What’s This All About?!?!

BrickNerd’s pirates contest in honor of LEGO’s 90th anniversary is full speed ahead, and there is just over a week left to submit your entry! The full rules and contest description can be found here, but for those needing a little bit of additional motivation, we’ve got a treasure trove of prizes for “pi-RATS & BUG-aneers!”

What Do I Have To Do?!?

For a contest recap, build a pirate-themed creation inspired by your crew—but remember, no standard human minifigures are allowed except for costumed ones! Think of pirate dragons, animals, Chima figures, rock monsters, brick-built buccaneers and other non-human potential pirates like Vidiyo robots, mythical creatures, and aliens.

But remember, your LEGO creation (ship, fort, hideaway, etc.) must both FEEL like it belongs in a sea-faring pirate world AND be directly INSPIRED by your crew. (Take a look at the original LEGO Pirates theme for more insight and design cues if you need a jump start or this Eurobricks Pirates forum with some great building tutorials.)

How Long Do I Have Left?!?

Entries can be posted either on Flickr or Instagram. A link to your entry should be posted in the pi-RATS & BUG-aneers Flickr group using the hashtags #piRATSandBUGaneers and #BrickNerd. You have until August 31st at 11:59 pm PT to post your creation.

Time Left to Build Like a Pirate!

What Should I Build?!?

Let your imagination run wild through the seven seas. But for a bit more inspiration, here are a few pirate-inspired builds that BrickNerd contributors created with no human minifigs allowed!

Captain Niffler-Beard - Andreas Lenander

Pirosaurs - Geneva Durand

Skull Tree Fortress - Michael J.

The Crew - Dan Ko

Pioultry - Pistash

Pirates of Galidor - Isaiah Durand

Capatoa - Griffin Rose

Tiger Treachery - Markus Rollbühler

What Do I Get?!?

Check out all of our prizes listed in detail or summarized here. There is gold to be won!

1ST, 2ND & 3RD PLACES

Golden Nerdly Trophy & BrickNerd Swag Box
LEGO shopping spree (First: $150, Second: $100, Third: $50) (or local equivalent)
Rolli mouse with pirate hat (and accompanying CMF Series 18 Elephant Girl minifigure)
Fly guy pirate figure (based on CMF Series 14 Fly Monster minifigure)
Crazy Bricks custom Mouse Guard minifigure (Conrad, Celanawe or Saxon chosen in winning order)
Ktown Bricks custom pirate torso (new, unreleased design)

5 Honorable Mentions

Rolli mouse with pirate hat (and accompanying CMF Series 18 Elephant Girl minifigure)
Fly guy pirate figure (based on CMF Series 14 Fly Monster minifigure)
Ktown Bricks custom pirate torso (new, unreleased design)
Crazy Bricks custom minifigure weapons pack
BrickNerd swag

Promotion Raffle

If you are not one of the lucky top-8 to receive a Rolli mouse and Fly-guy pirate figure, fear not! Entrants not named as top-3 or honorable mentions still have a chance to win a pair of those figures by helping us promote this contest. All you need to do is promote the contest on a platform of your choice, submit an entry to the contest, and provide us with proof of your promotion (a link sent to us or put in your submission usually works best). Then the rest is left to fate.

So what are you waiting for!? Batten down the hatches, and get building! You have until August 31st to get your crews and pirate creations afloat!

Which of our contributor’s pirate creations is your favorite? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Do you want to help BrickNerd continue publishing articles like this one? Become a top patron like Charlie Stephens, Marc & Liz Puleo, Paige Mueller, Rob Klingberg from Brickstuff, John & Joshua Hanlon from Beyond the Brick, Megan Lum, and Andy Price to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.