The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise be some of the finest (modern) piratical tales put to film.  Yer no doubt aware a Disneyland theme park ride was their inspiration, if not, yer’ll get a schoolin’ later.

Nicholas Goodman certainly enjoys the ride, so to celebrate his loving experience of past voyages, he’s crafted this intricately detailed vignette, rich in tone, and accentuated with a sprinkling of lighting. Essentially it’s a snapshot of a boatload of tourists embarking on their journey as they pass through the Blue Bayou.

Nicholas writes:

As my all time favorite Amusement Park Ride I have always wanted to represent Pirates of the Caribbean in LEGO.

Lafitte’s Landing and the Blue Bayou have always been such a great start to an awesome ride. Thank you for checking out my build!

Look how happy you would be on the ride!

We could enrich this swamp further with an alligator or three

Beacon Joe plays till midnight a merry pirate tune

Where does that tunnel lead? Goodman hasn’t built any follow-up MOCs so you’ll need to read on…

Inspiration

Now, let’s take a peek at some photography of the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride…  The MOC depicts the Blue Bayou and the adjacent docks, Lafitte Landing, named in honour of the infamous pirate and privateer, Jean Lafitte.

The Blue Bayou – the main inspiration for this MOC

The Blue Bayou photographed from a different vantage by Kurt Miller

And one more for good luck! Photo credit:  Matthew Hansen

This angle somewhat shatters the illusion, doesn’t it?

How Many Times has Goodman Been on the Ride?

In his own words:

I’m a Disneyland man myself growing up in Southern California, and honestly I couldn’t tell you maybe 20-30 times I always made sure to go a few times each time I made my way to the Park hahah

He’s a true pirate at heart!

The Pirates of the Caribbean Ride at Disneyland

Long before the Jack Sparrow was a twinkle in the Walt Disney Company’s eyes, Walt and Roy (the founders of Disney) launched the original Pirates of the Caribbean Ride at the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California, just before the Summer of Love – March 1967 to be precise.  Sadly, Walt went kaput three months before the ride opened and never witnessed the ride’s phenomenal successful.

Perhaps the most iconic scene of the ride. Photo credit: Matthew Cooper

The ride revolves around the exploits of various pirates set in the Caribbean Sea during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The ride’s theme song “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)” written by George Bruns and Xavier Atencio also permeated throughout pop culture.

The wench auction scene… well, the version to revised to appease modern sensibilities. Photo credit: Joshua Sudock

Welcome to Dead Man’s Cove  or “the grotto” – here be found on the other side of that tunnel.  Photo credit Cliff Johnson

Sit yer booty on a pile of booty! Photo credit: Aaron Anderer

And when the ride breaks down, the pirates DON’T eat the tourists… or do they?

If something is popular, better build another!  Seven years later a second Pirates of the Caribbean Ride was opened during 1973 at the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World, near Orlando, Florida. Then a third at Tokyo Disneyland in 1983, and a fourth at Disneyland Paris in 1992. Each ride experience is similar but visitors are greeted with a different facade. A fifth ride, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure”, drawing heavily influence from the feature film series, opened at the Shanghai Disneyland Park in 2016.

Who is Lafitte?

Well, the name actually be spelled “Laffite” but the English “Lafitte” variation has become standard – can yer even spot the difference?

Jean Lafitte Portraits – you decide which one is most historically accurate

Jean Lafitte was a Franco-American privateer who engaged in smuggling and piracy around Baratia Bay, Louisiana during the early 19th century.  In exchange for a pardon, his fleet assisted in defending New Orleans against the British in 1815. This bold act earned him catapulted Lafitte’s reputation to that of an anti-hero throughout Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.

However, there be lack of any historical records of encounters with Captain Redbeard, the Imperial Guards or the Imperial Armada – so yer better get building them MOCs!

About the Builder…

Nicholas Goodman (or A Goodman as he’s known in the LEGO Pirates Forum) has a zest for militaristic vignettes, flavouring them from modern to historic to… Star Wars and Star Trek!  Explore his diverse oeuvre… Flickr be the place to commence your journey, then divert course to his Instagram.

What Do Yer Think?

Have you experienced the real life Pirates of the Caribbean Ride at Disneyland?  What do you think of this LEGO interpretation? Has Goodman done good?  Or would have you approached the build differently?

Ya’ll come back now yer hear!

Share your thoughts and criticisms (and compliments if yer able to squeeze kindness from yer soul) with the Classic Pirates in the LEGO Pirates Forum.

Our maties over in the LEGO Space Forum be holding a space-pirate themed contest between  26 January and 10 March, 2024 in which you can WIN LEGO prizes!

This is not a Classic Pirates building contest as yer will be melding space and pirate themes to create magnificence beyond the stars.

Official title image

The official announcement states:

Space pirates is about treasures, avoiding the Imperials and drinking in taverns… but in space! It’s a fun theme that brings fun one-eyed-captains, grim soldiers and angry tiki warriors straight through the centuries to live more exciting adventures with robot parrots and laser saber (

The Caribbean galaxy is a nice place to live. Each planetary system is protected by battalions of the imperial armada under the command of the Governor. Well it would be a nice place to live, if it wasn’t for the space pirates!

These lawless souls only hunger for riches, treasures and rum! The Governor do what he can to protect the civilians of the countless cities like Spaceport Royal to be ransacked by the pirates, while still looking for planets to conquer and the rumored treasures of the galaxy.

Once again, be a part of the never-ending battle between the Empire and the pirates in the Space Pirates Contest!

So if yer keen for a crossover, enter these coordinates into yer navigational computer for all the entry details.

The cosmic light shows us for what we really are!

Categories

There be three categories in which yer can enter…  each with prizes yer can win…

A: Pirate Crew

Design and build a group of six (6) space pirate themed minifigs. Animals and imperial troops are welcome.

First prize: 90€ to spend at the online LEGO store*

B: Sailing the river of time

Rebuild an official LEGO pirate set in the Space Pirate theme.

• First Prize: 140€ to spend at the online LEGO store*
• Second Prize: 100€ to spend at the online LEGO store*

C: Rum for everybody!

Open to any space pirate entries that don’t fit in the other two categories.

• First Prize: 140€ to spend at the online LEGO store*
• Second Prize: 100€ to spend at the online LEGO store*

* official affiliate links

Space Pirates?

If it isn’t obvious by the name, that’s LEGO Pirates combined with LEGO Space in a battle beyond the stars!

Here be an entry from the previous Space Pirates contest held during 2015.

An Imperial fort… floating in space!

Where we’re going we don’t need row boats

This entry be “The Last Outpost” by Darkblane who describes it as:

Welcome to the last outpost, where one Imperial soldier and his cyber parrot maintain watch over the uncharted regions of space, ready to send a signal or activate the turret at the first sign of space pirates.

Darkblane also created a Classic Pirates version:

Now yer can compare the difference

In this version the soldier has much strong arms

With a slightly modified description:

Welcome to the last outpost, where one Imperial soldier and his faithful parrot maintain watch over the uncharted seas, ready to light the beacon or man the cannon at the first sign of pirates.

There be more photos in the Flickr album but by now yer should know the difference between Classic Pirates and Space Pirates.

What Do Yer Think?

Will you boldly go where no LEGO Pirate has gone before and enter this contest?  Or are yer holding out for the next Classic Pirates contest?

Enter the realm of Rum Rogers

This time yer need to plot a course to the LEGO Space Forum to engage in all the fun and excitement!

The Classic Pirates be fortunate to have such wonderful contributors managing the LEGO Pirate Forum, blog and various social media profiles… but we’re always open to expanding our crew.

For the larger our crew be, the more waters we can conquer accomplish… and there is so much more we’d like to offer LEGO Pirate fans!

So to increase awareness of the skills we require most we’ve built a Job Board feature that describes what we’re looking for and provides a convenient form to submit expressions of interest.

The Job Board Looks Broken!

If you’ve visited Classic-Pirates.com recently yer web browser may not have downloaded the latest update yet.

Oh no! The Interwebs is broken again!

Not to worry!  You can hurry it along by performing a Hard Refresh to force it to download the files.

Performing a Hard Refresh differs depending upon the web browser and operating system you’re using, but it’s relatively simple. This guide provides further instructions.

Who Can Apply?

Anyone who’d like to contribute who has the time and relevant skills… and possessing a deep passion for LEGO Pirates immensely helps!

In his younger days, Governor Brickzarro completed dozens of
job applications before he got his job as governor

So if you’d like to help our LEGO Pirate fan community grow even bigger and better, drop us a line.

What’s the Minimum Commitment?

That’s best determined by YOU! How much are you able to contribute?

How much time can you spare?

5 minutes per day?  5 hours per week?  We can certainly find an arrangement to suit your schedule and abilities.

Can I Contribute a Skill if the Job Isn’t Listed?

Most probably… YES!

Your skills can help make LEGO Pirate dreams come true!

The Classic Pirates Job Board lists the skills we require the most, but we prefer to keep the possibilities open, so if you’d like to contribute in other ways, please let us know.

Offer More to LEGO Pirate Fans?

Aye!  For many a year Classic-Pirates.com has existed as a mere blog; yet, from the outset, we’ve aspired to create a more comprehensive archival resource of LEGO Pirate knowledge and media.

Offering all manner of features and content from… a set and minifigure database… to a catalogue and poster archive… to a magazines and tie-in media archive… to a building and customizing center, to a marketplace… and anything else you cant think of relating to LEGO Pirates.

But alas, we haven’t got there due to insufficient personnel.  So ye auld Job Board is one more tool in our arsenal to attract the necessary contributors to make our goal a reality.

Why Is There Blinkin’ AI Pirates?

Well, the Job Board would just be boring text without them – people would be so bored they’d fall asleep!

Before blogs yer had to write in logs

Unfortunately we lack the time to manage a fan community, develop innovative new features like this… and then build vignettes and custom minifgs… photograph them… and edit them into backgrounds for every single post and webpage…

But this just so happens to be one of the skills we require most – so don’t be shy if you have a talent for minifigure photography and photo editing!

In the meantime there’s a switch that allows you to hide the AI pirates in an instant.

What Do Yer Think?

Does this Job Board feature have merit?  Or is it a complete waste of time?

Is it working properly or have ye encountered annoying bugs?  Do yer have any suggestions for improving it?

Or maybe yer crazy enough to join the crew!

Let us know yer thoughts in the LEGO Pirates Forum and help expand the Classic Pirates empire crew!

Over the eons the Classic Pirates have explored many a fantastic MOC, crafted by countless builders of phenomenal talent. Upon occasion, we revisit those with a proclivity for innovation and Evancelt is one such crafty bugger.  During past endeavours, he’s succeeded in seamlessly integrating Duplo elements within SYSTEM builds – without the breaching the MOC’s structural integrity, along with miniaturized red coats which he dubbed “microfigures“.

His innovation prevails with the “Attempted Jailbreak, Fort Stockton, Wullham”, a Brethren of the Brick Seas contribution challenging the notion of typical wall construction. In this tidy vignette, the left and right curtains slope inwards at 45 degree angels to both the viewer and bastion.

EvanCelt writes:

This build started as a way to play with brick bending to make fort towers. It was also a fun chance to make a nougat beach and incorporate sand red plates into the fort wall in an attempt to recreate the classic pirate panels.

Brethren of the Brick Seas

BoBS, is a role-playing LEGO building game set during the Age of Discovery, in a world containing four factions, in which each interacts, cooperates, competes… and fights for ultimate power!

Within the BoBS universe; Fort Stockton is situated within the settlement of Wullham, upon the island of Panarium, ruled by The Crown of Corrington in the New Haven Sea.

Should wish to attack, now you know where to avoid the forst

An antagonistic history lies between Corrington and the Empire of Oleon, coupled with the recent threat of the Lotus Empire, fortifications like Stockton are more imperative than ever!

Intrigued? Do you have a flare for building and then concocting elaborate histories for your creations? Join BoBS today!

The Backstory

From the Brethren of the Brick Seas Forum:

Francis Goge had been nabbed by Corlander authorities the previous week. He was caught redhanded smuggling goods into Wullham without paying the requisite duties to the harbormaster.

Now, six days later, Goge lay in shackles in the cells at Fort Stockton in Wullham. Though promised a fair trial, his brothers didn’t pay that much heed. He was guilty and everyone knew it.

A jailbreak was needed – and soon! The Goge brothers conferred with one another and decided that Fort Stockton was quite impenetrable from the land approach, so they threw together a quick raft and attempted to sneak near the building where their brother was held.

It wasn’t going well.

SPLASH! A cannonball missed their raft by less than a meter. A detachment of redcoats ran down the dock and opened fire

The Work In Progress

Evan only took one shot of Fort Stockton but offered the Classic Pirates select WIP photos so we may better observe his process.

It all begins with laying down a base of watery goodness…

Next the corner walls are built… but they’re a bit ordinary, do thee think?

No problemo! Just weave in some red brickwork, just like the Soldier sets of yore.. or even 2015

The bastion uses the white wall pieces from the classic Imperial sets

Hey, isn’t that 6257 Pirates’ Raft With Shark?

If you possess a superior knowledge of LEGO Pirate set names, thee may have observed a classic set right before your very eyes.

Ok, so Evan used different minfigures to those in the set

Yes, that’s 6257 Pirates’ Raft With Shark, or you probably know it as Castaway’s Raft, the very same craft the Goge brothers have employed to carryout their daring escape. You did bother to skim the backstory, didn’t you?

Evan Explains

The figures and cannons in this build are childhood ones I recovered from my sister’s house this past fall. While I’d love to be able to say the raft is also a set from my childhood, it isn’t. In this build I was trying to incorporate classic pirates nostalgia and wanted a classic pirate raft! So I looked up a picture of it on Google and made a semi-faithful representation of 6257 from spare parts

About the Builder…

If you’ve been frequenting Classic-Pirates.com, thy shall be in the knowledge we’ve blogged several of Evancelt’s MOCs in the past, and prestigiously awarded the LEGO Pirate Forum’s MOC Expert tag for notable contributions both to the LEGO Pirates MOC Forum and Brethren of the Brick Seas Forum.

Join Evan’s adventurers on both Instagram and Flickr to enjoy a plethora of historic builds, or visit www.evancrouch.com for a showcase of his Brethren of the Brick Seas builds and other creative endeavors. And finally, he’s no stranger to LEGO Ideas, so support his Motorized Waterfall and the things flowing!

What Do Yer Think?

Is this wall technique well executed?  Would you attempt something similar in one of your builds? Or do you have suggestions to improve upon it?

Even Admiral Woodhouse is there – so what’s your final verdict?

Evan loves discussing his creations inside the LEGO Pirates Forum… so become acquainted – you may learn and thing or three about building…

Yer know those books which chronologically present the history of LEGO with nice photos?

Well, yet another be coming our way, this one be “LEGO Timelines” by Simon Hugo, published by DK Children.

It will have a nice, solid hard cover, retail for US$35 and be available 3 September, 2024.

As the title suggests, the page layouts will present information in nicely designed timelines.

In fact, ye may feast yer eyes on the LEGO Pirates timeline right now…

Here be the first 20 years… for the next 20 years, buy the book!

For them whose peepers lack the 20/20 vision, the intro reads:

Treasure Trail

With its named characters, rivalries, and facially distinct minifigures, the fourth LEGOLAND play theme was very different from those that had come before it.  Tales of the LEGO Pirates were told in comic and books to inspire more exciting role play. This was the start of a storytelling trend that definite almost every LEGO play theme since.

It also claims in 1993, the 912 part 6286 Skulls Eye Schooner “became the largest ship in the Pirates theme… a record it still holds today”.  Wonder what the book says about the 1,664 part, 10210 Imperial Flagship released in 2009?

Also, the Imperial Armada sub theme and Captain Ironhook appear to be absent from the timeline.

Official Announcement

Celebrate more than 90 years of LEGO® play through 100 illustrated timelines.

LEGO® Timelines takes you on an epic tour through ten decades of history – from before the iconic LEGO brick to today’s amazing sets and beyond!

Pore over pages packed with fascinating facts, stunning images, and amazing details, and discover a treasure trove of iconic LEGO sets, minifigures, accessories, and more.

75 illustrated timelines bring LEGO history to life like never before! From the early days of LEGO Town, LEGO Castle, and LEGO Space to LEGO Pirates, LEGO Star Wars, and LEGO NINJAGO, the timelines provide a fun visual overview of much-loved LEGO themes. Other fascinating timelines include the history of LEGO minifigures, minifigure accessories, how a LEGO set is made, and much more.

©2023 The LEGO Group.

Product Specifications

The details have been rounded up for yer…

This be the cover…  but not necessarily the final cover

What Do Yer Think?

Is this book worth a read? Will yer fork out gold to acquire your own copy? Or have we seen enough of this type of literature in recent times?

Tell us what yer think in the LEGO Pirates Forum today…