SPACER
SPACER
The Spyglass sets are a pair of sets that released in Wave 3 of the mainline Pyrates toyline. There were only two of them released for Pyrates, although the concept would see some additional love in The Pirates of The Carribean toyline by Mega Bloks.
The Spyglasses represent the two spyglasses found by Captain Cutlass and Admiral Bluebeard at Treasure Island. The two sets double as roleplaying toys for this purpose.
The main gimmick of the Spyglass sets is that the spyglass can open up and transform into a longboat for play. Only two variants of the set exist. One for the Sea Marauders and one for the Privateers. Although there existed a prototype for a Skeleton Crew spyglass that never came out.
Each of the spyglass sets came with slides that could be inserted into the spyglass to allow the player to "spy" certain objects with the glass. These slides also doubled as working with The Privateers' Lighthouse as well.
The sets would come with the Spyglass (which doubles as a boat), two figures, a treasure chest, a flag, and two slides.
The first Spyglass set is #3606 Longboat Lookout. The set released with 30 pieces, including two figures and two slides to be inserted into the spyglass.
The set comes by default as the spyglass. The spyglass can be looked through like a roleplaying toy. When a slide is inserted into the looking glass, it will allow the user to "spy" whatever object is displayed on it. Longboat Lookout includes two slides. One of them is of the Privateer's Lighthouse and the other is of the Privateer's Logo.
The spyglass can open up and transform into a small boat for the figures to sail on. The transformation occurs by adding on an extra prow piece to the front, a rudder and steering pole in the back, and a sail in the middle. The sail in this set is black and bears the symbol of the Privateers.
The set also includes a small side build. The build consists of a few rocks and a Privateer flag. The flag is red with the insignia in black. It also includes a treasure chest and a yellow snake.
Two micro action figures are featured in this set. One Privateer and one Sea Marauder. The Privateer is a man named Philias Plank. Philias is actually a really interesting figure, because he reuses one of the redcoat's heads from the Pirates of The Carribean line. This was the only time figure parts from POTC would be used in Pyrates. It definetly gives him a distinctive look, as no other character shares his headmold in the Pyrates series.
Aside from that Philias Plank is just dressed like the average Privateer. He wields a brown rifle and also comes equipped with a spyglass.
The Sea Marauder in the set is a man named Topmast Tremblay. Tremblay is identical to Shifty Merchant. Head, torso, and legs are all completely identical to each other. I like to believe they're wins. He comes equipped with a cutlass in this set.
Following the discovery of the two spyglasses at Treasure Island, everyone was off racing for the next piece of the map. From the Lord Pyrate's tomb, three objects were acquired. Two gilded spyglasses and a burned letter from the Lord Pyrate himself. The Privateers and The Sea Marauders each lay claim to one spyglass each.
Though no one knew it at the time, both spyglasses were clues that could lead to the next piece of the treasure hunt. Though at the moment they were useless, as detailed in the Lord Pyrate's letter, they would need to steal the Letter of Marque from Captain Dread Eye to learn how to use them.
So the race was on once more. The Sea Marauders and The Privateers took to hunting down The Phantom. They deployed many scouts and patrols to hunt down the ship or clues to its wereabouts. Admiral Bluebeard sent patrols to Skull Haven as well as the mainland. While Captain Cutlass was busy dealing with the blossoming mutiny of the future Buccaneer, Scathe.
In the Northwest corner of the map, Admiral Bluebeard deployed a longboat to explore the area. As they had recently discovered a small cluster of islands in that area.
The longboat was piloted by Philias Plank and Burt Bounty. Two expert marksman, Philias Plank was even sent by the King personally.
Philias Plank patrolled the area, keeping a lookout for any signs of The Skeleton Crew. But he found nothing.
Eventually, Plank and Bounty decided to split up. Philias Plank would continue to patrol the islands on the longboat, while Bounty would go ashore and search the inland islands.
It was during this split up, that Philias Plank learned that the other crews were in the area as well. He would end up in a battle against a Sea Marauder named Topmast Tremblay. Tremblay was able to get the jump on Plank, and board the longboat for an attack.
Philias Plank wasn't a great melee fighter, and was swiftly defeated by Tremblay. The Privateer was taken hostage.
Both Philias Plank and Topmast Tremblay would later be captured by the Buccaneers off the coast of Trophy Traitors. Tremblay would end up getting himself killed in an escape attempt, but Philias Plank would remain docile. He'd stay in Buccaneers custody, until being released as a peace offering when the three crews would later form their temporary alliance.
The other Spyglass set is #3607. Also known as Coastal Patrol. This set released with 30 pieces, just like the first one. It included two figures and two slides that can be inserted into the spyglass.
The set comes by default as the spyglass. The spyglass can be looked through like a roleplaying toy. When a slide is inserted into the looking glass, it will allow the user to "spy" whatever object is displayed on it. Coastal Patrol includes two slides. One of them is of Admiral Scathe's Predator and the other is of the Sea Marauder's insignia.
The spyglass can open up and transform into a small boat for the figures to sail on. The transformation occurs by adding on an extra prow piece to the front, a rudder and steering pole in the back, and a sail in the middle. The sail in this set is a tan color and bears the symbol of the Sea Marauders.
The set includes a small side build. Which is a generous thing to call it. Its just a few planks stacked together for the treasure chest to sit on. Though it also includes a black flag bearing The Sea Marauder's insignia.
Two figures are included with the set. One Buccaneer and one Sea Marauder.
The Buccaneer figure is named Sam Shackleton. He uses a pretty unique head, with a blue body. He sports a tattoo on the left side of his face. In this set he comes equipped with a crossbow and a gilded spyglass.
The Sea Marauder is just a copycat of Blackteeth McBaine. Same body, same head, same legs. What's with The Sea Marauders in these two sets being complete carbon copies of other characters?? Why not just make them the same character as before? Or at least color them differently. Sheesh. Oh, and he wields a dagger in this set.
Following the raiding of The Lord of The Pyrates' tomb, the Sea Marauders and The Privateers were left with more questions than answers. They had both recieved a gilded spyglass and a strange letter from The Lord of The Pyrates himself.
According to the letter, Captain Dread Eye was in possession of a Letter of Marque, that would apparently reveal the next clue in the search for the treasure.
This sent the Sea Marauders and The Privateers scrambling. Everyone was trying to hunt down Dread Eye's Phantom and take the letter for themselves. But unfortunately, no one knew where The Phantom or her captain was.
And so, the two crews set off in search of the ghostly ship.
It was around this time, that Captain Cutlass suffered a betrayal. Scathe, one of his own crewmembers, mutinied against him. Scathe stabbed the Sea Marauders in the back, stole The Predator from Captain Sabrehook, and set off in search of the treasure himself.
As fate would have it, it was also around this time that a small cluster of islands was discovered to the north-west of the map. Nobody had explored here in recent memory, so both The Privateers, Sea Marauders, and newly formed Buccaneers sent small patrol groups to go search them. Neither crew wanted to divert too many resources to scouring what could be a dead end, after all.
The Sea Marauders sent three men. Tom Blackforest, Topmast Tremblay, and Sam Shackleton. They set off in a small longboat to patrol the area.
Once the group reached the islands, they seperated. Topmast Tremblay headed inland to search around, while Blackforest and Shackleton remained in the longboat to patrol the coasts.
Once Tremblay was gone, however. Sam Shackleton revealed his true colors.
He'd secretly been loyal to Admiral Scathe the whole time, but had remained in the Sea Marauder's midst as a spy. Once he was alone with Tom Blackforest, he stabbed him in the back. The Marauder would die without ever even knowing what hit him.
Once Tom Blackforest was dead, Sam Shackleton would commandeer the longboat and use it to rendezvous with Luke Longshore, another member of the Buccaneers. Together the two of them would ambush Philias Plank and Topmast Tremblay. Taking both of them as prisoner.
This promotional image for Coastal Patrol actually shows a different Sea Marauder included in the set other than Tom Blackforest. Or it might have been an early design for Tom Blackforest, who can say.
The figure in this promotional image wears a white shirt with a black vest and black pants. He shares a head mold with characters like Murk Mariner, Oliver Lugsail, and Spar Foreman. He still seems to wield a dagger like Tom Blackforest does in the release set, however.
The set also might be missing The Sea Marauders insignia on the sail. Though its possible that the sail could just be backwards, and the insignia is on the other side. Its hard to say for sure.
