There’s been a spate of really great Neo-Classic Space models over this last week or so, and I hadn’t realized I missed it quite as much as I apparently do. The latest update to a classic set is Chris Edwards‘s update to 6928 Uranium Search Vehicle.
As much as I love the vehicle — from the faithful recreation of the uranium detectors on the front to the lab on the back — what stands out most to me is the great updates to the black and white Space minifigs.
A certain LEGO convention here in Seattle wasn’t the only major event happening this past weekend. To share what was going on in England, we’re pleased to bring you this guest report by JasBrick.
Whilst pictures from Brickcon this weekend tantalised those of us that could not get there (I almost fell off my chair when I saw the Tower of Orthanc by OneLug) I am pleased to say that my own weekend was filled with a Lego event closer to home… Steam: The Great Western Lego Show.
Since 2002 the annual Great Western Lego Show has been held in Swindon UK and this year was another amazing event that proved that this is the biggest Lego event in the UK calendar. The event is organised by Martin Long and a team of dedicated volunteers from the Brickish Association and is set in the impressive surroundings of the Steam Museum that is dedicated to the history of the British Railways (which means a serious number of Lego train MOC).
Steam consists of two public exhibition days and some fantastic opportunities for AFOLs to socialise (some people are still hungover ;-)). One thing that really stood out for me this year was the fact that the Lego company really made an extra effort to support this event with the presence of two designers (Jamie Berard and Morten Graff-Wang) over the whole weekend and the simultaneous unveiling of the new Castle Joust set in conjunction with Brickcon.
In addition to a huge number of pretty amazing standalone MOCs like Eyrie Town by Rod Gilles (2 much caffeine, an online friend that I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time at this event).
What makes Steam really special is the number and scale of collaborative displays at the event. One of my favourites was The World of Harry Potter that included a series of amazing scenes from the films recreated in Lego. Here is one picture of the Great Hall from Hogwarts by Thorskegga:
And the defence against the dark arts classroom by Andrew Danieli:
One event that dominated the early part of 2011 was the Royal Wedding in April and Warren Elsmore and a team of helpers have created one of the biggest builds I have ever seen with a very accurate recreation of Westminster Abbey… just look at the size of that monster:
For those more interested in Sci-Fi there was plenty on display such as the amazing layout by the Peter Reid (legoloverman, who also impressed me with a few wonderfully detailed custom minifigs that he had created before finally seeing the light and putting such heinous behaviour behind him) and Tim Goddard (RogueBantha):
Humour and amazing building combined in The Seige of Haradford Castle where James Pegrum (peggyjdb) was ably assisted by Barney Main (slyowl) in a rather vicious battle fought between the fleshie and yellow armies over the battlements of a truly impressive castle built by James. The battle progressed throughout the weekend culminating with a win for James after sneakily taking advantage of the fact that Barney had to leave early.
The above are just a few of the highlights of this tremendous weekend and please check out the Gimme Lego blog by Dr. Dave Watford for more insight into the event and the following galleries to see what amazed the over 7,000 visitors to this year’s display.
Looking forward to next year already!
Jas
886 Space Buggy holds a special place in my heart, so I always appreciate seeing reinterpretations of this tiny, classic set. I recognized the inspiration behind this version by _zenn immediately.
A few hours ago, the world learned that it had lost one of its most brilliant stars. Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs died after a lengthy illness.
Nearly every post I’ve written on this blog, every line of code, and every photo I’ve taken has made its way through the MacBook sitting here on my lap. But more importantly, Jobs inspired a generation of creative professionals to do amazing things with their imaginations. And no matter what kind of computer or mobile device you’re reading this from, I know that’s something all of you out there can relate to.
Paul Lee just got back from a trip to Billund, where he picked up a brick separator with some new features.
Paul says:
The brand new debricking tool. It’s smaller. Streamlined down to about the footprint of a 2 x 10 plate. There are many notable new features. There is a technic axle pusher for removing those stubbornly embedded axles. There are of course the standard top and bottom brick removing configurations. Also new is the pointed wedge at the back end of the lever, very useful for popping tiles and splitting plates that the other end can’t. It basically doubles as an ABS thumbnail. It’ll do whatever you would do with your thumbnail without ruining your manicure. Lastly, another nice added feature is the jumper plate offset in the underside, allowing the removal of jumper plates that the previous version of the tool could not handle.
This is such a great photo. President Obama casually sits on a desk talking to three beaming winners from a science fair, each proudly holding their trophies built from LEGO.
Official caption: “President Barack Obama congratulates Google Science Fair winners, from left, Naomi Shah, Shree Bose, and Lauren Hodge in the Oval Office, Oct. 3, 2011.”
Thanks for the tip, Bruce!
Between BrickCon and my birthday, October has been a great LEGO month for me for the last few years, but it looks like the rest of you out there can share in the joy with a plethora of LEGO sales throughout the month.
First off, LEGO.com is offering double VIP points for the full month of October, and it looks like all magnets are 50% off.
The new holiday set 10222 Winter Village Post Office has just been released.
And in case you missed it, 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van is also out.
Not to be outdone by TRU’s Bricktober (which we won’t be supporting since they dropped FBTB, TBB, and Brickset all at once with no explanation a while back), Amazon.com
25% off is nice, but Amazon has several more at 30% off, including 7066 Earth Defence HQ
Finally, if you’re in the UK, October 8th brings free LEGO sets from The Sun.
As announced at BrickCon this past weekend, registration is now open for next year’s Bricks by the Bay convention, March 16-18, 2012.
Here’s the full announcement:
For the serious LEGO® builder we again will offer a LEGO fan convention! The event will be held Friday-Sunday, March 16-18. Benefits of attending the convention include:
- Custom engraved name badge made out of LEGO bricks
- Access to speeches, presentations, and discussion sessions
- Show your models in the Grand Ballroom for convention attendees and the public
- Become a vendor (additional fee applies) to sell LEGO and related products at the convention and public show
- Exclusive discounts at the LEGO store (TBD)
- Chance to receive free LEGO sets in Prize drawings and contests
The event theme this year is “Green.” It is inspired by the fact that St. Patrick’s Day takes place that weekend, but we’re not limiting it to that: any creative use of the color green, subjects relating to the environment, and of course Ireland or St. Patrick’s Day themed models are suitable. In 2010 our theme was “The Brick Artistic” and in 2011 it was “Creative Combinations.”
If you’re interested in attending the whole convention, read all about the Convention, Hotel, Registration, and Schedule, along with more information about the weekend’s
events.Not sure if you want to come to the convention or just the public day? Read our FAQ to find out more.
Check out the Bricks by the Bay website for complete details on how to register. And don’t miss coverage of last year’s BBtB on The Living Brick.
A while back, we asked The Brothers Brick fans on Facebook whether they wanted to see links to TBB posts on their Facebook walls. The overwhelming majority said yes, so for all of you out there on Facebook, you’ll start getting TBB updates right from inside your second-favorite website! :-P
And for all of you out there who don’t want to filter past my own Tweets, which frequently contain hashtags like #poetry and #archeology, to get to the ones with #LEGO in them, TBB now has its own Twitter feed, @BrothersBrick.
LEGO Twitter bird by Fredoichi
(Everything seems to be working great with Twitter, but there appears to be a bit of a delay between here and Facebook. We’ll give it another try tomorrow…)
We’ve had a wonderfully busy first day at BrickCon 2011, starting this morning with the usual setup that happens on Thursday (and into Friday). After a round of coffee, we started pulling all our LEGO models out and putting them on tables, but were quickly distracted by the OneLug team as they began erecting their 7-foot LEGO Orthanc before our very eyes.
Over lunch, Josh and I recruited Chris Malloy (again, welcome!).
With most setup out of the way — pending the arrival of more LEGO creations by other builders — we hung out for the rest of the day, catching up with old friends and making new ones. Even though the public exhibition isn’t until Saturday, my favorite day of BrickCon every year is Thursday because it’s the most relaxed. That said, BrickCon has over 500 registered attendees this year, so I’m preemptively disappointed I won’t be able to hang out with everybody. But it’s exciting to know that we’ll have that many builders contributing their amazing creations to the con!
We probably won’t have time to post day-by-day wrap-ups after tonight, but you can follow @AndrewBecraft — I bet you didn’t know I tweeted! — and I’ll be uploading photos from my phone over the course of each day. Of course, you can follow everybody’s additions to the BrickCon pool, too.
For everybody arriving tomorrow, safe travels, and see you all soon!
Though we’ve mainly featured the Discworld creations by Amacher Sylvain (captainsmog), he’s also quite the accomplished steampunk builder, as he demonstrates with this behemoth of a monowheel.
While we’re at it, don’t miss his awesome and atmospheric rock concert scene:
