Year: 2018

Mech-Ception: What I learned about Mech Construction from 72004: Tech Wizard Showdown.

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After feeling disappointed at my own ability to build a good looking mech for a LEGO Rebrick contest, I set out to examine 72004: Tech Wizard Showdown in search of ways in which I could improve my design. Along the way we discover the mech suit in a mech suit: Mech-ception!IMG_2744

IMG_2682In the closing hours of the LEGO Rebrick NEXO Knights Mech Building Challenge, I thought I would give it a go.  After all, how hard could it be? I’d recently returned from Japan BrickFest, where I had the chance to study Mechs and Giant Robots aplenty. I’d even attended a mech building workshop where some key concepts were presented and discussed. It seemed that everyone could do it. In retrospect,  this was an over simplification of the facts on my part.

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In retrospect, there are so many issues with this Mech.  In fact, I filled a paragraph with them.

I built a mech as a MOC. The final result was a bit meh. The Black and green colour scheme seems to work, BUT, I can identify a number of faults: the legs are disproportionately long, and it is quite wobbly; the shoulders look a bit weird.  The feet look like they belong belong on an AT-AT, there are way too many studs on display.  It looks like something thrown together by someone short of parts, trying to get a mech built in six hours.  Which coincidently it was.  However, it got me thinking about what would help to make it look like a reasonable Mech Model.

So I thought I would have a look at the final Mech in the NEXO Knights line: 72004 Tech Wizard Showdown. I wish I had looked at it a few weeks ago. As I built it, I learned a few important lessons in mech construction. Continue reading →

Losing Our Sense of Proportion… 6590 Vacation Camper vs 60182 Pickup and Caravan [Reviews, comparison and speculation]/Covert Celebrations IV

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Dreaming of a summer caravanning holiday, our comparison of LEGO TOWN and LEGO City continues. Has there been an ongoing covert celebration, with Town sets from twenty, thirty and forty years ago being reimagined in 2018?   Comparing 1988’s Car and Caravan with 2018’s Pickup and Caravan, we also ask “Why, after 30 years, does a family vehicle towing a caravan still seat only one minifigure?” We also discover where LEGO Children come from…and wonder where other characters have gone…

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This year, we have considered parallels between LEGO City 2018 and LEGO Town 1988, along with other sets from 20 and 40 years ago.

We have asked the question “Is this a covert celebration of the 40th anniversary of the minifigure, and LEGO town?” An official answer has not been forthcoming. But this won’t stop me from ongoing speculation, with no grounding in reality.

Today I would like to look at another set with a parallel set from thirty years ago: Pickup and Caravan 60182  – from the 2018 LEGO City Great Vehicles sub theme; and Vacation Camper 9590 from LEGO Town in 1988.  So what do these sets have in common? Two adults, a caravan and a vehicle to tow it behind. The vehicle in question has only one seat, in both instances. The differences are far greater…

Let’s take a closer look at both sets: Continue reading →

Voltron: what a great idea…

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21311_Front_01Back in 1984, a Tuesday if I recall correctly (lets be honest, some of these facts are lost to the mists of time), I was starting to get a little grown up. Or at least imagine that I was. Playing with LEGO® Bricks was not holding the appeal that it once did, and cartoons were starting to feel a little childish. I was on the edge of a slippery slope. As such, Voltron – Defender of the Universe passed me by. Well, not entirely: I knew it was there, but I didn’t feel compelled to dash home after school to watch it.

Fast forward to 2016, and my son sits me down in front of Netflix, and introduces me to Voltron- Legendary Defender. No longer compelled to be a cool 16 year old, I find it quite engaging, with occasional random cows.

A a couple of months before the new series debuted, Leandro Teyag (len_d69) submitted his version of the classic Voltron LEGO Ideas.   Continue reading →

Architecture Faves: The final rebrick contest

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Do you have a favorite building, structure, or landmark? Even if it’s no longer standing or you’ve moved away, architecture marvels can still be meaningful to us. In this last LEGO Rebrick contest, we invite you to build your most beloved place, city, or building using LEGO bricks!

One grand prize winner, will win:

•       21019 The Eiffel Tower, 21028 New York City, 21029 Buckingham Palace, 21030 United States Capitol Building, 21032 Sydney, 21033 Chicago, 21034 London, 21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum®, 21036 Arc de Triomphe, 21037 LEGO® House, 21039 Shanghai, 21041 Great Wall of China, 21042 Statue of Liberty, and an upcoming 2018 LEGO Architecture product not yet revealed

•       $200 shopping spree on Shop.LEGO.com

•       Winner’s certificate

We will also have two runner ups, who will win 21032 Sydney, 21033 Chicago, 21034 London, 21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum®, 21036 Arc de Triomphe, 21039 Shanghai, 21041 Great Wall of China, 21042 Statue of Liberty, an upcoming 2018 LEGO Architecture product not yet revealed, and a Winner’s certificate.

The contest ends August 2nd, learn more and enter at:

http://rebrick.it/architecturefaves

 

This might be the final Rebrick Contest, but don’t worry: these contests will be moving over onto the LEGO Ideas Contest platform, from the start of September.  All content on Rebrick will no longer be accessible at that time.  This will move all of crowdsourced content onto the one platform.  The Ideas platform has also just undergone a general revamp as well.  Don’t forget to check over there for new competitions from LEGO, come September 1st. Until then…

Play Well.

 

Japan BrickFest 2018 – Event Report

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I have recently returned from Japan BrickFest 2018. The fourth Kobe Fan Weekend took place on Rokko Island, in the port city of Kobe, near Osaka and Kyoto (Just as Geelong is near Melbourne, but with more frequent trains).  Organised by Edwin Knight, and members of the Kansai LEGO Users Group (KLUG), this event is a LEGO® hub event for Asia.  Exhibitor’s attended from all over the world – predominantly countries around Asia, but the USA and Australia were also represented.

I arrived on Friday afternoon and set up in one of the two gymnasiums used for the display, accompanied by the majority of builders visiting from overseas. We shared the space with the Great Ball Contraption,  a brick built monorail and a train layout.  LEGOLAND Japan had a display, and there was also an area to get your hands on some bricks and just build! The other gymnasium had many exhibitors from around Japan, and a theatre had larger scale models from members of the Kansai LEGO Users Group.

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My MOC: NEXO Classic Space

I had taken my NEXO Classic Spaceships. [imagine the 1978-79 Classic Space Sets built with NEXO Knights elements and colours] This was the third time I had displayed them this year, but the first time they had travelled more than 1000 km from home. ….I set about the task of discovering how my models had survived at the hands of international baggage handlers, as well as myself bouncing between multiple railway stations.

I set up my terrain and installed the lighting.  Everyone I met was extremely friendly, offering words of encouragement as my various models were unwrapped in more pieces than I remembered them being in when I wrapped them up.

In the name of ergonomics, I would get up and walk around for a few minutes between rebuilds. In real life I would steal the chance to look around some of the other exhibits in the hall:  Mechs were gathering next to me, tanks behind me and next to me, beside me, were some amazing bricks that opened and unfolded, and played air guitar. In between were an amazing array of characters.

 

Iowa by Dung Mike Wen-Kang
Final Fantasy Vii characters, by Benjamin Fong
The Little Mermaid by Timothy Ng
Usagi Yohimbo, by Jae Moon
By Benjamin Fong

Character builds dominated the exhibition halls: some were BrickHeadz, many were not. Unfortunately, I had no idea who many of them were.  Some were from manga and anime, others from history and video games. Some I suspect were from real life.  There was a remarkable level of attention to detail for relatively small models, and I think there are a number of factors which contribute to this. Continue reading →

LEGO® Masters Australia

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Are you Crazy About LEGO Bricks and is your imagination limitless?

Do you think you have what it takes to build for glory in the biggest battle of the Bricks that Australia has ever seen?

EndemolShine Australia are looking for passionate builders to take part in a new Television How: “LEGO Masters”

Interested? Go to www.LEGOCasting.com.au for further details. They are looking for teams of two, both adult and minors to take part.

Are you up for the challenge? Why not leave your comments below.

Play well.

New LEGO® Play Zone for Supercars fans

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This just In from LEGO Australia 

The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship has partnered with international toy giant, LEGO Australia.

There will be LEGO® play zones at the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship races for the remainder of 2018, starting next week at the Watpac Townsville 400. Events will follow at Ipswich, Sundown and Newcastle later in the year.

The Play zones will feature activities and Challenges for Builders of all ages, featuring builds using the Speed Champions sets.

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Supercar Driver Mark Winterbottom  working with his family to build one of the new Speed Champions sets

The Play Zones at Supercars events will allow fans to stretch their imagination and compete in fun and exciting challenges, featuring products from the LEGO Speed Champions sets.

This includes pit crew challenges where teams will build a LEGO car and run it down a race track, competitions on distance ramps and a creative play that will feature a Cityscape Build, where fans will be able to add to a LEGO cityscape piece-by-piece, throughout Supercars events.

Continue reading →

News from the AFOL Engagement Team

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lan logoThis last week, I have been busy gathering my thoughts and photos from Japan BrickFest2018.  I  realise that a number of interesting news articles have come from a different source over the last week or so.  Some has come via the LEGO Ambassador Network:

The LEGO Group’s AFOL Engagement Team have a weekly blog, accessible to the public- typically updated every Friday. There you can find news from the AE Team, the LEGO House, announcements from LEGO® Rebrick as well as reports from different RLUG Ambassadors about recent events.

The Blog is accessible to the public – so feel free to drop by from time to time to get the latest news from the team.  You should also be able to sign up for updates.

While I am busy working through my images from Japan BrickFest 2018, why not have a look at this post from Jackie Chen, who is one of the Community Managers on the AFOL Engagement Team. He represented the Team at Japan BrickFest, and it was great to meet him.

Other news that came to light this week is the appearance of the LEGO House  – Home of the Brick arriving on Netflix this week. This documentary tells the story of the design, construction and opening of the LEGO House. It was also shown at some of the recent fan events. You can find the program on Netflix now –  There are reports at this stage of it not being available in all markets so check back later if you can’t find it!

I’ll be back over the weekend with some news from Japan BrickFest 2018, but in the meantime,

Play Well!

IKEA and The LEGO Group announce a forthcoming collaboration

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This week sees the Democratic Design Days in Älmhult, Sweden, where IKEA have just announced a number of collaborations with other companies to come over the next few years. Included in this list are sporting goods company Adidas, home sound system developer Sonos, designer Virgil Abloh and our favorite producer of interlocking Plastic Bricks – the LEGO Group.

While nothing firm has been announced, it will be interesting to see how the Swedish Giant of flat packed furniture approaches the problem of “the wonderful mess that play brings” Continue reading →

Giving the Roller Coaster a Boost

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Not satisfied with merely motorising my Roller Coaster 10261, I incorporate the Boost Robotics System, and then add some additional functionality. It’s all fun and games until the batteries stop running at full power…

IMG_0255There is no doubt that the new Roller Coaster 10261 is a magnificent model, worthy of a set piece in any LEGO Layout.  But driving it manually is a little tedious,to say nothing of the roughness of the ride. How can we make it so that we may have the coaster running, and share a drink with friends at the same time, while they marvel at this wonderful set?

Simple motoring using an ‘M’ motor.

Adding a Power Functions medium motor is simple: so simple in fact that you can work out how to do it in the pre release video: plug a motor over the drive shaft, and let it go.

And it goes on… and on… and on until you turn it off.  There is no break in the activity, the constant rumble of the motor.  Don’t get me wrong, this is pretty awesome, and with two trains of coaster carriages running, it can be pretty hypnotic. There is no reason that this should be any harder with the equivalent Powered Up/ PF2.0 motor, when we see it released in the future.

But I wonder if more can be done.

A Little Boost
In fact, adding simple automation to the set using the Boost Move hub, sensor and servo motor is pretty simple, and is described on the final page of the instructions. This is what it looks and sounds like.

Continue reading →