Sadako Vs. Kayako: Dawn of Civil War

For those who don't know, Sadako and Kayako come from Japan's two most famous horror movie series, Ringu and Ju-on respectively.  What's the significance you may ask?  Well, Japan has seen two "Versus" movies so far this year and there is yet one more to come.  In March there was Batman v. Superman, in April there was Civil War, and in mid-June there will be Sadako vs. Kayako.  At first I thought it was a joke when I saw the teaser poster at the conbini (convenience store) around the corner from my workplace as it was nearly identical to the BvS poster, but apparently this movie is really happening.  I'm not sure if I'll go see it but I can guarantee these two ghostly ladies won't be as cute as builder delayice makes them.

Nom Nom

Normally, I would rather stay away from anything from the Michael Bay Transformer movies. I haven't seen them and I don't want to. Also, I normally shy away from digitally built LEGO, and normally, I'm not a huge fan of Bionicle. But today I don't care about any of that, because this robot dinosaur by Nicola Stocchi is awesome. I think one of the coolest things is how it blends Bionicle and System pieces so cohesively. There are very few builds with Bionicle in them that look this convincing. Also, when I first saw this, I thought it was a really nicely photographed physical model, and was really surprised to read that it's digital. The render for this picture is very impressive, and makes the model even more menacing. Definitely wouldn't want to meet this thing on a dark night.

ThunderCats Good vs. Evil

Anyone who was a kid in the 80's instantly recognizes these guys, the characters and their symbols.  But builder Chris van Vliet qualifies the title by saying," NO NOT CHIMA!"  ThunderCats was part of that era of Japanese animation paired with American voice acting.  Although I was already in high school, I'll admit it, I watched the show while chomping on Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.  Chris has done a great job recreating the logos and the 3D profile busts of Lion-O and Mumm-Ra on four 32x32 baseplates.  I'd say they'd be perfect book ends for a ThunderCats VHS collectors box set- ThunderCats Ho!!! 

Nocturnian floating castle

This is a whole lot of spectacular in not a whole lot of space. With careful and inspired part selection and an attention to detail, builder marcu44 managed to cram oodles of character into this microscale floating castle. I invite you to click through and peruse the large image of this, you'll find yourself delightfully identifying tiny parts.

For Those About to Rock....

I salute you sebastian bachórzewski! This guy's heading off on a highway to hell with his sweet new gee-tar 'cos London's calling! I love the use of the neon LEGO pieces to create the lights in this scene - I can just imagine them illuminating the guitars underneath. The sugar skull details on the punk rocker's top and the flame tattoo on his arm are awesome additions. I can picture this Insomnia's Guitar Heaven being down a side-alley where only the toughest of minifgs would dare to venture. There's probably a tattoo studio next door and a 'biker's bar' opposite blasting music from the juke box....

Oblivion

The movie didn't do well at the box office, but Oblivion is worth a watch in my opinion. If for no other reason than some pretty spectacular visuals. Yeah, the plot's a bit thin and the pace is a bit plodding, but overall I enjoyed it. It would seem builder Grantmasters was OK with it too, so much so he recreated one of the posters from the film in excellent microscale.

And For Dessert...

Tonight we have a lovely Cranberry Black Forest Cake, baked just for you by chef Sad Brick.  Made from the finest organic and gluten-free ingredients imported directly from Billund, Denmark.  This cake was expertly crafted with great attention to detail, from the moist center, to the delicious garnish on top.  And no need to feel any guilt, it's completely calorie free! 

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.