GlenBricker's Review: November 2013

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Hubble reaches 1000 on Namesake's Birthday.

Just a quick posting in celebration of a great man, Edwin Hubble, and a great build, GRusso's HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE.

Hopefully it will get to 10,000 before his next birthday.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Star Trek Purged from Cuusoo

Not a surprise to anyone who follows construction toy news, the gorgeous STARTREK NCC-1701 STARSHIP ENTERPRISE was archived yesterday.

Upon reaching 1000 support Cuusoo did their "official" review of license availability and declared:

We've looked into the possibility of producing a set based on this licensed property (Star Trek), and since another company has the construction toy license for this IP, we can’t pursue this further as a potential LEGO set. We're sorry to be the bearers of this disappointing news.

In addition to this project, all other Star Trek projects have also been archived.

It appears Cuusoo has been cleaning house. Low support level Jurassic Park and Doctor Who projects have floating around on Cuusoo for quite some time, but it appears they have been removed as well. There is a Dalek project floating around but Daleks have always had some strange IP issues.

This is the eventual fate of Transformers and to some extent Smurfs. Neither of these properties have breached even 300 support though so it will be a long time coming.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Weekly Cuusoo

Cuuscomp Update

So far the roll out of Cuuscomp has been very smooth. Feedback has been great and in my opinion is it serving its function of separating the cream from the dross. You can see the results and judge for yourself. At this point I am tweaking the system a bit and creating some better tools for evaluating the data and presenting it.

Inevitable Discovery Reinforced

The theory of Inevitable Discovery has gotten some serious support in the last week with the results of the first ever Star Wars themed Cuusoo Staff picks on their facebook page.

The five projects were (unofficial names here):

Of the five projects, only the walker is one that I would describe as akin to a current Lego product. All the rest showcase a style, technique, or concept that Lego simply is not doing with the Star Wars license. This is basically the clearest message we are ever going to get on this subject from Cuusoo.

If you are going to build the content the Lego already has the rights to, make sure to do something different with it if you want Lego to take notice.

New Project

Assault on Wayne Manor

I am thrilled and proud to present "Assault on Wayne Manor." A collaborative project by DarthKy and myself. The build is based on the modular footprint, but instead of stacking, the build unfolds for expanded play options. I will save my breath hear though and let the project speak for itself. Please check it out here.

Also, as is common of my projects, we are seeking feedback from the fans. We want to propose that this project include new figures from the Batman continuum. Please vote on which characters you want to see proposed with this set.

Pick of the Week

The Spirit of Freedom

by JonHall18

I love dieselpunk...probably more than steampunk actually. It shares many crossroads with the pulp adventure that I am also a fan of.

So it is without question that I love JonHall18's Spirit of Freedom. When I saw it in The Lego Adventure Book I hoped it would find its way to Cuusoo and now it has.

Despite just having an affection for the style, this is, in itself a truly fantastic build. This is clearly evident in the wings. They start with a non-standard angle but continue out at quite a distance. The technical aspects of handing that much weight in already difficult, but to append them to such a complexly angled "shoulder" is quite a feat. I especially like that the "grill" on the bottom wings is implemented inverted to the top wings.

Using minifig torsos & arms for the piping, though clearly an "illegal" technique is brilliant.

Honorable Mentions

Tesla Troops Project 1: Cyborgs

by Garry_rocks

The opening picture for this project is a bit hard to process but if you check out the project directly it is full of great mecha microbuilds, perfect for MFZ.

The color combinations of of greys, dull greens, and trans orange work quite well together. There are also some clever part arrangements on display that I have never considered before, like clipping a droid torso into a ski!

I really suggest that Garry_rocks do something to thin out the main images. Most people see projects as large thumbnails, and at those scales, and with the dull colors, it is hard for the common users of Cuusoo to see how impressive this project really is.

NASA S.E.V. (Space Excursion Vehicle)

by GRusso

GRusso is one of the earlier regulars on Cuusoo and they have been away for a while but they have returned with this excellent Space buggy. The side door is fully compatible with the hatch of their Mars Base project. I like that this project borders the realistic with futuristic. Maybe a bit more on the sci-fi side but it is certainly an interesting genre to explore

GRusso has re-rendered their many projects so make sure to take a look. Their Hubble has been a long time favorite of mine.

Notables

BTTF - Griff's Hover BMW

by m.togami

Great figure work and some excellent custom hover boards. It will be very interesting to see what Team BttF comes up with next as they are nearing the entire catalog of vehicles from the franchise.

Hot Rod Garage

by drdesignz

I am surprised by how few hot rods there are to be found in the Lego catalog. Hopefully drdesignz can do something about this.

I sure there are organizations that could help this subject matter get up and running.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Weekly Cuusoo

Pick of the Week

WALL•E

by MacLane

This is far from the first Wall-E to grace Cuusoo but it is certainly one of the bests and the first solid competitor to Suzuki's model.

While Suzuki's is cuter, this one is much more movie accurate, impressively so. The use of flags for fingers is a great touch.

If you like MacLane's work make sure to check out his Lego Bunny

Honorable Mentions

Queen Elizabeth II & the Gold State Coach

by BrickadierG

Look at all the Gold! This project is a great study in creative non-space greeble. Check out the close ups of the Coach. The inverted, paired epaulettes topped by crowns make excellent filigree. The snakes, axe-blade, and droid arm linkage merge for an inspired interconnect from the front wheels to the passenger compartment. The use of pirate hooks in the rigging, though "illegal", is particularly well played.

US Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules

by mmbace

Wow! mmbace is quite masterful at vehicles and this Hercules is another great addition to their series. The brick based stripes are a nice touch but I really like the assembled propellers with popsicle blades.

The Infinitely Modular Classical Temple Building

by therealindy

Therealindy, with this project, has relaunched his series of historical projects under one master project. It is an impressive portfolio of work.

All in all though, despite the popularity of the collectable minifigures, ancient recreations / mythological projects have failed to galvanize the voting public to date so good luck! I will be happy to see one of these types of projects reach 10k.

NT 082 battle mech

by tgbdz

Tgbdz has a great way of making very solid and intriguing looking sci-fi armaments. The use of a crate for a missile array works very well.

Liebherr LTM 1070

by Dejw

The impressive video.

How it works.

Age of Empires II

by artizan

The presentation and variety of these builds is quite impressive and I love any build that diversifies the castle theme from, well, castles. The Lego builds also do a great job of modelling small in game units in larger scale. Unfortunately, this is also a potential hurdle for this project to jump. In line with their game-based origins, these models are pretty, but they have no implemented/displayed playability. This may present a hard sell as the project approaches production.