No matter who you are, or where you are, or under which flag you sail, since the dawn of time and the emergence of prehistoric people in Africa, our basic necessity for barter, trade or commerce has never really changed. So when brave explorers sailed across the treacherous Brick Seas, and discovered the New World, it was only natural to establish trading posts where the King’s loyal subjects could practice an honest exchange of goods… and pay their taxes to the King like obedient little peons. Yes, we all love the King. Hail to the King, baby!
Today we shall visit one such trading post, conveniently named “Imperial Trading Post” (good thing we don’t rate MOCs based on the originality of their names), made available to us by an emerging builder with immense talent, known as PopularBricks.
Welcome to the Imperial Trading Post, a place where all pirates merchants are welcomed to drink, trade and resupply, all under the protection of the or gullible well trained redcoat guards
PopularBricks writes:
The Imperial Soldier series apart of the pirate theme is one of my all-time favorite! For my MOC I wanted to create something that is both reminiscence of that classic theme yet updated into a more modern take.
The Imperial Trading Post is built with approximately 2,800 pieces. It is the place where all the sailors go to trade goods.
I had a lot of fun building this and if you would like to see this as a possible Ideas set please support on LEGO Ideas!
The Imperial Build
The trading post features a wide range of features to ensure maximum playability: loading docks, a fishing pier, watchtowers, fully functional crane, a storage area and market area
While the market is booming, the lookout remains ever vigilant in case those pesky pirates dare to disrupt the operations of honest trade
At the market you’ll find almost anything to meet yours need; fresh fish, razor sharp cutlasses, plump chickens, moldy bread… even wenches friendly town girls with delightful personas and exquisite social skills around weary sailors
Hey look, it’s the signfig of the builder, PopularBricks, who apparently enjoys at spot of fishing at the pier
Beware! By decree of Governor Happy, all soldiers, merchants and law abiding citizens must wear a smile and enthusiastically greet verybody. Violators will be hanged – with a smile, of course!
Admiral Woodhouse perhaps hasn’t seen fit to seek residence at this particular Trading Post, but no doubt it’s on his to-do list.
Kinda strange to wear chain mail armour and a thick hood in the middle of the stinking hot Caribbean… but at least he is making an effort to smile (regardless of how hideous it may look)
LEGO Ideas
By now you’ve probably accumulated sufficient knowledge of LEGO Ideas grasp how it operates. I.e. builders make an effort to design something spectacular (under 3,000 pieces), submit their humble idea, accumulate 10,000 votes, and against all odds, survive the dreaded review phase – currently, only Bricky Brick has achieved this with Pirates of Barracuda Bay. Afterwards, the successful builders accumulate vast wealth and fame beyond their wildest dreams, as their massacred slightly refined concept becomes available at LEGO stores around the globe.
So let’s do our share and give PopularBricks support for this exciting journey and maybe, just maybe, bring back LEGO Pirates into retail! Disclaimer: At the time of writing, 31109 Creator Pirate Ship is/was available at retail.
6272 Imperial Trading Post
Yer may have noticed that the Classic Pirates take friendly gabs at builders who “borrow” the name of a official LEGO sets for their creation. It’s all done in reasonably good humour, of course.
We appreciate that builders are often focused on the construction and presentation of their MOCs, and don’t always have the resources to determine unique name for their creations. But we’d hardly be a reliable information resource if we didn’t mention the significance on the MOC in relation to official LEGO sets.
The Imperial Trading Post… sometimes named “Port Royal” in English speaking territories
6272 Imperial Trading Post was released during 1992 to coincidence with the debut of the Imperial Guard sub theme, a then new faction inspired by the British “lobster’ red coat uniform, to act as as foil against both pirates and the blue coat Soldiers.
About the Builder…
Sometime ago, PopularBricks debuted in the LEGO Pirate Forum with this creation. He hails from the USA and considers LEGO Pirates as one of his all-time favourite LEGO themes.
Beyond that we know little of him, but we are certain he offers more interesting LEGO Ideas submissions. So dig deeper, explore his LEGO Ideas profile and discover further LEGO Pirate wonders which await you.
And for the social media savvy, occasionally he shares images of his work on Instagram and Flickr, so be sure to connect with him for future updates.
What Do Yer Think?
Now we turn the pen and ink over to you, dear reader! Share your thoughts on this marvelous / not marvelous build… Do you think it can be improved? Dislike a particular aspect? What is it? Missing a monkey? Does the this trading post need a prison cell to contain those pirates running rampant? Perhaps a cannon or three to defend the darn place from those early bird pirates intent on ruining brunch?
Or do you absolutely love it, with an unstoppable eagerness to incorporate it into your LEGO Pirates collection? Fire your opinions away on the Facebook Post or in the biggest, baddest LEGO Pirates forum on Earth (maybe even the universe) – the Classic Pirates are waiting for you!
