Monthly Archives: April 2008

Basking in the autumnal glow of Zach Clapsadle’s Geminated Ruby

Zach Clapsadle combines dark red and “pearl gold” with his signature crazy level of detail and a pentagon technique by ixlramp to create a weirdly wonderful ship called Geminated Ruby:

Here’s the crew:

Love the combo of the braids and the Ten Numb head.

Nominations now open for new LEGO Ambassadors cycle [News]

Some of you may have been wondering when LEGO would be accepting applications for the next cycle of the LEGO Ambassador program. Well, things are going to work a little differently for this cycle. :-) Read on…

Hello LEGO Enthusiasts,

You may have noticed already that the selection process for the LEGO Ambassador Program will be slightly different this year. In the past we’ve selected LEGO Ambassadors based on individual applications, which meant that the program was built on a very individual basis. Now we would like to make the process more broad reaching and transparent for all members of the AFOL community. Therefore the selection of LEGO Ambassadors will be based on nominations from your clubs. In this way we give more people an opportunity to have a say in who’s name gets put in the pot for the selection process.

Who’s allowed to nominate?

Any AFOL Community Group (online or on the map) will have the opportunity to submit nominations from their group (up to 3 people if they so choose). Not everyone can be selected for the program as we’ll still only have around 30 people when all is said and done. Each club can only have one person selected from that club.

If you choose to submit a nomination it does not mean that your candidate will be chosen, but it does mean that your group will have just as much an opportunity to get involved in having a direct representative in the LEGO Ambassador Program. We will try to get a diverse group of people who are able to represent the whole AFOL community as good as possible.

Groups can certainly nominate someone already in the Ambassador Program, but from now on the program will have a two term limit in order to have more room for people to be involved. After a term out of the program, a previous Ambassador can be re-nominated.
A group that submits a nomination for the LEGO Ambassador program should be established and known within the LEGO Community.

What should a nomination have in it?

  • Name and age of the nominee.
  • Where is the nominee from?
  • Which Group does this nominee represent?
  • Does this person consent to being nominated (Please do not submit a nomination on behalf of someone you have not discussed with beforehand).
  • Explanation of who the nominees are, what their activities are, and why they would be a good representative of their community (at least 3 testimonials from members of nominating group are required)
  • Key interests of the nominee (themes, building styles, and some examples of their building)

When is the Nomination Due?

May 24, 2008 by midnight GMT. If a nomination is received after this time it will be automatically rejected.

Who Should the Nominations be sent too?

nominations@LEGO.com

What might a LEGO Ambassador be committing too?

  • In depth discussion with other like minded LEGO Fans.
  • An opportunity to speak with LEGO Group representatives on what is important to the AFOL communitiy.
  • Occasional opportunities to give feedback on upcoming ideas for different parts of the LEGO Group (require NDA).
  • A chance to submit their own ideas and ideas from the communities they represent on what they would like to see from the LEGO Group.
  • Participation in projects which support the community like helping rebuild LEGOfan.org and many other community related projects.

From the 2008/09 cycle, LEGO Ambassadors will not be required to sign an NDA to join the program, but in the interest of the community, LEGO Ambassadors will be invited to give feedback on development projects which will require signing of an NDA. Discussions related to development projects will happen in a separate “top secret forum” for those who decide to sign an NDA. All discussions in the general LEGO Ambassador forum can and should be shared with the community. The decision on whether or not to take part in secret projects is up to the individual Ambassadors.

Another new aspect in the process will be that starting with this next cycle Ambassadors will only be able to serve for two consecutive terms. Current Ambassadors will not have their previous terms counted against them, and if chosen by their communities to apply for the program can serve for two more terms.

This next session of the Ambassador Program will last approximately one year.

Thank you all. Your nominations are very valuable for helping the LEGO Community Team choose the next round of LEGO Ambassadors.

Tormod, Jan, Steve
The LEGO Community Team

The beauty of boilerplate done right

Keith Goldman has popularized the term “boilerplate” to critique the derivative nature of certain categories of LEGO creations, even applying the term to his own work (by outside standards, hardly unoriginal). I’m certainly guilty of the occasional bandwagon-jumping, but there’s a certain sense of satisfaction in pulling together all of the elements you like about something else and making it your own.

We know that Shannon Young is fully capable of truly original stuff, but his latest creation melds some of the best microspace innovations of others into a seamless whole that takes its place among my favorites of recent microscale LEGO.

Behold Onyx:

  • Color scheme evocative of a much-loved Space theme: Check!
  • Hinged hull: Check!
  • Lots of guns: Check!
  • Asymmetrical antenna emerging from the bow: Check!
  • Awesomeness: Yes indeed.

Not exactly basic town

I seem to be at it again with the early posting but… this “work-in-progress” town by Brickshelf user `Basic’ (who I assume is from Lundfrom Nottingham, England) is simply amazing and needs posting now. I’ve got far too little time to go describing all the details I like but the illusory tram track stand out as worth of comment.

Free as a Bird

If you keep an eye on my Flickr ‘stream you might have noticed a couple of work-in-progress shots appearing lately. It’s rare that I’ll do more than one but sometimes I like getting advice along the way. Anyway my model of a Rooivalk (“Red Kestrel”) is now done and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out so thanks for the advice to those who gave it. I’m wondering if this is the first time the SAAF has appeared in brick.

SAAF Rooivalk in LEGO

Before he came down here, it never snowed...

Rising star Harrison captures the stark contrast between the sterility of suburbia and the complexity of the title character in Tim Burton’s 1990 film Edward Scissorhands:

Edward Scissorhands on Flickr

Using minifig legs in a creation — in this case as part of a topiary — is quickly becoming a signature of Harrison’s. And the new Speed Racer torso works beautifully for the minifig.

Please note that any appearance of danger is merely a device to enhance your testing experience.

If you haven’t seen the recent Cave Racer fad taking over LEGO areas of Flickr, you must be living under a rock.  If you haven’t played (or at least recognize) the epic game Portal, you’ve definitely been living under a rock.

Well, while trying to survive school, I decided to try my hand at a Cave Racer…with a twist.

Izzo’s dark toned mechas

Mecha master Izzo‘s recent works take on darker toned colors, which are generally more uncommon than ordinary colors. The darker colors tend to give a more mature appearance to the model, and here they look absolutely splendid.

Scene from Silent Hill 4

The Silent Hill games are possibly the scariest horror video games out there, and that’s why I like them so much. Here’s a scene from Silent Hill 4, featuring a ghost and the protagonist, Henry Townsend.

Miss Modular and Shrimp Salad

At last I have had time to build again! I present to you Miss Modular and her ship Shrimp Salad:

From civilian interrogation:

-“So we where all waiting, yeah, for Miss Modular to arrive. You know, Miss Modular, the beauty queen? Five times winner of ‘Beautiful and Ugly’ on tee-vee? Anyway, so we see her ship come down, you know, but it wasn’t the Shrimp Salad I’ve seen on tee-vee. Or, I mean, it was, but still wasn’t, you know? Something was different. It had all sorts of black goo on the front, and… you gonna call me crazy, I know, but it looked like it had mutated a bit. So anyway it lands, yeah, and out hops Miss Modular. But instead of waving her long curly hair and smile she got these knives, see. And she starts cutting people up! But that ain’t the weird part. After she cut them up she just assimilated the body parts of the people she just slayed. Like she was Miss Modular in the literal sense! And then, you know, I didn’t see no more cause I just ran. I ran, and I ran, and I didn’t look back. I don’t know what was up, but I’d say that whatever got to her ship, got to her as well. Crazy, I tell you. I ain’t gonna vote for her again.”

More picures, along with a bodies shot of Miss Modular, on flickr.

The Skeleton Queen is very, very disappointed

Fedde makes good use of clear elements to illustrate the Skeleton Queen’s displeasure in a vassal:

Check out more pics in Fedde’s Vignette photoset on Flickr.

Norbi Demeter roundup for April 27, 2008

Yes, that’s right, Norbi Demeter (one pic borderline NSFW) gets a roundup post the first time he’s featured here. ;-)

Norbi is a LEGO builder from Romania who just recently started posting his creations to Flickr. It’s not often someone demonstrates such strong skills from the very first photo posted online, but Norbi clearly has talent.

First up, here’s Norbi’s big blue “Alien thingamagig”:

Next, a robot takes a walk in the park:

Finally, a Fuchikoma from Ghost in the Shell:

Fuchikoma on Flickr

Can’t wait to see what Norbi will show the world next.