Welcome to the final installment of our review of BrickArms’ latest release. This time around we’ll be looking at the Modern Era Weapons (check out the Western Weapons here, and the WWII/Vietnam weapons here). These are all items you can expect to find in a modern battlefield, or possible on the streets during the zombie apocalypse.
RPG 7
This is one of my favorite items of the release. It doesn’t have fancy removable magazines or anything like that, but it’s just such a great build that I can’t help but dig it. It makes me want to buy five or six more, and then build some sort of Afghan-style cave just so I have a cool place to put them.
ABR
One of the interesting downsides the way minifigs are built is that cannot always accommodate holding weapons properly. We’ve discussed posing figured with rifles quite a bit lately, but the ABR points out another, related issue: what about bullpups? What’s a bullpup? It’s a weapon where the action and the magazine are located behind the trigger in the stock. Because minifigs don’t do stocks terribly well, bullpups can be a challenge.
I’m happy to report that the BrickArms ABR handles this challenge with aplomb. As you can see in the above photo, Scrimshaw can hold the rifle quite well.
M9
Another semi-automatic handgun, and this one a classic military and police weapon! This standard-issue sidearm gets a lovely reproduction by the folks at BrickArms. Despite the small size, the weapon’s profile is instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with the weapon. And to those that aren’t, you certainly can’t complain about more variety with your minifig’s handguns.
XMP
Beleive it or not, this item was inspired by a video game controller (although I’m thinking that controller was inspired by the Heckler and Koch G36). Crazy, no? Wherever it came from, the XMP is one mean-looking weapon with a very modern, almost sci-fi look. This item will work perfectly for a variety of military and space-themed creations.
ACS
The ACS is just about the most ridiculous weapon I’ve seen in a long time, and I mean that in a good way. I can’t think of a lot of situations that could be improved by having a fully automatic, drum-fed 12 gauge on hand, but when you need one, you need one.
This accessory looks just like its real-life counterpart – perfectly boxy. It also features a removable drum magazine, which actually has a different texture on it compared to the Tommy Gun. That little bit of extra detail really puts it over the top for me.
SABR shotgun
Despite it’s military-sounding name, the SABR shotgun is the closest thing we get to a civilian shotgun. According to BrickArms, it’s based on a number of different designs, but to me it most closely resembles the Mossberg 590 (I’m sure I’ll get corrected by the gun enthusiasts).
And for zombie enthusiasts, what could be better than a pump-action shotgun? Not a damn thing. This is something you could easily expect to find in the homes of countless civilian zombie survivors.
Rubberized Items
These items were a bit of a surprise; I didn’t even realize they had been released. I got two U-Clips and a Modern Combat Helmet made with this new material.
The helmet is quite nice. The squishiness of it take s bit of getting used to, but I really like the way the material give it a nice matte finish. We’re so used to working with high-gloss ABS plastic, that this different finish really sets this apart from other such items. It also makes it perfect for things like SWAT teams where light and noise are the enemy.
The U-Clips are nice as well. They’re a bit easier to put on because of the flexibility, and the matte finish also gives them a nice grip. Playing around with them a bit, they seemed to hold things quite well, but they seem like they wouldn’t be quite as secure as the classic plastic version (a hell of a useful item, by the way).
Final Thoughts:
This was a pretty huge release from BrickArms. It’s a diverse group of items that spans a number of different themes and uses.
Don’t forget, GI Brick is offering a special coupon code to Bricks of the Dead readers. Use BOTDGIB12 on checkout to receive 15% off your order. This expires on September 30th, 2012, so don’t delay too much!
Well that’s the end of this review series. I can’t wait until the next run of releases.
Scrimshaw in the hippy top holding the ABR is a really nice touch. lol
Hah, thank you.
Scrimshaw is nice but I miss Angie’s signature Fig (the badass female pirate head) – you should bring her back Dave!
I have a female model up there too. I’ll be sure to use the eye-patch lady for my next review.
My awesomeness must be more that BoTD can handle. hahahahahahaha!
Indeed, indeed.
The reviews, aside from the bullpup AUG, don’t really address the issues of posing and how they weapons look in the minifig’s hands. the photos of the weapons in the modified plate elements only address half of the issue, in my estimation- the weapons’ details. Sure, they look great; but how do they look with the minifig holding them? How well do they “play”? What can you make them do, or not do? How realistically do they pose? How are you limited by the anatomy of the minifig and the lines of the weapon?
Inquiring minds want to know, before we lay our cash on the barrelhead.
All the weapons here, with the exception of the SABR Shotgun, feature a pistol-like grip roughly perpendicular to the main body of the weapon. When posing them, I tried to simulate the angle of a minifig hand with that grey clip piece.
The only item I had any issue with was the RPG7. Due to it’s size, it can butt up against larger helmets/hats/hair and not be able to be held completely straight. You can kind of see this in the main picture of me wearing the turban/headwrap thing.
This is an excellent point, Bo. I can completely see what you’re saying. I’m going to implement posability into my future reviews.
HOLY F***ING S**T! rubber u-clips.
Hah. They were a complete surprise to me. They came out of the package and I thought “Oh cool, they gave me some extra u-clips”. Then I picked them up and realized that this was something new and exciting.
To tell you the truth- I have no idea what the SABR looks like. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s the Pump-Action Shotgun from Left 4 Dead. ALSO, have you heard about Class3 by the Undead Labs? It’s cool, you should look it up.
I haven’t heard about Class3. Looks pretty damn interesting.
Yeah, an open-world non-DayZ zombie game would be a blessing for us Xbox players. Even though I like DayZ, my computer isn’t able to handle it.
Not a 590, no extended magazine tube. It could be a Mossberg 500, or a Remington 870, or Winchester 1300. They’re all fairly generic pump shotguns. That Tootsie Roll forend is pretty much Mossberg standard; but Speedfeed makes a similar aftermarket model. I have one on an 870; and I will tell you that a whole day of working one without gloves will tear up your hands.
The pump-grip is primarily what I was looking at. I’ve never really been a fan of the ribbing, or whatever you call it on them. Prefer what I have on my 870.
“Ribbing” is a good a term as any:
“The SABR shotgun. Now ribbed, for her pleasure!”
Yeah, I think I will be adding one to the queue since I got my GI Brick log on problems straightened out.
Hah. I’m sticking with ribbing then.
Looking at that shotgun more and more makes me want one for my city police force.
Don’t forget the coupon!
That’s why I started the queue, dammit.
(Like I WANTED to spend the money)
Yeah… that’s how they get you.
I’d go for the RPG 7 because it looks cool. but it’s one of those things, many of these small brick replicas all look alike after a bit and I end up going for what looks cool.
And since I don’t do a lot of military minifigures, I don’t really go for picking up a lot from Brick Arms (unless I seem them or G.I. Bricks, one of their resellers) at Brickcon.
The thing about the RPG 7 is that I have absolutely no use for it, but it’s just so damn cool looking.
I really need to get to one of these conventions.
I have a use for a Brickarms RPG. It’s for shooting down LEGO flying saucers. 😉
I can’t argue with that.
Yeah, zombies aren’t mechanized.
Thank goodness.
Ultimate zombie firearm?
Still probably a 16-18 inch barreled AR-15, with heavier bullets. I am thinking 77 grain OTM (that’s “Open-Tipped Match”), a heavy bullet with good penetration for those tough cranial vaults.
I’m still an unabashedly .308 guy though. .223 is OK for zombies because zombies don’t shoot back.
Cool, it’s great to see they’ve updated their RPG design.
And I love the new M9 (also known by its non-military designation, the Berretta 92), I’ve been waiting for one of those for a while. Although, I can’t help but think they got the angle of the grip wrong, it just looks like it should be more perpendicular to the barrel. I have a full-metal airsoft replica of the Berretta, so I think it’s safe to say I’m probably as familiar with that particular handgun as someone can be, without ever owning or using the real deal.
” can’t think of a lot of situations that could be improved by having a fully automatic, drum-fed 12 gauge on hand, but when you need one, you need one.”
Really, Dave? What about a zombie apocalypse?
Just imagine, you’re on top of a car in a post-apoc street, the zombies are already all around you, and will soon be piling on top of each other to consume your still-warm flesh.
Now, if only you had a shotgun – it may not kill the zeds instantaneously, but it would most likely maim or disable them, or at least give you some breathing room. It’s too bad even if you had one, you wouldn’t be able to squeeze off enough blasts to get you off the car safely…
But wait! You do have a shotgun (in this particular imaginary scenario/sales pitch), and it’s full-auto!
You spray and pepper the zeds with hot lead, blowing some of their outstretched off and knocking others down at close range – more zombies may be coming toward your position because of the noise, but you’ve bought yourself one last chance at escape you wouldn’t have had otherwise.
(Well that was interesting – I didn’t know I had that in me.)
Anyway, good to know about the discount, I’ll have to see about stocking up my arsenal from there.
^ (“outstretched arms off”, I meant to say…)
Yeah. being surrounded by zombies on the roof of a car would be one of those moments where having something like the ACS would come in handy.
Of course those suckers cook off five rounds per second, and the drum only holds twenty. You can’t blast for too awful long.
Yeah, 8 three round bursts might just be enough to do it, for a quick getaway (depending on how many undead there were surrounding the car).
I can’t really think of any other applicable situations, though.
on full auto, you can’t miss fast enough.
Now something like that, in semiauto would be awesome.
Oh yeah, it’s called a Saiga 12. 😉
The grip angle on the M9 has to match the angle of the minifig hands first. Reality has to come first. Pragmatism wins again.
Yes indeed. You have to accommodate the medium.
woh, i always thought you were a farmer dave, i not an Iraqie with a turban.
I try to be versatile.
Although I was going more for Afghan than Iraqi. I guess I’ll take what I can get.
Excellent reviews on the Brickarms releases, even more keen to get some of the new stuff now.
A few folk have mentioned about how they don’t ‘sit right’ in lego figures hands which is very true of a lot of them, but the detail in them makes them perfect for ‘lying around’ in MOCs.
The MG34 and Lewis gun are perfect for adding that extra detail to Star Wars Stormtroopers as both were used in scenes in Star Wars.
Quick question: do GI Brick post to the UK? I normally use Brickmania to get my fix of Brickarms kit.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe they ship overseas.
Negative. They ship abroad: http://www.gibrick.com/about/frequently-asked-questions.html#two
Oh wow. I’m happy to be mistaken!
Thanks for the info guys!
Will definitely give the site a visit and make use of the promo code you have managed to hook up Dave……good skills!
I do what I can.