Yearly Archives: 2010

It’s all a matter of perspective

Perspective can be the difference between a decent photo of a good creation, and something fantastic. Take the photo below by Mike Yoder, for example. He’s taken a photo of his diorama from a perspective that makes it feel truly immersive. There are a few elements in the close foreground to frame the rest of what we can see, which is action in the near ground as well as some interesting detail in the distance.

This makes me want to build a diorama to take photos of some of my space ships in. It’s a real encouragement to step it up.

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If I were in miniland, I’d live in a Victorian house by Rae

Rae McCormick’s (SoftaRae) newest Victorian house not only features a beautifully textured sand blue exterior, it has a cozy interior as well. For all of its details, it’s no wonder why this creation won the Best Large Building award at Brickworld.

Corroded Angel

Just so you know, we don’t feature action figures on the blog. What you’re looking at is another brilliant Lego creation by Brian Kescenovitz (mondayn00dle). The wings are made from Technic links, which seem to have more uses than being stuck to the bottom of a tank.

Blood skulls tank rains explosives from the sky

Théo’s (Titolian) Blood Skull V6 Battle-Tank is a bundle of firepower presented all in one small package. Despite the scattered dark red patterns on the tank, the details stand out much more as the highlight of this creation. It even seats a minifig comfortably.

Tattun’s mech deploys pwnage

It’s been so long since we featured a mecha by Tattun, but I’m glad to see new stuff are still sprouting in his Brickshelf gallery. This gatling-gun quadruped has just enough color accents to spice up the color palette, not to mention the weapons to do the damage. I also really like the sketch effect render of the mech.

Lego Facebook

Chris McVeigh (powerpig) shows us that Facebook in Lego is essentially just that.

Nighthawks of the living dead

Alex Eylar (Profound Whatever) recently rendered Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks in Lego, but this new development featuring zombies stole the show.

Speaking of the dead, what does it have to do with these spacemen?

10213 Shuttle Adventure has achieved orbit + sales & deals [News]

The new LEGO Space Shuttle set 10213 Shuttle Adventure is now shipping from the LEGO Shop online.

While we’re at it, a number of items have also been put on sale today, including pretty deep discounts on the LEGO Indiana Jones sets Venice Canal Chase and Fighter Plane Attack.

See all of the discounted sets on LEGO.com.

Brickworld 2010 wrap-up, it was crazy awesome

Brickworld took place in Chicago last weekend with an unprecedented gathering of 800 attendees displaying Lego creations across 30,000 square feet in the Westin Hotel & Convention Center. It took me three days to get myself back together after the post-con crash and sorting out my haul, so without further ado, here’s my wrap-up of the event.

The above picture taken by Alex Eylar best describes my thoughts about this year’s Brickworld in two words: crazy awesome. (Alternatively it can also be described as epic by David Pagano‘s video)

First, there were the crazy awesome creations. In addition to the returning classics such as Arthur Gugick‘s microscale landmarks, NILTC‘s train/city display, and the Great Ball Contraption, there were plenty of new creations that each made quite an entrance. Among the many were Adam Reed Tucker‘s roller coaster, the Vic-Viper Memorial Fly-In, Matt De Lanoy‘s Futurama display, and the insane Monster Chess. With between 5,000 – 10,000 creations, you’ll need to browse the Brickworld Flickr group for a glimpse of all that was there.

The second half that made up the con was the crazy awesome people. I won’t make a list, because there’s bound to be those that I missed among such a large crowd. Some went to the LEGOLAND Discovery Center (and struck questionable poses), a few dined at the same restaurant for 4 straight meals, and others went head-to-head in the Esther Walner Memorial Charity Auction that raised an astounding $12,000. When it came to public hours, there was quite a line, and I’m guessing that we had upwards of 10,000 visitors. Speaking of crowd control, get a load of the action that went on during the special sales at the Lego store. There were plenty of 50% off sets to go around this time, making most people happy with their acquisitions.

Needless to say, Brickworld was nothing short of being crazy awesome as it has been and will continue to be. But before I finish my wrap-up, I leave you with the tentative themes for next year and 2012. The theme for 2011 will most likely be “Five,” celebrating the 5th year of Brickworld. For 2012, we have our eyes set on “The End of the World.”

Yes.

Futurama’s New New York welcomes you!

Matt De Lanoy (Pepa Quin) presents the world of Futurama with his New New York layout that features many iconic buildings from the cartoon. Creation of the display spanned two years, which you may even remember our post of the Planet Express in 2008. The full layout measures almost 5’X7′ and there’s tons of details worth checking out, including Matt getting his head in the gutter.

You can see all photos and detail shots in Matt’s Futurama collection on Flickr. Oh, and don’t forget that new episodes air tonight on Comedy Central!

Design the cover of the LEGO Shop’s holiday 2010 catalog [Contest]

The US LEGO Catalog is holding a Design Challenge to find the cover for the Late Holiday Catalog. Entries can be submitted now through August 8th. Enthusiasts ages 5 and older are invited to submit an idea for a new LEGO creation.

Contest Overview:
Develop your new LEGO creation using a maximum of 100 LEGO bricks and/or elements. Then, submit a photo or image of your creation along with a brief description of your creation (50 words or fewer). You may build your creation using physical bricks and elements or you may develop your creation virtually, using LEGO® Design by ME. One Grand Prize winner will be determined in each of the four age categories: ages 5-8, ages 9-12, ages 13-15 and ages 16 and older.

The Prizes:
Winner’s creation will be featured in the Late Holiday 2010 edition of the LEGO® Shop-at-Home Catalog issued in November. In addition, winner will receive a $100 LEGO® Gift Card (redeemable at any LEGO® Store, online at shop.LEGO.com, or through the LEGO® Shop-at-Home Catalog), a $50 LEGO® Design by ME gift card, a Sponsor-specified LEGO® set and a LEGO® Certificate of Achievement. (The approximate retail value of each Grand Prize is $200). Sponsor will select, at its sole discretion, one of the winning creations to be featured on the cover of the catalog. There is no monetary value associated with winner’s submission being featured in the catalog or on the cover of the catalog. Prize consists of only those items specifically listed as part of the prize.

Getting down and dirty with Battle Mole.

Drew blames his girlfriend for this one. Here’s hoping that she makes him build more cool stuff. Listen to her, Drew, do what she says!

The expression on this mole’s face is adorable. His battle armor makes you wish you never mentioned the word “adorable” anywhere near him….