The Brothers Brick

In addition to the great colorful striping on this Volkswagen rally car by Pirate_Cat, what really caught my eye was the very simple, but effective, way he created the spraying sand. It really captures the motion.

The interior is packed with cool details.

We’re nearing the end of Black History Month here in the US and Canada. In the American South, prior to the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, religion played a key role in justifying the centuries-long exploitation of men, women, and children of African descent.

In a new Epistles section of The Brick Testament, the Rev. Brendan Powell Smith has some examples of the New Testament passages that slave-owners used to rationalize treating another human being as property.

This Technic version of the Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson VTOL aircraft from James Cameron’s Avatar by Barry (barman) features so many working components it’s hard to list my favorites.

With counter-rotating props, doors that open and close, and a central joystick that controls the angle of the props, you have to see the video to believe it:

Thanks for the tip, mahjqa!

This scene by RMingTW depicts a group of soldiers destroying ships at sea, with a remarkable explosion.

Very cool, right? Nice use of elements from the new Toy Story set 7595 Army Men on Patrol. Forced perspective through microscale in the background is rapidly becoming a key factor in differentiating good LEGO scenes from excellent ones.

Now, what if the soldiers were citizens of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the ships were an invading fleet from the People’s Republic of China?

How much does context influence our perception of a LEGO creation?

Via The Living Brick, who I’ll blame if this turns into the Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis and gets Brothers-Brick.com blocked in the PRC.

Contrary to some of the earlier reports about its release date, LEGO has informed us that 10211 Grand Emporium is due out next Monday, March 1st, 2010.

LEGO has also provided some high-resolution photos of the set, including several nice interior shots and pictures of the little bits and pieces that make these modular buildings so awesome. See the full photoset on Flickr:

Here’s the complete product description from LEGO:

10211 – Grand Emporium
Ages 16+. 2,182 pieces.
US $149.99 CA $199.99 UK £ 139.99 DE € 149.99

Welcome to the grand opening of the Grand Emporium!

The LEGO® Modular Buildings series continues with this spectacularly detailed 3-story department store, designed in a realistic scale with lots of special building techniques and rare pieces. On the street outside, citizens carry shopping bags, send letters at the mailbox, admire the window mannequins, and cool off at the ice cream stand while a busy window washer works above. Enter through the revolving door to discover a ground-floor clothing department, complete with a cash register, fitting room, hats, jewelry, perfume, and even a selection of spare trousers. A brick-built escalator carries customers to the second floor housewares department with glassware and golden plates for special occasions, and then it’s up to the top floor for the toy department (complete with toy house and push-scooter) and a great big chandelier above the open atrium. Up on the roof are a billboard and skylight. Includes 7 minifigures and measures 15″ (38 cm) high and 10″ (25 cm) wide. Ages 16+. 2,182 pieces.

• Includes 7 minifigures: 1 window cleaner, 1 female shop assistant, 1 genetleman and 1 lady with shopping bags, 1 boy plus 1 male and 1 female mannequin!
• Enter the Grand Emporium through a revolving door that really spins!
• The first floor has a clothing department with cash register, fitting room, hats, jewelery, perfume and more!
• The second floor has a housewares department with glassware and golden plates!
• Take the amazing brick-built escalator to the top floor of these 3-story department store!
• The top floor is a toy department complete with toy house and push-scooter!
• Grand Emporium features a big chandelier above the open atrium and even a skylight!
• Lots of realistic details with a rooftop billboard and shoppers with shopping bags!
• Raise and lower the window washer outside the building!
• Send letters at the mailbox outside the Grand Emporium!
• Admire the window mannequins from the street and stop at the ice cream stand for a treat!
• Includes new inverted arches and rare elements like transparent 1×1 ‘headlight bricks’ and dark green windows!
• Combine with other modular buildings like 10197 Fire Brigade and 10185 Green Grocer!
• Measures 15″ (38 cm) high and 10″ (25 cm) wide!

Zach Clapsadle just posted this crazy looking ship. While I can’t approve of the painted canopy pieces, I’m letting it slide because of the shape of the ship. It’s just so interesting!

The shape is unconventional, and looks swooshable and fun. I’m always a fan of intakes on ships, and this thing doesn’t disappoint in that department. It also does a great job of mixing studs and studless construction. Each stud appears to have been placed with a thoughtful mind.

Fedde (Karf Oolhu) busts out the technic figs for this deceptively large but totally lovely personal SUB-21 submarine. I now sit in wait for comments about the lack of watertightness.

Thanks to the new LEGO Remix pool on flickr I’ve uncovered not one, but two excellent builds made using only the pieces from one or two set. Alternate set builds are a great way to get creative without access to a lot of bricks like when you’re on holidays. Cole Blaq‘s Rat Rod (above) is made from 5867 Super Car while Jim Devona’s (anoved) Asymmetrical Starfighter (below) is made from sets 8969 and 8630.

This Peterbilt 359 Logging Truck, by Maciej Drwiega., is stunning. I’ve seen a lot of Lego trucks and this one is tops. I’m loving the color as well. You don’t see these built in green very often.

That’s right folks, it’s a sad day. LEGO is putting an end to their Window to the Community program, which allowed fans to install displays in LEGO Brand Retail stores. Fortunately, all is not lost, Steve Witt and others at LEGO are working on developing a new program for interaction between the stores and the fans.

Here’s the message from Steve:

Hey everyone,

I’m mailing you because your club is involved with the Window into the community. Many of you have probably seen the rumors that the Window into the Community are going to be removed from the LEGO Brand Retail stores. Well, I’m sad to say that its true, but it isn’t the whole story.

The Windows needed to come out because the stores are desperate for the space and on top of that we (upper management and me) have been looking for a way to morph the existing strategy for Club store interaction into something that creates a better experience for the entire Club instead of just one person at a time.

I want to assure you guys that just because the Window is leaving doesn’t mean something else isn’t going to take it’s place. I just wanted to make sure you guys had some information from me.

We have a basic plan ready to implement soon but we’re also still growing the ideas. If you have anything that you and your club would really desire to do in/with a store please respond to this email as all ideas will be considered as we try to grow the new version of AFOL/Brand Retail interaction into something even more interesting and fun than we’ve ever had before.

Steve

After two-years in the making, Paul Yperman‘s Droid Control Ship will no doubt enter the ranks of the legendary Star Wars creations. Compared to Thomas Benedikt‘s version, Paul’s build differs in the surface textures of the model. He uses tiles and greebling elements in shades of gray to add realistic-looking details, which really enhances the appearance of this amazing creation.

Apparently, there are garbagemen who ride tricycles. This falls under the immense category of stuff I never knew before. If Marin Stipkovic hadn’t built this clever rendition of the trike that they use….I probably never would have known.

You can check out more pictures at Marin’s MOCpages account.

Juho William Tauriainen takes us on an underwater adventure with this scene built largely from Bionicle pieces. He has managed to achieve a very organic, eye-catching look here.

Try as I might, all I can come up with are some really tacky bee-related jokes. But I dare not say them to Ryan Wood’s strangely adorable Primopoc Buzzer…but then again, I’m afraid of bees.

Apparently I was by far from being the only fan of Mike Foy‘s monster called The Void. The simple use of the new claws are are extremely effective along with the arms made out of lever bases and the string wrapped around the torso.