea Lion)	1992	2 Imperial Guards, Admiral, Pirate
6277	Imperial Trading Post (Port Royal)	1992	3 Imperial Guards, Admiral, 5 Pirates

Imperial Armada (1996-1997, 2001)

Reference	Name	Released	Minifigures	Notes
6244	Armada Sentry (Water Outpost)	1996	Armada Soldier
6280	Armada Flagship (Armada Galleon/Santa Cruz)	1996	2 Armada Soldiers, Admiral	Re-released 2001
6291	Spaniard Ship (Armada Galleon)	2001	2 Armada Soldiers, Admiral	Re-release of 6280

Islanders (1994, 2001)

Reference	Name	Minifigures	Notes
6236	King Kahuka (Indigo Chief's Throne)	Chief
6246	Crocodile Cage (Crocodile Prison)	Islander, Pirate, Parrot, Crocodile
6256	Islander Catamaran (Indigo Chief's Canoe)	Chief, Female Islander, Crocodile
6262	King Kahuka's Throne (Indigo Throne Cave)	Chief, 2 Islanders, 2 Pirates, Crocodile
6264	Forbidden Cove (Indigo Treasure Cave)	2 Islanders, Pirate, Captain, Parrot, Crocodile
6278	Enchanted Island (Indigo Island)	3 Islanders, Female Islander, Chief, Pirate, Captain, Monkey, Parrot, Crocodile	Re-released 2001
6292	Enchanted Island	3 Islanders, Female Islander, Chief, Pirate, Captain, Monkey, Parrot, Crocodile	Re-release of 6278

Official merchandise

Lego Group has also released a variety of official Pirate Lego merchandise ranging from clothing to stick-on tattoos to board games.

Characters

Pirates

Captain Roger / Captain Redbeard Captain Roger, also known as Captain Redbeard, is a fictional character created by the Lego Company for the Pirates theme of the Lego System. The Pirate theme, along with the captain, was first introduced in 1989. As the theme's chief antagonist, the leader of the pirates fights continuously against Governor Broadside’s soldiers. Captain Roger/Redbeard is in command of two pirate ships: the Black Sea Barracuda and the Skull’s Eye Schooner. During the years of fighting, he suffered three major injuries, which caused him to wear an eye patch over his left eye, an iron hook where his left hand used to be and a wooden right leg. Additional trademarks of the captain are the skull and crossed bones on his bicorne, his distinctive gold-trimmed black frock coat and green scarf, and a colorful tropical parrot. Together with his friend Will and his first mate Rummy, Captain Roger/Redbeard encounters countless adventures of swash-buckling, sailing, treasure hunting and piracy.

In later sets, the appearance of Captain Roger/Redbeard was redesigned to look more intimidating, with him now wearing a shredded red shirt and sporting a massive knife slung through his belt. This character is identified as "Captain Ironhook" on the Classic Pirates website, making him a character separate from Captain Roger/Redbeard.

Despite the introduction of Captain Brickbeard in Lego's newest 2009 lineup of pirate-themed sets, many people still feel that the original pirate commander, Captain Roger/Redbeard, is unquestionably THE Lego pirate captain. The fan website www.classic-pirates.com calls Captain Redbeard "the true king of the Lego Pirates line", and "he will always remain the main icon of the Lego Pirates line". Others feel that Brickbeard is just a new release of Roger/Redbeard, due to the close resemblance between the two figures.

• Captain Brickbeard

Captain Brickbeard is a fictional character created by the Lego Company for their 2009-line of Pirates sets; he is an updated version of the Roger/Redbeard character.

Of all the Lego Pirate Captains, none of them are female. Only Lego fans have made female pirate captains.

• Rummy

Identified as Captain Roger's/Redbeard's first mate.

• Governor Broadside

Governor Broadside is Captain Roger's/Redbeard's chief enemy and (mostly) chief victim as well, as Redbeard seems to always get the better of him. In the 2009 Pirates Line, Broadside is now Capt. Brickbeard's chief enemy and chief victim.

• Lieutenant de Martinet

Lt. de Martinet is identified on the website Classic Pirates as Governor Broadside's second-in-command.

• Admiral Woodhouse

Adm. Woodhouse is identified as the leader of the red-coated Imperial Guards.

• King Kahuka

Kahuka is the leader of the Islanders, a Polynesian-based sub-theme of the Pirates theme and he cannot be mistaken for anyone else that Lego has ever conjured up. He wears a massive, carved red face mask topped with white feathers, a face painted white and blue, a necklace made out of teeth and a large round medallion, a red sash around his waist (which was probably a present given to him by a passing ship's captain) and a grass skirt. His center of power is located on "Enchanted Island", a fictitious island invented by Lego.

Ladybird Books series

An official series of children's books based on the Pirate Lego theme was published by Ladybird Books in 1990.

Titles

1. Will and the Gold Chase
2. Captain Roger's Birthday
3. Adventure on Shark Island
4. The Royal Visit

The stories revolved around the misadventures of the crew of Dark Shark and their run-ins with Broadside's Imperial Guards. The stories developed a stronger characterisation for key characters and expanded the Pirate Lego universe. They also introduced a character known as Captain Foul who commanded the ship “The Barracuda”, however the captain did not appear in any of the official Pirate Lego sets.

Like the comic Governor Broadside was given a family which included his Aunt Prudence and niece Camilla. The entire crew of the Dark Shark (6285/10050 Blacks Seas Barracuda) were given names, including the monkey and the parrot.

A short biographical description and illustrated portrait of each of the Dark Shark’s characters was presented on the first and second pages of each book.

Characters

Broadside's Family

• Aunt Prudence
• Camilla
• Governor Broadside

Dark Shark Crew

• Anne
• Bo'Sun Will
• Captain Roger (known as Captain Redbeard in Northern America)
• Flashfork
• First Mate Rummy
• Jimbo
• Popsy (the parrot)
• Spinoza (the monkey)

On the final two pages of each book is a map of the fictional archipelago named “The Treasure Islands” in which the Ladybird Pirate Lego universe is set.

Islands

• Black Reef Island
• Emerald Island
• Hook Nose Island
• Island of Fogs
• Island of Ruins
• Island of Skulls
• John Silver Island
• Pirate Hat Island
• Pirate’s Nest
• Sabatina
• Shark Island
• Skeleton Island

1993 World Lego Expo – Pirates Ahoy

For its 1993 World Expo, the Lego Group chose “Pirates Ahoy” as the theme. The exhibition contained various exhibits mostly depicting three-dimensional sculptures of pirates made entirely from Lego, although the Pirate Galleon containing 13,280 pieces was built at System minifigure scale and was crewed by standard Pirate Lego minifigures.

Souvenir guide

A souvenir guide accompanied the exhibition and its main feature was a story which loosely tied the exhibits together in a first person narrative. The souvenir guide also provided information about each exhibit including its name, how many pieces it contained and the number of hours it took to construct.

The top-left corner of odd pages contained information and an illustrated portrait of infamous pirates from history including Blackbeard and Bartholomew Roberts. While top-right hand cornered of the even pages included a picture of that pirate’s flag.

Exhibits

Name	No. of Bricks	Building Time
Pirate Galleon	13,280	101 hours
Galley	103,688	955 hours
Captain’s Cabin	31,773	876 Hours
L’ollonois	46,075	298 hours
Pirate Musicians	29,274	1,432 hours
Pirate Training Camp	103,436	613 hours
Paradise Canyon	22,322	1,115 hours
Treasure Cave	31,445	921 hours
Anne Bonny	38,180	254 hours
Henry Morgan	49,875	330 hours
Black Beard	Unspecified	Unspecified

External links

• Official 2009 Lego site
• Classic-Pirates.com LEGO Pirate forum and information resource.
• Fibblesnork's Lego Guide: Pirates
• Brickset: List of all Lego Pirate sets
• Lugnet: List of all Lego Pirate sets