Started experimenting with making Lego Mosaics. In anticipation for more, a new category is available. Expect some more mosaics soon!
Tag: lego
LegoGenre | 00249
Iron Man In Flight.
R2-D2 + Black + Gold = R2-Pi
R2-Pi is an awesome MOC based on the popular Lego Star Wars R2-D2 (10225). It really shows what you can do by color swapping and making slight modifications to an official Lego set. The end result is almost steampunk. If I flew an X-Wing , R2-Pi would be by co-pilot.
Monsterbrick, of Flickr, created R2–Pi.
Odysseus and the Sirens
Homer’s the Odyssey is one of the greatest adventures of all time. Just look at that Lego Odysseus, he looks so happy to see those Sirens. Good thing he is tied up, and those sailors have wax in their ears. Who knows what kind of evil things those Sirens would do.
Odysseus and the Sirens is an MOC created by Flickr user lokosuperfluoLEGOman.
“One morning, he and his crew, reached a small island, where the half-bird, half-woman creatures, the sirens, dwelled. This monstrous creatures had the most beautiful voice any man could have heard, so when a ship passed in front of them, they sang to the mariners, leading them melodiously to their deaths in the sharp edges of the shore rocks. Odysseus, aware of that, told his crew to put on wax earplugs, so they couldn’t hear the sirens’ song. Besides, he told them to tie him to the mast, for he wanted to listen to the sirens’ song, being sure he will not be able to fulfill the sirens’ macabre plan.” – Homer’s The Odyssey
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lokosuperfluolegoman/8690472484
LegoGenre | 00248
Iron Man: Extremis Sea Port Battle.
Steampunk Steam Temple
Imagine that Howl’s Moving Castle had a little steampunk baby… It would be great to create a stop motion video with this Steam Temple walking around. The black, brown, and gold color scheme is very harmonious.
Flickr user 6yubi6 created this Steam Temple (“NIHON NO STEAMPUNK”). Check it out.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7kyubi7/8677623107/
Lego Tower Of Orthanc
Lego Lord of the Rings gets a new mega set this summer with the Tower of Orthanc (No. 10237). Poor old Saruman will have to live his downfall over and over again. Isengard has never looked better at 2,359 pieces. This will certainly take the majority of a day to build, which is not a problem. The problem is that at 6 floors tall, totaling over 2 feet tall (28in or 73cm), most people will not have room to display this set without having to specifically make room for it. Make sure to check out the the designers video below!
The Tower of Orthanc will come with minifigs for Saruman, Grima Wormtongue, Gandalf, a random Uruk-hai, and an Orc Pitmaster. Not only that but you will get a rare Great Eagle, and a brick build Ent. You can now reenact all of your favorite scenes, such as the great wizard battle and defeat of Gandalf. One of the rooms of this great tower contains the Palantír of Orthanc (with a light brick!), where Saruman communicates directly with Sauron. You can even reenact Gandalf’s call for help, with a Great Eagle rescuing him just in time. Or, the fall and destruction of the tower as the Ent join battle with the evil Orcs. This set is full of fun details. Hopefully soon, we will get a Treebeard figure that we can add to the battle.
Many more images can be found at Brickset’s Flickr page.
***
The first review of the Tower of Orthanc has been released: http://everydaybricks.com/lord-of-the-rings-tower-of-orthanc-reviewed/
Lego Epic Beard Dude Wallpaper
Dude, another new wallpaper. This one starring the first appearance of Epic Beard Dude.
Once again, wallpapers are the best of the best, and are available in *NEW* widescreen. Then to make it even better, there are no watermarks!
Lego Printed & Named Beams & Bricks
Back before the Pirates, before the Minifig, even before Duplo, Lego introduced the Town System. With this new system came the first named beams and printed bricks. Usually produced on white 1×6 and 1×8 bricks. These printed bricks were so popular at the time that there were hundreds and hundreds of varieties available in different colors and typefaces.
The very first printed/named bricks hit the stores in 1955, just 6 years after Lego introduced their original sets. Since these bricks were there in the beginning, their availability matches the spread of Lego across Europe. First appearing in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Originally these bricks were available in a Named Beams set (Set No. 1224). As Lego started selling in new countries, they started translating these printed/named bricks in all the different languages. By 1962 Lego was offering printed/named bricks in Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Italy, France, Finland, Britain, Ireland, United States, Canada, and Australia. Most of these countries had bricks printed in their own native language, with one interesting exception. Lego never printed Portuguese bricks.
The bulk of these printed/named bricks were made in the 1950–1960’s. Since working with ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) plastic was relatively new the printed/named bricks were often misprinted. The typefaces that Lego worked with were originally hand–lettered before being transferred to the molds. There is nothing directly comparable to this printing today, the closest results are found with Flexography (Flexo) printing, which is commonly found on plastic shopping bags.
A very wide variety of typeface styles can be found on these Lego bricks. Anywhere from Sans Serif, Serif, Slab Serif, Script, and Decorative styles were available. The imperfections of coming from hand–lettering greatly contributed to their personality. Some of this printing is interesting in that they exhibit reverse stress on the letters. This is especially noticeable with the “TAXE” and “TABAK” bricks.
As time moved on, so too did most of these unique typefaces. By the time the 1970’s came around Sans Serif typefaces were standard, and most of the charm of these named bricks started to fade. These printed/named bricks would completely die out before the 1980’s, being replaced with the much cheaper, and more versatile, sticker. Today Lego only prints a few bricks a year, and almost never text. Making this an interesting relic from the past.
One last thing; some of these bricks are a product of their time, especially the “TABAK” and “SIGARETTEN” bricks. You would never find a product marketed to children today with a tobacco reference.
Credit & More Information.
All of the above images were provided by Gary Istok. Who, can be found on the Eurobricks website as the Lego Historian. He has written extensively about printed/named bricks/beams here, and here. Also, for extremely detailed information about “Thousands of things you probably never knew about Lego sets, Lego parts, and Lego related items…” make sure check out Gary Istok’s “The Unofficial Lego Sets/Parts Collectors Guide (1949–1990’s)” which is available for DVD and Download. Seriously, his work is awesome.
Iron Man: Extremis Sea Port Battle Reviewed
Iron Man 3 is almost here, and so are new Lego sets. The set that grabbed my attention right away was the Iron Man: Extremis Sea Port Battle (76006)
Masked Builder over at Eurobricks posted a great review. If you are avoiding light spoilers, beware. Some of the details of this set may spoil basic plot.
http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=80925
