BrickWarriors New Accessories: January 2015

BrickWarriors, one of my favorite brick customizers, has recently released a whole bunch of exciting new accessories. Let’s take a look at their newest items.

Viking Items

Viking Helmet

The Viking Helmet is a nice, simple design with some excellent detail that doesn’t overwhelm the overall look. I’m a big fan of the spikes the protrude from around the nose, as well as the diamond-shaped detail pieces on the helmet’s ribbing. It also features to holes for accessory mounting on either side, which is a nice touch.

Moose Antlers

Brickwarriors’ Moose Antlers are excellent accessories. You see them hear attached to the viking helmet, but they will fit anything with a hallow stud, including a large range of other helmets and head pieces. I really like the idea of using these as part of a background, perhaps mounted on the wall as a hunting trophy.

 

Viking Longsword

The Viking Longsword is huge and absolutely brutal. Even in this tiny form, you get an appropriate sense of scale and heft. I’m a big fan of the forward-swept cross guard, and the fuller that runs almost the full length of the blade. It also features and over-sized pommel, which is a nice touch.

Viking Axe

The Viking Axe pairs well with the helmet, in that both feature a diamond motif. It’s really nice to see a bit of visual cohesion among these items. As for the accessory itself, the blade of the axe is nicely designed and intimidating. If I had one complaint about this items is that it is difficult for minifigs to hold it with two hands.

Viking Shield

This shield is a fine addition to the collection. It’s a simple round wooden shield, but these is a nice degree of texture work here. The big attention-getter for me on this one are the rivets on the exterior ring of the shield, which really look nice. If I was to suggest a design change for this item, I would love to see a bit of subtle wood grain added, but that’s a very minor complaint.

Plague Items

Plague Doctor Mask

I absolutely love this item. It’s a perfect fit for doctors in the era of the black death, but it’s also just uncanny enough to work as a strange mask in modern creations. In fact, I think this would make an excellent bit of costume in a super hero/villain creation.

Plague Doctor Hat

The Plague Doctor Hat can be worn either with or without the mask. They make an excellent combination together, but the over-sized hat looks great on its own as well.

Plague Doctor Coat

The coat has the excellent effect of making the minifig wearing it look large and intimidating. Combined with the mask and the hat, this is a heck of a custom figure. There is one trade-off, however: because of the large shoulder molding, this piece limits the movement of minifig arms.

Crutches

Items like this are why I love brick customizers so much. They don’t have the cachet or coolness factor of guns and armor, but there’s the perfect thing to add a bit of realism to a scene. The design here is beautiful in its simplicity, which gets around the challenge of the minifig’s arm by simply omitting a portion of the top of the crutch. It looks a bit strange on it’s own, but works wonderful on a figure where you don’t even notice the gap.

Metal Torch

If I was a bigger historical or fantasy builder, I’d be order a couple dozen of these things. The metal torch is another exemplary item that doesn’t have that immediate coolness factor like a giant sword, but is incredibly useful when it comes to adding a bit of detail to a scene. The design here is absolutely spot-on, and it looks great when you add a small flame piece to the top.

Archery Items

English Longbow

Bows are difficult to design for minifigs, because you never know how you want the string and arrow to be placed. This particular design follows the official LEGO® model, with the arrow notched and the string pulled back. It looks great, although I wish there was an alternative model available without the arrow and the string relaxed. Like many of the other accessories here, the detailing is nice; I particularly like the wrapped arrow-rest.

Crossbow

BrickWarriors’ crossbow is a very different design from both the official LEGO® model, and a lot of the more modern versions I see from other customizers. It features a full stock and a crank that suggests the draw strength of the bow is quite high. This is a fantastic item.

Crossbowmen Helm

I’m a big fan of the Crossbowmen Helm, mostly because it obscures the figure’s face behind a grate. I think this would make an excellent army-building items, especially for your bad guys, since the face covering gives the wearer a bit of a sinister feel. I also really like the riveting work, which adds a nice level of detail.

Rogue Hood

Hoods are tough to pull off at this scale. I’m not a huge fan of either of the official LEGO® designs, although the older version I think hits closer to the mark. BrickWarriors takes a little different approach to the problem by leaving the neck exposed, which gives it a distinct appearance.

Archer Armor

It’s nice to see leather armor get some love, as almost all the custom armor I see is of the metal variety. Leather really works well with the plastic medium, which can lend a very authentic looking texture to the design. As always, the detail work here is very nice, especially the crossed belts. This piece of armor has a stud on the back for mounting things like…

Quiver

I’ve always loved the official LEGO® quiver. It’s just a cool looking item. The only problem is that it doesn’t work in combination with other item. That’s where the BrickWarriors version stands out. Rather than mounting with the neck rick, this quiver features a stud mount on the back, which works with a wide variety of armor and other accessories, and can be set to mount onto background scenery. The large stitching is a nice touch as well.

Shields & Weapons

Hidden Blade

I’ve never been a big Assassin’s Creed fan, but there’s definitely something cool about the signature hidden blade you get you use in it. The BrickWarriors version is nicely done, and designed to fit between the minifig’s hand and arm. Like many of the other items, it features a nice bit of ribbing detail for texture. I would love to see this over-molded, with the blade a different color than the body of the piece.

Lantern Shield

The Lantern Shield is a small buckler with a pair of blade attached to it. Rather than the traditional shield grip in the back, this item features a thin stud that fits in the minifig’s hand, giving the shield a nice variety of positioning opportunities.

Double Flail

I’m torn on items like the Double Flail. It’s clearly well designed and a great looking piece, but flails are really tough to do well without any sort of articulation. Absent a string or chain, it looks a little too static to my eyes. Despite that complaint, there’s a lot to like about this item. I particularly like the spikes on the pommel.

Kite Shield

BrickWarriors’ Kit Shield is a very nice design. The gentle rounding of the top beautifully contrasts the harsh angle of the bottom, and the stylized cross motif is really well done. It also features a hollow stud for mounting a variety of accessories.

Pavise Shield

The first thing you’ll notice about the pavise shield is the size. This thing is absolutely huge, and would look fantastic on an army of minifig spearmen. I really like the banding across the front, and the thick ribbing that runs along the shield’s edge. This also features a hallow stud, which is perfect for…

Arrow Half

This is a cool little accessories, built to basically add some flavor to big fight scenes. The arrow half terminates in a circle that fits perfectly into any hallow stud, giving you tons of different places to use it. My absolutely favorite thing about this item is that the arrow is cast on a bit of an angle, rather than sticking straight out, which makes it feel much more realistic.

If you’re interested in any of these items, please check out BrickWarriors’ site, where you’ll find a huge variety of items and accessories. And if you’re curious about how they make their products, read our interview with them.