Days of Future Past: LEGO Prototype Minifigures

I feel that I'm a fairly informed member of the AFOL community. I probably see 80% of the LEGO news and information that comes across the interwebs because of my involvement with the site. So I'm often surprised when I find a new trove of existing information that hasn't come across my desk.

Earlier today Flickr member Highonbricksshared a picture that was labeled 'Space Police 3 Proto Drawings' (you can see the image above). Several people asked where the picture was from to which he replied 'research'. Jumping to action I sought guidance from the love child of Sergey Brin and Larry Page (AKA I did a Google search), and I quickly found that Brickpedia has a 'prototypes' page where images of TLG protos can be found. There's a mixed bag of stuff in there, but there's an entire section dedicated to minifigures.

You can easily see from the image above which figs made the cut on Space Police 3 and those that didn't. There's are also early sculpts of the heads from Atlantis and a fig from a line that never launched called 'Seatron' (perhaps supplanted by Atlantis, me thinks).

Lot of great stuff to see! You can find the page on Brickpedia.

A special thanks to Highonbricks and The Brick Blog who eventually pointed the way.

ABP Alert - Prince of Persia Desert Attack 50% Off

Hot on the heels of yesterday's discount on the LEGO Toy Story Army Men, Amazon now has the Prince of Persia Desert Attack set listed for $5.49 USD, a 50% savings!

Ostrich Race and the Space Police Smash 'N Grab sets are also listed at 50% off, but the minifig potential is lower. Nevertheless, a fantastic deal.

You will want to hurry. Amazon raised the prices on the Army Men set the same day it went on sale, so these offers may not last for long.

Thanks to Toys N Bricks for the news.

Slayerdread's LEGO Space Police III Remix

Check out these great custom minifigs of The Black Hole Gang from Space Police III. Using a combination of largely official LEGO parts these come together with great effect. I really like the boss character in the back.

There's been plenty of discussion recently regarding the future of the Space theme. Rumors have some elements of Space showing up as a sub-theme of LEGO City next year. I'm hoping these fantasy space/sci-fi themes continue in some form.

(Via Slayerdread's Flickr stream)

Impromptu Decal Tutorial - Tac and JasBrick

We'll if you have figured it out, the decal experiments I was referring to are these pics from Tac. Utilizing a variety of helmets and armor from Space Police III, Power Miners, and BrickForge. TLG is obviously taking notice with the World Racers helmets. Helmets from Space Police and Power Miners just beg for this type of treatment. But wait, there's more!

If you read through the comment thread JasBrick steps up to the plate and give an impromptu tutorial on decal application. For your consideration:

(Via Tac's Flickr stream)

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)

Two from Pedro and AMA News

Pedro is back and doing his best to customize and mod this series of minifigures. The figures are actually a mix of Space Police III, Star Wars, Power Miners, Harry Potter, and Amazing Armory accessories.

First up is this red armored warrior. The helmet is a modified version of part 85944 from Space Police III. The body armor is from Power Miners (part 85961). The shoulder cannon seems like it would be a custom part, but its actually a Star Wars Super Battle Droid arm (part 64796). The head? A Harry Potter death eater mask. Finally the gun is an Amazing Armory M4A1. So how does Pedro achieve that shiny, candy-like exterior? Mr. Color paint, cranberry red pearl.

The second figure utilizes the same SPIII helmet only modified differently to remove the head spikes. The armor is a modified version of Amazing Armory space armor. We've talked about the gun on the soldier's back. The gun in hand is Amazing Armory based on comments, but I can't seem to place the model.

Speaking of comments...Pedro mentions in the comments that he is soon to be the official US reseller of Amazing Armory. I'm not certain what this means for US customers (lower shipping prices, faster delivery), but Pedro's store should be opening soon.

(Via PEDRO-79's Flickr stream)

New Paganomation Brickfilm: Max and The Space Police

This brickfilm was released before my haitus, but didn't make the rounds. David Pagano is quickly becoming TLG's in-house stop motion go-to guy.

In this film LEGO Club's Max travels through the Club Door to visit the Space Police III universe. Given that he ends up on ice in the end, is this Max's last episode?

The Club Door is an interesting device that may play a role in the LEGO Universe MMORPG. More to come...

Paganomation and Brickworld Opening Ceremonies

Yesterday at Brickworld Chicago David Pagano hosted a workshop on animating LEGO and creating brick films. David created this brief film that kicked off the festivities.

Who is David Pagano you ask? You may not be familiar with the man, but you've likely seen his work on LEGO.com. David has animated the Space Police III films that currently appear on the micro site. The second clip comes from LEGO Club TV which visits David at his home where he discussed his process. You can also find the different SPIII episodes on his YouTube channel.

Smokebelch has a DeadEx Delivery

I had to post this pic from smokebelch for the caption if anything else...

"The Brickarms Apoc SMG- for when you absolutely, positively gotta kill every last zombie motherf***er in the room!"

(Via smokebelch's Flickr stream)

Zaras: The Forged Angel

I've been reading the graphic novel Final Crisis written by genius and madman Grant Morrison. In the chapter titled "To Be Continued", the theme of balance between the Ultimate Good and Ultimate Evil is explored.

Meet Zaras the equal number to Xaelus. Morgan uses a combination of parts from Space Police to Prince of Persia to the vending machine toys down the street. Let's start our tour from the top!

The head is a combination of a Space Police III Skull Twin helmet (part 85945) overlaid a hood ornament (part bb462) from the new Lunar Limo set.

The torso is from Nizam (pop010) from PoP, albeit with a quick arm and hand change.

The shoulder pads (part 88295) were owned by a little old Hassansin who only wore them to church on Sundays. The Dagger of Time is his weapon of choice. Finally only the most fashionable of fallen angels would be seen in this season's claw slippers (part 88811).

(Via Morgan190'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)

Scenes from a LEGO Store: May 2010

This last Sunday I visited my local LEGO Store in Southwest Ohio. I was hoping to pick up one of the exclusive LEGO Kingdoms battle packs, specifically for the dragon faction.

Both Kingdom's battle packs were present and retailing for around $15 USD. I almost pulled the trigger, but then I noticed that one of the plumes was out of the great helms, making a 'plink-plink' noise when it contacted other parts of the figures. I don't want to cry "Chinese plastic", but it was enough of a concern for me to place it back on the shelf. If this is not a personal concern or issue, they are quite nice and you get a good variety of armor and accessories.

All of the LEGO Toy Story 3 sets were in attendance, as well as some of the early releases from unlicensed themes such as Atlantis, World Racers, Space Police III, and of course Kingdoms. Wave two of the LEGO board games were also there, not seen at other retail outlets previously.

In LEGO Star Wars news, the infamous Admiral Ackbar magnet set was there, including the overpack sticker to correct the spelling errors.

As I was checking out I chatted up the cashier, mainly inquiring about the Collectible Minifigures due out soon. The cashier confirmed that, in fact, you can only buy five packs at a time at the store. It would seem there are concerns that some may buy them all up for the secondary market. No confirmation as to if the figures will be behind the counter as well.

I continue to be disappointed in the LEGO Store experience as an AFOL. Although I recognize that I'm not the target demographic, I find it somewhat surprising that other retailers, like Toys R Us, actually have the product before them and sometimes at a lower price point. Yes, key chains, magnet sets, and some product are truly unique to the bricks and mortar store, but will that drive repeat business? Now that the VIP program applies to LEGO Shop @ Home purchases in the US, I may stop driving the 45 minutes to get to my local store.

New Sets Appearing at US Stores

Heads up citizens. Word on the BrickLink forums is that some of the new unlicensed LEGO themes like Kingdoms, Space Police III, City, and World Racers are now appearing in LEGO Stores across the US.

I just called my local store and they confirmed. Call yours today!

There are reports that Toys R Us also has some of these sets in the bricks and mortar store, plus ToysRUs.com has several sets listed now for sale. Brickset has a forum member who has also claimed to have purchased a box of Collectible Minfigures from TRU! If true, then the minifig invasion of the US has begun!