This in-depth review of terrible LEGO clone brands is the funniest thing you'll read this week

UK AFOL Anthony Tomkins has been hard at work on his "Communist LEGO" review series, which has undergone a massive update this year with 50 new reviews. The lengthy PDF file compiles reviews of dozens of LEGO look-alike sets - "clone brands" - and comments on their quality and shameless ripping-off of LEGO. Well, actually it mostly just rants about how terrible they all are. The document is exceedingly well-researched and nicely put together, and it also made me laugh out loud several times.

My favorite review I've read so far is the one for the BLOCK Tech Armed Forces set, which managed to a) feature nonsensical design choices, b) include unreadably tiny instructions, and c) include models that looked nothing like what was shown on the box art:

"Communist LEGO" is absolutely worth a read, if only so you can laugh (and/or become enraged) at the mis-molds, mind-bogglingly incompetent design, weird zombified minifigures, blatant copyright infringment, and every other cheap tactic practiced by these clone brands. 

Click here to view the PDF

(Via Brickset)

New logo!

Contributor Dead Frog has created a sweet new logo for the blog!

The building table

I felt compelled to blog this as soon as it popped up in my Flickr feed this morning. Ralph Savelsberg (Mad physicist) posted this image of his LEGO workspace as he builds one of his excellent vehicle models (in this case, the Interceptor from Mad Max). No, it's not a finished MOC, but simply a nice portrayal of the art of construction. The sketchbook, parts bins, scattered pieces, and in-progress build all capture the fun and skill of the LEGO hobby. 

Maine Robotics Track Meet 2015 report

Today I got to witness something really cool. 

My brother Ned is on his middle school's LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Team, and today that team travelled to the 2015 Maine Robotics Track Meet in South Portland, Maine. There are five other kids on the team, and they are all Mindstorms robotics whizzes. Some of the models they created were mind-blowing. The team calls itself "Hawkbotics."

Well, Hawkbotics asked me to live-tweet their participation in the meet, and I said I'd do that and also write about their achievements here on The Brick Bucket. Their Twitter handle is @hawkbotics, and you can go there to see my full collection of live-tweets. (You can also check out their webpage, www.hawkbotics.weebly.com.) I was going to do a write-up here on the blog, but I can't transfer my pictures and videos from Twitter to Blogger, and the post wouldn't be the same without images. But you absolutely need to head to the Hawkbotics Twitter and see some great LEGO robotics. 

The most amazing part: Hawkbotics set a new world record in the Ping Pong Shotput event. They actually held the previous record of 201 points from last year, but with some modifications to their rig, they smashed their old score and posted a new one of 279 points, a record that should stand for a while. I never would've thought that my local LEGO robotics team - six middle schoolers from a small town in Maine - would do something this significant, but Hawkbotics proved me wrong. 

Again, the Twitter account is @hawkbotics. Video of the record-breaking Ping Pong rig can be found here, and an image can be found here. Give the account a follow if you want to see more LEGO robotics stuff; I'll totally be live-tweeting again at next year's meet! 

Dragon-building!

I've featured Nuju Metru's skillfully created Dragon Lands custom theme here before, and now the builder has announced a dragon-building contest! You can read the rules and guidelines on Flickr here. 

The best part is, to make the dragon building a little smoother for the newbies, Nuju Metru has created three instruction sheets with some advice for basic skeletons, heads, limbs, wings, and decorations. Take a look: 
(click to enlarge images)

This looks like a fun contest, and those guide pages are really well done. I look forward to seeing the army of dragons that is sure to come! 

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. 

Join the Foodcember 2014 building contest!

Kosmas Santosa (KOS brick) has started a "personal challenge" contest this month- no winners, no losers, no prizes, just a challenge to build your best... and the name of the game is food. Yes, it's Foodcember 2014! 

Read the rules here and then head to the Foodcember Flickr pool to submit your entries. Here are some dishes Kosmas himself has cooked up so far:

Note: because I seem to feature a lot of food-related models here on Brickology, I've added a food tag!

2014 Creations for Charity 24-hour live stream begins November 28th!

Creations for Charity is planning a 24-hour live stream event on November 28th, 2014. Here's what coordinator Nannan Zhang had to say:


You are invited to join the Creations for Charity 2014 24-hour live stream hosted by Joshua Hanlon and Matthew Kay from Beyond the Brick. From 5pm EST 11/28 through 5pm 11/29, tune in for a full day fun and building with Lego fans from the online community on Google Hangout. The link will be live on the day of the stream.

Of course, we will be raising money together for this year’s Creations for Charity through a pledge system. For each hour spent on the stream, anyone can pledge to donate a certain amount to the fundraiser. The LEGO Group has pledged to donate a set for every man-hour on air!

To join in on the fun, please sign up on creationsforcharity.org. You can join and leave the stream at your convenience. Feel free to re-post this image and tag some friends and invite them to join you!

You can sign up to join the stream here. For more information on Creations for Charity, click here.

First-ever BrickUniverse LEGO convention coming to Raleigh, North Carolina!

The people behind the upcoming LEGO fan convention, BrickUniverse, asked if I would post their press release here. I would of course be happy to do so... so without further ado: 

We are pleased to announce BrickUniverse 2015, a convention for LEGO fans of all ages coming to Raleigh, North Carolina. BrickUniverse 2015 will be held at the Raleigh Convention Center.

The event will be held on March 26, 27, 28, and 29 with public days being on the 28 and 29.

• Show off your awesome creations
• Try your luck and earn free LEGO in our drawings
• Test your skills and win in our various games
• Learn more about the bricks in our seminars
• Hang out with fellow LEGO enthusiasts
• And much much more!

Check out our builder website for more info on the four day convention and to register. The quicker you register, the cheaper!

Please go to: www.brickuniverse.org

And contact us at: info@brickuniverse2015.com

"Three Projects That Make LEGO Toys Into High-Tech Tools" in Popular Science

My new September issue of Popular Science has a short article covering three practical models that makers have constructed with LEGO MINDSTORMS pieces. 

Included are a braille printer created by a 12-year-old boy; a device that digitizes printed text; and an atomic force microscope. It's really quite amazing that all these projects were built with only LEGOs and maybe a few dollar-store items. You can read the article on popsci.com via this link: http://www.popsci.com/article/diy/three-projects-make-lego-toys-high-tech-tools

Friends don't let friends step on LEGOs

Christopher Lira on Google+ has shared this funny GIF of what happens when a man tries to save his buddy from stepping on a LEGO brick: 

"A Simple Solar Rover" LEGO model in Popular Science

My June 2014 issue of Popular Science arrived yesterday, and on page 66 I noticed a short article detailing how to build a small solar-powered rover out of LEGOs! 

The instructions say to use LEGOs to "build a chassis of your design that supports four wheels 2 inches or larger in diameter." It then says to glue the LEGOs together "for extra durability"... but we all know that's not the way to go (at least not if you're a purist)! The rest of the instructions tell how to set up the solar panel. Apparently, in direct sunlight, the bot should "scoot along at 2 feet per minute," which isn't fast by any standards but should provide a sense of satisfaction that you managed to build a working solar rover out of LEGOs!

It was good to see this article in PopSci, as I suppose it helps to promote LEGOs and the things that can be done with them. I probably won't be trying this myself, but I'd be interested to see what people think of this design in the comments.