This first came to my attention at Eurobricks, where the community had already been discussing the excellent MOC (My Own Creation) by marshal_banana (or mb_bricks as he is known on CUUSOO). It won Eurobricks’ Spaghetti Western competition thanks to its excellent scale, build and detailing. As you can see from the images, not only do the exteriors of the buildings look fantastic but the interiors have also been lovingly created to add additional character to the town. It was the fantastic community response that took the concept to LEGO CUUSOO, where marshal_banana is pitching the idea as a series of modular buildings - like the current line of LEGO Direct exclusives – but with a Western theme. Since so many adult LEGO fans fondly remember the mid-nineties Western line, this seems like the perfect way to bring it back. The challenge that this concept faces is reaching the critical 10,000 votes barrier that automatically launches it to the consideration stage.
This is where Eurobricks front-paged the idea, and encouraged community members to go and vote for it. Many other LEGO community websites followed. This is a wise attempt to see if we can replicate what the Minecraft community did. The advantage that the Minecraft community have over the LEGO community is that their entire hobby is focused around an online community. Our hobby is centred around the physical act of building, the online world is simply a place to discuss it and find out more. Not only that, but the Minecraft community were voting for Minecraft to be incarnated in LEGO form – the LEGO community will of course have a broad range of ideas as to what should be the next new LEGO set. 
There will be LEGO collectors out there who would have no interest in buying a Modular Western Town. They might rather see a new Monorail, or even vote for the Back to the Future DeLorean – currently the only concept with more votes than the Modular Western Town – but this is where as a community we must unite behind one thing a time. Chances are the licensing issues will be too much hassle for LEGO to actually go for the DeLorean anyway. But by all voting for the Modular Western Town, and getting it made, we can ensure that better quality, more appealing sets are coming out of LEGO CUUSOO than Minecraft. Once we get this set over the 10,000 barrier we can move on to the next project – that may appeal to a different part of the community, and appeal to those who aren’t so turned on by a Modular Western Town.
Once the 10,000 vote barrier is reached – and if we stay persistent it will be – the only thing that could stop this becoming a reality is if there happens to be overlap with an upcoming theme that LEGO designers have been working on for a few years. But then again, it seems there has been flexibility so far and if Minecraft can get the go-ahead then there is no reason for this excellent idea not to be fast tracked into production. So jump on the Western wagon, head over to LEGO CUUSOO and get your vote in, then spread the word and help this become a reality.
Vote for the Western Modular Town at LEGO CUUSOO
More images of the Western Town at marshal_banana's Flickr gallery
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