This one brings back the summertime memories. Bruce Lowell (Bruceywan) has recreated the iconic Super Soaker 50 in a compact size that retains all the detail and glory of the original. I remember the first time I fired one off. It was so awesome. Everyone who had one felt like they ruled the backyard. I quickly upgraded to a ‘100’ but nothing matched that initial thrill of the Super Soaker 50. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Bruce!
This incredible layout, by OliveSeon, shows Mothra, sometime ally/sometime enemy of Godzilla, involved in an epic battle. I love Mothra herself and her silken spray entangling all the buildings around her. The builder did a good job of seamlessly incorporating actual modular building sets in the layout as well. But I’m also partial to well-built battle scenes, and this fits the bill. For the record, I’m rooting for Mothra…
VirtuaLUG collaborated on a mammoth Wizard of Oz layout for BrickWorld this year. I posted the wizard’s hot-air balloon earlier but the entire diorama definitely deserves its own post. They worked together on a large number of dioramas depicting crucial scenes throughout the story. Each of the sections is an incredible piece alone. Together they form something truly incredible. Every time I go through the pictures I find more details that I didn’t notice before. I especially love how the early scenes were built in tan, black and greys to depict the black-and-white scenes in the movies and the motorized cyclone with mini farmhouse. The vibrancy and technique in the later dioramas is breath-taking. I didn’t make it to BrickWorld but I wish I had seen this in person. Incredible!
The entrance to the Emerald City:
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em’s Farm:
The Dark Forest:
See the rest of the Wizard of Oz layout after the jump!
captainsmog has knocked one out of the park with this build. I love the details, the color choices, the asteroids, the derelict and the presentation. Well played!
You really need to see this in a larger size in order to appreciate the details…
This sweet fantasy castle by Lukasz Wiktorowicz (AKA LL) is full of all sorts of goodness. The detailing on the two towers is very well done, the landscaping and waterfall is well-thought out and the clouds add a nice sense of height. Always a cool touch when a builder gives his creations some atmosphere.
Our good friend, Tommy Williamson has started his own blog and has announced the opportunity to win an exclusive model. Leave a comment on Flickr, follow the BrickNerd on Twitter or “like” him on Facebook. Three chances to win and help a cool guy get his blog off the ground too. Blog on, Tommy!
Damien Labrousse (AKA Legodrome just posted pictures of a piece he built for CNES, the French Space Agency. Two control rooms were built for display and include a working screen and sound system. I just love the clean lines of this build but my favorite detail has to be those adorable little rocket models next to the speaker. Awesome!
The Suboken LEGO Projects are something new that recently popped up on my radar. I assume the SLP are two builders based on the profile pic but any more info would be appreciated. Regardless, they are creating some cool-looking ships and their photo-editing puts them over the top. It looks like there is a complex backstory going here as well. I’ll be keeping an eye on this project. As for this ship, I love the menacing lines and the use of the giant wing pieces. Those are not easy to incorporate into a build. I would hate to see this on my six any time or anywhere!
Dave Kaleta (davekaleta) has been working on this beauty for quite some time in preparation for a collaborative display at BrickWorld. It is a very elegant piece of work. The sleekness of the balloon and the integration of the words into the structure of the envelope are both awesome. I want one of these hanging from the ceiling in my LEGO room!
This stunning mosaic, by Adam Meyers (AKA getdamonkey), is real eye-candy. I love the technique of stacking different transparent colors in order to achieve colors that LEGO doesn’t make. It isn’t a technique that I have mastered myself but I do love it. The technique really makes this particular mosaic pop! Awesome job, Adam, simply awesome.
We recently received an advance copy of David C. Robertson‘s new book Brick by Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry
There has been a lot of buzz about the LEGO Group in business circles for a number of years now. Much of this has been caused by the near-bankruptcy of the company and their stellar comeback, posting record profits yet again in 2012. Mr. Robertson’s book takes the reader on a journey deep inside the company and explains many of the internal workings that led to the rise, the fall, and the ultimate resurrection of LEGO. Mr. Robertson is a professor of innovation and product development, so some of the terminology was unfamiliar to me. However, his writing is accessible to the lay reader and the book gives a lot of insight into LEGO and their attempts at innovation, covering both their successes and failures. Some of the information may be familiar to the hard-core fan but I found that there was a lot of information regarding issues of which I was unaware. For instance, I knew that LEGO is an extremely insulated company and that the right hand often doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. What I didn’t know was that in the 90s they branched off into so many different markets and ventures that there were many divisions cut off from the main leadership and were never even asked to make sure their efforts were marketable, profitable or even if they had anything to do with LEGO.
Some of the points that Robertson explores are:
– How the leadership at LEGO in the 90s tried to incorporate the leading edge strategies of innovation strategies and nearly killed the company in doing so.
– The lose of control that the 90s leadership experienced by rapidly moving outside the company’s fields of expertise, not establishing any sort of reliable accountability or tracking of costs. As hard as it is to believe, the leadership didn’t even know which lines were making money and which weren’t.
– How the new leadership turned the company around by pulling back and innovating “inside the brick”…exploring innovations inside the realm of what they knew and could control.
– How and why certain innovations failed in such a spectacular fashion, such as LEGO Universe and Galidor, and why other innovations became overnight sensations, such as Ninjago, Mindstorms NXT, and the lines of LEGO video games and board games.
Overall, the book was quite interesting, easy to read, and gave me added insight into thought processes and decision-making that has gone on at LEGO. I would recommend it any LEGO fan.
Brick by Brick
David Frank (AKA Fraslund) has created an outstanding LEGO rendition of that classic toy, Castle Grayskull, from the 80s television show, Masters of the Universe. David’s version is drop-dead gorgeous. He was able to perfectly capture the iconic gate and drawbridge, as well as the lesser known details around the sides and rear. David definitely has the power!
Check out the rest of the pictures. They are definitely worth it.
