Monthly Archives: October 2009

TER-03 Exploration Hardsuit

Alvaro Gunawan (pyrefyre) treats us to a new hardsuit “For times when a regular space suit just doesn’t work.”

LEGO hardsuit

This one works rather nicely, though I have to admit that if I squint my eyes, it does look just a little bit like it has a duck’s face…

Fully motorized 1:17 Liebherr L 580 wheel loader

I always love LEGO Technic creations that look like they’re built from SYSTEM components, but turn out to have lots of functionality. This Liebherr L580 Marek Markiewicz is an excellent example of SYSTEM aesthetics combined with Technic capabilities.

LEGO Liebherr L580

Watch the video to see this vehicle in action.

For all the technical details, check out the write-up on TechnicBricks.

Pillage the Village II: The Calm After the Storm [Contest]

The second Pillage the Village contest has been launched on Classic-Pirates.com.

LEGO Pillage the Village contest

Prizes will be awarded for large, medium, and small LEGO creations, with a deadline of November 30th, 2009.

Weekly LEGO news roundup for October 10 (and 2), 2009 [News]

We skipped a week last Saturday for BrickCon, so here we go with a two-week roundup.

  • Dan & Nannan in LEGO Book: Our fellow bloggers Dan and Nannan are featured in a new LEGO Book from DK.
  • Ben 10: The new Ben 10 figures evoke the dreaded Galidor for many of us. But are they really that bad if they help sell LEGO?
  • LEGO Atlantis minifigLEGO Atlantis: Reactions to the first high-res pics of 2010 LEGO Atlantis sets are rather more positive. They’re kind of like Space Police … under the sea!
  • BrickCon 2009: The biggest LEGO fan convention west of the Mississippi happened in Seattle last weekend, with five of our seven contributors in attendance. I’ve written a wrap-up, as well as an “after-action review” of Zombie Apocafest 2009.
  • LSWVD out: The new LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary has also just been released, and includes an exclusive Ceremonial Luke minifig (though early reports indicate some issues with the fig’s quality).
  • 10210 Imperial FlagshipYarrr!!!: A new LEGO Pirates set, 10210 Imperial Flagship, was unveiled at events in the US and UK. Pirate fans rejoice the world over.
  • Winter Toy Shop: Though the Pirates Advent Calendar won’t be pillaging American shores this year, 10199 Winter Toy Shop may assuage the holiday LEGO needs of North American LEGO fans.

LEGO Star Wars Slave Leia as a CubeDude – CubeBabe? CubeGirl? She’s CubeLicious!

Beyond the originals by Angus MacLane, my favorite CubeDude so far is this lovely Princess Leia as Jabba’s slave girl by Larry Lars.

LEGO Star Wars Slave Leia CubeDude figure

I love the fact that Larry’s Leia is less, uh, cubical than most other CubeDudes. Beyond juvenile references to CubeDude anatomy, Larry has incorporated some really interesting techniques, including LEGO coins as earrings. Larry explains:

The coins are squeezed in between the head and the 1×1 round plates connected to the underside of headlight bricks. Since there is an edge on the coins they stay there.

There’s somethin’ movin’ and it ain’t us!

Lord Dane presents the best minifig-scale xenomorph from the Alien series that I recall seeing.

LEGO Aliens xenomorph

Exo-Force robot arms, minifig hands, and even flippers add a lot of organic detail to the alien.

DK LEGO Book features Dan & Nannan [News]

Newly released and available on Amazon, The LEGO Book has LEGO creations from Brothers Brick bloggers Dan and Nannan.

The book is 200 pages long (in two volumes), and also includes a 96-page booklet celebrating the 30th anniversary of the minifig.

A lovely view of the country

This rustic scene by Yvonne depicts Woodvale in early morning. The buildings borrow their style from the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. I really like how the lighting simulates a sunrise.

Rubber ducky, you’re the one . . .

Like Dan, I picked up a bug at BrickCon, but unlike him I dont’ have the good sense to avoid blogging while sick.

While (or “whilst,” if I want to be contextually appropriate) BrickCon was the big event on this side of the Atlantic last weekend, builders in the UK geared up quite successfully for The Great Western LEGO Show (Oct 3-4) at the STEAM Museum in Swindon, England. They have a lot to brag about, both individually and collectively, but this sculpture of Bert and Ernie by James Shields (LostCarPark) is what caught my feverish and sentimental eye.

Bert and Ernie

As Ralph Savelsberg said in the comments for the picture “Is anybody our age not a fan of these two?”

The return of Galidor, aka the Ben 10 figs [News]

A lot of fans were skeptical when LEGO announced upcoming Ben 10 sets, and they were right. We now have pictures of the upcoming Ben 10 big figs from Amazon.com available for pre-order. If it’s not already obvious by the discussion on Flickr, these new sets look like a rehash of the failed Galidor line. Perhaps these products may appeal to some kids and fans of the cartoon, but at $18 each, sales are going to be very limited.

Pictures from Mr. Mandalorian

Remote Armor Team

I was lucky enough to catch a foul and evil virus while at BrickCon last weekend. I was sick all week, but I’m finally feeling well enough to do some blogging. Several of the things that caught my eye during my illness have already been covered by other contributors here, but at least one is still unblogged. Tyler Clites’s (legohaulic) Remote Armor Team.


Remote Armor Team

Some people (like Tyler himself) may think that I like this just because of my well-known soft spot for the combination of tan and dark gray. While that’s certainly a part of it, the hover tank has a great look to it. In fact, it reminds me of some concept art that I’ve been wanting to build for months. Whether or not the same inspiration was there, I’m glad someone has built a hovertank in this style.

Doctor Who visits BrickCon 2009

Through a fortunate series of events, Alan McMorran was in Seattle last weekend and dropped by BrickCon for a day. When he wasn’t hanging out with the zombie overlords, he was taking a really cool set of pictures featuring his Doctor Who minifig and LEGO TARDIS.

LEGO Doctor Who vs. Dragon

Here, the good Doctor manages to avoid Josh’s motorized dragon in a cave, part of a massive LEGO Castle display with a 2,000-minifig battle.

Check out all of Alan’s Doctor Who adventure photos on Flickr.

(And in case you’ve missed it, I’ve updated my BrickCon 2009 wrap-up post with more links.)