The Most Awesome 8 Feet In My House

thelegochronicler

After my article about Classic LEGO Pirate sets was published I received multiple requests for pictures of the shelf in my basement where I display my pirate ship collection, affectionately known as "the most awesome 8 feet in my house". I have posted them below for your viewing pleasure. I have also included photos from a recent display my family and I did at Philly Brickfest featuring all the ships as well as other sets from my Pirate collection.

And now for the challenge. I mentioned in the article that I made replica sails for 6 of the ships. Can you figure out which ships have replica sails and which are official? Post your guesses below and in a couple of days I will reveal the answers.

Gooker1

awesome! Thanks for sharing!

Styer

That's super cool!

MorkMan

The pink sail... Is that real?

graphite

The Caribbean Clipper (blue and white stripes) is definitely one you replicated.

plasmodium

That's possibly the most awesome 8 feet in anyone's house!

bobabricks

I love how they are all organized by size, that little ship looks so funny beside the monsters ;P

Pitfall69

graphite said:

The Caribbean Clipper (blue and white stripes) is definitely one you replicated.

I can't tell. It does look strange, but it could be shadows from the other sails.

The original Imperial Flagship sails are very hard to find mint, so my guess it on those sails.

graphite

^ I think the black and white with swords is also a replica. They have a sheen to them that indicates the material isn't the cloth used on those sails. I know the Clipper cloth has no sheen that would reflect the light like that. I can't remember on the other one but I think those were also the same cloth.

GoodCoffeeJoey

Caribbean Clipper, Skull's Eye Schooner, Red Beard Runner, Cross Bone Clipper, Imperial Flagship(6271) and Renegade Runner are the ones with replica sails I reckon.

Fantastic choices of sets in your article btw.

Pitfall69

graphite said:

^ I think the black and white with swords is also a replica. They have a sheen to them that indicates the material isn't the cloth used on those sails. I know the Clipper cloth has no sheen that would reflect the light like that. I can't remember on the other one but I think those were also the same cloth.

The Re Released versions of BSB and RBR have sails that were made from a different material. They are stiffer and do have a "sheen". This is why I caution people who buy the older sets to check the sails. Even the LEGO trademark print is different on the newer models.

graphite

^ yeah, but the Clipper hasn't been remade so the sheen isn't correct.

Pitfall69

graphite said:

^ yeah, but the Clipper hasn't been remade so the sheen isn't correct.

Yeah, that's why I said earlier that the Clipper looks strange :) The pictures are not high quality, so it is hard to tell.

Pitfall69

I posted a comparison discussion between the Red Beard Runner and its Re Release awhile ago.

http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/11368/the-differences-between-red-beard-runner-6289-and-6290#latest

thelegochronicler

The award goes to GoodCoffeeJoe for nailing all 6 ships in one guess. The ships with replica sails are:

Carribean Clipper
Red Beard Runner
Skull's Eye Schooner
Cross Bone Clipper
Original Imperial Flagship

The sheen that many of you observed comes from how I make the replica sails. It is an acrylic sealer that I coat the sails in which protects and locks in the print so that the sails are more durable. The sheen is barely noticeable normally but showed up much more strongly in the pictures. Thanks all for looking!

cheshirecat

So are the sails on the imperial flagship really that pink or is it some sort of reflection/something caused by the photo. Because they really shouldn't be, mine were a dirty cream/sand/natural tan colour but no pinky-ness at all.

thelegochronicler

No it is a function of the light. They are probably not as pure cream as the originals but they don't look as pink as they show up in the picture.

Somerset

Very impressive! I wish I had a fleet like that. ;)

cloaked7

@thelegochronicler Which is your favorite? (hope that hasn't already be asked/answered)

Norlego

I assumed it was a spider or something so nearly did not click on it. Well impressed...

Pitfall69

So, were most of these ships "Bricklinked" or did you have the ships, but they were missing sails or the sails were too ragged and beat up?

piratemania7

Pitfall69 said:

So, were most of these ships "Bricklinked" or did you have the ships, but they were missing sails or the sails were too ragged and beat up?

I believe this authors article (from the main page) finishes up like this and should hopefully answer your question:

"Unfortunately copies of all but the smallest pirate sets (and sometimes even those) command high prices on eBay, Bricklink and Brick Owl. There is however an alternative that I have taken great advantage of in expanding my pirate collection. The classic pirate sets are excellent candidates for part sourcing. Aside from boat hulls, masts, rigging and sails (and really with the exception of the sails even those pieces are not outrageously priced) most of the pieces that comprise these sets are fairly inexpensive and there is a lot of repetition amongst sets which limits the number of stores you have to purchase from. If you choose three or four sets to source at once you can save a lot of money by buying the parts individually and then assembling the sets. If you are willing to compromise on some of the rarer figures and go with more generic ones, you can save even more. I took it a step further and made my own replica LEGO sails which allowed me to source six of the classic ships for dramatically less than it would have cost me to purchase them as sets."

Pitfall69

^Arrgh. I didn't see the article :)

thelegochronicler

@ cloaked7 Very hard to choose, would either be the Black Seas Barracuda or the new Imperial Flagship.

@ Pitfall69 the quote is right, the 6 with replica sails were Bricklinked as well as several of the land based sets in the last picture. I have found it to be incredibly cost effective to Bricklink pirate sets.

piratemania7

@thelegochronicler do you find any pieces are more expensive than others? Ie specific examples of what some of the rarer pieces have cost you?

thelegochronicler

The middle hull sections are expensive, that always seemed odd to me since there should technically be more of those than the bows or sterns but I often found those to be more expensive. Any printed pieces, like the flags and especially the exclusive skull and crossbones panel on the Skulls Eye was outrageous (I made a sticker and put I to a standard panel that cost 10 cents). Cannons and Cannon bases are also quite pricy.

tamamahm

That is a gorgeous collection. Thanks for sharing it!!