Earlier in year the Classic Pirates quickly reported our Facebook Captain, PxChris, attended the 2024 Bricks Cascade to share his extraordinary LEGO Pirate Display.
We intended to provide full coverage but The Infamous Steve contest and 10355 The Endurance set our ship off course!
Months later, we’re finally back on course to unearth this magnificent media Chris captured with his collaborators.
PxChris and Classic Paul with Josh and John from Beyond the Brick at Bricks Cascade 2024.
pXChris Writes:
I was interviewed by Beyond the Brick for my complete Pirates Timeline display covering the full history of the LEGO Pirates theme from 1989 until today as displayed at the Bricks Cascade convention in Portland, Oregon!
I will have more to post about this fantastic display soon, but for now, please enjoy this great video that Beyond the Brick shot.
And without further ado….
BeyondTheBrick Interview
pXChris Writes:
Paul and I got interviewed by @beyondthebricktv today for our massive complete Pirates timeline display at Bricks Cascade, so that was exciting!
If yer can’t watch embedded videos, head over to YouTube.
The Classic Pirates Dig Deeper
conducted a mighty fine interview to be sure, but the Classic Pirates always keep digging for that bit extra.
So we bombarded the poor bugger heaps of questions…
How long does it take you to pack, transport, unpack and then setup that display at each convention?
PxChris responds:
Well, the packing process was spread out over a couple weeks. It took a total of 13 of the large/long bankers boxes, plus 1 regular sized box, and a number of additional containers to pack it all in.
Here is where things started:
Not all treasure chests be made from wood or contain gold!
PxChris continues:
The setup process took roughly 12 hours I would say in total, spread out over two days.
The display starts with Pirates and Soldiers sets released in 1989
How many Bricks Cascades have you presented this display at?
PxChris responds:
Technically this is the very first time I’ve done this display, at Bricks Cascade or at any other convention.
I had a quite different style of classic Pirates display at Bricks Cascade in 2022, which was of course brilliantly covered by a Classic-Pirates.com blog post.
But this was a very different style display with very different intents and purposes.
All the way to 10320 Eldorado Fortress and 21322 Barracuda Bay
PxChris continues:
The purpose of this Timeline display was to cover the entirety of the LEGO Pirates theme in all of it’s incarnations from the beginning in 1989 until the present day. So in it we covered the complete classic Pirates theme of 1989-1997, as well as the main two reboots in 2009 and 2015 in full, and the most modern reboot of what is currently ongoing at this present time (PoBB, the Eldorado Fortress remake, etc.). We also covered some of the many incarnations of Pirates outside of those main iterations with the Juniors Pirates of 2004, a token nod to the 2011 Pirates of the Caribbean, and the many “pirate-adjacent” items of the 2010s-2020s such as MetalBeard’s Sea Cow from TLM, the Ninjago Sky Pirates, Mixels Pyrratz, Creator Pirates, and Vidiyo Punk Pirate.
Metal Beard’s Sea Cow is “pirate adjacent”
What year did you start presenting?
PxChris responds:
I’ve been presenting at Bricks Cascade in some form or another since 2019 (making this my sixth year) although not always Pirates related displays. Last year I didn’t do anything related to Pirates (I did a huge Western display) and I certainly won’t touch on Pirates again at all next year. Probably not for a couple years again at least. We try to keep things fresh and interesting every year at the convention and don’t like to recycle concept very much.
PxChris’ display Bricks Cascade 2022 was a different kettle of fish
How has the display evolved over time? Is it the same every year? Or has it grown?
PxChris responds:
I first started going to Bricks Cascade as a public attendee on the public expo days in 2012 with my son. It took me until 2019 to finally make the jump over to attending the full convention as an AFOL attendee. I’ve attended every year since. I actually am more involved than ever as this year I was also a coordinator for our theme at the convention which is “Classics”. In the Classics section we focus on displaying and showcasing LEGO history and classic (which we loosely define as pre-2000) sets as well as classically-inspired MOCs.
I’m not a huge MOC builder (though I do dabble a little) so the Classic section is definitely where I feel most at home within the convention. Helping to showcase the awesomeness of classic LEGO (be it Pirates or other) is pretty awesome to me.
Look at all those pre-2000 sets
How did you get involved with Bricks Cascade?
PxChris responds:
My only advice to people who might be interested in participating in a LEGO convention, in any capacity, is to just put yourself out there and do it! My struggle (why it took me from 2012 until 2019 to make the jump) was always the feeling of not being “good enough” of a builder to participate. Frankly, that was just a huge bunch of B.S. and completely silly negative self-talk. It doesn’t matter what your supposed skill level is, just do it. Like I said, it was really important for me personally to find my “home” at the convention, which is in the Classics area, but whatever your interest is, you just need to do it. It doesn’t take some hugely elaborate MOC to be able to attend a convention and get a wonderful experience from it. I know lots and lots of people who only bring one or a few small MOCs, and some people who don’t even bring anything at all, just attend for the sake of community and hanging out with fellow AFOLs. In my experience, the LEGO community has always been incredibly friendly and inviting regardless of what type of a builder you are.
All those times classic LEGO Pirates returned
How long have you been building your collection for? Are there any sets in there from childhood? Or has the bulk of them been acquired since you’ve been an AFOL?
PxChris responds:
I started building my Pirates collection in true earnest in early 2020 with the repurchase of a couple of my childhood sets (6274 and 6276) from some vendors at Bricks Cascade that year. This was right before the pandemic started. 6276 Eldorado Fortress was incomplete, so I worked on piecing the rest of that one together and started buying more and more sets. As with so many other folks, I didn’t have a whole lot else going on during the pandemic, so ramping up the collecting was how I filled a lot of time. By the time that the 2022 Bricks Cascade convention came around my Pirates collection was pretty big, but certainly not complete. But I was able to that year display the 1989-91 range of sets, the 1994 Islanders, and a scattering of other sets (mostly ships) from the remainder of the run.
The Eldorado Fortress is now complete
PxChris continues:
I purchased the last set I needed to complete the classic Pirates theme in around July of 2022. So it took me a little under two and a half years to complete the collection.
I did have some Pirates sets as a kid for sure, with 6274 Caribbean Clipper and 6276 Eldorado Fortress being my firsts which were gifts from my mom and grandma. But I never had a huge collection of Pirates sets back then, I think in total I may have had about 6 or so. Other than some of the pieces and figs, they mostly did not survive intact into my adult years. So pretty much my entire collection now is sets that I acquired as an AFOL.
The collection includes tie-in media such as the Lady Bird Books and German Audio Adventures
And where have you sourced this collection from? A variety of sources? Or just an online market place like eBay?
PxChris responds:
I did acquire the sets from quite a variety of sources, Bricklink and eBay probably being the biggest two. However I also purchased sets off of Mercari, Facebook Marketplace, Bricks and Minifigs stores, other in-person vendors at LEGO conventions, and other locations as well. I also pieced together a few of the sets.
The Skulls Eye Schooner… the prefect set for The LEGO Group to remake next
More Videos
PxChris commands his own YouTube Channel upon which yer will discover more great LEGO Pirate content.
He offers a couple of his own 2024 Bricks Cascade videos:
What be Bricks Cascade?
It be more than just an event; it’s a community of passionate AFOLs who celebrate their shared love of LEGO®!
Bricks Cascade is more than just Pirates – other displays photographed by Chris Christian
Bricks Cascade is an annual gathering of LEGO® lovers in Portland, Oregon. It’s where landlubbers and scallywags alike unite to display their brick-built treasures, join in buildin’ contests, attend workshops, and partake in all sorts o’ shenanigans. Ye’ll find grand displays of cities, castles, space stations, and more. It’s a fine chance for fans of all ages to share their passion for LEGO® and be inspired by the creativity of others.
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- Black Falcon’s Castle
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- Old West display
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- Ice Planet display
If ye be wantin’ more info, set yer course for BricksCascade.com or their social media: Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, Threads, X, YouTube and Discord.
Who be PxChris?
As captain of the Classic Pirates Facebook Group, PxChris maintains order and protects our community from the malevolent scourge of spam!
PxChris and his LEGO Pirates Timeline at Bricks Cascade, 2024
Chris B is an accomplished collector of Classic LEGO themes; along with official sets, he acquires interesting, and often rare promotional media and tie-in memorabilia, otherwise lost to the sea of time.
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- Pencil case
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- Playing cards
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- Keyrings
So don’t miss future classic discoveries by connecting with him upon Instagram and Flickr – it’s definitely worth yer effort!
His YouTube Channel also provides fantastic visual overviews of his various classic collections.
Did Yer Attend?
PxChris ain’t been the only Bricks Cascade attendee over the years – so we’d love to hear from those who’ve offered other piratey contributions.
Pirate MOCs at Bricks Cascade photographed by Chris Christian
If you attended Bricks Cascade 2024 or any recent LEGO conventions, and have exciting pirate tales or photos to share, hoist yer sails and head to the LEGO Pirates Forum and introduce yerself, or contact the Classic Pirates via the Contribute Form.
What Do Yer Think?
Are you as impressed with PxChris’ display as we are?
Do yer got an even more impressive LEGO Pirate collection? (surely nay!)
What a glorious collection!
Be there other LEGO Pirate displays or LEGO fan conventions we should cover in the future?
Drop us a line in the LEGO Pirates Forum today!
