DOOM with MOOD

Accomplished builder Anthony Wilson (The Secret Walrus) brings us a magnificent micro inspired by the video game DOOM. Whether you've played or not, I think you'll be able to appreciate Anthony's handiwork:

 

This build has a healthy balance of quality detailing and effective techniques. The pentagram and demonic skull are cleverly designed, but the majority of the build features simpler architecture that gives it hearty substance without overwhelming the viewer. 

What struck me most immediately about this build is the excellent presentation! Real lighting effects and the inclusion of smoke (perhaps real, perhaps added in post-production) energize the build, giving it a mysterious and malevolent atmosphere. A single nanofig stands at the threshold of unknowable evil, illustrating the feeling of enthrallment this build creates. In the foreground, tangled brambles add visual variety and another color to the build without forsaking the pervasive feeling of DOOM. 

Anthony has suggested a fitting soundtrack to accompany this masterpiece. Click on the image above to visit the original photo and find out what it is!

Spirit of the season

Up here in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is in full swing, and while it may be mild for some people, it's decidedly not for others. You could blame this on the climate being affected by axial tilt and the Earth's distance from the Sun, or you could blame it on this "malevolent mountain spirit with powers over the wind and snow," Uromroz the Cold.

Built by Djokson, this icy, sharp character certainly looks responsible, doesn't it?

"I'm late I'm late I'm late"

I don't have much time today - but here's a great Alice in Wonderland scene from The /\rchitect, featuring some great landscape building:

The good, the evil and the...nocturnal being?

So, today I've got not one, not two, but three amazing Bionicle creations to share with you.

First of all, Alieraah brings us an adorable bat-technician (I'd never thought I'd ever say that). The CCBS body, the system head and the Ninjago wings mix up perfectly. The small bits of mint green also add a lot to the overall detail.

Second of all, Kelvin Low brings us this Nexo Knights-inspired lava beast. Appropriately titled "Ballrog"(Get it? cuz it has got a Ball for a head. Also yeah, this name kinda was my fault... This thing really looks like it won't let you pass. The flawless integration of system pieces and especially tires into this Bionicle build is pretty dang neat.

And for the last MOC of today I got a bit of a personal backstory. If you don't want to read is, just skip right ahead to the image.

As a little kid, I was a huge fan of Bionicle, and I especially liked the Barraki series. Then, one day, I think it was in 2007, I got the Lego Collectors Guide, and how shocked was I to find out that there were three Barraki Sets that never made their way to Germany. One of them was Nocturn. I was lucky enough to get this set around one year ago, and have really liked it ever since.

Now Logan McOwen brings us this lovely revamp of Nocturn. The seamless integration of CCBS onto the old Barraki pieces, the integrated gearbox and especially the new head design really made this MOC outstanding to me.

Marvelous minifig hands

Ah, the minifig hand. Since the dawn of time this seemingly insignificant  part of the LEGO person's anatomy has been used for almost anything a builder could think of. Today we have two MOCs which I was going to blog individually but then realized that both these builds contain a smart use of the humble minifig hand. So here we go: 

First up is this microscale Hoth scene from Jeremy Williams (Bricking It). This was built a couple months ago for NEW ELEMENTARY but I missed it then, so here it is. Check out all the great part usages at this tiny scale, including a metal ingot, roller skate, and of course those tiny hands...

(Sidenote: we've chosen this build as our June 2016 cover photo over on Twitter! Don't forget to follow us, and all that!)

Our second MOC is also from a licensed theme, but from the more magical side of things - a Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets vignette built by Markus Rollbühler ('rolli). Not only are some sand green hands put to good use on the basilisk, but there are also some arms (and skeleton arms) in there. Plus that crow bar tongue. 

Dragon warrior

...I really need to get around to finishing (read: starting) my review of 41172 The Water Dragon Adventures. The set's been sitting completed on my shelf for almost two months now. And I can't even claim to have built anything with it in the meantime - quite unlike LEGO 7, who took the head and wings from another Friends dragon, 41175 Fire Dragon's Lava Cave, and built this stunning mech:

The legs are a little short for my taste, making the creature a little less imposing - but maybe that was the goal, and at any rate I have no right to complain since I have not turned my own dragon set into a mech as awesome as this one. Not yet, anyway. 

(Stay tuned for that review...)

Moon cheese miners

Anyone remember that Wallace and Gromit episode where they go to the moon and find out it's made of cheese? 

Maybe that's what inspired Galaktek to build this model of some intrepid space miners carving up the cheddary landscape:

They came prepared - they have a crane...

...a barge...

...and even some sort of rat alien thing...

I really love this MOC, and I haven't been building for a couple weeks but this inspired me to break out the bricks again. So kudos to Galaktek for that. 

You can check out even more images in the Flickr album!

Dragon mountain

Rod Gillies (2 Much Caffeine) added another nice entry to his Iron Builder battle with Kosmas Santosa (kosbrick) by using the paint roller seed part on a fierce Asian dragon. 

Aside from the dragon, my favorite detail of this build is the little bridge - a simple construction of bar plates, but it looks quite nice. 

"We're making today a perfect day for yooooou!"

The latest round of ABS (maybe the best one yet) just wrapped up, and I realized I missed this fantastic model of Elsa from Frozen Fever when contestant Cody Purviance posted it a couple weeks ago. The lime green telephone seed part is used nicely, but that's not all - check out the bananas and ice cream cones that have been used as well! 

Forbidden fortress

It's amazing how these guys do it. With several days left to build, Iron Builder contestants Tim Schwalfenberg (One More Brick) and Legopard have already churned out almost thirty builds apiece in just a few weeks - and all of them are blog-worthy! Here's another one of my favorites, a dark microscale fortress from Tim:

The seed part features beautifully in the construction of the roof, and I love how the color scheme keeps the mood grim. Those LotR rings at the front of the bridge are a nice touch of color. 

Mini mill

Somehow I missed this when it was uploaded to Flickr in December of last year. This tranquil little micro-castle build from Halhi141 has some of the best rockwork I've ever seen at this scale, and the rest of the construction isn't too shabby either. 

Check out the lovely sloped construction of the stream and the terrain around it:

This project is up on LEGO Ideas and it deserves your support. Imagine having this miniature masterpiece displayed on a shelf in your own home... https://ideas.lego.com/projects/129343

Air delivery, circa 1800

"The Flying Irwin" is a steampunk-style traveling vendor hot air balloon thing (?) built by Legopard and Brick Vader. The ramshackle design and all those little details make it a very interesting MOC to look at!

Stocking stuffers

I've been saving some smaller MOCs in my "stuff to blog" folder for a while, looking for a good opportunity to make a compilation post. Since it's Christmas Eve, the concept of stocking stuffers - small but enjoyable gifts - popped into my head. So Happy Holidays from the Brick Bucket, and enjoy this grab bag of builds that prove size doesn't matter. 

"Yoshi" by Cecilie Fritzvold (cecilihf):

"Viro-blaster" by Karf Oohlu:

"Aang" and "Zuko" by John Moffatt:

"Prototype" by (my fellow blogger) Dead Frog Inc.:

And finally, "Run crab, run!" by Devid VII:

Not your average fairy tale

vitroleum recently put the final touches on an interesting series of MOCs. He's built three famous fairy tale girls in a decidedly... sexy (?) style, which must have been difficult to accomplish given the geometry of the typical LEGO brick. 

The Protectors' Ancestors

As you should know I am a huge fan of BIONICLE MOCs. Now, after the 2015 reboot of BIONICLE there have been dozens of G2 revamps.

Now Tymbal brings us revamps, or, as he calls them, ancestors of the six protectors. He managed to add a lot of character and even a backstory of each and every one of the Protectors, which makes them seem very fitting into the official Lore.

Nexo Knights set images and analysis!

I've been holding my breath for the theme that has been chosen to replace Legends of Chima: the half-castle, half-sci-fi Nexo Knights, coming January 2016. Now, thanks to Eurobricks hackers' discovery of a stash of new images on LEGO.com's servers, we can finally stop guessing and see some of these exciting new sets for the first time. 

Oddly, I don't think Nexo Knights - a "big bang" IP in the same vein as Ninjago - has been getting the same hype as Chima was before that came out in 2013. Maybe it's that Nexo Knights has had less time to sit in everyone's brain: before a logo was discovered, the theme was mere speculation, and it was only a few days ago that LEGO released some teasers and showed off two of the sets at New York Comic Con. 

Regardless, I'm pretty excited about Nexo Knights. In my opinion it's looking better than Chima, but still not on par with my perennial favorite Ninjago. It seems like it'll have plenty of time to prove itself though. More than the storyline, I'm just excited about the new pieces and sets themselves, so without further ado, let's jump into the newfound stash of images!

UPDATE 10/23/15: While going through Brickset today I decided that I could match some of the known names listed there to some of the sets in this post, just based on intuition. I have edited the post accordingly. 

UPDATE 1/7/15: These sets have been out for some time now and I thought I'd point out that I accurately predicted the price for all but two. Merlok's Library was predicted at $30 and is really $25; the King's Mech was predicted at $35 and is really $30. So overall, these sets ended up being even cheaper than I'd thought! (Now I just need to decide which ones to get...)

Come closer to the light...

So, it's been some time since I last blogged something, but here I go again.

As most of you know, I am a huge fan of well built and thought out BioMOCs. Now Flickr user thisisnothingatall brings us this slightly creepy, disturbing creature. I especially like the anglerfish-esque lamp, probably used to lure prey. All in all a dark, but weirdly beautiful beast.

Crocodile fort

Castleheads have not yet gotten tired of the ramshackle style that BrickNerd's Tommy Williamson recently dubbed "Tilted Timbers." This MOC by Dubbadgrim is one of my new favorite examples of this building style, and it also features a nicely layered base with plenty of SNOT construction. 

This was built for the Guilds of Historica "Historica Husbandry" minichallenge on Eurobricks. 

Dracholich - undead dragon

Dragons are awesome enough, but a skeleton dragon? Even cooler. And an amazingly well-built MOC of a skeleton dragon by vitroleum? Too cool to not post! Just look at how nicely all the pieces fit together in this build...

Hot stuff

This jaw-dropping (and jaw-melting) lava dragon is brought to you courtesy of Deus Otiosus. The large window panels used as wings arguably stick out most prominently at first, but the fantastic chest detailing, superbly formed head, and lighting (!) make the biggest impact, if you ask me.