Citizen Brick Review on Brother's Brick

It seems the folks at Citizen Brick set Nannan up with some printed minifigures, bricks, and tiles. In turn, Nannan has put together a review of their products on The Brothers Brick.

If you've been considering a purchase, but wanted a the opinion of an unbiased third-party...well now you have it! I personally think that there's a lot of potential from this relatively new company, given the inventive and witty nature of their products to date.

You can see the full review on The Brother's Brick, or just cut to the chase and visit Citizen Brick today.

TBB's Charity Relief for Japan

The Brothers Brick is organizing efforts to help those affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. They have banners on the site where you can donate to the Red Cross, and they are currently organizing a series of auctions via Creations for Charity. If you recall Creations for Charity usually has a big event around the holiday season where people can donate items to be sold and the proceeds were used to support Toys for Tots. This time around the items are being auctioned via eBay, but the mechanism is generally the same.

Over the holidays there was a strong show of support from minifig customizers for Creations for Charity. If you have the time, please help those affected in Japan.

You can find out more on The Brothers Brick or visit the active eBay auctions.

A Big Thank You to Family Bricks

I just read the article on The Brothers Brick where Nannan supplied some stats on this year's record breaking efforts on behalf of Toys for Tots. 

Who do you think the biggest contributor to this years effort happened to be? Family Bricks' custom minifigs were able to generate around $900 this year alone for the cause, more than anyone else. This is a proud day for both the broader LEGO and customization community.

If you have the chance, drop Family Bricks a line and congratulate him on this wonderful accomplishment.

If I also understand correctly, thanks are due to Will Chapman of BrickArms as he donated many custom accessories to help FB with his creations this year.

You can read the article on The Brothers Brick, you can check out Family Bricks website and drop him a line or buy one of his customs, and you can see all that BrickArms has to offer at their store.

Also thanks to everyone who donated creations or made a cash offering to the cause. We of the Minifig Nation salute you.

Apocalust's Prince of Purple Persia

Yes, TBB blogged this earlier but what kind of minifigure blog would this be without posting this too. 'Weird and wonderful' gets you blogged every single time...

Wonderful use of the Bellatrix Lestrange hair and interesting use of the PoP hassansin claws for the guitar. 

There seems to be an unofficial petition forming on Apocalust's Flickr page to have him finish this piece (yes, there was going to be more)...by force if we have to.

TBB Host New 'Mime' Contest

The Brothers Brick has decided to host a contest called 'A Mime is a Terrible Thing to Waste'. The rules are pretty wide open, you can create just about anything you want as long as it shows a mime in mortal danger. Even custom accessories are fair play. You have until December 4th to submit your entry. You can see more on the rules here.

The prizes? It's winner takes all with a dozen Series 2 Collectible Minifigure Mimes up for grabs. Oh, that and the title, 'Waster of Mimes'...

(Via The Brothers Brick)

LEGO Star Wars Imperial Shuttle Minfigs

By now you've likely seen the pictures from Gizmodo or Brickworld showing the new LEGO Star Wars set 10212, Imperial Shuttle, due out in September. The shuttle itself is quite drool worthy, but what about the five minifigs that come with it?

I think most of the production effort went into the set, sadly to say. Most of the figures are reissues of existing offerings.

Jedi Luke is largely the same fig that came with set 10188, Death Star. White pupils have been added to the face print, but that's it.

Darth Vader also appears to be the same as the figure that came with the Death Star set and 8017, Darth Vader's TIE Fighter. We don't have pics of this Vader sans helmet, but I wouldn't expect much new under the hood.

The Stormtrooper shown is a bit of a mystery. Most of the new Stormtroopers have the dotted mouth pattern printed on the helmet. The variant shown here does not and better resembles sw109a (minus pauldron) which came with set 7659, Imperial Landing Craft.

The Imperial Commander appears to be an updated version of sw114. The torso print of the uniform appears to be more basic. The head print has been updated, featuring a new, but basic, expression.

The Imperial Pilot is the most unique of the lot. He is most similar to sw208; however, the torso print varies in small ways. The facial print is new, but the cavalry cap (part 30135) has appeared in black previously.

Overall assessment? There's not too much to get excited about here. Some updates? Sure. This still doesn't place these figures in a more affordable range given the price point of 10212. If you are going to buy this set, do it for the shuttle, not for the figs.

(Picture via The Brothers Brick)

Karf Oohlu's Got Character(s)

Keith Goldman has been conducting a series of interviews with prominent AFOL builders over on The Brothers Brick. On Monday he talked with Fedde (aka Karf Oohlu) about his process and his creations.

This prompted me to checkout Fedde's Flickr stream where I found these albums dedicated to custom 'characters'. While not all of them would qualify as minifigures, the fig is featured in many ways. My favorite was this custom mer-man warrior combining elements of Harry Potter, Castle, and Atlantis. A cool little stand to boot. Based on what I've seen, don't be surprised if Karf Oohlu makes the occasional appearance here.

(Picture from Karf Oohlu's Flickr stream)