Name: Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉 とよとみひでよし)
Dates: 1536-1598
Biography: Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a powerful daimyo (leader or warlord) who brought the Civil War (Sengoku) era to an end by unifying Japan under his rule. According to some scholars, he had an extra thumb on his right hand. Toyotomi Hideyoshi built the famous green-roofed castle in Osaka, where his crest remains the symbol of Osaka Prefecture to this day.
Additional reading: Wikipedia (English), Wikipedia (日本語).
From Bricks to Bothans Forums user jp-30 has posted some quite wonderful Indiana Jones minifigs. What sets these apart is the presentation (nudge nudge, folks!) — good photography combined with nice image manipulation.
Total awesomeness. Here’s the full gallery on Photobucket.com.
I can hardly believe it’s only been a year since Bruce launched VignetteBricks, the premier LEGO blog dedicated to vignettes.
VignetteBricks was one of the first LEGO blogs I encountered, and I personally would not have started either Dunechaser’s Blocklog or Pan-Pacific Bricks if it weren’t for Bruce’s inspiration.
But enough from me — head on over to VignetteBricks to read Bruce’s thoughts on VB’s first anniversary and express your own thanks!
With the help of Japanese LEGO fan Izzo, Nelson Yrizarry and I recently introduced Joe Vig to LEGO builders on the other side of the Pacific. We hope Joe will catch on in Japan the same way vignettes in general have caught on everywhere.
Izzo himself has posted several Joe Vig vignettes already, and he recently sent me a link to another Japanese builder’s home page. HIRO has already posted a Joe Vig vignette, titled “Fishing:”
Mark Stafford, of Cthulego fame, has built some great minifig-scale characters using regular parts instead of minifig pieces (previous post).
Recent updates include a “Clockwork Knight:”
And a “Sea Knight:”
I found this in my mom’s Flickr and had to post it.
Awwww, aren’t I cute? (I do have LEGO photos from that era — I’ll have to dig them out and scan them.)
（七五三の時の写真かな？）
Name: Katou Danzou (加藤段藏 かとうだんぞう)
Dates: 1503-1569
Biography: Nicknamed “Flying Katou” (「飛び加藤」), this legendary ninja is shrouded in mystery. One legend says that he swallowed a bull in front of a crowd of people.
Further reading: Wikipedia (Japanese only).
Name: Oda Nobunaga (織田信長 おだのぶなが)
Dates: 1534-1582
Biography: One of the fiercest and most feared daimyo of the Civil War (Sengoku) era in Japanese history. Born to a regional nobleman, Nobunaga spent most of his life as a warrior. By the time he died (by his own hand, after being surrounded by enemy forces), he had conquered nearly all of Japan.
Additional reading: Wikipedia (English), Wikipedia (日本語).
Japanese LEGO builder Sugegasa has been credited as one of the earliest builders in the popular vignette form (little creations on 6×6- or 8×8-stud bases).
Sugegasa takes this form to a new level in his V-pod — a vignette that fits in an X-Pod container (via VignetteBricks):
