Sticks and Stones

...and fantastic set-ups will make the shot. Scrawnysumo has been posting some solid pictures lately including this scene from LEGO Kingdoms. What really caught my eye was how the shot was set up...

Yet again a computer screen is used to amazing effect as a backdrop. The stick and stone are in perfect proportion to the fig for that added sense of 'realism'.

You can see all this and more outstanding photos on his Flickr stream.

Gizmodo Delivers the Hi-Res Goods for 2011 LEGO

Gizmodo ran an article last night that featured tons of big, hi-res images of all the 2011 LEGO playthemes announced to date. This includes Star Wars, Ninjago, Alien Conquest, City, Kingdoms, Pirates of the Caribbean...the list goes on an on. LEGO Harry Potter seems to be the one missing piece.

Becuase the hi-res images are so big, you get great shots of all the minifigures. You can find the article at the Gizmodo website.

A big thanks to the folks at The Brick Blog who pointed me in the right direction.

LEGO Series 5 Collectible Figs and More

Only hours after rumors of the Series 5 Collectible Minifigures surfaced, we now have a picture from the Nurnburg International Toy Fair. So it would seem that 'woman with briefcase' is 'woman with boombox' and the red and blue mystery figs are a lumberjack and a male snowboarder, respectively.

A big thanks to Toys N Bricks for posting the link to the website Spieletest. Here's further proof for you future bloggers to always dig when sites are linked. There are several videos in the link to Spieletest above that showcase set shots for new Ninjago, Star Wars, and Alien Conquest. There are also pics below the videos which show the new Kingdoms sets.

I've linked two of the videos below. The first you must watch as it has pics of Series 4 and 5 plus all the Alien Conquest figures. The second video is a showcase of the new Ninjago sets and figures. Enjoy!

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.

LEGO Kingdoms Holiday Poly at Target (US)

Toys N Bricks shares news of a new impulse polybag at Target stores in the US. Set 30062, Target Practice, is retailing for $3.99 USD.

Although there's nothing terribly new in the set, there a great lion faction fig, helmet, crossbow, quiver, and two spears. Not a bad little parts pack!

(Via Toys N Bricks)

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 Items on BrickLink Store

Over the weekend I went through some of my backlog of items and placed them on The Ugly Duckling BrickLink store. Although it's a real 'grab bag' of minifigs and accessories, I do have items from Star Wars, Series 2, Kingdoms, and the new Pharaoh's Quest.

My shipping fees are fixed rate for USPS First Class delivery ($2.25 USD for US and $3.00 USD International), so buy all you want, the shipping costs won't go up*. I also don't have any minimums on orders.

If you have a chance take a look, and you might find an item or two of interest.

*See BrickLink 'store terms' tab for details

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.

6footFour's Legion of the Dusk

6footFour is back with his Legion of the Dusk. Overall a great mix of custom and official LEGO parts. This really makes me wonder what the future holds for the Kingdoms line. If I had to guess, I would suspect more factions will appear aside from the Lion and Dragon armies. Regardless, the Eagle troops here appear ready for action.

(Via 6footFour's Flickr stream)

Axel's Knight of the Dry Brush

I was perusing Flickr and stumbled across this pic from Axel.

He's claiming to use a dry brush painting technique to give these BrickForge and Kingdoms parts a more metallic, and battle-worn look.

Axel also has a collection of lightsaber hilts where he's applied this technique to great effect. At first I thought they were minifigure scale, but realized they were full size...but then that made we want the minifg ones even more! Perhaps there's some enterprising customizer who is up to the task.

(Via A~XEL's 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)

This Would've Never Happened in The Dragon Army

Yes, The Brother's Brick blogged this earlier, but you have to admit that it's good. Sometimes "simply stated" says it best...

"William just joined the army and this is his first time away from home. He finds out the hard way that when you wash your uniform, you should use cold water."

If you are wondering how Matthew Hurt was able to turn the white panels pink, supposedly this is a result of a misprint by TLG. I couldn't find more details on the misprint. If someone knows more, let us know in the comments.

Speaking of LEGO Kingdoms I still have a few items left from the Dragon Army battle packs. Head to my BrickLink store to check them out.

(Via The Brothers Brick and Matthew J Hurt's Flickr stream)

Store and Site Updates: 6/10/10

Greeting and salutations citizens of Minifig Nation! I have a few updates regarding the BrickLink store and here at the site.

I've recently parted out three copies of set 852922, LEGO Kingdoms Dragon Battle Pack. A great opportunity to score one of the new great helms and minifig breast plates without breaking the bank.

I've also recently come into a few Star Wars minifigures, Darth Vader and Imperial Troops from the Hoth Battle Packs. All figures come with accessories.

You can check out both sets of items on my BrickLink store.

Starting Friday, I will be traveling on a diplomatic mission outside of the Minifig Nation (aka I'll be taking a holiday with the family). I'm leaving Cygnetron 3000 in charge. Cygnetron has a few items in the queue for this weekend, so check in periodically. If I don't respond to inquiries immediately, you'll know why.

One last question...are any of our readers going to Brickworld 2010: Bricks In Space in Chicago this year? The AFOL event starts June 17th and runs through the 20th. If so, would someone like to be an unofficial correspondent for "The Duck"? I would be looking for someone who's planning on going as a registered attendee and not just on the public exposition day. There would be no large commitment on your part, I would just be looking for pictures and stories from the event related to minifigures. If you fit this description and are interested, just contact me at 'uglyduck.bricklink@gmail.com' . We can workout the details then. There might even be some 'swag' in it for you!

Have a great weekend!

Cygnet
Minister of Information, Minifig Nation

BrickForge Product Update: 5/7/10

BrickForge is back at work and has a whole new selection of armor and weapons in dark blueish gray.

The weapon shown here with the big, bad wolf is the battle axe. Other items in this run include:

• Elven helmet
• Battle armor
• Viking helmet
• Hoplite helmet
• Battle helmet
• War hammer
• Military sword
• Long bow
• Javelin
• Hero sword
• Elven spear
• Elven blade
• Dragon sword

Check out all of their products at the BrickForge store today.

UPDATE: The following items have just been added to the Flickr stream in dark blueish gray:

• Great helm
• Savage mask
• Hero hair
• Dwarven beard
  

Although LEGO now has their own great helm with the newest Kingdoms release, BrickForge's design precedes it.

I'll leave it up to you. Do you prefer the LEGO version (part 89520) or the BrickForge creation?

(Via BrickForge Flickr stream)

Are You Not Entertained?

Sir Nadroj salutes those about to die with this killer historical MOC. These custom gladiators are a great mash-up of various LEGO themes like Kingdoms, Atlantis, Indiana Jones, and Prince of Persia.

If you click through to Jordan's Flickr stream you'll also see a great Emperor minifig giving the thumbs down symbol flanked by two Roman guards...not to mention the fantastic Colosseum vignette!

(Via Sir Nadroj's Flickr stream)

Scenes from a LEGO Store: Minifigures Now on Sale (US)

I've just gotten back from my local LEGO Store in southwest Ohio where I picked up three of the dragon faction battle packs from the Kingdoms line (and LEGO exclusives to boot). I was perusing the key chains and what did I see...(wait for it)...LEGO Collectible Minifigures! I picked five bags at random and went happily on my way. It looks like LEGO wants to take advantage of the holiday weekend.

It is confirmed that you can only buy five a day (so bring friends and family). I will also say that despite others claiming you can determine what is in the bag by "feeling it out", I really couldn't tell. If you are looking for a specific figure, then your best best will be to bring some way to id the secondary bar code on the back.

In separate but related news, my local Toys R Us claimed to have the minifigures in store yesterday. I ended up going after work, a couple of hours later, and they were all sold out. The store only had one case! So if you see them somewhere I would pick them up.