Monthly Archives: March 2009

April Fools: Please welcome Elite Clone Master Chief Timmy!

Even though LEGO Star Wars is our most popular category, we really don’t blog enough LEGO creations inspired by the glorious prequel trilogy or animated Clone Wars series. Similarly, I’m not satisfied with the number of LEGO Halo creations our current contributors blog. To fix that gap in our coverage of the LEGO fan community, I’m pleased to announce that Elite Clone Master Chief Timmy will be joining The Brothers Brick as a contributor!

LEGO Clone TrooperHere’s Timmy in his own words:

i <3 clone wars and commander rex is my favorite clone but commander cody is pertty cool to. the 1st LSW wuz okay i liked how U could brake things into teh difrent legos but Halos bettre cos Master Chief is awsome!!!1!!!1!!!! my mom dosnt no i play it at my frend Cassidys house. lolololollloollol!!!!!! thanks 4 letting me join ur sight k thx buy

I’m really looking forward to reading Timmy’s insightful commentary and seeing all the great LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Halo creations Elite Clone Master Chief Timmy finds for our readers!

Aliencat’s LEGO Necron Heavy Destroyer aims a Gauss cannon at your soul

Sebastian Arts (Aliencat) is one of those multi-talented builders capable of surprising me with each new LEGO creation. His latest is a nasty piece of work inspired by Warhammer 40K — the Necron Heavy Destroyer:

LEGO Necron Heavy Destroyer

See more pictures of the Necron Heavy Destroyer on MOCpages.

Charyblantis lures unwary sailors below the waves

SlyOwl combines a pair of dioramas to create one gorgeous scene:

LEGO Pirates diorama

The action doesn’t end at the waterline…

LEGO Pirates diorama

I’m particularly impressed with the tattered sail, the ruined LEGO architecture, and the unique merpeople.

Pictures from BrickFest 2009

The big news from BrickFest 2009 may be more details about 10194 Emerald Night, but there’s more to come in the next few days. ;-)

In the meantime, attendees have begun uploading photos of displays and events.

Bill Ward already has 160+ photos online, while Mark Neumann and PurirideVry have uploaded quite a few as well.

The BrickFest pool is also getting refreshed with this year’s photos, so be sure to check it out — and add your photos if you haven’t!

Laputa ornithopter flaps to Sheeta’s rescue

The first LEGO creation that Jon Hall has posted to Flickr is a LEGO version of the ornithopter, or “flaptter”, from the Miyazaki film Laputa: Castle in the Sky:

LEGO Laputa Flaptter

I love the shape, and the use of the clear canopies as wings is excellent.

Thanks for the tip, Horace Cheng! Don’t miss Horace’s own Laputa flaptter here on The Brothers Brick.

To the point

LEGO train tram

I sometimes feel I have a bad habit of blogging LEGO diesel and steam trains even though I’m a big fan of electrics. Esben Kolind has helped cure me of this with his fantastic Copenhagen metropolitan train. Most impressive of all, in my opinion, is the accurate taper of the sides achieved by (in his words) “extreme use of SNOT“. I can’t argue with that. I’ll also use this as an excuse to exercise some parochialism and link to Esben’s Queensland Tilt Train. Check out the movies.

Thanks to Rodney Bistline for the (non-space) heads up.

Sapphire Condor – the Neo Classic Space behemoth

You can count on Ed Diment (Lego Monster) to build one megasized spaceship for the 30 year anniversary of LEGO Space. Unlike other SHIPs, the Sapphire Condor can deploy a remote controlled ground vehicle. Of course, you have to see it to believe it; check it out in the video below.

You can read more about the creation including a backstory and notes from the builder on the Neo Classic Space blog.

Blade Runner Pod-Racer

Over on Flickr, Larry Lars has posted an entry in FBTB’s pod racer contest that I love. It’s a mash-up of a pod-racer and a spinner from Blade Runner.

Blade Runner Pod Racer

He’s done a fantastic job with it, capturing all the little details from the original. I think that might even be Edward James Olmos in the driver’s seat. It’s too bad she won’t live!

Jamie Berard unveils 10194 Emerald Night, plus new LEGO Trains details [News]

iconiconThe forthcoming LEGO Trains set 10194 Emerald Night got an early announcement last month, but the original plan was to announce it at BrickFest 2009 (happening right now in Portland, Oregon).

AFOL-turned-Designer Jamie Berard takes his turn in front of the camera to officially unveil 10194 Emerald Night to LEGO fandom:

Jamie is of course best known as the designer of amazing sets like 10182 CafĂ© Corner and 10185 Green Grocer. If Jamie was involved in the design of Emerald Night, it’s sure to be a wonderful set!

10194 Emerald Nighticon has been available for pre-order from the LEGO Shop online since February, and is scheduled to ship on April 15, 2009.

A few key points from the video:

  • A look into the secret LEGO Vault.
  • Pierre Normandin joins Jamie to highlight 10183 Hobby Trains.
  • New curved slope and train wheels (flange wheel and blind wheel).
  • Lots of dark green (including gold-printed elements), plus tan train windows.
  • New track system.
  • Powered by Power Functions.
  • Mysterious object sitting next to Cafe Corner, Market Street, and Green Grocer…

Check out a second, slightly longer video of Jamie, Pierre, and 10194 Emerald Night on YouTube.

To coincide with the unveiling, the LEGO Group has also released the following additional details about the changes to the LEGO Trains system:

As a follow up to the LEGO 9V Train Communication lll, there is one change we would like to inform you about concerning the LEGO Transformer.

Due to future legal requirements and to provide a more environmentally sustainable solution, we have decided to update the current LEGO Transformer #9833.

The new Power Functions Rechargeable Battery Box #8878 that will launch in mid-April 2009 has been designed to use this new LEGO Transformer #8887. The current LEGO Transformer (#9833) will not work with the new Power Functions rechargeable battery box and will gradually be phased out.

Below is a list of the LEGO Power Functions accessories used across multiple LEGO lines which are used with the new #10194 Emerald Night Train:

#8882 Motor
#8884 IR RX
#8870 Light
#8878 Rechargeable Battery
#8879 Speed Remote Control
#8887 Transformer

Look for more information on these items on www.LEGO.com in early to mid-April 2009.

Tormod Askildsen, Head of LEGO Community Development

So, what do you think of the new LEGO Trains system? Did you see this in person last night at BrickFest? Sound off in the comments…

The story of LEGO

Recently an article was published on guardian.co.uk (one of the world’s leading online newspaper sites) condensing the history of LEGO in an objective but heartwarming fashion, highlighting its current success amidst the sweeping economic crisis. Click here to read it.

Never mind the recession – Lego is now so popular that there are 62 little coloured blocks for every person on the planet. Yet only five years ago this family business was on the brink of ruin. Jon Henley reports from the Danish town where it all began

This comprehensive yet condensed article touches on all the significant historical events in LEGO from Christiansen’ production of the wooden duck to the upcoming new LEGO board games. Also included are interesting facts about LEGO. Did you know that the company estimates about 250,000 adult LEGO fans around the globe and that the fastest time to build the 3104-piece UCS Star Destroyer by a team of five is only 1 hour 42 minutes 43 seconds?

Walking Steampunk Mecha

Walking Steampunk Mecha TankMatt Hamann (Jaster) has built an adorable steampunk walker. It’s a six-legged tank, that would be a pretty decent creation, if it weren’t for one thing… it can walk!

He’s motorized it, and it sort of toddles along the table. Check out the video. I just love the way it clomps around, it’s like a six-legged toddler or something.

Pepa Quin’s LEGO Protoss Probe sneaks across your LEGO StarCraft II maps

Our love affair with StarCraft-inspired LEGO continues, as does my enjoyment of the LEGO StarCraft creations by Matt De Lanoy (Pepa Quin):

LEGO Protoss Probe from StarCraft II

For more pics, check out Matt’s LEGO Protoss Probe photoset on Flickr. Thanks for the tip, Andy!