Chris Blessing (Mdrn~Mrvls) recently posted a power company truck or “cherry-picker.” The truck is seven studs wide, and can therefore seat two minifigs side by side in the cab — impossible in a four-stud-wide vehicle and a tough fit at six. I’m a sucker for vehicles with lots of compartments, and the brick-built doors are also a nice touch.
See more pictures of Chris’s on Flickr and MOCpages.
Run and hide your Cafe Corner, Market Street and Green Grocer! This creepy creation built by Sebastian “Aliencat” Arts will consume all!
Side note: haha, take that Nannan, I finally blogged a Black Fantasy creation before you!
Drawing inspiration from the graphic novel Cyann, t-brick has built a beautiful futuristic city diorama. It also reminds me of Silverberg cover art. The use of colour and repeated motifs is spot on and gives the diorama a wonderful consistent overall feel.
It also gets bonus points for letting me use lots of different theme tags.
No less industrial (or lime) than a Power Miners vehicle, Aleksander Stein‘s TreeHugger 8000 looks ready to roar into a forest and cart off the raw materials for all those disposable chopsticks, paper napkins, and sticky notes in your house.
Now, doesn’t that make you happier that LEGO is made from hydrocarbons?
Aleksander has incorporated lots of nice details in this logging apparatus, including an excellent brick-built warning stripe on the crane, so don’t miss his TreeHugger 8000 photoset on Flickr.
Via Young Spacers.
Mǝmory ‘s Baku Truck is a wonderfully designed cargo/deliver vehicle. I especially like the splashes of dark green and the design of the cab.
Big news for fans of the LEGO City line. The company is soliciting fan input on the upcoming line. It sounds pretty exciting to me. I’ve also tried the URL provided by LEGO, and it doesn’t work yet. They say we can start voting tomorrow, April 3. I, for one, will be there. Here’s the press release from LEGO:
The Future of LEGO® CITY Lies With the People
-Polls open for excited fans to vote on proposals for expansion of LEGO CITY in 2010-
LEGO CITY (April 2, 2009) – Architects and planners of LEGO CITY are at odds over which section of the booming metropolis should be developed next. After a Town Hall meeting was held on April 1, fraught with debate and indecision, CITY officials will open the polls to let residents solve the dilemma. The future of LEGO CITY is up for vote starting Friday, April 3 at Toysrus.com/LEGOvote.
Parks and Rec vs. D.O.T.
Sociologists and environmentalists are rallying around the LEGO CITY Parks and Recreation Board’s plans to create a new CITY SQUARE that focuses on encouraging active play, family togetherness, resident interaction and open green spaces as a means of making LEGO CITY attractive to potential residents and business owners. Details of the new City Square have not yet been released.LEGO CITY’s Department of Transportation officials submitted two proposals for review and decision. The first, a PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CENTER, fosters more use of public transit and reduces traffic on the roads. The second, a TRUCK STOP to provide rest and comfort for truckers, is badly needed as LEGO CITY’s industry and commerce growth rates are sending an increasing number of large trucks in and out of the CITY limits. Neither plan outlined specific details.
CITY officials believe all three of the proposals hold merit and could be implemented with great attention to detail and fun.
Call to Action
Anyone with a vested interest in the future of the LEGO CITY is encouraged to log onto Toysrus.com/LEGOvote to help select the next phase of development. From April 3 through April 24, voters will find information and instructions about casting their ballots. Once the polls are closed and a theme is selected, CITY officials and Toys“R”Us executives may foster dialogue with residents over the specifics of the winning proposal. In 2010, public opinion will reign supreme when the new set launches in August exclusively at Toys“R”Us and LEGO stores nationwide.“Generations of children of all ages have been building cities since LEGO bricks appeared 51 years ago,” said Søren Torp Laursen, president, LEGO Systems, Inc. “To achieve our goal of incorporating more consumer insights and wishes to our LEGO products and experiences, we’re once again partnering with Toys“R”Us to collect public opinion and comments to pick a theme that will help inspire kids around the world as they continue the city building tradition.”
Power to the People
This is the second consecutive year that LEGO fans have been asked to help choose a theme for an exclusive set in partnership with Toys“R”Us. In 2008, fans chose the LEGO Star Wars™ The Home One™ Mon Calamari Star Cruiser™ set, which will be released later this year to mark the 10th Anniversary of LEGO Star Wars.# # #
The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company, based in Billund, Denmark. It was founded in 1932 and today the group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials for children. The company is committed to the development of children’s creative and imaginative abilities through its products, which can be purchased in more than 130 countries. Visit www.LEGO.com
LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks of the LEGO Group. © 2009 The LEGO Group.
I sometimes feel I have a bad habit of blogging LEGO diesel and steam trains even though I’m a big fan of electrics. Esben Kolind has helped cure me of this with his fantastic Copenhagen metropolitan train. Most impressive of all, in my opinion, is the accurate taper of the sides achieved by (in his words) “extreme use of SNOT“. I can’t argue with that. I’ll also use this as an excuse to exercise some parochialism and link to Esben’s Queensland Tilt Train. Check out the movies.
Thanks to Rodney Bistline for the (non-space) heads up.
I came across two different LEGO renditions of VW Beetles in the past few days, and I thought they were both great. I don’t know if there’s some sort of Beetle meme going on that I’m unaware of, but these are both nice models, for different reason. Daniel Zayac (urthedead) built a model that looks like it would be great fun to play with, and is roughly to scale with a minifig. Meanwhile, Ralph Savelsberg (Madphysicist) has built a larger, more detailed model, that captures the shape of the original excellently.
I wasn’t planning to blog any of my contributions to Keith’s big diorama independently here. Then someone told me that they thought my helicopter was the best thing I’d ever built. I thought that in that case, maybe I should post it, in case I never match it again. I hope other people like it as much my vocal friend does. I have to give some credit for the dual-interlocking rotor idea to Tim G, as I first saw the idea on one of his creations.
Keith Goldman‘s latest diorama is a true community effort. He has recruited help from twenty other builders in the LEGO community to help him populate his massive highway scene. Moreover, he recruited each contributor in secret, giving each contributor a code name ala Reservoir Dogs. Keith has called it a star-studded affair, and given me the cast list to reveal here on The Brothers Brick. So, without further ado, I give you Zero Hour on Highway 44. You can see more photos of the entire diorama on flickr (here or here) or MOCpages (here or here).
Starring:
Brian Kescenovitz:
As Mr. Black
Brian contributed a whole slew of MOCs to this display. Whether his army is invading, or marching to the defense of the city, I can’t say, but I can say that the vehicles are awesome. What a great use of castle pieces on the armored cars.
Co-Staring:
Carter Baldwin:
As Mr. Dark Red
Carter built some neat stuff for this display. I especially like his garbage truck, which includes a lot of nice angles and recessed spaces. The semi seems to steer from both the front and the back, which is a cool touch.
Chuck Citrin:
As Mr. Flesh
Chuck’s car is a nice bit of futuristic engineering. It captures the sleekness that says “future” to so many of us, even if a one-seater this large isn’t exactly green. The backwards windscreen piece makes for a nice effect.
Tyler Clites:
As Mr. Orange
Tyler’s car is also a one-seater, but it’s absolutely tiny. It reminds me of a nose on wheels, but in a good way. The dark red and the gray look very nice together as well. The piece he’s used for a windshield continues to elude me, but one day I’ll find one to use myself.
Fradel Gonzales:
As Mr. Dark Tan
As usual, Fradel would like us all to “Get to da choppa!” However, I think the best action he has to offer is in this dune buggy. I’m a sucker for a good build and yellow, and the details all seem to click in this one. I need to get my hands on some of those roll cage pieces.
Nick Kappatos:
As Mr. Pink
Nick is a fellow Washingtonian (that’s D.C.) and so I shouldn’t be surprised that it looks like his trike is on its way to a Redskins parade. I love the huge rear wheel, and I hear that the car rolls very well, which is more than can be said for my contribution.
Jon Langrish:
As Mr. Sand Green
Jon’s built quite an SUV for us. It reminds me of a mix of a Hummer and the crazy SUV that Lamborghini briefly built a couple of decades ago. He’s done a great job reversing the studs for the bottom, allowing him to put do a nice job around the wheels.
Andrew Lee:
As Mr. Chrome Silver
What can you say about Andrew Lee, he’s a great builder, and extremely prolific. I’m not sure how he found time to build so many vehicles for this display, because the quality doesn’t seem to suffer in the slightest.
Joe Meno:
As Mr. Maersk Blue
Most of us know Joe Meno as the man behind Brick Journal, the print magazine about LEGO. Apparently he still manages to build once in awhile, though. The forked nose at the front of his trike is cool, and I like how he’s concealed half of the rear tire.
Paul Meissner:
As Mr. Aqua
Paul is another over-achiever who contributed many vehicles to this display. It looks like he’s drawn inspiration from Ferrari and Citroen with great result, but I think the real star of his stuff is the forklift.
Peter L. Morris:
As Mr. Metallic Silver
Peter Morris is one of the better starfighter builders out there. In fact, that’s about the only thing I’ve ever seen him build. You can see that influence in his car, which looks almost ready to fly off into space.
Shannon Sproule:
As Mr. Magenta
Most of us know him as Shannon Ocean, the nickname he uses on flickr and MOCpages. He’s built a pickup truck that I can’t quite wrap my head around. Is the entire front area made of tinted glass? That’s so crazy that it works.
Nathan Proudlove:
As Mr. Trans Neon Green
Nathan has built an impressive hot rod. It must be from the future, because there’s nothing like it around. He did a great job with the flame work, and nothing says “future” like a dome. It looks like this thing goes crazy-fast in a straight line, but probably can’t turn… perfect.
Peter Reid
As Mr. Violet
Pete is the master of tiny parts. You can see that in his cars if you look closely. Check out the front bumpers on these things, they’re packed with tiny details and changes in brick orientation.
Dan Rubin:
As Mr. Tan
My own contribution was News Chopper 3, which may have wound up on the cutting room floor, and a tan car (did you expect some other color from me?). I know it looks like I’m another one of the people to build a one-seater car, but it really can seat two, I promise. If only Keith hadn’t given the driver such a huge hat.
Ryan Rubino:
As Mr. Copper
Michael Rutherford:
As Mr. Dark Green
Ryan and Mike got to share a photo, apparently it’s hard to capture an off-ramp in a single photo. Mike’s train is a cool bit of future if you ask me.
Dave Shaddix:
As Mr. Glitter trans dark-pink
Dave has built a couple of interesting cars. The blue one is your typical sleek futuristic pod car. The white one is… well, I don’t know what it is. The grille work on the front end is really cool, but I can’t help expecting the whole thing to transform into a robot.
Julie Stewart:
As Mr. Yellow
Julie’s car must be rocket powered, it certainly looks like it’s intended to go fast. It’s safe though, as there are indicator lights all over it. There are even lights along the side, so that nobody can miss it.
Shannon Young:
As Mr. Trans Purple
Shannon has built a couple of neat cars. Yellow and dark gray is one of my favorite color combinations. The gray jeep thing is just really cool, it looks ready to head off road at any moment. I’m not sure where it’s going, but a buzz-saw is apparently necessary.
Nannan Zhang:
As Mr. Bley
Nannan’s vehicles really are something else. Of course, we get a taste of a Halo Warthog in civilian colors, but the really interesting vehicle is the one with a ball instead of a front wheel. I think maybe Nannan watched I Robot recently. He’s made great use of stickers throughout, as well.
Trees Provided by Gary McIntire:
Consultants to Mr. Goldman:
Jon Palmer
Ley Ward
