kendo and batcave

recently received one of these. its not out in stores yet, so cool that. i wasnt going to buy this set, so it worked out fine. the joker mini fig looks a lil more mature then the older one, and the batman fig is different then the older one, by just a smidge, the utility belt is different. and the emblem on the chest has yellow around it.

Bruce Wayne is a much better figure then ever before, bane's head has a more boxy feel. the poison ivy figure is completely new. it uses the same hawaiian girl hairpiece as the collectible minifig.



also received an early stocking stuffer. its an add on to the ninjago series, but i wont be playing the game. it does come with cards, and weapons, and say it is a "kendo" version of cole. if anyone has tried kendo, they'd know that the shinai (sword) is wielded with both hands on the hilt, which minifigs cannot do. so instead, they can hold their weapons in a nito-ryu style, one weapon in each hand, a dual wield. The bogu (armor) is very similar to that of the samurai collectible minifigs. the helmet is a completely new piece, and the face shield does not open up. it is a complete one piece like a knight's helmet with openings for the face, and is in two colors too!

I like the packaging....it reminds me of those toys at the Japanese supermarkets that are put together in a snap fashion, and comes with a little bit of candy.

SO! What does Santa Look Like?

Its finally done. My fifth Lego film!

it ended up longer then i anticipated... and the flow of the story seemed to be ok. on the other hand, as the creator, flow always seems ok. i have found out that for stories that i felt that had a good flow, only 1 out of 5 viewers understood it. 1 would be "brilliant! wow!" and the other 4 would be "what...just happened here?" The last film seemed to do well even tho myself didnt feel it was that good. It was short and to the point. a longer film may just be a little longer then what a normal person's attention span can keep up to these days...

This film took alot of incoherent-ness to make. i was just tired from work and other priorities, and i was supposed to rest up and go to bed for the next day. but i came home. was pooped. and HAD to make something. Had to finish.

Filming took about 39 hours. sound took maybe 6. and editing took only 2. if i take away the preparation of the film...meaning all the tiny drawings i had to do besides the sets, it would come down to maybe half of the hours. i drew just a lil more then 400 of those lil hand cut bubbles.

Story goes as follows~ (SPOILER- So watch film first!)
Boy at home gets call from friend.
The talk about Santa.
Boy gets intrigued/curious
Boy goes to ask father who tells him one thing.
He goes out in search of Santa
He gets told another thing about Santa. (this repeats)
He gives up and goes home.
Where he actually gets to see Santa.

BTW. anyone know what the boy's dad's occupation is? =]

Mad Holiday Heroes

These sets arent supposed to come out till next year... but Toys R Us is already selling them. I'm guessing they are making a mad rush to make sales for the holidays...because wow...look at these prices! so high! (image above taken from the ToysRUs site)



here's the correct pricing from the Lego site. Much more reasonable. I'm not in a hurry to get these sets...I DO WANT THEM, especially the catwoman set...but for now, my funds will be towards my visit for an outdoor trip. =]

Meanwhile, i'm waiting for the new series of the blind packs still... and i want to have a Thor (from avengers) minifig! His helmet seems cool enough. i've been using a 2x1 brick and a telescope for my Thor figure's hammer so far. And still....Lego Group still wows me with yet another series...


thats a pretty big ring, buddy! looks like a bracelet or bangle. but hey, not like minifigs have fingers anyways. i wonder if the aragon fig will look similar to the Thor fig?

and all this time i've been teasing orlando bloom with this picture i took.



looks like, they will have a true Legolas minifig for him in the end! (pun not intended)

(my 5th story/film is coming along slower then expected. Not having the right equipment makes a difference. i once heard the story of how James Cameron didnt like how his cameraman filmed a scene, and he tried to do it himself. he settled because the camera was too heavy. LOL.)

Imaginative Lil boys...

trying to figure out which lil boy i should use in my next project... a few combinations i have tried.... and no HAN. you cant be in it. sorry.

Free Shirt

today i received this awesome free shirt in the mail courtesy of Lego. unfortunately, other then to pose for this shot, i'm unsure if i will be wearing this shirt. ya see... it is a large. i wear a medium comfortably. maybe i'll cut out the characters and make a custom piece of clothing instead with it...

Unclear film shorts, need to slow down

Up until the last two films, all of my films took nearly a month of planning to create and make. altho i may not take a month to film, i DO come up with the storyline nearly a month in advance. and during that month, when i have time, inside my mind i 3dimensionally put the cogs and gears of the film together, and puzzle over how certain parts are filmed and built.

my last two films, are 19 hour films. 19 hours... meaning i come up with the film idea in a few minutes, i figure out the storyline in twenty....then i have to wait 10 hours before i can even get around to doing them (due to life and its priorities). i do the film without much thought other then the idea at hand, instead of pondering the idea and how to expand on it.

so lil parts about the last two films...in case people DID miss it, and get confused.
first off- indy jones hates snakes. second of all, the older ninjago sets had old ninja hood pieces, which carried a weapon on the hood, so that once removed, the weapon or tool was no longer accessible. the newer versions... the mask and the back weapon holder are separate from each other.

finally, the dinosaur known as REX has movable arms and legs. the similiar sized DINO from the new DINO sets do not. i have just recently picked up a set with a much larger t-rex (5886). from the images on the box, it would appear those do have moving legs and arms...PLUS a movable jaw. SWEET! i will have to look into that later once i have more free time.

star wars notes- mace windu is played by an actor named Samuel Jackson. 'nuff said. whats' the deal with anakin and asoka? its not told about in the clone wars series...but fans do make up stories and wonder about the relationship of those two. han and leia seem to get along "well."

the most ridiculous thing that happened today was my attempt at being a "hardcore lego enthusiast." trying to build a set by feel only in the dark, and only remembering the box art as reference for putting the set together! luckily, the set had only 87 pieces, and it took me nearly 90 minutes (while on a car ride home from tonight's escapades) to do so.


-most recent new sets_ **sorry for the bad quality, webcam**

Han Solo and the mistle TOE

Decided to make a holiday themed short using grab bag pieces + Star wars minifigs....wee early hours. which may be a bad idea. Short's direction and storyling took about a few minutes, filming took a couple hours...but at the wee morning hours... i think my hands weren't steady, and i wasn't fully coherent.

my last short... i felt like i didn't have enough time to make a decent film due to lack of time. but that's actually not an excuse as this more recent took less time, and came out much better quality. (unless you put the indy and zane skit to comparison, then no, as thats nearly double the fps.) having a direction in mind makes a HUGE difference.

I didnt realize it until i scanned my shelf of minifigs....that the Lego Star Wars females were not as plentiful as the males. So pairing up wasnt as easy as i had hoped.

i thought about adding voices to the video. i wanted mace/jules to say. "hey baby" and anakin to say, "what the-" and "whoa!" Maybe even a "come here, snips." Leia saying "hey you" or "hey there stranger" in sequences that needed it, add giggling all around. some live audience "awwws." and social chatter. but i didn't, mostly because i felt that while these added things would make the film more easy to understand, and more interesting, it also bumped up the 'G' rating to perhaps a suggestive 'PG.' if a younger audience was watching this, or someone unfamiliar with American culture/tradition, i won't mind thinking that this party was about finding "dance partners" while at the party over "hooking up."

maybe i'll go back and add those sometime. (yes...sometime. echo.)

as i write this, i'm not sure if i'm coherent as well. maybe i should blog in the morning instead. i'm not a huge huge fan of ninjago. but i saw the transforming sets today. still can't understand why ninjas needs jets and helicopters. a motorcycle makes sense. ninja 250. indy's not going to be too happy, but they have guys in snake suits and white snakes.