In place of Lego displays and exhibitions, for the last year my ‘local’ Lego Users Group TartanLUG have been having regular Zoom video calls. I’ve attended a few and it’s been great seeing what others have been building, buying, or collecting Lego wise; everyone sharing stories and ideas. Each meeting has a Build Challenge to inspire others to build something- a virtual show and tell!- with the theme for the meeting this past weekend “Monochrome”. I wasn’t able to attend the call, but I still built something for it all the same.
Farmer Red vs the Green Knight Army came together pretty quickly- from the outset a monochrome minifig was something I wanted to do, but this still proved pretty challenging with my Lego collection. Minifig head and torsos generally have printed designs so this ensured only certain colours were possible. When I started equipping the minifigs again, I was limited by what pieces I could use, but the whole build ultimately allowed me to show off with some rare and uncommong Lego pieces. One minifig as an entry didn’t feel substantial enough so I cheated the theme (somewhat) and built two to place them in a duel.
The Cowboy Hat in Red (3629) only came in two Lego sets from the 1970s, 372: Texas Rangers in 1977 and 365: Wild West in 1975 respectively. Im too young to have ever owned either set, but interestingly, they’re sets that never had printed minifigs, much like the finished MOC.
Utensil Pitchfork Type 2 in Red (95345) is a new recolour (and a new mold) of the older brown element that appeared in five fantastic Lego Castle sets 1984 onwards. The new red variant debuted recently in the 2020 Monkie Kid sets, notably 80010, 80013, and 80009. These sets are from a terrible new theme clearly not aimed at me, but the piece recolour is very nice!
The Castle Helmet with Neck Protector (3844/15606) in Green is an exciting one! Helmets in this colour were never formally released in a set, though did accompany a minifig called Rascus, again, unreleased. This might have been a promo item or a catalogue/retailer error, though Bricklink numbers the minifigure/set as 5996. So mysterious! I managed to snag three of these back in 2005ish through a Classic Castle fan jambalaya trade but only have two now. Sale prices for this piece range from £5-£13, with only 11 of them currently for sale. Rare!
Modified 2 x 4 with 2 Studs and Curved Sides (88000/17514) appeared in two sets in Green, 30071 and 7595 in 2010, and one set in Trans-Clear, 70809. The piece is very uncommon for set appearances but doesn’t actually carry much value on the aftermarket, with lots of people currently selling. I’ve used these pieces a few times before in builds mostly as landscaping, as I have here.
This is my first MOC since Widmore Keep. This is nowhere near as big or clever, or even as immediately striking, but with any Lego build it’s always about the pieces and colours used. I had lots of fun putting this together- I’ll be trying something similar again in the future!