Tag Archives: Retro

A futuristic female explorer and her faithful dog-bot

Contests can be excellent sources of inspiration. That may be the case for Kingmarshy, who is competing in the 2018 Bio-Cup. The tournament is centered around Technic and Constraction creations, and this entry was submitted for the 3rd round. The round is themed “The Future” and this is subthemed under “Utopia”.

MissUtopia

There’s a lot of really great parts usage in this fun little build. The ribbed hose for the skirt is one example, and the Throwbot Technic gearbox pieces are also a great addition. My personal favorite part is the design of “GD-801” the robo-dog. The harpoon gun tail and retro wheels for shoulders really give him the perfect sci-fi look.

RoboDog

Spread our codes to the stars

Take a journey back before the launch of humans, robots, and Tesla Roadsters to space with a LEGO 1950s retro rocketship built by Jason Hlavenka. Slick transitions from the cone shape on top to the cylindrical body and quad fins at the bottom make his model pop.

Rocket1

Point and shoot camera from the days of film

Some of our younger readers will not remember the experience of scrolling the camera film forward after taking a photograph. Indeed,  before the automatic whirring that signalled the end of the film, cameras had little turning levers to manually winding the film back into its protective housing. This LEGO version of an old camera in 1:1 scale was built by Andreas Lenander as a gift for his dad.  While it is not a specific model, I did think it was reminiscent of the old Leica cameras with their black and silver bodies,  and a selection of turning knobs and switches on top.

Old camera

The king of awesome little LEGO camera’s must be Chris McVeigh, who also generously shares instructions for his builds on his own website. If you like the camera we highlighted above, you will definitely enjoy Chris’ LEGO Polaroid camera.

LEGO Omnibot, the fully programmable robot ...with memory!

Back in the mid-1980s kids across the world were begging their parents to buy them an Omnibot.  Toy manufacturer Tomy released Omnibot 5402, and Peter Reid has built this adorable LEGO version. The advert-style background compliments this awesome LEGO robot perfectly. The build was created for a ‘parts challenge’ over on parts-obsessed blog New Elementary and the eyes of the robot utilise the new Nexo Knights part trans neon orange bar with towball. What a great way to utilise this new part!

Omnibot

So just as I get over not receiving a Tomy Omnibot for my 8th birthday, I now long for my own LEGO Omnibot all these years later…

Do not adjust your television screen

I assure you: you’re seeing the image correctly. Jimmy Fortel presents this glorious retro television for all of your family flashback needs. Complete with bright colors, knobs, and no remote, this excellent little build is packed full of nostalgia.

And by nostalgia I mean that hideous (and yet so wonderful!) wall-paper.

Retro Television

Are you PC?

For some time now LEGO artist Chris McVeigh has been bringing us palm-sized chunks of hi-tech nostalgia heaven, such as his Atari 2600 and Apple Macintosh kits. But now Chris jumps into the unfashionable-yet-practical camp of “IBM compatibles” with this picture-perfect 80’s era DOS computer. This certainly brings memories of my first tech job flooding back – twin floppies, Hammer pants, and all.

The kit is currently available for pre-order from Chris’ store. Or if you prefer, as of today you can now download the instructions and build one from your own collection of bricks. But here’s all the narly stuff you’ll get if you order the full kit:

Relive the ’80s with this incredibly detailed 285-piece retro computer model custom design! Pop off the computer’s chassis to see its fully-equipped interior, which includes disk drives, expansion cards and power supply. Additional features include:
• Custom-printed processor tile for added detail
• Custom-printed display slopes featuring a choice of two prompts, A>_ and C:_
• An extra tile allows you to switch one of the diskette drives to a hard disk

I know what I’m putting at the top of my list of stocking stuffers this Christmas! Hmmm, but I guess the important question is: Have I been naughty or nice?

Bringing the Retro Future to you!

Vince Toulouse has a keen eye for style with spacecraft, and one of his common hallmarks is a stylistic nod to art-deco and the extravagant elegance of the forward-thinking 1920s and ’30s. His latest clean mean machine is this fantastic white and gold ship, which looks ready to pull up to the curb and have a dapper gentleman invite you to a night of refined space-partying and literary discussions. (Or maybe I’m just thinking of Midnight in Paris.)


You never forget your first

Chris McVeigh (powerpig) has made something of a specialty in must-have, palm-sized LEGO models of retro technology. His body of work includes some iconic videogame consoles, cameras, phones, televisions and even kitchen appliances (but thankfully no fax machines yet).

In my opinion though, his latest creation – the very first Apple home computer – tops even his amazingly popular Apple Mac. But then I’m biased, because this was the first computer I ever owned! He’s nailed it, right down to the dual floppies, side vents and internal card layout. And the addition of custom printed bricks by customBricks for the screen really brings the whole thing to life.

But fear not, fellow old-timers, you don’t have to just gaze longingly at these wonderful images. Get your nostalgia on, and head over to Chris’s website where you can download instructions for many of his creations, or even order them as kits. And you won’t even have to send a check in the mail…

Isn’t modern technology wonderful?!

Shannon Ocean speaks on LEGO gun control

Now that I’ve caught your attention with the title, you can take some time to look at Shannon Sproule’s (Ocean) latest real-life size rayguns. Because they’re beautiful. I love it when Shannon takes his Battle for the Moon asthetic to human scale.

Smith and Wesson A80 Stechkin Laser pistol, circa 1956

Starman

Continuing with the retro-future theme a little more (and the Bowie references) I present the Rocketship Paragon.

Tim Gould's Rocketship

Space Oddity!

Continuing on the retro-future theme for a bit.

Soren has added to his aliens with a Martian spacesuit and the Secretary General of the UP

Soren Roberts' Martian Spacesuit
Soren Roberts' Secretary General

And, as well as giving my pseudoyak a skeleton I’ve also added a Uranian and her spacesuit.

Tim Gould's Uranian
Tim Gould's Uranian spacesuit

Let’s see if we make more

It’s just the freakiest show

Those of use with a love of pulp science fiction know exactly how the Solar System should have been. It should have been filled with strange aliens, unique animals, forests and rivers.

To remedy this Soren Roberts has ensured we can populate our LEGO universe with weird and wonderful intra-system aliens. My favourite is the Martian (more later) but they’re all terribly cute.

Soren Roberts' aliens

Having seen the Martian I couldn’t escape the thought that he desperately needed a pseudoyak and cart. My heavily overtired brain took surprisingly little time to come up with this little diorama. That’s every sand-red piece I own right there.

Tim Gould's Mars diorama