WESTERN Custom Stickers!!! IDEAS WANTED!

[Brick Miner]

hello, well i wanted to start sharing some stuff i've been working on... unfortunately, i still don't have that digital camera... however, the recent post about the pirate map (by dreamweb) has really inspired me to get some feedback on my creations !!!

so anyway, im working on some western MOCs. im really interested in exploring all the possibilities that LEGO missed (there are plenty that come to mind, right of hand). but first i took a look at what LEGO did explore...

(6765, 6755) LEGO started the formation of a town, presumably a gold/silver mining town (hence the name gold city junction/silver city). in the town they only explored three themes, a bank, a general store, and the sheriff

[Sting]

Wow Brick Miner. Very cool idea you got going on here. Your stickers look incredible so far (I actually thought for a second they were real pieces, at least of "Flintlock" Frank). I would love to think of some ideas for the names of the Western Bandits, but unfortunately I'm just not good at coming up with names. But I shall give it a shot. You should get some pictures of each minifigure you want a name for and post them in your main article so we can see each one and think of a name that suits them. For example, the bandit in 6764 Sheriff's Lock Up has the missing teeth, messy hair/moustache and a hairy chest. Perhaps "Hairy" Harry would be interesting (Like I said, I am not good at coming up with names LOL). I am not sure how many varieties of bandits there were, so this would help us get which ones you want named.

I also think for you MOC's you should imagine what Lego would have done with Wild West if it was INCREDIBLY succesful - imagine them making a confederate influenced "Rebel" line alot like the Castle lines you mentioned. The Rebels would have grey torsos and be against the Cavalry... they would be a whole other faction. There could be the civilians (like in 6765 Gold City Junction, than The Cavalry, and The Rebels (The Cavalry and The Rebels would basically fight for control of the towns...). Of course, this would introduce countries/factions into the theme and may take the niche of the Bandits (who the Cavalry fight), although I always thought it was the Sheriff's job to fight the Bandits...

You could also try to do the Mexicans... which if officially done by Lego would be called a different name, but still be heavily Mexican influenced. It would be great to see some Adobe's and if some of the theme takes place in California... maybe some Joshua Tree's... 8-

[Brick Miner]

thanks sting... hopefully this long winded post isn't for nothing... so thanks for getting some ideas started.

the bandit in 6764 Sheriff's Lock Up has the missing teeth, messy hair/moustache and a hairy chest. Perhaps "Hairy" Harry would be interesting

great suggestion, that has the kind of ring we could be looking for !!! unfortunately, the bandit you speak of is one of the few already officially named by LEGO. that is flatfoot thompson !!!

ok, lets branch of from my original idea behind this post, since we are on the topic of minifig names. i'll make a list here of all the western minifigs LEGO released.

first the bandits...

of these, only the second bandit (in the red shirt) is named. that is flatfoot thompson. its kinda funny, as a kid i always thought the black bandit was named flatfoot (as he appears in more sets, and seems to be the more prominent villain in the wild west). after taking a closer look at the wanted poster, i find out its actually the red shirted bandit !!!

next the cowboys...

of these, only the sheriff is named thanks to the european version of 6755, we get sheriff duke. i think the red shirt cowboy makes a good depute... he always seems so lawful in the sets he appears in, almost always right behind the sheriff (the exception would be 6769, where the sheriff is nowhere to be found). i think a a title of depute is appropriate for him !!!

finally the calvary (i wont go into the indians)

here only the colonel is named, again, thanks to the european version of 6706. that is colonel jefferson. most of the calvary minifigs have variations in hats and bandanas... but the three above cover all the minifig torso/minifig head combinations. however, i would assume that the other calvary members couldn't be named specifically, unless they were given a different head. LEGO used the lietenant and calvary soldier in a very generic way... meaning multiple versions of those minifgs could appear in a single set. this also makes differentiating them with names almost useless.

now, all the other minifigs are up for being named. however (back to my original post) the only names relevant to the custom stickers (right now anyway) are the bandits. as i develop more stickers the other names may become relevant... so id love to hear some ideas !!!

- brickminer

[Brick Miner]

ok, here are some thoughts i had late last night while falling to sleep...

i always thought the adventurer's HARRY CANE had a fun name. making a play on "hurricane." so i attempted some wild west bandit names in the same fashion.

R.V. Oliver, or "revolver"

T. Ricky Goldtooth, or "tricky goldtooth"

Tom Boweed, or "tumbleweed"

i also tried some other names not following this idea...

Quincy "Quickdraw" Adams

and

Gus "Gunsliger" Jennings

anyway, i thought those were a start... and id still love to hear some others inputs !!!

[WesternOutlaw]

I like your wanted posters Brick Miner. Very nicely done. I love these Western figs! I just wish Lego had given us more Wild West sets.

I did PIC reviews of most of the sets if you click my signature Link.

[Brick Miner]

thanks brickster !!! i had a lot of fun working on those wanted posters... and can't wait to find time to work on some more custom stickers.

currently im working on some minifig torso stickers. i love western minifig MOCing, be cause there are so many possiblities with all the adventurers heads and torsos. its easily one of the most expandable themes for minifigs. but amazingly i ran out of combinations !!! so the stickers are a great way to expand !!! plus i can create some western saloon girls with the stickers. cause as you know, LEGO never gave us any western females !!!

anyway, i though of anyone on this board, you would have some cool suggestions for names on the wanted posters !!! wanta contribute ???

- bm

[WesternOutlaw]

Here's a few names that I put together last night:

Fast Draw Lecraw

Block Holliday

Mike "Come and Fetch It" Mallone

Cal Cartwright

"Four Fingers" Fred

"Pick Pocket" Pete

Dirty Dan Sullivan

Ace Albright

Tito Bandito

Mean Mel McCormick

Governor Harold "Goldee" Gatling

Ed "One Bullet" O'Neil

Rusty Bullets

Oscar K. Corral

[Brick Miner]

thanks for contributing brickster, those are great !!!

my favorites are...

Block Holliday

"Four Fingers" Fred

Tito Bandito

very funny and clever !!!

these names are good too...

Fast Draw Lecraw

Mike "Come and Fetch It" Mallone

"Pick Pocket" Pete

Dirty Dan Sullivan

Mean Mel McCormick

Governor Harold "Goldee" Gatling

Ed "One Bullet" O'Neil

Rusty Bullets

but i didn't get the reference (or the joke) on these names...

Ace Albright

Oscar K. Corral

Cal Cartwright

or are these names you just though had a good ring to them ???

- brick miner

[WesternOutlaw]

Ace Albright: Ace for an ace in poker or blackjack.

Oscar K. Corral: or O.K. Corral for short.

Cal Cartwright: had a good ring but Cartwright from Bonanza.

I kinda liked Rusty Bullets myself.

[Mister Phes]

Hows it progressing laddies? Do you have anything new to share yet?

[WesternOutlaw]

This is a Brick Miner project Phes. Not sure where he's at or what the plan is. I think he was just going to use some of the names for his posters.

[Mister Phes]

Yes, I'm aware of this Mr Brickster. I was just pretending to be a friendly caring administrator and asking how things were going...

[Brick Miner]

hey guys... im back, been on vacation... thanks for bumping this thread phes !!!

yup brickster is right, just using the names for wanted posters right now... but id like to name all the western figs, i have plans for a bunch of MOCs and want to incorporate many names. to quote myself...

i want to expand on the western LEGO world by adding even more dimension to it. these simple wanted posters provide worlds of playability, without revealing to much story that it limits imagination.

that is exactly what im looking to do with my MOCs, expand on the western theme. the names are a good start, cause LEGO only revealed a couple minifig names... and any good story teller knows a name can reveal so much about a character, and introduce worlds of story.

i remember watching the extras on the STAR WARS episode 2 DVD... i recall a quote from it regarding KIT FISTO (green squid head jedi). in the movies KIT is nothing more than an "extra." i mean he no lines and no actual part in the movie. but give him a name, and suddenly he turns from an "extra" into a full blown character with history and personality. we suddenly want to know more about him, what his past is, and where he is going... and most importantly what his part is in the story that we are now engulfed in !!!

that is exactly what im looking to do with the western figs... by simply giving them a name, it opens up a world of story.

thanks so much for contributing brickster, but i was hoping this thread would be more active... with lots of contributions. it would be cool if we chose western minifig names from a couple members. i had a vision...

we can consider the names we come up with the OFFICIAL EUROBIRKCS names for the minifigs !!! then, whenever we refer to the minifigs (using the new official eurobricks names) everyone here will know who we are referring to. i think that would be really cool !!! i mean we always want to know the official names of the minifigs... but as you know, LEGO released very few of those until the adventurers line.

however, if this idea is not popular at this time, i guess it just up to me to choose names.

- brickminer

oh, i finally got a digital camera so i have plans to reveal my first MOC soon !!!

[WesternOutlaw]

Looking forward to seeing some of your MOCs BM. I hadn't done that many over the years considering Wild West is among my favorite all time theme. I've got some links to images if you click my signature.

[Mister Phes]

i remember watching the extras on the STAR WARS episode 2 DVD... i recall a quote from it regarding KIT FISTO (green squid head jedi). in the movies KIT is nothing more than an "extra." i mean he no lines and no actual part in the movie. but give him a name, and suddenly he turns from an "extra" into a full blown character with history and personality. we suddenly want to know more about him, what his past is, and where he is going... and most importantly what his part is in the story that we are now engulfed in !!!

that is exactly what im looking to do with the western figs... by simply giving them a name, it opens up a world of story.

Wouldn't that make Western more like Knight's Kingdom and Orient Expedidtion? There was some grumblings a while back about giving each mini-figure a name... Everyone wanted more generic nameless mini-figures. But that's in sets of course. In terms of what you're doing you could open up interesting possibilities.

oh, i finally got a digital camera so i have plans to reveal my first MOC soon !!!

Excellent! We'll stay tuned!

[Brick Miner]

Wouldn't that make Western more like Knight's Kingdom and Orient Expedidtion? There was some grumblings a while back about giving each mini-figure a name... Everyone wanted more generic nameless mini-figures. But that's in sets of course. In terms of what you're doing you could open up interesting possibilities.

yes, it would make western more like the adventures or the knight kingdom. thanks for putting it so well !!!

as far as giving each minifig a unique name... hmmm... im not familiar with the thread that you are refereing to (probably before i got heavily involved here). however, i can see how a castle fan would agree with that statment in regards to the knight kingdom sets. where a classic castle fan would want to build an army under his order (black falcons, crusaders, etc...) it would be hard to do with these uniquely named knight of today (LEGO's current releases).

so yes, in regards to any "army building" fan... uniquely naming each minifig is not in favor. but in a situation like the adventures, where ther is ONLY ONE johnny thunder... it makes since to give him a name and history and personality !!! and not just make him a random archeologist. in that case generic is boring.

in relation to the western theme, it goes both ways... the army building (calvery) minifigs should remain unnamed for that purpose. (i had actually already mentioned all of this in my original post !!!) however, the unique minifigs... like the sheriff, and bandits could gain so much (as i mentioned above) by being given personality and character.

by the way, i love this discussion !!!

- brickminer

[Mister Phes]

Glad that you love this discussion Mr Brick Miner! I do my best to keep them going and anyone else who wants to join in may feel free to do so.

I was wondering if you've selected any names for your characters yet? Also along with the unique name does this also mean that each mini-figure will have its own visual identity? I.e. different face, torso, legs, etc so that no two mini-figures are the same?

[Brick Miner]

my goal is to keep consistent with the western theme, as LEGO saw it... so in a way i can answer yes !!! no two minifigs will be the same. and yes, each will have its own visual identity. (exception is the calvary, see below.)

i have noticed some interesting rules LEGO abided during the classic SYSTEM rein. i will always apply those rules to my MOC building...

for example, when LEGO released a head/torso combination within a theme, they never split that combo. so you will never see a brickminer MOC minifig with an already established western head or torso, unless its another persona of the same character. that is to say, i will never use the sheriff head for a MOC mini-fig, unless its another version of the sheriff in different clothes.

likewise, i will never use flatfoot thompsons torso in an MOC, unless its another version of flatfoot himself... in which case i would also use the flatfoot head (LEGO only released one, so its my only choice for a head, if i am to abide by the above rules). this results in my only option for exchange is his headgear, neckgear, or legs... AND GUESS WHAT... LEGO was known to do that !!! (NOTE: it all makes since in my head)

an example of this is the calvary... the head/torso combination always stayed the same, but the headgear, neckgear, or legs could change.

so by following all the rules above, i can create western mini-fig MOCs that are consistent with LEGOs vision of the wild west !!!

IMPORTANT: this also will give each western minifig an identity all his/her own. and ultimately that is my goal !!!

i hope all that makes since !!!

by the way, for others interested in this style of MOC building, but interested in themes other than western... double check my theories here... LEGO also applied these rules to the other SYSTEM themes... for example, within pirates, the only exception is the imperial guards/soldiers. where the soldier and the captain share the same body, but have different heads. army building minifigs seem to be the only exception. however, im not sure about castle... i haven't research cause im just not that interested !!!

- BM

[Brick Miner]

I also think for you MOC's you should imagine what Lego would have done with Wild West if it was INCREDIBLY succesful - imagine them making a confederate influenced "Rebel" line alot like the Castle lines you mentioned. The Rebels would have grey torsos and be against the Cavalry

you will probably never see me do confederate soldiers. i think the wild west that LEGO was depicting was during 1865-1890, or post-civil war.

also, the theme is called "wild west" or "western" not "civil war." even if the theme was extremely sucessful i don't think they would have included confederate soldiers (which was a battle of the EASTERN states).