You are currently browsing the The Brothers Brick weblog archives for May, 2009.
Just when you think you have seen it all, Lino jumps out of nowhere with something new. He is an incredible builder and he doesn’t rest on his laurels. He is constantly trying something new and it’s usually top-notch. This “Battle Bug”, based on the Rhinoceras Beetle, is freakin’ awesome.
By the way, “Battle Bugs” is going to be a theme at BrickCon. Build your own and bring it on!
Justin Vaughn has posted a stunning rendition of the E-3 Sentry AWACS. Great looking creation and excellent presentation. I also like that the radome actually rotates.
David Luna took the honors in BrickMania‘s Custom Brick Community Building Contest with this WWII battle scene. He packed quite a bit of action in there!
Matija Grguric worked for almost a year and a half to make a minifig scale model of the Art Pavilion in Zagreb, Croatia. This massive creation measure around 150 cm long, 85 cm wide and 90 cm high. The display renders the intricate details of the original structure, and the crafting of the roof is particularly skilled.
The model will be displayed at BrickWorld, where attendees will be able to see this amazing work in person.
As my contacts on Flickr will already have noticed, I’ve been posting custom minifigs fairly regularly over the past few weeks, but haven’t posted anything about them here on The Brothers Brick.
That’s because I’m approaching our review of the latest custom accessories a bit differently from the reviews we’ve posted of BrickArms and BrickForge in the past.
Our past reviews have taken somewhat of a purist approach — using nothing but items from one custom accessory creator. But I believe that the accessories LEGO fans have created to work with LEGO are best when they’re used together, so that’s how I approached the minifigs in these photos.
You’ll also see accessories from vendors we’ve reviewed more recently:
Still, each custom accessory vendor deserves their own review, so read on for my take on all the recent minifig accessories from Arealight, BrickArms, HAZEL, and Minifig World.
LEGO customizer Bluce Shu goes by Arealight online, and has been selling resin-cast accessories from his Bricklink store for some time.
I’d never seen any of Arealight’s items in person, but I hadn’t been impressed with the quality of the resin-cast stuff I’d seen from other customizers. When my batch of Arealight accessories arrived in the mail, though, I couldn’t have been more pleased.
True, some of Arealight’s accessories don’t have the same tolerance as official LEGO elements — the hair doesn’t fit quite as perfectly and the headlight tends to fall off my Roman Holiday Vespa unless I twist the clear piece just right. There are also minor imperfections that differ from item to item.
Surprisingly, I’m willing to dismiss these quality issues because they just give the accessories a charming, handmade feel.
And because Arealight creates accessories unlike all others — Ithorian heads, Mandalorian armor, Vespa scooters, wavy capes, and more — I haven’t had so much fun building custom minifigs in a very long time.
For more photos, see my full photoset of Arealight accessories on Flickr.
One reason we didn’t do the full review of 2009 BrickArms accessories we’d promised is that the quality of Will Chapman‘s prototypes has improved so much that many of the released items don’t differ substantially from the preview versions we’ve already highlighted here.
That’s a great thing, but it makes a review seem a bit redundant.
Nevertheless, the latest BrickArms weapons include the wonderfully designed Lewis gun and Bazooka, as well as the much-anticipated MGL and combat shotgun. The quality and playability are nothing less than we’ve come to expect from BrickArms.
As always, Will is cooking up new prototypes in his garage.
The “photon pistol” is lovely in the hands of my Star Trek minifigs, the buildable ammo chain has infinite uses, and the “buzz gun” looks awesome.
History buffs are sure to be pleased by the Browning Automatic Rifle.
See lots more photos of past, current, and future BrickArms accessories in the full photoset on Flickr.
Custom accessory creator HAZEL is fairly new to the LEGO scene, first posting custom samurai on Flickr less than a year ago.
It wasn’t until he posted a batch of minifigs decked out in armor and weapons inspired by Gears of War that the customization community really took notice. There was clearly demand for these items, and HAZEL soon had a Bricklink store up and running.
Unfortunately, HAZEL disappeared from the online world just around the time I thought I’d buy a few items to review for the blog. With a string of negative feedback on Bricklink, I looked elsewhere, and ended up buying my HAZEL accessories from Custom Minifig Shop in the UK. Prices were about the same as directly from HAZEL, and shipping to the US was also reasonable.
As it turns out, HAZEL was in a horrible motorcycle accident and has apparently been in the hospital for a while. He recently posted again to Flickr and promises to make good on his overdue orders.
Why is all this relevant to my review? Because it’s important to remember that you’re often buying from a single individual with a side business, not a big corporation.
The custom accessories themselves appear to be resin-cast like Arealight’s. The texture isn’t perfectly smooth, nor the black a perfect match with LEGO, making these ideal candidates for further customization through painting. Having no talent in that area, I prefer my own accessories ready to use. Still, HAZEL’s accessories are great fun and a nice match for mecha pilots, post-apocalyptic survivors, and other sci-fi characters.
Unlike the weapons, headgear, and other accessories we’ve reviewed so far, Minifig World produces display stands for minifigs.
The stands have two studs for your little plastic friend’s feet, as well as holes on the underside for stackability.
Minifig World stands are excellent for showing off your minifigs, like that super-rare chrome-gold C-3PO.
It’s been a very long time since going to see a movie inspired me to build a bunch of minifigs as soon as I got home. I saw Terminator Salvation on Saturday night, and had to build the heroes and their antagonists.
The human Resistance wouldn’t be the same without a couple of T-600 Terminators to fight.
Spoilers in the full Terminator Salvation photoset on Flickr.
Neo Vox busts out this cute little tank. Quite a change from the other tank that I blogged a few days ago. Incorporating the pod design by Duane Hess, this tank looks ready to roll in more ways than one. I also really like the brick-thick fenders and the streamlined cannon.
Cole Blaq‘s latest LEGO creation — a wonderful red and white VTOL helicopter — was inspired by the futuristic vehicles that Leading Light Conceptual Design develops for movies and video games.
These custom KISS minifigs by Jonathan Gilbert (Shmails) have me shoutin’.
UPDATE: Planning is now underway for the next Zombie Apocafest. Read all about it in our Zombie Apocafest 2009 strategy, tactics, & logistics post.
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The LEGO convention season is upon us, and BrickCon 2009 is just over four months away — time to start planning your trip and what you’re going to build. Likewise, it’s time to start planning collaborative displays.
With a successful Zombie Apocafest 2008 under our belts, we at The Brothers Brick are pleased to announce Zombie Apocafest 2009.
To celebrate this announcement and as an example of one of our new prize categories, I’ve turned 7639 Camper into a mobile zombie defense platform.
This year, we’re splitting up the prizes into four categories:
There are still many details to iron out, and we’re definitely open to suggestions. What kind of overall theme would you like to build toward? If you were there, what worked last year? What didn’t? Let us know in the comments.
LEGO has released an image of 18 microfigs for the upcoming board games to be first launched in Europe this August before hitting the rest of the world in 2010.
After five months, Bryan (The Eggplant Wizard) has finally completed his Estuary Stronghold project, which is a tribute to Erik Brok and his Estuary Stronghold.
For more details and info, check out Bryan’s construction journals on this masterpiece.
Yup, Steve Vargo built some shrooms. Pretty cool looking ones too.
There is another picture that captures a rare indigenous mushroom creature as well.
I think they must be pretty big, because he built this lumberjack too. He doesn’t say that they go together….but coincidence? I don’t think so.
And there’s only one name we can attibute that to: Nnenn. This collection of fighters shows what Nnenn has been building in the past month and a half. All the models are variations centered around a basic cockpit box design, shown on the bottom right corner of the picture.
Also check out this 360 view of one of his starfighters. I think that for the 68 edited photos used to make this, it’s worth your attention.
Legoloverman has achieved that which most of us can only dream about. He has built a better mousetrap. I think it’s pretty spiffy, myself.
