the enigma that is badger

Be patient and order them directly from BrickArms when they're available! I can't say exactly when this will occur, but I can say that 2010 is going to see many, many new accessories added to the BrickArms line-up and the Cricket Bat is definitely one of them!

That would be the BrickArms Retro Raygun! It's not based on any one particular raygun design, but more Will's own take on classic scifi rayguns which usually feature details like array dishes in front, a ovoid body, and fins. As I'm a HUGE fan of classic science fiction (particularly the serials of the 30s) It's actually one of my personal favorite BrickArms accessories, and this fig was inspired by just how much I liked it!

Now available from BrickArms, two great new packs as well as a new custom minifig! Modern Combat Pack - available in Black, Gunmetal, and Silver This pack includes: 2 Precision Sniper Rifles (PSR) 2 Tactical PDWs (TPDW) 2 Assault Carbines (AC) 2 Combat SMGs (CSMG) 2 Bipods Cobalt Pack - a new exciting color perfect for modern and scifi MOCing! This pack includes: Combat LMG, Space Assault Rifle, Auto-9, M41A, Space Magnum, Tactical PDW, M21, M2019 Blaster, M23, Monopod (x4), M84 Stun Grenades (x4), and Bipods (x4), all in the new Cobalt color. Rocket Commando custom fig - part of the "Black Lodge Customs" label of figs developed by myself for BrickArms Included with this figure: Rocket Commando Figure Winged Rocket Pack Fuel Gauge with Neck Bracket Bronze Retro Raygun (figure exclusive!) Bronze Heavy Blaster Pistol (figure exclusive!) Bronze Lewis Gun (figure exclusive!) Bronze Bayonet w/U-Clip (figure exclusive!) 2 Dark Grey M6 Rockets Both the Modern Combat and Cobalt Packs are available from BrickArms resellers worldwide. The Rocket Commando is only available direct from BrickArms. However, Will can accept payments from international buyers so long as a US shipping address is used for the order. If you're outside of the US and would still like to obtain one, just place your order to ship to a friend in the States and ask them to forward it on to you! These new items represent just the first wave of new BrickArms products for 2010, so you can expect even more new and exciting things from BrickArms in 2010!

Just to be clear, Will does not plan to produce or market any solid metal BrickArms accessories. This was just a fun test of the the capability of a 3D printer to create a solid metal object from one of Will's designs. Only a very, very small number were made, and when Will has the time to revisit this design and cut his own prototype mold, it will be injected with the same high-quality ABS plastic that all BrickArms accessories are! One accessory at a time! Still, it is truly great this new prototype is getting the reaction is has, and when Will has the time to start designing and prototyping again (not likely for at least awhile with all the orders that have poured in since Will reopened BrickArms after the holidays!), one or two more Pirate items are certainly possibilities. We'll have to see!

The Feb 2010 issue of Wired magazine features a wonderful article about small-scale businesses that use the power of self-guided and small-scale production to realize innovative ideas. Included in this group: BrickArms! The entire article can be read online here. Here's the section of the story that features BrickArms: "And these days, when anyone can get access to manufacturing and distribution, that is actually a viable choice. Walmart, and all the compromise that comes with it, is no longer the only path to success. For a final example of that, swing to the Seattle suburbs to meet Will Chapman of BrickArms. Out of a small industrial space, BrickArms fills gaps in the Lego product line, going where the Danish toy giant fears to tread: hardcore weaponry, from Lego-scale AK-47s to frag grenades that look like they came straight out of Halo 3. The parts are more complex than the average Lego component, but they’re manufactured to an equal quality and sold online to thousands of Lego fans, kids and adults, who want to create cooler scenes than the standard kits allow. Lego operates on an industrial scale, with a team of designers working in a highly secure campus in Billund, Denmark. Engineers model prototypes and have them fabricated in dedicated machine shops. Then, once they meet approval, they’re manufactured in large injection molding plants. Parts are created for kits, and those kits have to be play-tested, priced for mass retail, and shipped and inventoried months in advance of their sale at Target or Walmart. The only parts that make it out of this process are those that will sell in the millions. Chapman works at a different scale. He designs parts using SolidWorks 3-D software, which can create a reverse image that’s used to produce a mold. He sends the file to his desktop CNC router, a Taig 2018 mill that costs less than $1,000, which grinds the mold halves out of aircraft-grade aluminum blocks. Then he puts them in his hand-pressed injection molding machine, melts some resin beads, and pumps them through. A few minutes later, he’s got a prototype to show to fans. If they like it, he gets a local toolmaker to reproduce the mold out of steel and a US-based injection molding company to make batches of a few thousand. Why not have the parts made in China? He could, he says, but the result would be “molds that take much longer to produce, with slow communication times and plastic that is subpar” (read: cheap). Furthermore, he says, “if your molds are in China, who knows what happens to them when you’re not using them? They could be run in secret to produce parts sold in secondary markets that you would not even know existed.” Chapman’s three sons package the parts, which he sells direct. Today, BrickArms also has resellers in the UK, Australia, Sweden, Canada, and Germany. The business grew so big that in 2008 he left his 17-year career as a software engineer; he now comfortably supports his family of five solely on Lego weapon sales. “I bring in more revenue on a slow BrickArms day than I ever did working as a software engineer.” Life is good." For folks that pick up the magazine itself, there's a great shot of Will standing at the back entrance of his new industrial space! The move came a few months back when it became clear BrickArms was getting too big to be contained in the Chapman garage. It's a good thing to, because with what Will has planned for 2010, he's going to need the space! Enjoy!

Unfortunately, I really can't comment in terms of when this accessory would be added to the BrickArms line-up (if indeed it will be at all). That said, what Gen. Armendariz said is fairly accurate in regards to the fact the process of taking a design from prototype to mass produced accessory that's available on the BrickArms website; it's a long, labor-intensive process that can take many months, if not over a year, for Will to develop a new production mold that's filled with finalized designs. As I can give you guys updates, I'll be sure to!

Glad to see so many of you guys like this one! A musket has been on my "dream" list of accessories I'd love to see Will try his hand at for years now, and I have to say, this is easily one of my personally favorite prototypes Will has recently developed. As I'm sure many of you can relat, while the TLG blunderbuss is a nice accessory, I just never felt it suited the role of a classic musket rifle that well. As I said in the first post, this is just a fun experiment to test the quality of 3D printing of metal of Will's designs. Will has no plans to pursue metal accessories, and this prototype is just to test the design to ensure this design up the high standards Will knows builders have come to expect from BrickArms when it comes to detailing and playability. If and when the BA Musket is mass produced, rest assured it will be available in the same high-quality ABS that all current BrickArms products are produced in! In terms of color, brown is certainly one that's a must for this accessory, and like the BrickArms M1 Garand, Lee-Enfield, and Baseball show, Will's molder has perfectly matched LEGO red-brown. When you're able to equip your armies with the BA Musket, it will blend seamlessly into your minifig accessory collection. Other colors are also certainly an option as well; I'm personally looking forward to seeing this item in Gunmetal, which should replicate the metal-look of this prototype quite nicely and be perfect for non-Pirates building (scifi, steampunk, etc)! Several! Currently in production: Lewis Gun Lee-Enfield SMLE C96 Mauser In prototype: BAR Brodie Helmet P08 Luger M1917 Revolver (perfect for several different WWI-era revolvers)

It stresses the U-Clip a bit, but yes, you can mount a BA Bayonet from the side as well! For maximum versatility, Will based this accessory on a number of different muskets, notably the classic Brown Bess and the Springfield M1861. Given the level of abstraction of the minifig accessory aesthetic, this accessory should end up being useful for any type of musket, flintlock or percussion cap. The key detail, the hammer, is actually a detail Will is still working on, and he does currently plan on a design that would work well for any type of musket and is possible with the types of molding using to create BrickArms accessories.

Another exciting development from BrickArms that Pirate fans should find particularly interesting: the BrickArms Musket! One thing worth noting about this prototype: it's solid metal! With how busy Will's been with other projects, he's been exploring other fun methods of testing out new BrickArms accessory designs he's cooked up. For the BrickArms Musket, he used a type of 3D printing that fuses small pieces of metal together to form a solid metal accessory. It has great resolution, capturing each detail beautifully, and you'd swear it was solid casted-metal! And yes, with a forestock that's grippable from trigger to barrel, it's a perfect match for the BrickArms Bayonet! Naturally, Pirate fans will probably find this accessory most interesting, but with a fully-grippable forestock, all kinds of modifications are possible to create a distinctive piece of weaponry. Here, I've added the barrel magazine from a BrickArms PPSh and a BrickArms Glaive to create a steampunk-style long rifle: Enjoy! MAJOR UPDATE: Will has now cut a prototype mold for the BrickArms Musket, and I was happy to unveil the updated version of this great item at Brickfair 2010!: And yes, that barrel is 100% grippable. This allows for all sorts of neat customization and modding:

The solution is to make it conductive! The plastic that's used to produce the BrickArms chrome items is ABS with small particles of nickle suspended in the plastic. The nickle component makes the plastic conductive enough for the electroplating process to work.

If you mean to imply the price point is high, electroplating is a *very* expensive process, and the pricing of these packs does reflect that. However, I would note that the price per accessory of each of the packs is approximately $2, only slightly higher than the standard ABS accessories available on the BrickArms site. As such, for the quality of the chrome accessories you're getting in these packs, it's an exceptionally good value That's from the electroplating! It's expensive, but the quality is truly breathtaking!

Hot on the heels of the recently-added Trans Packs, Will has now also added 4 great new Chrome Packs to the BrickArms line-up: Modern, Scifi, Demolition, and Blade Packs! All BrickArms chrome accessories are produced via electroplating where the chrome is electromagnetically bonded to the part. It's the highest quality process of chroming there is, and these chrome parts won't chip or flake! Each pack is $16 and is ready for order today! These are limited edition packs, and when they're gone, there's no guarantee they'll be available again.

A fun new addition to the BrickArms line-up: four Trans Packs! Four different packs are available: trans-blue, trans-green, trans-red, and trans-clear. All are color-matched to LEGO trans-colors and are 100% high quality trans ABS plastic. Each pack contain 34 great BrickArms accessories in a trans-color for only $25!

I certainly hope so! Like I stated endlessly in this thread, I'm a HUGE fan of both classic 30s and 40s pulp fiction and the way the classic Adventures line explored those themes in a way that it wasn't likely LEGO ever would with the Indy line. I love the look of that fig, and should he be indicative of what LEGO plans to do with a Adventures Redux line, I think TLC could truly have another blockbuster in-house theme in the making!

Just to be clear, you will see those items (and many, many more) as part of the BrickArms line-up in the future. Can't say exactly when, but they are coming as mass produced items in available multiple colors, that I can say definitely. And yes, Omicron is more than correct in that all custom accessory vendors can and should pursue whatever accessories they think would make nice additions to their line-up. As is evident from these items, even when designers such as Will and the CAD modelers Brickforge uses to design accessories working from the same source of inspiration, the results can be markedly different given the personal styles of the designers and the methods and quality of plastic used in their construction. Folks should feel comfortable in using whatever parts they feel best suit their building needs! With those matters addressed, I'll leave you folks to discuss these new Brickforge items!

Like Luxor said, this thread is older, but in this case, that's a win for you, given that due to the interest in the BA Needle Gun, Will now plans to introduce a mass produced single-color version that is a at a price point similar to other BrickArms accessories. The same also applies to the Energy Pistol. When there's an update, I'll certainly share the news here!

Even if with the fundamental misunderstanding of the work, it's great to see The Brick Testament getting even more mainstream attention! If you're looking for a good local news source in Chicago, try WBEZ, especially their 848 Program.

Pictures of the new accessories that were part of the pack! M1 Carbine - with wire stock and pistol grip Cricket Bat - Oi! We're not using the zed-word! MP44 Vampir - featuring a scope and infrared light for night assaults!

While the BA Cricket Bat is an exclusive to this contributor pack for now, should there be a significant interest in the piece, there's always a chance Will MIGHT make it more widely available. I'll be posting shots of the Cricket Bat (and a few other new prototypes as well!) soon, and if you like what you see, please be sure and post about it! Feedback on items has a VERY strong influence and what is and isn't produced and/or is made available, so please make your voice heard!

For now, yes Yes, they're items Will produced with his home equipment (CNC and injector) rather than mass produced items. Maybe. We'll have to see!

As featured on Brothers-Brick, the BrickArms Zombie Defense Pack exclusive to contributors of the Zombie Apocafest display at BrickCon 2009! Donated to all those who contribute to the last year of the Zombie Apocafest!

Did my part! I'm always game to add to some statistics!

I'll be there! However, the earliest I could leave Chicago was Friday afternoon, so I won't be arriving until Friday evening, most likely right in the middle of the opening ceremony! Still, that gives me two full days of BrickCon fun, as well as contributing a bunch of figs to the Castle display! I've also developed another convention-exclusive fig for the show. I'll post a card up here soon!

I'll probably apply regardless, but if online purchases apply towards points, this will truly be a great promotion! I can also easily see double- and triple-points promotions being a possibility, as retailers that use similar models often run events such as those. All in all, I like that now every dollar spent goes towards a reward! No more balancing out a purchase to hit a $25 increment! ;)

"Well, you can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which gets filled first." Heh, perhaps a bit too pessimistic, but until we see/here anything specific that says otherwise, it's all moot. With the quality work LEGO has been putting out the past few years, I'm eager to see anything new, whatever it is. Elves could be interesting, but then so could any number of other directions as well. Guess we'll just have to see what they've got in store for us!