You are currently browsing the The Brothers Brick weblog archives for March, 2009.
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.
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.
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!
The 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 Café 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 Night 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:
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 TransformerLook 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…
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?
Matt 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.
Our love affair with StarCraft-inspired LEGO continues, as does my enjoyment of the LEGO StarCraft creations by Matt De Lanoy (Pepa Quin):
For more pics, check out Matt’s LEGO Protoss Probe photoset on Flickr. Thanks for the tip, Andy!
When Twitter goes down, the scale of sadness around the Web is epic enough to warrant a Fail Whale. Bjarne Tveskov (tveskov) gives the Twitter Fail Whale the LEGO treatment in what is sure to make the rounds on the ‘net faster than a tweeting cheetah on speed:
Naturally, you can also follow Bjarne Tveskov on Twitter.
The much-anticipated LEGO Star Wars set 10195 Republic Dropship with AT-OT Walker is now available from the LEGO Shop online.
Yes, yes, I know — I’m a couple days behind on this…
I’m not sure whether it’s the unique color scheme or the shape, but I find Cole Blaq’s Soylent Scream menacingly beautiful.
More photos of Soylent Scream on Flickr.
Jarek (Jerrec) combines a LEGO Power Functions motor and remote control with 8960 Thunder Driller to rather amusing effect:
On the smaller end of things, Scratel (Wojciech Scrat) has built a microscale version of Thunder Driller, completing with working drill:
See more photos of the Mini Driller on Brickshelf.
I can’t wait for the new LEGO Space Police sets coming out later this year (August, maybe?). Gorazd Vahen (kaitimar) seems to share my impatience, as he demonstrates with a pair of excellent vehicles he designed himself.
The Spike is being pursued by a police cruiser. Gotta love that orange stripe.
Tim (Roguebantha) has built an entry for the FBTB Podracer contest that’s sure to strike fear into Mumra’s heart. It looks like it would fit in with the vehicles from the old TV show perfectly. I love the claws, and mouth detail, and basically everything else about it. The engine pods even retract and attach to the body!
Lukas W. (gladius) appears to have channeled Soren Roberts to build this excellent maintenence bot for the Civilian Mecha Competition on flickr. The long doodad (technical term) next to the cockpit has some truly superb detailing and the whole model is compact and excellent.
As someone obsessed with archaeological LEGO, the new BrickForge accessories for 2009 make me happy.
The Tribal Spear works perfectly as a scalloped obsidian blade from the Neolithic — just the sort of weapon for cavemen to take down a mastodon or mammoth:
The Tribal Sword is designed to resemble the Aztec macahuitl, inspiring me to give my Aztec god minifigs some Aztec warriors:
Of course, not all of the new BrickForge accessories are stone implements.
The Plasma Blaster and Crowbar enable LEGO fans to build video game minifigs like Master Chief from Bungie’s Halo and Gordon Freeman from Valve’s Half-Life:
The Goblin Sword and Goblin Shield allowed me to update my Uruk Hai minifigs from Lord of the Rings. What horde of orc minifigs would be complete without a Saruman minifig? Saruman wields a Sorcerer Staff.
The new Nightstick (right) combines with the older Military Helmet and Round Shield to create a policeman in riot gear.
Finally, the Particle Gun and Particle Pack (below) work beautifully for Ghostbusters. With multiple connection points like the Megagun, both of these new BrickForge accessories can hook up hoses or whatever else you can think of:
I have quite the backlog of ideas for musical minifigs, so I couldn’t decide which one to highlight BrickForge’s microphone. I’ll get to that new accessory later…
With so many things to inspire interesting minifigs, this may be my favorite batch of BrickForge accessories so far. All of the new stuff is available in both black and gray (though I still prefer BrickForge’s black accessories over their gray).
See all of the new items (except the microphone) in my BrickForge photoset on Flickr, and check out the BrickForge website for the full line of custom accessories.
Slovenian LEGO club Kocke Klub has announced that they will be holding a second LEGO exhibition on April 4, 2009 in Ljubljana. (”Kocke” means “brick” and is pronounced COT-SKA.)
Here’s the full announcement in Slovenian:
Kocke klub v soboto, 4. aprila 2009, 10h-17h v OŠ Šmartno pod Šmarno goro pri Ljubljani organizira 02. KockeFest – pomlad 2009 – LEGO delavnico in razstavo LEGO kreacij.
KockeFest bo nudil tekmovanje v LEGO sumu, svetovno premiero novega pnevmatskega V8 motorja iz kock LEGO, predstavitev delujočih modelov LEGO gradbene mehanizacije in različnih Mindstorms robotov, makete gradbišča, vlaka, gusarjev ter LEGO Technic sete, dva igralna kotička z nagradami za najboljše kreacije in LEGO bazar ter še veliko drugih LEGO zanimivosti. Za več informacij prosimo poglejte na www.kocke.si/kockefest/.
And in English:
Kocke club will organize 2nd KockeFest – spring 2009 – LEGO workshop and LEGO creations exhibition. It will be held on Saturday, April 4th between 10am and 5 pm in primary school Šmartno at Ljubljana.
KockeFest will present the LEGO sumo championship, the world premiere of new V8 pneumatic engine made out of LEGO bricks, the working models of LEGO construction equipment and various Mindstorms robots, the mock-ups of building grounds, trains, pirates and LEGO Technic sets, two playing corners with awards for the best creations, Lego marketplace and more LEGO interesting features. For more information please visit www.silug.si/kockefest/eng_index.php.
Read more about KockeFest — and see pictures from the first KockeFest — on the Kocke Klub website.
EDIT: Kocke Klub has also released a 16-page magazine illustrating some of the best LEGO creations from members. Download your copy of KockeList and check it out! It’s in Slovenian, but LEGO is our common language, and there are lots of great pictures.
Set 6951, the Robot Command Center was my absolute favorite Classic Space set (of the sets I actually had) when I was growing up. When the opportunity came up to create a Neo Classic Space creation, my mind immediately went to this set. It was basically a mecha, except that the legs didn’t move at all, and the arms were attached to the knees.
I figured that new parts and techniques would allow me to do something really cool with this idea. I did decide to lose a few of the play features from the original, even though I like them. There was just something about a little ship docking in my mecha’s crotch that didn’t seem right. I’m surprised that so few of the builders in this effort built robots, but at least it makes my contribution fairly unique.
I also have to thank one of my non-LEGO friends for suggesting an electric guitar, so it could rock out.
March is may be winding down, but the level of creations being posted for the LEGO Neo-Classic-Space project sure aren’t. Some really spectacular stuff has been posted lately. There’s a really cool research base by Ben Jarvis, shown below. Not to mention Adrian Drake’s massive updated rendition of the 6950 Mobile Rocket Transport (which is the huge truck with rocket, at right). I also cannot get enough of the LL-301 Falcon (below, spaceship) by Stuart Crawhaw. Stuart used old train rail pieces to make the wings, which came out beautifully. I’m also really excited, because I’m finally going to be able to post my own creation tonight, after more than a month of keeping it secret.
