Two new LEGO books have been announced as part of the Little Golden Books range, and the one we care about is titled: “How to Be a Pirate“.

The Classic Pirates already know how be pirates but for you clueless landlubbers, this book could provide useful advice for mastering the high seas. Or more likely it will be aimed towards children with IQs slightly higher than your average pirate.

Along with the other Golden Book, “How To Be A Knight“, it will be unleashed upon the world 5 July, 2022, according to the Amazon and Penguin Random House websites.

Official Synopsis

A brand-new LEGO® Little Golden Book about using courage and creativity to be a pirate!

Cecilia’s dream of becoming a pirate and sailing the seas comes true when she joins her grandfather’s pirate crew! See what happens in this sweet and silly storybook that’s part of a new line of LEGO® Little Golden Books. The combination of two classics–LEGO Minifigures and Little Golden Books–makes this the perfect book for kids ages 4 and up or collectors of all ages!

Little Golden Books enjoy nearly 100% consumer recognition. They feature beloved classics, hot licenses, and new original stories . . . the classics of tomorrow.

LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Brick and Knob configurations and the Minifigure are trademarks and/or copyrights of the LEGO Group. ©2022 The LEGO Group. All rights reserved.

A training manual for aspiring young pirates

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Synopsis Analysis

Cecilia’s dream of becoming a pirate and sailing the seas comes true when she joins her grandfather’s pirate crew!

Well now, who might her grandfather be? Have the authors honoured the continuity of past LEGO Pirates literature? Or have they forged their own canon?

Perhaps her grandfather is Roger Redbeard, or maybe it’s Brickbeard… or maybe it’s BOTH! After all, back in 1964 Paul McCartney said everyone is entitled to two grandfathers.
(The correct answer is Metalbeard)

See what happens in this sweet and silly storybook that’s part of a new line of LEGO® Little Golden Books.

Sweet and silly? Silly yes, but “Sweet” is not a word used in conjunction with pirates. So what does that mean? She breaks into a sugarcane plantation and steals all the sugar?

The combination of two classics–LEGO Minifigures and Little Golden Books–makes this the perfect book for kids ages 4 and up or collectors of all ages!

Good thing they added “collectors of all ages” so childless AFOLs don’t feel like losers for buying a booked aimed at 4 year olds.  Oh wait… it does say “and up” with no upper limit specified.

Little Golden Books enjoy nearly 100% consumer recognition.

Nearly 100% consumer recognition? So like 99.99999%? How did they arrive at this figure anyway?

They feature beloved classics, hot licenses, and new original stories . . . the classics of tomorrow.

“Hot licenses”, ay? That almost sounds scandalous!

What are Little Golden Books?

If you’re in that 0.000001% who doesn’t recognise Little Golden Books, first be aware they’re not actually made from gold. So using them as payment for grog over the bar probably won’t work. But definitely try it and let the Classic Pirates know how successful you were.

Pirate themed Golden Books have been done before

Penguin Random House who sell mountains of books, have this small biography on their website:

In 1942, the launch of Little Golden Books revolutionized children’s book publishing by making high-quality picture books available at affordable prices. More than 60 years later, many of the original Golden Book titles are still wildly popular, with The Poky Little Puppy topping the list of ten bestselling children’s books of all time. Golden Books’ backlist is teeming with classics such as Dorothy Kunhardt’s Pat the Bunny, and features the stories and artwork of children’s book legends Mary Blair, Margaret Wise Brown, Richard Scarry, Eloise Wilkins, Garth Williams, and many more. Today, the Golden Books imprint includes an array of storybooks, novelty books, and coloring and activity books featuring all of the most popular licenses, including Disney, Nickelodeon, Barbie, Thomas & Friends, The Cat in the Hat, Sesame Street, Marvel Super Heroes, and DC Super Friends. Golden Books continues to reissue the best of its backlist in a variety of formats, including ebooks and apps, as well as bringing out brand-new books in these evolving new formats.

In short, it says Little Golden Books started out writing children stories based on original characters… but sold out to licensing in the early 21st century.

So who wrote this book, anyway?

Online retailers list “Golden Books” as the author. Now this is probably a brand name rather than the pseudonym of the author, indicating when someone lends their talents to this brand, they become part of the collective. Their identity is irrelevant! So if the story is really good, well too bad! No recognition for the author! But on the flip side, if the story sucks barnacles, the author can save face and say “Hey, that wasn’t written by me, it was those stupid Golden Books who wrote that“.

Haven’t we Seen this Madness before?

Aye, that we have. This is not the first hardcover tie-in. When the LEGO Pirates theme was initially released in 1989, the LEGO Group commissioned Ladybird Books to produce four stories to flesh out the universe.  The books incorporated set and minifigures names found in the UK catalogues and promotional media, but they also mentioned names like “Captain Foul” and the “Ironram” which didn’t have counterparts in the product line.

The inner back cover of each Ladybird book.

Captain Foul as he appeared in the second Ladybird book “Captain Roger’s Birthday”

Were these unproduced concepts in intended for release? Or merely the contribution of the writers? We may never know, but a minifig influenced by Captain Foul’s mustache found it’s way into Minifigures Series 8 released back in 2012. Perhaps a bit of stretch, but maybe these books have a small influence over what came later.

The cover the upcoming Golden Book features a design very similar to the Pirate Girl released in Minifigures Series 20, sans the plume, and the direction of her strap has been reversed.

This is the covers of the four books

In a future Blog Post we may explore these books further, but for now here are the titles if you’d like to do your own digging:

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

Also, there were two activity books and purportedly three unreleased Ladybird Books, but we’ll save those for another time.

But you can dive into the Ladybird Books topic in the LEGO Pirates Forum right now for further discussion.

Didn’t we See this Madness again?

Nay, not quite. In 2011 a book title “Brickbeard’s Treasure” by Hannah Dolan was released by DK Publishing. Rather than being fully hand illustrated, it utilised photography from the 2009-2010 wave of Pirate sets in, conjunction with artwork found on set boxes and promotional media. In fact, it appears only the story is original, with all visual sbeing repurposed to fit the story’s narrative.

Here be the front cover

The Amazon.com synopsis states:

Join the adventure in LEGO® Pirates: Brickbeard’s Treasure. Follow Captain Brickbeard and his pirate crew as they hunt for treasure on the high seas in this Level 1 reader from DK!

And there was also the Ninjago “Pirates vs Ninja”  book published by Schoolastic in 2013, but since that was released as promotional material for the Ninjago theme, we shall speak no more of it.

Conclusion

As the protagonist appears to be female, may this story be an inspiration to little girls all over the world, helping them to develop a love for LEGO Pirates, so one day, they feel inspired to appear as a pirate wench on the homepage of Classic-Pirates.com, sending love and kisses to everyone.

But seriously, new LEGO Pirates media targeted towards children helps stimulate awareness and generates interest for the Pirate theme. Golden Books have been highly recognisable brand for decades, so what better vessel to deliver the Pirate theme to young children in the absence of LEGO Pirate sets on toy store shelves.

Pirate themed designs have NOT been made available for crowdfunding via the BrickLink Designer Program.

Are LEGO Pirate fans gonna take this sitting in deckchairs, sipping on Mojitos?

NO! We’re going to stand up and fire the cannons because BrickLink would love YOUR feedback on this matter.

They are requesting feedback for the Designer Program in their forum so you can inform them of the tremendous mistake they’re making… and the untold riches they’re depriving themselves of!

So crew, you know what to do!

Fire away at that forum!

But do so in a respectful and constructive manner.

Classic Themed Designs made available for the 2021 crowdfunding.
In order from Left to Right, Top to Bottom:
“Castle in the Forest”, “Space Troopers”, “1950’s Dinner” and “Brickwest Studios”

YARR… but What be this?

Earlier this year the BrickLink Designer Program extended an invitation to crowdfund designs created by LEGO Ideas 10K Club members that were previously rejected for production. In each of the three rounds of crowdfunding, the first five projects that reach the minimum threshold of 3000 pre-orders will be realized as official LEGO sets.

Of the 31 designs selected, designs from classic themes including Castle, Town, Space and even Western (to an extent) were made available, yet Pirate designs were completely absent! Aye, completely snubbed!

The official information states:

Why are some of the unrealized LEGO Ideas projects not invited?

Considering the maximum number of sets we can produce, only 32 31 projects were selected among all the unrealized LEGO Ideas projects. No IP-based models are invited to the program as they cannot be produced through this program.

Who will be invited?
Select designers whose project(s) acquired 10,000 votes on LEGO Ideas, but were not approved for production, will be invited to participate in this Designer  Program. Unfortunately, IP-based designs will not be eligible for the Designer  Program, in addition to a few other projects that we know we unfortunately can’t  realize. The LEGO Ideas team will first contact the designers from January, and  then the BrickLink team will proceed with the onboarding process for participating designers.”

Beyond that, no specific explanation has been provided as to why our dear Pirates have not appeared!

This led some to speculate the production of 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay and 31109 Creator Pirate Ship was the cause of the omission, particularly because the LEGO Ideas terms (during early 2020) stated new submissions based on the pirate ship concept would not be accepted. Dubious, considering pirate-themed submissions not based upon ships were also waived for consideration.

Apparently these have no affect on the BrickLink Designer Program…

Furthermore, in the time since, LEGO Ideas 21325 Medieval Blacksmith and Creator 31120 Creator 3-in-1 Medieval Castle were released, yet at least three Castle designs made the crowdfunding cut, perhaps squashing that theory like an obnoxious bug under a hammer…  unless… there is a double standard for LEGO Castle.

Others speculated more optimistically, choosing to believe the absence was attributed to a wave of new LEGO Pirate sets sailing over the horizon in the near future.  Certainly wishful thinking, but if the business strategy determined during the early 2010’s is still in place (I.e. a new wave of Pirate sets released every 5-7 years), we are indeed due for a fresh wave within the next 18 months.

Or perhaps it’s because pirates won the poll for the 90th anniversary LEGO set and crowdfunding pirate designs would undermine future plans.  However, the result of that poll is being kept under tight wraps so we won’t know the outcome until 2022.

Possibly the next pirate-themed LEGO set… or maybe just a regular LEGO set.

Muddying the waters further, “Ray the Castaway” by DadiTwins recently won (June 2021) the LEGO Ideas “Do You Want To Go to the Seaside?” contest perhaps dispelling the polling ponderance. Although, it could be argued that, Ray isn’t strictly pirate themed and could be foolishly marketed as a general set. Let’s also consider Ray will be a “Gift With Purchase”, so he won’t be available to the causal buyer, unless he appears on the secondary market via platforms like eBay or BrickLink. This will likely limit his availability limited and render him expensive to those daring to acquire him outside of LEGO.com.

These are the 10K designs you’ve been deprived of!

Why is this such a big deal?

There were four Pirate themed LEGO Ideas submissions which reached 10K supporters during the cycle in which the designs were selected for the program:

“The Fortress – Imperial Army” by Piraten

“Caribbean Clipper” by Babyteeth

“Seagull Bay Lighthouse Imperial Fortress” by Delusion Brick

“Imperial Island Fort” by BrickHammer

You’ll observe they all fly the blue coat Soldier’s flag so this may indicate a reasonable demand for this sub-theme among AFOLs.

Danish designer, Piraten (Brian Steffensen Vestergaard) was interviewed by the LEGO Ideas Team after “The Fortress” reached 10K in support… but apparently this level of acknowledgement still isn’t sufficient to warrant an invite to the BrickLink Designer Program. Further adding to the concern, Piraten reported in April 2020, various Imperial themed LEGO Ideas submissions were being rejected without a clear explanation.

Apparently Caswell Point overlaps with Pirates of Barracuda Bay too much!
(Aye, but only after 5 glasses of rum)

The explanation Email he received doesn’t make the cut, given he submitted an Imperial themed design:

What can I do to help?

BrickLink is asking for feedback on the Designer Program so give it to them!

Go to the Bricklink forum and/or the BrickLink Designer Program Round 1 announcement. Mention you notice LEGO Pirates are missing and tell them you want this rectified in the future…

But respect the forum rules or else!

Or, if you’d prefer to discuss with the Classic Pirates in the LEGO Pirates Forum, hit the red button below:

The LEGO Group is putting “Pirate” in the “P” of VIP with a new value pack titled “40515 Pirates and Treasure”, along with three other value packs; “40512 Fun and Funky”, “40514 Winter Wonderland”, and “40513 Spooky”.

Few details have been released beyond the names and set numbers, therefore, availability or VIP point requirement remains unknown, so bookmark this page and check back regularly for updates.

The Value Pack is basically an assortment of useful Pirate themed elements which include staples like; a map, Jolly Roger flag, parrots, shark, palm leave, skeleton, cannon, treasure chest… and a chicken… yes, a golden cock to be precise!

These parts could be extremely valuable to aspiring LEGO Pirate MOC builders, or used in conjunction with future set releases, like “Sailing Ship Adventure” (or whatever the final name is ends up being).

Imagine this as a LEGO Pirate set… or maybe even Admiral Woodhouse’s sloop…

For those who are unaware, “Sailing Ship Adventure” by Yc_Solo (rumoured to be released under the name of LEGO 40487 Dream Holiday  officially released as 40487 Sailboat Adventure) is a modern recreational sailing vessel submitted to the “Build that holiday into THAT holiday!” Contest hosted by the LEGO Group during 2020. As the winning entry, it will become a LEGO Gift with Purchase set, so don’t except to encounter it on store shelves. But if you happen to acquire another 21322 LEGO Ideas Pirates of Barracuda Bay, a smaller pirate ship certainly won’t go astray… so the magic of these add-ons could easily transform a yacht into a fully-fledged pirate ship. Or if you have the parts, maybe this vessel has potential as a smaller ship for your Soldiers or Imperial Guards.

Now officially known as “40487 Sailboat Adventure”

Crude scans of the old Pirate Service Packs

Older AFOLs may also recall the LEGO Group released “Service Packs” throughout the 90s which were similar to these Add-On Packs, albeit not quite so generous with the part count. BrickLink and Pick A Brick may have rendered part assortment packs somewhat redundant, but the prospect of being able to acquire a bundle of piratey goodness is still pretty exciting, isn’t it?

Alright me hearties, clock up of those Very Important Pirate points and then you’ll be able to kit out your regular, boring-old LEGO sets in true pirate fashion!

So while you wait for Ray the Castaway to become available, ask any questions or share yer findings in the LEGO Pirates Forum…

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if the LEGO Group had continued the Pirate theme beyond 1997? What direction would the sets have taken? Would new factions or sub themes have been introduced?

Jason B of The Brick Stop offers speculative answers to these questions by exploring new possibilities through his digital design skills. He’s produced a couple of Imperial Armada set concepts, Armada Cove and Prison Island, a pirate cove named Wreckers Bay (to show everyone how 6281 Pirates Perilous Pitfall should have been done), and The Queens Guard, a MOC based on his first original sub theme of the same name.

He has now expanded his repertoire with “Royal Marines Broadside Bay”, a fort manned by a new faction which repurposes classic LEGO Town firefighter torsos as military uniforms.

Jason writes:

Welcome to the Royal Marines Broadside Bay!
I’ve given my black uniform soldiers a home!
Recently I’ve been taking old town firefighter torsos and converting them to imperial guards from the pirate theme!
I thought it would be fun to see what a set would look like if they had gotten one! 😄
Here is what I came up with.

The rear review – watch out for the alligator!

The Backstory

It was named “Broadside Bay” after Captain Redbeard unloaded a full broadside on an imperial port town located in said bay.  After that, the Royal Marines constructed this fortification to protect the bay. But the name stuck for good. Needless to say, Governor Broadside thinks the bay was named after him.  Just wait until he finds out the truth!

About the Builder…

Jason Brown is a masterful digital builder who creates LEGO designs in the style of the official sets released during the mid 90s. He often (but not always) limits himself to using the pieces which were available at the time for that added level of authenticity. You can acquire building instructions for some of his masterpieces from his Gumroad store or peruse his Instagram profile to enjoy the full gamut of his work.

Fan Vote – The Final Vote: Help Celebrate the 90th Anniversary of The LEGO Group

In Round 1 the top three voted themes were:

• Bionicle
• Classic Space
• Pirates

Full details available on the official LEGO blog.

Now we must vote for the winner!

VOTE then post here and tell us WHY you voted for LEGO Pirates…

VOTE PIRATES NOW

Official LEGO Group Survey

Fan Vote: Help Celebrate the 90th Anniversary…

It’s official, LEGO Ideas submission “The Pirates Bay” now known as 21322 The Pirates of Barracuda Bay has an official release date of 1 April 2020.

So sails over to the LEGO Pirates Forum for more photos and details…

After reaching the perquisite 10,000 votes and undergoing four months of review, it has been announced LEGO Ideas project “The Pirate Bay” by Bricky_Brick will go into production as an official LEGO set!

Bricky_Brick is also known as Paokus in the LEGO Pirates forum or Pablo Jiménez in the real world.

LEGO Ideas Design Manager, Samuel Johnson said during the announcement:

“It’s been super exciting for us to see a real LEGO classic on the LEGO Ideas website and we know that there’s this huge demand for such products, and you know, classic LEGO you can never go wrong with such a thing.“

Click here to set sail for the LEGO Pirates Forum for more information and to discuss the first ever LEGO Pirates submission to go into production.

DK_Titan brings us The Castle of Captain Sabertooth, a layout built by Scandinavian AFOLs as their contribution to a larger display at LEGO World Copenhagen, Denmark, which will take place during 2020.

The MOC is illuminated using the Brickstuff lighting system which can be observed in the accompanying YouTube video in the LEGO Pirates Forum.

To see Sabertooth’s castle in all it’s illuminated glory, visit the LEGO Castle of Captain Sabertooth topic in the LEGO Pirates Forum.

DK_Titan writes:

The Castle of Captain Sabertooth is our contribution to a larger Captain Sabertooth (Kaptein Sabeltann) layout built by Scandinavian AFOLs.

The whole layout will be on display at LEGO World Copenhagen, Denmark next year.

Illuminated using the Brickstuff lighting system, which can be seen in the YouTube video below.