Thanel had cats growing up. I had dogs. To counteract his most recent cat-centric post, I give you Pugsly, with random LEGO animals on his head.
Balance has now been restored to the blog. All is well in the LEGO world.
Yearly Archives: 2009
Skids & Mudflap – LEGO Transformers from Revenge of the Fallen
Until a certain decreasingly juvenile wizard graces theaters next Wednesday, the 150-minute chase sequence, errr, Michael Bay extravaganza known as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen remains the #1 movie in America.
My irrelevant movie critique aside, John Ho (IcedPlusCoffee) brings us a pair of rather cool cool-looking characters from the film.
No, they don’t actually transform, but the angled slopes John used in the torsos on both Skids (green) and Mudflap (orange) are really nice.
My favorite 365-day projects
I admire anybody who can sustain a routine for a whole year, and especially anyone who can do it with creativity. Having LEGO involved helps a bit too. Two people have ongoing projects that I’ve especially enjoyed, in which they commit their LEGO selves or minifigs to a series of adventures.
The first is Sarah Mitt (Sarah.Mitt’s 365), who in this scene (day 23) has her LEGO self climbing the furry mountain of doom. (Kitty references also help keep my interest)
The second series I’ve enjoyed is by Gareth Payne, (-Gareth-), who’s “Year of the Fett,” has a Boba Fett minifig wandering the world with various sidekicks or interacting with the world. This picture he posted on day 251 is one of my favorites:
Sarah is now on day 68, and Gareth is on day 288. Keep on trucking!
Constantinople was once Byzantium
. . . then it became a They Might Be Giants song and then it became this great scene by Jordan Schwartz (Sir Nadroj).
This uses so many great elements and techniques to good effect. Note the Fez hats from the new Indiana Jones sets.
Street poets abound on Westminster Row
I’m new to the LEGO street scenes of L.G. Orlando (lgorlando), and boy have I been missing out!
The detail at the top of each is stunning. Though both buildings are distinct from each other in color and design, the tan in the red and green building ties in nicely with the other.
Here’s another group of L.G.’s LEGO city buildings. The yellow one is especially beautiful, and might be at home on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.
See more photos of L.G. Orlando’s excellent buildings on Flickr and MOCpages.
Okay, it seems a little crass to hype the Zombie Apocafest alongside these beauties, but these are all Cafe Corner standard buildings, and exactly the type of structures we’re looking for in the group display.
Lost in a Field of Dreams
This surrealist vignette by Kevin Fedde (Crimson Wolf) captures the wonders and horrors of a dreamscape. The images presented in the creation are described in an accompanying poem about a troubled individual lost in a seemingly innocent but dangerous world of his dreams.
Peterbilt Insanity Ride by Bricksonwheels
I only recently encountered the LEGO big rig creations of Bricksonwheels (also on MOCpages) when this beauty showed up on Flickr.
At this scale, Bricksonwheels packs in an incredible amount of detail. I particularly like the hood.
LEGO trains at NMRA 2009 – this weekend
As part of the National Train Show on July 10-12, 2009 in Hartford, CT, Jamie Berard, set designer of the newly released ‘Emerald Night’ and employee of The LEGO Group (TLG), will participate as part of the show. Jamie will be giving a talk on both July 10 and 11 (Fri. and Sat.) about the design process and thinking that led up to the final ‘Emerald Night’ set, and about the Power functions components that support it. Fans are encouraged to participate to offer their views on the new platform. Jamie will also be available during the show for any questions you may have about his other excellent creations – Fast Flyer, Cafe Corner, Cool Convertible, Green Grocer, and newly announced Grand Carousel.
Also as part of this year’s show, Steve Witt, LEGO Community Relations Coordinator for North America, has graciously offered to host the traditional ILTCO pizza party at LEGO corporate headquarters in Enfield, CT after the show on Sat. July 11. Along with pizza and hanging out with Steve, Jamie and some of the LEGO Master Builders from Enfield, other events such as tours of the model shop and parts of the campus will occur. All AFOL train show participants are invited to attend.
Posting a heads-up for those on the East Coast of North America. If the pictures of past NMRA shows are anything to go by this promises to be a very impressive display of LEGO.
Cycle 7 LEGO Ambassadors announced
The next cycle of LEGO Ambassadors has been announced and includes 45 fans spanning 27 nationalities and 50 different groups, which is impressive in its diversity and serves as a testimonial to the worldwide interest in the hobby.
The following lists the Ambassadors that were chosen from the 86 nominees, including the group(s) they represent and their country. Congratulations to the new LEGO Ambassadors and to Tim, who is the representative for The Brothers Brick!
Sebastion Arts – De Bouwsteen – The Netherlands
Sue Ann Barber – MUGs – Australia
Patrick Begin – QueLUG – Canada
Heiner Berg – MBFR – Germany
Norbert Black – ParLUGment – Canada
Pitsanu Boonyarit – Thai Brick Club – Thailand
Andrew Bulthaupt – BZPower – USA
Pijarn Charoensri – T-LUG – Thailand
Marco Chiappa – ItLUG – Italy
Ben Coifman – Railbricks, ILTCO & COLTC – USA
Fernando Correia – PLUG – Portugal
Yvonne Doyle – Brickish Association – the United Kingdom
Ben Ellermann – Classic-Castle.com, GtwLUG, ForbiddenCove.com – USA
Adrian Florea – RoLUG – Romania
David Furphy – CALG – Australia
Lluis Gibert – HispaLUG – Spain
Tim Gould – Brothers-Brick.com – Australia
Matija Grguric – Klub Kockice – Croatia
Philip Heinrich – Bricksinmotion.com – USA
Tom Jacobs – Classic-Pirates.com – Belgium
Tsang Yiu Keung – HKLUG – Hong Kong
Sung-Wan Kim – BrickInside – South Korea
Christian Krutzfeldt – 1000Steine – Germany
Tuomas Kukkamaa – Palikkatakomo – Finland
John Langrish – VicLUG – Canada
Igor Makarov – DoubleBrick & Phantoms – Russia
Lino Martins – LUGNUTS & SeaLUG – USA
Matija Puzar – Brikkelauget – Norway
Don Reitz – FBTB.net – USA
Wagner Cavalli – LUG Brasil – Brazil
Harald Roossien – LowLUG – The Netherlands
Dan Rubin – Classic-Space.com – USA
Yoshikazu Saito – AFOL Japan – Japan
Svend Erik Saksun – Byggepladen – Denmark
Verena Schaden – LCOe – Austria
James Shields – Brick.IE – Ireland
Josephine Shih – TWLUG – Taiwan
Mikael Sjostedt – Eurobricks & SweLUG – Sweden
Pedro Silva – Comunidade 0937 – Portugal
Ludo Soete – BeLUG – Belgium
Stacy Sterling – MOCpages & TwinLUG – USA
Saso Tomat – Slobricks – Slovenia
Jenn Wagner – BrickLink – Canada
Marcin Witkiewicz – LugPol – Poland
Cagri Yuz – TurkLUG – Turkey
Danny Rice is a Castle Crasher. Are you?
Danny Rice (Big X) has built one of the adorable playable characters from the Xbox Live Arcade game Castle Crashers. The eyes on Danny’s Red Knight are excellent.
Charismachine
Following the announcements and openings of several new LEGO stores around North American and Europe over the last couple months, quite a few people have posted pictures or blogged about the opening ceremonies. Among the crowd of photographers, Allen Kuo (photoKuo), did an exceptionally good job of capturing the bustle and color of a Build Event at the LEGO store at Baybrook Mall in Friendswood, Texas, on June 12-14. [Edit: I originally called the event a store opening, which was a mistake on my part.)
What really makes the whole series exciting is the variety of things he catches Master Model Builder Dan Steininger doing to entertain the crowd. Check out the rest of Allen’s Pirate Build Event photoset for a feel for the whole shindig.
Micro Space Roundup
There is one type of space building that has eluded me, it is micro-scale. I’m frequently impressed by the ability of builders to put parts to use representing larger structures and details. This compression of scale can produce very interesting results. I’ve gathered a few interesting recently posted micro space creations below.
First is the hangar scene above, by Peter Reid. He’s built some really interesting structures here, like the gantry on the right side. Although it’s something simple, I also really enjoy the small treaded vehicles.
Next is this cool micro scale battle by Andrew Lee. Andrew has done an absolutely fantastic job creating damaged areas on the top of the big ship under attack from Neo Blacktron forces. I also love the escape pods being ejected from the ship, they add a great sense of life and action.
Carter Baldwin built The Montero, a ship inspired by the Sulaco from Halo Aliens. Carter has made great use of the seams in between parts to give a purposeful paneled look.