The Brothers Brick

Lino Martins found himself among the people in the world who didn’t have a spare €750,000 lying around to buy one of the 75 McLaren SLR Stirling Moss cars that Mercedes-Benz built, so he built his own from LEGO.

Dane Erland (Lord Dane) gives a very big gun to a tall mecha with tiny arms in a surprisingly effective combination that I wouldn’t want to face down on a dead-end street.

It’s wonderful to have Doctor Who back on the air, and even better that those of us watching it on BBC America don’t have to wait weeks for it after it airs in the UK. This week’s episode wrapped up the season opener rather nicely, and this LEGO treatment by Legoagogo is rather nice as well.

For the 750 (and counting) who are registered to attend Brickworld this summer, here are some announcements and reminders.

MOC registration ends today May 1st!
Apologies for not posting the reminder earlier, but in case you missed the deadline, you can direct any questions to the MOC card coordinator, Mark Larson.

Keynote speaker:
This year the keynote speaker will be Mr. Adrian Jones. Mr. Jones is the General Manager of the new LEGOLAND Park in Winter Haven, Florida and is also Vice President of Merlin Enterntainments Inc USA. The main topic of discussion will be the soon to open park.

Pre-order items:
You can now pre-order the event kit and other items. One important note is that you must purchase the engraved name badge if you want one (it is no longer included in your registration fees). You must pay for your pre-order items by June 1st.

LEGO store discount:
The LEGO stores will no longer offer 50% discounts on damaged-box items. Instead there will be tiered discounts of up to 30% on all available items. There are some restrictions including a limit on duplicates and no reselling. This seems like the best way to ensure people get what they want at a decent price.

Setup:
This will take place as early as 9 am on Thursday. So if you have to miss Wednesday (such as due to work or hotel room availability), the only scheduled event you’ll miss out on is the opening ceremony.

Charity auction:
I’m particularly excited that you can donate MOCs to the charity auction and have all the proceeds go to Creations for Charity! You just have to show up with the MOC and fill out a form. It’s really easy and in the past MOCs have been some of the best sellers.

Transportation:
The fastest and most popular method to get from the airport to the hotel is by taxi. In particular, American Taxi has the best rates (~$35 from O’Hare to the Westin). Their number is 847-255-9600, which you may want to store in your phone.

Hotel rooms:
As usual, Brickworld is held at the Westin Hotel & Convention Center. Don’t wait until the last minute to book your room because the standard two-bed rooms have already already sold out!

Light registration:
Even though full registration is closed, you can still sign up for the light registration until May 18. The main differences include the inability to display MOCs and limited access to the display halls. More details are on the home page of the website.

I have a soft spot for shiny things, and I can’t take my eyes off these 24K gold-plated BrickArms weapons. The good news is that you have a chance to get one in their newly released mystery packs. There’s a 5% chance you’ll strike gold when you spend $12 on a mystery pack, so happy hunting to all the BrickArms fans out there!