"I'm Not Crazy"

Dateline Venice California: For Immediate release.

Local youth enters institution.
On Tuesday this week a local youth known only as "Mike" was institutionalized by his parents.  According to his father "we feared he might hurt someone, that he might hurt himself" so the decision was made to get him somewhere "safe". His mother was certain he was on drugs, despite claims by the youth to the contrary. When interviewed the youth was despondent, uncertain of his future and the motivations of his parents, particularly his mother "All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi, and she wouldn't give it to me." Representatives of the institution declined to comment.

Niffler

The Niffler, a burrowing magical creature native to Great Britain with a mischievous nature and a penchant for anything shiny. If you saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them you got to see one of these little rascals at his best (worst?). This version by The Deathly Halliwell absolutely nails him, and makes we want to watch the movie again.

So, Were You Late For Work Yesterday?

Time, it's relentless march governing all we do. Here in the states we like to mess with the logical and natural passage of time with something called Daylight Saving Time, DST. A pointless and exasperating exercise in futility that does little more than sell extra charcoal in the fall. Every fall we set the clocks back an hour, in the spring, they go forward again. Resulting in traffic turmoil, missed work and an entire nation of really grumpy teenagers. But I digress, check out this nifty watch by Vitreolum built for the ABS Builder Challenge going on over on Flickr.

Mooneyes

It's a landmark of a west coast motorsports legend, the Mooneyes headquarters in Santa Fe Springs California. If you've spent any time around hotrods, or even just admired them as they rolled by, you've probably spotted the iconic cartoon eyes logo of this home-brewed and passionate company. Builder Norton74 brings us the historic location of the company in this stunning MOC, which is superbly detailed inside and out.

Ready...Fight!

It's another Iron Builder, and it's going to be an interesting one. This battle is between Pate-keetongu and Leopard, two seasoned builders and creative powerhouses. But the gauntlet has been laid, for this challenge has an especially vexing part, a Duplo grass piece. Both builders are off to a strong start, but how many MOCs can that part really be used for? Stand by to find out!

Aaahh!!!

I have only the vaguest of memories of watching Aaahh!!! Real Monsters reruns as a kid, but the character designs always stood out to me. I think I even had a few action figures of the monsters. Julius Von Brunk does a great job capturing the creative absurdity of the style in his latest build, Krumm. I can only hope he's planning to show us the rest of the main cast next!

Slender Slightly-Scarlet Sentry

Dead Frog Inc. returns with an eerie, stoic robot. He's simple in form but impressively full-of-character, considering the lack of facial expression, and the red arm serves as a great flair of color (although you may not recognize him because of it).

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

...STOMPING down the bunny trail. I hope you were looking for sturdy stuff in your Easter basket this year, because I don't think eggs and hollow chocolate bunnies are going to be compatible with the Easter Bunny's new ride thanks to builder IamKritch. It's a good thing Peeps can stand pretty much whatever punishment you can throw at them.

Tiny Tanks

It might undermine their menace, but really the only way to describe this tiny tanks by builder GolPlaysWithLego is "cute". And while they may be small, there's a lot of cover building going on here. Just kinda make you want to build a few of my own and stage a tiny, adorable battle. How about you?

Sleep Was Never Easy

I can totally relate to this autobiographical MOC by builder davekaleta. It's a serious dose of nostalgia for me, and I love all the details. My first born Austin NEVER slept voluntarily for the first five years of his life. When he was an infant the only surefire way to make him sleep was to load him into the 4Runner and circle the block endlessly (followed by a harrowing trip upstairs back to his crib). Once he graduated to his big boy bed, the only way to keep him in his room until sleep finally took him was to camp out with him. I can't calculate the endless hours I spent watching Rugrats on the floor of that boy's room. I'm happy to say I don't have to worry about his sleep habits now, then again he turned 21 last month so I should think not.

Battle In Hyllyard City

I've never really gotten into the books of Star Wars. I remember reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye as a kid, and I know I listened to the audio book of Heir to the Empire, but didn't really get into either of them. But I know the Thrawn Trilogy is hugely popular, and builder markus19840420 is clearly a fan based on this marvelous MOC depicting the eternal struggle of rebels vs Empire. 

"Mel"

In mankind's never ending drive to recreate itself artificially, I suppose the inevitable outcome will be robots with less than desirable traits (hopefully murder will not be among them). Think about it, if we want our creations to have emotional characteristics like happiness, compassion and ambition, it stands to reason that they might also have depression, anxiety and anger. This robot by builder justin_m_winn has been nicknamed "Mel" because he tends to be melancholic. I don't know what his primary function is, but I hope it's useful enough to overlook his tendency to be down in the dumps.

Chibi In A Half Shell

The world has sorta gone chibi wild these days. Between several AFOL form factors and the official LEGO Brickheadz sets, these squat little large head dudes are everywhere. So I suppose it was only a matter of time before everyone's favorite adolescent reptilian crimefighters made an appearance. Builder DOGOD Brick Design brings us the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

An Ace Build

Tim Lydy, the LEGO Builder of Gotham City, built an incredible scene containing acid, yet will not burn you (for it is too awesome).  A place of chemicals, a place of origin. . .Ace Chemicals is famous in the world of Batman, mostly for what it didn't produce intentionally.  That's right, Ace Chemicals is where the Joker became disfigured in a dramatic fight with the Caped Crusader.  This recreation is detailed to another level entirely.  Covered in so many styles of greebling, it's hard to find any simple, standard bricks in the walls.  Take a minute and zoom in to really appreciate all the detail packed into this build.  Careful not to fall in, though!

Up On Your Toes

Cam M.'s "Exo-Skeleton Prototype" looks like it could perform some serious dance moves.  Or, I suppose it's possible that it's simply on its toes, prepared for anything.  The mech's pilot has an interesting screen projection, and he seems to be defying gravity.  Exo-Skeletons are no easy task, so they're always interesting to see from different angles.  The builder has graciously given us a view of the rear, side, and front of the mech, providing viewers with an idea of how he accomplished his latest design. 

Holy Wall Climbers!

It's the simplest of gags, build a wall surface on it's side, add a backdrop of a city turned sideways and then turn the camera on it's side, voila! But even though it was completely obvious how it was done, we were always captivated by these scenes in the original Batman series. And the thing  I love most about this MOC by redfern1950s, is that it was accomplished the exact same way, brilliant!

Proto-Leo

Late last night my cat Crash went sorta bonkers, like he does. One minute he's resting quietly on my chest, purring softly. Then suddenly he's off, there's a clatter in the bathroom, meow, a mad dash to the closet, meow, streaks across the room to the cat condo, meow, back to the bed, meow. Now normally I'm just thinking "what the hell is wrong with you cat?" But I think next time I'll imagine he's pretending he's this fabulous mech by builder Moko, battling some unseen enemy. That way we're both entertained.

Bike Be Packin'

"The hubless wheel design allows you to store luggage inside the wheels," says Robert Heim, who happens to be the builder of this "Concept Bike."  What an interesting concept, indeed. . .  Certainly fixes a common problem for riders.  Focusing attention to the bike itself, interesting parts were chosen to create this bike that is a cross between futuristic and modern day styles, at least in my opinion.   Just remember to make sure that your packages are sealed and secure before you start rollin'. . .

Dun-da Dun Dun-da Da-Dun!

Okay, so that may have not been one of the greatest written representation of an amazing soundtrack, but it's the best I could do.  Similarly, Zed has done his best to create a historical moment for our favorite archaeologist.  See what I did there?  The texturing to the ruins is executed so well, using common parts that most have in even basic collections.  My favorite little detail is that design right over the doorway, using 1x2 plates with "tracks."  Indy looks like he's about to lose his hat, but we all know that he will narrowly escape danger and retrieve it before it's lost.  Does this build give you some ideas for some ancient ruins?  What's your favorite Indiana Jones film?  How would you write out his theme song?  I'm genuinely curious. . .

Mistral Nereis

I haven't played the game Shining Hearts, and it turn out builder Pate-keetongu hasn't either, but that didn't stop him from building this lovely lass, and I won't let it stop me from posting her. She's an absolute beauty, from her golden locks to her crimson red boots, she's sexy from top to bottom.