About Josh

Josh is 30+ years old and has more Lego than he has hair. Which really isn't saying much. He builds mostly medieval creations, but dabbles in other genres. He is also a father and uses his kids as an excuse to buy Lego. That justification isn't working as well as it used to, so if you can think of a better justification, feel free to contact him. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Josh's Brickshelf gallery gets messier and messier. Josh also has a Flickr gallery, if you care about such things. He goes by the name "floodllama" there. If you wonder why he goes by "floodllama", you've obviously never owned a llama in flood. Josh feels sorry for you.

Posts by Josh

LEGO Hobbit 79010 Goblin King Battle [Review]

After what seems like an eternity, I am finally getting to my review of 79010 The Goblin King Battle. I don’t like picture-heavy reviews so don’t expect any of my own. I will be talking about three aspects of this set: part selection, minifigs and set design.

To begin with, the part selection in this set is very good. I’m a castle builder at heart and this set is chock full of castle/fantasy goodness, as you would expect from a Lord of The Rings set (yes, it’s the Hobbit, but you know what I mean). There are tons of dark grey slopes and such, lots of brown bits and loads of decorative bits such as bones, books, weapons, jewels, etc. There were around twenty pieces that used stickers. The majority of those were tiles with various wood grains. I would have preferred that those were printed, but I know that LEGO is mostly going with stickers these days. The only piece that really suffers from the sticker use is the 2×2 tile/scroll that the Goblin Scribe is supposed to hold. If you actually have him hold it, his hand messes up the edge of the sticker. Printing would have been a much better choice for this piece. However, overall I was mostly very happy with the parts selection.

Secondly, the minifigs are a fun assortment. Naturally LEGO dispersed the 13 dwarves throughout all the sets. In this one you get Ori, Dori and Nori. You also get Gandalf, the Goblin King and three goblins. The three dwarves all very decent figs. I really like their torsos. Ori’s hairpiece is a bit boring since it simply Ron’s hair from the Harry Potter line in brown. The other two are unique to these figs. Gandalf is the same as the one in the small cart set. LEGO lists it as different figure but the only difference is that this one has a sword. The three goblins are each unique. This surprised me. I was expecting all three to have the same torso. They have the same heads, headpiece and two have the same legs. The goblin scribe has stubby legs. That just leaves the Goblin King. He is obviously supposed to be the highlight of the set. I was rather under-whelmed by him. I am a fan of the giant trolls and such but the Goblin King leaves something to be desired. He is going to be hard to use for anything else. I hope someone does (and I have some plans myself) but there are some design elements that are really going to get in the way. The main issue is his crown. It doesn’t come off. You can remove the three spikes but the base of the crown is part of the figure and seriously limits the versatility. The snarling expression and printed hair down the back are also issues but they are easier to work around.

Read the rest of the review after the jump!

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Fuente de Cibeles in Classical LEGO form

Víctor Martínez Nouvilas has recreated the Fuente de Cibeles, the iconic centerpiece of the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid. I am a sucker for classical art in LEGO and Victor nailed it.

Custom Roundup: Brick Fortress and Cape Madness [Review]

Both of the companies in this review have been flying under the radar and I am very happy to highlight them here.

First up is Brick Fortress. They are a new customs maker and currently only have one item on the market. It is a rather exciting one that fills a significant gap in the LEGO product line. They are selling articulated mini-legs! I recently bought some of their offerings and I was impressed. They fit very nicely and are constructed quite well. The clutch power is good and the legs move well. They are currently available in 5 colors: Light Gray, Tan, Black, Brown and Dark Blue. They are slightly taller than the official short legs by LEGO, but the color match is good. The legs are also interchangeable with official LEGO legs, so you can use your normal hip pieces for color changes. My only complaint is a minor one. The plastic feels very similar to the plastic we have been seeing in the collectible minifigs. But that is an issue with many of the custom makers and isn’t a deal-breaker for me. I am really liking these articulated mini-legs and will be buying more.

The second company, Cape Madness, has been around for a few years now but has mostly sold their products at BrickCon. They started small but have consistently expanded their product line. Currently they only sell online at the CapeMadness Bricklink store, but a new website is under construction. I have kept an eye on their quality from the beginning and it is spot on! I can’t tell the difference between their plain capes and my official LEGO ones. However the real draw of Cape Madness is the patterns, colors and special shapes they offer. At BrickCon this year, Dave (the owner of Cape Madness) let me dig through his products and it was hard to decide what to review. There are so many different items!

The fabric and treatment feels just like official LEGO capes. The capes and flags with heavy printing, such as the Blacktron cape, feel stiffer but it wasn’t an issue when putting it on a minifig. They also stand up to use quite well. I have some flags that are a couple of years old and they show no signs of fraying.
The capes come in four sizes, with the second-to-the-smallest being the same as the official LEGO cape. The two larger styles wrap around the fig for a cloak effect. The largest size also is available with a pointed collar variation. There are also trench coats, ponchos, togas, paldrons, and three styles of flags currently in production. The printing on the capes is very crisp and there is a wide range of available patterns and styles. There is everything from various camo patterns to the insignia of your favorite sci-fi regiments to medieval heraldry. Dave also offers a service where he will print your own logo or pattern onto a cape or flag (an additional fee applies). I highly recommend Cape Madness. The items are high quality, they stand up to wear, there is a wide range of products and Dave is a great guy to work with. You can see more pictures in my Cape Madness set on Flickr.

Flower Petals Mosaic

Well, she is at it again. Katie Walker has been incredibly busy this year but now she is back to doing what she does best…blowing my mind. This mosaic is merely a “study”, by which she probably means that she is going to do something even more incredible with this later on. Awesome!

LEGO rotary phone

Chris McVeigh’s telephone takes me back to my childhood. We had one that looked just like this. I haven’t missed rotary phones until now. Thanks, Chris!

Custom Roundup: Crazy Arms, Brickarms, Brickforge & BrickWarriors.

There have been so many new custom items coming out recently, it is almost overwhelming. I’ve been meaning to highlight several of these items and more of them keep coming out!

First on the list is Guy Himber’s Crazy Arms. Guy sent me some of these awhile back but I never got pictures uploaded because my camera was on the fritz and then I forgot. But luckily he has restocked them and they are a lot of fun! They replace the existing minifig arm, allow other “crazy” poses and are currently available in black, brown and white.

Brickarms released their Xperimental weapons in October and they look good. I don’t own any but I got to look at a few of them at BrickCon. They definitely live up the standards that Brickarms fans have come to expect. On a side note, Brickarms has reached an agreement with the makers of Offensive Combat. Brickarms will be releasing weapons from the game and some of the Brickarms product line will be appearing in the finished game. I did get some of the prototypes of these weapons and they are fantastic.

Brickforge has been busy as well, releasing new Shock Trooper armor, Camo patterns and baseball bats in the last couple of months. I haven’t seen the Camo and baseball bats in person, but I got a set of Doomsday Shock Trooper armor in my swag bag at BrickCon and it was pretty cool!

Lastly, BrickWarriors has been heating up their molds with all sort of new products, including Androids, Demon Armor, Two-Headed Ogres, new plumes and RPGs, among other things. I haven’t picked up any of these yet, but I have been impressed by the number of items they have been putting out lately. I see that some of the items are already sold out, but hopefully they will be restocked soon. Also, BrickWarriors is donating a percentage of each order to Toys for Tots through December 1st.

That is all for now, but I will be doing another Custom Roundup this weekend. There was just too much for one post!

The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide [Review]

No Starch Press recently sent us a review copy of their latest Technic offering, The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide by Paweł “Sariel” Kmieć.

I found the book to be full of very useful information. I am not an expert Technic builder by any means and when I first thumbed through the book I was overwhelmed by the amount of detail that the book offers. However, when I actually started reading the book, I found that the way Paweł presents the information made everything very clear. He starts with basic concepts and then builds upon them throughout the book in a very clear and concise fashion. I think any adult LEGO fan will be able to follow this book and incorporate the techniques into their own creations. But this book is not for young builders. Many, if not most, of the techniques are quite advanced and would lead to frustration for younger builders.

The book consists of 333 pages divided up into five parts: Basics, Mechanics, Motors, Advanced Mechanics and Models. The first three sections give you the groundwork needed to understand the Technic system and how the majority of the parts work. I found this to be very helpful. I have used many Technic pieces over the years but wasn’t clear on the functions of each and every part. These first three sections are a great reference of Technic pieces and their functions, as well as being vital in introducing the terminology used throughout the rest of the book. I highly recommend reading these sections in depth and not skipping ahead.

The fourth section, Advanced Mechanics, teaches you how to design and build transmissions, steering systems, suspensions for wheeled and tracked vehicles along with other concepts and ideas.

The fifth and final section instructs the reader in designing and planning their own models.

Overall, I would recommend this book for any adult builder who is interested in becoming more familiar with Technic and using Technic in their own creations. The book is well-laid out and the information is presented clearly. It is definitely an asset that deserves a place on the shelf.

Visit No Starch Press for this and other LEGO-related books. is also available on Amazon.com.

Things that make you go “Hmm”

This “Fortune Demon”, by Mihai Marius Mihu does that to me. Its odd, creepy and I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

While you are at it, check out “Alien Laboratory”.

Express your thoughts, coherent or otherwise, in the comments.

Full-size LEGO Lord of the Rings Sword – “Sting”

I am a sucker for full-size LEGO replicas of medieval weapons. Having one be something as iconic as “Sting” is even better. Cole Edmonson built it and I want one.

Death by Proudlove

Nathan Proudlove needs no introduction to any LEGO fan who hasn’t been living under a rock for the last decade. The man is not only an incredibly nice person, he is a fantastic builder as well. Currently he is working on a series of vehicles based on the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Death just looks so sleek and menacing, I had to blog it.

Check out War and Famine as well.

Rush Album Cover Mosaic

We have posted a lot of album covers over the years but this particular one, by Isaac Mazer is one of the best. The fact that he was able to get the perspective so perfect is amazing. It is so good that I didn’t realize it was actually a mosaic…incredible!

Many thanks to Katie Walker for the heads up.

The 10th Annual Colossal Castle Contest has begun!

The Colossal Castle Contest is one of the longest running Lego fan contests in history, if not the longest, and it is celebrating its tenth year! There are a plethora of prizes, including vintage sets, books from No Starch Press and Skyhorse Publishing, as well as custom products from altBricks, BrickArms and BrickWarriors.

The categories cover a wide range of subjects, sizes and building styles. If you have never entered before, get over to Classic Castle, get registered and get BUILDING!