Brickarms Chrome-Blade Pack
Electroplated BrickArms. The highest quality minifig accessory chroming on the planet.
8 pieces: Combat Knife (x4), Rapier, Dadao, Damien Blade, and Machete
Through my many Brickarms orders, I have often looked at the above item description and images for the Brickarms Chrome-Blade Pack with envy and longing, however, at every purchase I talked myself out of purchasing them as I could get many "regular" Brickarms for the money I would spend on these few pieces. I questioned myself over and over every single time I made an order - is it worth $16 for shiny chromed weapons when I could buy the same 8 peices for $6 if they were not chromed? This last order, I finally decided to quit listening the logical side of my mind, and placed an order which included the two available Brickarms Chrome Weapons pack.
Thus, the question remains - are the Brickarms Chrome Weapon Packs worth the price?
The answer is an astounding YES!
When I received my order, I went right to the Chrome Weapons (and specifically my Chrome-Blade Pack) and couldn't have been more happy that I had included them in my order! I was so pleased with the quality and how they looked, that I decided they could not be showcased with one of my figures I had already created, but rather they needed new figures designed around the Brickarms Chrome-Blade Pack. Thus begins my first foray into reviewing my Brickarms products, each with figures designed specifically to showcase the Brickarms Chrome-Blades Pack.
The first weapon up for review is the Brickarms Electroplated Rapier:
This weapon was the first I pulled out of the "bag-o-goodness", and the one I immediately knew what figure I was going to make for it! The Brickarms Chrome Rapier is perfect for a number of themes - Pirate, Historical, Space Pirate, among many others that are limited only by your imagination! The entire sword is electroplated, and fits just as perfectly in the minifigures hand as well as the other Brickarms products do. It looks wonderful, and should be extremely useful in a number of custom minifigures as well as various MOCs.
The second weapon up for review is the Brickarms Electroplated Machete:
The Brickarms Machete has been one of my favorite Brickarms accessories since it came out - and the electroplated Brickarms Machete does not leave you wanting! The wider blade allows the Chrome to really shine - pun intended! One of the things I love most about the electroplating process on the various Brickarms Blades, is that the edges of the blades are tapered, and allow a really neat effect with the chrome (as is slightly evident in the photograph above). It is another angle which allows more light to hit upon it, and really catch the shine of the chrome! I thought the Chrome Brickarms Machete needed someone a little more futuristic for display, and as I was thinking about what I would make for the weapon my eyes happened to glance at some of my spare Lego Agents. I immediately thought that an upgraded version of the Agents was necessary, and that they would work perfectly for the Chrome Machete. Needless to say, I am very pleased with the Brickarms Electroplated Machete!
The third weapon up for review is the Brickarms Electroplated Damien Blade:
The Brickarms Damien Blade is one of the few Brickarms Accessories that I had yet to purchase - and now that I have received this pack I am thinking I may need to buy a little more. In all honesty, upon first viewing of this accessory out of the bag, it was the one I was the least excited about (not to say that I was not excited about it - it's the same as taking a box of fine chocolates which are all wonderfully delicious, but saying that one of them was liked slightly less than the others ;). My issues were: when held by the figure, it seemed too small for the blade, however, after creating the above Dragon Warrior for the Chrome Damien Blade, I don't feel this is an issue at all. It is actually the perfect size for the sword-to-minifigure ratio, and looks like a very balanced weapon in his hands.
Whereas several of the other blades have the tapered edge (mentioned with the Machete above) which catches the light for a nice shine on the edge, this sword rather is very smooth with a very slight gradual "roundness" to the blade - and where the light is caught the most in the middle of the blade where there is a slight flatness (barely visible without close inspection). Thus, with all the above stated, I will be purchasing more of these weapons for my Castle themed armies, as well as some other special projects!
The fourth weapon up for review is the Brickarms Electroplated Dadao:
The Brickarms Dadao was the first Brickarms bladed weapon that I received when the bladed weapons first started appearing on the Brickarms site. I have used the Dadao for a number of Castle-ish themes in the past, but I felt the Brickarms Chrome Dadou deserved a special place amongst the various figures - and I decided to upgrade my Lego Orc/Troll King. The width of this blade seems to catch the light the best amongs the various Brickarms Chrome Blades, however, that is most likely due to this weapon has the thickest blade amonst all the others in the Chrome Blades Pack. My personal opinion is that this weapon is useful for a wide number of themes, and can be used through various time spans (historical, fantasy castle, castle, Indiana Jones, futuristic, etc). I can guarantee that the Brickarms Chrome Dadao will not go unused in your collection if you purchase the Chrome Blades Pack!
The fifth and final weapon I will review here is the most prominent in this pack: the Brickarms Electroplated Combat Knife
Whereas you only receive one of each of the above blades in a Brickarms Chrome-Blade Pack, you receive FOUR Chrome Combat Knives in the set. I love how organic this weapon is - it just seems perfect! It has the right amount of tapered edges which form the blade, but also follow the curves of the original weapon. Furthermore, it is easy to look at this weapon and think "Lego" - this is what the Lego knife should have been. The level of detail in the blade is exquisite and looks so convincing that it almost could be a real Combat Knife (aside from the size). This weapon is useful for a large number of themes - so many in fact that I don't think I could describe them all. Basically, you will only be limited by your imagination in what this weapon could be useful in. As with the other weapons, the Chrome is a wonderful addition to a great Brickarms weapon.
In conclusion, I am extremely happy with this weapons pack and if you can afford it, I would highly recommend purchasing this set for your collection! It may not come with a lot of pieces for your dollar, but it sure comes with a BANG (if blades could make bang-noises that is). Each of the weapons offer different strengths to them, which really helps enhance this collection as well, due to the fact that it gives you such a wide variety in a single weapons pack. The Chrome, as mentioned above, is a wonderful addition to some great Brickarms weapons, and really serves to enhance the wonderful details of these weapons which would often go overlooked were it not for the effect the Chrome provided.
Thanks for reading my review, and I hope it helps get you to ignore your own inner-logical voice on your next Brickarms order, and go ahead with purchasing one or more of these weapon packs. You won't regret it - I guarantee it :)
