Carbohydrates

The front of the White House is square.

Hmm, nothing on Bricklink yet. You'd think as soon as they were available anywhere, they'd start appearing for silly prices.

Collectible minifigs, modular houses and Western. I don't buy a whole lot of sets, honestly. I do almost all of my MOC designing digitally and then order the parts to realize them through Bricklink.

That is a pretty impressive bump, bringing this thread back from its 5 year-old grave! Coincidentally, I bought myself a Gold City Junction about a week ago, too. I never had it as a kid, but my neighbor did and I'd always wanted it. I was surprised at how many basic bricks and plates there were! Sure, the big windows and log wall panels make up a good chunk of the buildings, but all the pieces are very usable. I was surprised that the bank is 'missing' a bit of its side wall, though I see why it's necessary for the building's play features. The figs are great! A soldier, a sheriff, a banker, two cowboys of ambiguous morality, and a bandit lets you stage pretty much whatever conflict you want, and two of the figs are exclusive to the set. Overall, I'm a big fan, and I'm glad it wasn't just nostalgia making me think these old sets were so much fun - they actually were. Cons: The general store is pretty small and a little architecturally unimpressive, but it was nice of LEGO to include it rather than just make this a bank robbery set. I've got Fort Legoredo and Sheriff's Lock-Up coming to me in the mail now.

One of the large black plates from green Grocer came warped/melted on one corner to the point of being completely unusable. I've also cracked a few of the old 1x1 cones trying to get a bar out of them - they latch on HARD, and god help you if you push one to the stud end of a 4L antenna.

I didn't see anything in the rules about connections. I just assume it has to be possible to build in real life as it's depicted in the MOC - no birds magically flying overhead or anything. For instance, I have a small section of wall that isn't attached by studs but rather held in place on all sides by pieces around it. I had to 'cheat' to get it there in the first place, but it would be quite snug and secure if built.

How about an office building, complete with cubicles, so you can build it and leave your figs inside, sitting there day after day doing nothing in particular with no ascertainable goal for eternity, removed from their tasks only when their omniscient observer decides to toy with their lives? Posting this from work, by the way.

Pretty nice, but I think I prefer the yellow LEGO truck and that store is laughably tiny. It's a cute idea for an exclusive, but it gets a little difficult to take seriously when you could break down and fit the store inside of the truck. Possibly two or three of them.

I didn't know that! Thanks very much for the neat tidbit of information there. Here's the doc's office in the context of a town (3 official LEGO buildings, 2 of mine). I figure once the saloon/hotel is done, it'll be a pretty respectable town!

When I posted my last Western MOC, the gun shop, I asked people for ideas of buildings that would fit in well in a Western town. The two most commonly suggested were a post office and a doctor's office. Well, I haven't tackled the post office yet, but here's an attempt on the latter! Made in LDD this time because I wanted to enter the contest. This, like the previous one, is built to fit in with LEGO's official Western sets: it's on a 16x32 tan baseplate with a black fence and the back is open. I wanted to build this one with subtle earth tones, so I wanted to avoid bright primary colors on it. I didn't intend to build two green buildings in a row, but sand green is just so beautiful!

#1 suggestion: No more cheap Chinese stuff.

Here's a Wild West MOC for ya: what town is complete without a doctor's office to help mop up after all the shootouts? It contains 472 parts. I had to change a few things around from how I initially envisioned it due to parts color availability, but I'm very happy with the result! The main goal of the MOC was to utilize the grooved 1 x 2 brick to achieve a horizontal lap siding sort of look since I've never seen it used that way before. I also wanted a Western MOC with more subdued colors - no visually loud accents, just earth tones. Finally, it had to be in the style of the official LEGO Western sets - 16x32 tan baseplate (with a black fence) and an open back wall. Though the primary color is sand green, it's worth noting that there are only 3 different sand green parts used here: the brick 1 x 2 with groove, technic brick 1 x 2, and brick 1 x 1. I do sort of wish LDD displayed texture in tiles better to show off the alternating 1 x 2 and 1 x 6 tiles that make up the office floor and the 1 x 4 brown tiles on the boardwalk, but that's okay! LDD file attached! docs.zip

The top hat has been around for a long time. New Molds: - Sombrero - Maraca - Surfboard - Spartan shield - Spartan helm - Spartan spear - Ski cap - Ski poles - Skis - Beret - Pharaoh staff - Barbell - Microphone - Singer hair - Flotation device - Karate trophy Recycled Series 1 Molds: - Swept hair (new color) - Afro (new color) Old Molds: - Vampire hair (new color) - Bat - Aviator cap - Handcuffs - Top hat (also used in Series 1 but has been around longer) - Whip, uncurled (new color) - Pharaoh headdress (new color) - Witch hat - Long broom (new color?) - Tousled side part hair (also used in Series 1 but has been around longer) - Cheerleader hair (also used in Series 1 but has been around longer) - Pith helmet - Magnifying glass - Binoculars

Woah, this is pure genius. I'm stealing the hell out of this (but will properly attribute it, of course)!

Brickset and Peeron perform very different functions and there is absolutely room for both of them. I use Peeron and Bricklink for managing parts, and Brickset for managing and cataloging sets.

Hey, let me start by saying that I like this a lot. It's nicely thought out in terms of arrangement and the destroyed floor is a particularly great touch. In the interest of honest feedback, though, I gotta say I don't like the color scheme. It's overbearingly gray, with the walls, floor, and bits of furniture all done in shades of it, with brown being the only accent color, and a dark color like brown doesn't stand out from the equally dark gray too well. I imagine the gray was a deliberate choice, but I'm not sure I'm sold on it. It almost looks like a bunker with some furniture thrown in. The furniture itself is very nicely constricted, though! I love the use of log pieces as cushions on the couch, and the desk with its phone, lamp, and writing mat is absolutely spot-on. The damaged floor and pillar really give a nice feeling of conflict. Overall, very nicely built and staged! There's not much I don't like besides the coloring.

Now that I've seen the close-ups, I'm a bit more excited for series 2 than I was before. The vampire and ringmaster torsos seem potentially useful for Western MOCs, and the entirety of the Mariachi certainly is. The motorcycle cop and surfer's heads are great, the mime's beret is definitely long-awaited, and of course everyone wants a million Spartans. I think it's safe to say the least popular from series 1 were the diver and the dummy, but I don't think there's going to be as much of a problem with unwanted figs in this series. Even the ones I'd guess will be less desirable have interesting print and molds, with the one exception of the explorer/adventurer. Nothing new there parts-wise and everything about him is rather uninteresting, unless you need some cargo shorts for your "bro" minifigs. Overall, I'd say this wave is a lot more uniform than series 1. Fewer totally outstanding figs than 1, but also fewer useless/unwanted figs.

Very nice MOC! For some reason, I love the idea of a building dedicated to weird people doing weird crap. It's charming in a way. edit: Using tooth plates as keystones is a very nice touch! Very nice detail.

I'm already planning on using the Mariachi's poncho to make some Man With No Name-style cowboys.

Pretty great, honestly. I bought my Gold City Junction used and the stickers were already applied. For 14 years of age, they show no fading or peeling. The print is detailed and clean. The only downside is that there are a couple that cover multiple pieces, the General Store and Bank stickers. I agree with you, by the way. They have to have been reasonably popular or three of the sets wouldn't have been chosen for reissue in 2002, alongside such popular sets as the Pizzeria and the Black Seas Barracuda. I've been going back and forth on whether I want to pick up the two Western-themed Toy Story sets. They don't match at all as-is, with Round-Up's larger scale and cartoony visage, and the train obviously looks far more like a toy train than a real one, but they feel like a nice tribute to the old Western sets and I've almost bought them out of obligation! Nice parts selection in Round-Up, too.

That Robo Riders set is the only set they appear in Dark Turquoise. There are 55 sellers with them on Bricklink - lowest listed price is $0.25. 61 have been sold in the last 6 months for as little as $0.15 and as much as $1.75, with an average sale price of $0.92. Price guide: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=30173&colorID=39 Set guide: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=30173&in=S

Red Dead Redemption is indeed fantastic, and I mentioned it in the second sentence of this thread - it's what's gotten me back into Western building, that's for sure: Also, I received my Gold City Junction today and had a smile on my face the whole time I was building it. What a great set!

Ah, I think you're exactly right, though I don't think Ezio had two knives at the same time, either.

If I may make one rather minor suggestion, I don't believe Altair has two knives in the game - doesn't it go: fists, hidden blade, sword, and dagger / throwing knives? I like the layout, though. The staggered wooden beams are very reminiscent of the game!

I'm not creating a database, I just wanted to create a thread in which to discuss the Western theme with a summary of information to kick off the discussion. Seems it worked, seeing as it elicited this response from you, though I happily stand corrected about the production years! However, I wouldn't agree with the claim that the two distinct years featured two distinct factions. The 1996 sets featured bandits, the US army, and the townspeople (and their sheriff). The 1997 sets were almost entirely native American, but there were also a few small ($10 and under) sets with bandits and the army. Besides, I would still argue that the inclusion of native Americans still breaks LEGO's typical one-on-one arrangement, considering their lack of direct interaction with the rest of the Western theme. Of course, this is turning to opinions and semantics, but it makes for nice discussion!