Into The Wild

This build by Simon Schweyer is inspired by Into the Wild, a film I have never seen and a book I have never read.  Maybe I don't need to have seen/read the source material to appreciate the craftsmanship in this diorama. The emotion translates very well in the lady's pose, her bare feet on soft grass, the apparent height of the cliff, and the coloring of the sky and water.  Coloring a sunset with LEGO bricks is tricky business, especially for someone as severely colorblind as I am, but not as tricky as pulling off such a moody scene and making it look so effortless.

Ultimate Tree Fort

I want one of these in my backyard. My 10-year-old self could have happily spent dozens of summer afternoons playing in this thing. Built by Sergeant Chipmunk, this awesome forest ranger watchtower reminds me quite a lot of Lothlorien. And that's definitely a good thing. The landscaping and rocks are extremely well done, and I like how the structure is built right over a stream. That's a cool detail which really adds a lot of visual interest to the scene.

Stop Bugging Me

Just kidding.  You're not bugging me at all!  

From what I can tell from being an English teacher for nine years, Japanese boys and girls have a unique fascination with insects and even have a knack for collecting them.  They're not all just creepy crawly critters!  This makes me wonder if Takamichi Irie collected insects as a child.  He recently spent a year studying abroad and time to time expressed his feelings of being homesick, which might explain where his LEGO insect series came from.  It's amazing what you can do with just a few tiny parts (and especially with those that seem to have only a single use).  NPU, dude!  You can see the rest of the his "Small Animals" series on his Flickr.

Snail Black Widow Spider Stag Beetle

Unboxing the Technic 911 GT3 RS

Every few years The LEGO Group produces a set that is universally applauded and I think this year we have a winner. Whether you're into Technic or cars or not, you have to appreciate the skill, care, engineering and love that went into this set. It's truly a work of art and a premium building experience. The attention to detail in every aspect, starting with the box it comes in, is superb. I can't wait to share the finished model with you, but for now, an unboxing will have to suffice.

No Trolls in This Forum

And there aren't any pop-up ads, either. This massive build by Praetorian- is a minifig-scale recreation of the ancient Roman Forum of Nerva, one of the four Imperial fora, or public squares, in Rome. The architectural details in this are just fantastic, from the columns and wall patterning to the magnificent arch. I really like how clean this build is: all the spotless white makes it look like new, instead of ruined  like the Roman buildings we're used to seeing. I highly recommend viewing more pictures in the Flickr album.

All Gave Some, Some Gave All

Every country likes to rattle it's saber, and humans have been squabbling over resources and wealth since we figured out how to walk upright. The governments declare the wars, and their men and women pay the price. This stirring MOC by vir-a-cocha illustrates this all too well, but also has a second more important message, about finding beauty and overcoming circumstances. I can't be easy to carry an accordion with crutches, but this scrappy vet was up to the challenge, and now he can play a little music, for everyone's enjoyment.

Quack Quack, Stomp Stomp

Look out Mechy Mouse, there's some stompy competition in town courtesy of Moko. I'm going to be vacationing at the Disneyland resort in July, so I think there's enough time for the Imagineers to get going on some of these. I mean floats are nice, and I do watch a parade from time to time, but if these were clomping down Main Street, I would so be there.

Bread Winner

The Atkins fad diet had positively no traction at my house. Eliminate bread? Good luck with that, I love bread. But I think I'd love it even more if it was delivered by this absolutely slammed International Harvester Metro van by Lino M. Although it might have some trouble getting up the street with the speed bumps we have in my neighborhood.

Brick Buddies: The Game

How does your scalp feel, Itchy? Good, because builder jtheels has the prescription for that because you'll be scratching your head trying to figure this out. You may have seen his brilliantly simple series of MOCs called Brick Buddies, absolutely basic characters from pop culture, but with the logo or catch phrase from the show or movie they're from it's obvious. Well now he's collected 89 of these blocky little wonders into one place, with no added graphics. How many can you name? Some will be easy, some will be hard, and I'm guessing some will be impossible. Are you up to the challenge?

It Seems To Have Been Deliberately Buried

2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the rare movies that I actually enjoyed more than its over-explanatory book.  Every visual is burned into my memory.  Every sound.  Every bit of dialogue.  Every beat.  I even put that creepy Monolith/Star Gate music on in the summer just to give myself some much-needed chills.  The Excavation Site built by James May (AKA poshhammer) is craftily recreated in minor to major decorative features from the wall textures to the overall symmetrical proportions.  I can almost hear the high pitch screeching.

Get to Da Choppa!

Is that quote too cliche to use? Nah, I'll go with it. This sweet UN chopper by Guy Smiley is definitely the Arnold Schwarzenegger of helicopters. It's big, beefy, and could probably pulverize anything smaller than an elephant. The shaping of the fuselage is very nicely done, and the custom stickers really make it feel authentic. This beast also has some great realistic details, like the winch and the dual engines above the cockpit.

The Journey

As a child I often browsed through the sci-fi section at used book stores just to see the amazing cover art.  There's just something about seeing a bit of sci-fi art completely out of context that stimulates my imagination.  Sometimes I could come up with a story or a single scene to accompany the picture and other times I was just left thinking about what was actually going on in the story.  "The Journey" by SweStar looks like something straight from an obscure sci-fi novella and does not offer a description for why the traveller is approaching a metal-and-icicle tree, and perhaps that is for the best.

Diana Of Themyscira

There's a lot of inspired building in this version of Wonder Woman by ToaLeewan. It seems super simple at first, but that's only because it's so clean. I'm sure we're going to be seeing a lot more of this lovely lady now that she's got her own movie in the works. And if we can just keep Zack Snyder from sinking his mediocre claws into it, it might be good.

High-Fives All Around For Team Stark!

If there's one thing I get a kick out of seeing every time, it's gotta be 1:1 scale movie props recreated in LEGO bricks.  This skin-tight Iron Man gauntlet by Milan Sekiz features plenty of detail crammed in a very limited space that also accommodates flexibility.  Having said that, I now have two serious questions: May I please wear it for Halloween and does it run on a miniature arc reactor or simple CR1025 batteries?

Do You Wanna Play a Game?

Uh oh! Wyldstyle seems to have taken a wrong turn in her quest to find the 'special one'! In this LEGO MoC habitat Vicky Brata has captured Wyldstyle in one of Jigsaw's deadly games. Handcuffed and chained with a key just out of reach, will she make it or will it be Game Over?!

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Your Chariot Awaits

TheRoyalBrick has pulled together some pretty cool themes as a basis for this unique piece. The build incorporates a Pharoah from Ancient Egypt, a futuristic hoverboard and a Warg from Norse mythology. The hoverboard is dual powered - sourcing its energy from the neon pink crystals as well as the Warg's beastly strength. This is a really fun LEGO MoC and I reckon Doc and Marty could use something like this in their time travels!

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Knives and Swords

Pacific Rim was full of giant monsters, giant robots, and giant sharp things to poke your eye out with.  Sounds awesome, right?  Well you know what's even more awesome?  Super giant things in micro LEGO scale!  Grantmasters shrunk everything down to perfect proportions and managed to include an amazing amount of detail in the motion, texture, and coloring in this MOC.  I mean, come on!  Just look those yellow stripes on Knifehead! 

You Can Spin With One, Spin With Two, How You Spin Is Up To You!

I know we had at least one of these at our house when I was a kid, but being that I get barfy just glancing at my phone in a moving car I never cared for it much. It's Sit 'n Spin from jtheels, and it's a blast form the centrifugal past! Yeah, some of the toys from my youth were kinda dumb, but then again so were we (lawn darts anyone?).

I wood like one of these

Builder Steve Guinness doesn't just stick to the ABS.  Here are a couple of pics of his take on the traditional minifig, but in wood. These wonderful woody figs are a foot tall, so perhaps maxifig is more appropriate?  Steve's day job is a teacher of Craft, Design, & Technology. I remember that back in the day we called it Woodwork; then it became Resistant Materials (I was one of those resistant materials myself, but that's another story). Now it's CDT and Steve is rather good at it.  I like the way the grain on the soldier's shako and face matches up. Click through for more figures, including a spaceman and a Unikitty.

One, Two, Tree Reasons to Build Landscapes

I always love it when a good solid landscaping build shows up in my Flickr feed. This build by Markus1984 is a really good example of many different landscaping techniques. The path and rocks are very nicely integrated into the greenery. I particularly like how the path is built at an angle; it makes the build feel a lot more realistic. Also, even though I would normally advise against taking pictures in direct sunlight, it looks great here, since the way the light filters through the LEGO leaves is just gorgeous.