Originally posted to Miniature Trading

My Pirates CSG Collection

This is another thread I’m bringing over from Pojo. To see the original thread, go here.

I’ve always kept track of my collection over the years, partly because I like to have all of my possessions organized, but also to keep a record of my Pirates stuff.

I’ll paraphrase from the original thread to detail how my collection grew from 2004-2013. This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I got into the game soon after it began, and purchased different packs from SM, CC, RV, BC, and DJC from 2004-2006. This amounted to 49 total ships, because I managed to break three ships beyond repair.  🙁

In the summer of 2010 I got 55 ships from Strikezoneonline (104 total ships). In early 2011 I bought 2 18 pack boxes of MI from Dave and Adam’s Card world (when they still had Pirates stuff left), leaving me with 176. Soon afterwards I got a lucky deal on eBay of 311 cards from just the Spanish Main set (my favourite set), which contained 104 more ships (280 total).

In July of 2011 I got a eBay lot of random stuff that contained 97 ships along with a 4 ship lot that had HMS Grand Temple and the Divine Dragon (381 total).

In December of 2011 I added another 143 ships between 3 Fairfield boxes, 1 18 pack box of DJC, and a handful of trades through MT (524 total).

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2014: Just recently I’ve gone on a tear and grabbed some good deals.

For the first time ever, I got a large amount of stuff from the Frozen North, Barbary Coast, and South China Seas. I saw some good deals that I felt were too good to pass up. These were the three sets that I didn’t use to have much of, but now I’ve got tons! I also received some stuff from other sets, as well as a few random lots.

Not including duplicates (which I’m leaving unpunched for trade bait), I received a total of 205 new, unique ships to my collection.

Part of the reason I went for the three above-mentioned sets was their rarity and their corresponding deficiency in my collection. However, I also had extremely low numbers of both the Vikings and the Jade Rebellion, and a somewhat-lacking Barbary Corsair fleet. In fact, I didn’t have a single Viking ship!

With that said, it was nice to see some of the lesser factions grow like never before. I now own almost all of the Jade Rebellion ships, and I have every Corsair ship except for the Jackal’s Teeth. The Vikings still have some work to do, but at least now I can play them!

In addition, the Americans have always been a lesser faction in my collection, and I believe that holds true in general. I usually think of it as a Big 4: English, French, Spanish, Pirates, and then a Big 6: those four plus the Americans and the Cursed (although you can argue that the Cursed play worse than any faction other than the Mercenaries). With the stuff I’ve recently acquired, the United States has made a statement. They are looking to break into the dominant factions in the game and permanently establish themselves as a huge power. Between the Americans and the minor factions, it has been a revenge of the underdogs!

With that said, here are the numbers for each faction of NEW ships I’ve added:

New unique ships:
English: 20
French: 23
Spanish: 28
Pirates: 27
Americans: 44
Cursed: 5
Barbary Corsairs: 27
Jade Rebellion: 19 (from 3)
Vikings: 12 (from 0)
Total: 205

As you can see, the Americans take home the biggest fleet of new ships, among them FIVE new 5 masters. The Pirates actually got SIX new 5 masters, and they received a large number of other powerful ships.

The three main imperial nations of England, France, and Spain didn’t do quite as well, but I think it’s all for the better, as they are already dominant. The English did especially poorly, with not only a low number of new ships, but also a lack of quality additions. The French and Spanish both got a bunch of good pieces, but not to the extent of the Pirates and Americans.

The Cursed were the only real losers here, with just five new ships. However, 3 of those 5 are some of the best they have (Calim, Sea Monkey, Whydah).

The Barbary Corsairs saw a huge improvement in quantity and quality. I previously didn’t own any of their 4 masted galleys, but now I’ve got 6 out of 7. The Corsairs were previously severely lacking in crew, both named and generic, but now they’ve got plenty of support in those areas. Between their speed, good-looking ships, and fun crew and abilities, it’s hard not to love the Corsairs.

The Jade Rebellion goes from just 3 ships to 22 total, including 3 of the 5 six masted junks. They also filled out their collection of named and generic crew, which were lacking just as with the Corsairs.

The Vikings aren’t regarded as a very playable faction, but I was thrilled to finally acquire some Viking ships! We’ll see in December and January how they fare in their first games I’ve ever used them in!

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As for the total size of my collection, I have no idea at this point. The last official count was 524, but since then I’ve made tons of trades, so I can’t even begin to estimate what the grand total would be now. It’s important to note that the number from the past was the total number of BUILT ships, not including unpunched duplicates. At the time of the last count, I had almost no unpunched duplicates. I’m planning on doing another count very soon, which will be nothing short of epic.

When I do the tally this time, I’m going to track things more closely. I’m going to count the overall number of BUILT ships, which will include everything I had punched previously plus the stuff I have now. As of a year or so ago I started leaving duplicates unpunched for a lot of reasons: I’ve got enough built ships, it’s easier to find and mail them for trades when they’re unpunched, and I don’t do huge historical fantasy scenarios anymore.

I’m also going to count the overall number of UNIQUE ships, that is, the number of ships I have not counting any duplicates, built or not built. In addition, I’d like to do a count for each faction, probably in both forms: overall and unique.

I keep all of my cards in a binder, but with the new stuff I’ve had to buy a bunch of new 9-pocket pages and use another binder. All of this is adding up to a MASSIVE overhaul and re-organizing of my collection, which I’m currently in the middle of! 

And here it is:

2014 Fleet Review!!

2018: Since that Fleet Review in 2014 I’ve acquired more ships of course, but I’d estimate my current collection at around 850 punched ships. (including duplicates)

Feel free to share the progress you’ve made on your Pirates CSG collection in the comments below!