Yearly Archives: 2009

The force was with LEGOLAND California

LEGO builders and Star Wars fans, including the San Diego LEGO User’s Group (SandLUG) and From Bricks to Bothans (FBTB) converged on LEGOLAND California last weekend (June 13 and 14) and set up several tables across from The Big Shop. This isn’t an effort at self-promotion, but more a desire to share a few of the great creations that I’m pretty sure the builders don’t have time to post online or the creations are just too cool to pass up.

In addition to Mark Borlase’s gigantic Hoth diorama (it tragically took a “humpty dumpty” on the way back to Las Vegas) has been featured on The Brothers Brick before, here are a few of the other notables:

Cooperatively built Sarlacc Pit by Andy Grubb (anderson.grubb) and Gary McIntire (MrGSnot). Check out my other photos which show Sarlacc’s stomach contents, perhaps the coolest feature. Yummy.

Probably the most coveted creation at the display, people were quite literally offering to buy this “Star Wars: A New Hope” chess set created by Brandon Griffith (icgetaway) right off the table, thinking it was an official set. That good. Playing with toys are (left to right) Ryan Wood (lights) and Andy Grubb.

SandLUG member Brian Heins built this Ronto that has such great coloration and was quite playable.

(Edit: misspelled Brian Heins’ name. Corrected.)

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Blaster Yoda

Somebody (Andrew) stole my thunder and mentioned this in a comment to another post a week ago, but I decided this vignette by Ken Robichaud (buriedbybricks) is still just too cool not to have its own entry.

Eis kalt

Holger Matthes breaks some rail speed records with his amazing ICE 3. As one of the ‘fathers’ of SNOT techniques Holger is no stranger to rendering complicated designs but the techniques on this are mind-blowing.

Sean Kenney builds the John Hancock Center

Sean Kenney‘s recent creation is a 5.5 feet microscale rendition of the John Hancock Center in Chicago, featuring nearly 13,000 pieces. The model has also been glued, which must have contributed to a good portion of the 80 hours Sean spent working on the entire project. Check out the gallery for detail shots including the bustling scene at the plaza.

One Flower

Sometimes it’s just nice to step back from the world of LEGO-only builders and photographers and see the great inspiration that art photographers derive from the simplicity of bricks. I ran across this flower photographed by Daniel Y. Go about a month ago and have been looking for an excuse to feature it. Then I just decided this picture doesn’t need any excuses.

LEGO Star Wars Chrome/Silver Stormtrooper minifig to be available online and in stores [News]

Many of you may know that during the recent Star Wars Weekend in LEGOLand, CA, the park sold a seemingly exclusive chrome silver Stormtrooper magnet that many fans and collectors including me have went lengths to get the limited 2 per customer. Good news for everyone: it has been confirmed with LEGO that the silver Stormtroopers will be making their way to LEGO stores and online worldwide in the next week or two.

If you’re wondering, you get a normal minifig with all the detachable parts. The cost should not exceed $12.99, which is the price they were sold at LEGOLand.

Beetlebum

We usually don’t show photographs taken on grass or other busy surfaces but I’m making an exception for this beauty by Steven Locke (legoavon). Like his other work Steve has really gone all out in getting both the shape and the texture perfect. And it works so well.

Mark conjures monsters from the beyond

I’m glad to see an addition to Mark Stafford‘s Cthulego series, which as implied by the name is a mix of Lovecraft and LEGO. This scene depicts some agents trying to reclaim a stolen artifact and is thwarted by demons from the beyond. So Mark, what the hell are those pink fairy things?

Cole’s newest has quite a bite

The Cicada by Cole Blaq is a sweet-looking ride. Really looks like it packs a punch too.

Firas gets all revved up

Firas Abu-Jaber takes a walk on the wild side with a Volkswagen Hotrod. While I love his modern supercars, this is a refreshing change for a very talented builder…

There are lots more photos to see on MOCPages.

10197 Fire Brigade, vintage LEGO fire station, coming Sept. 2009 [News]

UPDATE: 10197 Fire Brigade is now available from the LEGO Store online.

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In news that I strongly suspect reveals the mystery question mark in the 10194 Emerald Night announcement video, LEGO announced 10197 Fire Brigade at LEGO fan events in Germany and Portugal.

Here’s the full announcement from The LEGO Group:

10197 – Fire Brigade

Ages 16+. 2,231 pieces.

US $ 149.99; CA $ 199.99, UK £ 97.85, DE € 149.99

Build an authentic vintage fire station!

Ding ding ding! There’s a fire in town! The fire brigade drives to the scene from this detailed and realistic 1930’s fire station. Designed to fit with other modular buildings like 10182 Café Corner and 10185 Green Grocer, the station features rare LEGO® pieces and innovative construction techniques. It includes a ‘30s-style fire truck, 4 minifigures, a fire-dog, an opening station garage door, and a removable building roof for interior access. It also includes 2 fully-furnished floors with fire-fighting tools, racks for the firemen’s helmets, fire-pole, ping-pong table, kitchen with fully-stocked fridge, couch, bookshelf and a roof with a water tower and bell. Measures 14″ (35 cm) high and 10″ (25 cm) wide.

Includes a 1930’s-style fire truck, 4 minifigures and a fire-dog!

Features lots of realistic details including fire-fighting tools, racks for firemen’s helmets and even a fire-pole!

The station house features an opening station garage door and 2 fully-furnished
floors including a kitchen with fully-stocked fridge and a ping-pong table!

Remove the roof for interior access!

The roof is equipped with a water tower and bell!

Fire Brigade features rare LEGO elements including bricks and plates in dark tan, 1×1 dark red tiles, a red hot dog and the 3x6x5 Belleville® arch. It also features gold fireman’s helmets, a tan hand bag and a red sliding garage door!

Measures 14″ (35 cm) high and 10″ (25 cm) wide.

Add Fire Brigade to your LEGO® Town and combine it with other modular buildings like 10182 Café Corner and 10185 Green Grocer!

September can’t come soon enough for me, and you can guess where my second fire station will show up in October.

I’ve uploaded a full gallery of photos to Flickr:

UPDATE: Andreas Haase has photos from 1000steineland 2009, showing interior shots of the upper story:

Check out the album on 1000steine.de for more event pics from the event in Berlin.

LEGO tank with full interior by mad_a0

Flickr newcomer mad_a0 recently exploded onto the scene with this awesomely detailed minifig-scale tank.

Very cool, certainly, but what sets this tank apart is that mad_a0 has built a fully detailed interior. Most LEGO tanks are lucky to fit a minifig driver, much less components like a removable engine.

The exploded view itself is a study in excellent presentation. See more photos on Flickr.