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.

My interview on Beyond the Brick

As a trick, or a treat, take it how you like. I’m posting a second post tonight. Last week I was interviewed on Beyond the Brick. If you’ve always wondered what I sound like, well here’s your chance. Click on the picture above to go to the podcast.

The sound is a little bit off, mainly because my internet connection wasn’t working too well. But even so, it was a fun thing to do.

Monsters, Rockers and Business Card Holders

A few new sets are starting to appear. First there was the Beach Set that came out earlier this year, now there are two more offerings. Remember when LEGO Rock Band came out, I kept saying we needed a set, well this is probably the closest we’ll ever get.

They are basically the same as the collectible minifigure versions except with slight color variations and brick built instruments.

There’s also a Monster Fighter’s set that is similarly packaged.

The both retail at $14.99 USD, and are already available at LEGOLAND California. Most likely they will appear at the LEGO Stores soon.

There is also a new official Business Card Holder set. Although not as cool as the Business Card Holder I make, its still pretty awesome.

Also available currently at LEGOLAND California and retails for $16.99. For me the most exciting thing is the return of the letter tiles that were last seen in 2004. I got a whole bunch of the letter tiles then, and I’ll most likely buy a good selection of them now.

Thanks to my friend Jason for letting me know about the sets and Eurobricks for the images of the two minifig sets.

Happy Birthday LEGO!!!

Via Brickset
Did you know its the 80th anniversary of LEGO! I did, I was still working at LEGOLAND for both their 70th and their 75th Birthday so I’ve been keeping track.

So to commemorate this momentous birthday you can get this awesome slice of cake set from LEGO.com or at your local LEGO store with any purchase of $50 (not all that hard to do). From what I understand this is only in the US and Canada.

Also there is an awesome contest running through this month to promote the LEGO VIP Program

Click on the picture for more details.

If you are already a VIP member, then you’ve already been automatically entered. If you are not, then join. Its a great program and since we already buy LEGO, you might as well get points for it.

A trip to any LEGOLAND in the world is nothing to sneeze at! And I know which park I’d like to go to — Denmark! Where would you go?

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, its my birthday today! I actually created this quick table scrap a few days ago. I thought about using one of the official LEGO cake elements, but then I thought, who actually has a cake like that? Normally you get a sheet cake. Once I decided that I wanted to make that kind of cake it was surprisingly simple to add some custom stickers to create the trim and inside of the cake. The addition of Friends utensils and the birthday cake torso made it perfect!

Although I do have to work on my birthday, I don’t mind. Being in Orlando Florida and getting to build a model at a fun convention is a great birthday gift. And after my commission work I’ll be checking out several of the great theme parks so I am going to have a pretty darned cool birthday!

Who wouldn’t want to live in LEGO? This crab does

Apparently people aren’t the only ones that like LEGO, Harry the hermit crab at LEGOLAND Windsor likes LEGO too!

Hermit crabs lack their own body – so often protect themselves by hiding in nearby shells.

Bosses at Legoland in Windsor noticed Harry chose brightly coloured Lego bricks instead of regular shells in his pond.

As a result of Harry’s bizarre preference, park bosses decided to build a Lego home for him.

Harry’s new pad is made up of stylish blue, red and yellow bricks.

Legoland senior aquarist Liane Riley said: “We weren’t really sure if he’d actually move in, but he rejected the sea and snail shells on offer and seems very comfortable in his new home.”

Visitors to the Legoland park will be able to view Harry and his new home.

I’ve always like hermit crabs and this one is extra cool!

Of course, being a LEGO Artist, I’d want to tweak the model and make it look more like an actual shell.

Wil Weaton signing a model of Wil Weaton…

Although some people are into April Fool’s jokes, I’m not one of them. So I avoid the silliness all together. I did however post this on my Facebook page yesterday. I would have posted it here too, but Iain Heath hadn’t posted it on Flickr yet.

While I was hanging out with the guys of FBTB, SandLUG, and LUGOLA at LEGOLAND California Star Wars Days, Iain and the rest of SeaLUG was at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle.

I will be posting a follow up to Star Wars Days, but until then check this out.

Since Iain is Iain (you have to know him, or at least his models, to understand that one ) he created a LEGO model of Wil Weaton signing a LEGO model of himself and then he had the actual Wil Weaton sign it. Its so meta, it almost blows my mind!

Here’s a close up of the model

Of course there were other, much larger, models on display. I know Scott Fowler’s MOC certainly deserves its own post. But I’ll be visiting those another day. For now, live long and prosper! — Hey, I had to get a Star Trek reference in there somewhere!

Rocket Man

Australia’s only LEGO Certified Professional Ryan Mcnaught has outdone himself once again!

Known for his Love Boat and Qantus Airbus, Ryan is familiar with making big models. But his newest model the Saturn V rocket has 120,000 bricks and is 5.76 meters — nearly 19 feet tall!

Compared to the one we built at LEGOLAND California for Miniland Florida years ago (now on display in Denmark), this one is at least three times taller.

I love all the fun little details he adds to these models.

With the help of a little dry ice, its about to blast off!

The crew is about to board, but somebody is a little nervous

There is so much that is downright awesome with this model! It will debut to the public at this year’s Brickvention January 21st-22nd in Melbourne, Australia.

On a slightly unrelated note, for any of you who are going to be at Brickvention, my LEGO jewelry and key chains will be available for sale at the convention. I can’t be there unfortunately, but at least I can be part of it in this small way.

Giant LEGO Christmas Tree

From this picture you’d never know it was LEGO. That’s right, LEGO. All forty feet of it, and all the decorations as well, are LEGO. The LEGOLAND Christmas tree is only 30 feet in comparison, and made of Duplo. This tree, which is in London’s St Pancras Station is made of regular LEGO and was created by England’s only LEGO Certified Professional Duncan Titmarsh in two monthes and has roughly 600,000 pieces!

The star could only be reached by crane, or maybe a really, really big ladder.

David Buxbaum, marketing director at Lego told Toy News: ‘The Lego brand is all about play and creativity and Christmas is the time for celebration and fun.
This magnificent Christmas tree is a shining example of these values and shows that with Lego bricks you can let your imagination run wild and build anything.
‘We hope that it will work to remind people that Lego toys are the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.’

It truly is a stunning model. But heck, anyone could build anything with over half a million bricks.

The Cult of LEGO — Book Review

Joe Meno and the wonderful people at No Starch Press were kind enough to provide me with a copy of Joe Meno and John Baichtal’s new book The Cult of LEGO. I received the book a little over a week ago, but up until tonight I didn’t have the time to actually read through the book, so although its a little late (literally and figuratively) here’s my review.

Although I’ve heard the book being touted as a coffee table book that isn’t entirely true. There is definitely more to it than just a set of pictures. In some ways it is like a picture book version of Jon Bender’s LEGO A Love Story. Both books try to encompass the enormity of all things LEGO. It is a daunting task and one that could hardly fit into any one book. Heck, I’ve been writing this blog for over three years and I’ve still not run out of things to say, so trying to share that with the non-LEGO fan in a comprehensive way is quite an undertaking.

This book starts naturally with the history of the brick. Even though the book is 304 pages long, it almost read like a Reader’s Digest with short sections briefly covering each topic. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it continues to engage the reader. I read through a good half of the book and skimmed over all of it in two hours. There are chapters on everything from minifigs and LEGO conventions to Mindstorms and LEGO Art.

Pages and pages of pictures fill the book and it is beautifully bound. It is certainly a wonderful addition to any LEGO fan’s library as well as a way to show your non-LEGO friends that you are not alone in your obsession.

Like Bender’s book much of what was in this one was familiar to me. There were many familiar names and faces of my fellow LEGO friends. One of my few complaints is that there seemed to be heavy emphasis on some builders while other just as notable (if not more so) builders were completely missing from the pages. This may or may not have been intentional as you can’t focus on every great builder.

What I do like about The Cult of LEGO is that it is yet another step to bring the LEGO hobby into the mainstream. It naturally talks about the “Dark Ages” (the years a person stops playing with LEGO) that many AFOLs went through in their teens or twenties. Most of us didn’t know there were other LEGO fans out there when we were kids. We didn’t have First LEGO League, LEGO Cons, or online forums to share our passion with so many stopped when they thought they were too old or that playing with a kid’s toy wasn’t “cool.” I never had a Dark Age, but I’m the exception not the rule. Hopefully with books like this and all the outlets that are now available LEGO can be seen as a legitimate hobby.

I love how this book again shows that LEGO is not like any other toy. It may start as just a bunch of bricks but imagination, innovation and creativity ensue. Those that played with LEGO as children now are the engineers, computer programmers and rocket scientists of today. I would certainly recommend this as a great read and a window into the world that is LEGO.