I may have just blogged something by Jimmy (6kyubi6) yesterday, but he’s on a roll, and this alien moonscape is just too cool to not highlight. The non-photoshopped planets and stars are excellently done, and the space dump truck is sweet too.
Posts by Chris
LEGO Officially Announces 71006 The Simpsons House [News]
Presumably in response to this week’s unofficial release of images of the upcoming Simpsons House, LEGO has officially unveiled the set, which will be available in February. Below is the official press release.
Click on this image to see the full gallery of photos.
71006 The Simpsons™ House
Ages 12+ 2,523 pieces
US $199.99 – CA $229.99 – DE 199.99€ – UK £179.99 – DK 1,699.00 DKK
*Euro pricing varies by country. Please visit shop.LEGO.com for regional pricing.D’oh! The Simpsons™ House has been turned into LEGO® bricks!
Build The Simpsons™ House with detachable roof, modular design, car with dent, the famous family couch, 6 minifigures and so much more.
Recreate hilarious scenes from the classic animated TV series with The Simpsons™ House. Taken right out of Springfield, this amazing model is crammed with tons of LEGO® brick detail. Lift off the roof and open up the house to discover Homer and Marge’s big family bedroom including bed and Maggie’s crib, Bart’s room with his skateboard and Krusty the Clown poster, Lisa’s room with her favorite books, jazz poster and more, and bathroom with shower, toilet, sink and mirror. Lift off the top floor to reveal the fully-fitted kitchen with dining table, chairs, yellow and light-blue tiled floor and lots of pots, pans and other accessories. Then it’s into the living room with couch and TV playing Itchy and Scratchy, purple piano and more. Next to the house is the detachable garage, complete with workbench, tool rack, vacuum cleaner, broom, toolbox, tools and the family car, complete with dent (because only in a LEGO world are dents a plus!), opening trunk and ‘radioactive’ bar from the nuclear power plant. Step outside onto the terrace and you’ll find loads of cool items, including a grill, wheelbarrow and air conditioning unit with ‘Property of Ned Flanders’ decoration, sausages, 2 garden loungers, flowerpots, a shovel, 2 fruit cocktail glasses, Lisa’s camera, Bart’s skateboard ramp with ‘El Barto’ graffiti and an antenna on the roof. The Simpsons™ House is the perfect collector’s item for fans of all ages. Includes 6 minifigures: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and Ned Flanders.
• Includes 6 minifigures: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and Ned Flanders
• First floor includes yellow and light-blue tiled floor, sink, oven and stove, drawers, cups, pot, pan, bowl, mixer, plates, cake tins, cutlery, dining table and 4 chairs
• Living room features TV playing Itchy and Scratchy, couch, boat painting, telephone, carpet, purple piano and staircase to the second floor with family photos
• Bart’s room features a bed, night lamp, desk with pin board, chair, Krusty the Clown poster, skateboard, shelves with books, radio and a cap
• Marge and Homer’s bedroom features a bed, 2 side tables, Maggie’s crib and Marge’s bag
• Lisa’s room features a vanity mirror with hairbrush, stool, bed, table with lamp and cup, shelves with books, magnifying glass, backpack and a jazz poster on the wall• Bathroom features a shower, toilet, sink and a mirror
• Detachable garage features the family car, tools, workbench, tool rack, vacuum cleaner, toolbox and a broom
• Family car with space for 4 minifigures features a dent in the front and an opening trunk to store Homer’s suitcase and a ‘radioactive’ bar from the nuclear power plant
• Outside area includes a grill, wheelbarrow and air conditioning unit with ‘Property of Ned Flanders’ decoration, sausages, 2 garden loungers, flowerpots, a shovel, 2 fruit cocktail glasses, Lisa’s camera, Bart’s skateboard ramp with ‘El Barto’ graffiti and an antenna on the roof
• Can you spot all the items Homer has “borrowed” from Ned Flanders?
• Remove the roof and top floor to access the different rooms inside
• House is hinged in the middle for easy access
• The perfect set for fans of LEGO® brick building and The Simpsons™!
• The Simpsons™ House measures over 9” (23cm) high, 16” (42cm) wide and 9” (24cm) deep
A Mech of a Different Sort
This cartoonish mech by Jimmy (6kyubi6) is fantastic. From the suction cup toes to the wildly expressive projectile and the beady little eyes, this is a terrific hodgepodge of a mech that hits all the right buttons.
Looking Pretty in White and Gold
I always enjoy a good hybrid of Bionicle and System pieces, and Patrick Biggs (DViddy) always does an admirable job, as exemplified in this gorgeous Sailor Scout Hahli Husky figurine. Standing tall at an impressive 13 inches, the detailing around the torso is especially nice.
It’s Creepy and It’s Horrible; It’s Terrifyingly Adorable
This robot by Aaron Williams (m_o_n_k_e_y) is creatively out of the norm, being gangly with ludicrously long arms and sporting a techy bow-tie.
Now You Must Face the Future
It comes as no surprise that the dynamic duo Sean and Steph Mayo (Siercon and Coral) have yet again produced another stunning model that nudges the boundaries of building possibilities a little further out. The Intelligence, as this model is named, is inspired by the classic pin-art toy, and seems to be straight from the pages of a surrealism guidebook.
The Grass Is Always Greener in Sandy Lego
Matt (MonsterBrick) has a cheery outlook today, bringing us this slice paradise in the pastoral plastic world of the brick. In keeping with his usual M.O., Matt has lots of nifty parts-usages, most notably the creative rainbow and that lovely little well. The classic scalloped-edged sun rising over the hills made from the jungle headdress is also a nice touch.
Unveiled: 71006 The Simpsons House [News]
The first images have escaped into the wild of the flagship set for the upcoming official Simpsons line of LEGO sets.
UPDATE: Official information about 71006 The Simpsons House is now available.
71006 The Simpsons House is the cartoon family’s Springfield home, a sprawling suburban manor. The set includes the five Simpsons family members: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, as well as their neighbor Ned Flanders, each with their awkward amalgamation of uniquely-molded head and classic minifig body. The house looks straight from the pages of the Creator theme of domiciles, though this one is a bit bigger, clocking in with an enormous 2523 pieces, which puts it easily in the $250 price range, although the price has not been confirmed yet. The residence hinges open to reveal a full interior, complete with tiled floors. It’s hardly an inspiring design for the LEGO aficionado, but it is, I suppose, fairly accurate to the Simpsons’ humdrum suburbanite existence, and fans of the show will likely find lots to love. Let us know in the comments what you think: Is this set a hit or a miss?
A Brick-built Schwibbogen for Christmas
Don’t worry if you don’t know what a Schwibbogen is – I didn’t either. As builder Robert H. kindly explains, it’s a type of traditional German Christmas decoration in the form of an ornate candle holder. Robert’s full-size LEGO Schwibbogen is modeled after a famous one, and depicts artisans at work.
The Hobbit – Desolation of Smaug: 79011 Dol Guldur Ambush [Review]
A few week ago we reviewed two of the four new sets for The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. With the movie opening this evening and all of the sets now available in stores and on LEGO.com, we’ll dive into the third set, 79011 Dol Guldur Ambush, which is the smallest of the lot.
79011 Dol Guldur Ambush comes with a $19.99 USD price tag, but has an admirable 217 pieces and three minifigs packed in. Taking place in the second film, the set portrays a scene not pictured in the book, in which Beorn ventures to Dol Guldur, the stronghold of the rising dark force we will later know as Sauron. Inside the box are two unnumbered bags and a very crumpled instruction manual. This is a terrific set for parts, particularly for castle builders, as nearly the entire set consists of black, greys, and browns. The instructions first call for the construction of a small double-catapult, which is really a plate with two wheels and two of the mini-catapults. It’s effective, but hardly inspired. The main portion of the set consists of the ruins of Dol Guldur, an ancient fortress. Here we get a bit of broken rocky wall surrounding a large entryway. Of course, as the
set name implies, there’s an ambush. On each side of the door there are lever-controlled booby-traps: on the left are two axes, and on the right a giant hammer contraption. Neither are actually triggered by a pressure plate or anything — you simply swing them into place independently with your fingers via a knob on top. To the right of the main doorway is a segment of rock connected by a hinge brick. This swings aside to reveal — you guessed it: a flick-fire missile. A spare missile is included if you really want to go nuts. That’s about it as far as play-features in this set are concerned. The real noteworthy part here, though, is the wall itself. Much like the Mirkwood Elf Army wall, it is constructed almost completely from very small pieces. The designer went a little crazy with the Brick, Modified 1 x 1 with Stud on 1 Side, using 20, when fewer than half that number actually utilize the extra side stud. However, I see this as a bonus rather than otherwise, since the modified brick tends to be more useful. There are also two of the “dougnut tiles,” or Tile, Round 2 x 2 with Hole in dark grey. This is the only set that is actually released yet which contains this highly useful piece, though other sets with it are in the lineup for the new year.
There are three minifigs in the playset: two Gundabad orcs and Beorn. The two orcs are the twins of the two included in the Mirkwood Elf Army, except that the two here haven’t gone prematurely bald. Mighty woodsman Beorn is the unique figure to this set, and he is a profound disappointment. The great furry mane is not a new hairpiece, but is actually part of the head. There is no excuse for LEGO to have taken this route, since the part of the head that is visible is clearly shaped like a normal LEGO head. Nevertheless, the hair and head is all molded as one, reducing the usefulness of it considerably. I won’t bother to enumerate here all the times LEGO has managed to produce similar head/hair combinations without resorting to this sort of shoddy work.
Ultimately, however, this is a really excellent set. The minifigs are not worth bothering with, but the bricks make the set more than worth-while. The wall, while not particularly exciting, is very nicely done, and it even connects up to the bigger 79014 Dol Guldur Battle set to make a bigger playset.
Be sure to also read our reviews of 79012 Mirkwood Elf Army and 79013 Lake-town Chase!
Amazing Pokemon Rapidash by Mike Nieves
How do you follow something as amazing as Rivendell? Well, Mike Nieves (Retinence) may have used fewer bricks in this version of Rapidash from Pokemon, but he’s mastered them well. Mike is a long-time adept at creating organic curves with LEGO, and the rippling muscles and mane of this creation prove it.
Stirring Up Trouble
Jason Allemann (True Dimensions) has created this delightfully cute scene for the holidays. Jason has provided instructions for you to build a mouse of your own, and if you want to set out a plate of brick-food for Santa to snack on, the delicious-looking food should be easy to replicate.
