Name: Yagyu Jubei (柳生十兵衛 やぎゅうじゅうべえ)
Dates: 1607-1650
Biography: A famous and often-romanticized samurai from the Edo period, Jubei only appears briefly in historical records. He served for a short time as a sword instructor to the Tokugawa shogunate, disappeared for twelve years, and then served again later in his life. The gaps between these appearances have been filled in popular culture with wild adventures that span the country.
Additional reading: Wikipedia (English), Wikipedia (日本語).
In addition to Pre-Classic Space and The Eastern Block, another popular Space subtheme is 3vil.
Brickenrocker has created several great minifigs in the 3vil subtheme, including Dr. Cranium, the evil 3vil leader, the Queen of the Maggotmen, and Zognar:
Check out Brickenrocker’s Flickr and Web site as well.
LEGO Space fans have created many Space “subthemes.” Chris Giddens has created several popular subthemes, including Pre-Classic Space and The Eastern Block. With my recent Communist minifigs still lying around, I thought I’d try my hand at some Eastern Block minifigs.
First up, the Eastern Block Revolutionary Council:
From left to right in the picture above:
Next, a chainsaw gun. If the explosive rounds from the eight-barrelled, rapid-fire particle cannon don’t get ya, the 1600-RPM chainsaw is sure to do some damage:
Finally, Ernesto “the Dude” Guevarra (voted “Most Photogenic” by 99% of the Eastern Block electorate) wields the “BFG”:
Click here to see the full gallery on Flickr.
Name: Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉 とよとみひでよし)
Dates: 1536-1598
Biography: Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a powerful daimyo (leader or warlord) who brought the Civil War (Sengoku) era to an end by unifying Japan under his rule. According to some scholars, he had an extra thumb on his right hand. Toyotomi Hideyoshi built the famous green-roofed castle in Osaka, where his crest remains the symbol of Osaka Prefecture to this day.
Additional reading: Wikipedia (English), Wikipedia (日本語).
From Bricks to Bothans Forums user jp-30 has posted some quite wonderful Indiana Jones minifigs. What sets these apart is the presentation (nudge nudge, folks!) — good photography combined with nice image manipulation.
Total awesomeness. Here’s the full gallery on Photobucket.com.
Mark Stafford, of Cthulego fame, has built some great minifig-scale characters using regular parts instead of minifig pieces (previous post).
Recent updates include a “Clockwork Knight:”
And a “Sea Knight:”
Name: Katou Danzou (加藤段藏 かとうだんぞう)
Dates: 1503-1569
Biography: Nicknamed “Flying Katou” (「飛び加藤」), this legendary ninja is shrouded in mystery. One legend says that he swallowed a bull in front of a crowd of people.
Further reading: Wikipedia (Japanese only).
Name: Oda Nobunaga (織田信長 おだのぶなが)
Dates: 1534-1582
Biography: One of the fiercest and most feared daimyo of the Civil War (Sengoku) era in Japanese history. Born to a regional nobleman, Nobunaga spent most of his life as a warrior. By the time he died (by his own hand, after being surrounded by enemy forces), he had conquered nearly all of Japan.
Additional reading: Wikipedia (English), Wikipedia (日本語).
On one end of the belief spectrum, we have my Aztec, Norse, and Greek minifigs. On the other end, we have a bunch of communists.
First up, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin:
Next, Leon Trotsky, Maxim Gorky, and Joseph Stalin:
Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong, and Kim Jong Il:
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels:
Finally, Ernesto “Che” Guevarra:
For those of you just joining us (welcome, BoingBoingers!), my other blog, Pan-Pacific Bricks, features cool LEGO creations from the many LEGO builders in Japan, along with a few of my own Japanese-themed creations. (I was born and raised in Japan.)
NOTE (2/25/06): Although I’m in the process of migrating my images to Flickr, there are still a fair amount of images hosted on a site called Brickshelf, which appears to be unstable at the moment. Check back later if you don’t see pictures in this post. (This is definitely going to make me switch to Flickr.)
My most recent set of creations is a series of minifigs based on historical and legendary people from Japan. Click the thumbnails to read more on Pan-Pacific Bricks:
Name: Kukai (空海) / Kobo Daishi (弘法大師 こうぼうだいし)
Dates: 774-835
Biography: Known after his death as Kobo Daishi, Kukai was the founder of Shingon-shu, one of the major sects of Japanese Buddhism. In 804, Kukai traveled to China, where he studied under Hui-kuo. Kukai returned to Japan in 806, bearing religious texts from various faiths. He founded a monastery at Mt. Koya outside Kyoto, where he was buried upon his death, and which continues to be the headquarters for Shingon Buddhism to this day.
Further reading:
Wikipedia (English), Wikipedia (日本語), Shingon Buddhist Int’l, Koyasan.org.
