Out For A Spin In The Federation Rover

One of the peculiarities lunar astronauts experienced while visiting our moon was a lack of scale and distance while on the surface. Without classic depth cues like atmosphere they had some difficulty gauging distance and size of objects. Well premiere space builder and all around swell guy Pete Reid's latest MOC is capable if a similar peculiarity. At first glance it looks like a cute, classic rover with trailers. That is until you start looking closer and recognize some of the parts. That's actually a flashlight fig piloting that rover, and that lovely base is actually two studs deep. The whole thing is far bigger than you first expected huh? Brilliant.

Guardian Arrives

Here's a little dose of neo classic space goodness, in the form of a huge mech from builder SweStar to compliment his already spectacular hangar. I love the classic color scheme on this beast, with it's yellow cockpit and blue details. And of course there's the hangar itself, which is already an impressive environment populated with really cool stuff. That giant classic space logo is an awesome touch too.

The Beards Of Old

When seeking wisdom, dwarves sometimes visit the statues of their elders. When I'm seeking wisdom, I visit Wikipedia. One of these seems more noble than the other. Builder Legonardo Davidy has taken stone beards to the next level with this MOC. Just look at that sculpting!

Bearded Overweight Glob Of Grease

I love a good mashup, especially when Star Wars in involved. Builder paddybricksplitter has taken everyone's favorite feisty astromech and mashed him with everyones favorite cantancerous pirate mech Metalbeard and created R2-D-Beard. It makes me wonder what could be done mashing up the Tantive IV with the Sea Cow, hmm...

BrickUniverse Is Coming

Attention east coast brick fanatics, there's a new event coming, BrickUniverse. Coming this March to Raleigh NC. Check out the press release below and start making your plans!

We are pleased to announce BrickUniverse 2015, a convention for LEGO fans of all ages to be held at the Raleigh Convention Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The event will be held on March 26, 27, 28, and 29 2015 with public days being on the 28 and 29.

• Show off your awesome creations
• Try your luck and earn free LEGO in our drawings
• Test your skills and win in our various games
• Learn more about the bricks in our seminars
• Hang out with fellow LEGO enthusiasts

And much much more!

Check out our builder website for more info on the four day convention and to register. The quicker you register, the cheaper!

Please go to: www.brickuniverse.org

And contact us at: info@brickuniverse2015.com

Because Science!

Tee Fury, those prolific purveyors of printed awesomeness are back with another LEGO inspired shirt. This one has the greatest minds in science putting on what would have to be the most mind-blowing musical of all time. I'm sure Professor Hawking is waiting in the wings for his big rap number. Head over and snag this shirt today only!

Easy Eight

As Fury opens today this MOC seems very well timed. This is the M4A3E8(76)W "Easy Eight" Sherman tank by Daniel Siskind. The real tank featured a welded steel hull, V8 engine and 76mm gun. This MOC features a super detailed suspension, awesome proportions and excellent photography.

Welcome BrickSeek

I'd like to send a big shout out to new site sponsor BrickSeek. BrickSeek is a site to help you find the best price for the LEGO sets you're looking for including price drops, search and text alerts. Check them out!

Miqo'te

SWF seeks SWM. Must enjoy sleeping most of the day, catnip, suddenly running into adjacent rooms, needlessly howling in the middle of the night, barfing on bedsheets, destroying sofas, vehemently cleaning oneself, laying on keyboards, accidentally calling 911 and of course, pooping in a box of sand.

Hexvale Cottage

Builder Derfel Cadarn is back (already?) with another amazing MOC. I suppose someday I will give this build style a try, but until then it will continue to baffle and delight me. How these wonderfully curvy and caddywhompus structures are built is still a mystery to me, and I kind of like it that way. I love the details of this diorama too, and it's packed with them. This looks like an illustration from a fairytale, and it's marvelous.

Black Seas Barracuda

The original LEGO Pirates line holds a special place in my heart. It came out as I was starting life as an independent adult and I bought the whole line. It was the restarting of my collection, being nearly brickless because of a thief. And the Black Seas Barracuda was the flagship. This miniature version by Bangooh does it justice. I wouldn't mind having this little ship on my mantle once more.

The Old Watermill

I am an avid fan of the Warcraft series of games. I can still remember the first time I sat down to play Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness, clicking away for hours while I tried to destroy my opponent’s base before they got the best of me. These days people are all about World of Warcraft and this mill would fit right in to one of the many forests of Azeroth. Alas, this amazingly detailed structure is actually from another magical place - the nation of Avalonia from the Eurobrick's Guilds of Historica series. Make sure you spend time admiring all of the little rugged and earthy details that puts this mill into a class of its own.

Oh, and in case any Warcraft fans wondered, "For the Alliance!". Everyone else, just move along, no nerd to see here.

Save The Pygmy Whale!

For too long this practice has gone unchecked. For too long the pygmy whales have suffered. For too long we have turned a blind eye. I'm Gordon Openweeps for SWAP, the Save Whales And Pygmys foundation. For just $1.00 a day you can help save the pygmys, and put an end to the scourge of vessels like the one shown here. Won't you help?

Climb Aboard The Omnibus

Everyone knows what a huge Disney geek I am, so just about any MOC from the parks makes me swoon. But this Omnibus by Sir Nadroj is particularly spectacular. I know what a Disney fan Jordan is and it shows with the attention to detail and proportions on this vehicle. The use of the curved stairs at the back is particularly inspired, and I'm guessing a major catalyst of this build.

Hokey Religions And Ancient Weapons Are No Match For A Good Blaster At Your Side

When Star Wars came out when I was a wee tike, there were many protracted arguments at playtime as to who would be Luke and who would be Han. Luke was the hero of course, but Han had a darker side, and he SHOT FIRST. There were of course arguments over who would end up with Leia, but later movies would reveal certain facts that made us all shudder just a bit. Anyway, Han also had the coolest blaster, and this mini version by Bruce Lowell shows us just how cool it was.

Dwarven Affairs

There's announcing a build challenge and then there's announcing a build challenge with style. Ecclesiastes has just released the latest in a series of challenges over at Eurobricks featuring the on-going saga Guilds of Historica and he has done so with a bang! I personally would feel extremely intimidated to submit anything to this contest as my MOC would only hide in the proverbial and literal shadows of this amazing castle. Seriously, it is OK to sit, stare, and marvel at the scale of this beast. I won't tell, just clean up the drool when you are done.

"I See You've Constructed A New Lightsaber..."

I really love a minimalist build. When you can take a very small handful of parts and make something that's not only recognizable, but totally squeeable, you've got my attention. Builder Obedient Machine thrilled us last year with his 15 piece Han Solo blaster, now he's back with this little bundle of awesome, Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber from Return of the Jedi. This is just 14 carefully selected pieces, but they are way more than the sum of their parts. 

Batcave

Scale lighting is a crucial component for a properly displayed and lit large model. Especially an interior and even more so when it's cinematically inspired. This Batcave by Brent Waller is a fantastic example of scale lighting, with super dramatic results. Notice how a sense of depth and scale is accomplished by using numerous small sources of light and how there's a good balance of darkness in the image ( Batman would approve). Sometime what you don't light is just as important as what you do.

Big Daddy

Some builders just excel in a particular genre, and some own it. When it comes to large robotic figures, m_o_n_k_e_y is one of my favorite builders. His latest creation, Big Daddy, is typical of his unique style. I love the color scheme, the simulated mechanics, the clean construction and the pose-ability of this one. And those feet are particularly stompy.

Caer Caradoc

This one might ruffle a few feathers of the purists out there. No, there's no Kreo or Mega infiltrating this amazing MOC by Derfel Cadarn, but there is a little non-LEGO present. Some of the vines and creepers you see are actually fishing tackle. But it's used to such great effect and only as a subtle decoration, I'll implore the more emphatic out there to grant him a pass, this thing is gorgeous.