Brick Review: BrickWarriors’ Wild West Accessories

Of all the new items BrickWarriors released with their launch, it was easily the Wild West theme accessories I was most excited about.

For clothing items, BrickWarriors makes a cowboy hat, a sombrero, a bandana, and an ammo bandoleer. The cowboy hat is a bit of a mash-up between LEGO®’s existing cowboy hat and their fedora. It’s instantly recognizable, has a lot of character, and definitely outclasses the official cowboy hat. The sombrero seems a bit smaller than the one found on the Collectible Minifig, and doesn’t feature the festive printing. Because of this, the sombrero fades into the background a lot more than the official piece, which tends to draw the eye. I quite liked this, but depending one how you wanted to use it, your mileage may vary. The bandanas are nice little pieces. They definitely look the part, and are sufficiently different from official piece. They also play nice with the bandoleer, which won’t fit with the official piece.

The bandoleer is probably the most interesting piece in the Wild West set. Where LEGO® just prints bandoleers on figures, this piece can be added anywhere. It’s got a nice fit, a clip on the back to store a rifle, and looks pretty cool to boot. I wish the straps were a bit thinner, especially around the shoulders, but that would probably affect the durability of the piece. Coupled with the bandana and the sombrero, you’ve got an instant bandito. Note: Because I’m a clumsy oaf, I accidentally leaned on the bandoleer and caused a stress fracture on the portion that wraps over the shoulders, which you can see in the image below.

On the weapons front we have a nice mix of classic Western weapons: a repeating rifle, a scoped buffalo gun, the classic Colt Single Action, a tiny Derringer, an enormous Bowie, and a tiny stick of dynamite.

The repeater has a fantastic, instantly recognizable shape to it. It looks great in both your cowboy’s hand and mounted for display in a MOC. The only change I would make to the repeater is substituting a big ring on the lever, because I think those look really cool. The buffalo rifle features an enormous scope and a comparatively small barrel. I’m not terribly familiar with buffalo rifles, and couldn’t really find anything that looked like this piece. Regardless, it’s quite a cool accessory and the elongated scope definitely looks like it fits the period.

The Colt Peacemaker (BrickWarriors calls it a Six Shooter) is an absolute must have for any Wild West creation. The eponymous gun is well designed without looking out-of-place by being too detailed. If you like cowboy MOCs, you’ll want to pick up a few of these. The Derringer, on the other hand, is much more of a flavor piece. It’s appropriately tiny, and will serve as an excellent compliment to characters who need to pack heat discretely.

The Bowie knife is enormous, especially compared to the official knife, and instantly recognizable. Since Bowie knives are such a part of the Western milieu, I was really glad to see one in this collection, especially since it’s so well realized. The single stick of dynamite is a simply mold (as well it should be), and really compliment’s LEGO®’s three-stick bundle.

Taken as a whole, BrickWarriors’ western accessories are a solid addition to the custom market. Each piece is well designed, and compliments existing official pieces well. I’m particularly fond of the six shooter and Bowie, but every item will look great in your Wild West MOC.

I hope they continue to add items to this genre. We could really use bowler hats, coach guns, cow skulls, bonnets, and dozens of other period appropriate items.

Check back next week for our review of the Gangster items, including the always exciting Tommy Gun. And make sure to check out BrickWarriors’ website and BrickLink Store.