Monthly Archives: October 2008

At the center of my heart is a minifig

Okay, not really (my wife would kill me if that were true), but Casper‘s brother created this stunning bronze sculpture to celebrate the minifig’s 30th birthday.

Casper described the process in a comment on MOCpages:

The technique is that you start out with styrofoam and dig a hole with a very hot thingy. Then you place a Minifig in the midle and place the whole thing in castig and make a molding form(?). Then you burn this in a very hot oven as to make everything plastic and organic to burn away. Then you pour bronze into the mold and wupti – this is what you get.

Contrary to some of the horrified responses, I think this is a beautiful piece of LEGO-inspired art.

Has the global financial crisis affected our LEGO hobby?

Sean Kenney recently posted this poignant sculpture of a “short” investor and a short-order cook. Click the photo to see more pictures on Sean’s site:

After marveling at Sean’s fantastic brick-built newspaper, I started wondering if the economic meltdown has affected how we buy or build LEGO these days.

Are we buying less LEGO? Buying more for some reason? Waiting to buy on sale or clearance? Getting inspired to build things that evoke the times, like the zombie apocalypse? I don’t know.

So, I thought I’d write a quick post and put up a new poll (finally!) to ask you, dear readers, how things are different for you today compared with a few months or a year ago. Sound off in the comments and vote in the new (completely unscientific) poll.

Note: If you see an error when you try to vote, rest assured that your vote is still being counted. It’s a conflict between two WordPress plug-ins.

[poll id=”15″]

Franken-Swoofty

Peter Norman (Swoofty) and Tony Sava have been playing around with Peter’s Franken-Loco. Since the older style 9V trains (with powered track) have been retired in favour of forthcoming Power-Functions System (PFS) based designs this offers some handy insight on how to switch over earlier with the existing PFS elements.

Only two weeks left in the GO MINIMAN GO Photo Contest!

Our GO MINIMAN GO Photo Contest ends in just a couple weeks, on October 31. Thanks for the great response so far!

Since the last time we highlighted a few, lots more great vignettes and dioramas have been posted to the contest pool on Flickr, including “Go Fast Miniman Go!” by Rupi in the 1970s category:

…and in the 1980s category, “The Surfer” by Tiberium Blue:

We’ve got some really great prizes to give away! Let’s take another look at those:

10185 Green Grocer, 852331 Vintage Minifigure Collection, and a profile on the GOMINIMANGO.com website for the grand prize winner.
10190 Market Street and 852331 Vintage Minifigure Collection for the four finalists.
5522 LEGO Golden Anniversary Set and the 852331 Vintage Minifigure Collection for the eight second-prize winners.

Want to enter?

Read the GO MINIMAN GO Photo Contest rules. The rules include important details about where and how to submit your entry.
Size up your competition in the GO MINIMAN GO Photo Contest group pool on Flickr. With 13 sets of prizes and only 50 entries so far, the field is wide open!
Build something that captures the spirit of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, or 2000s. Then, take a picture of it, add it to the group pool, and let us know!

Finally, for all your LEGO movie-makers out there, don’t forget about the great vintage sets you can win from the GO MINIMAN GO Video Contest over on Gizmodo.

There’s nothing like a peaceful garden...and a dinosaur

Tiberium Blue‘s minifig gardeners have carved a pretty nifty dinosaur topiary. It looks like its going to walk off any minute.

Thomas Wunz presents Careinst Evakyl!

Thomas Wunz brought this incredible castle to BrickCon and walked away with a well-deserved Best Castle award. The detailing on the structure itself is incredible, but the landscaping is also a thing of beauty. Well done, Thomas!

Careinst Evakyl:

I think he picks names just so I can’t pronounce them though…

Tristan goes the other way

Tristan tells us to go against the flow in this simple, but poignant, creation.

Do you agree?

だるま (Daruma)

Like his recent test pattern, Nelson Yrizarry has been taking a break from the minifig-scale creations he’s known for, to build LEGO on a more sculptural scale.

Daruma are Japanese dolls most often used to make a wish or keep oneself focused on a goal. You paint one eye when you make the wish or start something, and only paint the other eye when your wish has been granted or you’ve achieved your goal.

My wish is that Nelson will build more great stuff like this!

Anatomy of a minifig

Jason Freeny, a talented artist and designer, rendered the anatomy of a minifig in stunning detail. Wait, I never knew our minifigs had so much guts, and pretty much everything else is included as well, down to the family jewels.

Check out Jason’s website for more interesting works and deviant art that showcases the artist’s amazing creativity.

Found by Chuck Citrin (and several other readers who sent us e-mail), via Geekologie.

NoVVember

Nnenn and Peter Morris present a challenge for those of you that love Gradius and LEGO, or who just like pointy two pronged starships.

To quote them:

Novvember is Vic Viper month! nnenn and peterlmorris invite you to try your hand at building a MOC based on the classic starfighter from the Gradius series of video games.

Join the Flickr group to check out previous MOCs and concept art. There are a few guidelines, but they’re very loose. Creativity is king. Help us make Novvember the month of the Viper!

As a longtime lover of variations-on-a-theme I’m more than happy to support them in this quest. Go build a Vic Viper!