LEGO Death Star

I was born twenty years too soon: do want!

That’s going to be a collector’s item…

LEGO Gear Krieg

Now why didn’t I see this sort of thing when I was still at DP9? The Early was one of my favorite GK walker designs, too. Now, if they could do a Uller along with instructions and parts list…

Run, Indy, Run!

If I had 5 millions LEGO pieces and more time on my hand, I might have done something like that.

Night Hunter

Yep, it’s another beautiful LEGO Transformer, based on a Russian attack helicopter.

Happy Birthday LEGO!

Yep, the patent for the colorful little bricks that we all love so much is fifty years old today. Even Google marked the occasion with a special banner.

Here’s more stuff on the anniversary and associated milestones.

Someone Has Seen Austin Powers

Check out the fourth set in the new 2008 Agents line:

“You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads!”

Starfighters

That’s a whole bunch of them — nice!

Gundam Kyrios

I mentioned that someone made the machines from Gundam 00 in LEGO. He just added the Kyrios as well. And yes, it transforms.

Hopefully, we’ll get the Flag and Tieren as well at some point!

Flying Like a Brick

This is a pretty awesome collection of LEGO aircraft, based on real-world planes. They even have custom hand-made stickers to get the markings right.

Gundam Exia

Well, that didn’t take long — here’s a neat Gundam Exia done in LEGO.

UPDATE: the guy just added the Dynames and the Virtue as well.

More LEGO Transformers

Though they do not transform, alas: Movie Bumblebee and Optimus Prime.

LEGO Blackout

There are some very good builders out there. Even knowing this, I still come across stuff that leaves my jaw on the floor.

Case in point, this Blackout model from Transformers. Yes, it transforms. It’s also superior to the toy version since it’s closer in scale to the rest of the car toys from the movie.

Heavy Troop Carrier

Some people have way too many bricks. I would have killed for a ship like that when I was a kid.

Micro Prime

It’s a microscale G1 Optimus Prime. And yes, it “transforms,” despite being composed on about a half-dozen bricks.

There are also Starscream and Megatron galleries.

(Via Brothers Brick)

Shellshock

Here’s the perfect post to start off the next batch of thousand entries: Decepticon Shellshock, done in the movie style and in LEGO. Awesome!

Brickshelf Stuff

Cool models seen on Brickshelf:

1) Me223 cargo and Stork spotter plane, well done WWII German aircraft.

2) From Gundam 0083, a tiny yet accurate GP-02A.

LEGO® Transformers

1) Here’s Movie Prime, or at least, a pretty good approximation. It transforms and even sports the flames!

2) A neat little go-kart Transformer.

3) This Movie Prime is closer to the robot mode, but doesn’t seem to transform…

4) Here’s a Minifig “City” scale Optimus Prime.

5) Now we’re talking! Here’s a very accurate movie Optimus Prime. The builder still needs to find a way to make it transform, however.

6) And another Movie Prime! Still doesn’t transform, darnit. Don’t make me pull out my boxes of bricks…

Uh Oh... (UPDATED!)

Brickshelf is one of the premier LEGO sites out there. It’s currently down with an ominous message.

In the meantime, the vast majority of the LEGO sites I read are without pictures, since they were all hosted on Brickshelf. Gah!

Hopefully we’ll know more soon.

UPDATE: it’s confirmed, Brickshelf will be shutting down on July 31, 2007. The free ride’s over, folks.

UPDATE 2: Turns out that Brickshelf is safe after all. The issue was bandwidth costs, and enough people have proposed to help that the owner has decided to go back on his previous decision.

LEGO® Universe Trailer

Check this out: it’s the trailer for the upcoming LEGO massive multiplayer online game. Looks great, but I wonder how they are going to keep the creeps and the idiots away since this will be primarily aimed at kids. For example, what’s to prevent someone from building a giant set of brick genitals? Unless they lock the patterns that can be built, such as existing kits, but given that LEGO stands for imagination, it would be a sad solution.

Time will tell, I guess.

(From Kotaku)

SD Transformers... in LEGO

The subject line says it all — kawaii*!

[*”cute” in Japanese.]

And go up a level, this guy’s “regular” TF are pretty amazing. I can’t believe how he made a better Megatron than the original 1984 toy!

LEGO® Kaiju

Yep, it’s Japanese giant monsters in LEGO, including the big “G” himself.

Brick Journal 8

The new issue of Brick Journal is now available for download. As usual, it’s free.

Classic Cruiser Update

I remember getting this LEGO cruiser at Christmas when I was a kid.

Now someone went and updated the design with modern bricks. Cool!

New Lego Mecha

Been a while since I talked about LEGO, so here’s a cool little mecha from one of the masters of the genre, Moko.

More than Meets the... Brick?

This hits me in two of my favorite geek things. Check it out!

More LEGO Heavy Gear

See the gallery here — very nice. Unfortunately not mine, since I had a total of about ten minutes’ LEGO tinkering time in the past three weeks (I did made a rough Pathfinder head, but that’s it).

F-16D Fighting Falcon

In LEGO, of course. The correct retractable landing gear is especially impressive.

LEGO® Mario Bros

The subject line says it all. Awesome stop-motion work.

(Via BoingBoing)

Sunday Night Quickie

Some awesome LEGO mecha before we head into yet another week of extremely hard work, punctuated by a provincial election.

BrickJournal 7

The seventh issue of this free PDF-format magazine is now available for download.

Camouflage in Bricks

Very impressive — not only is the use of various colored bricks innovative, but the designs are pretty awesome too.

Explorer

This is the kind of ship I wanted to build when I was a kid, but I never seemed to have enough pieces of the proper colors.

BrickJournal 6

The sixth issue of the free online magazine Brick Journal is now available for download.

Nano Zeon Mobile Suits

Three enemy mecha from the original Gundam anime. I don’t think you can build them any smaller!

Toy Fair 2007

With the 2007 Toy Fair going on this weekend in New York, the cool stuff is coming out of the woodworks:

Frenzy & Ironhide art

Hasbro Toy Fair 2007 Press Release with Optimus Prime Images

Megatron ’s final head

Ultimate Bumblebee Camaro and more

Seems like Hasbro is planning on swamping the market with not only toys, but merchandizing as well.

Man, it’s like it’s 1984 all over again!

UPDATE: LEGO is also getting out the big guns. Check out the new booster for Exo-Force!

LEGO® Links of the Day

Check these out:

Various vehicles — see the bikes, they are amazing. Almost no studs showing.

Boeing 737-400 — with functional everything, and enough space to seat a hundred minifigs.

Star Wars Minis — vehicles from all the films, in very tiny scale.

LEGO® Lightcycle

Yes, the Lightcycle from Tron.

LEGO® Starships

Just follow the links. The first few are especially impressive.

Steam Powered Airship

Comes complete with full interior and crew complement. That is one big, beautiful pile of bricks — around 50,000 of them, by the creator’s count.

USS Maddox

Yes, it’s all made of LEGO bricks, despite the deceptively smooth appearance. Including the insides.

Between this guy, that guy and that guy, it’s a wonder anyone can still find gray bricks anywhere in the world…

Off to bed now.

New 2007 Exo-Force Kits

Here are the Exo Force Summer 2007 sets. The wheeled assault transport and the fortress are pretty “meh,” but the new mecha? That thing is going to be huge!

I wonder if the backpack can be detached. No way this is going to stand on its own, at least not without some additional support at the rear.

Brick Castles

I don’t think I’ve linked to this before, but check out LEGO® Castles by Bob Carney. Impressive modeling (and research!) work.

Christmas 2006 Loot

Not all of it has been built, but the main pieces are in the pic. A few were gifts from me to myself; the rest came from the family, even though they were a bit bemused by the whole thing (quote my sister: “how old are you again?”).

Gotta keep the mind young! And, worse comes to worst, I can always save them for our future kids…

Doh!

I just re-discovered an interesting (and nearly universal) LEGO® axiom:

“If you’re missing a piece, then you probably read the instructions wrong and/or used the wrong piece earlier.”

Trust in the LEGO® company’s packing system. They’ve been at it for a long, long time.

All of Exo-Force

Someone put pictures of all the available Exo-Force kits over at Brickshelf, including the upcoming ones.

Gundam Sentinel...

…in LEGO. Small scale, too.

(Sentinel description, for non-Gundam fans.)

Unique LEGO Techniques

This site contains some amazing yet simple techniques for using bricks in other ways than just the traditional “studs on top.”

Minifig Scale Guges

If you don’t know what a Guges is, it’s a distinctive powered armor design from Masumune Shirow’s Appleseed manga.

The modeler even managed to get the suit operator’s arms right.

Mobile Striker

For once, this is one of mine (pics after the fold to save bandwidth): a LEGO® mecha called the Mobile Striker. Not a very original name, but since I spent most of my creativity assembling it tonight — I’m drawing a blank. Besides, I intend to fiddle with it some more once I acquire more parts, so there’s room for growth.

This is a pure land unit, built for speed and striking power; armor is not a huge factor. Notice how the legs are almost entirely structure to save weight and ensure high mobility (a major weakness — will need to be revised in the next version). The machine relies on speed and brute force to get the job done.

Its primary armament is a long-barrelled high-velocity gun, capable of both direct and indirect fire, mounted on the right arm. Secondary armament is a rack of multi-purpose hyper-velocity guided missiles, six loaded with warheads, one with smoke/decoy, and one with a recon package. This is backed by a rapid-fire chaingun located in a chin turret under and forward of the cockpit. There’s a pair of twin smoke launchers located on either side of the upper hull, and a full suite of battlefield sensors and antennae.

Like most LEGO® mecha design, the Striker is not very large: you can see the minifig pilot within the torso. It’s fully articulated and of modular design — you can change the armament, sensors and leg armor at will. (Alas, I don’t have enough parts to do additional weapon pods for the time being.)

Pictures after the fold, if you have the bandwidth to load them.

Mobile Striker Front

Mobile Striker Back

Mobile Striker Cockpit with Clamshell doors open

Soyuz TMA

Fricking amazing spacecraft, if you pardon the language.

I wonder how much it would cost to have it made as a custom kit?

While on the Subject of LEGO

I hear that the Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guide: Books by Allan Bedford is amazing.

LEGO® Necrons

This kind of thing is what happens when you mix a bit of spare time, spare LEGO® parts and Warhammer 40K. And it’s almost exactly the right size for tabletop gaming, too.

Go on, take a look — plenty more where that one is coming from. Leave comments in this thread if you want to share your impressions (or lack thereof).

UPDATE: RPG.net discussion thread, The Miniatures Page thread.

It Seemed Easier When I Was a Kid

LEGO®, that is.

Then again, back then we had a lot fewer special parts and bits to worry about (“this can fit how many ways?!”). It also helped a lot that I didn’t much care if the colors didn’t quite match — which I do, now. [sigh]

Giant Titan

The Exo-Force series is cool, but this one may not fit in the playroom.

Mauler

This is another LEGO® creation of my friend Martin Ouellette. Unlike his previous space-based Mobile Orbiter, this one is a more land-oriented unit. He calls it the Mobile Artillery Unit (MAU), or “Mauler.”

The Mauler is heavily armed and yet not very large, as mecha designs go (you can see the minifig pilot in the middle of the torso). It’s fully articulated and of modular design. Its primary armament is the pair of light railguns mounted where arms would normally be found. This is backed by quadruple 40mm impact cannons attached to a pair of shoulder hardpoints. These can be replaced by twin racks of anti-tank guided missiles, each holding five rounds. For close-in defense, a pair of rapid-fire drum-fed miniguns is located in a chin turret under and forward of the cockpit. They are directed through a main sensor pod mounted just above, which holds IR, low-ligh and visual sensors. A heavy-duty turbine engine occupies most of the back area to provide power and thrust for assault landings, assisted by the auxiliary units in the lower legs. The entire frame of the machine is reinforced for air dropping, including a full crash harness for the operator.

There are more pictures after the fold, if you have the bandwidth to load them.

Mobile Artillery Unit Front

Mobile Artillery Unit Side

Mobile Artillery Unit Top

Mobile Artillery Unit Rear

Mobile Artillery Unit Close-Up

Mobile Orbiter

No, it’s not mine, though I sure wish it was. The Mobile Orbiter (if I caught the name right) is a LEGO® creation of my friend Martin Ouellette. Martin usually deals in plastic or resin model kits (long-time readers may remember his various Mecha Press articles) but he wanted a change of pace. He brought this machine out today to show to us what he’s been doing with the Exo-Force set he bought a few months back.

The Mobile Orbiter is a heavily armed mecha, though it’s fairly small (not much bigger than a large Heavy Gear, in fact). It’s fully articulated and of modular design. Beyond the circular shield and the over/under rifle and grenade launcher gun, it carries a short-range version of the latter under the left arm (the gray box), plus a pair of missiles under the shield. It also has a powersword on the left thight hardpoint, just above a rack of swing-out short range missiles (not very visible in any pic, sorry), a pair of panzerfausts on the right hip, and a launcher for more missiles in the rear armor skirt. It also carries a communication pod on the back and a beacon drone that can be launched if the Orbiter is lost in combat. Naturally, the thing is covered with maneuver thrusters and boosters. The forward “clamshell” cockpit hatch opens to reveal the pilot and the sensor arrays.

There are more pictures after the fold, if you have the bandwidth to load them.

Mobile Orbiter Front

Mobile Orbiter Side

Mobile Orbiter Back

Mobile Orbiter Cockpit

New Exo-Force sets

Not all bad, but the first wave was better, in my opinion.

Mecha Hub

I used to visit a LEGO site on Yahoo that was called the “Mecha Hall of Fame” — seriously nice mecha designs done entirely in bricks by skilled fans.

Now the Yahoo site is down, but the modelers have moved to a dedicated site called Mecha Hub. Tons of pictures and how-to articles for the discriminating mecha modeler. Caution: a bit slow to load. Be patient, it’s often worth it.

(Martin, they have an Exo-Force contest. You should enter. I’ll take pics for you.)

LEGO Who

Now this is just plain cool. I almost missed K9 (look in front of the Doctor).

Whoa -- Lego Madness

I was definitely born way too soon.

Stealth Hunter BST Type

More brick mecha for the fans. This time, I use the parts of the mini-flyer from the Gate set to create an upgraded version of the Stealth Hunter, the Stealth Hunter BST (Boost) Type:

Note the increased armor and weaponry, plus the extra boosters at the back to lift it all.

Exo-Force Hunter Titan

The dog is stressing me out so I treated myself to some LEGO® sets. I bought the Grand Titan, but as you can see, I didn’t build the model on the box…

Yet More Brick Madness

More LEGO mecha:

Macross Plus VF-23
More LEGO mecha

(The last one has tons of links, be prepared to spend time.)

More Brick Madness

Found while wandering the Web…

Exo-Force X04S-STR-02
Unmanned Scout Drone
Variant Exo-Force
Exo-Force LDU-1 Niobium Light Defense Unit
Exo-Force Vespids
Type 78 AT-WMA
Regent Attack Cruiser
Exo-Force X04S-STR-02 Full Armor
Custom WWII LEGO Sets
Minifig-Scale Military LEGO
Minifig-Scale M2 Bradley Tank
More WWII LEGO
LugNet Mecha

Brick Madness

So you’ve probably seen it elsewhere. I don’t care. It’s worth the repeat.

It’s a friggin’ LEGO aircraft carrier.

To the proper minifig scale.

With the proper jets and equipment modeled.

With the interior of the hull modeled.

Gahaaaaaaa…..

(I refuse to even consider the cost of all those bricks.)

It's the Last time I shop with them

Geek friends, that is. It makes me spend money.

I mentioned the Exo-Force anime-themed LEGO® not long ago. My previous efforts to acquire them were unsuccessful, and I was quite pleased to save money.

Then today I go shopping with my wife and the aforementioned friends, and this is what I come home with:

Yep, they had restocked the shelves. I treated myself and bought the Stealth Hunter and the Fire Vulture (please yourself and support free speech! Bonus!).

The lady at the register was quite amused by the sight of three grown men buying piles of toys for themselves. She’ll laugh less when I send my mecha minions to crush her feeble defense forces underfoot!

(Jokes aside, I put them together and they are spectacular. Maybe not as good as these, but close!)

Bad Marketing

I went to buy myself some new jeans at lunch time (the dog ripped my previous ones), and while I was downtown I thought I’d treat myself and buy one of the new Lego® mecha kits (please yourself and support free speech! Bonus!). I’d seen stacks of them not long ago, so I headed up to the toy department, mentally wrestling between the Stealth Hunter or the Grand Titan.

Lo and behold, when I got there all they had left was the Sonic Phantom and the Gate Assault playset. While the mini-mecha in the latter are nice, I’m not paying $45 to get a set where half the parts are used to make what amounts to a wall. Seems I was not alone, since there were tons of them left, and none of the nicer machines. Crud.

The worst thing is, they could probably have had better sales if they’d used the alternate model (a wicked fighter) on the cover, and have the gate as the backup. (Still no sale with me, though. The fighter is nice, but I want mecha, not a robot jeep and a flyer).

They had a lone Fire Vulture and I almost picked it up on the name alone. But I really don’t like the robotic pilot.

Then again, I do have a spare space minifig that would fit… It doesn’t have cool spiky hair, but it does feature a NASA style space suit. Hmm…

New Lego Mindstorm!

Cooool.

When we have kids, I’m definitely buying them some.

For them. Really.

Anime LEGO®

LEGO® is now making anime-themed building kits (sleak mecha, pilots with improbable hair, etc.).

Thanks, guys — you’re just about 20 years too late. [pout]

(I did my own, but I could have used the hair pieces and the articulations.)

UPDATE: The main site is now up at http://exoforce.lego.com/. The variants are pretty good.

BrickJournal

I used to be a big Lego® builder in my young age. My parents correctly figured that I would tire rapidly of any new toy, and as such I might as well be able to recycle them. I had a huge box of the stuff as a toy chest, and my mom still remembers the characteristic “rush-rush-rush” sound I made digging through the pile for that elusive yellow 4-stud plate. I think I was pretty good at building, especially since I had only the 1970-era bricks, with none of the fancy new stuff.

Considering what these guys are doing, however, I was but an amateur.

LEGO Transformers

I think I was way too conservative with my LEGO designs back when I was a kid.

I mean, look at these LEGO Transformers. Who needed the actual toys?