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…


The Polls and the Options

POLL: The next BIG LEGO Pirates Contest

These be the poll options

The Polls

Polling was conducted across three polls;

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.


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.

Facebook results for the "Next Big LEGO Pirates Contest" Poll

With a 32% lead the winner of this poll is indisputable!

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.

Poll Option: Monkey Island Madness

Classic Pirate Facebook Group participants do indeed fight like dairy farmers!

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%.

LEGO Pirates Forum results for the "Next Big LEGO Pirates Contest" Poll

We have a tie!

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.

Poll Options: The Infamous Steve and Distant Waters

We have a tie!

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.

Classic-Pirates.com results for the "Next Big LEGO Pirates Contest" Poll

Classic-Pirates.com perhaps attracts fans of the classic sets

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.

Poll Option: The Infamous Steve

His infamy is growing…

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.

Formular used to calculate the average for the options of "Next Big LEGO Pirates Contest" Poll

Get yer calculators out and test this formula

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

Averages for results of the "Next Big LEGO Pirates Contest" Poll

Here be the combined totals of each option divided by three

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.


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.

LEGO Pirate chart with trendlines

Let’s see what’s trending…

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?


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?

Poll Option Average: The Infamous Steve

So did Steve win this thing? Nay? Aye? Yay?

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…