Summer 2015 set reveal masterpost (images and analysis)

Some unofficial images of summer 2015 sets are starting to appear online, and I haven't seen them posted on any major LEGO blogs yet, so I figured I'd do a write-up here on Brickology. Imgur user Scarilian created an album of images from around the web; I'm using those images in this post for my own analysis of the sets. You can view the original album here.  

In this image we see the Ultra Agents set 71068 Drillex Diamond Job, which will be available soon (if it isn't already). However, in the background we can see part of another set, which seems to be some sort of ocean/dock structure (I'm thinking maybe an oil rig). A new villain minifigure can be seen, as well as what appears to be a new shark design. This set could be 70173 Ultra Agents Ocean HQ, which will go for $79.99 according to The Brick Fan's London Toy Fair 2015 report. 

Le Guide du Routard

J'aime voyager. ...and I'm afraid that's as far as my meager French skills will get me. But they aren't stopping me from appreciating this French backpacker built by 74louloute:

I love everything about this MOC: the map and backpack, the khakis and shirt, the gently contoured base... tres bien. 

Rising from the (transparent) flames

What's so interesting about this creation by Moko? Other than the fact that it's a stunning model, it's built using entirely transparent parts... and only two colors at that. It's really impressive when a builder can "limit" himself parts-wise like this and still produce such a great model. 

Legohaulic picks up the pace for Iron Builder

It's been a great round of Iron Builder so far- as expected when Sean and Steph Mayo (Siercon and Coral) are battling Tyler Clites (Legohaulic) and Nannan Zhang. In the past few days, Tyler has posted what I think are his best models of the contest- maybe the best on both sides. They definitely have all the character and charm that we expect from Legohaulic!

"One Giant Bounce for Mankind":

"Youngsters":

"ZapRay 9000":

Capture the flag

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love seeing great rockwork and landscaping in a MOC. The rocks in this scene by Julia LeeP are just awesome. Despite using parts like the binoculars and droid torso, they still have a wonderfully natural, flowing look. The water, trees, and foliage aren't too shabby either. 

Iron Maiden

"The Imperial's Iron Maiden is one of the most versatile heavy hitters in the fleet. Her 12 great cannons oscillate like pistons on a well tuned engine, flexing in and out to the rhythm of her iron heart. While she is able to be airborne for high speed direct routes, she really outshines the rest when at home in the water. She is faithfully able to turn on a dime and repel most all attacks with her iron hide."

This is Sean and Steph Mayo's fifteenth entry into their Iron Builder battle against Nannan Zhang and Tyler Clites, and it's just as good as the first fourteen. I don't know how they do it! You can follow this round on Flickr here. 

Dozin'

This behemoth of a bulldozer was built by Lego Tobi, and it is awesome. There's a ton of detail on this thing that you can't take in from just one photo, so go check out this Flickr album to see more. 

Bzzzzzzz

Wasp nests popping up on your property are never good, but this LEGO version by Sean and Steph Mayo (Siercon and Coral) is fantastic. Those bees are built from yellow Technic bushings, rubber bands, and... LEGO polybags?! It may not be technically purist but it's a great part use in yet another great Iron Builder entry.

The name's Tesla... Nikola Tesla

Steampunk and secret agents? I'm sold. 

Nice build by Dead Frog inc. You can check out the "Agents of the Imperial Crown" contest that this was built for here. 

(This seems to have been modeled after the 70162 Infearno Interception set from the Ultra Agents theme.)

Interceptor

Brilliant shaping and a Guardians of the Galaxy-esque color scheme... this is a fantastic fighter from Milan Sekiz:

The shaping of the front and the wings, the chunky engines, and the "feathers" on the back all combine to make this a unique spaceship. 

Spider-Man vs Doctor Octopus

Pieter Dennison (P-Denny) says he's never had one of his MOCs blogged before... so I'm here to change that. I don't know much about Spider-Man but I know a good MOC when I see one. This scene has some nice techniques that give it a worn-down, inner-city feel, like the brick detailing, broken walls, and exposed pipes down at the bottom. 

Keep calm and vaporize

All that 'ask questions first' nonsense is an enormous humbug, I say. When you're on one of those confounded savage planets, the best thing to do is shoot any blasted thing that moves and assume that there are more ugly chaps out there." -Duke Hugh A. Fitzgeraldson VI

A Plastic Infinity's style really shines through in his latest MOC, which seems to depict a sort of steampunk/space mash-up. The clusters of mushrooms and pits of... acid green stuff (?) look fantastic. Plus, that minifig is hilarious... I love the idea that he wears his top hat in space and has a wind-up ray gun. Nice build. 

PE-003 HOUND

Moko's latest mech is a work of art. I don't think I need to say more. 

Stardust

In the right hands, a jumble of seemingly random pieces can become something awesome. Take this spaceship by The /\rchitect. The builder was able to take a Chima figure torso, some wizard hats, and a whole bunch of Sarlacc beaks and combine them into a great model. 

Put on your hard hat and join in HARDnuary 2015

Last month it was Foodcember... now Kosmas Santosa (KOS brick) has a new monthly building challenge going: HARDnuary. The challenge is to build an everyday object at any scale. Kosmas himself has pledged to build one model for every day of the month, and he's doing well so far. 

You can check out the HARDnuary Flickr pool here. 

Boing!

"All the kids these days have a Super Boing 3000!"

Another Iron Builder entry from Siercon and Coral...

EDIT- turns out the pogo stick actually works. (!)

Motte Mudrock

I don't think anything I can write here can explain the awesomeness of this compact off-road vehicle MOC from Peteris Sprogis, so... just keep looking at the picture I guess...

Hercules Drone

In the future, when the human race has been conquered by the robots at last, police drones (like this one by Dead Frog Inc.) will patrol the streets, searching for signs of human rebellion. I'm sure of it. 

I really like the mix of BIONICLE/Hero Factory parts and system parts used on this, especially the big beefy shoulders. 

Isn't that cheating?

I don't know much about Call of Duty, but I'm assuming a gun that prints its own ammunition on the battlefield might be a little unfair. Just sayin'. 

Regardless, this is another fantastic build by Nick Jensen (Nick Brick). You can see more photos on Flickr here. 

Bluth's Original Frozen Banana Stand

Bruce Lowell's first build of 2015 came after his realization that the truck driver minifigure from set 76026 Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas looks exactly like a Banana Stand employee from Arrested Development! 

Lime green on patrol

For a refreshing take on the AT-RT walker from the Star Wars universe, the talented Brick Productions build this mini version using lime green instead of just the traditional grey. 

I like the usage of minifig arms on the feet, the complicated building in the joints, and those two lime green spikes filling in the gaps on the front. 

Je suis Charlie

I am aware of the recent terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in France, and my thoughts are with the families of those who were killed. Although I'm often wary of posting political opinions here, I think this MOC by 6kyubi6 (who does hail from France) supports something we all stand for: freedom of expression. 

Construisons pour la liberte d'expression! 

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse is designed and built completely with factory Lego parts. The model stands 20cm tall and contains 33 points of articulation, including ball jointed ears and individually moveable fingers. Also included are the "Kingdom Key" Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts and the paintbrush from Epic Mickey.

Whoa. This MOC by Alex Kelley is ridiculously good. 

More images

It's only dark on the outside...

LEGO cars are hard to build accurately. Many of them end up looking "off'. This Audi A6 by Rolands Kirpis (Rolic) does not. Enough said- this is fantastic work. The contrast between the dark red exterior and bright white interior is particularly nice. 

More images of the MOC

Images of the real car

EDIT (1/8/14)- sorry for not posting the link to Rolic's photostream. I've fixed it above. 

Free Eskimo kisses!

Legohaulic's next entry to his Nannan Zhang-assisted Iron Builder brawl with Sean and Steph Mayo (Siercon and Coral) has plenty of character. The Eskimo, dog, and narwhal are all very nicely done and the seed part (gray ribbed tube) is used well, but I think my favorite technique is the forced-perspective igloo in the distance. 

Clash of the titans

A new year brings a new round of Iron Builder... and this one pits two teams of the most seasoned LEGO builders around against each other! Nannan Zhang teams up with Tyler Clites and returns to the arena to attempt to take down Iron Builders Sean and Steph Mayo. This is undoubtedly going to be one of the greatest rounds of all time, and I'm sure many of the MOCs from both sides will make it onto this humble brick-blog. To begin, both teams have created a desktop scene with office supplies: 

The seed part for this round is the flexible ribbed tubing in gray, and what's interesting is that the builders are encouraged to cut the tubes to any length they desire. 

Finally, I couldn't not blog this round's introduction, written by Guy Himber:

So Nannan and I were facing hour 56 sitting around at the Hall of Iron Builder Justice ( it is in a floating CloudBase with cool nuclear-powered hover-turbos and free drinks in the Soda machine ) and pondering about WHO might we get to challenge the dynamic duo of Siercon and Coral in the upcoming round of Iron Builder? They are a menace to brick-society and somebody needs to take them ON and bring them DOWN off of their high and mighty Iron Builder SUPER TEAM throne!

Nannan stared at me through dark, red-rimmed eyes as we pondered how to find a worthy set of suitable challengers to face this lethal duo. I hadn't shaved in weeks and the strain of trying to find a set of worthy competitors was starting to take its toll.

Shaking my fist at the Heavens I shrieked, "Curse those Mayos!" at a now empty room, "Whuh?" "Nannan, where did you go?!"

Had the sleep-deprived Nannan passed out and was he now lying unconscious under the giant Table of Iron Justice?
NOPE
Had he yanked the 'DO NOT PULL' handle and shot himself out of the airlock?
NOPE
Had he turned invisible when he discovered his unknown mutant super powers?
NOPE

"Nannaaaaaaaan!" I yelled. "Where are you, Bro?" I wandered over to the hover bay, the urine recyc module, the kitchens, the storage larder, the maid's closet and the coat check room…he was nowhere to be found. Nowhere.... until I looked into the Locker Room.

It was quiet. Someone had turned off all the lights and lit some candles in a romantic fashion. For some reason an MP3 player in the corner was playing 'Flight of the Valkyries'.

"Nannan?"..... I asked quietly into the darkness.

From a dark corner a mysterious figure rose out of the shadows and tightened the leather straps on his hammered codpiece. From a dusty knapsack a series of rusty weapons and a shield tumbled out onto the floor. The hunched figure picked up a chest-plate and was clearly deep in thought as he rubbed the numerous dents and scrapes that covered it's surface from battles past. I could tell that it had been years, at least four, since this warrior had donned his gear and faced the unknown. 

"Nannan, is that you?" I queried from out of the darkness.

"Dang, codpiece!" Nannan muttered as his stood up and adjusted the straps a second time. He looked up with a sly look on his face and said, "I think I found someone to handle our 'Mayo problem'." 

"Nannan, what are you doing? ... You are a Chairman NOT an Iron Builder!" I said, "Your days in the stadium are long past you old friend."

Nannan took up his sword and felt the comforting weight of the weapon’s hilt in his hand. He shouldered the last of his gear and put on his golden helmet. He then hit a switch and a secret panel opened to reveal Legohaulic hog-tied with rough ropes and struggling to speak with a ball-gag from Pulp Fiction stuffed into his mouth.

"Nannan, this is MADNESS! You can't drag Tyler back into the ring against these animals, they nearly killed him and his Sister last time!"

"Guy..." Nannan sighed as nodded his head and smiled softly to himself, "...they've done studies, you know. 60% of the time, it works every time!"

"What are you talking abou...." I started to say and then I was struck from behind and knocked into unconsciousness. I soon awoke to an empty Locker Room. Startled, I ran down the long, dark hallway to the Coliseum and it was already too late. Nan and a confused looking Tyler, the ball-gag still planted firmly in his mouth, were gazing across the battlefield at the daunting Team Mayo. 

After a long stare-down Stephanie (clad in post-apocalyptic Road Warrior gear) snarled, " I like your new pet, Nannan - we have heard his bones snap and seen his flesh bleed before! We shall make him pay for daring to face us again!"
She reached down and released the collar that was holding her Barbarian partner in check.

As his restraints fell to the dirt and he was freed upon this Earth, Sean looked up and drew a finger horizontally across his neck with a mad grin on his face.

God save us all...

Alea Jacta Est, The Die is Cast.

Allez Brick?

Guy ( hiding under a desk somewhere )

Early bird

Here's a Eurasian Blue Tit to bid you good day:

Nice little build by siriusprzem- I like the presentation with the birdhouse in that second photo. 

Steak tips

Kosmas Santosa (KOS Brick) had a strong finish to Foodcember with this MOC. Mmmm...