About Dan

Dan Rubin has been an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) since he became an adult. He joined the larger AFOL community on LUGNET in 2003, and that was also the year in which he attended his first BrickFest. Dan largely builds space MOCs, so it should come as no surprise that he is also the Main Admin of the forums at Classic-Space.com. He is also the creator of the Galactic Inquisition space theme. Dan has been a member of the LEGO Ambassador program since the third cycle of the program. Read more about the program here. You can check out Dan's LEGO creations on Flickr.

Posts by Dan

LEGO Lord of the Rings Tower of Orthanc breaks seven feet tall

The builders of the nascent OneLUG have come together to build the Lord of the Ring’s Last March of the Ents in epic proportions. More accurately, they’ve built the battle in minifig scale, resulting in a display eight feet in diameter, and over seven feet tall.

The battle rages between an army of more than one hundred Orcs, and a force of over twenty-five Ents. The group started design and building in February of 2011, and have finished it in time to unveil it at Brickcon, this weekend in Seattle. They estimate that there are more than 22,000 bricks in the display, which weighs over 145 pounds. The tower itself is built almost entirely with studs not on top techniques, in order to capture the sculptural details of the movie version.

I’ve always enjoyed this scene in the movie, and it’s great to see it done justice here. They’ve included all of my favorite details, like the Ent partially consumed in fire, and caught the deluge from the burst damn in action.

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Positively Smashing!

Building a realistic looking car out of LEGO is an impressive feat. Building a realistic looking crashed car out of LEGO is something else altogether. The little details on this scene by zgrredek are just spectacular. Check out the crumpled hood, smashed roof, and bent bumper, just don’t ask me why the driver appears to be holding a green ball.

Thanks to Adam Grabowski for the tip!

Blade Roller

This police tank posted recently by Lord Dane on flickr packs all the right angles. It features an unusual arrangement of wheels, some clever details (that gun is so simple, but so nice) and a shape that’s sleek and chunky at the same time. I don’t know if I’d get the same Blade Runner vibe if the creation had a different name, but it’s certainly there for me now.

Put Your Brick Where Your Mouth Is TWO – Contest Extended

It seems that I somehow failed to announce this contest here on TBB when it started a month ago. As things stand right now, we’ve reached the deadline with fewer entries than we have prizes! I just received the prizes from LEGO a few days ago, and they’re all great. It looks like we’ll be giving away one each of almost all of the new Alien Conquest sets, not the small ones, though. Our smallest prize seems to be a twenty dollar set!

Just like last year, this contest is all about trying to build something that you think would make a cool set. Mark Stafford is serving as our celebrity judge, and he’ll try to give each entrant some insight into how a real set designer would have their design critiqued. Of course, this is an unofficial contest, and in no way constitutes a job offer from LEGO, or solicitation by LEGO of ideas for actual sets to be produced. It’s all in fun!

Nice Figure

I never thought I’d see a space ship with a slim waist, but the Feros by Stijn (Red Spacecat) is just that. This thing is all smooth curves, synched in by a belt (in this case the bridge) in the center. He’s scattered a few interesting details throughout, which stand out starkly against the otherwise smooth figure.

As always, Stijn goes the extra mile in photoshop to bring us a nice presentation, as well.

Back in Black

Mecha expert Ryuhei Kawai (Kwi-Chang) brings us yet another interesting piece. There are cool red hoses over the top, pistons on the back, and some crazy-long forearms. I can’t help but get a District 9 vibe from it, too.

Trafalgar Not So Square

Chase Lewis (Chase.Lewis [Vid]) has left us a lovely parting gift as he heads off to college. This micro scale battlecruiser has a nice shape that’s interesting without being overwrought. There are some nice detail pieces thrown on, and some spaces left open for implied detail. The presentation on a stand, with escorts, is also a nice touch.

3LUG Presents: King Over the Children of Pride

Another BrickFair has passed (Nannan posted a nice wrapup), and that means another joint science fiction display by 3LUG. For those who aren’t aware, 3LUG is made up of myself and Nick Kappatos. This year, we once again made use of an utter abundance of green bricks (one shouldn’t let such resources go to waste). We also tried to move away from our growing trend of crashed space ships.

This display was only complete for a couple of days during BrickFair, and the components have since retired to our separate homes. Hopefully, the diorama is as fun to look at as it was to build. We tried to add enough details and action to keep kids entertained when viewing the display, because their reactions make it worthwhile.

A real gem

I can’t get enough of this new space bomber by (Jerac). This creation sports more facets than any diamond I’ve ever seen, and they certainly gleam. Jerac has made use of many thin parts (like doors and wings) to achieve a compact shape that still has room to carry a bunch of ordinance.

I’m Blue

Another builder (Joshua Morris) has brought us a large space ship, built primarily of dark blue. I’ve had a big ship in progress in this color for well over a year, and every time I see one posted, it makes me both happy and sad.

Any element of feeling beaten to the punch is overcome by appreciation for the creation, though. The Ticonderoga here is a nice, solid build. It looks like it could take a beating and keep running. The use of trans orange for the windows is something that has never occured to me, but it looks quite nice.

Lego gets DC Comics superhero license [News]

Variety is now reporting that Lego has announced a broad license for DC Comics. What’s more, it appears that they’re giving away some promotional Batman and Green Lantern figures at San Diego Comic Con this weekend.

Warner Bros. has expanded its relationship with Lego, granting the toymaker access to DC Entertainment’s complete library of comicbook characters and stories to launch DC Universe “Super Heroes” as figures and playsets.

The multi-year licensing deal, made through Warner Bros. Consumer Products, will start rolling out the new line in January, starting with 13 characters, including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and villains the Joker, Bane, Harley Quinn and Lex Luthor.

The first toys will be shown off at the Lego booth at Comic-Con Intl. in San Diego, where 3,000 exclusive Batman and Green Lantern minifigures will be distributed to launch a promo that runs August-December, enabling fans to create and submit videos, photos or illustrations of the characters to win trips to Legoland and Warner Bros. Studios.

WB and Lego had already been producing toys and videogames around the Batman franchise, and will launch a new set of playthings around next summer’s “The Dark Knight Rises” through the Lego Batman collection. The “Lego Batman: The Videogame,” published by WB Bros. Interactive Entertainment, has sold more than 12 million units since 2008.”This partnership gives builders a chance to recreate the characters, vehicles and worlds of some of the most iconic super heroes, so they can relive the action and even customize it, a proven and winning formula in Lego construction,” said Jill Wilfert, VP, licensing and entertainment for the Lego Group.

Via FBTB.

The future of construction?

I can only hope that the construction equipment of the future will resemble these adorable robots by Paul Evans (Paul Evans RG&B). These things are covered in details to love. The face offers us a tiny grin, and fascinating asymmetrical eyes. The exhaust stack built into the back of an arm looks nice, and harkens to present day construction equipment. Meanwhile, the bulldozer blade is just that, a perfect example of a brick-built blade, rather than one of the many prefab options out there.

Let’s also not forget the little pun in the name “Gilgamech.”