Mini? On!

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Great rent, but the rooms are a little small.

A while back -- ten years ago to be precise -- the short-lived Factory theme made its debut in the LEGO universe. And while it didn't last long, the mini-scale sets from that theme (three sets in all) seemingly continue to inspire AFOLs today, whether in the form of the successful Architecture line, or, as seen above, in the creations of brick artists like John Stephens, who takes this theme to new heights in his continuing Micropolis series. My favorite feature of the Riverstone Apartments is the clever and old-school use of the 1x1 headlight brick as windows, and the great design on the trees. The simplicity of it all, from the cheese slopes as awnings to the cars made of 1x2 "jumper" plates and 1x1 tiles, make John's set something special.  And the best part is, there's plenty more where this came from. The takeaway message? In a time of big $200 and $350 LEGO sets, sometimes smaller is better.

Tonight At SDCC!

You remember those little bits on Sesame Street where they sang "one of these things is not like the other", tonight at SDCC is sort of like that. I'm going to be on a panel with world renown brick artist Nathan Sawaya, DC comic legend Jim Lee and the great Brandon Griffith. And while I'm certainly the odd man out in this grouping, I can guarantee I'm going to be the only one with loads of BrickNerd nerd glasses and buttons in his bag.

The panel is DC Comics Meets LEGO Art, it's tonight from 6-7pm in room 25ABC. I'll see you there!

The Stargazer

Legonardo Davidy is back in castle territory with this latest MOC, and it's a beauty. It's loaded with all the lovely features we've come to expect from a David Hansel creation, rich textures, complex curves and so much style it looks like it's been lifted from a storybook. All that and what looks to be somewhere in the region of a 24" scope. Should be able to spot individual moon rocks with that beast.

A Study In Contrasts

I feel for the guy on the left. Over the years I've found myself at a number of jobs that were the type that just sorta suck your will to live, like this one depicted by Gzu's Bricks. The funny thing is these days, the image is almost swapped for me. Not so much the glum side, but home is pretty normal when it comes to the color palette, and work is a vibrant, cheery LEGO spectrum of color. Oh, and that goofy, happy expression? That's me both places.

It Just Isn't Fair!

So, you've just scored two new droids, just in time for the moisture harvest! Give one an oil bath and take care of that carbon scoring on the other. Get them both cleaned up and what are you going to do next? That's right, transfer your application to the academy! Wait, who's the hologram babe? Hey, my uncle's a bit of a grouch. Darn, the little one took off. Today just kinda sucks doesn't it? (spoiler: it got worse)

Emerald Tooth

Behold the spiky, rocky goodness of Emerald Tooth. He (I assume it's a he) springs from the imagination of Djokson and reminds me of a cross between the classic Power Miners Crystal King, Rock Biter from Neverending Story with a little bit of Nome King from Return to Oz thrown in for flavor. 

White Light

Here's a fun fact, I have family roots in the midwest tied to moonshining. I don't know the specifics of it, I just know that back 2-3 generations on my mom's side there was some nefarious shenanigans. So this excellent shine runner by one of my favorite car builders tiler is not only very nicely built and photographed, but echoes a little bit of family history, excellent.

Here comes the story of the Hurricane

During last year's SHIPtember,  Tim Schwalfenberg stepped forward with the quite excellent Hurricane Battlecruiser, which landed him a well deserved win for the contest. Since then, he's been hard at work on the rest of the fleet. Although much smaller, they are no less magnificent. I've highlighted my favorites below, but make sure to check out the entire fleet, as they are all spectacular builds which maintain a wonderful design and color cohesion throughout.

Coming to SDCC?

Hey fellow nerds and nerdettes, are you coming to San Diego Comic Con? Me too! In fact I'll be speaking on two different panels this year.

The first one is DC Comics Meets LEGO Art with world renown LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya, builder extraordinaire Brandon Griffith and comic legend Jim Lee. That will be on Thursday from 6-7 in room 25ABC

The second one is Making The LEGO Fan Scene with BrickJournal editor Joe Meno, premiere LEGO comic artist Paul Lee and Nathan and Brandon again. That will be on Saturday from 6-7 in room 23ABC

I'm super excited for both of these panels, and of course for SDCC. I've got a limited amount of swag I'll be toting around so if you spot me say hi and then mug me. See you later this week!

Deep Sea Submarine

My issue of the new magazine Bricks Culture just arrived, all the way from the UK!  In it, there's a great piece by David Alexander Smith about the connection between LEGO building and photography.  Starting back in the 70s with the iconic box art, all the way to today's high resolution online digital images, the two art forms are inexorably linked.  The selection process for Bricknerd and other blogs is clear proof of that.  No matter how awesome the build, if it's just sitting on your coffee table, it doesn't make the cut.  So when I saw this shot of Vesa Lehtimaki's Deep Sea Sub, I thought, "This is exactly what David was talking about!" 

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?