Summer’s getting hot, and so is the Eurobricks Spaghetti Western Competition. If you’re in the mood of building western themed creations, check out the rules and see how you can enter and claim your share of 450 Euros in prizes. The deadline of this contest is September 10, 2011.
Since we are blogging most of the top 12 entries from Hong Kong’s Lego contest at Ani-Com, it won’t hurt to post another one. Here is a scene by Tsang Yiu Keung (chiukeung) from Kung Fu Panda of Po and the Furious Five striking a pose. It must have been difficult to sculpt the characters at this scale, but their instantly recognizable features are a testament to the builder’s skill.
I’m not sure what prompted Alex Schranz (“Orion Pax”) to create a winged heart spilling blood over a pedestal, but I’m digging its novelty. Check out the overview of the entire creation on Flickr.
Vincent Cheung’s (fvin&yan) sculpture of the ballroom scene from Beauty and the Beast is flourishing with details. This was built for Ani-Com Hong Kong and made its way into the top 12 entries, which you should definitely check out.
Milán Bikics works wonders with Lego architectural design. Even though this clock tower is an old MOC in a new photo, I’m sure many have not yet seen it. Look closely and take a moment to soak in all the minute details.
Thanks for the tip V&A Steamworks
UPDATE 2: 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van is out now!
UPDATE 1: Complete details about 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van have recently been announced.
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The recently published Lego Collector’s Guide 2 has an image of the upcoming 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van. Picture scanned by Captain Eugene.
In the past two weeks I went from the largest Lego convention in the US to the smallest back to back. As a fledgeling event in its first year, Brick Fiesta was only about a tenth the size of Brickworld. Nevertheless, the public waited in line for up to an hour and half to enjoy MOCs such as Mirage, Tony Sava‘s Cathedral, and a Batman sculpture by 13-year-old Evan Bacon (which were the top 3 public favorites). There were other gems as well, which you can dig up by browsing the pictures on the Brick Fiesta Flickr group.
Some of my most memorable things at Brick Fiesta included the Alien Mothership draft (one of the best sets to draft), great trailer food and restaurants in Austin, and meeting lots of new people. At the same time, I should mention that this was the first Lego convention for Kevin Hinkle, who will follow Steve Witt’s footsteps as the new North America Community Coordinator.
Overall, Brick Fiesta was a unique Texas style Lego convention. For more coverage of the event, you can check out TV segments of Brick Fiesta from KVUE and KXAN.
Tyler and I present our third collaborative build of a sanctuary in the sky called Mirage. For this project, we took on the challenge of building a large diorama without a baseplate. The result is a 7′ X 7′ creation composed of over 150 modular octagonal platforms. The building process started in January and the finished model with will be shown at Brick Fiesta this weekend. You can learn about the backstory by following the teasers we posted.
Fat Tony 1138‘s concept fighter resembles the letter “i,” which was done intentially to qualify for FBTB’s alphabet fighter contest.
Adrian Florea integrates “useless” parts like Rahkshi back covers and aircraft doors in a beautifully sculpted ski-fi flyer called the Honeybadger.
For this year’s wrap up post, I’ve decided to feature 3 videos to illustrate my impression of Brickworld 2011.
This first video shows the largest of the 4 display rooms during public hours. Like any other Lego convention you would attend, Brickworld is full of awesome MOCs and awesome people. But unlike many, these awesome MOCs and people come in great numbers, with over 900 registered attendees displaying creations over 30,000 sq. ft. This year marks only and already the 5th anniversary of Brickworld, which has now become the most attended Lego fan convention out of the half dozen in the US.
The next video shows the Flexpicker by Chris Shepherd, which won the Best Mechanical award. It is one of the many new MOCs that turned heads at the show. Some others new creations at Brickworld included the Love Boat by Ryan McNaught, the Lord of the Rings group display by MOCpages members, and Ben Caulkins’ Master Chief suit, which probably appeared in photos with just about every camera owner at Brickworld.
When you combine lots of awesome people with awesome MOCs, fun times (and hilarity) ensue. Speaking of the Lego Master Chief, here’s a video of him crashing through the decorative wall by Beth Weis. Other moments that slipped my camera included the drunk build of the Barad-dûr, the mysterious transformation of the new Super Star Destroyer into a BrickMania tank, and the f-bomb glorified in a lit-up mosaic during the World of Lights. If you search hard enough, you might come across some photographic evidence (the Brickworld group on Flickr is a good place to start). And for the other things that went down (including the unspeakable), you’ll just have to make it out to Chicago to see it all.
Don’t forget about your chance to design the 2012 event kit!
