Time Machine

No, this one doesn't do 88 mph, nor is it disguised as a police call box. This is the 1960 George Pal and HG Wells classic time machine by BMW_Indy, and it's a beauty. The sled itself is meticulously recreated and is a wonder to behold, but the fun doesn't stop there, check out that perfectly detailed interior space. And if all that isn't enough to blow your mind, the whole vignette is lit with LEDs and the dish spins thanks to a 9-volt mini motor. This is small scale building taken to the max.

Crazy Arms

Mad genius and friend of the blog Guy Himber and Crazy bricks is back with another awesome Kickstarter. This time it's Crazy Arms. How many times have you just wanted your minifigure to reach straight out? How about hold something in front of them? Well now it's possible with these excellent little add-on parts. Check out the video, watch in amazement, then support!

Apartment Life

I've lived in my fair share of apartments in my life. Thankfully I own a house now and don't have to deal with the downside of apartment living (but deal with a whole list of other headaches believe me). Cesbrick knows the struggle, and has crafted this excellent MOC representing the inevitable broad spectrum that stacking people leads to. Click through to see them all (totally worth it).

Good Morning Raptors!

Fans of LEGO, dinosaurs or just far-fetched plot-lines will dig this new tee from RIPT. It's available today only so hear on over and nab one while you still can.

Lunar Dome

Hey, where are all the domes? I recall as a kid in the 70's that these were the future. We'd all be living in them by the year 2000. Then again, we're still waiting for hover boards and people still watch Gilligan's Island so...so much for progress. But we can still imagine a future where domes like this one from Miro78 dot the lunar surface, and we all rock colorful space suits.

Warthog

Chunky. Yes, Chunky is the best word to describe this spaceship by builder Rancorbait. Chunky has been a trend lately it seems in spaceship design within the FOL community. And who can blame them? These types of chunky creations offer up some very cool angles with NPU all over the place. Also, in a practical sense, the extra girth offers benefits to the ship in the dangers of space. Like keeping it protected when accidentally running into asteroids, abandoned satellites, other ships, meteor showers, etc. Holy cow is space is dangerous place or what?! Or at least that is what they teach us in the movies right? I looking at you, Gravity!

Red

Check out the clean lines, aggressive stance and retro look of this latest hotrod from tiler. The combination of the Fabuland roof, chrome touches and those fabulous whitewall tires makes for a very sweet machine. Add to that excellent photography and you've got the whole enchilada. In fact, I'm going to nickname this rod "hotsauce".

Crowbar

I'm not a fan of Transformers, especially the Baybominations. But there are a handful of really cool designs in those cinematic crimes. One of those is Crowbar. And now newcomer jake_tp has crafted him in LEGO, and the results are jaw dropping. Seriously, click through and scroll around on the large pictures, this thing's amazing.

Thanks for the head's up Pete

Inside Out

Leave it to those geniuses at Pixar to give all of our emotions personalities of their own. And leave it to builder Mister N to bring them to life in our favorite bricks. My favorite is Anger, as he was in the movie too. It's probably because I'm a ticking time bomb of fury, or something.

Walk/Don't Walk

On a recent trip to Vancouver my family and I were surprised how "jaunty" their traffic lights were. Just somehow more happy than the ones here in the US. But how much more fun would urban pedestrian activity be with cool traffic lights like this one from Legomichiiiiii? I'd much rather have a minifig tell me it's at least reasonably safe to venture into the street, wouldn't you?

Yub Nub

It's so nice to have Star Wars on the forefront of pop culture again. With The Force Awakens just a few months away and what should be a Star Wars-riffic SDCC coming next week we're getting to fever pitch time. So it's the perfect moment to get more "cuddly" with perhaps not my favorite of characters in the saga, but at least they're original trilogy, the Ewoks. Here's Wicket by Nobu_tary.

Bugatti Vendicatore

I'm a total sucker for small, compact spaceships that look functional. This Bugatti Vendicatore by David Hensel is an excellent example of how you don't have to build big to build beautiful. It incorporates a great mix of technic panels and constraction parts that offer up a great bulky shape, and create some really interesting front air intakes. It's easy to imagine a swarm of these offering forth from the bowels of a giant capital ship. Extra kudos on the sharp photography and edit.

Jumbo Machinder Batman

Kids from the decade that brought us The Gong Show, bell bottoms and Star Wars will remember these large iconic robots from across the sea. Well thanks to the creative mind of builder MacLane we're going to get a whole series of these soon. It's LEGO meets super heroes meets 70's Japanese robots, and I can't wait to see more.

Hello Ladies

It's everyone's favorite mercenary with a mouth, Deadpool. When Marvel announced that they were making a Deadpool movie everyone went nuts, but when Ryan Reynolds tweeted the first pic of him in the costume there was a collective nerdgasm around the internets. Now it's a MOC by Tim Lydy, and I'm suddenly craving cuddles and chimichangas.

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! 

Art Of The Brick: DC Comics

If you've been wondering why there's been very little content on the YouTube channel and I always have circles under my eyes, I can finally reveal why. World renown brick artist Nathan Sawaya has a new exhibit in the works, and I'm one of the team members on it. I can't say too much yet, but if you join me, Nathan, Brandon Griffith and DC comic legend Jim Lee at our San Diego Comic-Con panel on Thursday, August 9th at 6pm you'll get all the juicy details. Jim Lee will also be live drawing a new Batmobile that's going to be brick-built and part of the exhibit and you might just score some awesome freebies. Hope to see you then!

Your base is under attack!

As we roll into the biggest AFOL conventions of the year, one of the best things to see is all of the wonderful collaborative efforts that builders come out of the woodwork with. This year is no different, with nine different builders pooling their collective talents on a huge Microscale Starcraft II project. I've selected some of my personal favorites below, but you can view all of them in the group's Flickr pool. And since I was a die-hard Terran player in my day, I can't resist - YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME, BOY?!?!

Bricasso

I posted this a while back while it was still a work in progress, but now it's done and a true work of art. This is Bricasso, a LEGO mosaic printer by JK Brickworks. I could go into some lengthy descriptions about how it works and the intricacies of it, but why bother, just check out the video and marvel at this little mechanical wonder.

P-51 Mustang

This appeals to me on so many levels. The Mustang is one of my favorite WWII fighters, and this supremely accurate 1/10 scale model by crash_cramer is just jaw-dropping. It's detailed inside and out, with special attention to structural accuracy. The chroming is a combination of parts ordered on Bricklink and clever use of chrome skinning vinyl. The canopy is custom, and while that may put off some purists out there, I'm personally totally ok with it. It all adds up to a stunning model of one of the greatest airplanes ever to soar through the skies.

Stay Frosty And Alert

I was fresh out of high school and jonzin' to start a career in movies when Aliens premiered back in 1986. I can remember going to see it with a buddy and being totally blown away by it. This morning I'm blown away by this spectacular MOC by Missing Brick. The MOC itself is really impressive, but the presentation is what really caught my attention. Using a combination of LED scale lighting, under lighting, an iPad for a splash of color and an atomizer for atmosphere, this iconic scene from the movie is recreated with brilliant results.