Monthly Archives: September 2009

Less than two weeks left until BrickCon – there’s still time to come! [News]

BrickCon 2009BrickCon 2009 starts October 1, the Thursday after next. Five of our seven contributors will be there (Josh, Dan, Thanel, Caylin, and me), making this year’s BrickCon the single highest risk to blog continuity should an alien robot invasion take place in Seattle. Fortunately, our other contributors stand ready to pick up the bricks and carry on.

Enough with the silliness, though there’s plenty of silly that goes on at LEGO cons.

If you didn’t register before the deadline for engraved badge bricks, you can still register right up until the day of the convention — you just won’t get the fancy bricks from Brick Engraver. With more than 300 LEGO fans registered so far, this year is gonna be awesome.

Finally, if you can’t take the time off from work Thursday and/or Friday, you can also register to attend private convention events with single-day passes on Saturday and Sunday.

Important notes for our younger readers: Like most other LEGO conventions, BrickCon is intended for adult fans of LEGO. Attendees under 18 must be accompanied by a parent, and children under 13 are discouraged from attending. Similarly, contributions from collaborative displays are only open to registered attendees. Unfortunately, we can’t accept contributions to displays like Zombie Apocafest 2009 and Operation Bricklord during the public display hours.

LEGO bricks are good for building 8-bit graphics

Marcos Bessa also built a scene from Megaman in 3D. The combination of studs in different directions works out well, but I think the waterfall would look better if it were built with plates placed sideways (at the same time costing much more). Overall, this is an interesting creation; check out the gallery to see the original screenshot.

Castle on the hill

This microscale castle scene by Marcos Bessa looks pretty nifty, especially the dock and the ship. Looking at this makes me want to see a full-blown medieval landscape that rivals the size of the famous Shannonia microcity.

LEGO to discontinue Pirates line [News]

A few days ago, Andrew reported that the Pirate Advent Calendar would not be available in North America. Now we find out that the entire Pirate line will be discontinued by the middle of 2010. This is not to say that it won’t be back, but there are currently no plans for new sets. This is especially frustrating given the fact that LEGO has repeatedly made comments that Pirates would now be a regular theme. In an interview with Gizmodo, LEGO said that Pirates would be an “evergreen” theme. Also, in the 2009 Company Profile, Pirates is called a “perpetual” theme, along with Town and Castle. However, Vikings is also listed and, as we all know, that theme had a very short lease on life. While I am not an avid Pirate collector, I have bought all the sets and I share the frustration of the Pirate fan community.

Ben Ellermann, on Forbidden Cove, has started a petition. You can also make your feelings known here and our resident Lego Ambassador will be able to forward that information onto LEGO.

There is also a thread on Classic Pirates discussing the same issue.

UPDATE: Steve Witt from The LEGO Group writes:

Pirates isn’t gone, its on hiatus like every other line that isn’t one of our primary themes:

CASTLE, SPACE, and CITY

Pirates isn’t going away, it’s just not going to be a constant theme. It’s going to phase in and out just like every other theme that isn’t one of those three… I just wanted to reassure you guys that pirates isn’t disappearing. Just taking a break. :-)

David Pagano interviews Sean Kenney on New York Geekcast

David Pagano has interviewed LEGO Certified Professional and MOCpages founder Sean Kenney.

LEGO Certified Professional Sean Kenney
Photo of Sean from Sean’s website

Head on over to the New York Geekcast to download the podcast.

ThinkGeek baseplate T-shirt lets you build the pecs you always wanted

Yes, yes, yes, we got your messages. For the four readers out there who haven’t sent us this suggestion, here’s the “Brick Construction Shirt” from ThinkGeek:

ThinkGeek Brick Construction Shirt

We’ll be reviewing this unique piece of apparel when it arrives in the mail.

On the road again, with Michael Jasper

That powerhouse of a builder, Michael Jasper, has been building choppers. In his usual fashion, he’s been building a lot of them and using all sorts of different pieces in unusual ways. Check out the whole gallery for some lovely eye-candy.

LEGO motorcycles choppers

I like angles

H Russel (TalonKarde) simply calls this a T-59 Snubnose. I call it cool. He’s done a great job of combining components at various different angles, to form a cohesive ship.

LEGO T-59 Snubnose fighter

Amidst the snowy mountains...

This was just too good to pass up. The Schubert family created this amazing Alpine Village, which was displayed at BrickFair. The only photos appear to be on Brickshelf from Abe (scrope), another attendee.

Thanks to Bruce, via Fascinating LEGO Model of the Day!

Tim’s brief guide to Flickr groups

I’ve recently spent some time thinking about and subsequently altering some of the groups I’ve created on Flickr. In part this has come from me adapting to a new ‘user generated content’ internet but also in response to difficulties I’ve been having with new members in some of my groups. While I can deal with the former by wielding my administrator powers the latter is a bit more difficult.

As such I present the following loose guidelines to getting along in a Flickr group. These aren’t rules and they’re heavily biased to what I like to see but perhaps they’ll provide some food for thought. I welcome commentary on them as I’m keen to learn more about how to approach all this.

  1. Always read the guidelines of the group before joining. Some groups are free-for-alls and might not have guidelines but other’s are quite strict about what should be posted or added.
  2. Lurk for a bit. There’s no easier way to get a feel for a place than to see what the existing members do.
  3. Don’t get upset. Maybe your offering to a group isn’t what it’s interested in but that’s not a personal attack.
  4. Look for another group. If you don’t like how one group is run there might be a similar one with an atmosphere you prefer.
  5. Make your own group. If there is nothing that suits your tastes go make your own. It’s easier than whingeing about something someone else has made.

Anyway, that’s my five step program to getting along in flickr groups. I await the comments.

We love the Furry Freak brothers...

Dmacs LEGO DT-75 Tractor

Warning! This model is 100% LEGO.

Dmac has combined practicality and raw beauty into his DT-75 tractor making a truly impressive beast. That plush seat looks so comfy I’d like to shrink myself to scale and relax.

Ultimate Brickcon Advertorial

Brickcon Best Space trophy by Proudlove

If ever there was an incentive to go to Brickcon this would be it. NB. There are plenty of other reasons to go, but winning this would be the icing on anyone’s cake.