VirtuaLUG Putt Putt

For Brickworld 2016, VLUG opted to scale things back a bit from previous years, and focus more on individual creativity.  What better way to accomplish that goal than to build our own Mini-Land Plus Putt-Putt golf course!  Fearless leader Dave Kaleta took the helm again.  But unlike the Wizard of Oz collaboration which required very specific scenes and exacting standards, this year's concept left a lot up to the individual builders.   As long as you had your tee box and a path, you were good to go.  So from Cthulhu to Gamma Trianguli VI, the VLUG crew certainly didn't disappoint! 

Photos in the slideshow courtesy of Dave Kaleta, and one by Mrs. Barto of the Sand Castle scene.  There's also a nice Beyond the Brick tour with Dave.  He highlights each builder and their themes, plus you can see the mechanical action featured in several of the holes. 

Wrath Of Vaal

One of the real crowd pleasers at BrickWorld Chicago was VirtuaLUG's Miniland Putt Putt collaboration, and one of the contributors was BrickNerd's own El Barto. This is his Star Trek inspired segment of the course, inspired by the episode The Apple. I haven't played miniature golf in ages, but if the courses where more like this, I think I'd be more inclined to go...because Vaal calls to me. Let us go to him. He hungers...for balls.

Around the World in Eighty Days!

Okay folks, hold onto your bowler hats, and tighten your corsets!  It's VirtuaLUG's award-winning rendition of Jules Verne's classic adventure tale!  Beneath the massive globe in the center, the epic story begins with Mr. Phileas Fogg's bet at the Reform Club, and circumnavigates all the way back to London.  In between you'll find multiple modes of transportation: trains, steamships, a balloon, the Nautilus, even an elephant!  The layout consists of a contiguous topographical map featuring scenes from the movie, plus various landmarks along the way.  The collab is flush with Easter Eggs:  Gandolf and the crew in the Himalayas, a micro Mount Olympus, and Dorothy and Toto (in India?); all to pay homage to past VLUG collabs.  There were over 20 members who contributed to the project, including myself.  The Man In Charge, Heath Flor, writes, "With contributors from 5 countries and nearly a dozen states, it's a collaboration that truly is from Around the World." 

Check out  VirtuaLUG's Flickr group for all of the scenes and their builders.  

Beyond the Brick was on location at Brickworld with Heath's guided tour!