Don’t have a chimney? Build one!

Okay, maybe we can’t do this in the real world, but in the LEGO world anything can be built from anything else.

Charlie Brown’s Tree

I know I just posted Kristi “McWii’s” snowman but I couldn’t help but post this as well.

I love this version of Charlie Brown’s tree

The red ornament and the spindly branches are perfect. Although I do have to wonder how many minifigs had to sacrifice their arms or hands for this project. I guess scrifices must be made for LEGO Art.

Be Brave

I made this about a week ago, but didn’t think to post it on Flickr till last night after I posted it as my Facebook picture. I was surprised to see such a huge response, both on Facebook and Flickr. Brothers Brick even posted it this morning.

What’s really getting a lot of people’s attention are the curls and the bow. Pixar’s Merida is known for her wild frizzy hair and I wanted to capture it as close as I could in a 4 inch figure.

I have to admit though, this technique isn’t new — at least in Miniland building — this has been a technique for creating curly hair for as long as I can remember at the LEGOLAND parks and I have used variations of it many times on several of my Superhero figures like Wonder Woman and for my Wedding Cake Topper Brides.

And of course what is Merida without her bow? I thought about using the new elf long bow from the Hobbit sets, but I realized it would still be too short. So I did the next best thing, I made one out of pearl cotton thread and a bit of copper flex tubing. The quiver might be a tad too short, but it was just to perfect not to use verses trying to design my own.

If you would like your own Miniland Merida either as a figurine or a Christmas ornament, I have them for sale on my Folded Fancy Creations Etsy Shop.

Sumptuous Snowman

Kristi “McWii” didn’t have any snow yet so she built herself a snowman.

I love what she did for the mouth! Between that and the tilted hat, this brings a little holly to my jolly — okay, I know that was corny.

Its starting to feel like Christmas and I’m starting to see a lot of fun Holiday models.

Folded Fancy Sale

I don’t often plug my Etsy shop Folded Fancy Creations here on my blog. But I am having a sale this weekend in time for Chrismas shopping. Just use coupon code THANKS2012 for 10% off your order. Coupon valid Nov 24 – 26th. Click the picture to go to my Etsy shop.

LEGO Lord of the Rings the Video Game Review

So I’ve been playing LEGO Lord of the Rings the Video Game for about a week now. I’ve beaten the story portion and I’m making my way through gathering all the extras. I’m playing it on PS3, as that’s my console of choice. First impression — Awesome!!!!

Before I played it, I was a little hesitant with this game. Some of you might cringe when I say this, but I’m not a fan of the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy. I love the Hobbit, which I’ve read several times, but the LOTR is just a little too heavy and depressing (if I want to be perfectly honest). Sure it has a grand sweeping story of power, tragedy and good triumphing over evil but I just can’t get into it.

I couldn’t even get excited about the sets too much. Somewhat because of my lack of interest in the subject matter, but also because there isn’t all that much in the way of parts that interests me in the sets. Yes, it is a bevvy of castle parts, and I used to be almost exclusively castle when I was younger. I just don’t build castles much anymore. And of course there are the minifigures but I don’t need to collect every figure either.

Putting all of that aside, I wanted to get the game and see for myself what it was like. And of course I wanted to share my opinion of the game with all of you.

Now after LEGO Batman 2 I wasn’t sure how TT Games could top it. Being able to traverse all of Gotham was simply awesome, especially flying around as Superman. There’s no flying in this game (or if there is, I haven’t found it yet ) and like the books you are walking around Middle Earth — all of Middle Earth.

Take that in for a moment. All of Middle Earth. Peter Jackson may have opened the window into the world, but running around a LEGO version of it is simply cool. Its all there — the Shire, Mines of Moria, etc. And you get to bash all sorts of things for golden coins to your hearts content. Its all laid out on the familiar map of Middle Earth and as you go through the different stages you unlock more of the world. The initial playing of the game as I beat each “story” version of the levels really kept me wanting to play till I beat the whole thing.

The Fellowship characters are all used with pretty equal amounts of time, which is nice. Giving even Pippen and Merry specific tasks that only they can do. Although I’ve found that Legolas is one of my favorite to play. Is that on purpose I wonder?

One thing I like even better than LEGO Batman 2 is that it is much easier to find the special silver bricks and items. In Batman I got a little tired of trying to find all the specials. I didn’t completely finish it after I went around the city for what felt like the 50th time.

You will probably get a little tired of traveling around here too as there is a vast assortment of items you need to collect. It is a little tiring traveling around all over. I feel as if I’ve gone on the long journey that the fellowship took. Here its easy to go on the map and actually select where you want to go and have the helpful transparent travel studs to show you the way. The only time I’ve found it hard to see them is in the snowy mountainous areas.

If you don’t want to wait for the game, but want to see all the “mini movies” you can see it here:

If you aren’t familiar with the story (and who isn’t really?) then there might be a few spoilers. There’s the now classic TT Games humor as well. But I have to warn you, it is an hour and a half long. So in essence, its really a full length movie.

So my over all opinion — get it! It might be a tad scary for the little ones, although they’ve skipped over a lot of the truly scary parts of the story. It would be a great Christmas gift for any little (or big) kids to play.

Here’s hoping (and I bet it will) that there will be a LEGO Hobbit the Video Game in the future.

Galaxy Squad Sets appearing on shelves

Galaxy Squad may be part of the 2013 LEGO line, but its already appearing on some Toys R Us shelves just in time for the Christmas Holidays. These were found in Canada, but I have a feeling that they will be popping up in the US soon.

Galaxy Squad reminds me a lot of Insectoids that came out in ’98-99 except with dark red.

I have a feeling several 2013 sets will be finding their way to the shelves this December, usually about 20 or so sets come out. So keep your eyes peeled.

3300014 Christmas Set

According to Brickset this will be the exclusive set that will be offered over the Thanksgiving Weekend (i.e. Black Friday) for those spending the qualifying amount which is believed to be €75, £50 and $99 USD either at LEGO.com or at the LEGO stores.

For those that are interested the instructions are already available on LEGO.com There isn’t too much that is exclusive parts wise, but the set itself is pretty cute.

Also, keep your eyes peeled because Hobbit sets are starting to pop up. Even though they are supposed to be out December 1st. many people are already finding them at stores.

“What is this?”

With Halloween just around the corner and Christmas not far behind (okay not really ) Matt Armstrong has created Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Of course after he’s built it its obvious to use the new decorated face element from the The Ghost Train as Jack’s face, but then Matt has a talent for using parts in interesting and awesome ways.

10229 Winter Village Cottage

Via Eurobricks
It may be July, but its never to early to think about Christmas and the now annual Winter Village set. This new set does not disappoint.

I love all the fun new details — the igloo, the dark blue and white 1×1 tile floor in the kitchen, the Christmas tree in the living room just to name a few.

This is yet another must have for me so I can watch my personal winter village grow each year and my wallet shrink just a little bit more.