Seb Toutouille (spidertoutouille) has recreated the iconic 1930 painting “American Gothic” by Grant Wood using minifigs and a bit of forced perspective.
It’s not quite perfect — I think the farmer could’ve and should’ve held the pitchfork vertically — but it’s a lovely scene nevertheless.
A couple weeks ago, we featured a 4-foot-long Normandy SR2 by Ben Caukins, but if I’m doing my math correctly, this version of the same ship from Mass Effect by ktorrek is twice as long (96 inches, or more than 2.4 meters). He says that it took him 225 hours since February and uses about 15,000 parts.
ktorrek’s Normandy SR2 is to scale with the SR1 he posted a couple years ago — an impressive ship in its own right.
You don’t have to go to a theater to enjoy a movie, as Karwik shows with this lovely rounded truck from the days of black & white cinema.
Much more modern and colorful but no less impressive is Karwik’s Volvo F89 semi-trailer, with fantastic lettering on the cargo container:
We’ve seen plenty of LEGO models inspired by the Alien universe over the years, including some lovely Ripley and xenomorph minifigs by Tyler (Legohaulic) back in 2008. Tyler’s latest LEGO upload takes him back to LV-426, this time in microscale, and with a bit more firepower.
Tyler’s APC fits inside his UD-4L Cheyenne Utility Dropship:
But look at that adorable power-loader and alien Queen!
Long-time readers are probably most-familiar with Thomas Oechsner because of his stellar Neo-Classic Space models, but Thomas recently posted a big batch of Micropolis modules.
Thomas used four base modules to assemble this cluster of gorgeous tan skyscrapers. (I’m including some pretty tall pictures in this post so you can get a sense of the sheer height of Thomas’s LEGO buildings.)
This neighborhood of townhouses includes some lush backyards and lovely mottled brickwork.
The antenna atop N. Nielson Center first drew my attention, but scroll down for a wonderful tribute to a great builder.
See dozens more photos on Flickr.
Stephen Pakbaz‘s MSL Curiosity Rover project on LEGO CUUSOO hit 10,000 supporters 10 months ago, but today LEGO is announcing that Curiosity will become the next new LEGO set through the CUUSOO program.
(This is Stephen’s project photo. I expect the final product may be slightly different. We’ll share the official product photos when we get them.)
Here’s the official announcement:
Results of the Fall 2012 LEGO® Review
We’re excited to share the results of the Fall LEGO® Review. In September, three LEGO CUUSOO projects entered the second quarterly review period for projects that successfully reach 10,000 supporters. These three projects — the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover, UCS Sandcrawler™, and Thinking with Portals!™ — have been being considered for production by the LEGO Review Board.
21104 Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover – pending final name confirmation
It is with great pleasure we reveal that the next LEGO CUUSOO set will be the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover, based upon the LEGO CUUSOO project by Perijove.
This project rose to popularity in late summer 2012, when the real Mars Curiosity Rover approached and landed on the planet Mars in its historic mission. The model designer, LEGO CUUSOO user Perijove is a Mechanical Engineer who worked on the actual Curiosity rover at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Perijove writes that he built and submitted the rover to further the educational outreach of the Mars Curiosity rover’s incredible mission, and to encourage greater public support for space exploration.
The final product is still in development. Exact pricing and availability is still being determined, so stay tuned for an update on when you can buy your own Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover in the coming months.
Tim Courtney shares the news in this video:
Personally, I couldn’t be more excited. This is easily my favorite LEGO CUUSOO project from the past 18 months, and is one of the best projects that reflects the spirit of CUUSOO. I know many of you out there will be disappointed that the Star Wars and Portal projects weren’t approved, but I hope you can join me in giving Stephen Pakbaz some well-deserved congratulations!
Update: Caylin and Chris are there at BrickWorld, and Caylin got this shot of the model they used to make the announcement there in Chicago:
It looks essentially identical to the one Stephen used for the project itself, so that’s a good sign, though I also expect that it’s still going through the redesign project with LEGO.
UPDATE: 10234 Sydney Opera House is out now for LEGO VIP Program members, and will be available to everybody on September 1st.
The big LEGO set being revealed this evening at BrickWorld in Chicago is 10234 Sydney Opera House. Designed by Jamie Berard, this new LEGO set recreates the architectural masterpiece that overlooks Sydney Harbor in Australia. Due out in September 2013, 10234 Sydney Opera House will include nearly 3,000 pieces and cost $320 in the US.
Here are all the official details from LEGO:
10234 Sydney Opera House™
Ages 16+. 2,989 pieces.
Recreate Australia’s architectural masterpiece!
US $319.99 CA $379.99 DE 279.99€ UK 249.99 £ DK 2499.00 DKKRecreate one of the 20th century’s most distinctive buildings with the Sydney Opera House™ model. Build the unmistakable shell roofline, waterfront forecourt and more with this authentic representation of Australia’s most iconic building. Employ a variety of new and advancedbuilding techniques to recreate the complex forms, angled walls and subtle detailing of the real thing! Collect lots of dark tan LEGO® bricks including the rare 1x1x2/3 stud and 1x2x2/3 stud slopes, as well as a 48×48 stud baseplate in blue for the very first time!
- Build this model of a UNESCO World Heritage Site!
- Includes hard-to-find dark tan LEGO® bricks, tiles and sloped bricks!
- Collect the 48×48 stud baseplate, available in blue for the very first time!
- Sturdy construction allows the model to be handled and moved!
- Features advanced building techniques for complex forms, angled walls and subtle detailing!
- Measures over 11″ high, 25″ wide and 15″ deep!
Available for sale directly through LEGO® beginning September 2013
Here’s a video of designer Jamie Berard talking about his new set:
Don’t miss the other big announcement of the night: LEGO approves Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover CUUSOO project
I really enjoyed BioShock Infinite
Imagine has also included lots of action closer to the floating platform that I’m having trouble calling “ground,” with Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth running away from Songbird while the twins stand by and Vox Populi round the corner.
Thanks for the tip, Jordan!
Russell Crowe was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon promoting Man of Steel a couple nights ago, and Jimmy brought out some of the recent Jor-El toys depicting Russell Crowe in the movie role. Russell Crowe said that his son’s favorite toy in the whole world is the LEGO minifig, and he’s very happy to have a minifig version of his dad now.
Of course, the Jor-El minifig doesn’t actually come in any sets, but you can get it for free. The LEGO Shop’s June promotion is a free Jor-El minifig for orders over $75 or £50. LEGO is also introducing free shipping “every day” on all orders over $75/£50.
But first, all of the summer 2013 LEGO Lord of the Rings sets are out on both the LEGO Shop website and Amazon.com (links below go to Amazon, where buying anything goes to support TBB; scroll to the bottom of the post if you want to get them from the LEGO Shop, with the Jor-El minifig).
79006 The Council of Elrond
79007 Battle at the Black Gate
The big set from this batch of new LEGO Lord of the Rings sets is LEGO LOTR 79008 Pirate Ship Ambush
Finally, LEGO LOTR 79005 The Wizard Battle
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UPDATE: Presumably to make room for all the new Lord of the Rings sets (in their enormous warehouses, ha!), Amazon.com has discounted a number of sets from The Hobbit as well:
(My review: Best. LEGO set. OF ALL TIIIMMMEEE!!!)
(Josh’s review)
(Watch to make sure you’re not getting ripped off when the prices change, or when the sales start going to third party sellers on the same page, for a much higher price.)
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With apologies for the visual repetition and a reminder that clicking through from TBB goes to support the site, here are the Jor-El links:
LEGO Shop link for US readers:
LEGO Shop link for Canadian readers:
LEGO Shop link for UK readers:
Most of the LEGO models by Michael Jasper (mijasper) that we’ve featured here over the years have highlighted minifigs with perfectly scaled tools, furniture, and other brick-built accessories — every one featuring Michael’s brilliant parts usage (far and above merely “nice“). It’s still wonderful to see Michael build something a bit bigger, if only just. This model of a 1957 Ford Taunus certainly doesn’t suffer from immensity, but Michael still manages to pack it full of detail.
The black-and-white color scheme on the car contrasts beautifully with the elderly minifig Michael has included for scale. Of course, no model he builds would be free of NPU — note the brackets in the wheel well and tan windows as seat backs inside the car.
“The Wave in Vejle” is a building designed by Henning Larsen Architects in Vejle, Denmark. Joaquin Cantolla says that his LEGO version is a “free interpretation” of the real-life building, but the spirit of this award-winning architectural masterpiece comes through clearly in LEGO.
Thanks to reader Henrik Høxbroe for the tip!
The long-term future of the online LEGO sales site BrickLink.com has been uncertain ever since its founder Daniel Jezek passed away two and a half years ago. Today, Daniel’s family announced that they have sold BrickLink.com to a company that promises to upgrade and maintain the site.
Here’s the full announcement from Eliska Jezkova, Daniel’s mother and until recently the CEO of BrickLink:
About a week ago I posted a special message to thank all of you for supporting us over the nearly three years since my son Dan died. I thank all those who sent personal messages to me about what BrickLink has meant to them. In my message, I mentioned some progress we made, and also the challenges we faced. Good news remaining is that, despite the challenges, business has been brisk and even impressive. When I took over the website in the name of my son, the representational visitor log (front page of BrickLink) was at about 50 million visitors. Today, it is at nearly 144 million visitors and counting. Nearly two-thirds of all those who visited BrickLink over the 13 years since its inception have arrived here in the short time we’ve run BrickLink.com. Also, we’ve partnered with security experts and have been able to make the website safer than it has ever been. I’m proud of these facts and I again thank all of you for your patience in sticking with us to this day.
But it’s a new era, and much needs to be done to bring BrickLink to a higher level and to become the site whose potential all of you see and we want to reach as well.
Thus, I am announcing that I am stepping down as CEO of BrickLink and have handed the website over to the committed and competent hands of a new owner, Jung-Ju “Jay” Kim, founder of Nexon, one of the world’s largest online game companies.
I completely endorse Jay to take the reins of BrickLink. He has the knowledge, resources and capabilities needed for the job. He has a passion, not just for all things LEGO, but also for BrickLink. Like most of you, he has been a member of the community for years. He has tremendous respect for what Dan accomplished while he was alive. He also has a compelling desire to carry forward Dan’s vision and his guiding principles that were laid down more than a decade ago. Jay and his team are ready to work toward “BrickLink 2.0”, as well as continuing hardware architecture and application upgrades.
It’s a bright future for BrickLink, and I intend to be a part of it along with the rest of the BrickLink Community. Larry and I will be staying on in an advisory-consulting role to the new owners. Eric Smith will be staying on as Admin to ensure a smooth, seamless transition with minimal interruption.
Part of that transition will include relocation of the BrickLink site to a different data center. Later today you will learn more about that server relocation and the migration schedule, which has been carefully designed to minimize downtime.
It’s been a great three years. I did my best and I am sorry that the hacking incidents waylaid us from doing more, earlier. I am proud of the amazing growth of BrickLink, thanks to all of you.
As hard as it was to give up our treasured BrickLink that Dan loved so much, I felt it was the right thing to do, not for me, but for the Community. And, as always, it is that worldwide community that matters to me most, just as it mattered to Dan. That is why I am passing the torch to new leadership. It is what Dan would have wanted me to do.
As I mentioned, I will remain on with BrickLink and will act as an ambassador and link to BrickLink’s lineal past. Please feel free to contact me any time at eliska@bricklink.com. I still want to hear from you.
Thank you and let’s all look forward to tomorrow.
Best regards,
Eliska Jezkova, former CEO of BrickLink.com
In addition, here’s the text of the message from Jung-Ju “Jay” Kim, founder of the online game company Nexon:
Dear BrickLink Community,
I am extremely pleased to be taking over the operations of BrickLink.com. I’ve been a LEGO fan for 40 years and an avid user of BrickLink.com for over a decade. My first plans are to upgrade the website, and do our best to make users happier and more prosperous, while staying true to the original vision of BrickLink.com founder, Daniel Jezek. We will work hard in order to ensure that BrickLink.com becomes stable, secure and as user-friendly as possible.
I want to sincerely thank the family of Daniel Jezek, especially his mother Eliska, as well as the BrickLink.com Community, for the opportunity to upgrade and operate such a beloved website as BrickLink.com. In order to expedite the process of renovating BrickLink.com, I and Bricklink Limited will be asking users to e-mail us with their ideas for the improved functionality of the site, as well as any current issues that need to be addressed in order to provide users with the best possible selling and buying experience. We’ll establish those lines of communication very soon.
Thank you for your continued patronage and support of BrickLink.com
Jung-Ju Kim, incoming owner of BrickLink.com
It remains to be seen what changes all of this will mean for those of us who use BrickLink regularly. Stay tuned to TBB for more details as we learn them.
