Tag Archives: Western

LEGO released Western/Wild West sets in 1996 and 1997, complete with cowboys and Indians, robbers and lawmen. Despite its brevity, the LEGO Western theme has remained popular among LEGO fans, who long for its return. In the meantime, see what they’ve built and designed themselves.

Hold up! We want to talk to you about your wagon’s extended warranty!

It wasn’t always dysentery that did you in on the Oregon trail. Dmitry has created a microscale wonder in “The Road To The West”, a build full of great details and part usage. A few that caught my eye right away were the use of hubcaps for the spoked wagon wheels and the really clever combination of small parts in the horses. I also adore the slight gaps between the sections of the coach’s cover. Those allow for a wind-swept look that enhances the scene’s already great sense of motion.

This scene feels like a small part of a larger story. What happens next? Maybe Dmitry will share another build in the future that fills us in. Otherwise we’ll just have to look at some other great Western-inspired creations and make up our own legends.

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A man walked into a saloon

It’s been a fantasy of mine to walk into a saloon, and my very presence causes everything to halt to a silence. I’ve entered a few bars in my adult life, and apparently, despite all my squinting and scowling, I just don’t cut a badass imposing figure. This guy, on the other hand, looks like he means some serious business. KitKat1414 presents this scene in LEGO and you can just hear the gasps and the honky-tonk piano whimper off while mid-tune. I like the window, the crooked painting on the wall, and the overall lived-in feel of this saloon. If bars ever open up again, I’ll be sure to practice my best Clint Eastwood squint, and in a gruff, low grunt, I’ll announce to the barkeep that I’ll have “the hair of the dog that bit me.” Then I’ll just hope they don’t hand me a Zinfandel.

It’s always sunny in Wild West

They say no one can survive in the Wild West without a gun and a fast horse. But what about sunscreen? I’m not sure whether the hero of this funny vignette by Megacolormix has enough sunscreen in his wagon, but the horse looks particularly excited for the journey. Actually, this is a perfect example of how emotions can be expressed through shape and posture. You don’t need that many different printed faces if you know how to place your characters in the shot. The scenery behind the wagon is a little piece of art; the forced perspective works perfectly here, creating a vast desert stretching to the horizon.

Shopping in simpler times

These days when we go to the store, we’re typically faced with thousands of products. But back in the pioneer days – in the “Wild West” – sometimes only bulk essentials sat on shelves. Typically grocers lived in the same building as their store, and people paid in trades more often than cash. This LEGO trading post by Thomas Gion pays homage to that history. I’m a particular fan of the well, which is executed with a really authentic look, and even “pumps” when you spin the windmill.

The little building is fully furnished on the inside with period furniture and wares from that time.

This trading post is part of a series of western-style buildings, one of which we recently featured.

The quintessential pit stop on the old town road

There’s a new build in town and it’s got it all! This LEGO saloon and hotel by Thomas Gion features plenty of interior details, cool techniques, and some sweet brick-built signage. We have “SALOON” in the classic Modular theme font and “HOTEL” in a distinctively Western-style serif font, complete with embellishing and everything. On the facade, the sideways log brick technique works wonders as wood-paneled walls. Thomas also has a water trough made of a translucent blue glass window. There’s also a water pump made of a crowbar and bar holder connection on top of a Technic connector spout. In addition to the neat details at the front of this build, it is fully furnished on the inside.

The floors and walls are detachable for maximum playability. The angled saloon doors look perfectly integrated into the build even with the upper floor removed, with the help of some wedge plates and triangular tiles. A SNOT tile technique is used for the wall frames, creating a very clean-cut appearance. I’m also impressed by the level of detail crammed into the hotel rooms, including ceiling to floor curtains and a mounted deer head.

Here is an up-close look of the saloon furnishing, though it’s not quite the same without the hustle and bustle of its daily customers.

Feeling the itch to go on a road trip? Take a ride through our archives for some more Western-inspired builds!

Eastwood’s lucky day

There’s never a shortage of Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part II nostalgia. However, for the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future Part III, the 1990 film gets its due respect in a LEGO remake of Doc Brown’s timely rescue of Marty McFly from Biff Tannen and his goons. Brick Grayson is the creator of this memorable western scene. The Hill Valley Courthouse (1885) is shown under construction with a wooden scaffold covering the facade. The Biff minifigure is holding the rope, while Marty (a.k.a. Eastwood), hangs at the other end. Standing near the top left of the construction site is what seems to be Marty’s great-great-grandfather Seamus McFly, wearing a derby hat. The Marty McFly from the future is wisely sourced using the cowboy torso from the series 18 CMF, along with the addition of pink arms to contrast the maroon-colored pants. The printed fringe shirt worn by Marty McFly also lines up pretty close to the LEGO version.

Check out Brick Grayson’s previous BTTF III scene from Marty’s wild west escape.

Iyo-Iyo-ooooh Wah Wah Wah

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…that is some classic Western, right there! Just the first few bars of that catchy theme song is enough to conjure images of a barren desert, of tumbleweeds, and of Clint Eastwood squinting into the distance. This LEGO creation by Miro Dudas</a> is enough to conjure those images as well. You don’t even have to see Clint’s face to know he’s squinting. That’s the genius of Miro’s minimalist approach to some of his work. The forced perspective of the smaller figures are a stroke of brilliance. He even took this photo during sunset to give it just the right feel. We seem to like Western themes here at The Brothers-Brick. I know I do. Now that we got that tune stuck in your head here’s a different version that hopefully you have not heard yet.

On legs of steel through the American southwest

It’s been many many years since we’ve seen any LEGO creations in the fan-created “Tech West” theme. The theme mashes up LEGO space and western, with a dash of steampunk, with a heavy dose of Serenity and Wild Wild West. Although builder captainsmog may label this “Colonial Futurist” but I’m personally transported back to 2004 rather than an alternate 1874. What I love most about the stagecoach is how the detailed robotic legs move just like horse legs. This is no horseless carriage — the horse is just mechanical. Similarly, notice how the front of the speeder bikes ridden by the marauding bandits are shaped like horses’ heads.

Jumping on board the Mexican bandwagon

Most Western-themed LEGO creations take their architectural inspiration from the single-street towns of the Gold Rush — clapperboard buildings, usually saloons and general stores. It makes for a pleasant change to see something a little more Southwestern in tone with Andrea Lattanzio‘s build of a classic whitewashed adobe flat-roofed house. And even better, there’s not a gunfighter in sight; instead, we’re treated to a mariachi band arriving in their wagon to serenade the farmer’s beautiful daughter. The house is a visual treat, covered with nice details, from the use of printed 1×1 round tiles on the protruding ends of the logs to the plant-covered arbors that provide shady spots on the flat roof. The use of woodgrain tiles above the windows and doors adds some welcome texture amongst the white. Bien hecho, Andrea!

Revisiting the LEGO Wild West Saloon set from Bricklink’s AFOL Designer Program [Review]

Over the last few months, we reviewed the Wild West Saloon and the popular Löwenstein Castle custom LEGO sets from Bricklink’s AFOL Designer Program (ADP). Since we received an early review copy, it arrived without the actual packaging and manuals. Bricklink has now generously sent us the actual packaging backers can expect to receive. With box-in-hand, we wanted to provide our readers with a quick revisit of the set, this time only focusing on the unboxing experience and instruction manual.

Click here to experience the full unboxing

LEGO Wild West Saloon set from Bricklink’s AFOL Designer Program [Review]

Last year Bricklink hosted its first AFOL Designer Program (ADP), a grand effort to make fan designs come alive and be available for purchase. If you’re unfamiliar with Bricklink, it’s an Amazon-like marketplace for purchasing current and discontinued LEGO products. This includes the sale of individual LEGO bricks for restoring sets or making original models known by many fans as My-Own-Creations, or MOCs for short. The Brothers Brick features fan-designed creations every day, and we often receive questions regarding instructions or if they can be purchased. While ready-made MOC kits are not a new concept, where Bricklink’s ADP program shines is in how it took the needed time to solicit builds from the community and used a Kickstarter-like system for fans to determine which sets would be produced for purchase. Best of all, the program received an endorsement from the LEGO Group.

As of now, all of the sets have been selected and are slated to ship this month to the proud supporters who funded them. Bricklink has provided an early copy of the Wild West Saloon by Jonas Kramm (aka Legopard) to the Brothers Brick. When it comes to the number of supporters, this design ranked second to the Löwenstein Castle we recently reviewed. This set comes with 1496 parts, is priced at US $149.99 before shipping, and does not come with any minifigures.

Click to read the full review of the Wild West Saloon designed by Jonas Kramm

No kidding, this fort is way too small for the both of us!

Do you remember that giant awesome LEGO set you always wanted as a kid but somehow never got for Christmas or your birthday? Well, it might not be that easy to get a sealed copy of that set now, but at least you can build an itsy-bitsy version of it! Letranger Absurde brings back the legendary LEGO Western 6769 Fort Legoredo from 1996. As a child I was fascinated by its wooden walls and I was sure it must take a thousand LEGO bricks to build such a massive fort. Now, this copy looks just as exciting with walls and towers made of some of the smallest LEGO pieces. And just when you notice an adorable micro cannon right outside the fort’s gates, you simply can’t help smiling at this tiny beauty.

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