Monthly Archives: February 2010

The LEGO Window to the Community Program comes to an end

That’s right folks, it’s a sad day. LEGO is putting an end to their Window to the Community program, which allowed fans to install displays in LEGO Brand Retail stores. Fortunately, all is not lost, Steve Witt and others at LEGO are working on developing a new program for interaction between the stores and the fans.

Here’s the message from Steve:

Hey everyone,

I’m mailing you because your club is involved with the Window into the community. Many of you have probably seen the rumors that the Window into the Community are going to be removed from the LEGO Brand Retail stores. Well, I’m sad to say that its true, but it isn’t the whole story.

The Windows needed to come out because the stores are desperate for the space and on top of that we (upper management and me) have been looking for a way to morph the existing strategy for Club store interaction into something that creates a better experience for the entire Club instead of just one person at a time.

I want to assure you guys that just because the Window is leaving doesn’t mean something else isn’t going to take it’s place. I just wanted to make sure you guys had some information from me.

We have a basic plan ready to implement soon but we’re also still growing the ideas. If you have anything that you and your club would really desire to do in/with a store please respond to this email as all ideas will be considered as we try to grow the new version of AFOL/Brand Retail interaction into something even more interesting and fun than we’ve ever had before.

Steve

30,000-piece Star Wars Droid Control Ship

After two-years in the making, Paul Yperman‘s Droid Control Ship will no doubt enter the ranks of the legendary Star Wars creations. Compared to Thomas Benedikt‘s version, Paul’s build differs in the surface textures of the model. He uses tiles and greebling elements in shades of gray to add realistic-looking details, which really enhances the appearance of this amazing creation.

Picking up trash in style

Apparently, there are garbagemen who ride tricycles. This falls under the immense category of stuff I never knew before. If Marin Stipkovic hadn’t built this clever rendition of the trike that they use….I probably never would have known.

Lego Garbage Tricycle

You can check out more pictures at Marin’s MOCpages account.

Under the Sea

Juho William Tauriainen takes us on an underwater adventure with this scene built largely from Bionicle pieces. He has managed to achieve a very organic, eye-catching look here.

Lego Undersea Water Seahorse

It’s a bee.

Try as I might, all I can come up with are some really tacky bee-related jokes. But I dare not say them to Ryan Wood’s strangely adorable Primopoc Buzzer…but then again, I’m afraid of bees.

Lurker in the darkness

Apparently I was by far from being the only fan of Mike Foy‘s monster called The Void. The simple use of the new claws are are extremely effective along with the arms made out of lever bases and the string wrapped around the torso.

Upcoming Lego magnets feature rare minifigures [News]

Have you ever wanted to get that certain minifig but don’t want to pay for the full set? Once again, many of your prayers are answered with these two upcoming minifigure packs, featuring Chancellor Palpatine, Nute Gunray, Onaconda Farr, Han Solo, Paploo, and scout trooper. I forgot to mention that the magnets are just part of the packaging :)

Update: in addition, you can get three of your favorite Toy Story characters as well :)

First photo of Vintage Minifigure Collection Vol. 5 [News]

It looks like someone got their hands on the next volume of the minifigure collection series. What I see is an awesome lineup of some of the most coveted lady minifigs in Lego history including: the forest woman, white ninja, and the doctor with the pigtail hair.

Via Eurobricks

Update: here’s an official picture from Toys N Bricks:

Micro space station M31-P5 by Ludgonious

I like the apparent simplicity of the overall design of this microscale space station by Ludgonious, especially the transparent yellow windows at the top and the round protrusions toward the bottom. Lots of good detailing without being too cluttered. A good balance.

LEGO Lugdonius micro space station

Larwenz’s 1982 Lamborghini Countach

If you were a boy in the 1980s, you probably had some sort of Lamborghini Countach merchandise, be it a poster on your bedroom wall (in James May’s case) or a somewhat more nerdy pencil holder (in mine).

Larwenz takes us back to those days when we could dream of roaring down the open road, squealing to a stop, and stepping out from those distinctive doors.

LEGO Lamborghini Countach model

I think my favorite detail is the turntable base on the white inside of the doors.

Via Klocki.

First LEGO movie: The Adventures of Clutch Powers released [News]

The first full-length LEGO Movie, The Adventures of Clutch Powers, has just been released. You can buy it from Walmart.com (and Amazon.com), and I assume other stores will carry it as well.

Here’s the trailer:

Via Toys N Bricks

Primopocalypse Now

On the lighter end of the violence-in-LEGO spectrum, I’m predicting a new bandwagon started by KryptonHeidt. It’s called Primopoc, and it’s hilariously awesome.

LEGO Primopoc Reaper

Primopoc combines the tired tropes of ApocaLEGO — chains, buzz saws, ladders, and Gatling guns — with LEGO Primo components from the late 90’s. In doing so, Primopoc undermines the seriousness of ApocaLEGO and the baby-friendly image of Primo, yielding a whole greater than the sum of its parts.