Brick Adventure 2010

Name of Event: Brick Adventure 2010

Photographs by: hermanwest

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hermanwest/tags/brickadventure2010/

Details: Bricks Adventure 2010 is currently underway in Hong Kong. The exhibit will be running through February 12th, 2010. Today's "featured model" is this gallery of photos from the event. EDIT 2/2/2010: There is also a BricksAdventure2010 Flickr Group.

Pop-Up Book Sculpture

Name of Model: Pop-Up Book

Created by: Nathan Sawaya

Found at: http://www.brickartist.com/large-sculptures/popup-book.html

Details: Printing on LEGO bricks is an interesting grey area. Technically speaking, it's not entirely a purist technique. On the other hand, the LEGO company does print on parts themselves and has all but explicitly encouraged the work of brick printers and engravers like Tommy Armstrong. A big problem is that many things we would like to print aren't entirely legal - if you wanted to print a billboard for your LEGO town, or various company signs and logos to add realism to your creations, you'd have to get permission in writing from whoever actually owns those designs. Popular sculptor Nathan Sawaya has found a very clever way to use this technique, though - he wrote an original poem and had it printed on LEGO tiles. He was then able to build the tiles onto a sculpture of a book, and build a scene in the middle to make it look like a pop-up book. The result is magnificent, and one of the most easy to relate to creations in Sawaya's catalog of sculptures - that Castle is near minifig scale!

Detailed Airplane

Name of Model: not given

Created by: RyanMugs

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dp3/galleries/72157623180696401

Details: This year at BrickVention, one model truly stole the show. From this angle, it just looks like a large plane model - impressive already, but not particularly unique. The backside, however, shows a realistic cross-section of the plane - the entire QF A380 has been rendered in perfect minifig-scale, interior cabin and all. There are easter eggs (characters, movie references) and accurate details (three floors, chairs for first and second class, bathrooms, a cockpit, landing gear, etc). A mix of NXT and Power Functions components automate some of the features. Did I mention that the jet engines actually spin?

Miniland Scale Clothes Washer

Name of Model: Washing Machine

Created by: Zemata

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zemata/tags/washing/

Details: Front-loading washing machines sound easy enough to build until you realize how difficult it is to build the round front at a decent scale. A simple studs-not-on-top technique handles it here - if you look closely, you'll notice that the bottom of this model is assembled with the studs on top of the LEGO bricks facing downwards. A 3x3 dish element on a pole fits nicely with the arches to complete the front-loading mechanism. The result is a bit too large for minifigs, but is at a decent scale for Miniland, Scala, or Belville people. For those of you trying to build this at home (you know your dollhouse needs one!), take a close look at the photo I've featured here and make sure you have enough of the 'Bracket 1 x 2 - 1 x 4' element on hand.

Obama Jigsaw Puzzle

Name of Model: Obama Mosaic

Created by: Todd Webb

Found at: http://www.top40db.net/Other/ToddWebb/Lego-ObamaMosaic.shtm

Details: Here's another interesting way of building LEGO mosaics - building "jigsaw" puzzle pieces. The challenge here is that the top layer of plates must create the mosaic design, but you need to have the structural integrity built into the "pieces" you build with some additional layers of plates. While this is still a relatively new way of building mosaics, it's gaining traction as an interesting new building challenge. Personally, I think it's important to keep the piece size small in order to make it feel like a real puzzle. Impressively, this puzzle manages to make the parts just three plates (one brick) tall. Sticking with our attempts to make these posts a bit more topical, I decided to feature this puzzle (which I do believe is the first such mosaic puzzle) today since it is State of the Union Address day.

Microscale LL-928/497 Galaxy Explorer

Name of Model: (not given)

Created by: Janey Red Brick (to the best of my knowledge - the photo appears on her flickr photostream, but in a set from a LUG meeting)

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/janeyredbrick/4292792599/

Details: In 1979, the Space theme started. One set emerged as a flagship of sorts in that line: LL-928/497 Galaxy Explorer. Here it is in a miniature version - probably the smallest you can make it and still make it distinctive and recognizable.

Robotics Monday: Tora no Maki

Name of Book: Tora no Maki

Created by: ISOGAWA Yoshihito

Found at: http://www.isogawastudio.co.jp/legostudio/toranomaki/en/index.html

Details: This isn't exactly a "model" for today, but it's an excellent resource that should help spur on some interesting ideas. Tora no Maki is a book in PDF format that is graciously offered as shareware - you can download it and evaluate it for free, but the author has asked that you pay $10 for it if you use it. Only the opening pages have text (in English and Japanese) - the rest is all full-color photos that clearly show off a variety of techniques. While it's intended to be an educational resource (and is certainly great for beginners - many of the techniques are straightforward and can be built with very few parts), it's still of use even for fairly advanced Technic builders.

In spite of my best attempts to add this advertisement unobtrusively to the site's layout, I was not able to accomplish that task (what's considered "good enough" for the layout parser on Blogger is not the same as what's considered "good enough" for a regular blog post). So here's the ad as a post (scheduled to stay on the front page until they end this offer). Go ahead! Take advantage of it! There are exciting new 2010 kits there!

LEGOLAND California Photos by Ricky Romero

Going back to my old habit of occasionally featuring photo sets from LEGOLAND parks, today I'm featuring this set of photos taken by Ricky Romero. The photos are meaningful in all the ways I like in LEGOLAND photos - they are excellent photos and they show some new and/or seasonal models in one of the parks. In this case, you can spot a few Christmas and winter themed designs. Again, the set I'm featuring today is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickyromero/sets/72157623147861715/

Modulex Market Street and Cafe Corner

Name of Model: Modulex Modular Buildings

Created by: Brixe63

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35385165@N05/sets/72157621787448381/

Details: I know I've blogged many models based on the Cafe Corner kit before (I'm also a contributor at Brick Town Talk, where we've previously featured today's models). These are different because they're actually really small - just 5/8ths the size of standard LEGO bricks. They are built with Modulex bricks, which the LEGO company manufactured for use in architectural models (they were not sold in venues where LEGO bricks are generally available). Building with Modulex is an interesting challenge - the part selection is radically different from what's available with standard parts, and even the colors aren't standard LEGO colors (although some of them are quite similar). In spite of all that, Brixe63 was able to successfully render these two popular LEGO kits (Market Street and Cafe Corner, both recently discontinued) in Modulex form.

Pentominoes

Name of Model: pentominoes

Created by: retracile

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/retracile/tags/pentominoes/

Details: An elegant game of pentominoes, complete with box. The size is a bit hard to grasp, but each cube is based on the size of a 2x2 tile (the 1/3rd height elements that are flat on top). Using the 6:5 ratio of LEGO brick dimensions, you get the 2 stud measurement vertically using one brick and two 1/3 elements (either tiles or plates).

Turtle

Name of Model: Turtle

Created by: :jovian:

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jovian_dreams/4278065243/

Details: This turtle is easily the best use I've seen of the brown 2x4 piece with slopes on three sides. The shell is a bit large (this probably weighs in at just above miniland scale), but it's very effective. The legs are minifig legs - you can attach them to minifig hands, which in turn will fit on most parts. Then there's the head - the mouth is created with a technique that you rarely see done intentionally. By leaving one 1x1 plate only partially attached into the piece above it, the illusion of a mouth is created. Very clever.

Classroom Vignette

Name of Model: Lego classroom

Created by: benlego

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benlego/4280888493/

Details: This one photo is the only one of this model. At first glance, this model looks like a simple but effective use of the still fairly scarce "kid legs" element. After all, it's just a teacher and two schoolchildren, right? Then you might notice some of the clever scale games - 2x2 tiles turn into books on a shelf, and a few microscale "toys" can be found in the room. Maybe the toy kitchen (perfectly scaled, of course) sticks out. Then you start to notice that nothing is really attached to the tiled floor. The desk and shelves are cleverly built sideways (upside-down in one case, but I can't tell you how clever it is until I figure out just how that was done), and even the toy kitchen is just sitting there. A close look at the boy in the chair reveals the chair's surprising construction and a trick where the kid actually has legs sitting separately in front of his body to make it look like he is sitting down. Perhaps more of a masterpiece of photography than a truly masterful LEGO model (for all its details, can you imagine this thing not falling apart at the slightest bump because of all the loose parts in it?), this is truly an excellent example of what you can do by carefully posing characters and appropriately scaled objects in a LEGO model. Just don't invite kids, pets, or anyone curious about that shelf into the room.

Beyond the Ball

This isn't a model per se, but Mariann Asanuma's new book is out. The book is called "Building Secrets from the Masters volume 2: Beyond the Ball" and it builds off of her previous book (I briefly discussed Mariann and her first book, "Building Secrets from the Masters volume 1: How to Build a Round Ball with Square Bricks!" last year). The book features ideas and building instructions for three models: an egg, a hot air balloon, and a watermelon. With her background as a former Master Model Builder for LEGOLAND, Mariann Asanuma naturally has created three models that would each be perfectly suitable as a model of the day. There's a blog post announcing the book and you can purchase the book at her website.

Robotics Monday: Using Two Drive Systems

Name of Model: DualGrip-NXT Rover

Created by: Dave Astolfo

Found at: http://www.plastibots.com/?p=1086

Details: If you've experimented with LEGO drive systems a bit, you've probably noticed that different setups can handle very differently. A skid-steer tread system is great on sand, snow, and carpet, but isn't very useful for going up inclines of any sort. Tires can help with that, but leave you with a considerably wider turning radius. This robot poses a potential solution - using both, and alternating between the two using a third motor. Probably not ideal in some situations, but it looks like a good idea to try out.

BrickVention 2010 Coming This Week!

Australia's LEGO convention is happening again this year. As with most of these events, there's a convention for AFOL's (in addition to the portion of the event open to the public), but here's the flyer for Sunday's public expo: BrickVention has been going on for a few years now. We've previously highlighted the event in 2008 and 2009. Reprising my clever trick of announcing this event and using photos from previous years of this event as a Sunday "model" (from 2008), I'm really pointing you towards the photos from previous events on the official website as today's model of the day.

Fridge (with instructions!)

Name of Model: fridgestructions

Created by: nolnet

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28119014@N06/3185664328/sizes/o/

Details: A while back, this builder built a beautiful fridge. Then, due to popular demand, a set of instructions were made. Now we are blogging them. Enjoy the minifig-scale goodness - it'll look great in nearly any minifig scale kitchen (and of course, those rare-ish curve elements used for the front are now available in enough colors for you to choose how to decorate your own fridge without having to resort to stickers as refrigerator magnets).

Been feeling sluggish lately...

Name of Model: Been feeling sluggish lately...

Created by: MooseBot

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moosetech/4275146873/

Details: One 1x8 plate. Two sets of minifig hands and arms. One 1x1 tile with a clip on top. One dragon tail. That's it - 7 pieces. It all comes together perfectly. That dragon tail element came out in 1993 for the Dragon Masters faction of the Castle series, and although that style of dragon is now long gone (the company even changed , crocodiles using this element showed up in kits as recently as 2009. Yet we haven't seen anyone come up with such a clever alternate use for this before. So now that we all know - start flipping over dragon tails!

RED LIGHT : Biking Rules PSA

Name of Model: RED LIGHT : Biking Rules PSA

Created by Sean Kenney and David Pagano. Full credits: RED LIGHT : Biking Rules PSA campaign for Biking Rules.org Producer: Sean Kenney Director: MA Shumin Stop-motion animator / Editor: David Pagano Music / Sound Designer: Brian Kenney

Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/154903

Details: The clever Brickfilm-based PSA blends a minifig-scale town with a traffic light sculpture by way of "Hollywood magic" (of the sort that a few LEGO fans can work in New York City without the actual use of a Hollywood production studio). The end of the clip can be a little startling, but the piece as a whole is a winner and the models contained therein are solid. I, for one, would like to see more projects of this sort - I believe this is the first time that we've seen a LEGO Certified Professional collaborate with an established BrickFilmer.

BrickJournal Shared Calendars are Back!

If you've been diligently checking the calendar link on our sidebar for information about upcoming LEGO-related events, you've probably noticed that the calendars were down for a short time recently when the BrickJournal website was having problems. That website is now re-emerging, and the new calendar page is now live with the same great shared calendars we all know and love. We had been promoting a few events on our sidebar recently, but now we're pointing everyone to the calendar - and of course, we're still occasionally announcing large events here as regular posts. ...and if you haven't been checking the calendar to see if you can make it to any events in your area, here's a reminder to give it a shot!

Pirates at Sea

Name of Model: PTV2- When fishing goes wrong.

Created by: Guss

Found at: http://guss.teammu.com/modules/extgallery/public-album.php?id=156

Details: It's not easy to build a great Pirate ship. Generally speaking, if you build only part of a ship, you're going to disappoint people. Not this time, though - the brick-built sails, water, boat hull and shark (according to this EuroBricks thread it was originally intended to be a whale but morphed into something fairly original that the builder is calling a Giant Sharkiguss) look spectacular and anchor (see what I did there?) the whole model. Not content to stop there, though, Guss has also added in some details and vignettes both inside and outside of the ship. You can spot a sleeping pirate, a captain with a fishing rod, and even barrels of ballast in the bottom of the ship.

Delorean Time Machine from Back to the Future

Name of Model: Delorean Time Machine 5-wide

Created by: Legohaulic

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/legohaulic/4251685490/

Details: This is a very small (just 5 studs wide) version of the Delorean from the Back to the Future movies. It's a little out of scale for the minifigure in the photo (I'm afraid there's only the one image for this one - but you can make it bigger!), but still an excellent rendition. Notable techniques include string for wheel wells, elastics for the trim near the ground, levers and nozzle/gun elements for window edges, and a ridiculous amount of studs-not-on-top stunts. At this scale, it's even possible to use sideways "cheese grater" 1x2 slopes as seats!

Robotics Monday: LEGO Domino Dealer

Name of Model: Lego domino row building machine

Created by: Matthiaswandel

Found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de4xdOVVROQ&feature=player_embedded

Details: Another toy building system I got into when I was little was Domino Rally. While that system doesn't seem to have caught on with the sort of longevity as most things I cover here, there are still plenty of people making similar domino runs and domino-based stunts. Of course, the "Domino Dealer" part of the Domino Rally system (as well as it's slightly more advanced counterpart which could stand up dominoes in simple patterns) is still an idea worth pursuing even for "real" wooden dominoes, but the issue then becomes finding a "dealer" that you can use with the dominoes you have on hand. Today's model uses an elegant LEGO Technic mechanism with a non-LEGO motor and power source to automate setting up straight rows of dominoes.

1966 Ford Galaxie Cop Car and Round-Up

Name of Model: Ford Galaxie 1966 Police Interceptor for the Lugnuts 1966 Ford Galaxie competition

Created by: lego911 as a member of Lugnuts

Found at: lego911's Police Interceptor: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29987108@N02/tags/police/ LUGNUTS roundup: http://lugnuts-cars.blogspot.com/2010/01/galaxie-of-possibilities-round-up.html

Details: Today's "model of the day" is the Police car seen to the left here, built by lego911. It was built for a contest on flickr hosted by the Lugnuts group, which is for builders of detailed LEGO cars in a variety of scales. This being one of our larger "Sunday edition" posts, I'm actually featuring the whole Lugnuts 1966 Ford Galaxie competition roundup. Personally, I feel that this particular car is the most handsome design in the bunch, and the cop car approach works well for giving the vehicle personality even though this contest requires that everyone participating builds the exact same make, model, and year of automobile. Some of the other interesting designs included detailing made with Bionicle elements, a yellow convertible, a black beauty with an angled front, and even a decent looking 5-wide tiny turbo.

A27 - Civil Zeppelin

Name of Model: A27 - Civil Zeppelin

Created by: lbaixinho

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lbaixinho/sets/72157623005683179/

Details: A small but clever zeppelin. Note the ways that angles are used for turning those "dome" elements into a full-fledged zeppelin. Even the railings are at an angle! While the various studs-not-on-top tricks make the model, the presentation here is great too - note the lines used to hold the model up as if it were actually flying.

This is Saturday's model of the day

Elvis Bust

Name of Model: Elvis bust

Created by: LEGO master builders

Found at: LEGOLAND (specifically the location in Carlsbad, California, USA)

Details: Today (1/8/2010) would have been Elvis' 75th birthday. Of course, we all know that Elvis lives, simply because you can rearrange the letters in "Elvis" to spell "lives". So, we're commemorating his birthday with this model from LEGO's Master Builders that depicts him from the shoulders up. This sculpture is one of several celebrity busts that can be found on the "block of fame" behind the Master Model Builder Shop at LEGOLAND California. Since this photo's not specifically documented below, I'm doing the rest of this post in a round-up format from various clear images of the sculpture found on flickr. renipappin's photo (used above - a good detail shot) in buzzbo's photostream in enigmamouse's photostream in wheatthines' photostream

Apologies for the late post -- we are once again having issues with getting out of sync with Blogger. The issue appears to be on my end, but we're still looking into it.

An Arabian Farm In Medieval Times

Name of Model: Life in the desert isnt too harsh when you have a river at hand.

Created by: danielz

Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=415013

Details: Danielz is quickly becoming one of the most famous Castle builders in the AFOL (Adult Fan Of LEGO) community. He was recently highlighted in BrickJournal magazine for his Castle evolution project (which you may remember our own coverage of). Here he shows once again that he deserves his reputation - this beautifully landscaped scene captures a fairly unique slice of life. Note the clever use of greenery to create less common plants and the unusual ways of building windows. Then there's the water wheel, the sand green pattern around the door, and the wooden structure just outside.

Milouuu, where are youuu?

Name of Model: Milouuu, where are youuu?

Created by: marcosbessa

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45092539@N02/sets/72157623013289919/

Details: In the world of LUG's (LEGO Users Groups - groups of AFOL's, or Adult Fans Of LEGO), there are a variety of competitions. In one such competition, marcosbessa was challenged to build something based on Tintin and Snowy (also known as Tintin et Milou - according to Wikipedia, this series has become popular in Europe and been translated out of the original French). To rise to the challenge, marcosbessa built the dog - but there was one issue. The supply of white bricks was running out (apparently not before the face came out in a spectacularly lifelike manner). The solution? A dark blue box that the dog appears to be jumping out of - the box hides the parts that aren't rendered in detail. With the paws and face coming out that cute (I'd bet no real dog looks quite so friendly), you don't even notice that the rest of the dog is hidden in the box - it's a masterpiece anyway.

"Fortress of Solitude"

Name of Model: Fortress of Solitude

Created by: a-tree (Nannan Z)

Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=382009

Details: Try not to be overwhelmed by the sheer size of this thing - the use of several raised baseplates together gives this a look of more dimension (and more parts-intensiveness) than it really has. It is still pretty parts-intensive, not to mention mysterious. I'm actually still not entirely sure what's going on here, but the angles here are stunning. The mecha takes on a very lifelike manner, thanks to the flames it is launching and the large trans-blue "beam" attacking it.

Robotics Monday: Mechanical Logic Gates

Name of Models: LEGO Logic Gates

Created by: The Goldfish Online

Found at: http://goldfish.ikaruga.co.uk/logic.html

Details: (Pictured left: an AND gate. The rest of this post refers to the full group of gates discussed at the website mentioned above). I've previously mentioned a machine that uses pneumatic logic gates, but pneumatics aren't the only way to try out the LEGO-based logic gates concept. This mechanical approach may be a bit easier (although the parts are less expensive, this is still likely to strain your parts collection if you try it at home). These logic gates move axles laterally to indicate input and output values. They do a good job of showing the principles of logic gates - but perhaps, as with the pneumatic walkers, there may be a way to use these in clever ways to build other LEGO machines as well. At the very least, if you have enough of these working without much loss between them, you could build a computer...

Apologies for the delay on this post, which was written in advance...but then the entire post apparently disappeared overnight. We're looking into the issue now, but still don't know why this wasn't up first thing this morning.

Polyhedra

Name of Model: Platonic solids

Created by: OptimalControl

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/optimalcontrol/3984102878/

Details: This is a beautiful collection of polyhedra that you can build if you have enough hinges. That is a mighty big if, but these do look great - good enough to justify buying the parts specifically through Bricklink or LEGO's online Pick a Brick to give it a shot (well, for the geometry teachers out there, anyways). The technique's not too complicated, but the execution is perfect.

Microscale USS Enterprise from Star Trek

Name of Model: The USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Created by: rh1985moc

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rh1985/sets/72157605983626518/

Details: Although building a decent looking USS Enterprise (from Star Trek) is likely to always require the use of custom stickers (I'm a bit too purist to use the sort of stickers necessary myself), it's becoming increasingly common to see the Enterprise rendered in LEGO form with an appropriate amount of detail. This one stands out by managing to be the smallest recognizable Enterprise I have seen yet (a previous one we featured over a year ago was substantially larger). The main tricks to the small size here are clever use of the large engine piece and the 3x3 curved wedge plates.

2010 Items Arrive at Shop At Home

2010 is finally here, and that means that the new sets that have been slowly dripping into select stores should now be showing up everywhere. All the new items should now be available from Shop at Home, including one new exclusive (with apologies to my international visitors, all the prices below are in US dollars). First, the LEGO direct exclusive (available from S@H and LEGO brand retail stores) - the beautiful upgrade for the Imperial Guards' Imperial Flagship: (#10210, $179.99, 1664 pieces, 9 minifigs) When the original Imperial Flagship kit came out in 1992, it was a nice kit but it was hardly the size you'd expect a true Flagship (in naval terms, not LEGO ones) to be. This kit might still look a bit small for ship aficionados, but the upgrade in size is worthwhile, the looks are great, the parts are excellent (and exclusive in some cases), and the price is pretty decent as Pirate sets go - 1664 pieces for $180. Other highlights of this wave of new 2010 kits include: Space Police Raid VPR: (#5981, $9.99, 69 pieces, 2 minifigs) An interesting development in the Space Police plotline, and the first clear connection between the original 1989 line and the current series. The alien's torso has both a double-printed Blacktron torso and Blacktron 2 logo. The officer in the set finally has a fully closed helmet, and even has a trans-red visor (which they haven't made SINCE the 1989 line). This set's a tad expensive, but the incredible new minifigs justify it (and make me wonder if we'll see more of a storyline develop - when did the Blacktron begin fraternizing with alieans?) Woody's Roundup: (#7594, $49.99, 502 pieces, 3 minifigs (4 if you count the new Toy Story horse)) The Toy Story line LEGO is releasing (thanks to their new licensing deal with Disney and Pixar) is off to an interesting start. Some of the sets are a bit expensive, but this one's right at the mark and includes quite a few rare pieces. The new character minifigs are very unique - we have hats permanently attached to heads, a new longer leg length, and even a new longer arm length. It seems like the best way to get LEGO to make a new part is to get a large licensing company to insist LEGO start making it - the Star Wars line had previously brought us new parts and colors, and the Toy Story line is already proving itself similarly fruitful. Additionally, this is the first new "Wild West" style kit we have seen since the late 1990's Wild West playtheme. Tractor with Log Loader: (#8049, $59.99, 525 pieces) When the linear actuator component was unveiled a few years back, many of us Technic fans feared that this meant the end of the pneumatic system. As it was, we hadn't seen a new pneumatic kit in years and some parts (such as the air tank) were becoming quite hard to find (and expensive online). Last year saw their return to the Educational line, but this kit is the first to be available to the general market. As an added bonus, we finally get a new tractor design (last year's tractor kit was based on an older design, but in a new color), and (according to TechnicBricks' review) there's even parts and instructions included for building a motorized compressor. Gateway of the Squid: (#8061, $39.99, 354 pieces, 3 minifigs) The Atlantis line is the big new playtheme this time out. It's a bit more exotic (and generally expensive) than the Power Miners series last year (which, by the way, is still around and will have additional new releases later this year) but it's turning out to be surprisingly interesting. New molded minifig parts abound, as do various earth-toned bricks and new elements. It's nice to see a new underwater line - they've tried several over the years - and the weirdness of some new elements and the mysterious new discs (which can open a gate in this set) are very appealing. Finally, I wanted to spotlight one of the new Creator sets. The Creator sets continue to be the best values for the money, giving you plenty of special pieces and common bricks alike at a price lower than 10 cents per element. This one is just my personal favorite (I guess at some level these all are - you should really browse the full selection of sets yourself) - once again the Creator line features nothing but winning sets. Apple Tree House: (#5891, $44.99, 539 pieces) A charming house with dark blue roof bricks and tan window frames. Sure, there are other nice features, but with those parts and that price-per-part ratio, aren't you already interested in one of these? The house may be a bit small but it's another winner.

Instructions New Years' Update, 2010

Peeron.com has updated their LEGO set instructions database to make all sets from 2006 available. The delay in making the instructions available has been a courtesy to the LEGO company - the guideline established over a decade ago is to not make instructions viewable online until 3 years after a set had been released. Although Peeron is the most important online repository of LEGO set instructions, they're not the only website that offers this service. LEGO started offering instructions in PDF format on their customer service website some years back, including nearly the entire line from 2003 onwards. Searching these instructions has never been particularly easy, but one Adult Fan of LEGO (AFOL) decided to create a cross-reference a few years ago to make it easier. That resource was taken offline a few months ago due to the server load, but Brickset decided to take up the cause and has unveiled their new feature for it today. They've posted their details on their own New Years' post. Speaking of which, our new year's post - a recap of new 2010 sets appearing at LEGO Shop at Home - will be up shortly.