Monthly Archives: December 2012

10221 Super Star Destroyer for $309.99 on Amazon

Amazon currently has the LEGO Star Wars Super Star Destroyer 10221 on sale at $309.99. If you have an Amazon Visa, you can use the code TOY20OFF for en extra $20 off. This is the lowest price that I’ve seen the set go for on Amazon, and there’s no guarantees how long it will stay at this price.

That’s No Moon

Flickr user Legorobo has built a gorgeous microscale rendition of the mighty fortress at the heart of the White Comet Empire in the classic anime Space Battleship Yamato. Legorobo has taken it an extra step, though, and added both lights and motors to complete the fantastic effect.

The Wheels of Progress

Here’s a visceral scene by Riccardo Zangelmi. I love the simple architecture which evokes a heavy industrialized zone through so few pieces, and the irregular base that adds a great sense of motion to the diorama. And that monstrous unicycle is just awesome.

Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.

I once tried to build a microscale LEGO version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but never got very far. Bart Willen has certainly been more successful, with a LEGO rendition full of spires and columns atop a cliff.

Miniature Hogwarts

Via MicroBricks.

Gilcélio Chagas: If you die it’s my turn. – Boilerplate & Beyond Vol. 15

After a brief hiatus the Boilerplate & Beyond interview series returns with another baker’s dozen of builders from around the planet. This time around we’re starting in Brazil with Gilcélio Chagas who brings a much needed breath of fresh air to the hobby with his diverse mix of building skill, sense of adventure, Latin good looks and as this interview will illustrate, a way with the ladies. I recently sat down with Gilcélio, rocketing across the Third Bridge towards his home town of Vila Velhas. We talked about the Treaty of Tordesillas, Pele Vs. Messi and how Vila Velhas earned its nickname “the land of green shins”. We also talked about LEGO.

The Build

Rescue vehicle Pisten bully.(snowcat)KG: A perusal of your photo-stream on Flickr makes it clear that you love building large-scale cars. How do you approach building vehicles and which vehicle has been the most challenging to build?

GC: I don’t have a rule to make my builds, I always start with the difficult part of the car, that way I expend less time if I can’t make it. Of course it’s more common for me to start from the front, that in most cases has more details and requires more attention.

The most challenging vehicle for me comes from a movie called Gran Torino, directed by Clint Eastwood, the car gives the movie its name, and every time that I see the film I get crazy to make it in LEGO, the curves gives a difficult special touch in this adventure.

KG: When working on a difficult model, how much advice from other builders to you typically ask for, or do you prefer to go it alone? When you give building advice, do you consider the builder’s feelings or try to be as honest as possible?

GC: Sometimes it is important to ask for a second opinion, who is riding puts a bit of feeling in the assembly and it ends up getting in the end result, the second opinion can be used exactly for this, take away the sentimentalism part and assess impartially.

I think I asked for advice twice, the first was the Dodge Charger that I asked the opinion of Lino who gave important tips for the project and the second time was my most important project in the island desalination that I counted on help from Nannan who was a very important aid.

LEGO 1968 Dodge Charger

Thanks Lino and Nannan.

Giving this kind of advice is very complicated without knowing the inventory of the builder. Imagine that you request to modify some point of the project without knowing if they have the required piece or not. When I’m gonna give a tip I try to be honest, of course every project must have the characteristics of the builder.

KG: You have drawn inspiration from the ultimate video game system, the Atari 2600. Is it just nostalgia that drives you to build in 8-bit style or is there something more? Also, what games would you like to tackle in the future?

GC: When I started with Atari 2600 project, I had in my mind the idea to immortalize in Lego pieces the Atari games that a lot of people have never heard before, and I couldn’t let this important part of my childhood die in this way.

2012

What made the Atari so good was the fact that if you wanted to play with someone you had to go into the house of a friend. There was nothing online, it was all in someone’s home and that made the game even cooler this interaction and simplicity of the games. “If you die it’s my turn.”

And that’s the reason that I’ve made my projects so simple, without many resources because Atari was like that, simple and captivating.

The Community

KG: Describe LUG Brasil. How did you come into contact with the LUG and what happens at a typical meeting? Both the United States and Brazil are among the most racially diverse countries on the planet, but unfortunately most American LUGs do not reflect this diversity. Can the same be said for Brazil?

GC: The LUG Brasil is an excellent place for Lego lovers like us, we have great builds there, challenges, meets, tips, and things related with this hobby that we have in common. My contact is basically by the internet and face to face meeting when it’s possible.

We have a good diversity of the Brazilian population, here you can find all kind of races, sex, religions etc. But the LEGO in Brasil is very expensive, sometimes the price is so high as to be 4 times greater in other countries, which makes LEGO access more difficult to the people with less purchasing power.

Read the full interview after the jump!

LEGO Lone Ranger sets coming in April 2013 [News]

In case you missed it, Disney will be releasing a new movie starring Johnny Depp by Gore Verbinski (who directed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies and the excellent Rango) next July based on the classic Western Lone Ranger. After LEGO Prince of Persia and Pirates of the Caribbean, it should come as no surprise that LEGO will be releasing a line of sets, due out in April.

Update: LEGO released their Lone Ranger site too early and got in trouble with Disney. Since this is just a silly mistake, we’re complying with their request to remove the image.

No official word on the sets, but rumors are rampant on the web, so I’m sure you’ll be able to find the list of sets (the titles of which are full of movie spoilers) if you really want to.

Filthy Hobbitses!

I have a feeling that we are going to see a large influx of builds inspired by The Hobbit, and Iain Heath certainly starts us out with a bang!

Finders Keepers!

Please check out the full set for more views.

LEGO Tetris

Jameson Gagnepain clearly has a surplus of those ever-so-useful LEGO game dice. He’s put them to good use for his entry into the Like a Boss contest, resulting in this fabulous display of impossible Tetris:

For an added touch, he’s done a stop-motion version complete with the frustrating anticipation of not getting the particular shape that you need:

TMNT: 79100 Kraang’s Lab Escape [Review]

I found Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets in my local toy store today, which is the first time I’d seen them in person. So, naturally, I picked one up.

TMNT Kraang's Lab Escape 79100.01

I just nabbed the smallest one for now, because I must confess that I’ve never really watched TMNT.

79100 Completed So this review will be purely from the Lego point of view, as I can offer no helpful advice about how closely the sets adhere to the show (also, you should be able to tell that yourself from the official photos).

Kraang’s Escape Lab (79100) has 90 pieces and an MSRP of USD $12.99, which feels about right for a licensed set of this size, and there are no stickers in sight, which is terrific.

Kraang The Head ClingerKraang’s little legged vehicle is a pretty nice build, and feels very playable. The cockpit rotates independently of the legs, and it’s got one of those ubiquitous flick-fire missiles mounted on each side. I do wish canister bit underneath weren’t there, as it touches the ground, even though the legs are perfectly capable of supporting the weight of the vehicle. Inside the cockpit are two flat silver 1×1 round tiles with a marvelous simple dial printing.

Kraang himself is a pretty awesome little alien monster. I was surprised to discover that he’s actually a headpiece, and includes a solid dark pink head inside. He and the head-clinger from Alien Conquest can duel it out for control of your minifigs’ brains. The two minifigs are both good designs, and both include printed backs. The holding cell has a catapult function to break Michelangelo out, which works quite well for its simplicity. I’m excited about Michelangelo’s nun-chucks, because I can always use more short chains and brown tubing.

Printed BacksI really wish, though, that the handles were the Bar 3L piece (like a shorter light-sabre blade) instead of a 3-long piece of pneumatic tubing. A neat bonus though was that several of the pieces I found most useful were included as extras. All in all, it’s an average set–nothing here to get too excited about (unless you’re a huge fan of the license), but still competent for what it is.

Chanukah at the Cooperman house

Hillel Cooperman over at BrickPOP has built a lovely vignette of his family in their living room on Chanukah (which starts this evening at sunset).

LEGO Chanukah vignette

Hillel says, “Some details include presents, our three cats, all five family members, the menorah, the lit shamash (the candle you light the other candles with), soufganiot (jelly donuts – a holiday tradition), and a lit fire (thank you light brick). Enjoy!”

GARC...it’s a thing!

Because spacers take things that are awesome and make them more awesome by adding SPACE!!!!

SpaceLynx - Title1
By .Jake

Shiny Bits -- Main
By Uspez Morbo

GARC Rockdodgers
By halfbeak

Tachyon Turtle - GARC Group B Racer
By LordHarrier

Further information…

Fuente de Cibeles in Classical LEGO form

Víctor Martínez Nouvilas has recreated the Fuente de Cibeles, the iconic centerpiece of the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid. I am a sucker for classical art in LEGO and Victor nailed it.

Fuente de Cibeles