The Brothers Brick

This mecha is quite impressive. I am not usually in favor of rebuilds but this one by Lord Dane is the bee’s knees. This one has quite the intimidating aura going on.

Just a reminder that BrickExpo 2011 kicks off in Canberra next weekend (6th and 7th Aug). So if you’re in the neighbourhood head along.

This will go live in my absence so please direct any queries straight to the Brick Expo team.

After building a creation that uses real water, Aaron Amatnieks (akama1_lego) sets out to do what no one has ever done – to use fire in a Lego creation, and I’m not talking about flame pieces. Kids, don’t try this at home!

I was in the mood to build a mecha, and I wanted to add a slightly disturbing twist to it. More description is on Flickr if you’re curious to find out what it’s doing.

Seasonal LEGO sets can be hard to find if you miss the narrow window in time when they’re available, so it’s nice to get a chance to pick them up again if time got away from you the first time around. Thankfully, Amazon.com seems to have found a batch of 10199 Creator Winter Toy Shop sets buried in their warehouse.

Sure, we’re four months away from Christmas, but I doubt you’ll get a chance to complete your LEGO holiday town again, so pick them up while they’re still available online.

Speaking of MaK, Fredoichi returns to form with this little quadruped beauty, sporting minifig bike helmets as some excellently rounded grills.

PCHLUG’s 101 Challenge is quickly approaching their July 31st cut-off date! Make sure you submit your block-buster themed entry to their Flickr group by July 31st.

Prizes include fantastic custom trophies built by PCHLUG’s members!

For complete rules, click here!

Comic-Con was crowded. The biggest pop culture celebration in the world happened in San Diego from July 20 to 24. Over 125,000 crashed my Downtown where I work and eat. Infernal interlopers. Seriously, it was great hectic fun as always. It’s nice to live in the city where there’s an annual shopping, people watching and pop culture extravaganza of epic proportions.

I wasn’t lucky enough to get 4 day passes with preview night or scoop everyone on the biggest LEGO related news from Comic-Con, but others in the LEGO and Comics fan worlds were on it, and we were able to pass it on to you last week: LEGO negotiated DC and Marvel Comics licenses. DC sets are scheduled for set releases in January 2012 and Marvel in summer of 2012.

I went back on Sunday and got some slightly better pictures of prototype minifigures of Wonder Woman (with very invisible plane), Super Man, Hulk, Batman, Cat Woman, Poison Ivy, Thor, Iron Man and Wolverine.

There was also a display with four Hero Factory tie in figures: Green Lantern, Batman (no, I don’t know what’s attached to his back), Iron Man and The Hulk.

Both the minifigs and Hero Factory characters are official, but keep in mind they’re prototypes so they’re likely to be a bit rough and have changes before final release.

Unfortunately, the only LEGO panel this year was a Star Wars panel on Friday morning, which I missed. D’oh!

The other great highlight is running into all kinds of people. People in costumes, friends and even friends in costume. The only LEGO related costume I saw this year was a sexy red number sported by Michael “Bruno” Todd, an excellent human being, cat rescuer and force of nature. He dressed up just like an extremely rare vintage LEGO promotional figure that he somehow managed to snag late last year. Really, he looks just like the doll.

I was also amused by a woman dressed as Poison Ivy standing right next minfig Poison Ivy. My wife also dragged me over the LEGO free build area to see a strong contender for my personal Cutest Hobbit Child Dressed as Yoda Prize. Very prestigious.

Another great highlight of at Comic-Con is all the inspiration for LEGO building. Several weeks ago I searched all over the internet to find good concept art for the Numereji 2421 display at BrickCon and found some good stuff, but nobody quite had what I was looking for. It was a pleasant surprise to run across Robh Ruppel’s book, Aspect Ratio, and the great concept art sketches on his website. Not too militarized, not too idealized. Hit my personal sweet spot.

That’s it. Great weekend of geeky frolicking.

TR Brownridge (.Tromas) is organising a starfighter contest based on Maschinen Krieger (MaK). Since my love of MaK is far from secret I encourage everyone to give it a go.

To get to the important details first: it runs from August 1, 2011 – October 1, 2011 in the Starfighters Group so head over there to play.

I’ve copied the rules and prizes appears below to get you inspired.

The RULES are pretty simple:

1. Make it look like it belongs in the MaK universe
2. Must be a starfighter (same rules as the group: no frigates, corvettes etc.)
3. Must be mini-fig scale. It doesn’t have to have a pilot (a lot the Strahl units are autonomous), but it does have to be to that scale
4. Custom stickers/parts, clones brands etc are all permitted (MaK is after all, all about kit-bashing)
5. Must be a new design
6. 2 entries per person (in case anyone wants to do both a Merc & Strahl unit :)
7. Submit a single photo of the model to the contest thread in the Starfighters Group
8. Contest Timeline is August 1, 2011 to October 1, 2011 (I want to give you all lots of time to get creative)

PRIZES:
Brick-A-Thon has generously helped me out with the prize money, so I am happy to say that the amounts are higher than what I was initially planning:

• 1st Place – $75.00 Bricklink Coupon
• 2nd Place – $50.00 Bricklink Coupon
• 3rd Place – $25.00 Bricklink Coupon

All entries will be judged by myself, Peter (peterlmorris) and Tim (gambort). Once the winners have been decided, I will notify Brick-A-Thon and they will apply the coupons to your Bricklink account.

tbone_tbl just finished this rendition of the iconic ship “Serenity” from Firefly and it’s gorgeous! I love that show. Joss Whedon is my master.

Dylan Denton made this. It’s awesome and red. I will only distract you from looking at the picture so I’ll be quiet now.

George Panteleon’s piranhas may not actually be eating the guests but they look like they are capable of it. There is a lot to love in this viciously fishy build. This is one of those creations that makes me want to build it myself. I think I need some hanging about my desk to keep pesky co-workers away.

Karwik’s chopper is a little beauty. It embodies the main element of a good build: Simplicity. It has clever parts use but doesn’t overdo it. All too often builders keep tacking bits onto a build and don’t know when to stop. Karwik does and it shows.

The summer 2011 LEGO Star Wars sets continue to arrive at the LEGO Store online. As much as I appreciate the cool vehicles in the Star Wars universe, it’s nice to see LEGO release playsets occasionally, like the new 7879 Hoth Echo Base.

It’ll set you back 90 bucks, but the base contains a Tauntaun and eight minifigs, including R-3PO the red protocol droid, 2-1B medical droid, and a Bacta tank Luke. (Release news via FBTB.)

Also at $90, I’m personally more impressed with the revamped 7962 Anakin Skywalker and Sebulba’s Podracers, which FBTB reviewed in detail recently.

Okay, so this cassette player by Angus MacLane may not actually play your favorite 80′s tunes, but it’s equally portable and no less nostalgic.

The pressed switch is a nice touch.