Western Round Up...

[Brick Miner]

i wanted to try a new

[Norro]

Flatfoot is the red one... (That's what I've always thought ;-) ). Here Lego were more inteligent than in the adventures line because you could easily duplicate the black gang member and keep only flatfoot as the leader. As a kid his gang consisted of one of the gambler, himself, and five or so of the black figure.

Character wise I see him as rough, rckless, and relying on his face/reputation to subdue even without waving a gun about. He is obviously a real tough to lead a gang of three in which the other two appear smarter... The only problem is that character wise he dwaves the sheriff. He's going need a big possy....

God Bless,

Nathan

[Mister Phes]

my commentary...

ok, so Flatfoot Thompson is this guy, right ???

or is he ??? see when i was a kid buying these sets on the retail shelves, i knew the name Flatfoot Thompson from the box descriptions. and i also knew this guy as the leader of the bandit gang

[Brick Miner]

Flatfoot is the red one... (That's what I've always thought ;-) ). Here Lego were more inteligent than in the adventures line because you could easily duplicate the black gang member and keep only flatfoot as the leader. As a kid his gang consisted of one of the gambler, himself, and five or so of the black figure.

ohhh... a bunch of Black Barts, interesting concept (as i have always seen him as a unique individule also). that is a great use though, considering he is way too abundant in the LEGO WW sets. this answers the question, "so what do you do with 4-5 extra bandits" ??? make a gang ;-)

Character wise I see him as rough, rckless, and relying on his face/reputation to subdue even without waving a gun about. He is obviously a real tough to lead a gang of three in which the other two appear smarter...

i have thought about this too... you would think (as most character archetypes structuers go) the wiser crook is the leader. and the dumber, more physical-powered crook is the follower.. that character structure is used in so many cartoons (from TMNT to bugs bunny).

so, this does speak very highly of FFT, if he dares reverse the roles !!!

--------------------------------------------------

I didn't even know Western characters had names!

FFT is the only one universally named. however, Euro boxes also name "Sheriff Duke" and "Colonel Jeffereson."

But what I do know is different countries had different names for sets and mini-figures. So which country were these box descriptions from and which country was that Western Commericial targetted towards?

well, the wanted poster is a universal piece used in every set... so his name is definitely Flatfoot Thompson. as for the commerical... it is targeted for north america, because the retail boes at the end of the commerical have the words "Wild West" in the top right corner triangle. only boxes from north america feature that... as all other boxes (for the rest of the world) say "Western" in the top right.

- BrickMiner

[Mister Phes]

Is it possible that The LEGO Company made a last minute change or just screwed up and didn't realise their error until it was too late?

[DoubleT]

Oh if you only knew the Story off Thomsen.. he he

[Norro]

Is it possible that The LEGO Company made a last minute change or just screwed up and didn't realise their error until it was too late?

Like many graphics on their website/ pictures on publications I doubt this was done by someone with an intimate knowledge of Lego, more likely a contracted 'expert' thought it looked better that way and that kids wouldn't notice...

God Bless,

Nathan

[Brick Miner]

Oh if you only knew the Story off Thomsen.. he he

:-D sounds like we might have another "steve" story in the making...

http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...?showtopic=2590

--------------------------------------------------

Like many graphics on their website/ pictures on publications I doubt this was done by someone with an intimate knowledge of Lego, more likely a contracted 'expert' thought it looked better that way and that kids wouldn't notice...

hmmm... its possible, but i don't know. because the black-shirted bandit is also more prominate in the sets too. he seems to be the leader, there also... so we can't fault the commercial producing agency for that one too.

i think, as phes mentioned, it was a mistake on LEGOs part... its even possible that the artist drew the wrong face on the wanted poster... no one noticed, and it went into production... then it came time to make the commercial and someone noticed that the bandit leader's face on the wanted poster didn't match the fig. as im sure the products were made, far before the commercial was planned.

other theories, anyone ???

- BrickMiner

[Norro]

I still think your making a massive leap in assuming the black bandit was the lead character, he is more common because he is not the lead character (this is pre adventurers remember ;-) ) and the red bandit appears centrally on almost all magazines/posters, he is the main attraction of the western comic (in the midsized UK mag) as well as being flatfoot in the old lego club releases... Not to mention being available in the affordable sheriff's office as well as the big sets (think red beard in the early days...)

God Bless,

Nathan (who is really just trying to take the heat off pirate rankings... X-D )

[Brick Miner]

I still think your making a massive leap in assuming the black bandit was the lead character, he is more common because he is not the lead character (this is pre adventurers remember ;-) )

maybe he paved the way for Johnny Thunder and his leading commonness :-D

ya, it's a huge assumption... probably steams from the fact that i like the look of the black-dressed bandit better... he just seems more prominate to me ;-)

Nathan (who is really just trying to take the heat off pirate rankings... X-D )

:-D im yet to go back, since my second reply in the thread... im sure it might take awhile to get though it, so i need to save a block of time to commit to reading/replying ;-)

- Brick Miner

[Jemppu]

as they appear in the sets these two bandits represent two different kinds of villainy. blackie is fully covered, hands and face. reddie wears no gloves and uncovered face. obvious conclusion,… reddie is more reckless, more down and dirty… doesn’t care attitude. while, blackie is more careful, strategic… and possibly more intelligent. both have their appeals for playability and story.

This is interesting (as the Western was my favourite theme after Pirates as a kid). I always had the assumption that the red shirted guy was the leader (though I'm not sure I knew his name back then). Probably partly because of the same reasons as you had the other way (that they were never correctly pointed out), but also, because he reminded me of Joe of the Dalton brothers (or cousins really) from Lucky Luke. He's intelligent, but somewhat short tempered.

The black dressed guy always reminded me (because of his looks) a bit of my uncle X) Though I probably thought him as either William or Jack Dalton, as he was always the one to calm 'Joe' down (I never actually named them. At least I don't remember I did). He was also always the ladies' man in our plays with my sister (and that was most likely because of his well-dressedness) X)

[Brick Miner]

This is interesting (as the Western was my favourite theme after Pirates as a kid). I always had the assumption that the red shirted guy was the leader (though I'm not sure I knew his name back then). Probably partly because of the same reasons as you had the other way (that they were never correctly pointed out), but also, because he reminded me of Joe of the Dalton brothers (or cousins really) from Lucky Luke. He's intelligent, but somewhat short tempered.

8-

[Norro]

and i would say, you are most definitely right, the red shirted bandit IS FLatfoot Thompson.- BrickMiner

Victory! X-D

God Bless,

Nathan

[Brick Miner]

Victory! X-D

|-/

i had always belived this :-D

however, i posed the question for the good of discussion. there are many possiblities or interpretations to the character. no victory in convincing anybody anything... just good discussion ;-) and jemppu provided a great external entertainment analogy to the western bandits !!!

- BrickMiner

[Mister Phes]

:-D i could see the black dressed bandit to be a ladies man. i could imagine him charming the saloon girls ;-)

Are you suggesting he could be a sauve Don Juan type character?

[Jemppu]

Are you suggesting he could be a sauve Don Juan type character?

A bit something like that, yeah. He must have at least a tiny bit of 'show man' in him, to dress in nice all black suit on a dusty desert X)

[Norro]

i had always belived this :-D

I figured as much ;-) , but thought I would make a joke anyway...

God Bless,

Nathan

[Brick Miner]

I figured as much ;-) , but thought I would make a joke anyway...

ah, well, in that case, sorry for the super serious response, sometimes im not as quick with the joking style responses *sweet*

--------------------------------------------------

Are you suggesting he could be a sauve Don Juan type character?

A bit something like that, yeah. He must have at least a tiny bit of 'show man' in him, to dress in nice all black suit on a dusty desert X)

ya, what he said :-P the black suit is sharp *wub*

- BrickMiner

[Mister Phes]

So Brick Miner, have you come to any conclusions regarding the true indentity of Flatfoot Thompson?

[Brick Miner]

So Brick Miner, have you come to any conclusions regarding the true indentity of Flatfoot Thompson?

well, as i mentioned... his identity is up to the interpretor. and that is what this thread is really discussing... how each person uses this minifig in their own western (or none western) world !!!

i use the red shirted bandit as FFT... but i also use the black-shirted bandit as a unique individual. which, we have found out, through this thread... that is not the case in eveyone's LEGO world. that is the type of conversation that this thread demands *y*

X-D

- Brick Miner

[Mister Phes]

well, as i mentioned... his identity is up to the interpretor. and that is what this thread is really discussing... how each person uses this minifig in their own western (or none western) world !!!

But can't the same be said of any LEGO mini-figure?

[Brick Miner]

But can't the same be said of any LEGO mini-figure?

yes, and im my initial description of this thread, i said i would be discussing others...

i wanted to try a new

[Mister Phes]

Exactly what do you mean by "once a minifig configuration was established in the Wild West, it was never broken"?

[Norro]

ah, well, in that case, sorry for the super serious response, sometimes im not as quick with the joking style responses *sweet*

You'll have to forgive the way I default to Irish banter/craic...

God Bless,

Nathan

[Brick Miner]

Exactly what do you mean by "once a minifig configuration was established in the Wild West, it was never broken"?

it was a technique that LEGO used to create unique minifigs as opposed to generic character personalities. it is to say that, once a head/torso/headgear/bodywear/legs combination of pieces/painted pieces were used in a minifig, it then idenified a character, which used a unique-to-the-fig head/torso combination as the primary idenifying attributes.

as far as i can tell, the western line paved the way for this unique character building techinque for later lines like adventurers or knights kingdom 2 (which fully established unique character building by idenifying names for every character).

however, the unique character building started way before the western line... Redbeard (the example that Norro brought up) is a good example of one of LEGOS early combinations that established a unique fig. that is to say, that the Redbeard head and Redbeard body was never used outside of the character.

the reason i mention pirate and classic castle as an alternate to the wild west, is because head/headgear/legs were known to switch casually between torsos in almost every fig... even ironhook (and that has created some speculation to which versions are ironhook, or if all are him).

examples are these two guys (who came in many varities)...

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?M=pi073

and

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?M=pi005

this technique creates alternate versions of generic characters... it is especially useful when trying to create an army of somewhat different looking figs, with only a few pieces. the western theme did apply this technique with the calvary, in which the minifigs were interpretted to not be unique. again, this tehnique works well for army building scenarios...

so, even though the unique character building technique was applies well before the western line, its seems to really manifest here, because there was a need for some many unique figs. it was just the nature of the theme (again, similar to adventurers)... aside from the three calvary soldiers, it seems that all the figs of the initial 1996 line were unique (as none of them appeared twice in a set). however, Norro provided a different senario and interpretation... which was truely the reason behind the "Western Round Up" concept... exploring different interpretations of the Western figs ;-)

--------------------------------------------------

also, i think this is interesting...

there must have been a change in 1996 within the LEGO group... because these unique character trends also appeared in other lines... this includes the pirate line. each of the imperial armada seem to be a unique individual as well (as i recall we have discussed this in another thread, Phes). however, their individual personalities don't seem to be as unique as with the western line. i can't imagine doing a "Pirate round up" with them... Redbeard and the Admiral would be more appropriate ;-)

--------------------------------------------------

and just because im over explainig eveything these days, this is worth mentioning...

there is one western fig who does break the rule ONCE. but only in a small "bagged" set. and that is the black dressed bandit, who appears wearing dark grey legs and a brown hat, with a white bandana in set 6791... this is an oddity in the western world. but does provides Norro's argument (that he may not be a unique fig) with some solid evidence ;-)

- BrickMiner