Pet Shop

so I got the pet shop. I actually got it a couple weeks before the official release date. Some stores are nice enough to sell certain sets if you ask nice enough. Very often set are sitting in the back of the store, and they can't take them out and put them on display till the official release date.

finally got the chance to build...just one side. Its the apt complex. Here is what I got so far...




fairly nice. I like how the back has an interesting stain glass next to the balconey. Why are they growing all these vegetables on the roof? Are they supposed to be for getting higher then the average veggie?

Lastly i like the cellar doors located at the back of the complex. It can be used for a scary monster that comes out at night and eats kids. The only downside, is that the section above it doesn't lift up. So can't see what kinds of horrors and dead bodies the monster has ravaged.

This girl actually came with the set. Whats up with the all red and corset? bet she's into vampires...

Halloween Parties

So Halloween is coming... which means there will be a time to shoot Halloween themed pictures, and maybe some parties too. Which brings me to here.

The thing about making a Halloween party image is that ppl tend to go "oh yeah imma throw in my figs from so and so set, it's awesome." but they tend to forget, that when Lego made the fig, it was supposed to be an actual fig of a specific person. So if that fig shows up, it's not a kid in a costume. It's the real deal. Take my joker for example, think about high school. Did anyone actually go all out for a costume just to get girls and drink? So my kid here has maybe the jacket, sprays his hair green, styles it, and does the powder make up. He would never have another occasion to wear purple pants again, so he wears his jeans.

More Guns to Come in 2012

I'm actually pretty stoked, I found out a couple weeks ago, that TLG will be coming out with sets that have guns in their sets. As Lego originally stated, they dont use guns in their sets to keep the children's minds more clean and long from violence. The new sets look very "Jurassic Park" ish.

The guns to be expected are sniper rifles and shotguns. To be more exact, the Lego Dino sets are as follows.

882 Ambush Attack – USD$8.95
5883 Tower Takedown – USD$17.95
5886 T-Rex Hunter – USD$62.95
5887 Dino Defense HQ – USD$89.95
5884 Raptor Chase – USD$26.95


The prices seem reasonable, altho I havent seen more then a glimpse of the few sets from the images scattered around the internet. TLG is very quick to remove images, as the sets for next year are considered "confidential" up until next year anyways.

I was just thinking that the girlie components to Lego had faded away, since their last line, "Belville" did not do so well. I'm not even sure how many ppl out there bought those sets. Old sets occasionally show up on Amazon, but those sets, i have not seen too often. Lego has decided to try this hand again. Hope its not all pink bricks...

3931 Emma’s Splash Pool – USD$5.95
3932 Andrea’s Stage – USD$8.95
3933 Olivia’s Inventor’s Workshop – USD$8.95
3061 City Park Cafe – USD$26.95
3065 Olivia’s Tree House – USD$17.95
3183 Stephanie’s Cool Convertible – USD$13.95
3315 Olivia’s House – USD$62.95
3930 Stephanie’s Outdoor Bakery – USD$5.95
3187 Butterfly Beauty Shop – USD$22.95
3188 Heartlake Vet – USD$35.95
3936 Emma’s Design Studio – USD$8.95

With Comic Con's last showing, i'm very excited for the newer superhero sets to come. Batman sets will always be welcome... altho the market does seem a lil saturated with batman sets to begin with. I'm wondering what kind of sets there will be with Green Lantern, and Superman. I'm only guessing that there will be a phone booth that transforms Clark Kent to Superman, like Barbossa did in set 4181.

Things You Can Build with 8014

I was getting my shampoo at my usual place, when I unwittingly glanced at the "on sale/clearance" section. There, sitting next to Bakugan (which was 35% off), was a stack of Clone Trooper Battle Packs (8014). The sale price stickers on them read, "$7.39." This item is usually $11.99, altho in Toys "R" Us, they got for $14.99 (or $17.99 during the holidays).

I apologize for oinking out on these sets, but like those crazy shop-a-holics on tv sitcoms, i swept my arm over the shelf and pushed the boxes into my cart. There were a few droid sets, and as i placed them back on the shelf, a Lego hungry mom swooped into my cart for my goods. When i informed her that those were mine, she merely gave me a dirty look and insisted that she thought i was an employee putting boxes onto a shelf, despite my non uniform/colored attire.

I took them to the cashier, and for some reason, rang out to be $6.28 per set. I made it home, with no problems, unless i count the mom i saw in the parking lot later who purposely pushed her cart at my car...

Hey.. I got away with less then ten boxes in the end...thats fair game, the way i see it. Its not like i walked off with 2 dozen boxes... thats a lil obsessive, even for me.

Those sets are your basic walker sets, but most people that buy them are after the clone trooper minifigs. While we can always follow the instructions to build the walker, i find that there are other things that can be built using the same pieces from the set.

For instance, we can build...

...a speeder. Fit for one clone trooper or two. Or just for one trooper and his radio intercepter unit. If SW isn't the thing, why not a ....

..derringer anybody? Those sets seem like a great bang for the buck, not just for the minifigs, but also for the pieces that come in the box. Altho... me paying $14.99 for one at Toys "R" Us, is highly unlikely.


Combine two sets, and see what kind of other walkers you can build. Its not in the picture... but turns out with 5 boxes, a person can build a 10 legged beast of some sort complete with turrets and holders for drop troops.

The M. Falcon (7965)

I recently picked up the SW, M. Falcon. I was lucky enough to get one for under $100USD at Toys "R" Us. They had a promo that day. Plus it came with a free Harry Potter minifigure set (30110). Right away, when I got home, I noticed that the box was around the same size of the Queen Ann's Revenge. Yes, the Queen Anne's revenge came out awhile ago, but I got sidetracked and didn't get to work on it yet.

But the M. Falcon had more pieces, but less minifigures. The beginning of the build was a little bit bumpy, as the early pieces' connections didn't stay in one place. They swiveled around on their own.

I was rathered enchanted when I had to put there pieces for the turbine hyperdrive engine. These are the pieces normally found for hubcaps.

Then came an annoying part. I had to build a large quantity of these guys...

after building about 4 of these, I had a pretty good idea of how to build them on my own. That is, until i ran out of pieces to make more of them. Here's what i have so far...

I do like the control panels.

The fact that there's a mass of them instead of just one radar screen makes me like it that much more. That's all imma build tonight tho. I have to work on assembling some of the series 5's that i picked up the other day. OK, "some" is an understatement. =]

Natural Habitat

Natural Habitat, a photo by wingtorn on Flickr.

I'm sure everyone has been buying up the series 5 collectible minifigs for the dino boy. I have been seeing lots of Godzilla parodies, and I am sure i will be making one of my own soon enough.

But in the meantime, while i am going about my outdoor activities, I found that there are lizards that run about. I havent encountered a rattlesnake yet. (knock on wood.) but i found that this picture was fun, easy, and quick to take.

"Man of STEEL" film(s)

Recently finished yet another Lego stop animation. The challenge was keeping the film, as mentioned before, rated "G," yet staying action packed. I ran into all sorts of problems while working on this film. For one, I was trying to start and finish within a month or less. The last film was finished in about two weeks. This one took about 28 days, start to finish. It felt rushed and unnatural. The system/routine was the same, I would come up with the storyline, and discuss it with Stev. He in turn would figure out the best way to shoot it with his lighting techniques. He sometimes got confused and I had to show him a picture of the angle I had in mind.

Another challenge was keeping the material fresh, and staying on task. Some days, we couldn't do as many parts as we wanted. Some days, we only made 6 seconds of footage. I sometimes worried that we'd get frustrated and be unable to finish.

In the end, we did finish it, but we had different opinions on the sound. Watch each one with volume at a minimum of 3, and see which one you like. Its shot with stereo sound and in HD, so feel free to give it some volume, hit full screen and sit back to enjoy the show! Storyline explained after the jump. (see after viewing at least one first.)





STORY AS FOLLOWS
A train is peacefully going along.
Two ominous vehicles approach and board the train in ridiculous fashion.
A few guest appearances make a reference.
The passengers get robbed.
The protagonist sees the action and transforms.
A battle ensues.
The bridge blows up and the main villain escapes.
Protagonist saves the train.
The baddies think they get away, but it is not so.
Protagonist finishes the job.
Credits

5.10ab outdoors

5.10ab outdoors, a photo by wingtorn on Flickr.

Aside from Lego building, I'm also into rock climbing. so its only natural for me to take my minifigs outdoors to join in the fun, too.

This is a fun photo, altho technically, it wasn't hard to climb for our lil friend. a good incline made him able to appear like he's climbing.

I'm also considering naming him. For now, he's just "the adventurer."

Leito running from thugs over rooftops

Leito does David Belle pose, a photo by wingtorn on Flickr.

I love Parkour. I have been studying it since 2003. Of course, as a young lad, I had rooftop antics too, but I didn't know what it was called at the time.

Parkour has become a trend, and people seem to push it farther and farther.

I miss going on runs with my "boys" throughout campuses, parks, and even Disneyland.

Here is a scene from the District 13 movie.

"by the power of grayskull..."

"by the power of grayskull...", a photo by wingtorn on Flickr.

he-man was pretty cool while i was growing up. he was like a lazy prince adam to powerful man kinda deal. (like play boy bruce wayne to batman) i'm talking about the original, not the super recent version where he looks like he did P90X while chugging Monster Energy.

End of Anakin

End of Anakin, a photo by wingtorn on Flickr.

"Anakin, give up, i have the higher ground."

"you underestimate my power."

"don't try it, Anakin."

-and then Anakin jumps over-

-_- Aww. Too bad for Anakin. I had a great time trying to figure out how to "make" the lava look nice. Dark setting, yet the lava glows.

Real Lego Stop Motion

After making that film, I looked around YouTube to see what fellow Lego filmers made. Alot had some really cool stuff, such as moving mouths, gunfire, and even explosions. Then there was the stranger and bad things. There was swearing, and adult situations. Altho I am old enough to not be offended by such material, I find that these films forget one thing- that they are losing the essence of Lego bricks being a child's imaginative toy. To stay true to that Lego brand, to make stop motion films, I believe that these films should be kept at a rated "G" level.

Now that I say that, its not easy to convey that rating so easily.

Ice, Ice, Baby...

Speaking of "freezing," recently finished my first Lego film.

Wampa Cave

Wampa Cave, a photo by wingtorn on Flickr.

It had to be done. Luke freezing to the top of the minifridge was a little harder then I thought it would be.

Feeling up on Series 5

As another set of Lego's Collectible Minifigures has been released, we go again into a frenzy of finding the ones we want in our possession. I particularly like the hood on the Eskimo, and large case that the mafia guy has. I was disappointed in the grad student's cloak/gown, as it did not stay on well.

While the older series had barcodes, 3rd series onward did not. There was those dots mentioned in other blogs, but I found the best way is by feel.

So for series 5. Here's how I figured out each one.

Grad student- it has a 2x2 flat brick. Also there is a square item with a circle on the other side. That's the cap.
Gladiator- there's a large piece inside that has "flaps" going in a bunch of directions. That's the helmet.
British Guard- another large piece, there's texture on it. That's his hat. Confirm with long item. Rifle.
Eskimo- headpiece that has two holes like an elbow pipe. Confirm with a pole that's flexible.
Cave girl- a squishy piece says it's the hair. Confirm with a bone or a pear shape with a shaft extending from it.
Dino Boy- a large headpiece. It has a "snout" on it, and ridges along other side.
Jane Goodall- theres a monkey inside. It's a unique piece that reminds the imagination of a camping lantern. Confirm with either banana or bunned hairpiece.
Paper Towel Guy- his axe is easy to feel, and his cap is brimmed only on one side.
Clown- he has short feet which narrows it down to him or the dwarf only. His bowler hat is easy to feel and there is no stick inside to confuse him with the dwarf. The pie has a hole on the bottom similar to the bottom of a R2 droid unit.
Aerobic lady- she has a long hairpiece which feels like a mini rowboat. Confirmed with 1x3 brick for boombox.
Sherlock Holmes- has a double brimmed cap, confirmed with his lollipop shaped magnify glass.
Dwarf- one of two that has short feet. Altho he has a unique helmet, I always found him by his beard piece. It has a gap for his body between beard and long hair.
Boxer- he has no accessories. He has no large pieces. He only has 4 pieces aside from the stand plate. Count them. Or feel body for his gloves, they are attached to the torso.
Cleopatra- has no legs. A sloped block gives it away.
Mafia guy- I confirm by his large case. It feels like a flat pear. Hat has a large brim.
Snowboarder- too easy, his snowboard with curved tips gives it away.

LEGO Jacks of the Caribbean

LEGO Jacks of the Caribbean, a photo by wingtorn on Flickr.

When I thought I had collected every Lego Jack of the Caribbean, Lego decides to make an Europe only edition of this particular white faced Jack.

I'm trying to figure out which scene he's from as I have seen "On Stranger Tides" only once and the DVD has not come out yet.

This Blog's beginning Influence.

Lego. Long time relationship. I was building for fun as a elementary student.

MOCs and such. New thing for me. But all of THIS THIS all started maybe last year.

My life consisted of Lego, rock climbing, parkour, urban art, good friends, and a few other things. I had just achieved being able to climb V4, and was able to finish 60% of the V5s. I was working v5/6. I was really stoked.

Anyways, a few months ago, I got injured while doing parkour. It wasn't too bad, I thought, but those guys in the ER only thought I had a dislocation. And that took almost four hours to put back in.

I waited almost three days before I got to see an orthopedic. I had to get an MRI, which i didn't get till almost a week later, and that showed that I had multiple fractures.

It was painful, not so much the pain itself, but the fact that I could not move my dominant arm. It was useless and was stationed jumbled against my chest.

I had trouble eating. I had trouble putting on shirts at first, which I devised a method for. I knew parkour was no longer in my ability. At least for the time being. But I was sad that I could not rock climb for a long time. I loved it, greatly.

I was looking at a recovery time of around 5-12 months. Work became rougher then usual.

And then. I started thinking that there could be more done with just building sets. Turns out there was a huge community of people that had other things they did with Lego. Things I did with my other toys already.