Showdown On Arvala

Like a great many Star Wars fans, I ravenously devoured The Mandalorian, and it’s been so refreshing to have the feels of Star Wars back. There’s a certain intangibility to what makes something feel like Star Wars, but no small part of it is the roots on which it’s built, the inspiration that fueled it. It’s clear in the first minute of episode one that The Mandalorian is heavily inspired by the classic westerns, which were in turn heavily inspired by the classic samurai movies, and A New Hope drew much of inspiration from those as well. By the end of the first scene I was hooked, and so was everyone else. Builder Marcus19840432 is clearly a fan, having skillfully crafted one of the key early moments in season one, the showdown in the outpost on Arvala. For spoilers sake I will say no more and if you haven’t seen the series yet, what the heck are you waiting for?

In The Ruins Of The Throne Room

The final film in the greatest saga of all time is upon us, and the world is on the edge of its seat. George said way back around 1980 that there were nine films to tell this story, and the 9th one will be out in December. And while I really didn’t care for the prequels, and Last Jedi left me conflicted and a little bitter, I am looking forward to this film. There’s a ton of cool imagery in the trailer (for my full reaction watch this) and this shot, brilliantly recreated by KevFett2011, was especially goosebump inducing.

The LEGO Steam Company

Behold L.S.C., The LEGO Steam Company by builders Brick Rebel and Monstrophonic. This incredible collaboration was built for Lego World Utrecht 2019 and I desperately wish I could have been there to see this wondrous creation in person. There’s so much detail and steamy goodness wherever you look, and interactive powered features. A video is forthcoming and I can’t wait to see it.

Viva La Mexico

I’m from California, which used to be a Mexican territory, and its cultural influence is everywhere here. From the architecture to the food, its roots run deep and I love it. So I’m instantly drawn to this excellent build by Norton74. Just looking at it has me craving tacos (and not whatever it is that Taco Bell serves, I’m talking REAL tacos) and some proper mariachi. I’ll make the guacamole, you bring the margaritas.

Aithaz Hold

I will admit a slight tinge of jealousy to those that got to attend Brickworld Chicago. But don’t cry for me, I was on the Disney Wonder cruising through Alaska while it was going (yeah, boo hoo). Part of that jealousy is because those who attended got to see things like this spectacular creation by builder ‘Ecclesiastes in person, the best way to see LEGO builds in my opinion.

The Perfect Hiding Place

The wait for the third season of Stranger Things has been excruciating, but hopefully it’s because it’s ambitious and as well developed as the first two. Builder Norton74 is anxiously waiting too, and has opted to occupy himself with some Hawkins inspired builds. The latest is where Sheriff Hopper hid Eleven from the government, his old family cabin in the woods.

Shipwreck Island

This is what I call making the best of a bad situation. When you wreck your ship you can think of it as “broken”, or you can think of it as “building materials”. As you can see these industrious pirates went full Bob Villa and have themselves a pretty spiffy little island. Nice build Travis Brickle.

Horror At Mangrove Swamp

I love how crazy talented some of my friends are. I don’t know what inspired what, and which came first, but builder Lino M not only built this exceptional diorama with a dark back story, he also painted the cover of a pulp novel of that very story. It seems that the folks of this swamp have been keeping the rest of us safe, but at a terrible price.

Filia's Bakery Is A Feast For The Eyes

Since those very early days when people figured out mixing crushed wheat with water and getting it hot made for a pretty good snack humans have been baking. And it wasn’t long after that the art was perfected and the baker was born. Fast forward to medieval times and we meet Filia, star baker of the nine kingdoms, built by roΙΙi, and making me crave some pastries.

Victorian Street

Fancy a stroll? The Victorian times must have been exceptionally interesting time to be alive. New inventions constantly, fascinating fashion, and style everywhere you look. Of course there was also class warfare (and just plain warfare for that matter) and cholera so it wasn't exactly utopia. But there certainly were some awesome buildings built weren't there? Like those depicted in this excellent street scene by looooookl.

Welcome To Radiator Springs

When traveling along classic Route 66 be sure to stop by Radiator Springs! I was fortunate enough to see this awesome recreation of the town from Pixar's classic Cars in person at BrickCon last year. Builder Keith Reed has faithfully recreated the entire town, from Mater's junk yard to the town hall, all the buildings are there. Need some tires? Stop in at Luigi's. Hungry? Head over to Flo's. You can spend an entire day here, you just need to get off the interstate.

Mountaintop Shrine

This entry into the 2018 Summer Joust by Grant Davis is one of those MOCs that keeps you looking. There's so many details, techniques and cool part combinations that you can stare at it for whole minutes. Grant promises a video later this week featuring construction techniques and how it was built, you can bet I'll be tuning in.

Olureon Monastery

I live in California, which has missions dotted all the way up the coast (literally, the Spanish Empire built them walking distance from each other), and very strong Spanish aesthetic and cultural influences. So this excellent monastery by soccerkid6 feels familiar and "local". Plus I'm a sucker for Spanish tile roofs, I'm sitting under one right now in my house.

Alien Construct

As if being on a strange world lightyears from home wasn't disconcerting enough, now your team has come across this structure in the middle of the jungle. I'd give that about a 8/10 on the pucker scale. It might be easy to glance right over this MOC by Blufiji. From the thumbnail it is deceptively simple, but really look at that structure, it's futuristic and ancient at the same time. Look at the trees, familiar and totally alien all at once. There's a lot of subtlety going on here.

Viking Attack

I love how my daily quest for interesting LEGO creations has educated me over the past five years. Who would have thought that so much was to be learned of other cultures, events, people and world history through the stacking of bricks? Today I learned of the viking conquest of the coast of Spain in the year 858AD, thanks to this incredible diorama by The Brickstons Group. I could go on and on about all the detail and storytelling of this colossal effort, but it's really best experienced looking for yourself. I highly recommend you click through for loads of pictures.

After The Quake

Being a California native and living here most of my life I know quakes. We had one just a few weeks ago, I was in the studio by myself when it happened. I just looked around and admired everything swaying, then went back to work. Of course this was a small one, not like the destruction that ravaged the city in this diorama by builder ranghaal. The image here is pretty small, it's worth clicking through to check out the larger pic for all the detail.