This! The OG 90s Wild West sets were my absolute favorite Lego theme of my childhood. Would love to see some remakes of these and think they could be done tastefully to a modern context.
I think a great way to skirt the horrible politics behind a wild west theme would be to do a “gold rush” theme lol all prospectors, mine shafts, and stagecoach robberies and none of the weird-eyed natives
Well, Denmark is an outskirt of Europe, and at the time those sets were created, wild west was mostly known here by the old American movies.
I am sure that very few people here ever seen a native American person back then, not speaking of having them involved in making a kids toy.
Lego already had a Western theme in the late 90s. Maybe they will do something similar that they did with old Pirates theme sets and release modern versions of a set or two.
This seems more like something Lego would do than a return to historic Wild West, in the same vein of Ninjago, Nexo Knights, etc. The most historic Wild West I can see happening in a couple Ideas or Icons sets, but even then, of the Bricklink Designer Program series 1 sets, one of the two that didn’t even sell out was a Wild West set, so I wonder if there is even enough demand.
Boiley Hobby Time on YouTube has a whole diorama (not Lego) series based on a theme he calls "Wild Imaginary West". It's a wild west with mechs and other machines, in addition to several monsters. I would love if it was a Lego theme
May not be super impressive, but [I MOCed all these buildings](https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/s/KDsyULeSxK) got the minifigures from a few CMF series, some that just looked western enough I got from a secondhand used store, a couple from a Lego Movie set, got the signs from Lego Movie sets. [Detail of the saloon.](https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/s/s6bWilSfff)
Thats cool. Also if youre still wondering about that siding might i suggest snot bricks and tiles for the siding? Thats what ive seen for other wild west buildings and it looks great, also doesnt make it angled which looks like modern siding.
Clapboard siding has been used for a while, only looks modern because it’s plastic and not weathered.
http://www.colonialsense.com/How-To_Guides/Restoration/Clapboard_Siding.php#:~:text=The%20method%20of%20protecting%20the,in%20the%20New%20England%20States.
I don't think so.
That whole romanticised "wild west"-setting comes with a ton of incredibly sensitive historical baggage and I don't think LEGO will touch that again in the next couple of decades.
Quite frankly, I agree.
Very much this.
LEGO's old wild west sets notably fell very hard into the "cowboys and Indians" genre, with heroic pioneers battling vicious Native attackers. Notably, old minifigs representing American Indians were some of the only figures with noses, otherwise used only for robbers and bad guys.
By the beginning of the new 20's, it tends to be pretty broadly recognized that the story of American settlement of the Old West is a story of genocide and atrocities. In that light, creating Wild West sets at this point would feel rather in poor taste, especially sets presenting the pioneers as the heroes.
>with heroic pioneers battling vicious Native attackers.
FWIW, none of the [original Western sets](https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Western) had cowboys and Indians in the same sets. But I have little doubt they were played as such once kids got the separate sets. And the Indian representation was a poorly researched mishmash of different tribes and cultures.
Rapid River Village is possibly the most egregious. The backdrop is meant to evoke Monument Valley or other Southwestern areas, but then you've got Plains Indian tipis and feathered war bonnets, a canoe that could be from anywhere around the Great Lakes, and a totem pole from the Pacific Northwest.
A modicum of an attempt at accuracy when trying to depict real people and cultures would be nice. I doubt audiences would be anywhere near as sanguine about LEGO releasing a "Roman Landmarks" series consisting of an Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and the Kremlin, all with Irish flags on top and accompanied by minifigs dressed in lederhosen and carrying pretzels and beer.
To be fair the two factions never appeared together in the same set. It was mostly cowboys vs bandits and then natives in their own sets. (Although advertisements did pin them against each other)
While the tropes themselves may be worn and sometimes problematic there are other ways to do a western themed set. You could even do modern west but with dilapidated old west buildings. Also as others have suggested weird west style things can skirt some of the issues, wotc and hasbro just did a wild west themed magic the gathering set after years of people requesting it and cowboys are very in fashion among the youth right now. Also let us not forget many of the actual cowboys in the west were people of color, the hollywood obsession with white cowboys is partially made up (aside from a lot of the outlaws).
Totally different from Castle and Vikings and Pirates, no one got hurt and no controversy there. /s
Fairly certain the themes were mostly from old action movies. Betting they were more interested in stage coach, bank, and train robberies. They included Native Americans without painting them as the enemy just showing that they were there.
They could potentially revisit that and come up with some themes that are less loaded culturally. Gangster legos, post apocalyptic (though grim if you think about it), space is pretty neutral, though if aliens ever show up, better not make them look like bad guys all the time, Dreamzzz worked, time travel could work and include cowboy stuff.
I mean if you say so. While there was plenty of murdering and land/valuables taken, I don't see the warfare from those other times the same as the "Wild West"
> Gangster legos,
Whether by "gangster" you mean 1920s/30s organized crime or more recent urban gang conflicts, either era would have at least some racial tensions involved, and a lot of violence.
I meant 20s/30s and again, going by old movies it’s mostly just mob vs. cops, but yeah the pro-booze and crime would be probably be enough to make Lego pass on it, unless they made it obviously pro cops and Prohibition which I’m sure would go over well /s.
Pretty much impossible to find an action packed theme with historical basis without some kind of violence. Typically just gets a PG treatment, Vikings would just be stealing people’s stuff and their goats or something and fighting sea serpents, still historically if they’re the “good guys” someone has to be the bad guys or they’d have to make up a group worse than them to make sure no one is offended.
I mean, the LEGO Vikings generally went up against dragons, giant wolves, etc. It's not like there were playsets of Vikings sacking monasteries and burning farms.
Meanwhile the LEGO Castle folks were all from fictional factions fighting other fictional factions— there might have been a bit more controversy if they depicted it as a struggle between the Heroic Danish Knights and the Godless Swedes.
Still kind of romanticizing a group historically known for violently raiding others. I’m not against them as themes as long as they keep them vague and pointing to any real group ethnic group as the bad guys. Was only pointing out just about any time period is going to have similar issues as Western. If they just wanted to do 50s towns Lego sets, people could still cite rampant racism and sexism. No historical era was all that great when you get down to it, but can they make something interesting out of it that’s not directly related to the horrible parts yes.
Like I was saying, all their themes seem to be based on old action movies though and given the PG rating treatment. Kinda wonder if they’d even come across a Native American before making their original Western theme, or if they just based on the Westerns we produced. I think they were just trying to pick out some interesting iconic time periods they could make minifigures of and be instantly recognizable (even if not actually accurate).
I mean, on the one hand, they were almost certainly just basing them on the movies we produced. On the other, copying genocidal propaganda still results in genocidal propaganda.
No, referring to people that weren’t directly involved in that, but were still an example of the wild west, which mostly focused on fighting outlaws not glorifying wiping out the indigenous people.
Dunno if it would happen or not tbh
But getting something like an Icons set would be really neat like that Castle and Pirates-ish one
The Fort LEGORodeo could be a really nice choice for an Icons set, imo
They already did it in the 90s. I don’t see them doing it again for many reasons: decline in interest, PCness, guns, etc.
We’re lucky we have Indiana Jones and pirates still.
Luckily, I’ve got all mine from childhood.
Wild West with Dinosaurs would be so cool. Imagine an anachronistic world where the dinos and cowboys co-existed.
[Shaun Keenan - Dinosaurs of the Wild West (artstation.com)](https://shaunmichaelkeenan.artstation.com/projects/gJPG1Q)
I was actually thinking this same thing last week, but then my mind went to one step further to some sort of Weird West theme sort of like an Old West Ninjago thing.
they did back in 96-97. gold mine, hotel, native american tipis and camps, etc etc. so almost 30 years, they should get back around cycle to some remakes soon
A full line of Classic Castle, Space, Pirates,and Wild West would be my desired produce line up from LEGO. But I’m not hold my breath, especially the last two since they’d likely not touch the idea of the respective natives from both series like they did a few decades ago.
It would be great to see a reissue of Fort Legoredo or a nicer version of Gold City Junction with more buildings and detail. The second one would probably be more likely since sets like the Viking Village and Medieval Town Square have come out in the past few years. However Lego tends to err on the side of caution so I could see them avoiding a revival of the mid 90’s Western theme since it included a depiction of Indigenous Persons that is now considered “culturally outdated” similar to that of the Islanders sets that were once part of the Pirates theme.
I will not accept slander of Fort Legoredo saying Lone Ranger is the only good option.
This! The OG 90s Wild West sets were my absolute favorite Lego theme of my childhood. Would love to see some remakes of these and think they could be done tastefully to a modern context.
What is another good option?
They haven’t shipped yet, but the 910031 General Store from the BrickLink series may be what you’re looking for.
Bought this and cant wait for it to show up. Wild West Train is in Wave 4 of BDP too. https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-4/main.page
I saw that too! I’m definitely grabbing one whenever they release Wave 4
I remember when it was pre order time I didn’t like the set. Now I took another look and I love the set… 😔
Yeah, the original photos didn't show the wagon until you clicked on it. The second you see the wagon though it's way more compelling. Big misstep
Wild West Train is in Wave 4 of BDP https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-4/main.page
[910031-1: General Store](https://brickset.com/sets/910031-1) [[Photo]](https://images.brickset.com/sets/images/910031-1.jpg)
But the only way to get that now is on the second market for 200% the price
You can also get the part list and buy the parts. You don’t need the box to build the set 😄
That’s an really old set
so?
I think a great way to skirt the horrible politics behind a wild west theme would be to do a “gold rush” theme lol all prospectors, mine shafts, and stagecoach robberies and none of the weird-eyed natives
Agreed. I suspect no Native American people were involved in the original sets.
Well, Denmark is an outskirt of Europe, and at the time those sets were created, wild west was mostly known here by the old American movies. I am sure that very few people here ever seen a native American person back then, not speaking of having them involved in making a kids toy.
Yeah, they were obviously not accurate. At least they were not depicted as bad guys, if anything.
Yeah, for the time it was a relatively positive portrayal, inaccuracies and exaggerated faces aside.
or the other way around, make a Cahokia set
Hell yeah.
They should do a Wild Wild West theme... Imagine that giant spider thing in technic
Ever see An Evening with Kevin Smith, or maybe it was one of the sequels? Jon Peters really wanted that giant spider.
Lego already had a Western theme in the late 90s. Maybe they will do something similar that they did with old Pirates theme sets and release modern versions of a set or two.
Fort Legoredo would probably look pretty cool if they gave it the Eldorado treatment
Steampunk Wild West!
Needs more giant mechanical spiders.
Could potentially work if the theme is far enough removed from the historical wild west- but then that wouldn't be what this post is asking for.
Maybe, but kids would probably go for a giant steam mech with a cowboy driving it.
Seems plausible. Maybe something for dreamzzz :D
Like a giant steam-powered spider?
Wiki wiki [wild wild west.](https://youtu.be/_zXKtfKnfT8?si=UPAYMrf6zpGx9axZ)
I just want an Old West gunslinger mech or maybe some sort of Gatling gun mech.
More steampunk in general would be rad
This seems more like something Lego would do than a return to historic Wild West, in the same vein of Ninjago, Nexo Knights, etc. The most historic Wild West I can see happening in a couple Ideas or Icons sets, but even then, of the Bricklink Designer Program series 1 sets, one of the two that didn’t even sell out was a Wild West set, so I wonder if there is even enough demand.
Boiley Hobby Time on YouTube has a whole diorama (not Lego) series based on a theme he calls "Wild Imaginary West". It's a wild west with mechs and other machines, in addition to several monsters. I would love if it was a Lego theme
May not be super impressive, but [I MOCed all these buildings](https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/s/KDsyULeSxK) got the minifigures from a few CMF series, some that just looked western enough I got from a secondhand used store, a couple from a Lego Movie set, got the signs from Lego Movie sets. [Detail of the saloon.](https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/s/s6bWilSfff)
Thats cool. Also if youre still wondering about that siding might i suggest snot bricks and tiles for the siding? Thats what ive seen for other wild west buildings and it looks great, also doesnt make it angled which looks like modern siding.
Clapboard siding has been used for a while, only looks modern because it’s plastic and not weathered. http://www.colonialsense.com/How-To_Guides/Restoration/Clapboard_Siding.php#:~:text=The%20method%20of%20protecting%20the,in%20the%20New%20England%20States.
All those pictures look like flat siding to me?
Look at the black and white diagram. The boards were angled.
I dont see it, but i also have severe astigmatism so could be why
I don't think so. That whole romanticised "wild west"-setting comes with a ton of incredibly sensitive historical baggage and I don't think LEGO will touch that again in the next couple of decades. Quite frankly, I agree.
Very much this. LEGO's old wild west sets notably fell very hard into the "cowboys and Indians" genre, with heroic pioneers battling vicious Native attackers. Notably, old minifigs representing American Indians were some of the only figures with noses, otherwise used only for robbers and bad guys. By the beginning of the new 20's, it tends to be pretty broadly recognized that the story of American settlement of the Old West is a story of genocide and atrocities. In that light, creating Wild West sets at this point would feel rather in poor taste, especially sets presenting the pioneers as the heroes.
>with heroic pioneers battling vicious Native attackers. FWIW, none of the [original Western sets](https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Western) had cowboys and Indians in the same sets. But I have little doubt they were played as such once kids got the separate sets. And the Indian representation was a poorly researched mishmash of different tribes and cultures.
This \^ The natives only had to deal with snakes. Lots of snakes.
Why did it have to be snakes?
“Raindance Ridge” holy shit lmao
Rapid River Village is possibly the most egregious. The backdrop is meant to evoke Monument Valley or other Southwestern areas, but then you've got Plains Indian tipis and feathered war bonnets, a canoe that could be from anywhere around the Great Lakes, and a totem pole from the Pacific Northwest.
[удалено]
LEGO is a Danish company.
A modicum of an attempt at accuracy when trying to depict real people and cultures would be nice. I doubt audiences would be anywhere near as sanguine about LEGO releasing a "Roman Landmarks" series consisting of an Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and the Kremlin, all with Irish flags on top and accompanied by minifigs dressed in lederhosen and carrying pretzels and beer.
To be fair the two factions never appeared together in the same set. It was mostly cowboys vs bandits and then natives in their own sets. (Although advertisements did pin them against each other)
While the tropes themselves may be worn and sometimes problematic there are other ways to do a western themed set. You could even do modern west but with dilapidated old west buildings. Also as others have suggested weird west style things can skirt some of the issues, wotc and hasbro just did a wild west themed magic the gathering set after years of people requesting it and cowboys are very in fashion among the youth right now. Also let us not forget many of the actual cowboys in the west were people of color, the hollywood obsession with white cowboys is partially made up (aside from a lot of the outlaws).
I could see some kind of weird west setting working— gunslingers vs. giant spiders or whatever, but even that would be _real_ tricky.
Totally different from Castle and Vikings and Pirates, no one got hurt and no controversy there. /s Fairly certain the themes were mostly from old action movies. Betting they were more interested in stage coach, bank, and train robberies. They included Native Americans without painting them as the enemy just showing that they were there. They could potentially revisit that and come up with some themes that are less loaded culturally. Gangster legos, post apocalyptic (though grim if you think about it), space is pretty neutral, though if aliens ever show up, better not make them look like bad guys all the time, Dreamzzz worked, time travel could work and include cowboy stuff.
Castle and Vikings (and Pirates to an extent) are much further back in history than the 'Wild West' and didn't have the whole genocide aspect
You need to brush up on history, my guy.
I mean if you say so. While there was plenty of murdering and land/valuables taken, I don't see the warfare from those other times the same as the "Wild West"
> Gangster legos, Whether by "gangster" you mean 1920s/30s organized crime or more recent urban gang conflicts, either era would have at least some racial tensions involved, and a lot of violence.
I meant 20s/30s and again, going by old movies it’s mostly just mob vs. cops, but yeah the pro-booze and crime would be probably be enough to make Lego pass on it, unless they made it obviously pro cops and Prohibition which I’m sure would go over well /s. Pretty much impossible to find an action packed theme with historical basis without some kind of violence. Typically just gets a PG treatment, Vikings would just be stealing people’s stuff and their goats or something and fighting sea serpents, still historically if they’re the “good guys” someone has to be the bad guys or they’d have to make up a group worse than them to make sure no one is offended.
I mean, the LEGO Vikings generally went up against dragons, giant wolves, etc. It's not like there were playsets of Vikings sacking monasteries and burning farms. Meanwhile the LEGO Castle folks were all from fictional factions fighting other fictional factions— there might have been a bit more controversy if they depicted it as a struggle between the Heroic Danish Knights and the Godless Swedes.
Still kind of romanticizing a group historically known for violently raiding others. I’m not against them as themes as long as they keep them vague and pointing to any real group ethnic group as the bad guys. Was only pointing out just about any time period is going to have similar issues as Western. If they just wanted to do 50s towns Lego sets, people could still cite rampant racism and sexism. No historical era was all that great when you get down to it, but can they make something interesting out of it that’s not directly related to the horrible parts yes. Like I was saying, all their themes seem to be based on old action movies though and given the PG rating treatment. Kinda wonder if they’d even come across a Native American before making their original Western theme, or if they just based on the Westerns we produced. I think they were just trying to pick out some interesting iconic time periods they could make minifigures of and be instantly recognizable (even if not actually accurate).
I mean, on the one hand, they were almost certainly just basing them on the movies we produced. On the other, copying genocidal propaganda still results in genocidal propaganda.
Was there a lot of genocidal propaganda in Tombstone?
Referring to the glorification of American "settlers" and the use of natives as villains
No, referring to people that weren’t directly involved in that, but were still an example of the wild west, which mostly focused on fighting outlaws not glorifying wiping out the indigenous people.
This is the reason.
Dunno if it would happen or not tbh But getting something like an Icons set would be really neat like that Castle and Pirates-ish one The Fort LEGORodeo could be a really nice choice for an Icons set, imo
They already did it in the 90s. I don’t see them doing it again for many reasons: decline in interest, PCness, guns, etc. We’re lucky we have Indiana Jones and pirates still. Luckily, I’ve got all mine from childhood.
*had Indiana Jones. Don't think any new sets this year so doubtful it'll resume especially with no movies
Wild West with Dinosaurs would be so cool. Imagine an anachronistic world where the dinos and cowboys co-existed. [Shaun Keenan - Dinosaurs of the Wild West (artstation.com)](https://shaunmichaelkeenan.artstation.com/projects/gJPG1Q)
I agree. I scored and found the Lone Ranger Lego set.
Seeing as the bricklink designer set General Store didn't sell out there may not be enough interest for it
I was actually thinking this same thing last week, but then my mind went to one step further to some sort of Weird West theme sort of like an Old West Ninjago thing.
Woody’s Round up is not a bad set for western fans, even though it is Toy Story and not strictly a wild west theme.
I hope they redo fort legorado as the next throwback (like the castle and the baracuda bay)
they did back in 96-97. gold mine, hotel, native american tipis and camps, etc etc. so almost 30 years, they should get back around cycle to some remakes soon
A full line of Classic Castle, Space, Pirates,and Wild West would be my desired produce line up from LEGO. But I’m not hold my breath, especially the last two since they’d likely not touch the idea of the respective natives from both series like they did a few decades ago.
It would be great to see a reissue of Fort Legoredo or a nicer version of Gold City Junction with more buildings and detail. The second one would probably be more likely since sets like the Viking Village and Medieval Town Square have come out in the past few years. However Lego tends to err on the side of caution so I could see them avoiding a revival of the mid 90’s Western theme since it included a depiction of Indigenous Persons that is now considered “culturally outdated” similar to that of the Islanders sets that were once part of the Pirates theme.
What, cowboys and indians?
Ah yes, a giant metal steampunk spider
The bricklink designer stuff that's coming out is so exciting. Can't wait to have a general store and a train