Lego Pirates Toy Building Sets - Fun For All
The popular Lego Pirate themed sets were first launched in 1989 and those first Lego pirate sets released included the first minifigures, without a traditional looking head, had 2 dots for eyes and a drawn smile. The features of these pirate minfigs did vary from later ones that had painted eye patches, to some with drawn beards and hair. Along with the pirate theme sets, Imperial Soldiers (1989 – 1991) with blue coats were also released to pursue the plundering pirates. These soldiers had a definite European look. As a note, also in 1989 a Lego pirate comic book entitle “The Gold Medallion” was debuted. In 1992 the blue-coated Imperial Soldiers were replaced by the Imperial Guards. During this period the Lego pirate sets are leaning towards a definite Spanish feel. As a result of this influence during 1996 and 1997 the Spanish Armada is on the scene.
1997 saw the release of the last few Lego pirate sets. This stop in production came as a surprise to the many fans of the pirate Legos sets as they had become some of the company’s best sellers. A few of the pirate sets have been re-released and the pirate theme can be found in some Lego Duplo sets as well. One character from a Lego pirate set released in 1989, Captain Redbeard, (also known as Captain Roger) became one of Lego’s most popular characters, rating right up there with the Star Wars character, Luke Skywalker. Of course, Redbeard could usually be found with his first mate Rummy.
But wait, there’s good news for Lego pirate fans! Lego is reintroducing the beloved pirates as brand new sets in their 2009 releases and can already be found at some online stores. These sets are just in time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original pirate sets, first released in 1989, and include Soldier’s Fort and Brickbeard’s Bounty, just to name a couple. Good news indeed!
In 1990 the official Ladybird books that were based on the Pirate theme by Lego were published. There are 4 titles; Will and the Gold Chase, Captain Roger’s Birthday, Adventure on Shark Island and The Royal Visit. The books centered on the crew of the Dark Sharks misadventures and run-ins with the Broadside Imperial Guards. The stories eventually created a strong identity for their characters and consequently expanded the universe of the Pirate Lego theme. In these stories, the character of Captain Foul, who was in command of the pirate ship “The Barracuda”, was also introduced. However, Captain Foul never made an appearance in any of the Pirate sets created by Lego.
For a lot of people, especially those who enjoyed the first releases of the pirate themed Lego sets, these are not just mere toys, but more like nostalgic mementos that they can be enjoyed and even passed on to their own kids. Lego toy building sets are durable enough to last at least a couple of generations so they could very well become family heirlooms!