Tag Archives: Space

From giant space carriers to starfighters, moon bases to moon buggies, whether you love LEGO models inspired by real-world space programs or science-fiction, you’re in the right place.

Allow myself to introduce myself

Hi everyone, Dan Rubin here, and I’d like to introduce myself as the newest member of The Brothers Brick team. I’m thirty-ish years old, married, and an attorney. I live in the Washington, D.C. area, where I’ve been helping organize local LEGO conventions for the past several years.

The spacers among you may recognize me as the main admin of the forums at classic-space.com. Others may know me as the creator of the Galactic Inquisition space sub-theme. I’ve been active in the online LEGO community since I joined LUGNet in 2003, which is also the first year that I attended a LEGO Convention.

I’ll mostly be blogging about space and mecha creations, as that’s where my own skills lie, and also what I see the most, because of where I browse online. That doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate a quality creation in any theme, though. I’ll leave you with a photo of my most recent creation, and a promise to start blogging about cool stuff as soon as possible.

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Interview with an Admin: Classic Space

Next up in our series of Admin interviews is a conversation we had with Dan Rubin, one of the Admins at Classic Space Forums.

TBB: How long has Classic Space been in existence?

Dan: The forums on classic-space.com (CSF) were publicly announced on December 19, 2004, so we’re just a couple of months from our Fourth anniversary. The site was founded by Chris Giddens, with help from some other members of the space community. A year or so ago, family and work pressures convinced Chris that he needed to step down, and he handed over CSF to me.

TBB: What is purpose of CSF?

Dan: Simply put, the purpose is the discussion of space and LEGO. It’s a place to hang out, and to discuss MOCs, and get criticism (constructive I hope) from other builders who build in these themes.

TBB: What does classic space include? More specifically, does it exclude Star Wars?

Dan: Classic-space really includes any sort of science fiction. This is not limited to purely space born creations, we also embrace steampunk, mecha, apocalego, and pretty much any other sci-fi genres you can think of. That means that we definitely don’t exclude Star Wars. However, Star Wars can be a bit of a sticky subject, as while it is welcome, it’s not our specialization. Many of the members of CSF have gotten tired of seeing new X-wing mocs, and can be a bit snippy about that, if they don’t see anything special or new about the latest post.

TBB: What is your vision for the future of CS?

Dan: My vision is for CSF to continue to grow and evolve as a place for discussion of scif-fi and sci-fi MOCs. I’m a huge believer in free speech, and I like to think that encourages frank and open exchange of ideas on the forum. Sometimes it also means that people can get carried away, but I like to think that we’re all enriched. The style of MOC critique on CSF is sometimes harsh, and while some people don’t like it when the kid gloves are off, others appreciate hearing a response other than “OMG! That’s awesome!”

TBB: How would you describe your members?

Dan: Our membership is constantly changing. Many of our members have been a part of the online LEGO community for five years or more, but we’re constantly growing. I think that, generally, our members are LEGO fans (be they AHOL or THOL) who are into sci-fi.

TBB: What issues are you dealing with as CS grows?

Dan: We’ve had various growing pains. We’ve had our fair share of flame wars and maturity issues among some of the members. I think this is common for pretty much any online forum, though. We’ve also had bandwidth issues. Steve Runnels hosts the forums and website on his own server, and foots the bill to keep the site online himself. Recently, I moved our concept art gallery – which is used to inspire sci-fi creations, even by LEGO designers – over to flickr.com in order to save some bandwidth.

TBB: What is the biggest reason that people should join CS?

Dan: If you want to see and discuss some great sci-fi MOCs, CSF is the place for you. We also have a lot of user-generated articles to help teach techniques for building sci-fi. It’s a great place to help hone your own space skills.

Thank you, Dan!

(see our interview with Eurobricks admin, Mark Larson, as well)

I like robots

Just a quick post to show some retro-styled robots by Soren Roberts and Peter Reid.

But was it just an excuse to post this link to Dark Roasted Blend?

TT Games announces LEGO Battles for Nintendo DS, due Summer 2009 [News]

TT Games‘ publisher Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment just announced LEGO Battles for Nintendo DS. The game is due out this summer, and will apparently emphasize building in original themes over the movie-based and comic-inspired adventures of games like LEGO Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Batman.

Check out this graphic of LEGO Pirates in action:

The game will also feature LEGO Castle:

Though the press release didn’t include an image, the game will also allow players to build Space creations.

Here’s a bit more:

LEGO® Battles offers a new kind of “build and battle” LEGO gameplay. Through six distinct story lines, players build their own LEGO bases and battle teams as they engage in over 70 different levels, mixing and matching units to create the ultimate customized LEGO squad. These unique LEGO battles teams see pirate swordsmen fighting side-by-side with wizards and aliens; dragons battling ninjas; and pirate ships launching broadsides against spacecraft and knights! Players can also challenge friends on the battlefield in multiplayer mode through wireless DS multi-card play.

And in case you missed it farther down the page, TT Games is hiring!

Ships of the Voshivo, Inc. fleet

Nnenn may have customized a yellow 2×3 plate to achieve the missile tubes on the battle frigate accompanying this microscale fleet, but I can’t help but like the overall effect:

The colorful cargo on the barge (with various classic stickers) contrasts nicely with the utilitarian design of the armed escort.

Ambush on Mecha Nature Trail

RoninLUG puts out a diorama depicting the ambush of a squad on their way through Mecha Nature Trail. There’s plenty of insurgents buried in the depths of the greenery waiting to strike the unsuspecting caravan. I tried to find them all, but it was like finding Waldo and all of his friends.

Red planet horror

Prepare for an overdose of red as ChiefLUG takes us to the red planet for some horror action. It turns out we’re not the alone (pardon the cliche), and the last band of marines are losing ground at Olympus Mons, surrounded by nasty alien creatures both big and small. Warning: clicking on the pictures will lead you to oversaturation of red.

Don’t pick the flowers

This is the second time this weekend that we’ve shown flowers leading to deadly consesequences. Look at what Megan Rothrock has created – an overly abundant pink diorama with an insect decapitating a poor space explorer who picked the wrong flower. Lesson learned, don’t pick flowers.

Jumper crafts Phobos and Deimos

My latest space creation goes small for SCI-LUG‘s recently ended Small Starfighter contest. Like several of the entrants, I’ve come up with a transforming design that capitalizes on the symmetrical quality of the bubble cockpit to include the third form of an atmospheric flight configuration.

What astonds me the most is the explosive magnitude of the participation in this contest that drew 84 entries. See for yourself in these three pages of well-done creations.

I’s in ur orbit...

…defending ur spacestations.

Ben Jarvis constructed an oddly shaped fighter for SCI-LUG‘s Small Starfighter contest. The ship flies in vertical position, propelled by space turbines. What a crazily cool concept!

New colors of space

Jarek‘s awesome space pirate battleship features a unique blend of purple and black, resulting in a most spectacular build. As a rare and out-of-production color, purple is a sought-after color for its effective color accenting against neutral tones such as black and gray.

Maserati of the Air

Fedde has gone airborne with this magnetically-powered Maserati Airturismo. Smooth lines, open cockpit, and my son’s favorite color…what more could you want?