Yungang Grottoes are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Datong, China. Tiger0207 presents a scene of a Buddhist monk meditating in one of the caves:
Via VignetteBricks.
Tag Archives: Asia
It’s true that houses in Japan are small...
The latest from blackbulb creations
Nicholas Foo is a LEGO Certified Professional in Singapore who uses the trade name “blackbulb creations.” His creations on Brickshelf have always caught my eye (link):
His latest project is a large retro rocket:
Nicholas’ rocket is a central component of a massive “Great Ball Contraption” assembled by LEGO fans in Singapore. Here are a couple pictures from LEGO Ambassador Diana Wong:
You can see more pictures of this event on Brickshelf (gallery 1, gallery 2, gallery 3, gallery 4):
Armor Display by Moko
University of Tokyo Clock Tower
The University of Tokyo LEGO club has been working on a large-scale version of a campus landmark, the clock tower, and they’ve just announced that it is now complete:
(Via Edge over at レゴ系.)
Origins
I know my brother’s going to resent me for saying this, but first-born children tend to get all the photographic attention — at least until the second kid comes along. The first five years of my life were meticulously photographed by my mom and dad, including a handful of photos documenting my early love of LEGO. Here I am showing off some unrecognizable creation, circa 1978:
I think this one’s a bit earlier, from about 1977:
From 1977 to 2007 and from Basic bricks to Cafe Corner, this post brings my LEGO hobby full circle. I wonder what the next 30 years will bring!
So, do you have any old photos of yourself playing with LEGO as a kid?
TRU Japan Exo-Force Mashup Contest
Toys R Us in Japan is sponsoring an Exo-Force Mashup Contest that challenges builders to combine any two Exo-Force sets into a new mecha. The two example mashups should be familiar to TBB readers — Van-Force and Naoe-Force. Several Japanese builders have already contributed entries.
Kwi-Chang gets things going with a mashup between 7700 Stealth Hunter and 7714 Golden Guardian:
Although I posted it earlier this week without any explanation, here’s Izzo’s combination of two copies of 8105 Iron Condor:
Finally, Sugegasa has promised to get in on the mashup action, but I haven’t seen the result yet.
Kinkaku-ji by Jumpei Mitsui
Jumpei Mitsui and Sachiko Akinaga have earned international reputations through their participation in the LEGO King Championship TV show. More importantly, they’re both well-known for their great building skills, as Jumpei demonstrates with his recreation of Kinkaku-ji, the “Golden Pavilian” in Kyoto, Japan:
(I think Hippotam over at Klocki has a time machine.)
New Exo-Force Alternate Model “Naoe-Force”
Japanese hobby magazine Figure King has featured alternate models for Exo-Force sets ever since the theme was first released in Japan, and the alternate models have been fairly popular with Japanese LEGO fans (at least the ones with blogs I read).
Anime director Shoji Kawamori has designed two “Van-Force” models, which you can read about and see pictures of here on The Brothers Brick. All along, Mr. Kawamori has worked with Japanese Master Builder Kazuyoshi Naoe (who also worked on the Pieces of Peace exhibit).
The latest issue of Figure King includes the following new alternate design, titled “Naoe-Force”:
Go!
No, not the verb, the ancient Asian game. Go is too complicated to explain in a blog post about a vignette, so you can read about it on Wikipedia.
Brickshelfer T-Brick distills the game down to an 8×8 base:
(Via VignetteBricks.)
It’s almost Girls’ Day!
To celebrate the upcoming Girls’ Day festival in Japan, mumu’s wife has created a cool little vignette:
Read more about Girls’ Day, or the Hinamatsuri holiday, in the first post about it here on The Brothers Brick (well, actually Pan-Pacific Bricks) last year.
Squieu’s Yokozuna Power Armor
I don’t think very many people will disagree with me when I say that Squieu is one of the greatest mecha builders around. He recently uploaded pictures of more than a dozen new mecha, but this one in particular caught my eye — an awesome suit of power armor:
Yokozuna are the highest-ranked class of sumo wrestlers, and the power armor distinctly resembles its namesake.