A few weeks back I found a link to papercraft artist Ninjatoes' website. They were attempting to build a papercraft version of the LEGO Pirate Redbeard. It would be one thing if someone build up an entire shell that looked like a minifigure, but Ninjatoes actually built each piece individually with articulation. Amazing!
What's also nice is that they've shared the parts templates and instructions on their website, so if you wanted to have a go...you can!
I would also recommend taking the time to peruse the entire Ninjatoes' site, as there are several fantastic works across a variety of themes.
Thanks go out to Nathan who reminded me about this work and let me know when it was complete.
I'm blown away by Jared's (AKA DirkNagel) entry for the Pirates of the Caribbean custom minifig category of the Jolly Roger 2 contest, Bootstrap Bill Turner. I love the look of the barnacles and sea stars in this design, especially when you take a step back and appreciate the scale at which these details were created!
I'm expecting 'big things' from Jared in the future. You can check out more of his work, including his 'Union Against Infected' zombie stompers, on his Flickr stream. You can also see the other entries to the Jolly Roger 2 Contest at ForbiddenCove.com.
Jonathan (Shmails) continues to impress with this cadre of female pirates (and one scurvy dog) created as part of an entry to a contest at Forbidden Cove.
This is the second time in as many weeks where Jonathan has produced some fantastic minifig ladies! Do I even need to say how I wish that these might appear on CustomMinifigs.com?
Speaking of CustomMinifigs, the joint-venture between BrickForge and Jonathan, it looks like we may start to see some new figures up for sale very soon. Keep checking in this week!
I discovered yet another fantastic LEGO/toy photographer, Scrawnysumo. His latest depicts the scurvy dogs from set 6240, Kraken Attackin', in action.
Another great example of how a laptop monitor can be used as an effective backdrop. How do I know? He has another pic on his Flickr stream depicting the set up for this shot.
For fans of Metal Gear, you have to check out the latest member of Foxhound. You'll know it when you see it...
I kinda dropped the ball with the Colossal Castle Contest this year, not announcing the custom minifig categories until late in the game. I plan to rectify that with Forbidden Cove'sJolly Roger II Contest.
There's lot of categories for vignettes and ship building, but BrickArms is sponsoring a custom minifig category for Pirates of the Caribbean. You can see all of the contest categories here.
So hoist the colors mateys and get ta buildin'. You have until March 15th, 2011 to submit your entries.
The Classic-Pirates' Tournament of Retribution II continues on Eurobricks, but there is still time to take your revenge. Right now it would seem the redcoats are kicking the stuffing out of the bluecoats.
After perusing the forums, the brick comics by Commodore Hornbricker are a definite standout. In the one here they rip the faces off of the competition.
Even if you don't participate in the contest, at least check out the great collection of comics.
There's a whole slew of new contests out there; past, present and future.
The first item to announce that the Eurobricks/Classic-Town Collectible Minifigure Contest is now over. The three winning vignettes featured (or didn't feature, as the case may be) the Demolition Dummy, the Clown, and the Skater. The winners received their pick from one of White Fang's complete sets. Congrats to Redcross, Noodles140, and Fugazi!
A new contest has come online at Eurobricks in the historical themes forum: Redcoats vs. Bluecoats. Run in conjunction with Classic-Pirates.com, the rules can be found here. The objective is to create a 10 panel brick comic that humiliates the opposing side in the most fiendish way. The prizes include a whole host of LEGO Pirates swag!
There are a few other contests happening outside of EB (I promise).
Clone Army Customs is sponsoring the third annual Star Wars Base Contest. You can check out the details in the YouTube clip below. Who is Clone Army Customs, you say?! Patience padawan, patience...
Hazel recently posted this image appearing to announce a Killzone Custom Minifig Contest. Details are sketchy right now, but it looks like a sliver chrome Killzone custom minifigure is up for grabs. Once details are available, expect to see them on the Killzone Custom Minifig Group on Flickr.
Finally, Toys N Bricks is hosting two contests centered around the Series 1 Collectible Minifigures. The first relates to being the top contributor in their forums for the month of June (Oops, a little late in blogging that one!) The winner receives one Ninja for their efforts.
The second contest relates to building a robot vignette to win, what else, a Series 1 Robot minifigure.
Details on both Toys N Bricks contests can be found here.
There are two new magnet sets scheduled for release. The first is a Star Wars number featuring Kit Fisto, Barris Offee, and Captain Jag. Barriss Offee has been a hot item on the secondary market. The average BrickLink price for the month of May was around $16 USD, only appearing in the limited edition set 8091, Republic Swamp Speeder. This will be a great opportunity to score three SW figs that have only been available in pricier sets.
The second magnet set is currently showing up in LEGO stores in Europe. Magnet set 852948 is a collection of female minifigures from Agents, Pirates, and City/Town. The figures are specifically Dyna-Mite (agt024), Pirate Woman (pi101), and a City/Town figure that may be new.
It would seem that LEGO is making an effort to produce more female minifigures. In Jonathan Bender's book, LEGO A Love Story, he throws out that there's only 1 female minifigure for every 18 male ones. Upcoming sets like Harry Potter look like they are trying to narrow the gap.
LEGO Pirates, once classified as an evergreen line, was officially discontinued last year. Likely due to lagging sales. LEGO only released set 10210, Imperial Flagship in 2010.
I think Tom might be appealing to the wrong group. This is an area where many of the custom minifigure parts shops like BrickArms, BrickForge, and Fine Clonier might be more interested in the needs and wants of the Pirates AFOL clan.
Didn't BrickForge come out with minifig pigs before LEGO? Doesn't BrickArms have a line of bayonets? It could even be argued that LEGO didn't take action on certain items until the custom houses dared to tread there first.
Custom shops have done well in areas that LEGO has chosen not to play: World War II, Halo, detailed firearms and weapons.
Now, if I were one of the custom shops, I would want to see more numbers for each of the items that the AFOL groups were seeking. It's likely smaller shops take on more risk if a line fails. The more info they have about a new custom part's success, the more likely they might be to oblige.
Now I can't say if anyone from these shops read this blog, but I would, at a minimum, sent them the presentation and try to bring them to the table.
