6270 Forbidden Island (a.k.a. Pirate’s Nest), a beloved set released during the initial wave of the LEGO pirate-themed sets in the summer of `89, has sparked numerous mediocre remakes, alongside the sporadic outstanding remake in the decades since.
Maybe it’s easy for us to judge, since everyone’s a critic, but lest we forget it’s far easier to build something original than to improve a creation that was exemplary and make it yer better. The latter venture requires a healthy dose of artistic bravado.
Today, we shall examine one such bold rendition, pieced together by CaptainDarkNStormy, an avid LEGO Pirates enthusiast and a talented builder with a promising MOCing career ahead.
Welcome to the Forbidden Island! Your tropical slice of paradise where you can unwind from a dog-eat-dog everyday life, and plan your next high-risk business endeavour over one – or several mojitos
CaptainDarkNStormy writes:
Behold, Forbidden Island Remastered!
This is my most ambitious MOC to date and it took me a few months to construct.
Forbidden Island was one of my all time favorite sets as a child, and I have recreated it in more detail.
It pays homage to the original, with a rope bridge and a trap door to catch the Imperial Soldiers, but on a larger island teeming with flora and fauna. Captain Redbeard has a nice spot to enjoy his rum between stints at sea on the Barracuda, a small cave in which to hide his treasure, and a cannon for defence against those pesky Bluecoats.
Can you believe that the original 6270 set consisted of mere 182 pieces? Whereas CaptainDarkNStormy’s version is made of a whooping 2367 pieces… just look at the awesome difference those 2,185 parts make
The Forbidden Build
According to the Tales Upon the Box Art, sometime during the 18th century, a peaceful colony of settlers were enjoying mojitos while polishing some extremely valuable treasure that just happened to lying about the island wence they arrived. Yes, whoops! Somebody had carelessly left a ton of jewels and gold behind – because nobody ever returns to collect their treasure. Finders keepers, hey?
All of a sudden their serenity was shattered like a looking glass tumbling onto some jagged rocks below! Some fearsome invaders, the self-named LEGO® Pirates of the Sea, had spent years seeking their ancestral treasure which those unsettling settlers had greedily claimed as their own, along with the island itself.
Forbidden Island was named as such by the settlers, for to them it was – wait for it – forbidden! T’was the island upon which only pirates could dwell, and it was right here where Captain Redbeard among other buccaneers devised cunning plans to pilfer the treasure from the settlers… and that odious Governor Broadside stationed at Eldorado Fortress.
High above the ground is the rum shack where weary pirates can enjoy piña coladas, mojitos… and after several rounds of those maybe even one good-old-fashion Sex on the Beach
Remember in the original Forbidden Island set you always had to stress over that resourceful Soldier escaping? Well, stress no more, as he is now dead… quite D.E.A.D!
Those hideous oversized stairs are thing of the past as we now have beautifully carved step constructed entirely by SNOT technique
Of course, the old one-piece rope bridge also had to give a way to more complex and stylish design
The island is teeming with flora, fauna and one ‘old’ but deadly cannon
We can assume which role Senior Bacon will play in the near time future when the rum runs dry and hunger takes charge
But for now Senior Bacon is safe as the pirates hunger for delicious roast chicken
Hey look! There’s Jojo the monkey which Guybrush literally used as a “monkey wrench” on a valve on Phatt Island
In a small cave under the stairs where Captain Redbeard hides the pirate treasure. Wait a minute, this feature was not present in the original set, was it?
Looks quite good from the back, better than the original. Don’t you agree?
Now the only remaining issue is the missing row boat and shark? Where might they be? Ahhhh… darn it! If that’s the only aspect we can find to nitpick then this is truly a spectacular remake!
Forbidden Island – Lite Version
The 2,367 piece count is rather large for a remastered set considering the classic original possessed a rather modest 178 pieces. To alleviate this discrepancy, CaptainDarkNStormy also serves up a lite version with a simplified base. It stylistically matches 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay with approximately half the part count of the original, and the best part is; you receive building instructions for both versions within the same Rebrickable purchase.
Aye… this will indeed make a fine companion to Pirates of Barracuda Bay
The Other Notable Remake
In the introduction we mentioned that there are a few other outstanding remakes and one stands above the rest. Sometime during the 2020, following the pirates of Barracuda Bay style, Elusys Ra Arwal created a glorious digital rendition of his Forbidden Island packed with details and a few innovations.
If you are all into islands and remakes, we invite you to read all about that creation.
“Forbidden Island” by Elusys Ra Arwal – packed with details and a few innovations
Tales Upon the Box Art?
Have you gone stark bonking mad! What gibberish be that? Nay, I was born mad and the fact I’m having a dialogue with meself in a blog post proves it!
In certain regions, the box art of earlier pirate sets offered a backstory to fuel the imaginations of youthful minds embarking upon an enduring quest to construct the contents which lie before them.
Once upon a time the larger LEGO Pirate sets included reading material
These stories were a tad brief and unlike the Ladybird Book series or Golden Medallion comic, they only referenced names found in the US catalogues, opposed to expanding the lore further with new locations and characters.
Events referenced throughout this blog post pay homage to the first paragraph of the 1989 set stories:
Sometime during the 18th century, a peaceful colony of settlers enjoying the island treasures they discovered, suddenly had their serenity interrupted. The invaders were those who called themselves the LEGOLAND® Pirates of the Sea! For years, the Pirates had been searching for the same name buried that the settlers were now claiming as their own. This of course, disturbed the Pirates as they knew the doubloons the settlers found had belong to their ancestors.
“Great! But the text in the above image is a bit too small for me read” says you.
“We may explore those stories in greater detail in another blog post” says I.
About the Builder…
Not so long ago, during one stormy night, a mysterious builder sailed into Eurobricks’ ‘Pirate Bay’ and took it by storm. His name confidentiality, happened to be CaptainDarkNStormy and our well placed – and unpaid well paid – informants bring word that he was actually a real Captain, upon one of those futuristic “flying ships” which are more commonly known as airplanes. He hails from the United States, and records show he is also a proud dad and an avid LEGO Pirates enthusiast.
When he is not flirting with cute stewardess conquering the vast sky oceans, or reconstructing the classics, you might find him posting new content on his Instagram and Flickr accounts.
Most of his builds are also available in digital instructions form on Rebrickable so you can easily acquire them for a fair price.
What Do Yer Think?
Plain and simple, do you like it?
Or do yer prefer less obvious and more imaginative remake like the one from Elusys Ra Arwal? Would you like to see and own more of these ‘modern’ remakes or do you think designers should leave the classic sets at peace and create something fresh and original? Tell us, we are dying to hear from you inside the biggest LEGO Pirates forum in the world.
