POLL RESULTS: The Next BIG LEGO Pirates Contest

The Classic Pirates recently conducted an informal poll to gain a general consensus of the type of inspiration LEGO Pirate fans would prefer as the inspiration behind their entries in our next big building contest.

So now let’s review the poll results in scrutinizing detail to observe which option they found most appealing…

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The Polls and the Options

The Polls

Polling was conducted across three polls;

• one in the LEGO Pirates Forum
• another in the Classic Pirates Facebook Group
• and a third on Classic-Pirates.com.

The Poll Options

Fans were provided with four thematic poll options;

1. Monkey Island Madness
2. Distant Waters
3. Pirates of Pop Culture
4. The Infamous Steve.

A more comprehensive overview of these options can be found in the original Poll Blog Post or watch this video by Mikey J Productions to be brought up to speed.

Or click here to skip ahead to the Results…

Can’t see the above video? Not to worry!  Yer can Watch in on YouTube.

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The Results

Now, here be a break down of the results for each poll…

Facebook

Distant Waters and Pirates of Pop Culture were tied in third position with just 8% of the votes each.

The Infamous Steve may have benefited from more wind in his sail, only reaching second position with 26% of the votes. Slightly less than half the votes of the mighty pirates, with Monkey Island Madness topping the poll with a massive 58% of votes!

It may be worth noting Facebook does not allow placing an image in conjunction with poll options.  The closest an image can be displayed is within comments below, which unfortunately, will be hidden to mobile users unless they manually open the comments.  And if they don’t, no visual illustration of the polls options is available to them.

For this reason, Monkey Island Madness and The Infamous Steve may have attracted more votes due to familiarity, whereas Distant Waters and Pirates of Pop Culture perhaps require clarification to enable poll-goers to understand what those options entail.

Nonetheless, Monkey Island Madness was the clear winner of the Facebook poll.

LEGO Pirates Forum

The LEGO Pirates Forum paints a completely different picture, with Monkey Island Madness plodding in last place at 11%.

Pirates of Pop Culture fared slightly better at 15% but still firmly wedged within the least popular poll option zone.

Steve caught Distant Waters, then Distant Waters caught SteveThe remaining two options battled for the number 1 position!  Initially, Distant Waters charged into the lead… but within a few days the The Infamous Steve leapt ahead and maintained the number one position for the majority of the poll.

Well, that was until the last few days of polling, when Distant Waters made a sudden comeback to finish equal first with The Infamous Steve at 37% each.

Classic-Pirates.com

Pirates of Pop Culture barely scraped through at just 7% making it the consistently worst performing option.

Tied in equal second place is Distant Waters and Monkey Island Madness at 21%, yet both only garnered half the results of the highest performing option.

The Infamous Steve sailed into the number 1 position at 42% – but surely this is a case of “classic” bias?

Averages

Each of the polls yielded a different result, so let’s analyse the data from a statistical perspective by using the magic of mathematics to determine the average score across all three polls.

So over the three polls the average result for each poll option calculates to….

Pirates of Pop Culture proved to the be least popular option with a mere 13% overall. Distant Waters took third position at 22%, and Monkey Island Madness achieved second position at 30%.

The Infamous Steve emerges victorious with 35% of the votes, not surprising given Steve be the strongest overall performer.

These poll results were recorded as of 9 May, 2024. As not all polls provide functionality that allow them to be closed, votes recorded after this date have not been included.

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Conclusions

Averages aside, we may assume each platform has the potential to attract poll participants with voting preferences common to the users of that platform.

For example; Monkey Island Madness scored highly in the Facebook Group because it has a more “mainstream” following and thus “Monkey Island” is a more recognisable name to that audience.  Yet, it scored significantly lower in the LEGO Pirates Forum and Classic-Pirates.com polls because those audiences are devout fans of classic LEGO Pirate sets, or builders with a strong desire to explore pirates from around the world, rather than just the traditional Caribbean setting.

Similarly, this may be the reason why Distant Waters scored higher in the LEGO Pirates Forum. That be the platform where the Brethren of the Brick Seas crowd frequents, and these particular fans are passionate about exploring MOCs inspired by pirates globally.

Trends

If any trends are to be observed; Pirates of Pop Culture did not lead any of the polls and consistently ranked last or no higher than third position, and thus could be interpreted as the least popular option.

As a side note; a couple of former Creative Critic participants confirmed voting for Pirates of Pop Culture, despite not having submitted building entries.

While not leading every poll, The Infamous Steve didn’t trail in any of them either, and was the best overall performing option across the three polls.

So does this make Steve the winner or should other factors be considered?

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What Do Yer Think?

The Infamous Steve may have won by the law of averages, but Monkey Island Madness demonstrated a phenomenal lead in the Facebook poll, while Distant Waters gave Steve a run for his money in the LEGO Pirate Forum poll.

So what is a bloodthirsty pirate to decide?

Maybe we could cleverly intertwine multiple options to afford greater creative freedom, but not widen the definition so broadly its open slather on choice.

Swing by the LEGO Pirates Forum and the Classic Pirates Facebook Group to share yer thoughts and help finalise the decision…