News
I am going to a new format. I am going to be reviewing daily (or near daily) again so there are going to be fewer projects in the weekly review. If you would like to see more please check out my daily review.
Discworld Gets Rincewind and Reaches 2000!
The title pretty much says it all. I have finally created a Rincewind model I like enough to share and in doing so I finally got my
Discworld project past the 2000 mark. I think I did a good job capturing his essence. I am pretty satisfied with the Luggage at this point too. My
Legend of Korra project is not doing too shabby either as it is now 925+.
Oz Contest
JeremiahKC has done something I have been expecting for a while now and expect to see with greater regularity in the future. As part of the
The Road to OZ, he has integrated a contest.
At 8000 support (very soon) one entrant will receive a Dorthy brick build model. At 10,000 one entrant will receive Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion brick built models. It is a clever move but I undstand these activities can be legally complex. I will be watching closely (and have entered as well).
Kickstarter
Bricktable
The Bricktable is a very well though out design. This is a table with a trap door to a funnel. So you pour out your Lego onto the table, find what you need, then pull the trap door to pour all the Lego back into your container.
Apps
Mini Mi
I just found this new minifig themed app . It is the kind of genius that is obvious in hindsight (aren't the best ones that way).
Mini mi allows you to construct a wide variety of figures by cycling through a an extensive menu of options.
The app is well thought out with several suboptions within each
existing option, for instance, you can add glasses to face or change the
color of each arm individually. One great option that is much easier
to implement virtually than in the real world is short sleeves
I give the developers, 7on2, significant props for including a wheelchair option for the lower torso.
I will be honest, the interface takes some time to get used to but here is a quick start guide:
-
Slide a part left or right to cycle through options
-
Double tap a part to see the full menu of options for the element selected (including locked content)
-
Tap a part to go to coloring and sub options for the given part
- To get to face customization, Tap once to get to color selection, then tap on the face again in the color menu
- Swipe the image up to save
I could see this being a great tool for the Cuusoo crowd. People can use it to make Custom figs for their ideas and post them to their projects. I contacted the developer and (at least one of them) they gave their permission to use their art in this way. We will have to see if Cuusoo is ok with it though.
The app itself if free and well worth the price. The monitization comes in the form of expansions. $0.99 unlocks a theme (Space, Music, Sports, Pirate, or Castle) and $3.99 unlocks the whole thing.
Pick of the Week
Invader Zim House and Voot
Although I am a self proclaimed aficionado of animation I must admit my familiarity with Invader Zim is low. I do however find this design irresistibly charming and well thought out.
The windows are cleverly designed into show accurate shapes regardless of the complex geometry. But on top of that (Literally) the roof cracks open to reveal a hangar for the ship which is a great density of build.
After cracking the roof open the sides can also be pulled down granting access to the first floor which, is itself another greatly orchestrated MOC, expanding on the already numerous play features of the house
Buggyirk and
Jiminyc have certainly provided Cuusoo a project to be proud of with a large potential audience and a highly playable design.
Honorable Mentions
Jurassic Park
This would have been a shoo in for "Pick of the Week" for me. I mean, LOOK AT THAT THING! It is brilliant on so many levels. It is one of the rare projects (only one other ((trivia time boys and girls)) that I posted to Brickset within hours of it being published.
It has however been brought to my attention that Jurassic Park is getting the Kreo treatment in 2014 and this projects is therefore dead in the water. So very sad! I hope to see more great projects come out of
Senteosan though.
It is significant to point out that Brick Queen's Jurassic Park project got a 1000 support comment that did not archive the project, which has been historically the action when a project reaches 1000 with an IP that is currently locked down. It has been quite some time since a project has reached 1000 with a locked down license.
This could mean any of a number of things:
- Human error (Cuusoo Staff may have been unaware of the Kreo Conflict)
- Kreo might not have exclusive rights to Jurrasic Park (Unlikely I would imagine)
- A silent change in Cuusoo policy
I am very curious to see what comment
Senteosan gets back.
Lamborghini Aventador
I think this is hands down the best brick
Lamborghini I have ever seen. Its technique is remarkable. The position for the number one spot was fierce this week however but I will be mentioning this baby again in the future, you can count on that.
I said this before but it bears repeating: "I have never seen a car look so good covered in that much SNOT."
Baba Yaga and Her Chicken Legged Hut
I will admit that I am biased on this one. I have a strange affection for Baba Yaba and her Chicken Legged House. What I am unbiased about though is how well orchestrated this design is. Its a fantastic representation.
Some might feel that specific stories about Baba Yaba might be too intense for young audiences but these stories are true of pretty much all mythological beasts. We see a ton of the Greek/Roman figures in the Lego Minifig line but the Minotaurs origins are certainly not family friendly.
