Custom Crazy Has New Gear

Thanks to a heads up from Apples and confirmed by Custom Crazy, CC now has the modular medieval weapons for sale!

They have six weapon heads and four handles all ready for your enjoyment in addition to their Ninja themed accessories. That's a matrix of 24 potential new weapons for your castle armies. Parts are available in pearl dark gray and flat silver, but you'll have to wait a little longer for the black speckled items shown above.

You can check all of this out at the Custom Crazy website.

War Elephant by Siercon and Coral

Quickly becoming one of my favorite finds of the month, Siercon and Coral have designed these LOTR War Elephants for your Middle Earth minifig armies to ride or fight. These are quite original and I've not seen their like before (although I'll have to admit I've only been haunting the Classic Castle groups recently).

If you think that's impressive, you should see the entire herd of War Elephants they've created!

Siercon and Coral have been posting a fair amount of work as of late. So head on over to their Flickr stream and check it out.

New Duo Brings Fantasy Realms to Life

I say 'new' because it appears that this husband and wife team just opened a Flickr account. I'd bet dollars to donuts that they've been active in the community for a while.

Sean and Steph Mayo (otherwise known as Siercon and Coral) have just uploaded a slew of fantastic fantasy themed creations to Flickr in the past day or so. They were found via the Fantasy LEGO group on Flickr.

Amazing creations abound including this praying mantis which combines minifigure and brick-built parts to great effect. Is it a custom fig or some other hybrid? I don't know...but I like it!

Check out the couple's latest on their Flickr stream.

Thrash's Custom Tutonic Knight Accessories

Not many customizers can say, "I need a new part. I think I'll design one in CAD and have it made." Ryan (AKA Thrash) is one of the few who can.

The dagger, sword, and fantastic helmet were all created as part of Ryan's entry into the CCCVIII Realistic Castle Figure contest. Not only are the accessories custom made, but the cape and torso decals are as well. Brilliant work!

I don't know if Ryan plans on entering the customs business any time soon, but with skills like these, I would say he's off to a good start.

Check out the rest of Trash's work on his Flickr stream. You can also check out the other entries to the Classic Castle contest here.

Fantasy Custom Minifigs on Eurobricks

Minifig customizer The Penguin has joined forces with Commander Neyo to create these custom fantasy minifigures from Crusaders of the Kingdom of Erathia. I'm not familiar with the source material but the custom minifigs look great. Head on over to Eurobricks and check them out.

New Tutorials via Classic Castle

I've been bitten by the high-adventure/fantasy bug recently (think Lord of the Rings or Dungeons & Dragons) and I've been searching far and wide for references, tutorials, and inspiration. It dawned on me after seeing a post at Eurobricks that ClassicCastle.com might be a good source for such information...and it is!

Although some of the tutorials have already been featured in our customization section, there are some great new items in there too like this custom armor tutorial from Lamanda2.

There are even some good construction tips and tricks to help design sets or brick-built beasts for your adventurers to battle.

I'll be adding these to the 'tutorials' section over the next few days, but if you want to get the jump on me you can head on over to Classic Castle right now.

Product Review: BrickForge Centaurs

Colors shown - Reddish Brown (left) and Dark Tan (left)

This is a first in a series of reviews highlighting the new 2010 products from BrickForge. Today we focus on one of the most anticipated items coming out of this custom house, Centaurs.

The product is in fact the lower torso of a Centaur that can be added to any LEGO minifigure torso assembly. Currently BrickForge offers these items in three colors - tan, dark tan, and reddish brown. Additional colors are planned for the future.

BrickForge Centaur - 360 View (click to enlarge)

The footprint of this piece is 2 studs in width and 5 studs in length. The feet have a snug and firm connection to other LEGO studs, and there are two additional connections on the Centaur's back.

The first connection point is for the minifigure torso assembly and resembles the posts found on most TLG hips. The second set of connections are spaced similarly to a 1x2 plate and allow for other minifigures to sit on top, or for accessories like quivers or scabbards to be attached. Unlike a standard LEGO horse, traditional saddle pieces will not work with this animal. All connections were found to be snug and fit standard LEGO parts well.

Centaur Attachment Points (click to enlarge)

There were a couple of minor issues found with this piece. First, because the font, left foot is in a lifted position, the figure can become unbalanced if heavy accessories are held in the left hand in the extended position. This is only an issue, of course, if the centaur is not attached to a LEGO base plate or some other construction with studs.

The second issue pertains to accessory use. I found that some of the longer accessories typically designed for the back of a minifigure (i.e. quivers), would not fit because of the placement of the Centaur body. This is fixed by placing the quiver on the stud attachments found on the back of the Centaur instead (as shown above). One thing to keep in mind is that you may only be able to place accessories, like the quiver, on one side only unless you modify the piece. There is a slight overlap with the two quivers I had that prevented both 'neck braces' from lying flush against the Centaur body. This is easily fixed with a little sand paper, however.

Overall this is a fantastic product. It extends the line-up of Fantasy characters available for MOCs in the LEGO Castle/Kingdoms/or Harry Potter universes. Construction was solid and the issues found were very minor and easily fixed. These pieces were also found to interact well with official TLG products. A recommended buy.

Additional Stats

Custom House:BrickForge

Website:www.brickforge.com

Location:United States

International Shipping:Yes (details)

Colors Available:Tan, Dark Tan, and Reddish Brown

Retail Price:$4.00 USD

UPDATE: One item of note. The BrickForge backpack, a new item for 2010, works quite well with this design. There are no issues will placement on the minifigure's back and still allows clearance for placement of additional accessories on the back studs. A more in-depth review of the backpack will take place in the near future.

Decoding Messages from BrickFair

So Joe Meno is at BrickFair right now and posting updates on Facebook. Last night was the Q&A with Steve Witt of The LEGO Group.

Given that these were brief updates without a lot of details, I'm listing these are 'rumors' for now. I'm certain after this weekend more details will be available. Here's a listing of the posts relevant to minifigures...

Both Castle and City Advent calendars will be available in the US. In the past only the City themed calendars were available in the US forcing fans to pay high prices in the secondary market for the Castle theme.

Possible reissue of Classic Space theme. I'm uncertain if this would be a Neo-Classic Space theme or very true to the sets from the 80's. Here's hoping for lots of minfig goodness.

Minifigure elements will be unique to the minifigs only. This one left me scratching my head as The Skater's and Cheerleader's hair pieces are scheduled to appear on LEGO Harry Potter figures. I'm guessing we're talking pom-poms, laser guns, spartan helmets, and the like.

LEGO Pirates of The Caribbean is confirmed for next year. So although the Captain Jack Sparrow that snuck into Comic Con was a prototype, we should see these around a summer release with the new movie.

I'm not anticipating more announcements, as the convention is winding down tomorrow.

(Via Joe Meno's Facebook page)

Commander Tac's Goblin Hardsuit

Luke Lyons (AKA Commander Tac) wows with this great goblin hardsuit made up mostly of Space Police III items. The Slizer and Snake helmets really caught my eye. The ammo belt of binoculars and BrickArms clips is nice too.

(Via ~Tac~ Flickr stream)

Question: What Elves Stand 6footFour?

Answer: These Elven Heroes.

Elves never received the official LEGO treatment when Castle dipped it's toes into the fantasy realm last year.

A mix of Forestmen, Atlantis, Kingdoms, and Prince of Persia, these warriors are 'kewl'.

The Dagger of Time is really making the rounds in the elvish arsenal these days. It actually does bear a resemblance to the BrickForge Elven Blade (albeit shorter). I also love the treatment on the staff. I really wish TLG could be a little bit more inventive with their magical equipment. A 4L bar can only take you so far...

(Via 6footFour's Flickr stream)

Morgan Calls Forth The Warden and Scavenger

Morgan is back with two new pieces of custom goodness. The first piece is titled The Warden and combines Star Wars elements with a skull head used largely in the 2009 fantasy Castle sets. In addition to Photoshop'd backgrounds, Morgan's compositions are often accompanied by a snipped of poetry or passage from a book. Here's the quote for The Warden by Jeff Pherson:

"I'm sitting here, white all around. This room is quiet, there is no sound."

The second creation is titled Toemhin Atan, Borderlands Scavenger. There's a lot going on here with elements from Star Wars, Kingdoms, and the Collectible Minifigure Skater. The real focus, however, is the use of the new heads from the Jawson, Space Police III figure (sp113). This time we have lyrics from the group Steelwing:

"From ancient times we came, moving silently, killing for the game. Oh, you will fear me.

Are you the hunter, are you the prey? If you don't strike first it will be your last mistake...There's nowhere you can run to."

(Via Morgan190's Flickr stream)

Classic Castle Fools Around with The Jester

Classic Castle gives us a look at set 7953, The Jester.

A nifty little impulse set, the minifigure is clearly the focus.

These pictures seem to suggest that this figure is a reissue of the fantasy era jester (cas403) in a red and white color scheme. The insignia on the belt buckle suggests that this fools clowns around the court of the Lion faction.

A new catalog upload on BrickLink also shows that the head is two-sided bringing both comedy and tragedy to the show.

This brings the jester count up to three if you include Harley Quinn (bat026).

(Picture from BrickLink)

Eurobricks Seeks the Wisdom of the Wizard

Eurobricks member 74louloute posted this lovely little pic of Kingdom's impulse set 7955, The Wizard.

The wizard appears to have loyalties to the Dragon faction based on the insignia on his hat. He also joins the long line of LEGO Wizards and Hogwart's alumni.

The wizard's dark green vestments, dragon print on the hat, and leg print are all new.

The little dragon is a nice touch. He is appears to be a dark green version of part x251, formerly appearing in Harry Potter sets.

(Picture from Eurobricks)

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)

Eurobricks Reviews Kingdoms Prison Carriage Rescue

KimT has got the goods over on Eurobricks. Another pre-release review, this time of Kingdoms set 7949, Prison Carriage Rescue. Army building potential abounds as the set comes with three figures, plenty of weapons, a horse and a carapace thingy that makes it look like a unicorn...really? REALLY?!

Cool prints, new shield designs, and the new great helm are all great features from this small set.

I really like how one of the figs has an intricate series of tattoos on his chest of the castle pris...none of the figs have tattoos?....It's not that kind of prison rescue?...Oh, my mistake!

Click on over to Eurobricks to check out the full review and set details.

(Picture from Eurobricks forums)

CopMike Gives the Lowdown on 'Showdown'

LEGO Ambassador and Eurobricks regular CopMike has scored another set in advance of the public, Kingdom's set 7950 (Knight's Showdown).

I will have to admit I'm not a big Castle/Kingdoms fan. Most elements that have caught my eye in the past have trended more toward 'fantasy' themes.

In perusing the forums it looks like this set brings us a new helmet design for the Dragon Knight. There's also been some discussion about new torso and leg printing on said figure. I guess 'plumes' may have been absent from this theme from some time too.

Instead of trying to pretend I know what I'm talking about regarding Castle/Kingdoms, I suggest you pop on over to Eurobricks and see the visual review for yourself.

If you care to school me in the finer points of Kingdoms, feel free to sound off in the comments...

(Picture from Eurobricks forums)

Forestmen Chess Pieces

One area where LEGO minifigures really work well is in the world of gaming. If you've ever rolled a D20 in a dark and sketchy basement with a few friends, you are familiar with the various avatars we've all used to help our imaginations take form. Although role-playing games immediately come to mind, another niche where minifigs seem to fit are custom chess pieces.

Classic Castle is currently running a monthly contest through April focused on chess. Aaron Dayman's entry uses minifigures from the Forestmen line to fill out one side of the board. I don't know if the bases would fit a standard chess square, but I love the design. Now that LEGO has launched their games division, it would be fantastic to see a series of chess sets in various themes.

I'm looking forward to seeing more creations coming out of this contest!

(Picture from Aaron Dayman's Flickr stream; originally found on The Brothers Brick)

Sir Jas Stands Triumphant: Custom Minifigure

JasBrick steps out of Star Wars with this custom Knight minifigure. Sir Jas appears to have taken out an entire army of the undead. This mohawked minifigure appears to have custom head, but its actually Dr. Inferno from the Agents line.

The armor resembles the fantasy era, crown breastplate; however, LEGO didn't produce it in gold.

The swords? BrickArms creations.

(Picture from JasBrick's Flickr stream)