Monthly Archives: August 2009

Here’s to all those injured Bionicles out there

They should be happy now. Juho William has made them a wheelchair. And a lovely thing it is too.

LEGO Wheelchair Bionicle

Thanks to Joe for the tip off.

3LUG Presents: Faded Giant in the Shadow of the Torii Gate, a MOC Harvest

A big creation deserves a big name – that’s how 3LUG rolls. Of course, when I say 3LUG, I mean Nick Kappatos and myself. Nick and I started discussing a joint display at the end of BrickFair 2008. We spent most of the last year nailing down our layout and avoiding each other, then began construction in July. We started BrickFair 2009 sleep-deprived, nearly resulting in a fight club, but everybody kept their shirts on (for the most part) and ‘The Faded Giant’ was ready for action.

3LUG Presents: Faded Giant in the Shadow of the Torii Gate

We were lucky enough to get help from our families while building this behemoth; our wives laid down copious amounts of brick. We also got lots of help from friends during setup – thanks to Adrian Drake, Carter Baldwin, Nick’s brother, Stunt Drivin’ Steve Witt, and others.

Arial view of Faded Giant in the Shadow of the Torii Gate

If the questions we were asked at BrickFair are any indication, you readers are no doubt wondering what the story is behind this dio. While we have a basic story in mind, 3LUG policy is to leave much of the story up to the imagination of the viewer. An alien ship has crash-landed in a park in Neo-Tokyo. Military and Police units are starting to respond, as members of the public react in various ways. Is the military more interested in the craft, or in the civilians who saw it? Why did the alien ship crash? Was it a pilot error? Shot down? No wings or landing gear? You decide.

Check out both my photos and Nick’s photos. I have more overall shots, and Nick has some nice angles and details.

Tail stolen from Berlin LEGO Giraffe [News]

Reuters reported last night that someone has stolen the tail from the LEGO Giraffe outside the Berlin Discovery Center.

LEGO Giraffe Berlin Tail Theft

(photo by Peter Mayr)

Caroline Copley of Reuters writes:

Visitors to a tourist attraction in Berlin have been making off with an unusual memento — the 30 cm long tail of a Lego giraffe.

The Lego tail belongs to a six meter tall model that has stood outside the entrance to the Legoland Discovery Center on Potsdamer Platz since 2007.

“It’s a popular souvenir,” a spokeswoman for the center said Tuesday. “It’s been stolen four times now …”

The tail is made out of 15,000 Lego bricks. It takes model workers about one week to restore it at a cost of 3,000 euros ($4,300), the spokeswoman said.

What I want to know is which one of you has the tail. Fess up now!

Mark Kelso’s Apocalypsis II: The Conflict Within

After more than a year since the first chapter, Mark Kelso has completed the second installment in his “Apocalypsis” series.

LEGO Apocalypsis diorama by Mark Kelso

As before, Mark’s diorama includes some of the most complex landscaping and amazing photo editing being presented by LEGO fans today. Click the picture to read the story (with music) on MOCpages.

Brickshelf Find: Scouzy

Brickshelf user Scouzy has some great science fiction creations online. They’re worth checking out. I think this motorcycle is the most recent, but my favorite is this mecha.

SW Bike by Scouzy

Thanks to Bill (Kidthor) for the tip.

As Eagle’s dare

Peter Normans LEGO train with eagle logo

And to continue with some trains this one from Peter Normal (swoofty) has a fabulous brick-built eagle logo for the US bicentennial.

New fangled steam

Bambis BR01-10 steam train

Brickshelf user Bambi not only makes some of the nicest steam and old-fashioned town models around, he (I assume) also takes excellent photographs. What’s more for this BR01-10 he has included photos and renders of the crucial bits to allow us to see how it all works. It works brilliantly in my opinion.

Of special note is the novel approach to the drivers and use of PFS lights.

LEGO Universe moves forward [News]

LEGO Universe screenshot

The first screenshots of LEGO Universe have just been released and Jim Foulds has asked us to share them with the world. In his words

The first screenshots for LEGO Universe make their world premiere this week. These images show off the diversity the players will encounter in the game. It’s scheduled to launch in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UK, and North America in 2010.

Safety is a huge priority for LEGO Universe. Many solutions are being explored through technology, processes, and people to provide the most creative and safe environment possible.

Of course since it is a LEGO product, one can expect a creative and building focus to give players the opportunity to do a variety of activities that allow for them to interact with the LEGO elements in a virtual reality. Building with LEGO elements in LEGO Universe will take many forms, ultimately allowing players to bring their real-life creations to life inside the game.

LEGO Universe will feature a subscription model. Lot’s of research and evaluation of various models went into this decision and we feel it provides the best method to provide a trusted online experience for the player.

We’re sure you wondering about beta and the “VIP launch”. We still plan on doing both, but we are not ready to announce dates or how to sign-up just yet.

Please keep an eye out on future updates and if you absolutely have to have the latest information make sure to visit www.legouniverse.com.

BrickFair 2009 Wrapped Up [News]

I returned home from BrickFair last night at about midnight. It was a crazy fun blast. Photos from the event are starting to pop up on BrickShelf and Flickr.

BrickFair 2009 Public Day Crowd

As you can see above, there was a pretty huge turnout from the public as well. I gather that the total number between the two days was between eight and nine thousand people. That’s a lot to be crammed into a hotel ballroom. Fortunately, next year, BrickFair is moving to a real expo center. I’m psyched about all of the space (Space!).

I tried to take photos of the “impaired” speed build competition, but the lights were turned down in order to make things more difficult. If you ever have the opportunity to watch a bunch of drunk LEGO fans (all of legal drinking age, of course) trying to assemble a gear train in the dark, on a multi-colored tablecloth, I highly recommend it.

There were also some pretty epic creations on display at the show. I’m pretty sure that some may have even debuted there. There were definitely a few that I hadn’t seen on the internet. I enjoyed Chris Edward’s “ArchipeLEGO“, which he has posted as separate islands here. Another highlight was Brickistan, a middle-eastern castle diorama that was chock full of detail, and hard to find photos of. A friend and I also had a pretty big creation up our sleeves for the convention, but we haven’t gotten the photos ready to post yet.

Neon babylon

Tim Goddards Neon Classic Space

Tim Goddard (roguebantha_1138) has put his new microfigures to work in his adorable Neon Classic Space project (geddit!). I just wish I could purchase these sets so I could have a play myself.

Our (micro) Town

Janey “Red Brick” Gunning posted this magnificent micro-scale rendition of 10184 Town Plan.

Each building is completely recognizable as being the mini-version of it’s minifig-scale counterpart. For close-up shots, check out the theater, the gas station, and the courthouse!

Martin Latta builds a bunker to survive our bleak future

I’m not entirely sure why there’s so much advanced technology in evidence throughout ApocaLEGO creations. After all, haven’t we learned that even apostrophes are susceptible to nuclear attack? Maybe it’s because advanced technology places the apocalypse somewhere in the distant future, safely beyond our lifetimes.

Or it could be that it’s just cool, like this neat little dio by Martin Latta.

LEGO post-apoc desert base

The scene includes a heavily armed VTOL scout fighter, gun emplacement, cyborg, door to an underground bunker, and what appears to be a warning siren — a logical addition to any such scene, though the first I’ve noticed.

Via the ever-vigilant Young Spacers.