The Exorcist

I made the awful mistake of watching The Exorcist when I was about 12 years old, roughly the same age as Regan in the movie. It scared the crap out of me, I was traumatized for days. Then again, I also developed a crush on Linda Blair, so sorta a double edge sword I guess. This little vignette by vitreolum recreates one of the more disturbing scenes, and I'm sorta having flashbacks. Despite the questionable subject matter, there's actually a lot of really cool and subtle techniques being used here, like the wall molding achieved with jumpers, and the paneled door. This is spooky good.

Mk IV Automaton

Builder 2 Much Caffeine imagines the power of steam and the first quantum clocks in The Mark IV Automaton. Can you just imagine if the early breakthroughs in electronics and computers would have coincided with the age of steam power? It would have been really impressive. Then again we still can't get a robot to reliably open a door, so things might have gotten messy.

RED3

Sci-Fi guy ska2d2 has returned to minifig scale with this nifty rig.  You may recall his micro fleet posted back in December. What I like about RED3 is there's no pretense of aerodynamics.  Bulky and practical, no frills save the black and yellow checker details.  Scroll through the photostream to see some nice up-close shots, like the retractable cockpit action.  And good luck finding an exposed stud on this baby.  I couldn't.

Girl With Balloons

Builder Grantmasters shows us how you really can't go wrong when you combine Banksy, LEGO and silhousaic art. This interpretation of 'girl with balloons' (not it's official title, Banksy isn't much on titling his work) would look right at home in any art museum. Or on the wall of my studio for that matter.

Bright Idea

Sometimes it's not so much about the building, but about the presentation. None of these little lamps by kosbrick are particularly spectacular, just the clever assembly of a few pieces, including the seed part from Iron Builder. But put them all together on a Ikea inspired shopping "web page" and it's absolutely marvelous.

Pay Attention Class...

Of course LEGO astronauts go to space academy, they have to learn the ways of space somewhere. And of course there's lecture halls at the academy, they're perfect for group learning. So why we've never seen a space academy lecture room before now seems baffling. Thankfully builder justin_m_winn came along to fix this oversight. Three cheers for higher education!

Bugatti Chiron

Here's the latest stunning build from LEGO car artist Firas Abu-Jaber.  He's itemized all the engineering specs and design features of this new Italian supercar on the main pic.  Plus there are all sorts of interesting tidbits of information with the subsequent shots in his photostream.  All I have to say is, "Awesome!"

Easter Eggs Decorated By Robot

LEGO mechanical genius JKBrickworks is back with another fantastic project that you can build yourself, just in time for easter! The egg decorating machine is a fairly simple gadget and has been around for ages, I remember playing with the "Decoregger" when I was a kid, but with the addition of LEGO EV3, it's all the more fun. Head over to the Jason's website for everything you need to build your own.

Welcome Foolish Mortals

You all know what a Disneyland nerd I am, and no trip to the Magic Kingdom is complete without a visit to our favorite spooky attraction, the Haunted Mansion. This MOC by kjm161 not only captures the look and feel of the exterior of my favorite residence of New Orleans Square, but it has a fully detailed interior. The inside is absolutely packed with details and homages to the attraction, from madame Leota to the hitchhiking ghosts, to the rest of the 999 happy haunts. Now, look alive, and click through for many more pictures.

Leonardo's Workshop

Nobody would dispute the contributions of Leonardo Da Vinci to the art, science, design and medical worlds, as well as others. The man was an absolute genius and changed the world forever. This MOC by MolochBaal imagines what his workshop might have looked like, and it's how I always imagined it. I love the fact that many of the disciplines Leonardo practiced are present, from war to fine art.

Enter The Bat

I have an affinity for large-scale brick-built characters. They open up way more animation possibilities than just standard minifigs. This Batman MOC by Roman has loads of charm, and would make for a fun brickfilm, to boot.

A Place For Everything, And Everything In It's Place

This looks right out of a Hold Everything or Ikea catalog. Builder kosbrick is presently engaged in an epic struggle known as Iron Builder, and the seed part is the little paint roller handle being so cleverly used as hooks in this unpretentious build. It's clean, it's realistic and it's functional. 

Gotta Build Them All!

Once upon a time Pokemon was huge at my house. Both of my boys went through phases where all that was talked about was how to be a good trainer and how to catch them all. Now builder Takamichi Irie has started a series of fantastic MOCs bringing these pocket monsters to life. The addition of the collector card for each Pokemon is a brilliant touch. Maybe he'll eventually get to my personal favorite, Cubone. Photos by willgalb.

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American Graffiti

You may not know this Star Wars fans, but you owe a debt of gratitude to this yellow hotrod. Prior to Star Wars getting greenlit the executives at Universal were scratching their heads at a little film from a young filmmaker named George Lucas. They didn't get it, and in fact almost shelved it, but when they finally released the film it was a smash hit. It had humor, it had poignancy, it had music and it had cars...We loved it. Based on it's success George was able to finally convince 20th Century Fox to give Star Wars a shot. The rest, as they say, is history. This updated version of John Milner's hotrod by Tiler makes me smell gas and hear Wolfman Jack.

Lifting Microscale to New Heights

As a predominantly microscale builder, I love the challenge of making something instantly recognizable with as few pieces as possible. Builder Kosmas Santosa will tell you himself that he doesn't build much in this scale - but after seeing this Gondola I'm certain he should continue to try his hand at it. I see a total of 11 pieces here, not counting the string and background. Masterful work.

Dogmatix

European readers are more likely to recognize this canine character,  It's Obelix's trusty terrier Dogmatix (AKA Idefix) from the Asterix and Obelix comics. I've never read the comics, but I'm familiar with some of the characters, and instantly recognized this little guy. Builder grubaluk perfectly captures his character in this highly pose-able MOC. 

Apogee: Space Cargo

As part of a challenge among the builders on Brick Pirate, Xavier Clement has created a unique and asymmetric cargo craft.  His intention was to build a ship with the same spirit as the Millennium Falcon, ready to take on that Kessel Run at a moment's notice.  Now, with Xavier having thrown down the gauntlet, the other forum members are supposed to remix this design/color scheme, and build their own version.  Should be interesting... Punch it, Chewie!

Colossal Northwest Crane

I don't know much about large construction vehicles, but I can certainly appreciate when I pass one on the road. Colossal machines that in turn build colossal things just sort of blow my mind. And LEGO versions of these vehicles, especially built on the scale of this crane by builder LiftingBricks, are just as mind blowing. This thing is technically a work in progress, but so cool I just had to share. Click through for more details and tons more pics.

Archimedes

Disney's The Sword in the Stone has a bit of a checkered past. Though officially considered a moderate success by the company, it has never caught much traction. This is a shame because while it's a bit uneven, it's actually a good film. Archimedes, here brilliantly recreated by Legohaulic, is a stand-out character. If you have the opportunity, give this film a chance.

The Elder Scrolls-Orsinium

My friend and fellow VLUGer Thorsten Bonsch has created another marvel of LEGO design.  There are so many aspects of this build to enjoy, but in particular, the seamless path really jumps off the screen, looking like it was printed.  I also appreciate the building-in-progress scaffolding mixed with the textured stone work.  Very convincing.