Andy's Creeper

Here's a video of Andy Milluzzi's Creeper bot from Orlando Maker Faire a few months ago... I would have shared it earlier, but I keep forgetting to. :(

Globe at Legoland FL

Just a quick video that I took last weekend at Legoland, FL.  Enjoy!

BrickCon 2013: Thoughts

My wife and I decided that we'd attend BrickCon this year -- it's been one convention that has been running a long time, that we have not attended yet.  From what I understand, next year will be it's 13th years.  We have heard from friends that it's one of the nicest cons to go to, but honestly, each con we've been to has it's own different flavor, and I really think it depends on what you like in a con (ie. size, quality/quantity of MOCs, venue, city traffic, local food, etc.).  Each having it's own pros and cons... to make a really bad pun.

We didn't bring a MOC with us; we were planning to take in a little bit of the sites/city since we've never been to Seattle before.  We also wanted to enjoy a con without the hassle of trying to ship a MOC across country.  And we also wanted to get to know some new people and make new friends.  All of which we got an opportunity to do.

The creations themselves were impressive, although I've seen a few of them on-line before.  And from what I overheard, a few had been at BrickCon in years past -- no matter, we hadn't seen them in person before & they're still impressive.  My favorite was Rivendell and the castle area; which was front stage as you walked in & rightly so.  Being a castle guy, it made me proud.  The only problem with the area, it was hard to find time to look at the details of Rivendell, because there were constantly film crews hovering around it -- before and after the public.  Here's my quick video... It looks a little strange... I don't know if it's video from the iPhone or if YouTube processed it funkily:



What I found surprising/interesting about the con, was the lack of large 9v train displays.  Rivendell has as much details in it as a large 9v train display would have in the Mid-West, the difference is, large train displays are the product of a LUG with many members, Rivendell from what I understand was a creation by 2 people.

All-in-all, I've enjoyed the con and really enjoyed the keynote speakers.  I'm hoping a video will be posted of both speakers soon.  I've been waiting for fan reaction to the changes LEGO has implemented this year -- to which I'm a little surprised there hasn't been more public outrage at cons -- but Hillel Cooperman did a wonderful job of summing up my feelings... a little bit to Kevin Hinkle's dismay.

LEGO Chima

I don't know if you're noticing this, but LEGO Chima seems to be everywhere... And I don't consider this a bad thing.

Despite my cynical nature, I've always thought that if LEGO want to be successful with their non-licensed brands, they need to adopt a different marketing approach -- IP like Star Wars pretty much sells itself, but LEGO IP has always been a problem, like Power Miners, Rock Raiders, Aquanauts, etc.  It's not that the sets are less fun, or have less play, but it doesn't resonate with the public at a cultural level -- IP like Star Wars does and will have lasting cultural resonance.

With LEGO Chima, I see bits of the movie Avatar... bits of Thunder Cats... factions based on animalistic traits... there seems to be a deeper story there, but as far as I can tell, the story is a bit weak, but -- and here's where it becomes interesting -- LEGO is releasing a cartoon around the same time they release the sets, to help fill the story void in... to tell the deeper story... and LEGO will release a video game around the same time... and NOT a year or two years later like LEGO Batman (sets released and were out of production by the time the video game was released and became a overnight hit; only disappointing kids because the sets were no longer being produced)... and LEGO Harry Potter and LEGO Indiana Jones suffered from a similar fate.

Now there might be some contractual agreements with licensed IP that the video game and sets couldn't be released at similar times, or production times weren't in sync (see: my cynicism above), but with LEGO Chima, it's interesting to see product release in timed with the animated series & video game release.  And it will be interesting to see if it successful or not, with a non-licensed IP.

... I know NinjaGo was a sleeper hit for LEGO last year -- it has Ninja's that haven't been produced by LEGO for many years, so it's no surprise to me -- but to be honest, the NinjaGo line didn't have that cultural resonance with me... be it a deeper story, or something I could relate to.

FOLLOW UP: On one hand, I like to see LEGO succeed with a a non-licensed IP, but on the other hand I'm not too happy with 2013's pricing structure & the news of layoffs at LEGO...

An Interview, A Presentation and An Update

Over at A Look at LEGO podcast, a friend of mine, Paul Janssen was interviewed about building the Ohio State University horseshoe... I haven't seen it in person yet, but I know it's a monster build.  I vaguely remember when he announce to the LUG that he was going to build it, so it was nice to reminisce.

Thinking about monster LEGO buildings reminded me of a presentation that I gave at BrickMagic '10, on Building Commissions.  I had uploaded it to BrickBuildr, but under the 'downloads' section, I guess I forgot to add a link -- it's there now.

I should update the presentation a little, there's more information I could add, now that we've completed the Miami Children's Hospital build... updated photos of the model, a small picture gallery of source images, a quick snapshot of architecture drawings we used, etc., to give a rough idea of the process we go through for building a large model.  It sounds like a similar process Paul went through to build the horseshoe, but he was a one man builder, whereas we had 4 builders.

On a side note, our LUG is getting ready for Star Wars Celebration VI.  Which means I've been a slacker, and only have a few weeks left to build.  :)  I've started on project if you haven't seen it in my Flickr stream -- I'm a little further along than what's pictured here, but not much...

If you're going to be in town for Star Wars Celebration, give us a shout out.

Bricks on the Brain: Rail

I've been sitting on this one for awhile... Speaking with Jake McKee, I offered to bring "Bricks on the Brain" back from the dead.  The original web-site was written in ColdFusion... a language I'm not familiar with, but I have enough experience with PHP and other programming language, it wasn't hard to figure out how it works.  I've decided to tackle a smaller sub web-site called Bricks on the Brain: Rail, that features some of Jake's 9V train creations with instructions.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Over the next few weeks/months, I'll try to bring back Bricks on the Brain (BotB).  I need to convert the database, rebuild the page templates, then at some point, add a way to submit new content... seems like an easy task, but I'm cleaning the HTML up in the process, simplifying the data stored, and trying to maintain the integrity of the web-site, whilst looking down the road on how to better integrate it with BrickBuildr.

I have a few problems to consider... There are links (URLs) in the database to locations that are now defunct; which is not surprising considering the nature of the web and the age of BotB.  Second, BotB maintained a user list and BrickBuildr has a separate/different user list.  I could start over from scratch, but there are some good information already contained in the old BotB database that I don't want to loose... Once I merge the two user lists, I'll need to write some web-pages to add/modify/delete creations from BotB.

Incredible Robot Locates (Electronic) Components on Demand

I LOVE this idea!  It's an Incredible Robot Locates (Electronic) Components on Demand.  I'm thinking it needs to help me find LEGO parts... and it needs to be slightly bigger.  :)  It's voice activated (which is a little wacky, almost circa 1983), but versatile enough to find multiple variations of a component.  


I hope he open-sources the project.  :)

LEGO Foliage

So it recently came up on GFLUG's private Facebook group that a 3rd party is making LEGO foliage in fall colors (orange, yellow, burnt-browns, etc.).  Personally, I like the idea... And I might purchase some in the future, assuming LEGO doesn't hijack the idea.  But thinking a little deeper on the subject, it seems that it's time for an over-haul on LEGO vegetation -- more tree options, shrubs, more leaf options, more vines options, new plants, etc.  Minifigs have gotten a lot of attention lately, why not LEGO foliage?  :)

What 3 LEGO Projects Do You Find Innovative? (Part 2 of 3)

So to continue on, my 2nd choice for my "3 LEGO Project Do I find Innovative" is a website that's recently come to my attention called Pinterest.com.  A few weeks ago, I overheard a few of my co-workers talking about a web-site where they've been collecting idea for a few craft projects for around the house -- one is a mother with small child, the other is an expectant mother.  They talk at lunch about collecting inspiration material and sharing ideas piqued my interest.  On the web-site, you bookmark images or web-pages that give you source of inspiration; you pin those images to a virtual pinboard to organize and share ideas.  You have to be invited to the web-site (it's still in beta), it took me about a week to get an invite via the web-site, but send me an e-mail if you want me to send you a more immediate invite.

I've book marked a few MOCs that inspire me.  I have a big castle project floating around in my head, so I've been collecting works that inspire me to keep building.  :)

What 3 LEGO Projects Do You Find Innovative? (Part 1 of 3)

I posted a question to a friend of mine: "What 3 LEGO projects do you find innovative?" And recorded his response. But failed to think on the question myself (work ended up getting in the way) and failed to come up with my own answers. I'm hoping to post his answers as a podcast soon, but in the mean time, I've had a little time to think on the question and will try to post my response here.

To be honest it's a tough question to answer, considering it'a a hobby based on being innovative and there are so many aspects of the LEGO fan community to choose from... Not to mention, we both have been in the LEGO fan community a long time, so being a little jaded, it was hard to come up with some answers. And it's meant to be a tough question to answer, because we both agreed we shouldn't give the 'because it's cool' answer.

So here's the first of my 3 choices:

 The NXT Blimp Project

Our LUG has been working on LEGO boat racing for the past few years, with an annual boat race.  There's been some fun races & interesting solutions to the proposed problem -- to build a boat from LEGO and using only LEGO power, design something that is fast and maneuverable on water. But in the back of my head, I been thinking about the next evolution in LEGO racing... We could do submarines, but that's too obvious.  So I had this thought of, "Wouldn't it be fun to do a LEGO blimp race?"

See at Brickworld (where I first had this thought), there are these long hallway in between ballrooms; the perfect platform for this type of race.  I'd like to see a LEGO blimp zip down the hallway.  I was envisioning stationed hula-hoops to fly thru and fans that would blow air up, causing "wind hazards" to navigate around.  The problem was (a) how much helium would you need to keep something floating about 5-10 feet off the ground, (b) how could you control it, (c) would it be small enough to fit through a hula-hoop, (d) how much of it would have to be non-LEGO.

Then I saw the above NXT Blimp Project, I realized we're one step closer to seeing a LEGO blimp race to be actualized.  :)  The design is simple.  It's NXT controlled.  Might be too big to fit through a hoop, but I'm good with that.  And it looks like most of the components are LEGO.

Honestly, I'd like to see this project become affordable and maybe slimmed down for a hobbyist... Maybe as a LEGO Cuusoo project.

UPDATE: Oh, and post your 3 choices as well in the comments or send me an e-mail.

Festival of the Masters 2011

Fish in a Bowl,
originally uploaded by jmenomeno.

Festival of the Masters is happening this weekend at Downtown Disney in Orlando, FL. GFLUG has a LEGO display right outside the LEGO Imagination Center -- the side nearest to where McDonalds use to be.

This year our theme is "Water, water everywhere!" This year, my wife built "Fish in a Bowl" as seen in the picture & I built something related to Middle Earth. Because of the way Veterans' Day fell, Friday was abnormally crowded.

Pictures will be posted to Flickr soon. I'll do a follow up post in a few days with links to photo sets from this year's show.

The Wizard of Oz Children’s Educational Exhibition

The Wizard of Oz Children’s Educational Exhibition,
originally uploaded by mhuffman.

I was asked by the Henry Ford Museum if I wanted to display my Wizard of Oz MOC at the The Wizard of Oz Children’s Educational Exhibition going on now, til Jan 9th, 2012-- I was more than happy to loan it to them... assuming it was still intact and I hadn't already used the parts in another creation.

I'd like to thank Steve R. from MichLUG for putting it together for me, since I couldn't be there to do it myself.

My LEGO Creations

Festival of the Masters is coming up soon.  I've been spending some time thinking about what I'm going t build this year... Our theme is "Water, Water Everywhere."  A little silly, but with the tsunami that hit Japan earlier this year, it's a little apropos... Maybe I should do a flooded Japanese fishing village...

So to get inspired, I've been creating some galleries and a new MOC collection on Flickr of my LEGO creations.  I've also updated my MOCPages account to reflect my new LEGO creations as well.

Brickworld 2011 in Chicago

This coming father's day weekend in Chicago, Brickworld will happen.  If you've never witness a LEGO convention, this is one of the larger ones in the US.  Details of the schedule is starting to show up on-line & it's shaping up to be a fun filled event this year.

On a personal note, we've gone to Brickworld 3 times out of the past 4 years & won't be going this year.  :(  Between changing jobs, other vacation plans, and Legoland FL opening up just around the corner, we decided to stay home this year.

MegaCon 2011

Well, MegaCon 2011 is now over.



Here's links to videos I took of our display, starting at one end and working my way around.

Jurassic Park
Transformers/Star Wars
Star Wars
Hoth
Hoth
Star Wars/Lost
Lost
Castle Village
Castle
Castle/Train/Space
Moonbase Dome
Space

Brickfête - July 28th-31st, 2011

missing pc,
originally uploaded by d-higdon.

So if you happen to be in Toronto towards the end of July this year, check out Brickfête at the Assembly Hall Cultural Center -- it is a LEGO Fan event, with one public days on Saturday, July 30th.

Brickfête

July 28th-31st, 2011

The Assembly Hall Cultural Center

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

With LEGO looking for a Store Manager LEGO Brand Retail Toronto, it's safe to assume they'll be opening a store in Toronto this spring.

Book on the 25th Anniversary of the LEGO Company

Gary Istok posted over on Bricklink:

Clark Bakker, a New York LEGO enthusiast recently notified me of a very very rare LEGO book that he had gotten a copy of.

It was the 1957 25 YEARS OF THE LEGO COMPANY book, in Danish... and supposedly made just for the LEGO employees (which numbered about 140 by the end of 1957). So even with extra copies for LEGO suppliers, the total population of this book
is very low, and may be the rarest of all LEGO paper items.

Check it out here on FLICKR. Clark Bakker got some Danish folks to translate the Danish printing, and I added comments to about 1/2 of images of the 40 page book that is spiral bound...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57225047@N05/sets/72157625632807718/

My favorite pages are 32-33... which show the LEGO products that were soon discontinued (page 32, by 1960), as well as the newer LEGO System of Play products that had recently been introduced (page 33, in 1955) and would be the future direction of the company.

This book is really a treasure trove of old historic facts about the company...

Yes, this is a great historical find, indeed!

A LEGO Book on Love

So this past weekend, my wife and I went to the LEGO store and saw they had new Valentine's Day sets in stock, #40016 and #40015. I was more excited about the "Love You" set, since it contain a lot of new black macaroni bricks; wasn't so impress with the heart book... or is it a book? From the packaging, it's a little misleading, that you're putting a "picture" of a minifig into the heart book -- my wife kept asking me, "is there suppose to be a minifig in this set?" In the back of my mind, I knew there wasn't going to be one, especially for a $4.99 set with 51 parts.

Anyway, I ended up putting the set together... it's cute, but unlike in western movies, where there's a gun secretly stashed in a Bible, the compartment in this book of love is not deep enough to hold a minifig... Then I rechecked the packaging and saw that it was a "picture" of a minifig that you give to your sweetheart. Oh, and the picture isn't included with the set. *sigh* So is it really a book, or just a fancy photo frame...

How do I print pictures from my iPhone again?

The Ohio State University "horseshoe" Stadium

Watching the Sugar Bowl with my wife tonight.  During half time, decided to catch up on LEGO news and discovered that Paul Janssen finally finished his Ohio State University horseshoe stadium.  He had been talking about building since I was apart of COLTC -- we moved to Florida in 2006.  This is an amazing build!  Good work, Paul.  Go Bucks!

LEGO Imagination Center Reopens at the Mall of America

Herobot 9000 (1),
originally uploaded by nstohlma.

I've been following the TwinLUG's Flickr stream for some time now, watching the behind the walls remodel of the LEGO Imagination Center at the Mall of America. At first, it looked like a few walls, a bunch of open space, and a few cube-like frames. From some of the pictures, I didn't know how it was all going to go together. But now it's a very sleek, simple, modern store, with a large red play area, giant LEGO models standing on top of the cube-like frames, and a (much needed) larger PaB wall.

I manage to catch a video of the models being unveiled... just amazing how big the models are.  Each model represents different historical ages... Watching the video, the robot was assembled (at one point) in the Czech Republic and ended up delaying trains to Prague because people were amazed at it.