chaotic_nipple

Got the new Lego catalog, and of course my nephews destroyed it immediately. Before entropy prevailed, I managed to read it, and see the cool summer releases that are now available. Of particular note is the Ultimate Collector Series AT-ST. At 17 1/2 inches, it's roughly the size of a 1/40th scale Zentraedi Battlepod, and has similar proportions. Hmmm. Just looking at the pictures, it would seem that the AT-ST has no joints in the legs. I want my Battlepod to be fully poseable, but the standard Lego "clicky joints" might not be strong enough. I may be forced to build some technic contraption instead. :-P

After I'm finished building Zentraedi mecha, I'll do the Robotech Masters and the Invid. The Masters should be easy, as their Bioroids will be the exact same height as the currently existing Exo Force mechs. The Invid will be slightly more challenging, with a Scout being 2 1/2 inches, and a Trooper being 4 1/2, but the rest of them should be easy. The biggest problem with the Trooper might be finding enough purple bricks, as purple is the rarest of the main lego colors.

I'll only do RDF, Southern Cross, and REF mecha after I'm done with the bad guys. A quick Brickshelf search will find more than a dozen Valkyrie Veritechs, and even 2 Cyclones (The minifig scale cyclones are, of course, non-transformable, but still pretty sweet. If Lego could be induced to make official Robotech sets, then they could make the necessary special parts for transformable Cyclones...), but only one Battle Pod and 2 barely decent Invid. I shall do my part to remedy this sad lack, and only THEN shall I make human mecha.

The only Veritechs that I'll be able to make transformable at minifig scale are the Valkyrie and the Logan; The rest have transformations that are too complex to build at that scale. Ah well, some day...

Not that any of this matters, because within the next six hours you will _ALL_BE_DESTROYED_! Oh, you had your chance to buy your souls back from "Bob", but you chose to mock the Chosen OverPeople instead. Puny Pinks. :-P

I am not even worthy to be on the same planet as the guy who built this. A minifig scale lego aircraft carrier. Complete with full complement of aircraft. And crew. And internal detailing. Seeing something like this can either enflame and inspire one's imagination for years to come, or force one to realize the utter soul-crushing insignifigance of one's own achievements.

Ganked from montieth. I particularly liked the Shoggoth. The cameo appearance by Doctor Who was funny, but the Dalek needed work. This one was much better.

...When my leave is over and I am once again reunited with my lego collection, I will do some blasphemy of my own: I shall build a scene where Muhammad, Jesus, Satan, and Krishna are sitting around a table playing cards.

I have created a Lego Beholder. You will note the prehensile eye stalks, the jaw which opens and closes, and the transparent bricks that allow it to 'levitate'. It's even the right scale to devour minifigures! I'll just Bask in my own Glory now...







The central eye is the top of the R2 droid that came with the Star Wars Y-Wing Fighter set, and the smaller eyes can be found in the Jabba's Gift set, though I ordered most of them online because I didn't have enough.

Tomorrow I go on leave. First I'll go visit zloduska up in Madison, then I'll head to Virginia to visit mommeeof8, then to Cleveland to see bobmage, then to visit parents in New York, and finally to simonsrock for the very first Llamacon. Consequently, don't expect me to update much for the next few weeks.

Note, 4 hours later: I updated the pictures with better ones.

Pics are here, here, here, here and here.

You'll notice the presence of two new pieces: the automatic pistol and the tommy-gun. This may seem like a minor detail, but it signifies that the Lego Company has finally abandoned its idiotic "No modern guns" policy. The various space sets have had futuristic zappers for ages, and the Wild West and Adventurers sets had revolvers and antique-looking rifles, but no contemporary sets have had firearms, ever. Even the Spiderman sets where the thugs and robbers logically should have been armed, suffered this lack. Now, though, both hoodlums and lawmen can be appropriately accesorized. All they need now is a Kalashnikov and an AR-15/M-16 piece, and we'll be all set. I'm thinking they'll probably limit this to movie tie-in lines, though.

Cool as all this is, they once more skimp on the female characters. Out of a dozen 'name' characters (as opposed to faceless minions), only 2 are girls. They could at least have had Batgirl and Huntress, with maybe the 'Dark Knight Returns' girl Robin for good measure. Hell, the wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon could have made an appearence, as the very first cripp... er, I mean "differently abled" Lego character _ever_. For all their wussy European political-correctness, why can't Legoland have more chicks, dammit?!?! :-P

"Wolves of the Calla", to be specific. There was something odd about the cover, and I couldn't quit figure out what it was. Then it hit me: In the cover art, Susannah the Gunslinger's got _muscles_. The kind of muscles that, realistically, any woman who'd spent years in a wheelchair, then struggled through the wilderness for months, should have. I don't recall _ever_ seeing "fantasy art" where the Barbarian Swordwoman/Enlightened Blackbelt/Athletic Archeologist/Superheroine had musculature commensurate with her chosen profession. Red Sonja looks like a damn cheerleader, and even Honor Harrington is never portrayed as buff as she _should_ be. I never noticed this before, but now that I have, I find it intensely annoying.

Speaking of annoying, the latest Lego theme is once again a complete sausage fest. Out of 4 'heroic' characters, all are male. To make matters worse, the blue haired one's hairstyle looks nothing like Bleu Finnigan, so I'll have to use paint when I do my custom minifigs after all. (grumble, grumble)

Adam Ant.

The Good Ship Serenity.

Another version of Serenity, with crew.

Final Fantasy. (Note to fellow purists: Yes, he uses a few non-standard parts, and has mutilated some others, but overall, his efforts are quite good. Pause and appreciate before RENDING HIM LIMB FROM LIMB)

Homestar Runner.

TROGDOR!!

I noticed that one of the “Exo-Force” 2006 sets has a minifig with bright blue, anime styled hair. Happy Skipping Joy, this means I’ll get to make a Bleu Finnegan minifigure _without_ having to resort to the slightly shameful expedient of modelling paint! As all TRUE Lego Maniacs know, the best custom projects are those that require nothing more than mixing and matching pieces; while paint jobs and stickers are acceptable, they’re certainly not something that should be bragged about, and should be avoided unless absolutely necessary (Needless to say, attacking perfectly good lego pieces with x-acto knives and modeling putty is an abomination that can only be expunged through defenestration).

...when they keep making so many cool Lego sets? And why is it that a heathen German site has the first glimpse of the 2006 sets? Click on the word "Fundsache", if you don't believe me.