Posted by
Dan
at
8:58 PM
| Photos by: marcorbito |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcorbito/tags/legoland/ |
Details:  If you liked last week's look at LEGOLAND California at Halloween, I have a real treat for you - another large photo gallery of highlights from LEGOLAND California in October in 2010. There are plenty more exciting scenes here, including many that weren't in the photoset featured last week. There are (of course) more trick or treaters (note the clever use of the large spider's web in the window), as well as a haunted house (seen above), an homage to Michael Jackson's Thriller, and a giant pumpkin sculpture. I had mentioned the funeral procession last week, but the view shown this week gives us an interesting look at hearse, people and musical instruments. I'm thrilled any time we get a good look at useful techniques at the LEGOLAND parks, but it only gets better when we see the extra seasonal goodies added in. Have a Happy Halloween, everybody! |
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Posted by
Dan
at
8:39 AM
| Name of photoset: LEGO Land California |
| Photos by: KaylynStar |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaylynstar/sets/72157625308418736/ |
Details:  The LEGOLAND parks frequently enhance their displays with seasonal displays and in-jokes, adding an extra reason to come back. Around Halloween in 2010, the California park got in on the fun. Check out the trick-or-treaters seen in this photoset. Just in the one photo shown here, we've got some great dragon costumes, some great ghosts, a wizard, a pair of ballerinas, a knight, and several interesting figures without costumes. Elsewhere in the park, we can spot a coven of witches, a haunted cemetery, a pumpkin patch and hayride, a giant spider attack, and a funeral procession driving up to a zombie-infested graveyard.
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Posted by
Dan
at
11:57 PM
| Name of Model: Haunted House |
| Created by: Legohaulic (Tyler Clites) |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/legohaulic/tags/haunted/ and http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=449848 |
Details:  This gorgeous haunted house is perfect for Halloween. I think this is the first time I've seen someone use dry ice to get a smoky effect in their spooky photos. There are, of course, surprising building techniques too: check out the slanted bit of siding (all of which is tiles attached sideways, with a mix of old and new grey that achieves a perfect aged effect), and the windows that use tiles wedged between studs to create smaller panes. Then there are those roof lines, made with plates and wing elements on hinges. The use of claws and skeleton legs to make the various railings is another great touch. It's a masterpiece just in time for Halloween.
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| This is Saturday's model of the day |
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Posted by
Dan
at
12:38 AM
| Name of Model: Mosaic Bricks Interview! interview & mosaic |
Mosaics created by: eilonwy77 (Katie Walker)
Interview conducted by: MosaicBricks |
| Found at: http://mosaicbricks.blogspot.com/2010/10/interview-katie-walker-eilonwy77_14.html & http://www.flickr.com/photos/eilonwy77/5086690606/ |
Details:  For months now, Katie Walker has been posting a string of spectacular and unusual mosaics on flickr. Her techniques range from fanatically precise LEGO geometry with headlight bricks to impossibly patient trial-and-error with cheese slopes. She has inspired, humbled, and scared many a LEGO builder. Recently, she was interviewed for the MosaicBricks blog - to mark the occasion, she built the two mosaics of the blog's name shown here (by the way, if anyone does something like that for us, we'd totally change our header to use it too!)
 I actually try to hold back from posting too much of Katie's material because most of it isn't really what most of us would consider "models". Everything is a work-in-progress, a study, or a proof-of-concept. Some of it gets worked into a larger creation later, but most of it is quickly taken apart after the photos are taken (the photographs serve as enough documentation to rebuild the designs later if they are needed). It is, though, always worth a look through her flickr photostream to see what she's been up to. As I said before, her work inspires (with clever techniques), humbles (with the fact she's using a small collection and a very small variety of pieces), and scares (with the amount of time that goes into some of the more ornate small designs). I've featured some of her studies before, but there's way more where that came from. Due to the popularity of her few finished models, I've actually backed away from featuring those here as well (out of respect for the readers who also follow other LEGO blogs, I try to keep repetition to a minimum) - but you should absolutely take a look at the courtyard and the atrium that she built for an as yet unbuilt queen's palace.
Of course, the most intimidating part is realizing that this "beginner" already knows more about how you can fit LEGO pieces together than most experienced hobbyists will ever figure out. It's a rare person who is willing to work with DUPLO and Technic alongside regular LEGO pieces, never mind actually willing to figure out these geometrical quirks. Which is why we should all pay attention here - the techniques you'll pick up will save time later and make you a better builder.
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Posted by
Brickapolis
at
4:07 PM
 
Here's a treat (pun intended) for any Lego fan, young or old. Target has begun to carry the Power Miners impulse sets (there are two of them currently) in their (seasonal) Halloween section. At $3 a piece, it would be quite expensive to fill every kids candy bag in your neighborhood with one of these sets. However, the price is very reasonable once you consider what you are getting with these sets.
Target has been known to do this before, that is carry small impulse sets around holidays. For example, during Easter this year they carried the V-19 Torrent among other small Lego sets as basket stufers.
So, head out to you're local Target (if you have one nearby, and if you're in the US) and check out the seasonal section to see if they are carrying any of the Power Miners impulse sets.
Happy Halloween to all of you! (It is a bit early for that though.)
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
2:55 PM
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Posted by
Dan
at
6:43 PM
| Name of Model: Halloween Hearse | | Created by: modelbuildingsecrets | | Found at: http://modelbuildingsecrets.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/halloween-hearse/ | Details:
 Here's an exciting new blog: Modelbuildingsecrets's Weblog features tips, ideas, and creations by a former LEGOLAND Parks master builder. This particular model is timely for Halloween - and visible in the Miniland New Orleans section of LEGOLAND California through the end of the month. I think both the car and the skeleton may be easy to try out in other themes, but I'm not sure if those jumper plates (also known as off-set plates - they're the 1x2 plates with only one stud on top) are actually available to the public in clear. Occasionally, you can spot parts in LEGOLAND parks that haven't actually ever been sold in a kit - sometimes when the professionals need a certain part that isn't available, they can request it (and then the company makes a large enough run of it that the builders for the parks will have it for quite some time after that). They make a great windshield there, though.
It's fairly common for LEGO to do Halloween-themed "easter eggs" in the parks and in video games. There are also "Brick Or Treat" promotions at LEGOLAND parks - you can probably find information about events at the parks at the official LEGOLAND parks website. | | This is Wednesday's model of the day |
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Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
2:47 PM
| Name of Model: October 28, 2001: Halloween 2001: Ghost, Pumpkin, and Witch | | Created by: Bill Ward | | Found at: http://www.brickpile.com/2007/07/17/october-28-2001-halloween-2001-ghost-pumpkin-and-witch/ | Details:
 Happy Halloween! I know we've had quite a few problems on this blog the past few weeks, but I wanted to make sure that I got these three Halloween themed models in for this year. The ghost and witch appear to be original designs (both are quite good ad feature some clever uses for slopes in more sculpted models), but the pumpkin model is the alternate model you can find instructions for in the "Pumpkin Pack" LEGO set (which I think is available at the official LEGO Shop at Home site) - remember though, you need two of those packs to get enough orange bricks to build the 3D pumpkin. The ghost, at least, looks like a project you could probably try out this year without having to hunt down special parts. Feel free to send in any holiday-themed models you have - we'll be saving them up for next year too, and with any luck, I'll actually manage to spread them out a bit more from here on out. |
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Here's a clever and surprisingly effective way to churn out some Halloween pumpkins. I hadn't even realized that curved piece was out in orange, but apparently it's in a few current sets. The use of that tooth/horn element as the stem is similarly inspired. 
