About Nannan

Nannan became involved with the online LEGO community in late 2004. He has been a builder for as long as he can remember. Nannan builds in a variety of themes that often overlap with the science fiction universe; other times they are purely made up ones. You can see his creations on Flickr, MOCpages and Brickshelf. In real life, Nannan is a physician living in Dallas.

Posts by Nannan

Bionicle discontinued after 2010 [News]

LEGO has just announced that 2010 will be the last year for new Bionicle sets; starting summer 2010 a new line of similar buildable figures will be released. This will mark the end of nine years since the arrival of the first Toa in 2001. Below is the official announcement from LEGO:

Dear BIONICLE Fans,

In reviewing the business across all of its play patterns and properties, the LEGO Group faced a tough question: should we take on a new creative challenge in the world of buildable figures that we pioneered in 2001?

BIONICLE re-invented the way consumers think of and play with the LEGO system. Through many chapters of compelling story and innovative product development, BIONICLE became a very strong property and an important part of The LEGO Group’s business. We think there is a significant opportunity to grow the buildable figure category, but it will take a more flexible platform that appeals to a wider range of ages through a variety of different entry points than BIONICLE has proven to deliver.

The easy decision would be to stick with a known entity in BIONICLE; but as history has proven, The LEGO Group achieves its greatest success by embracing the uncertainty that innovation brings. After all, BIONICLE almost never launched because it was such a big risk to the company’s way of doing business.

Because you have been such an important part of building the BIONICLE franchise and have been among its most valued fans, we are writing to tell you that the six BIONICLE Stars launching in January will be the last BIONICLE sets for the foreseeable future. Beginning in summer 2010, The LEGO Group will debut a new, more flexible buildable figure property created by the same people who brought you BIONICLE. At the same time, we are also expanding the category to appeal to a younger audience through an established third-party property, starting in January.

Since its beginning, BIONICLE has reflected the union of great product and a compelling story. Although there presently are no plans for more sets, the BIONICLE story is not ending. BIONICLEstory.com will remain an active site, with new story content updated by long-time BIONICLE writer Greg Farshtey. In addition, LEGO Group hopes to work with you, the fans, to continue to grow and expand the BIONICLE story universe.

This was an extremely difficult decision for all involved. But as seen in the tales of the Toa, striving for success in any mission requires imagination, new ways of thinking, and the willingness to take risks. We hope you will share the same level of enthusiasm we have for our plans for the buildable figure category.

We invite you to remain a part of the BIONICLE universe—a universe you have helped to build, and that we are confident that you will continue to build—in the future. Thank you for your continued support and dedication to the BIONICLE and LEGO brands.

With our very best regards,
Jan Faltum, Global BIONICLE Director
Lincoln Armstrong, Senior Brand Manager, BIONICLE Team Member since 2002

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I didn’t think it was LEGO

From a thumbnail, Alex Schranz’s (Orion Pax) newest work looks like graffiti, and that’s precisely what it’s striving to imitate. It’s harder to believe that this is actually a LEGO creation.

Inspired by shiny objects in the sky

These are my two latest spaceships: the Last Moon and the Grim Star. While the creations are inspired by the moon and star, the models are built to showcase their unique printed windshield. These are being auctioned as part of Creations for Charity.

No harm in simplicity

This truck by Brickshelf user Ultimate-Design doesn’t need fancy techniques or extraneous details to make it a good model. The simple and standard studs-up approach combined with using tiles and curved slopes to cover the studs make this an elegantly designed creation.

Thanks for the tip Mac!

Announcing Creations for Charity!

I’m excited to announce a new online charity event that has just started! The event, called Creations for Charity, sells custom LEGO creations from fan builders to raise money to buy LEGO for underprivileged children. All funds will be used to buy LEGO sets for the charity Toys for Tots. From now until early-December, there will be new creations listed to be auctioned. Come visit the store to see what we have!

If you are interested in contributing a creation, you can read the details here. Happy holidays everyone!

Here’s your third chance to control the action

Keith Goldman presents his third You Control the Action Contest with a unique twist. The theme of the contest is “a celebration of minorities in sci-fi,” which prompts you to think beyond the ordinary yellow minifig and come up with new situations involving the misrepresented, misfits, mavericks, Mace Windu, and in simple terms – the minority. Click on the banner below to read the details of the contest to see if you’re up to this interesting challenge.

Nightmare, the flaming stallion

It’s not easy to build realistic creatures in LEGO on a small scale, but midnightcat have skillfully created a flaming stallion called Nightmare. I really like the use of the new flame pieces for the mane.

This castle is so big...

…we can’t fit it all in one picture. If you’re familiar with your castle builders, you’ll instantly recognize this as a creation by Daniel Z. As I was looking closely at the castle, I noticed some interesting patterns on the sculpted rocks. Look closely and you’ll be amazed that not everything is studs-up. If you’re wondering what’s on the other side of the castle, you should check out the entire gallery.

LEGO NES

Dave Sterling takes you to the past of video-gaming with the brick-built replica of the Nintendo Entertainment System. If you don’t look closely, you might think Dave was actually playing on a real NES!

Subway commute

I’ve seen a lot of trains, but I don’t remember seeing a subway scene. If that’s what you’re look for, then Nathaniel Brill has something for you. The train runs on a 12-volt track, which is not the standard train track design by LEGO. Also note that the arched ceiling in the subway station is built from skateboard ramps.

Ocean Outpost

The castle in the ocean by Rod Gillies (2 Much Caffeine) is a nifty scene to stand on its own. What really makes it extraordinary is the technique of using interlaced 2X2 tiles for the castle wall.

Rust, rubble, and greens

Niek Geurts built an interpretation of a post-apocalyptic scene that’s different than most for two obvious features. The first feature is the diagonal road, which breaks up the squareness of the diorama. The second feature involves the abundant overgrowth of plant life, which adds a nice color contrast to the classic rubble colors. There’s many more details that are worth a look, you can see them all in the gallery on Flickr.