Andrew Lee created this terrific word sculpture, which epitomizes the brick experience for many of us fans.
Category Archives: Models
Mountain-sized Surprise
Do Mini-Figs Dream Of Plastic Sheep?
The current collaboration between the planet’s most profitable and awesome toy company and the America’s longest everything television show seems like a match made in heaven. I hope you all got to watch Sunday’s crossover episode Brick Like Me, and are now poring over it frame-by-frame to catch all 52 in-jokes and bad puns.
Judging by the activity on Flickr, it looks many of you are now having a ton of fun with your Simpsons LEGO collectible minifigures too. If you haven’t got yours yet …what’s wrong with you?!
I guess David Pickett (fallentomato) couldn’t wait for either spin-off, since he recently decided to build the First Family of Animation out of raw bricks…
Make sure to check out the full set on Flickr, including brick-built Homer holding his minifig counterpart. But that’s not all …DOH! David also put together this handy instructional video showing you how to build them yourself. So put those figs aside for a second and give it a go!
Blocko Brand Retail Store
The Simpsons LEGO roundup continues from this meta LEGO Simpsons build by Matt De Lanoy.
It’s LEGO Simpson’s favorite Block retail store:
And check out the detailed inside:
You can see this, and more of Matt’s LEGO-Springfield at Brickworld: Chicago in just over a month!
The Homer – the car designed for the average man.
Tonight we’re going to witness automotive history … Powerful like a Gorilla … yet soft and yielding like a NERF-ball.
Introducing The Homer:
Featuring:
- Two bubble domes – a second sound proof dome for kids (comes with optional restraints and muzzles).
- Three horns – to play the song “La Cucaracha.” – as you can never find a horn when you’re mad.
- Extremely large beverage holders.
- Tail fins
- Shag Carpeting!
All this can be yours for the $140,000 USD (inflation adjusted).
I hope everyone enjoyed the last night’s LEGO Simpson’s episode last night. And I’m glad that Brian Williams built this amazing version of the classic car Homer designed way back in season 2!
Lego Parisian Restaurant 10243 [Review]
Lego Parisian Restaurant is latest modular building released this January. It contains 2,448 pieces and retails for $159.99. Below is a video review of why you should buy this set and possibly hold on to an extra copy of it in the years to come.
Pros:
- High number and variety of parts for the price
- Several useful building techniques
- Excellent for display
- Has the most reliable investment value for collecting
Cons:
- No discounts will be available for this set because it is a Lego Exclusive with a set number containing 10xxx.
The modular building series is one of the best lines for adult fans. It appeals to the builder, the collector, and those looking for a gorgeous filler on a shelf. There are already many review of this popular set within a click on Google that shows the technical and aesthetic aspects of the build. Instead I’ll take a moment to point out that the modular buildings are the best sets to invest as a collector or someone who would like some extra cash down the road to buy more Lego with.
Right now, if you want to buy a brand new copy of the first set of the modular building series, Cafe Corner, you won’t find it anywhere for less than $1,000. The second in the series, Green Grocer, is currently selling for prices close to $800. While most Lego exclusives containing 10xxx in their set number are good sets to invest due to their appeal to adult fans, the modular buildings are the most reliable because they are part of an ongoing series. As long as Lego continues to produce modular buildings, there will be increasing demand for earlier releases to expand the city. Even if more people catch on and hold on to these sets for resale later, it’s still a good idea as long as LEGO remains a growing hobby among adults.
The next set to retire among the modulars is Grand Emporium. While there is no fixed discontinuation date on sets, judging by the time that Fire Brigade went out of stock during the holidays last year, it’s a good estimate to say the same may happen for Grand Emporium this year. Within 6 months of Fire Brigade’s retirement, it’s price on Bricklink has already gone up by $100 over MSRP. I will be waiting until the fall of this year to buy Grand Emporium during promotions such as double VIP points.
I hope you found this tip on collecting to be useful or interesting, and once you get the ball rolling, you’ll have a hobby that completely funds itself.
I’m not an elephant!
On this May 4th, let’s not forget some of the often overlooked but nevertheless very important characters from the Star Wars universe. I speak of course of Jabba’s keyboard player and occasional restauranteur Max Rebo. So I present to you my Star Wars Day Definitive Guide to every known LEGO version of everyone’s favorite azure non-elephant:
IMAGE CREDITS (in order): Millie McKenzie (Leda Kat); Larry Lars; our very own Tim Gould (Gambort); Flickr member SIMAFOL; Flickr member kae_ae; and Eric Druon (baronsat).
Hit and run
Let for force-tivities begin!
Apparently May the 4th is Star Wars day! And if you don’t get why by now, then you must have been living on Hoth for the past five years. Anyway, Tyler Clites (Legohaulic) gets us into the spirit with this version of the iconic logo – which he serendipitously built using the seed part from the Iron Builder contest currently in progress.
Classic Ferrari Formula One
Carl Greatrix (Brictrix) is mostly and rightfully known for his excellent minifig scale train models. However, the train layouts he brings to shows also often feature beautifully constructed buildings and classic cars. It is no surprise to me then that, now he has turned his attention to building a scale model of a car, the end result is superb. The car in question is a seventies motorsport icon: the Ferrari 312T4 Formula One racer. The model was inspired by the highly detailed plastic scale models in old catalogues by the Japanese Tamiya brand. I used to have one of those too, as a teenager, and spent many hours pouring over it looking for inspiration for my models.
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Ferrari Formula One cars. Some of them are beautiful. Others, not so much, although I suppose that on a race car, “form follows function” has a certain attractiveness on its own. As far as I am concerned, the 312T4 isn’t particularly pretty either, but Carl’s rendition is definitely spot-on.
Continental curb hugging
Still a regular site across Europe, the Citroën 2CV or “Deux Chevaux” (lit. “two horses”) was a beloved lemon of a French economy car introduced in the 1950’s. Some could be forgiven for thinking that the name referred to vehicle’s horse power.
Polish builder and massive petrol-head Misterzumbi is no stranger to building LEGO versions of this and other classic cars, but he seems to have perfected his 2CV technique here, with a version that is an obvious nod to Nick Barrett’s larger model that we featured here last year.
The significance of the grandfather clock I can only guess at – perhaps itself an homage to the opening titles of the Antiques Roadshow. But I love that the builder chose to represent the vehicle in the full corner-hugging, wheel-screeching, teeth-clenching action of a 2CV going flat out at 8 miles per hour.
However, not satisfied with just one presentation of this idea, Mr. Z decided he should taunt us a second time with another high velocity 2CV vignette, this time featuring a Frenchman who is either very late for a picnic, or just more of a dog person…
Friday Night Fights – Yellow Brick Road
Welcome back fight fans, to Kansas, USA for another round of Friday Night! Tonight we’re off to see the Wizard!
In the Technicolor corner Sean and Steph comes out hitting with a micro version of the Yellow Brick Road:
In the Sepiatone corner we have Tyler and Michaela punch back with their Bricks of Character version:
As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding the outcome of this bout by way of comment. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights, Simpsons Spectacular, Mike delivers a 8-0 knockout punch. Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!