The Brothers Brick

Now in its seventh year, the massive multi-category contest, run annually by Classic-Castle has gone live.

Categories include Technological Advances, Alternate Sets, Medieval Mariner, Outlaw Escape, Eastern Medieval Life, Religous Life, Knight’s Training, Custom Castle Figure, Brick Castles, Fantasy Castles and Misc. The prizes are quite impressive, including vintage Castle sets, new sets, older MISB set, custom accessories and more. So get out there and get medieval!

Jamie Spencer (Morgan19) once again posted some very creative and creepy minifigs throughout the past several weeks. Most of them use custom non-LEGO accessories but some are made from all LEGO parts. Here are a few of my favorites:

See the many more in the gallery on Flickr!

Sebastiaan Arts was listening to that album while he built he latest creation, so he named it appropriately. I love the two-tiered effect that he has going on here and its packed with the detail that we’ve come to expect from Sebastiaan. Check out all his pics and escape from your Monday (or Saturday…or whatever day it is on the planet you are on). I wanted to escape once….

What else is there to say? These candy machines by Armothe are perfect.

Chris Wunz’s Border Outpost is a marvel in landscaping. I really like the intricately carved paths on the mountains and the integration of the two lakes joined by a cascading ravine. The setup also features a working waterwheel and millstone, a cool addition that tops off this wonderful creation.

Working in a theme requires walking a fine line. Repetition of forms and thematic elements is necessary to tie all the creations together, but it’s easy to go overboard and be duplicative. I’m not sure whether I found the right balance with my new tank or not. You can see it below with its big brother.

When I started building this little thing, I intended it to be a comically tiny scout tank, like this. As I worked on it, though, it became clear that this would be too small that it would be too absurd even for this theme. I changed the tank to a remote tank, and that seems to work OK, even if it is a cop-out.

Ok, so I’m jumping the gun by a couple of days, but I couldn’t pass up Keith Goldman’s latest creation. The lighting is just gorgeous.

Bley Walker IV, by Alex Thyroid, has a great aesthetic. This isn’t the sort of shape you see every day for mecha. It doesn’t use a lot of flashy techniques, and there are a few rough transitions mixed in, but none of that matters. It’s just so different, and cool looking. I especially like the shape of the head, great use of technic pieces.

If you check out some of the other photos, you’ll see that the back opens. Don’t we all love play features?

No, these toys are gangster. I especially like how Daniel Shehadeh (Sir Regonold) captures the action with the truck on the curb and trash knocked over.

This haunted house by Mos Eisley is one creepy place you don’t want to venture in at night. I don’t want to think about what lurks behind those boarded up windows.

Via Eurobricks

I’ve been having nostalgic interest in old and short-lived themes, so it was nice to see this this Islander chief on his gorilla steed. I especially like how Ed captures the beefiness of the arms and the curve of the knuckles on the gorilla.

Sorry for the image quality, it’s to do with my linking, not with the quality of Ed’s original picture.

Edit (JW): The image link has been fixed.

Michael Jasper is brilliant when it comes to Mini-figure scale models–and his pillar technique is no exception.

It seems to be made up of light-saber blades and this gear. You can see more of his mini-figure scale creations here!

Thanks to Bruce for the find!

This shrine, by gtahelper, is top notch. It’s packed with all sorts of incredible details, including the first Shishi odoshi that I’ve seen. Make sure you check out the video too, the fish are very cool.

Thanks to Bruce for pointing this out to me in Classic-Castle’s chat room last night.

Box guy meet Fedde (Karf Oolhu), Fedde meet box guy.

Esben Kolind shows us how to travel in style with his Intercity Train. On top of its sleek lines and excellent detailing the train features an attractive close-coupling technique.

Dirk VH, a part-time LEGO sculptor, has built the world’s biggest LEGO Mario and is auctioning it off for charity on Ebay. The 40,000 bricks that make up this model weighs a whopping 110 pounds! How many mushrooms did you pick up Mario?

For those builders of post-apoc, military, or realist city, here’s a technique shown on a creation by Marin Stipkovic that shows a nice effect of building decay. The multi-shades of plates mimics the exposed bricks while the gray simulates broken concrete. Looks useful!

A while ago we saw a the mecha from District 9 by Brian Kescenovitz. Now, Adrian Florea (Olog) built what some have considered impossible – the organic-looking alien species known as the prawns. You’ll have to zoom in on this creation to appreciate all the subtle ingenious parts usages on this realistic rendition of Christopher the prawn with his signature red vest.