LEGO Western was a short-lived but really fun theme. Let’s take a look back at some of the best sets from wagons to forts.
LEGO has had a number of great themes over its long history. We’ve taken a look at such classics like Space and Castles before. However, there are a lot of themes out there with some classic iconic builds. One of my favorites from my own childhood was the relatively short-lived Western theme. This theme was launched in 1996 with a follow-up wave in 1997. A handful of sets were re-released in 2002, but it hasn’t gotten any new sets in nearly 30 years and is defunct.
The theme, as one might guess, was focused on the Wild West of the US. It featured bandits, townspeople, natives, and soldiers living, but mostly fighting/heisting. In many ways, it was a land-based mirror of the Pirates theme, which also features soldiers, bandits/pirates, and natives.
I can’t speak for how well done the native representation was in the theme, but it certainly leaned into stereotypes. While the theme has been defunct for years, it remains very popular in the community, as you can see by the large number of Western theme builds that show up in the Bricklink program.
Weapons Wagon 6716-1 (1996)
The Weapons Wagon was a pretty simple build. You got a horse, a soldier, and a cool little wagon. It also came with a rifle, two pistols, and swords for the soldier. And a cannon with a carriage. That might not seem like a ton, but this was in the days before things like Battle Packs and when you couldn’t just order tons of pieces off the internet for cheap. So this was actually a pretty great way of building up an army as you got a dude, a horse, and lots of weapons. The wagon was also great for displays. You could buy a few of these LEGO Western sets and do a lot with them.
Gold City Junction 6765-1 (1996)
Gold City Junction was one of a couple of sets that dealt with the town the Western theme was set around (Gold City, I presume). It was the largest of these sets and a pretty decent one. You got a couple of buildings (a bank and a General Store), a stagecoach, and a bunch of weapons and figures. The set, being fairly small (322 parts), still came with three horses and six minifigs, including a soldier, a bandit, a banker, a cowboy, a Sheriff, and a deputy. You also got a cannon.
The building here was pretty cool. But more than that, you just got a ton of things to tell your own story with. A fun set to play around with and use parts from.
Bandit’s Secret Hide-Out 6761-1 (1996)
If you’ve got bandits, then they need a hide-out. And that’s just what you get with the Bandit’s Secret Hide-Out. This set featured a cool abandoned mine that had been turned into a hideout by the Western Bandits. Unluckily for them, it’s been found by the cavalry, and a battle ensues.
While this set has fewer parts than Gold City Junction, only 223, its use of the large stone pieces and its vertical height make it feel a lot bigger. It’s also got fun play features like a hidden cannon and the swivel gun.
Like most of the other Western theme sets, it also comes with a lot. You got five mini-figs, and plenty of weapons and horses for them all. The keep out sign was also pretty classic. My favorite from this set was the Bandit Dewey Cheatum, a cool-looking gambler minifig. Using him in the new IDEAS River Steamboat might be the closest you’ll get to a modernization of this set, or recreating 1994’s Maverick.
Rapid River Village 6766-1 (1997)
Coming out in the second wave of Western sets, Rapid River Village was the larger of the two sets that dealt with a Native American Village. This set was pretty decently sized with 313 parts and came with two pretty cool at the time fabric tee-pees. It shows off part of a Native American village, along with the rivers, cliffs, and canyons around it. I really liked how the cliffs featured a lot of trails and buildings partially built into them. Thanks to the two base plates it came with, you could arrange the set in a couple of ways.
Again this was set you just got a lot of stuff with thie LEGO Western set. You got seven minifigs, two really cool painted horses, and lots of helmets, headdress, weapons and shields. The set had a few play features, like the ability to drops logs on the river. While not perfect I felt like it did a decent job of evoking the landscape of the west.
Fort Legoredo- 6769-1 (1996)
Finally, we have Fort Legoredo. This was the real prize of the Western theme. At 638 pieces, it was by far the biggest set in the theme. While not a huge part count by today’s standards (looking at you LEGO Death Star), this was a pretty big set in 1996. It shows off a whole Old West style Cavalry fort. Unlike a lot of other sets that just showed a front or one face of a building, the Fort was the entire thing. It could also, with a bit of tweaking, be arranged in different ways.
And man, this thing was cool back in the day. The use of tons of the wood-looking bricks (Log Profile officially) really sold this set and gave it a pretty authentic look. It’s by the best looking set in the them and had a ton of play features and useful parts.
One again it also came with a lot of extra stuff as well. You got a whopping 10 minifigs, mostly various Cavalry soldiers, but also the same gang of Bandits from the hideout. You got horses and cannons galore. The set also came with 10 rifles, and a ton of pistols, swords, coins, and other loot.
If you were a kid and wanted to play army with your LEGOs, this was a gold mine (though not a literal one, that would be the Secret Hide-Out). I somehow pooled my allowance (and birthday money) as a kid to get like 3 of these sets over a year, and I never once regretted that.
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