75021 Republic Gunship is one of the sets from the summer wave of Lego Star Wars. The set contains 1175 pieces and retails for $119.99, which you can buy from Amazon.
Here is my summary of the highlights of the set, which are elaborated in the review video below. The video also compares the set to its previous 2008 version.
Pros:
Cons:
This version of the Republic Gunship has the best design in terms of looks and sturdiness. It makes for a good display item and can be handled more roughly without sustaining serious damage. Despite these qualities, the set doesn’t feel very new to me because it has been made twice already in the past. Even the minifigs are just new versions of previously existing ones. If you haven’t been jaded by Lego’s recreations of popular Star Wars ships, then this is a great set to have.
The perfect cure for a case of ‘The Mondays‘ is surely some fantastically designed sci-fi LEGO. Today’s pharmacist, dealing out the proper dose is none other than LEGOLIZE IT MAN.
And remember boys and girls, follow the instructions on the label, and never exceed the maximum daily dose. Recommended to be taken on a full stomach.
The ever-talented Eero Okkonen (Pate-keetongu) brings us three of the most memorable dwarves you’re ever likely to meet: Bifor, Bofur, and Bombur from The Hobbit. I’m always impressed by how well skilled builders are able to imbue expressions on the faces of large scale characters using only a few bricks. You can read a bit more about them on Eero’s own blog. Eero says he’s building the whole party of 15 adventurers, which I can’t wait to see.
Lego builders are always coming up with new ideas on how to use the brick, but some ponder the question: “why use the brick?” An idea was born to conduct a telephone game through alternating exchanges of Lego and music. The sequence starts with a Lego creation, which is interpreted by the next player through a musical composition, which the next player then builds a Lego creation based on what’s heard, and the cycle repeats.
The project began in June and consisted of 6 exchanges. Each player had 2 weeks to build or compose based on the previous work seen or heard without knowing what came before. The results were undoubtedly fascinating.
The project began with a scene by Paul Vermeesch of a dilapidated town overrun by a flood.
Max Pointer then interpreted the creation through a composition that conveyed the idea of a cleansing transformation through the contrast of the mellow sound of viola with the crisp tones of bells and celesta.
Sean and Steph Mayo saw a different contrast in the music they heard. Instead of the viola representing the decay of a town, it became a dusty attic, the celesta that represented the cleansing by water channeled its sound into toys, and the water sound effects were translated into the downpour outside the window.
Christopher Baldacci saw an ominous mystery brooding in the creation, which he conveyed with a piano theme set in a looming backdrop of strings. He drew highlights to particular objects in the room such as using drums for the toy soldier, a xylophone for, well, the xylophone, and an altered melody of “Round and Round the Mulberry Bush” for the broken jack-in-the-box. Perhaps most obvious is the hint of the Harry Potter theme to represent the poster on the wall.
Simon Liu got the hint and centered his build on a creation similar to the siege of Hogwarts. The heaviness of decay from the previous two creations was given the form of a ominous sea serpent, and the lightness of the water and tinkering toys translated into magical spells.
By Ian Spacek‘s turn, the theme of contrast between animation and stagnation transformed into an exchange between good and evil, symbolized by a brass chorus representing the majestic castle, and a solo brass instrument called the serpent playing the role of the giant snake.
Tyler Clites finished the sequence with a statue in the ruins. Its wings are activated by an ancient artifact, suggesting the themes of mystery and adventure gleaned from the previous composition.
To read more about each builder’s thoughts on their works and interpretations, check out Paul’s blog for more about Symphony of Construction.
It’s super-fantastic-giant-robot fun time! Today’s featured giant robot is AMPED (Autonomous Multipurpose Drone), the brainchild of Marco Tagliaferri (Tagl), and it makes my teeth giggle. The model was a year in the making, has 25 geared points of articulation and will be displayed at the 10th annual Bricking Bavaria this November in Munich. I confess that I didn’t realize how far back Marco went with the hobby or how far he has come. Marco is obviously an O.G.
I can’t stop looking at the throwing pose, it’s absolutely perfect. As usual, constant reader, it has been a blast being your weekend DJ. Have a great week and I’ll see you at the fights next Friday.
In his posting for this model on Flickr, builder A Plastic Infinity composed a list of reason why prospective viewers should take the time and leave a comment. Most of them were fairly boilerplate self promotional offerings like “Because it’s my favorite!” and “the photos are good this time.”, but my favorite was definitely “Medusa tails!“. How can I possibly argue with that logic?…so enjoy the Medusa tails, and the rest of this scene from an up and coming builder.
Although I blogged the creature a few months ago in a Sunday round-up, the builder has since added a decorative base and is therefore worth a second look. Enjoy “Quane in Wonderland.”
It’s time for another 1980’s flashback courtesy of Alex Jones (Orion Pax Designs) who returns to the Brothership with the transforming big-rig Optimus Prime. One of the many reasons I admire Alex’s work is because he’s a grinder, willing to rebuild again and again and again to get things just right. While I’ve heard some of the great builders brag how they “threw it together in 2 hours”, it’s nice to hear Alex admit that he’s been working through an idea or a project for months or even years.
“Building transformable versions of the G1 Transformers out of LEGO bricks is one of my strongest passions, and I’m working on this series since the year 2000 – unnumbered versions of Optimus Prime, Soundwave, Blaster, Starscream, etc went over my desk during those years – improving them over and over again until i got their design as close to the original as possible.”
If you’re a stone-cold purist, you may object to the KRE-O headpiece, but I bet you’ll look anyway. Alex also has a short video with some crazy zooming and a neat sequence showing the transformation from truck to robot.
I told myself I wasn’t going to blog any Ma.Ktoberfest 2013 offerings this year because like some of you I find the whole end of the year sci-fi themed months to be a little overwhelming and Brother Tripod has that particular beat covered. However, my love of a great diorama overrides any such petty concerns and it is my pleasure to share with you “Super Jerry” by Logan (∞CaptainInfinity∞) that has just the right mix of detailed vehicles, understated landscaping and good photography from a builder who knows how to frame a shot. The tree isn’t too shabby either.
At the sound of the whistle its Train Time again, constant reader and fortunately for all of us Sérgio Batista (SujiroLegoTrains) can feed our mutual craving for the rails. First up is the “CP1900” Portuguese Railways diesel locomotive all decked out in a Halloween color scheme.
And since Saturday nights are made for double-shots, let’s also enjoy the charming “Sintra´s Tram” whose title I initially misread as “Sinatra’s Train“. I like to think the Chairman of the Board would have liked this tram, it has style.
