Eclipse

Rancorbait's awesome micro space fleet continues to grow with the addition of this stunning heavy assault cruiser. Like his Nova cruiser we blogged just last week, this one has a fantastic blend of broad strokes and greebly goodness. But this one looks ready to take on an armada by itself. I love that both vessels are unique yet share enough features like color scheme and shape combinations to make them look like they're from the same fleet, very well done.

I don't Like Sushi

Yes, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like sushi. So now you're saying "you've just never had good sushi'. I'll just stop you right there. I've fallen for that three times, and on all three occasions the person that persuaded me to fall for it again confirmed that we were indeed eating good sushi. So it is confirmed, I don't like sushi. I do however dig a really cool LEGO interior, so check out this insanely detailed sushi restaurant by Denil. Now if someone would come up with a restaurant that has other food come out on those nifty conveyors I'd happily try it.

Let The Wookie Win

In my post SDCC afterglow (my mind is still swimming from that awesome EP7 behind the scenes reel) I find myself even more excited for the upcoming Star Wars film, which I didn't think was possible. And my Flickr feed seems to reflect the fact that everyone else is getting pretty jazzed about Star Wars these days. And this excellent little vignette by StarWarsKev124 from one of my favorite scenes from A New Hope, where we learn that Chewie likes to win...I mean he really likes to win.

Wetland Brick Trail

Fans of nature and bricks are in for a treat this summer in Gloucestershire UK. The WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre has gathered a small menagerie of excellent large scale LEGO models to discover along the trail. Designed and built by Bristol designer Tom Poulsom with the team at Bright Bricks, the models range from the cute and furry, to the feathered and spectacular. There will also be a LEGO play area where guests can build their own animals when they're done with the trail. For more info visit this link.

Optimus Prime

Mad Physicist is back with something pretty epic, a fully transforming Optimus Prime on a scale I don't think I've ever seen before. It's got all the detail and creative touches you'd expect from Ralph, and when he showed some WIP pics I really thought it was just going to be a huge truck model. Then I check my Flickr feed this morning and see it fully transforms...stunning.

Stuart

I haven't seen the Minions movie yet, but I hear it's funny. These little yellow dudes, like this one artfully recreated by bricks.life.idea, were by far my favorite part of Despicable Me. In fact, I've never been able to get through the whole movie in one sitting, but I always enjoy the moments these guys are on screen. I also like the concept of an entire army of dedicated workers, I could really use them at the studio these days (even if they'd struggle when it comes to dealing with the banana LEGO pieces).

SDCC Recap

I don't have a ton of time to write a whole breakdown of SDCC (I snuck away from the campsite to a nearby town to post at a Starbucks, the lengths to which I go to keep content coming on this blog, sheesh) but overall it was an excellent con for me. It all started Thursday, where I spent a full day wandering the floor with my wife and seeing all the cool nerdy stuff (and scoring exactly zero LEGO exclusives) In the evening I had the privilege of sitting on a panel with Nathan Sawaya, Brandon Griffith and Jim Lee (yeah, THAT Jim Lee!) We unveiled just a few details of the amazing project we're all working on, Art of the Brick: DC Comics. A big thanks to all those who showed up for the panel and especially those who took time to say hi after we finished (Hi Ian!)

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On Friday we spent more time terrorizing our poor feet on the exhibition floor for a few hours. Nerdly got his picture taken with several cosplayers (he can't help himself). We saw some familiar faces, made some new friends and just basked in all the geeky goodness. I also scored exactly zero LEGO givaways and exclusives

In the late afternoon we went to the taping of the Conan O'brien Show. It was an amazing experience, we got to see the cast of Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. And if all the laughs weren't enough, we scored an exclusive Conan Zombie Pop!

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On Saturday we continued the relentless punishment of our feet with yet more walking the floor. Once we had our fill of that (seemed to not take very long, the crowds were intense) and scoring the customary amount of LEGO exclusives we headed to the Hardrock Hotel where LEGO was showing off Dimensions, an amazing new game and building experience. I'll be doing a full review of that soon so I won't go into much detail on that. In the evening I sat on the second of my two panels with Joe Meno, Paul Lee, Brandon Griffith and Nathan Sawaya. We all talked about how we've taken LEGO and turned it into something beyond just building. I showed my animated short Batman vs Superman and talked about stop motion for a bit. After a Q&A session with the audience I surprised them with the world premiere of the sequel to Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Just Desserts. They seemed to enjoy it. Don't worry, it'll be online soon after I make some last minute tweaks and I've had my fill of s'mores and sunburns.

Overall it was a great time, but I'll continue to sum up SDCC as I always do, "four days of sweaty disappointment" Now to recover and start making plans to go back next year (why do we do it to ourselves?) Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna head back to the campsite and grill some burgers.

Bat Signal

After an eventful week at San Diego Comic Con, you'd think I'd be all "super hero'd out", but I don't think that could ever happen. And while I'm actually camping the next couple days I'll still be winding down from SDCC for at least a week. So thankfully nobu_tary is there to help me make the transition back to civilian life with just a little dose of Batman goodness.

Tonight At SDCC!

I'm super excited for tonight. I'm on the second of my two panels at this year's San Diego Comic Con, Making The LEGO Fan Scene. Join me, Nathan Sawaya, Brandon Griffith, Joe Meno and Paul Lee as we talk about different aspects of the LEGO fan community and LEGO art.

I'm finally going to get to show my animated short Batman vs Superman to it's core audience!

Join us from 6-7 in room 23ABC, see you there!

Love Live!

So what do you do when your school is going to be shut down? Become School Idol's to save it! I suppose if I had actually watched the show instead of googling it that would make more sense to me, but I'm baffled by most anime. But awesome building doesn't baffle me at all, and this collection of adorable characters by Moko is just that, awesome.

Hurricane Fleet

You may remember, back in SHIPtember, Tim Schwalfenberg's award winning Hurricane Battlecruiser.  Well, he's been a busy guy building an entire fleet to go with it.  Scroll through the photostream to see the intricate details and recurring design cues that tie the whole fleet together.  Although I'm more of a rag-tag fleet kinda guy, this is a pretty awesome collection!

WIFFY Laser Bullet

Spotted this nifty rig, with a crafty mix of new and old elements.  FLAVIO's been building a vast collection of these robots, but there's something about this little dude, with the telephones and baseball hats that really caught my eye.  Plus the old-school bulldozer tread links for feet.  Wicked!

Nova

I love a MOC that makes you look twice to determine it's scale. This medium assault cruiser by Rancorbait hits all the right proportions with larger bulky surfaces to smaller greebly bits. I think it's the careful use of a couple minifigure hands that gives it the right amount of small detail in it's silhouette, which is important for establishing scale. And the use of thinner parts like the flags for the front end and the panel creating the intake or docking bay on the side protrusions. Those help break up the chunky surfaces dictated by the thickness of standard bricks.

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.