Brick Miner

hmmmm... the more we get away from the WW, and the more we get into cival war stuff... the less interested i become. the theme becomes less romantic, and more political, respectively. and that doesn't sit well with me. im actually happy we never saw any confederate soldiers. LEGO developed this theme prefectly, it just ended to shortly. - BM

hey norro's back !!! thanks for your feedback now, and earlier this year... you have really helped me grown as an MOCist X-D you know, one thing i want to do with my MOCs is have them self contained... your right, LEGO would have made two sets out of this... but i think what we have here is more appealing. ENTER: BOULDER PASSAGE 6784 ;-) -------------------------------------------------- thanks for the post here brickadier !!! again, i think i want to keep my MOCs like self-contained sets... with a "playable right out of the box" feel. right now i don't have any plans for more train cars, though as others have said, we could stand to see a separate mail car, luggage car, etc...- Brick Miner

yes, i thought that this maybe taking it a little too far, also. i would think you'd want to develop the station as a hustling and bustling place. that seems more relevant to the set.though piranha's story is good and convincing. -------------------------------------------------- welcome to EB Brickadier, i love your screen name. i see your primarily a cival war buff... well that's close enough to WW, so i guess we will let you contribute to the thread :-P just joking, of course, hope to see you around !!! - BM

ok, this sounds like a lot of fun... can you give us a report after the show, hinckley (dark brick ???) ??? - BrickMiner

same here... i knew nothing about this |-/ i guess thats what an american gets for being part of a european community :-D :-P chicago is only a 15 dollar bus ticket away from me... if this is successful, i'll be going next year. but i'll want to be an exihitor... i have to give the WW some official exposure ;-) i hope to see you in 2008 SW4J ;-) - Brick Miner

thanks, i'll check that out.-------------------------------------------------- :-D did your friend also think FT was the black-shirted bandit ??? cause flatfoot is actually the red-shirted one... as a teen, i personally, never caught onto that :-D ya, i was thinking maybe something like this guy...http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?M=tim003 -------------------------------------------------- very true !!! you know your history P !!! a lot of men were displaced after the war, and had a lot to do with the shaping of the "old west" culture. i have heard this is why there was an increased number of crimes during this era... with no jobs, the soliders had no means of earing a living... you know, our old friends flatfoot and his two henchmen are probably ex-soldiers :-D :-D :-D thats an intersting thought, because they are so removed from anything resembling respectful :-D - Brick Miner

im actually glad to see people are keeping up on this thread... thanks for posting asuka *y*this is becoming quite the thread. ...and it seems you have noticed, im a suspense builder with my MOCs >:-) its so fun. -------------------------------------------------- well, i actually think that was a fine idea, if the target audience was an AFOL... we seem to like boring miniature replicas with no playability :-P in all seriousness though, i like playability too piranha. i've been noticing this trend with most of the western fans on EB... its cool that we all like the playability, and more concept oriented MOCs. im not familiar with the divers set you mentioned, it sounds the prefect feature. i'll have to check brickset for the instructions *y* im always up for adapting new action features into the WW setting ;-) Discover Station, you say ??? -------------------------------------------------- the action toy feature is a step in the right direction, P. and i love that you have developed a story behind why the boards are creaky. it ties in with the old man, perfectly. wow, that is an interesting take on a villain... an indian. and though i like the originality, i think LEGO might have a problem with this association. but it would be perfect for an MOC ;-) i'd love to see this evil indian minifig. i have an idea for this character... what if he was a kooky old man too. like he has a dozen pocket watches, because he is the station manager, he is obsessed with time management :-D that could give him a unique torso design, and his own unique personality in the LEGO universe. now, i think we are onto some serious set building... i love these characters and would love to see them visually developed.thanks for expanding, P. that was really fun reading. and i bet it would be fun to physically develop !!! - Brick Miner

i think the next direction for this thread to take would be to take these set ideas and develop them a bit further. in writing or concept developing this is called "fleshing out"... perhaps you have heard the term "fleshing out a story" ???i think what we have here, is not necessarily a limit on new set ideas... as there is an endless amount of possibilities. what you have to remember is there are multiple way to interpret something. and old west themes are not excluded. just think of how many castles LEGO has done. yes, some have been similar, but each has had their own character (some sets more than others). ------------------------------------------------ this is where brickster is right about the Ghost Town sub-theme of WW MOCing... it is a different take on traditional themes. likewise, there are plenty of "takes" on a saloon, or bank, or hotel, or whatever. it just takes some concept developing. this type of "concept" building takes the idea of construction out of the limited realm of, "ok i built a proper saloon, that

thanks so much for posting those, quarryman ;-) out of everything suggested i like the 1x1 round plates the best. but so far i haven't seen anything that will make me stray from the 1x2 log brick. i like the simplicity of it ;-) -------------------------------------------------- john cleese, that was an original thought, i hadn't come up with myself. i actually don't own any of those clips in black or white... plus i hear they don't even come in white. i guess id have to see them "in action" before making a call. thanks for offering some originality, none-the-less *y* - Brick Miner

hey, that looks good *y* only for my MOCing style, i think it uses too many pieces. - BM

i've tried the round bricks... i actually like the log better... and the saddle is hideous. it doesn't fit the back snug like with the normal horses. that was actually my first though too, sne... i didn't even think i was going to have to find a filler.-------------------------------------------------- hmmm... tried that, i think it looks strange. if the horns were facing the other direction they would look like ribs, and that would be great. but they don't look like ribs as is.one advantage we have to work with is that the stud is "open" to stick a bar width element in. but so far, i haven't found a resolution there. -------------------------------------------------- i also tried two skeleton legs :-D how convenient that they are included in the same set too !!! its ok, it does look kinda like a mess... that

ok, so i've been trying a couple different pieces to try to fill the hole of the skeletal horses when they are not being ridden. a 1x2 brick looks terrible... too blocky. the best i've found is a 1x2 log brick because it rounds out the sides. also, the bottom where the minifig stand is round too, so the log brick lines up well with its base. has anyone else seen or found a better (successful) filler technique ??? - Brick Miner

hmmm... this is a tough one between Zam and the Cloud City Leia. im really disappointed by the padme minifig... padme is the most beautiful girl in SW (except the tonika sisters), and that fig is hideous. i would like luminra (?) except i know she is all glued together :-X so i'll vote for CC Leia. - BM

B, i think i agree with you... at least on this one. the photo background is working better than the official box art imagary. though, with the mexican fort, i like the official box art look better. - BM

this makes a very good "small set" for the GS collection. it offers something unique that the other sets don't have. that is one complaint of mine with many official smaller sets from the 90's, you didn't get anything new (6245/6277 adn 6709/6769 come to mind). so anyway, good job with that !!! i like the cart. this whole set reminds me of the single character adventurer sets (3021, 5900, 5913, etc...). i like that, a spotlight on the character. its fun. - Brick Miner

oh, that you did... my bad :-$ i was reading too fast and jumping to assumptions :-D i think, technically, the CC has 7 sides, don't you :-P - BrickMiner

well, i'll PM you... this sounds fun. and a great thing to put on both our professional resumes ;-) - BM EDIT: wow, i've just watched that LEGO movie you linked to !!! i've never seen that before, where did it come from ??? it would be awesome to see the official sets, and LEGOREDO STATION mixed in together, like in the youtubed video. the reason i suggested doing something like the AR commerical, is that i was kinda visioning this short to be like a commerical advertising Ghost Town. i think that would be awesome... plus, as you said, i already have a story worked out... not to mention, some powerful imagery in my head ;-)

i voted new style... in terms of scale ONLY (i think that was the question of your poll). personally, i don't like that this new style (that we are calling modular ???) is built using techniques that i consider "OUT OF SYSTEM." my ideal city line would be on the scale of CC, but with the techniques of SYSTEM. my full view on this is here and here. if i ever move on from WW MOCing, the community will get a chance to see what i am envisioning... the concept is actually quite different than either SYSTEM, or CC... im not so narrow minded that the question is either old SYSTEM style or new CC style building, i have actually realized a scale and technique that is different from either... and is how i would do city, properly. unfortunately, i don't see this poll as being as black-and-white as the "4 vs. 6 studded cars" poll. ------------------------------------------------ BTW, hinkely... its interesting that you consider the CC as being 4 sided... i see it as only 2 sided, as opposed to the SYSTEM style of 3 ;-) interesting. - Brick Miner

well, i was joking... but if you'll consider it, ok !!!i realize most of the work would be on your end, im sure. but i can do full story boards X-D so what would it take to convince you to do a short based on my Ghost Town characters ??? im sure i could write a script with few(er) characters, to make it easier... or at least fewer fully-possable characters. in other words, you tell me the short cuts, and im sure we can work around them ;-) im imagining something as simple/short as the AquaRaiders TV commercial. now you've got me really excite *y* *y* *y* - Brick Miner

im sure you were joking hinkley... but i do want to expand.i think that my view point on this is that there is no true fix for realism in LEGO... furthermore, i think the realization i want people to consider is that you can't use "realism" as an argument for 4 or 6 wide cars. you really have to love it for what it is. and i do. here is the only thing i really feel strong about concerning this issue... i like the 4-6-8 vehicle variations... i think it promotes personality and emotion in a theme that needs these characteristics, because it is void of them otherwise. see, this is something that is a far greater interest in my MOCing than realism. example: an 18-wheeler should express power, similarly a convertible should be cute. there are ways to convey these emotions through building, one step would be to make one large and one small. that way you get the "feeling" that you feel when you see these vehicles in real life. i guess you could say, i like capturing the "feeling" rather than capturing the "reality". after all, LEGO is an expression of reality, not reality. ------------------------------------------------ wow, to be honest, im really glad we started this poll hinckley, im learning things about me and my building that i didn't even realize on a conscious level... this is so cool :'-) :'-) :'-) - BrickMiner

hey ty... this looks real impressive. but i'll be honest, im not real savvy in this area of art.... so im finding a hard time commenting on it. as far as the technical side, anyway... for example, i have no idea what process are taken (or how long these processes take) to complete a project like this. but i can always ask about the conceptual side, so that i can better understand your project (career ???) ;-) so, are the characters your creations ??? did you make preliminary character designs, and visually develop them first ??? for example, i love the Western thug, he's my favorite. he has a lot of personality, which his setting helps convey. i love the way the light plays on his facial features. on the technical side... i notice that the first clip is more 2D, and the second is 3D. i assume you did this on purpose to show off two different technical skills in your resume. but are there two different terms for these types of animation ??? similarly... was the third clip (BSB) supposed to show another technical skill that wasn't necessarily represented in the first two ??? or was it just cause you love that set :-P personally, i would love to see more movies like the Spellcaster 4D movie at LEGOLAND. have you seen it ty ??? it seems like its right up your alley. and given what i have seen above, i think you could produce a great 3D western LEGO movie. so, i'll develop the story, and do the story boards (BTW, have you seen my non-LEGO art)... you do the animation. what do you say :-P - BrickMiner

this is a good point... look at this 4-wide car, its huge !!! if your talking about a true-to-life scale... its far too tall... im mean, the hood is at the minifig's chin !!! and the roof is above his head !!! now, if i was into realism, i would say, LEGO make your cars smaller... not larger. it's a good thing im not into realism, i would have a real serious problem :-P - BM

im sure there are... personally, this is the type of construction style i love. however, browsing BrickShelf for "castle", most are thousand-piece creations. and with the CafeCorner, i think town is headed, or has been, in the same direction. i just want the SYSTEM style of MOCing to be recognized by the AFOL community. though, i think we are in the minority... by a long shot.there is a similar dicussion going on here. maybe this is one reason i like the WW theme. i don't see as many of these monster constructions. and i am noticing this trend with other WW fans. interesting. i like it. - BM

yes, that is just hideous, isn't it. for me, some parts have a very strong association to what they can be used as. the minifig hand is one of them. i will always see a minifig hand, even if its supposed to be a lever (<=== just one example i have seen), or whatever.association is a strong tool, similar to iconography. i think there is an art to using this association to your advantage... but i also agree that their is some creativity in breaking that association. my mind is so much more fascinated with using the tool of association, rather than breaking it. but i think the important thing is to recognize there is a difference, and to use your style to your advantage. again, im not saying one technique is better or more "advanced" than the other. its how you harness the technique. but again, that

i agree that is it nice to see some more WW MOCs on EB... i really think the WW characters are some of the best minifigs LEGO produced... seeing them in different scenes is always enjoyable. BTW, i love the orange coach color... i wish the color was available in more pieces, i'd convert my stage coach to orange... im serious, i abslutely love it !!! i really like the doors too. though, i feel like the front pair of wheels need to come in closer to the cabin of the coach. i'd like to see some more photos, as its hard for me to tell what is really going on with the mountain passage. - Brick Miner