Posted by
Dan
at
7:06 PM
| Name of Model: LEGO Mech Reindeer |
| Created by: Mitsuru Nikaido |
| Found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/142497481@N02/albums/72157676942777796 |
Details:  This year, Santa's got a new ride. Someone ought to make a movie about this model and use that as the tagline.
There's lots to love in this modernized interpretation of Santa's sleigh and reindeer, but even with all the space-y greebles and twists, it's still faithful to the sleigh-and-reindeer formula. Santa's throttles (in place of reins) round out his one-seater carrying a bag of toys - which also seems to have a thruster of its own beyond the reindeer pulling it. At this scale, a few long Star Wars blasters make for great antlers, and a pair of pearl gold 1 x 1 round plates with holes mounted on what looks like minifig handlebars make for excellent eyes.
Other great details include the use of wheels as hooves, a white Technic wheel to represent the fur around the neck, a minifig ski for the top of the reindeer's head (not to be confused with the larger skis used for the front of the sleigh), and a plate with a tooth for the gold trim on Santa's sleigh. Make sure to check out all of the photos - the Reindeer Mech can be posed in a surprising amount of ways (probably more than are shown).
|
|
Posted by
Dan
at
6:11 PM
| Name of Model: Gingerbread House |
| Created by: Parks and Wrecked Creations |
| Found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/legoland-bill/15849719540/in/photostream/ , https://www.flickr.com/photos/legoland-bill/15850940389/in/photostream/ , and https://www.flickr.com/photos/legoland-bill/16036296492/in/photostream/ |
Details:  This beautiful gingerbread house is chock-full of an overwhelming amount of candy-coated details. It looks like the house is dark orange underneath the thick coat of candy, but that almost doesn't matter with all the other goodies packed in here. There's only three photos here, but they're clear enough to zoom in and get a good look. Some of the highlights: a mix of 1 x 1 and 1 x 2 plates with teeth to create icing-style cornice work, 2 x 2 tiles as Necco wafer-style roofing (I suppose they could be intended as a different candy, but it's definitely a great roof), swirl signal paddles on 1 x 1 round bricks and 1 x 1 round plates with open studs to decorate the railing posts, stacked 1 x 1 round bricks to make candy-cane lesenes, curved slopes for the icing snowbank, the standard 1 x 1 round plates as small candy trick, various reddish brown and dark brown tiles to make the chocolate bar door, and hypno disks and another printed 4 x 4 dish to represent swirl candies. Perhaps the best technique, though, is using trans-yellow bricks behind the windows to give the glass a sugary look when the building is lit up from the inside (visible in the second photo).
There are even a few details here that are not immediately obvious in how they were built. Note how several flowers are sunken into the model so their stems don't pop out at you - these must be attached to something deeper inside the model. Then there are the 2 x 2 plates seemingly attached to fences - presumably there's a Technic axle behind those 1 x 1 plates connecting the 2 x 2 plates to something behind the fence.
Also perfect: the inclusion of Gingerbread Man collectible minifigures and Mrs. Claus from the Santa's Workshop set.
|
|
Posted by
Dan
at
12:35 AM
| Name of Model: Hot Cocoa |
| Created by: NaNeto (Nelson Neto) |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/naneto/sets/72157625523006203/with/5281707574/ |
Details:  I know it's after Christmas (and that this model was posted to flickr on December 22nd), but let's be honest: most of us are still just starting to get back to "real life". Having snow in many places that don't usually get it doesn't help. You might not have a Snow Trooper over for hot cocoa, but otherwise, this probably does look pretty familiar.
I just want to know why we don't see more 16 x 16 sized vignettes. The extra space really captures the setting - the mix of a sculpted snow look alongside slopes is perfect, and the fireplace, gifts, and curtain really round this out nicely. Even the floor looks great! |
|
Posted by
Dan
at
10:35 PM
| Name of Model: A Minifig Christmas |
| Created by: Nannan Z. |
| Found at: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/241320 |
Details:  I'll keep this short since this is already fairly well-explained at the links above. The basic concept was to make a callback to the classic winter catalog covers that featured LEGO characters from various themes giving gifts to each other at some sort of holiday gathering. Here, the idea is kicked up a notch with collectible minifigures (not to mention Max!) and a gingerbread house. |
|
Posted by
Dan
at
10:58 PM
| Event Info Found At: http://www.nasuhai.co.jp/event/lego.html |
| Photos by: kelvin255 (Kelvin Lok) |
| Photos found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelvin255/sets/72157625566538544/ |
Details:  It's Christmastime in Japan's Nasu Highland Park. The LEGO pavilion there has a few seasonal displays up now, but apparently the Tokyo miniland layout (which features a bunch of landmarks, although some have been made a bit generic) is a semi-permanent exhibit. Another highlight is a large Clone Wars set-up, and there are also several large sculptures. This appears to be like a small LEGOLAND park - apparently there are LEGO-themed rides here for most of the year as well (although these photos focus on the models on display). |
|
Posted by
Dan
at
4:00 AM
| Name of Model: LEGO DEATH STAR ORNAMENT |
| Created by: Chris McVeigh |
| Found at: http://web.me.com/chrismcveigh/mintinbox/home/Entries/2010/11/29_Lego_Death_Star_Ornament.html |
Details:  We've found the perfect gift for the man who still thinks there isn't enough of Star Wars on their LEGO tree. Wait, what do you mean not everyone has a LEGO tree? Where do you put all the LEGO ornaments?
Anyway - this Death Star ornament design is all ready for you to give a try. Model instructions are available from the link above in both PDF and LDD formats. You can also download the parts list to try it with parts on hand, or if you're feeling adventurous, you can buy the parts through LEGO Digital Designer's Design By Me program.
|
|
Posted by
Dan
at
11:18 PM
| Name of Model: 24 Days of LEGO Christmas |
| Created by: brick_a_brad |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brickabrad/sets/72157625352594180/ |
Details:  It's hard to believe, but another year is slipping away. Every December first, people start counting down the days and getting into advent madness. In the LEGO fan community, the advent calendars are ubiquitous - between the people eager to photograph everything in the official advent calendar kits (sold out already this year) and the diehards who actually build and photograph a new model for each day, there's usually a bit too much advent action (well, if you keep as close an eye on these things as I do, anyway).
While our usual suspects in the original creations categories seem to be off to a slow start, this model has taken things far enough to kick off the season with a bang. This whole building is one giant advent calendar. You can peek ahead by zooming in on the overall photo, but new close-ups of each room are being posted - one room per day, from now through the 24th. Since this one is only revealing detail shots over the next four weeks, we won't be revisiting this advent calendar closer to the 24th - but truth be told, it's already worth a good look. This was part of an even larger project for a few toy store windows, and you can see some behind-the-scenes photos and photos of the other parts of the displays in this photo set. You can see much of this model already, and there are also some bits in LEGO Digital Designer showing the design process for this model and the ski lift scene. |
|
Posted by
Dan
at
1:24 AM
| Name of Model: Snowflake ornaments |
| Created by: Model Gal(Mariann Asanuma) |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/model_gal/tags/snowflake/ |
Details:  Although it's easy to fall into thinking that LEGO parts can only be connected in something of a rectangular grid, it's actually quite easy to attach them at angles to create more unusual shapes. Here, we see small white and blue pieces (primarily blue 1x3 plates) used to create 6-sides snowflakes. Most of these are about as "high" as one brick, but are meant to be displayed sideways. These are actually sturdier than you'd expect, but I'm sure it doesn't hurt that these were glued to be used as seasonal ornaments.
As recently announced on her blog, these are now available on Etsy.
| | This is Saturday's model of the day |
|
Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
1:19 PM
| Name of Model: Seasonal greetings |
| Created by: maxx361 |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40863406@N05/4191992583/ |
Details:
 Modulex bricks are really little bricks LEGO manufactured for architects. They're now something of a rare collectors item - LEGO long ago outsourced their production, and has since given up on the Modulex brand entirely. They also come in strange colors that don't match normal LEGO colors. Another interesting feature is that they're reasonably scaled to be bricks that minifigures can build with. Oh, and did I mention that they make nice Christmas trees? The same builder has also built a larger tree and provided instructions on how to make this simple tree design. |
|
Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
9:02 AM
| Name of Model: Oh no, they be stealing me sleigh! |
| Created by: I Scream Clone |
| Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28773832@N08/tags/workshop/ |
Details:
 While the sleigh isn't visible in this model (based on the title, I think we're supposed to assume it has been stolen), this is an interesting new twist on the traditional "Santa's workshop" theme. The "elves" here are a fairly clever mix of parts - those torsos are from 1980's Forestman sets, the legs have only started showing up in sets these past few years, and the little hats are from the 2009 Venice Canal Chase kit (which, by the way, appears to be on a promotional offer at Amazon  at the moment - that set has a generous amount of parts for $40, so at $34 it's a pretty great deal). While the elves and gifts make the scene, the interior lighting is what makes this piece a winner - check out the photos of this workshop in the dark. Another detail with looking out for is the door behind the elves - notice how it has been built out of bricks. That rounded section at the top is actually made from this curved arch brick, which has some space underneath. The space was filled with plates and tiles to get this effect - which is a tight enough fit to hold the other plates and tiles in straight.
EDIT 9:17 PM: Word from the builder is that the door technique was borrowed from a similar door built by Noddy. |
|
Posted by
Dan
at
2:12 PM
| Name of Model: Lego Christmas House | | Created by: zaberca | | Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15902478@N02/tags/christmas/ | Details:
 I like to focus on some pretty clever techniques here, but sometimes you can build a very detailed and pleasing little model without getting too fancy. This one still features some nice tricks ("headlight" bricks to use tiles as a realistic brick texture, pairs of round 1x1 plates stuck with string in the middle to make lights, rows of parts used to get architectural details, wheel well elements as window arches, etc.) but is largely built with standard bricks, standing up straight in a simple and elegant pattern. The scale is perfect, too - the house is the right dimensions to fit with "modular buildings" like Cafe Corner and Green Grocer, but the dark red section only goes up to a more classic town height of 7 bricks tall. The remaining three bricks' height before the roofline is done with various architectural details. | | This is Thursday's model of the day |
|
Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
12:59 PM
| Name of Model: (not given) | | Created by: monsterbrick | | Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/monsterbrick/tags/shootingstar/ with additional photos in the flickr photostream above. | Details:
 This has been an exciting year for fans of modified Star Wars ships. First we had the FBTB Forum Steampunk Star Wars contest, then there was the Reasonably Clever Spooky Star Wars Contest, and also just finished is the FBTB Star Wars Christmasification Contest. Still, even with all these contests, there aren't that many truly large creations going up. There was also, until now, a shortage of Star Wars themed creations that make great use of DUPLO tree elements. I'm sure you get the joke by now though - it's a giant Christmas tree with presents underneath. The nice thing about building a giant tree is that you can stick all sorts of bizarre parts on it as decorations - although monsterbrick (also known as Matt Armstrong - he was featured in the latest issue of BrickJournal, as you can see in his photostream) showed surprising restraint in only using a few types of pieces higher up on the tree. Still, it's hard not to love all the clever tricks used for the presents at the bottom... |
|
Posted by
Lego Model of the Day
at
10:01 PM
| Name of Model: Santa's Sleigh | | Created by: Vincent Pace | | Found at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220333040736 and http://toys.albeca.com/santas_sleigh/ | Details:
Sorry I don't have a cleaner link to use here (it looks like eBay really is the best link, and I know they pull down their listings periodically), but this is truly the best Santa-and-reindeer model I've seen in LEGO form. For quite some time now, there's been widespread criticism of LEGO's official Santa-related sets. They're yet to manufacture a full sized sled or anything with an even remotely realistic reindeer. Part of the problem is that good reindeer are hard to build - you can probably spot a few clever techniques in these reindeer, not to mention a few rare parts (say what you will about tan as a color choice, but switching to any sort of brown would make building reindeer even more of a challenge - LEGO doesn't make all the parts in all the colors). Of course, the finishing touches are the gifts in the sleigh and the little red "nose" on Rudolph.
|
|
|
|
from 
as one of the characters, in the elf's hand at the moment is an 
). These have been part of a River Park "Photos with Santa" booth next to a Macy's in Fresno, California, USA since Black Friday (No word on how long this will remain open to the public, but I understand there are other models in the display as well). 
