The modern circus can trace its roots back to the late 18th Century in Philip Astley’s Amphitheatre. By the 1800s, the development of a vast railroad network allowed the circus to hit the tracks, traveling from town to town. In a world before radios and television, the circus was often one of the most highly anticipated entertainment events. Celebrating the spirit of the traveling circus, Ben Spector has built a colorful and fun-looking circus train.
When there’s something strange in the LEGOhood, who you gonna call? Darren Thew, that’s who! The Ecto 1 has been modeled in LEGO bricks many times before, but Darren takes things to a new level with a massive version of the beloved vehicle from Ghostbusters. He has taken great care in striving for authenticity, from every minute detail on the roof to the use of System and Technic parts to form the curvaceous shape of the retrofitted 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor.
What if I told you there was a toy history museum with over 100,000 square feet of displays, interactive exhibits, playable pinball & arcade machines, and an indoor butterfly garden? All this and more can be found at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York! For the past few years, I’ve been meaning to visit The Strong to check out its collection of vintage playthings and research LEGO history. A scheduled trip to nearby Niagara Falls provided the perfect opportunity for my girlfriend Natalie and I to explore the museum and what it has to offer.
Faster than a T. rex can eat a lawyer, Jonas Kramm continues cranking out Jurassic Park vignettes. After bringing us the raptor dig and introductions of John Hammond and Dennis Nedry, Jonas now takes us to the Tyrannosaur paddock. Everything about this scene is iconic from the colorful Ford Explorer touring vehicle to the T. rex bait behind the fence. There is some excellent composition here, including the angling of the fence and lush landscaping behind it. Judging by the smile on Lex’s face, she probably hasn’t seen the goat yet.
You can find plenty of good seafood in Vietnam, but you need a way to catch your meal. What better way to do so than on the deck of this colorful squid fishing boat built by Hoang Dang? Practicality meets beauty thanks to the body’s bold blue, yellow and red color scheme, and additional ornamentation like lanterns and rigging used as clotheslines suggest this is a lively vessel.
Once you sample gelato, you won’t look at ice cream the same way anymore! It’s absolutely creamy and delightful, and a little bit goes a long way. Builder Sebastian-Z has taken the famous Italian dessert and given it a LEGO home. The architecture is iconically Italian, complete with an outdoor dining area and tall shuttered windows. Looking through the tall first-floor windows reveals a glimpse of the interior, though the exterior steals the limelight. The lighting in the central courtyard is a nice touch, as is the greenery alongside the building and crawling up its walls.
To be truly appreciated, the building is best viewed from multiple angles. I didn’t notice the sculpture in the courtyard until seeing this composite image. It’s a delicious looking build that will leave you exclaiming, “Buon appetito!”
Back in 1988, the LEGO Group released set 6885 Crater Crawler as a part of its space theme’s Futuron faction. Inspired by this classic set, LEGO Designer Chris Perron has pieced together what he calls the Crater Crawler 3.0. This spacey vehicle sports the classic white and black Futuron color scheme, along with the iconic dark blue windscreens and trans red accents. With its four wheel independent suspension system, 3.0 looks ready to handle just about any intergalactic terrain. Practicalities aside, Chris’ vehicle looks particularly elegant with plenty of curves, smooth sides, and a dash of greebling.
“Hey, we were saving that!” Those were the words first uttered by Dr. Alan Grant when he and Ellie Sattler met “dinopreneur” John Hammond, who would take them on a wild ride through Jurassic Park. Thanks to Jonas Kramm, we now have a LEGO vignette of this iconic introductory scene, in which John Hammond invites himself into the scientists’ trailer (and to the bottle of champagne in their refrigerator). The little room is packed with plenty of detail, including a table cluttered with fossil hunting instruments like a miniature microscope and sifting tray. However, the star of the show is the open fridge and its lovable old benefactor. He has a kind of biological preserve that’s right up their alley, spared no expense!
Jonas continues the Jurassic Park fun with “Dodgson, Dodgson….we have Dodgson here! See, nobody cares.” Who cares? We care, because this is a another enjoyable build depicting the film’s introduction of Butterfinger-loving bad guy, Dennis Nedry. It also features Dodgson showing Nedry the embryo canister disguised as a shaving cream can. It’s the third in a line of Jurassic Park LEGO vignettes, the first of which was his splendid raptor dig site. Being a big Jurassic Park fan, I can’t wait to see what Jonas comes up with next!
More than a year has passed since the bankruptcy of Toys “R” Us, and the subsequent closure of its 700 U.S. stores. The toy retailer was bought by Tru Kids Brands who, in a recent Toys ‘R’ Us press release, announced they would be bringing the store back to the U.S. in time for the 2019 holiday season. Tru Kids is partnering up with b8ta to bring shoppers “…a new store experience that will deliver the hottest toy products and brands, carefully curated and showcased in highly immersive smaller-format spaces.” An image from the press release provides a concept of what the new storefront may look like. The first two Toys “R” Us stores will open in The Galleria, a Simon Mall in Houston, Texas and the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey.
The expansion of transparent clear elements over the past decade has allowed for some intricate builds like this glittering mech by Moko, named the MF-10 Diamond Empress. While the frame of the mech is black, it is clad in transparent clear armor formed from tiles, slopes, dishes, windshields, and more. The Diamond Empress lives up to its name with a few parts in rare non-production colors, such as the 2×2 round tile in trans clear. Aside from the build itself, my favorite aspect of this model is perhaps the use of trans clear 12x2x5 tails for the skirting. Meanwhile, chrome gold and transparent red accents provide additional visual interest.
When it comes to motorcycles, few manufacturers are as internationally recognizable as Harley-Davidson. Since 1903, their bikes have proven themselves on the battlefields of World War I and II, dusty roads around the world, and in countless racing events. This rich legacy now includes LEGO set 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, the 2nd Creator Expert set to feature a U.S. vehicle (the first being this year’s Ford Mustang). Harley-Davidson first unveiled the Fat Boy for the 1990 model year, and the line has been in production ever since. Revealed for the first time today, LEGO’s version of the Fat Boy depicts the 2019 model with Milwaukee-Eight 107 engine. The set consists of 1023 pieces and will be available to LEGO VIPs beginning July 17th and to the general public worldwide on August 1st for $99.99 USD | $139.99 CAD | £84.99 GBP
Do you dream of steam? Glenn Holland not only dreams of of steam; he lives and breathes it, which is why he decided to build this sleek LEGO replica of a Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0. Glenn has been a fan of locomotive number 13 since he was a little boy, and his passion for this train is evident in the level of painstaking detail. It’s an attractive-looking engine, thanks in part to some extensive greebling, custom rods, and silver striping. You can almost hear that ear-pleasing “chug, chug, chug.”
As this angle suggests, it looks just as awesome leaving the station as it does arriving. The tender has received just as much attention as the locomotive, going so far as to include detailing underneath. If you’d like an in-depth look at Glenn’s model, you can read more about it in his own words on LEGO train fansite Brick Model Railroader.
