Pirate themed sets were the first to feature LEGO versions
of firearms. In addition to firearms, Pirate sets also included a large number
of other accessories like treasure maps, swords, shovels, axes, hats of all
varieties, backpacks. Most commonly, imperials and pirates held cutlasses,
pistols or muskets whilst islanders tended to have bow and arrows, spears and
shields.[i]
For the 284 male and female mini-figs in the Pirate Lego set
I analysed, there is a grand total of 669 accessories held or worn by a
mini-fig in either the instruction manual or on the set box. However, the
number of accessories doesn’t end there. In a number of sets there is a number
of accessories sitting next to a mini-fig as they row a boat or eat food. In
some cases the accessories that belong to a captured imperial or pirate are
propped against the cell. I have excluded these accessories due to the
difficultly in accurately attributing the accessory to a mini-fig. 
There is an average of 2.4 accessories per mini-fig in the
Pirate sets not accounting for mini-fig gender. When mini-fig gender is
accounted for, the average number of accessories for male mini-figs drops only
slightly to 2.2 whilst, the average number of accessories for female mini-figs
drops to 1.9. Not only is there less female mini-figs in Pirate sets, they are
also less likely to be holding accessories, on average, compared to male
mini-figs.
There are only two mini-figs that are pictured without a
single accessory. These are the daughters of the Admiral and Governor appearing
in 2009 and 2010. I plan to look at these mini-figs in more detail a future
blog.
The majority of mini-figs have either two or three
accessories associated with them. Very few mini-figs have one or four
accessories.
When this is broken down between the percentage of male and female
mini-figs associated with accessories, female mini-figs are more likely to have
zero or one accessory whilst male mini-figs are more likely to have two or more
accessories. This is consistent with the average number of accessories
associated with mini-figs when accounting for gender. Female mini-figs are
almost twice as likely to have one accessory compared to male mini-figs. Percentage
of mini-figs with two accessories is relatively comparable for both male and
female mini-figs.
This then leads to the question, what are the accessories
given to Pirate set mini-figs?
By far, the most common accessory is either a weapon or hat.
There are several different types of both weapons and hats. Weapons included
firearms, spears, shields, bow and arrows, swords. Almost all Pirate Lego
mini-figs had some form of head gear, whether it be the pirate typical bandanna
or an imperial style top ha. However, the popular 1800s tricorne was popular
for both Pirates and imperials. The other category includes accessories like
backpacks, oars, parrots and shells. I am particularly interested in the
division of weapons between male and female mini-figs in the Pirate sets.
As can be seen by this chart, the vast majority of weapons,
of any sort, are given to male mini-figs. This is hardly surprising given the
sheer number of male mini-figs compared to female mini-figs in the Pirate Lego
sets.
However, the only weapon that isn’t given to female mini-figs is a shield,
so what happens when I account for gender in the percentage of weapons given to
female mini-fig given that mini-fig is female. And vice-versa for male
mini-figs.
As can be seen, when the gender of the mini-figs is
accounted for, female mini-figs are far more likely to be given a sword / knife
as a weapon than other weapons. Female mini-figs are also more likely to be
given a swords / knife, spear or a bow and arrow than male mini-figs. This
means that for three of the six weapons in the Pirate Lego sets, female
mini-figs are more likely to be given those weapons and for the other three
weapons male mini-figs are likely to be given them.
As such, weapons are given to male and female mini-figs
almost entirely without distinction between the mini-fig gender. Further, unlike
other themes, particularly the City Deep Sea starter set I discussed in my
introduction blog, the weapons given to Pirate mini-figs can’t be distinguished
between passive or active. Where a camera can be described as a passive
accessory in comparison to a remote control or crowbar accessory. There isn’t necessarily
this distinction between weapons within Pirate Lego sets. The only weapon
accessory that could be described as passive is the shield, but there is only
nine shields compared to a total of 277 other weapons held by mini-figs in the
Pirate Lego sets.
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