I’ve been wanting to make a wrap up post about the year 2008, but it looks like LAML Radio has already done a fabulous job with their latest episode of 2008 in Review. Check it out as James and Aaron talk through the best creations of the year and other notable highlights. I should also mention that this is LAML Radio’s 100th show, congratulations!
New Jersey newspaper Asbury Park Press reports that members of the Chabad Jewish Center in Toms River, NJ built an enormous LEGO menorah for the beginning of Hanukkah this past Sunday:
Rabbi Moshe Gourarie said, “A lot of darkness can be dispelled by a little light. What this world really needs, more than anything, is light, positivity and goodness.”
Read the full article on APP.com.
We weren’t going to dignify this attack on BrickArms by posting it here, but we have been getting a flood of emails concerning it. So, here it is.
In the December 4th edition of the UK-based SUN, this article appeared.
Article Scan by Andrew Summersgill
The full text is as follows:
A RANGE of Lego-style fighting figures — including an al-Qaeda terrorist — has been slammed by religious leaders.
The masked follower of 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden comes with a rocket launcher, assault rifle and grenades.
Mohammed Shaffiq, of Muslim organisation The Ramadhan Foundation, branded the toy “absolutely disgusting”.
He said: “It is glorifying terrorism — the makers should be ashamed.
“We should be coming together to unite against terrorism, but how is that possible when children are playing with toys like this?”
The £9.50 two-inch figures are customised from Lego toys by makers BrickArms, who hope for a Christmas hit.
They also include a Nazi major, bearing the chilling SS insignia, and a stormtrooper brandishing two grenade launchers.
Edie Friedman, director of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality, said: “These distasteful toys are something we could all well do without, especially when there is so much tension around.”
LEGO UK today issued a statement saying it is not associated with the toys being sold by BrickArms which have been customised without its knowledge or permission.
It continued: “BrickArms is not licensed by LEGO UK to customise LEGO figures and has no links to the LEGO brand.
“LEGO UK is committed to developing toys which enrich childhood by encouraging imaginative and creative play – and does not endorse products that do not fit with this philosophy.”
Fox News, among other news sites, picked up the story. The only significant difference was that Fox contacted Will Chapman, owner of BrickArms. He was quoted as saying:
“We do not sell an ‘Osama bin Laden’ miniature figure. We sell a generic bad guy minifigure with a Ninja scarf head wrap, the same minifigure that we have been selling for over a year now, with no associated ‘outrage.'”
“It does not represent anything; it is simply a bandit — a bad guy for the good guys to battle. Attempt to assign it a ‘personality’ only serves to create controversy that does not exist.”
The article has sparked much indignation throughout the Lego Fan community. The overwhelming majority supports Will and BrickArms.
I personally believe that this spurious attack, by a disreputable tabloid, was merely to stir up trouble. Their pathetic attack on one of our own is aggravating, to say the least.
The Brothers Brick has an extremely positive and long-standing relationship with Will. He and his family are wonderful people. We firmly stand with him, his family, and his associates. Go BrickArms!
During November, Nnenn ambitiously set out to present a new variation of the Vic Viper each day of the month. While the LEGO fan community on Flickr has known Nnenn to be one of the most prolific builders, no one has ever seen a builder post one new medium-sized LEGO creation for each day of an entire month. In the end, Nnenn did it; the result was “Novvember.”
In this exclusive interview with The Brothers Brick, Nnenn shares his thoughts on the project and how he managed to get everything finished without losing his sanity.
This fighter map from Nnenn shows all 31 Vic Vipers unleashed during November.
The Brothers Brick: What gave you the idea for Novvember?
Nnenn: Novvember came about as an effort to populate the Vic Viper group Peter Morris and I created on Flickr. We had each built and contributed a few VVs (based on the Gradius shmup series) to the pool but then came a period of stagnation. Since I have little tolerance for the myriad of unnecessary (or redundant) community groups, I felt something had to be done to warrant its existence. Dedicating a month to the cause, and the play on its name, is a carry-over of something I’ve done with my family for some time: we have such things as ‘Fun Friday, Special Breakfast Wednesday’ etc.
TBB: How long was the planning process? Had you been building Vipers before the start of the month or did you build all of them during November?
Nnenn: The idea began to germinate some weeks beforehand and I began building VVs about mid October… so I had several done before the official month began. The ‘official’ announcements were simply fun afterthoughts that helped garner momentum.
TBB: Describe your thought process on coming up with so many variations of the Viper.
Nnenn: During a ‘slow’ time on a visit to my in-laws, I remembered what Peter had said in his LAML interview about sketching ideas before building (something I rarely do) so I picked up a pen and covered three sheets with starfighters… most of them with dual forward prongs. Many of those became the basis for later models (the original paper is now fairly ragged with use); the rest came about by my usual method of fiddling with piece combinations.
TBB: What was the most challenging part of the whole project from start to finish?
Nnenn: Getting a model posted every single day was, by far, the most difficult aspect of the project. Many times during the month I thought about refining or making changes to whatever I was building but couldn’t because I needed to be moving on to maintain my ‘daily’ goal. So quality definitely suffered (as some have noted) but overall I’m pleased.
Years ago, I learned the tremendous educational value of completing many small projects over laboring over a single work for eons: An illustration professor I had would assign his students the task of developing twenty or so thumbnail solutions to some visual problem. When we presented our ideas, he would demand thirty new and unique sketches, declaring that our first attempts would always be the weakest and the least innovative. He said it wouldn’t be until number fifty or so that we would be forced into completely new territory. I wonder what Novvember would produce if we had four more weeks…
TBB: What are your opinions on the public’s reaction, and what do you think of the other builders’ contributions to Novvember?
Nnenn: I predicted we’d initially have a handful of contributors and then see several more trickle in throughout the month. But I never worried about generating interest… I was too focused on doing my part, so-to-speak. The results, however, have been both surprising and wonderful: a ton of participants have helped my initial jesting about a flood of VVs become reality. A few with short attention spans have complained or thrown around some negativity but those types are inevitable and besides, nothing was done with malicious intent.
TBB: Name a few of your favorite Vipers from both your builds and those by others.
Nnenn: Though I’m not one for favorites, I actually went back and spent some time perusing the pool… but I found myself picking out positive aspects from them all. So go pick your own!
TBB: Do you have any plans after NoVVember?
Nnenn: Right now I’ll build anything but a VV; I guess I’m a little spent. Doing more variations might push me but my investment in the hobby is more grounded in fun than in work, so I’m done… until next time.
TBB: What are your overall thoughts on how everything turned out?
Nnenn: Funtastic.
Previous interviews on The Brothers Brick:
Lluís Gibert sends word that Spanish-language LEGO fan group Hispalug will be hosting an event early next month in Barcelona.
Hispabrick is a LEGO fan event organized by HispaLUG. The event will feature LEGO creations such as dioramas, models, and Great Ball Contraptions, as well as presentations about Model Team and Hispabrick Magazine. With building contests and activities for kids, it’ll be a full weekend of LEGO bricks in Spain.
Name: Hispabrick 2008
Location: Mall L’Anec Blau in Castelldefels (Barcelona)
Dates & Times: December 6 (15:00~20:00) and 7 (11:00~20:00), 2008
Admission: Free
Contact & More Info: Hispabrick.com
Finally, a few words for our Spanish-speaking readers:
6 y 7 de Diciembre de 2008 en el Centro Comercial L’Ànec Blau de Castelldefels (Barcelona)
El Encuentro Nacional de Aficionados de LEGO(R) organizado por HispaLUG. Exposición de dioramas, creaciones singulares, GBC… Presentaciones de MODEL TEAM, Hispabrick Magazine. Concurso y actividades de montaje para niños. Un fin de semana lleno de ladrillos LEGO en España.
La entrada es gratuita para el público los dos días.
Following quickly on the heels of our post about how to get your LEGO event announced here on The Brothers Brick, Adrian Florea has just announced the first-ever LEGO fan event to be held in Romania.
Here are the details:
Name: Lego fan Expo -First ever AFOL event in Romania
Location: Palatul Copiilor Republicii str. nr 23. Cluj-Napoca , Romania
Time: December 3-7
Hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Contact: spacemonkey_adi@yahoo.com
And here are a few words from Adrian in Romanian:
Va invitam la prima expozitie de LEGO organizata de fanii LEGO din Romania. Evenimentul va include pe langa exponatele alcatuite din colectii si creatii personale, concursuri cu premii si activitati.
As much as we’d like to, The Brothers Brick can’t attend every LEGO event that takes place throughout the world. That’s why it’s great to rely on all the LEGO bloggers out there who attend events in their area.
Members of a new LEGO club based in Zagreb, Croatia recently launched their own blog, Kockice, and they’ve covered KockeFest, which took place on October 18 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Check out the full write-up and more pictures on Kockice and the Kocke Klub site.
(With additional thanks — and an apology for the belated post — to Marko.)
We’ve blogged Rob Dasnewten here many times. One of my favourite non-LEGO blogs, the accurately named Concept Ships, has gone one step further and published an excellent roundup of his work. Nice work, Rob.
The ship pictured above is Rob’s latest: the GP-21 Shrike.
Michael Jasper is easily one of my favorite builders. His many minuscule creations simultaneously inspire and annoy. (“Genius! So simple! Why didn’t I think of that?!”)
Portuguese LEGO fan community Portal 0937 has posted a great interview with the artist many LEGO fans know mainly by his Brickshelf user name — “mijasper“.
LEGO elements, in particular those small and special ones, can be used in many ways – you just have to look at them as what they could be.
Head on over to Portal 0937 to read the full interview with Michael Jasper.
(Via LegOficina dos Baixinhos.)
Neiman Marcus has recently posted their upscale Christmas catalog for the uber-rich. They now sell LEGO!
They have brokered a deal with LEGO Certified Professional Nathan Sawaya. For a very reasonable amount, you can have a replica of any person you want. How reasonable? If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
Okay, I’ll tell you. It’s pocket change, just $60,000. The real problem is finding space for it. Keep it in your mini-sub. You never use that anyway….
Thanks to Chris Wunz for the heads up about the Yahoo News post.
Sean Kenney recently posted this poignant sculpture of a “short” investor and a short-order cook. Click the photo to see more pictures on Sean’s site:
After marveling at Sean’s fantastic brick-built newspaper, I started wondering if the economic meltdown has affected how we buy or build LEGO these days.
Are we buying less LEGO? Buying more for some reason? Waiting to buy on sale or clearance? Getting inspired to build things that evoke the times, like the zombie apocalypse? I don’t know.
So, I thought I’d write a quick post and put up a new poll (finally!) to ask you, dear readers, how things are different for you today compared with a few months or a year ago. Sound off in the comments and vote in the new (completely unscientific) poll.
Note: If you see an error when you try to vote, rest assured that your vote is still being counted. It’s a conflict between two WordPress plug-ins.
[poll id=”15″]
