Joriel “Joz” Jimenez (MOCPages) has been hard at work updating his Flickr photostream lately. I keep bookmarking stuff to blog, and then he posts something even cooler.
With squad after squad of great minifigs, Joz is clearly a man after my own heart. Unlike too many “army builders,” he peppers his multitudes with unique units like this pair of “Jump Jet Instructors”:
Here are my favorites:
Oh, and yes, that is a kangaroo in the CPKF Insignia. Nice.
At BrickCon in October, I learned about the Halo-inspired weapons and the M1 Garand rifle that Will Chapman of BrickArms was working on at the time (see First look at new BrickArms weapons).
Last week, I received my shipment of new 2008 BrickArms weapons, and I’ve been eagerly building and waiting for a break in the snow (!) to take pictures.
Aside from much improved polish, the BA-M5 rifles and BA-M6 pistols aren’t substantially different from the prototypes I highlighted in October, as seen here with a trio of UNSC Marines from Halo:
In addition to the BA-M5 and BA-M6, the latest batch of BrickArms weapons includes two more weapons inspired by science fiction. The PKD2019 Replicant Blaster takes its inspiration from Blade Runner, so I whipped up a custom Rick Deckard to “retire” my minifig androids:
The final M1 Garand rifle is slightly larger than the prototype. Regardless, a minifig can hold the rifle at several points, as demonstrated below by a custom WW2 US Army Sergeant minifig you can also buy from BrickArms:
My favorite new BrickArms weapon is the Mk48 Machine Gun. Bundled with a bipod and monopod, the Mk48 resembles the M240 and M249 families of modern machine guns (at least at minifig scale). Other additions to the contemporary arsenal are the MP7 PDW and M84 Stun Grenade (aka “flashbang”):
The Bipod from the Mk48 can attach wherever a minifig hand can attach, including other BrickArms weapons, such as the PSG1 Sniper Rifle (with S.W.A.T. sniper below). A Monopod can convert your M1 Garand into an M14 (with Marine, circa 1965):
The other sci-fi-inspired weapon is the Auto-9, from RoboCop (below):
The priciest thing I picked up this time from BrickArms was the Medkit ($8). The Medkit includes a syringe, scalpel, and bag. Although BrickArms sold a limited run of 30 World War II medic minifigs a while back, I missed them when they were $25, and the final minifig went for $162.50 (!) on eBay.
So I made my own (mostly), using the new Medkit, an Indiana Jones bag, and bits of the Sergeant:
As I said last February in my first BrickArms review, BrickArms weapons compare well to official LEGO elements on both price (on the secondary market) and quality. This certainly holds true for the 2008 weapons, which continue to extend the building possibilities provided by our favorite little plastic bricks.
For more photos of the new weapons and accessories, see my BrickArms photoset on Flickr.
Also check out our previous coverage of BrickArms here on The Brothers Brick:
Flickr member 713 Avenue recently developed an interest in photo shooting Star Wars trooper minifigs with Apple products and other whimsical settings. The results are interesting and comical, they definitely define some personality underneath the helmets of these minifigs.
I’m sorry to say that my series of minifig heroes ran out of steam a couple months ago, mainly because writing up all those mini-bios was surprisingly time-consuming. Lame excuse, I know.
Well, I had all of the minifigs built and photographed, so I thought I’d go ahead and share them here.
Dorothy Day and the Dalai Lama:
Chief Seattle and Chief Joseph:
César Chávez and Barney Frank:
From Gandhi to Rosa Parks, see all the previous entries in this series on Flickr.
Ever since we featured Alex Eylar‘s band of minifig hitmen called The Irregulars, he’s come up with another band of deadly assassins called The Lonely People. The crazies become creepier and the deaths get messier. Read each killer’s profile on MOCpages.
Matt De Lanoy (aka Pepa Quin) has been long around and known for his large lego models, especially those from Star Wars. His latest project ventures into the world of the sitcom Futurama.
Check out his Futurama creation on the new website Brickpics, also including an impressive lineup of custom minifigs, bearing high semblance to the TV characters themselves.
Are you one of those people who almost believes their minifigs are alive? Ever wonder what they get up to when you go to work, take the dogs for a walk, or go to sleep?
Tim Goddard has the answer:
Be sure to check out the full photoset on Flickr for some great desktop items recreated with LEGO bricks. Here’s an overall shot, just to prove how much Tim’s LEGO looks like the real thing:
Minifig customizer Amanda (Brickshelf | Flickr) recently uploaded a great custom Kratos from the PS2 game God of War:
(By the way, people ask all the time whether the fan-created things they see on this blog are for sale, and the answer is almost always “No.” I would’ve highlighted this minifig regardless, but the answer in this case is actually “Yes.” No, I’m not getting a cut of the sale.)
I found the Saturday Night Live skit spoofing There Will be Blood a week ago highly amusing, but not having seen the movie yet, I never imagined the milkshake bit was actually in the movie (as I learned during the Oscars the next night)!
Sir Nadroj creates minifig versions of the entire cast (his Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday above), while Jordan takes a different approach by putting the characters in a vignette (below).
Finally, Graeme “Littlebrick” Allen reminds us that we missed James Morr’s “There Will be Bricks” (thanks Graeme!):
LAML Radio #23 asks the question “Why do we love the minifig?”
Naturally, host James Wadsworth, Matt Forcum, and I have lots of reasons.
