The Brothers Brick

As a total history nerd, this ancient Egyptian nobleman’s villa that Deborah Higdon (d-higdon) built earlier this year for for an exhibit at Ottawa’s Museum of Civilization caught my eye. It’s a composite of historical reconstructions she found in books, and then she made it her own.

She’s not satisfied with a few of the peripheral elements, but the architectural detail, scenes of regular life, and beautiful garden make up for any minor shortcoming.

This giant cyborg eyeball by Matt Armstrong (monsterbrick) is just a little bit creepy.

It’s Halloween every day at Matt’s house, so I’m looking forward to him really gearing up for this coming holiday with more great creations like this one. In his case, I’ll forgive the starting holiday decoration and building two months in advance. Especially since he might have this thing attack me.

This gorgeous residence by Karwick is top notch. The chimney sweep has to be my favorite touch, but there are plenty of other details to love in there. Check out that roof design for one.

Thanks to Hendrick for the tip.

William Gage has built a very nicely detailed medieval creation that he has dubbed “Castle Carlin”. You have to check out all the nifty details. He says you’d better like it.

Our fortunate friends in the UK can receive free promotional LEGO Star Wars sets and items starting this weekend (September 5th) by purchasing the Daily and Sunday Mirror newspapers.

You can discuss this and see some reviews of the sets on Eurobricks.

I’ve seen a bunch of space pirate spaceships, but never one that looks like an old-schooled pirate ship as made by Wes Pitter. The sails on this vessel are quite a novelty. You may be wondering, how does one walk the plank on a ship in space? According to the builder, “all the captain had to do was hold onto a rail, switch off the gravity, and give the offending deck-hand a good shove. He probably said something like, ‘Arr, you scurvy landlubber…!’ Or something like that.”

Andrew Lee has set his talented hand to some aliens in the style of, well, Alien. I think that H.R. Giger would be proud.

Make sure to note the fantastic technique used on the tail (you can see it wrapping around the right side of the rock). Also note the inclusion of the tiny mouth emerging from the alien’s mouth, a detail often overlooked in Aliens creations.

Looks like the Train Tech Building Contest at Eurobricks is bringing train fans out of the woodwork. Josh Morris (I Scream Clone) has drawn inspiration from his local Wollongong (wool-on-gong to the non-natives) stations for this cute little destination. I’m particularly drawn to the grille bricks under the arches but given the scarcity of Aus-inspired train stations it was always going to be a winner in my eyes.

Okay, maybe not, but this is a lovely Donald Duck by Erik Smit (.eti).

Erik’s LEGO Donald Duck combines pieces that span at least 30 years of LEGO, from the “maxi-fig” hat and arms to the Clikits Belville piece as Donald’s mouth. Nice chiarascuro in the photo, too.

“…only to show you that it does not exist,” writes Ken Robichaud (buriedbybricks).

The simple construction of the black-and-white background contrasts wonderfully with the brightly colored, brick-built letters that spell out “SCHISM”.

As much as some of us may have wished otherwise, The LEGO Group — and the toys it produces — needed to change if it was to survive the near-bankruptcy it experienced five years ago. Looking back today, from the throes of the most serious global economic crisis since the Great Depression, it’s hard to believe that LEGO is experiencing record profits. And yet it is.

Read Turning to Hollywood Tie-Ins, Lego Thinks Beyond the Brick in the New York Times to learn how the company charted a course to recovery. Oh, and look for the quote from me on page 4.

So, dear readers, how do you feel about the sacrifices that LEGO has made to survive in the modern world? Sound off in the comments.

The same applies to this creation, from Jonathon Derksen. An entry for the 23rd Challenge over at LUGNuts, the red truck is quite unassuming:

But have a look inside and see why you want this truck on YOUR side during the Zombie Apocalypse.

Andrey Kudinov (k100m ) has built a lovely Gaz-AA (aka Ford-AA) firetruck from the 1930s to go with set 10197. I love all the little details he has snuck into this and it makes a wonderful companion to the set.

I’ve also been working from the same era with this 1930s style lorry (truck for non-Brits).

The much-anticipated 10197 Fire Brigade and 10198 Tantive IV are now both available from the LEGO Store online, with free shipping through October 12, 2009 on orders over $75. 10185 Green Grocer is also on sale for $120.

10197 Fire Brigade includes 4 minifigs and 2231 pieces, and costs $150.

10198 Tantive IV comes with 5 minifigs, 1408 pieces, and also costs $150.

Finally, LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary will be available soon, with an exclusive Ceremonial Luke minifig, and is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

I’m off to order the Fire Brigade, an absolute must-have for any LEGO modular street fan!

And it’s beautiful! It’s the best layout I’ve seen in a long time. Very few people try to build in this style. The pieces are hard to get, European castles get more press, and the architecture is difficult to pull off. None of that stopped Sandy Cash. As soon as the first pictures started trickling in from Brickfair, we were getting glimpses of this incredible work. Finally, all the pictures are up and Bruce edited a picture of the entire layout. Thanks, Bruce!