Nannan Zhang’s recent media exposure had the unfortunate side-effects of attracting local police attention on the possibility of ABS abuse. An investigation revealed over 500 MISB Lego sets stashed in Zhang’s house, which far exceeded the maximum allowance of household ABS per person. According to Officer McBloks, hoarding and distributing an addictive substance is an illegal activity. He further states that “too much ABS can’t be good for you.”
It’s a shame that we have not blogged many people’s best MOCs due to poor photography. We’re talking about babies. Word of advice: when posting pictures of your best MOCs, please exercise proper photography techniques such as using a light box, plain background, and careful photoediting.
We speak, you listen.
If you’re still upset about LEGO’s removal of bar codes from the collectible minifigs, rest assured that you’re not the only one.
Joe of CitizenBrick.com recently sent me some custom printed LEGO elements to take a gander. A quick glance at his store revealed some interesting and potentially useful parts such as cobblestone tiles and a tattooed minifig. As far as I know, Citizen Brick is one of the few vendors who offer a variety of custom printed parts (the others being BrickArms who focuses on military minifigs and Tommy Armstrong who only takes commissions). Here are my impressions of their products:
Quality: The text from the store claims that their products are impeccable and of the finest quality. Truth be told, they are 100% correct in saying so. The printing is no less than what you would expect from the LEGO company itself. They are centered with precision and resist rubbing and scratching by other bricks. The printed bricks themselves are new and clean, and the minifigs have stiff joints.
Compatibility: It’s important that the ink matches the palette of LEGO colors. You can judge this by looking at the picture on the right that compares the printed tiles with bley and silver LEGO parts. Both light and dark bley matches perfectly and so does the metallic silver. The patterns on the “wooden” tiles and bricks are a close but not exact match to dark tan (not shown). The patterns can be tessellated.
Price: If I had to find something not to like about these parts, it would be their prices. At roughly $1 per tile or brick, it would cost a fortune to pave a wall or road. The $20 minifigs are nothing to scoff at either. However, given the fine quality of these bricks, I don’t find their prices to be unjustified. Comparably, BrickArms, who operates at a much larger scale, charges similar prices for their printed minifigs.
Bottom Line: Citizen Brick offers a unique and quality-oriented line of custom printed parts and minifigs to enhance your creations. While you might put a dent in your wallet buying their products, you’ll be happy once you see their quality firsthand. If you’re looking for something to spice up a vignette or small creation, you should visit Citizen Brick before you get to building.
This is not a lineup of LEGO’s Cafe Corner buildings but rather a downsized one. Matthew Raehl (Puddleglum-) has recently finished miniature versions of these popular LEGO sets. Here are more picture of mini Grand Emporium, Green Grocer, and Fire Brigade.
This mecha by Brickshelf user icetea not only looks like a total boss but also transforms into an all-terrain assault vehicle. See the gallery for numerous pictures showing different poses and weapon assortments.
I’ve never seen a fully articulated Lego skeleton sculpture until now. This model by Clay Morrow was real enough to fool me from the thumbnail. The rib cage is especially well-done.
The stuff in this bowl looks completely edible and will probably fool your non-Lego friends. Great work Lasse.
It’s been a while since I posted many Black Fantasy creations, but that doesn’t mean the theme is dead in my heart. This diorama called Ascension depicts two space marines escaping the infestation pit through an ascending catwalk to the helipad. After making this, I noticed that I’ve used shades of the three primary colors red, yellow, and blue as color accents, which seems like a terrible idea by itself but may have worked in this case.
