The excitement for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story grows as we get closer and closer to December 2016! I was fortunate enough to pick up the largest Rogue One LEGO set to be released this weekend, and wanted to give my thoughts on the build!
Read MoreThere are a few things in life that I really geek out about, the first being LEGO, of course, the second being automobiles. When you put the two together and add a little bit (or in this case, a lot) of charm you have me hook, line and sinker. The charm is in this case that builder brickbink didn't just create another auto shop, but he created an old French auto shop. The details are just perfectly French, from the building and automobile design, to the baguette on the work bench, and finally the mustachioed mechanic.
"Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker's needs" - Dobby the House-elf.
Builder Wookieewarrior captures the look and feel of the famously elusive non-existent/existent Hogwarts room from the Harry Potter series of books. Look closely and you will find items of significance from the books scattered about the room including the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw.
Now if only I could get this room to appear with a desk full of sorted LEGO bricks for when I start my next project.
It's Monday morning after BrickCon, I'm still in denial that it's over. There's always a little sadness that follows the closing ceremonies, as we all breakdown the MOCs and strip the tablecloths off. It takes over two days to set it up, and it's gone is just a few minutes. The reality sets in that it's over, at least for another year. The time spent with old friends and making new ones is really what it's all about for me. I mean the MOCs are great of course, but it's the people that bring them, the ones you chat with, dine with, party with, that are really what makes a con what it is. So many laughs, so many hand shakes, so many hugs, it's been great to be back.
The Bricks of Characters display was outstanding as usual, with a diverse array of everything you could imagine. From humorous to scary, from big to small and from clean to downright filthy (I'm looking at you Angus). With a "head count" of approximately 232 characters, it was pretty epic. I'd like to thank everyone for contributing to our little corner of insanity, you all rock.
Of course none of it would be possible without the biggest character of all, Iain Heath. He and I enjoyed taking our interpretation of the event's theme "Madness" to the next level, even going full ska for our outfits on Saturday. Since I couldn't be here last year, at least not in all three dimensions, it had been two years since we'd seen each other in person, it's been awesome to be reunited with my good friend.
I'm also happy to report that my MOC of the band took the award "One Step Beyond" (how appropriate) at the awards ceremony (big thanks to the Beyond the Brick guys for agreeing to be our judges). So now it's time to recover, and thankfully I'm staying in the area a few more days to see what other mischief me and Iain can get into. But first, time to rest. Thanks to everyone I encountered over the last four days for making BrickCon super special, you're what makes it great.
I absolutely adore micro models that tell so much of a story! Builder Galaktek has easily become a person I love to see new things from. His latest creation is described as a folding box, usually carved or painted, that is a keepsake for visitors of the Sanctuary; "Its design represents their experience, which can be held close inside, or unfolded to share the peace of the Sanctuary". The build "unfolds" like described; and can also come apart, allowing the four seasons to separate and be fitted like a box. Galaktek's story of the Sanctuary is as beautiful as the build itself, check detail images and the story below!
Sanctuary of Four Seasons
The Sanctuary rises from a ridge overlooking four valleys, famed for the clarity of their seasons. People from the region may be admitted to the Sanctuary for a period of secluded reflection -- traditionally, in Spring, for those who have just ended their education; in Summer, for those recently recovered from a life-threatening illness; in Autumn, for those who have completed their life work; or in Winter, for those who have lost a loved one.
I consider it a privilege to witness someone emerging from their dark ages, to watch them explore this hobby again and join the ranks of AFOLs. Like me, builder prolost is a veteran of visual effects in motion pictures. We even worked on some of the same movies as the studios we worked for were sorta "sister companies", of similar size and capacity. So to be able to watch his "awakening" has special meaning to me. And from the looks of this clean and well-built Tomahawk, we can look forward to some amazing work from a talented artist and great guy. Welcome to the fold, brother.
I don't know what the typical SHIP build time is. I know that if I was going to build one, it would probably take the entirety of the month (and then I still wouldn't finish). So you can imagine my shock to learn that this SHIP by Kris Manabo was built over the course of four days! That's the same time it took me to build my silly little Madness MOC. It's on display at BrickCon this weekend and worth a pause as you make your way around the show floor.
Cesbrick has long been one of my favorite builders. Typically, he builds in the medieval / fantasy theme, but today he has something completely new and different: a SHIP! Personally, this is my favorite model I have seen for SHIPtember 2016. The color choices used in this model are perfect, and what's even better is the fact that there is a perfect balance between them. The subtle amounts of light gray mixed into the white is very pleasing to the eyes. Furthermore, there are excellent examples of greebling all over this creation, and finally those fancy rings that wrap around this futuristic vessel - super cool! Already looking forward to next year's SHIPtember!
I love a MOC that instantly conjures visions of scenes and scenarios. The moment I saw this construction mech by Moko, I saw teams of identical mechs busy at work constructing a futuristic building. Each one dutifully going about it's workday lifting, welding, fastening and moving. What a wonderful sight that would be.
Remember that ship Han Solo used to capture the Millennium Falcon in The Force Awakens? Yeah, me neither. It doesn't have much screen time, and you don't get a good look at it really, at least from the outside. We see plenty of the interior, during the rathtar (not to be confused with Raptar, from Rugrats) scene, but it's one of the scenes I'd rather forget. So I honestly didn't recognize this SHIP by builder Forgotten Days when I first looked at it. But I find that encouraging because I was ready to blog it before I knew it was from Star Wars, so maybe I'm not completely biased (spoiler alert, I'm completely biased).
As a BSG fan, this Mark II jumped right off the screen at me. But when I read that it's actually over 100 studs long, I was struck: "No frakin' way!?!" Chris Maddison has built a mega scale version of the iconic Colonial aerospace superiority fighter. He's captured all of those sexy curves and angles which are a real challenge at the mini-fig scale. And there's still plenty of room for tasty greebles on the side of the fuselage and around the engines. Okay, Chris, time to go shoot some toasters!!
As most of you know (unless your internet has been down for a month), SHIPtember is almost over, which means that lots of ships are finally starting to pop up. Tim Schwalfenberg's latest sci-fi offering is very unorthodox (in the best possible way). Lots of spaceships are very angle-y, with plenty of hard edges. Tim's ship, however, is almost entirely curvy, making for an extremely eye-catching design. I particularly like the few trans-light blue accents; they really go well with the white and gold.
While I wasn't much into comics as a kid (and really I'm still not as an adult) I did enjoy a few from time to time. Spiderman and Ironman were always my favorite, but being from California, the Silver Surfer always caught my attention when I could find it. While I don't recall ever seeing Galactus in any of them, I've spent enough time around Brandon Griffith to recognize this MOC by Adam Dodge instantly. BrickCon will be devoured for sure.
I'm scrambling to make all the last minute preparations before heading off to Seattle for BrickCon 2016. Me and my PIC Iain Heath are ready for some serious Bricks of Character action this year, and very happy to be celebrating the awesome theme, Madness!
Madness has always been a favorite band of ours, so we're going "skall-out" to celebrate. I finally finished my MOC yesterday and can't wait to see it on the BOC table with all the rest of the awesome MOCs you all bring.
And here's the trophies we're going to be handing out, minus their engraved brick, those will be added at the last minute.
I can't wait to see all my friends and make some new ones. If you're going to be at the con or visiting during the public days track me down to say "hi" and get some BrickNerd swag. See you all there!
I have a strong affinity for brick-built characters. It's usually much more interesting to look at than a simple minifig. Vir-a-cocha's Tsar is a really charming little build. I know next to nothing about Russian fairytales, which this MOC is apparently inspired by, but it can still be appreciated on its own terms. Love the little detail of his feet curling in.
When I built the new LEGO Ideas Caterham Seven live on Sunday, the designer Carl Greatrix stopped by to chat a bit an revealed that he had just finished modifying the set to restore some of the lost features. Wrap your head around that...he designed a set, submitted it, got 10k votes, LEGO accepted it, a designer from LEGO re-engineered it (standard procedure) and made some changes to make it practical to produce, it's released, and then the designer re-engineers it to bring back lost features (like steering!). It's a convoluted path, but the results are pretty stunning.
I don't think there could be a more stark contrast than comparing modern race cars to their vintage counterparts. But will all the advancements in safety, aerodynamics, horsepower and materials, something of the spirit of the originals has been lost. Of course the end goal all along as been to go faster than the other guys, but man were the vintage cars beautiful. This recreation of a 1930's era car by builder redfern1950s is absolutely gorgeous, and really captures the feel of what it was to be built for speed in a time when craftsmanship still mattered.
Normally you might use a pickup for hauling stuff. I mean, hay bales, party kegs, furniture and boxes and boxes of LEGO aren't going to deliver themselves. But in the case of this badass pickup by builder Lino M, it's purpose in life is to do two things: go very fast, and make a heck of a lot of noise while it does it.
I've only ever seen a Caterham Seven in the wild once, at a mall in Irvine CA, but I was instantly smitten. Of course I've seen Caterham cars on TopGear many time, but seeing it in person was different. It's an unusual beast, with a energy even when parked. Well now I get to build one, and you should join me while I do it. It's guaranteed 13% more exciting than watching bananas discolor in real-time. Building starts at 10am PST, see you then!
This is a fun concept. It's a vignette built of smaller hinged vignettes, that can be reconfigured in many ways for display or play. This one is obviously Oktoberfest inspired, with some beer affectionados enjoying some brew, but I can see this being infinitely reconfigurable by adding additional modules, and of course theming. I mean, how cool would it be so see a Star Wars cantina, or a wild west saloon, or a space station. The possibilities are endless.
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