To our lucky readers in France, you can now order the new Star Wars sets that are schedule for release in August. The sets are listed as in stock, which means they are available for delivery. I’m not sure if this is a mistake, but I won’t hesitate to take advantage of a rare opportunity to get the sets three months in advance.
Via Toys N Bricks
The Portuguese LEGO Users Group (PLUG) is once again hosting its annual LEGO fan event, BRInCKa 2010 (An Adventure in the World of LEGO), in Lourinhã, Portugal from May 3 – May 9.
The event will take place at Lourinhã (63km northwest of Lisbon), a region characterized by its Jurassic findings and great Atlantic beaches.
It will happen again at the local Hockey Club Pavilion, but this time occupying extended facilities over a total of 1.000sqm (nearly 11.000sqf). A decision to cope with the huge success and public adherence in 2009, where 25.000 came to visit the exhibition.Dates and opening hours:
3 – 6.May (Mon – Thu) > 10:00 – 18:00 (school visitors) / 20:00 – 22:00
7.May (Fri) > 10:00 – 18:00 (school visitors) / 20:00 – 22:00
8.May (Sat) > 10:00 – 23:00
9.May (Sun) > 10:00 – 18:00This year the event will feature LEGO creations such as dioramas, models, one large GBC setup and demonstrations with LEGO Technic and MINDSTORMS models.
Besides the exhibition there will be also a several activities for the kids visiting us and for the LUG members as well. It includes contests, build demonstrations and a special large mosaic with 24sqm (260sqf).Don’t miss, if you’re nearby!
Ryan Rubino continues his predator vs. prey series and turns the lens to focus on macro wildlife. The depictions of the Yellow Jacket and Black Widow are convincingly realistic, but I think the most innovative feat of the creation lies in the staging of the encounter. It must have been a true act to skill and patience to balance the creatures on the intricate web and plant stalks.
I can’t believe no one has thought of it earlier, because using a checkered flag for a chessboard is brilliant. Nice going Ivana Zetko!
Rod Gillies (2 Much Caffeine) blends sci-fi and history to create an alternative fictional aircraft from the German air force during WWII. As much as I like the innovative greeble sandwich aircraft, I like the tan hangar with its dark tan accents even more.
The builder would like to acknowledge that the swastika does not reflect any pro-Nazi sentiments. It is for historical representation only.
ChromeBricks, the supplier of quality chromed Lego elements, recently released new colors including metallic silver, metallic gold, and antique brass.
To show the quality of the new metallic colors, I built a vignette integrating metallic silver parts from both LEGO and ChromeBricks. I bet you can’t tell which parts are official and which ones are custom. Indeed, the new metallic colors are a perfect match to LEGO’s palette. In addition, the metallic colors are much more affordable than their chrome versions.
The antique brass color creates a realistic battle look. Now you can make companions for the upcoming Atlantis Naga Warrior.
You can see our previous review of ChromeBricks here.
The Chandler LEGO Store’s manager, Kevin Hinkle, built a minifig scaled replica of the store, complete with all the employees. What a neat concept!
Kris Kelvin‘s diorama depicts the atmosphere of the Great War somewhere at the battlefront. The simplicity of the structures and their realism nicely capture the rising tension before a battle, at least that’s my interpretation of the scene.
The WarDog armored battle machine by Ian Barreto looks brutal yet agile, a combination that’s difficult to achieve. The integration of Bionicle parts with Systems bricks is also done with great skill. This mecha reminds me of 8101 Claw Crusher, except it makes the latter look like a kid’s toy.
Jordan Schwartz (Sir Nadroj) built a very bright interpretation of Rapunzel’s tower. The technique of stacking concentric rings to create a conical tower is very clever, and the effect is one of a kind. The creation looks deceptively smaller than its actual size, which is actually 3 feet tall.
Take note of the color combo of the tiles at the base of the tower. It is a mix of tan, dark tan, and light yellow!
Important Update: The decoder highlighted in this post only works for the packaging in Europe! For one that’ll work in both North America and Europe, see the Collectible Minifigure barcode decoder for US & EU.
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With the upcoming and highly anticipated collectible minifigs, there’s lots of discussion on how to determine which minifig is in each mystery pack. Fortunately, the German website bricks.inof.de has posted some very useful info. Apparently, there is a second barcode on the back of the packaging that is unique for each minifig. You can now print a page showing which barcode corresponds to which fig!
Note: the set of barcodes are different for those released in the US and UK, and the above decoder applies to the packs release in Europe in May. But I’m sure someone will make a new version for the US and UK ones when they’re out, which I believe is in June.
Via Brickset.
