The Brothers Brick

I blogged previously about BrickWiki, the community-developed LEGO encyclopedia. If you know something about LEGO, or you’re just a good editor or writer, consider contributing to BrickWiki. Here’s the Web address:
http://brickwiki.zapto.org/index.php/Main_Page
One of BrickWiki’s guidelines is that you don’t create content promoting yourself or your own Web site. Given that the best person to describe a [...]

Names: Dirk Hoffman and Greg TanzarianOccupation: Vice cops (circa 1976).Interests: Kickin’ a__ and takin’ names. Fast cars. Loose change. Slow walks on the beach. Hard drinks. Soft hands. Blowin’ s___ up.Typical day: Wake up at noon. Bust an international heroin-smuggling ring. Pay off an informant with confiscated drug money. Interrogate a couple of hippies. Cruise [...]

Names and Ranks: S/Sgt. Bob Berg, Engineer; Sgt. James McCooey, Gunner; Capt. Tom Coomer, Pilot; Lt. Tim Stout, Navigator/Bombardier; and Lt. Eddy Coursier, Co-Pilot.Interests: Defending freedom and getting back on the ground.History: Served together in Italy with the US Army Air Forces in 1944-45. Multiple citations. Disappeared somewhere over Switzerland on their 35th mission. Reappeared [...]

Names: Reginald Fortescue, Miles Cavendish-Dehavilland, Nigel Pugthorne, and Clive Smith-Smythe-SmithOccupations: Member of Parliament, Sargeant Major, Viscount, and president of a national bank.Interests: Uncharted Asia (which they pronounce Ayyyzeea), darkest Africa (with a rolled R), and the wild tepuis of Venezuela. Oh, and cashews, lots and lots of cashews. They have them in large bowls at [...]

With minifigs based on Greek and Norse deities out of the way, I hopped across the Atlantic and started working on Aztec gods and goddesses.
Left to right, Huitzilopochtli, Mayahuel, and Mictlantecuhtli:

Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, and Xipe Totec:

Click the thumbnails for bigger versions, and check out the full gallery on either Brickshelf (small pics) [...]

As a professed purist (though I’m sometimes tempted to make just one little tweak), I’m always excited when The LEGO Company announces a new batch of minifigs. I’ve withheld judgement on the new Batman line, but more detailed images are beginning to trickle out of the minifigs and the sets. Brickshelf user KimT seems to [...]

Japanese centipedes are about ten times bigger than the ones around here. Like, up to a foot long. Ugh. New(ish) Japanese LEGO blogger Inago100 recently posted another entry in the ongoing shiritori word game:

Nasty!!! But awesome use of the new Viking horn pieces.

I have no idea what Hub City is, but Octopunk has created a fascinating cast of characters to populate the metropolis. Here are a few of my favorites:

Speaking of photography, new (I think) Brickshelf user Ertu has posted some interesting pictures inspired by the Adventurers theme:

Bruce has posted again that Izzo has posted another batch of Japanese proverb vignettes in his gallery.
Here we go…
Japanese: Strategem 36: If all else fails, run away.English: He that fights and runs away lives to see another day.
Japanese/English: Dead men tell no tales.
Japanese: When one god deserts you, another one picks you up.English: One man’s [...]

With my Final Fantasy VII characters done, the next logical step was to move on to Final Fantasy VIII. (Classic-Castle and FBTB user boses’ post of his gunblade also spurred me on.) Without further ado, here’s my Squall Leonhart minifig with brick-built gunblade:

My gunblade is by no means perfect, but I like its smallness. The [...]

My favorite anime director by far is Hayao Miyazaki. Although my favorite movie is Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (「風の谷のナウシカ」), I’ve always enjoyed Laputa: Castle in the Sky (「天空の城ラピュタ」). With my increasing collection of US-released Miyazaki DVDs, I thought I’d try my hand at some minifigs.

From left to right, Muska, Uncle Pom, Pazu, Sheeta, [...]

Before we moved into our house back in November, I posted about how I was excited that our new house has a full daylight basement, with a rec room my wife jokingly labeled “the LEGO room.”
With all the painting, rewiring, and appliance installation we’ve been doing, unpacking stuff we don’t really need has taken a [...]

Or so it would seem, based on the recent spate of overweight minifigs (see “Fat Minifig by Mister Zumbi“).
Now Nelson Yrizarry has posted “Couch Potato,” captioned “Disaster strikes as Fatboy drops the TV remote:”

Last summer I made several characters from Final Fantasy VII — Barrett, Cid, Sephiroth, Vincent, and of course Cloud. (Well, actually I made the version of Cloud that appears in Kingdom Hearts. I just liked the purple cape and demon wing.)
But where were the ladies — Aeris (sometimes spelled Aerith), Tifa, and everyone’s least-favorite perky [...]

I debated whether to post my latest minifigure over on my minifig-themed blog, but it does require a bit of explanation, so I’ll post it here instead.

Kappa are mythical water imps from Japan. Kappa inhabit lakes, ponds, streams, and other bodies of water. If you do a little research, you’ll find that kappa are associated [...]

I’ve updated my Norse gods and goddesses, based largely on feedback I received from Classic-Castler The Hordesman and many others. Thanks guys!
Specifically, Odin is now darker (black hat instead of blue and dark blue legs instead of regular blue), Thor is now a red-head, and Freyr the Peaceful (or something like that) no longer has [...]

One thing I really like about Sugegasa’s blog is that he presents practical tips on LEGO-related issues ranging from organization to photography. About a month ago, he posted a couple pictures of how he takes pictures of his LEGO creations. What I noticed immediately is that he uses a fluorescent desk lamp to illuminate the [...]