Moko’s latest hair technique gives me an excuse to post his beautiful girl in a kimono (something we haven’t featured before):
Via The Living Brick, Ochre Jelly’s new LEGO sculpture blog.
Monthly Archives: February 2009
The Arvo Brothers boot a Citroën DS
That last post deserves an Arvo chaser.
Not only do the Brothers Arvo create a Citroën DS, they also add a funny little detail — a wheel clamp, or “boot” — that makes sure their gorgeous car can’t get away. Time to pay your parking tickets!
Mega Bloks gets Halo license [LOL!]
In news sure to disappoint unsupervised tweens everywhere, knock-off construction toy company Mega Bloks announced that they’ve won the license to produce toys based on the Halo video game universe.
DRIVEN magazine has a roundup of the reaction from around the gamer community, but what does this mean to LEGO fans? What effect will this have on BrickForge (and their “Space Marine” armor) and BrickArms (with their sci-fi weapons)?
What do you think? Sound off in the comments (here or over on DRIVEN, if you like). Thanks for the tip, Eric Grant!
Interview with an Admin: Classic Space
Next up in our series of Admin interviews is a conversation we had with Dan Rubin, one of the Admins at Classic Space Forums.
TBB: How long has Classic Space been in existence?
Dan: The forums on classic-space.com (CSF) were publicly announced on December 19, 2004, so we’re just a couple of months from our Fourth anniversary. The site was founded by Chris Giddens, with help from some other members of the space community. A year or so ago, family and work pressures convinced Chris that he needed to step down, and he handed over CSF to me.
TBB: What is purpose of CSF?
Dan: Simply put, the purpose is the discussion of space and LEGO. It’s a place to hang out, and to discuss MOCs, and get criticism (constructive I hope) from other builders who build in these themes.
TBB: What does classic space include? More specifically, does it exclude Star Wars?
Dan: Classic-space really includes any sort of science fiction. This is not limited to purely space born creations, we also embrace steampunk, mecha, apocalego, and pretty much any other sci-fi genres you can think of. That means that we definitely don’t exclude Star Wars. However, Star Wars can be a bit of a sticky subject, as while it is welcome, it’s not our specialization. Many of the members of CSF have gotten tired of seeing new X-wing mocs, and can be a bit snippy about that, if they don’t see anything special or new about the latest post.
TBB: What is your vision for the future of CS?
Dan: My vision is for CSF to continue to grow and evolve as a place for discussion of scif-fi and sci-fi MOCs. I’m a huge believer in free speech, and I like to think that encourages frank and open exchange of ideas on the forum. Sometimes it also means that people can get carried away, but I like to think that we’re all enriched. The style of MOC critique on CSF is sometimes harsh, and while some people don’t like it when the kid gloves are off, others appreciate hearing a response other than “OMG! That’s awesome!”
TBB: How would you describe your members?
Dan: Our membership is constantly changing. Many of our members have been a part of the online LEGO community for five years or more, but we’re constantly growing. I think that, generally, our members are LEGO fans (be they AHOL or THOL) who are into sci-fi.
TBB: What issues are you dealing with as CS grows?
Dan: We’ve had various growing pains. We’ve had our fair share of flame wars and maturity issues among some of the members. I think this is common for pretty much any online forum, though. We’ve also had bandwidth issues. Steve Runnels hosts the forums and website on his own server, and foots the bill to keep the site online himself. Recently, I moved our concept art gallery – which is used to inspire sci-fi creations, even by LEGO designers – over to flickr.com in order to save some bandwidth.
TBB: What is the biggest reason that people should join CS?
Dan: If you want to see and discuss some great sci-fi MOCs, CSF is the place for you. We also have a lot of user-generated articles to help teach techniques for building sci-fi. It’s a great place to help hone your own space skills.
Thank you, Dan!
(see our interview with Eurobricks admin, Mark Larson, as well)
Splish splash, mish mash
Shannon Sproule (Ocean) plays with Giovanni Seynhaeve’s mish-mash Aquastlenauts theme and makes one of the coolest creatures I’ve ever seen in LEGO. There is just so much character in this entire scene.
Early 2009 LEGO City Farm sets out now. How now non-brown cow? [News]
The complete series of early 2009 LEGO City Farm sets are now available from the LEGO Shop online.
7637 Farm includes two black-and-white cows, tan fedora, tractor, and more:
7634 Tractor and 7636 Combine Harvester
add critical vehicles to your agribusiness:
A hearty “Moo!” to reader kastlekid for the tip.
I like robots
Just a quick post to show some retro-styled robots by Soren Roberts and Peter Reid.
But was it just an excuse to post this link to Dark Roasted Blend?
The Iron Guppy pacifies the unruly West
Victor Vitale takes steampunk into the Old West with this teeny tiny airship airboat piloted by a pair of U.S. cavalry soldiers.
TT Games announces LEGO Battles for Nintendo DS, due Summer 2009 [News]
TT Games‘ publisher Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment just announced LEGO Battles for Nintendo DS. The game is due out this summer, and will apparently emphasize building in original themes over the movie-based and comic-inspired adventures of games like LEGO Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Batman.
Check out this graphic of LEGO Pirates in action:
The game will also feature LEGO Castle:
Though the press release didn’t include an image, the game will also allow players to build Space creations.
Here’s a bit more:
LEGO® Battles offers a new kind of “build and battle” LEGO gameplay. Through six distinct story lines, players build their own LEGO bases and battle teams as they engage in over 70 different levels, mixing and matching units to create the ultimate customized LEGO squad. These unique LEGO battles teams see pirate swordsmen fighting side-by-side with wizards and aliens; dragons battling ninjas; and pirate ships launching broadsides against spacecraft and knights! Players can also challenge friends on the battlefield in multiplayer mode through wireless DS multi-card play.
And in case you missed it farther down the page, TT Games is hiring!
BattleTech mechs and more
New Brickshelf user lichtblau recently posted a few creations photographed and shared for the first time. lichtblau emerged from his dark ages after stumbling across Brick Commander and feeling the urge to create BattleTech designs with the more modern array of bricks and building techniques.
Check out some of the other creations recently added to the gallery.
New LEGO board games to be released [News]
LEGO has announced the release of six new board games in the second half of 2009 where players construct their own board and dice, adding a level of fun where one can play a new version of the game each time. The UK and Germany Toy Fair Press release have more coverage on these new products, but unfortunately the US will not be seeing them anytime soon as the games are to be first released in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UK and Ireland with more countries to follow in 2010.
One game, Rameses Pyramid, involves children building their own pyramid, complete with treasure buried inside and Egyptian sphinxes. Players have to collect crystals to climb their mini-Lego character up the pyramid and claim the prize – the king mummy.
Protoss Immortal by PepaQuin
The new Protoss Immortal unit from StarCraft II gets the LEGO treatment by Matt de Lanoy:
The Brothers Brick has a long history of appreciation for Blizzard+LEGO, going all the way back to my fifth post (though lately Valve+LEGO is catching up). Here’s hoping the third StarCraft II creation in a month reveals a growing trend.