Beyond the Iron Curtain

Many builders I know have made mention of the peculiar aesthetic of Cold War-era Soviet vehicles. These vehicles were built purely for functionality, with no attention given to appearance, and therefore they're rarely more than hunks of metal with wheels and an engine. However, they've still been the focus of several MOCs by accomplished vehicle builders - the latest of which is Karwik, with his DT-75 tractor: 

Bastardog

As most of you might know, I am a huge fan of robots of all kinds. Now (FLAVIO) brings us an amazing dog-like robot. The legs, the nice organic shapes and all the greebles make this creation perfect!

Brick Bucket Review: 60077 Space Starter Set

2/5

Appearance - 1/5
Construction - 1/5
Pieces - 4/5
Playability - 2/5 
Minifigs/accessories - 4/5
Value for money - 4/5

One of two $9.99 City "Starter Sets" released in summer 2015, 60077 Space Starter Set contains 107 pieces, for a CPP of 9.34 cents/piece. 









Verdict: A refreshingly good price for a City set, and there are some great pieces and minifigures for your money. I recommend this set to MOC builders and City collectors. For most collectors, or kids looking for a cheap, entertaining set, there are far better options. 

Ambush on the desert planet

Mark of Falworth has cooked up a great little sci-fi story based on his latest MOC, which features some great color-layered rockwork. Click here to read the full story and see more images! 

Baby turtle appreciation post

While scrolling through some reviews over on New Elementary (great site by the way...go check it out), I came upon Tim Goddard's review of the Creator set 31031 Rainforest Animals. In typical fashion, Tim built some alternate models using the set's parts after he'd finished the review. He made a very nice seahorse but what really caught my eye was this adorable baby sea turtle: 

The set contains a plentiful amount of curved slopes, so with some clever usage of mini ball joints to add shaping, the elegant curves on this model weren't hard to construct. The Rainforest Animals set has actually been on my "to buy" list for a while, so maybe I'll go pick one up and construct one or two of these little turtles for my desk. This build may be small but it's actually one of the nicer creations I've seen in a while. 

Avengers Quinjet

There are allready two official LEGO Quinjets, one from the original Avengers and one from the sequel, but Kit Bricksto wanted his own model. With amazing shaping and a complete interior it tops the official models by far.

Welcome Dead Frog Inc. to The Brick Bucket!

Editor Tate Whitesell is happy to announce that another writer will be joining The Brick Bucket to post MOCs and other LEGO-related musings from around the web! You may know Dead Frog Inc. from his great sci-fi MOCs on Flickr... now you'll see his commentary right here on The Brick Bucket. Here's what he had to say: 

Aloha!

I'm Dead Frog Inc., but most people just call me Frog. I originally wrote for The Brick Tavern Blog, but it went pretty inactive, and Tate was kind enough to invite us over to join The Brick Bucket Blog-team. And now I am here.

I'm mostly a Sci-Fi builder, although I do enjoy Fantasy, Bionicle and car builds. I've been active in the flickr community since late 2011, but I had a long break and started again early 2013.

DFinc.

More writers may be joining the Brick Bucket blogging team soon. If you'd like to be one of them, contact us! 

Al Amarj island

This huge and amazingly detailed island fortress is brought to you by Patrick Massey (MassEditor). There's so much to love about this MOC. Check out a few images in this post and then click on over to Flickr to see more - it's worth your time. 

Return to Ice Planet

I'm too young to remember the short-lived Ice Planet theme of the mid-'90s, but I do like the look of those sets, with their cold-weather adaptations and strange love of trans-neon-orange. This mecha by Brick Bucket favorite nobu_tary puts a fantastic, more modern spin on the Ice Planet aesthetic. The whole thing is impeccably smooth and well-rounded, with just the right amount of greebles and asymmetrical details. My favorite part is the juxtaposition of a regular stud and a 1x1 round tile on the front, with the 1x1 tooth plate behind to give a very unique, non-LEGO shape. Very nice build. 

Cool things are on the way...

I'm in talks with a few people that have expressed interest in joining me here on The Brick Bucket and turning this blog into more than a one-man operation. Nothing has been finalized yet, but it's possible that there will be a team of bloggers here - not just me - in the near future. If you're interested joining that potential team in writing for The Brick Bucket, don't hesitate to get in touch with me via Flickr or the Contact page. Stay tuned! 

Series 4 Mixels discounted 20% on LEGO Shop

I don't usually post news or product updates, but I was on LEGO Shop and happened to notice that all Series 4 Mixels are down from $4.99 to $3.98, a 20% decrease. I assume this is to clear the stock to make room for the new Series 5. This could be a good opportunity to grab a large quantity of Mixels - as I've said many times, they have a ton of rare and useful pieces for MOCing, and they're quite cheap too. Do yourself a favor and pick a few up on sale here: 

http://shop.lego.com/en-US/LEGO-Mixels-ByTheme

UPDATE: 41533 Globert is already sold out!