Mr. ReBrick's Adventurous Day

[L@go]

Hi there, fellow Eurobrickers!

Back in the beginning of January, I was given a very special minifig - this one:

...on one condition, that I took some pictures of Mr. ReBrick in my city, Bergen, and with some of my MOCs. Above is one of the pictures that I took in the real world - but then I needed to take some with parts of my LEGO collection. So I thought, why not make a story of it? And maybe cram some interesting stuff in there? This is the result. There are some weird twists and turns here and there (mainly because it was written between midnight and 2AM), but I'm happy with it, meta jokes and all. And it's on ReBrick, so mission accomplished :)

Enjoy (if the humour appeals to you)...

Mr. ReBrick's Adventurous Day

It all started when Mr. ReBrick, who was visiting, got to test drive my supercar. I mean, it's the sort of thing you let visitors do, right? He liked it quite a lot, it seemed. I've never driven it myself, obviously, as I'm much too big to fit. My s(t)igfig is very happy with it, though.

"Maybe I should get a car," Mr. ReBrick thought as he got out of the supercar. "After all, I keep complaining about how hard it is to get around town. This one is a bit over the top, though, so I'd have to find something a bit more 'me'."

Mr. ReBrick was going to head back to his hotel room, but then he stopped by an old friend on the way. Dan is an architect, and built his own house heavily inspired by some online pictures of a house in Argentina. And what do you know, Dan had a bit of advice when it came to cars.

(Note: I didn't design this lovely house - it's the work of frogstudio. I liked it so much that I copied it years ago, but never took proper pictures of it until now. It features an interior, unlike the original, and I've just uploaded some detail shots, if you're interested.)

"I've been very happy with this one, Mr. ReBrick. It's a Small ForOne, with a tiny engine, but just enough for me. I think you should consider one of these," Dan said.

"Of course, I don't actually know anything about cars, but hey, it looks funky. And that's really all that matters. I don't really drive it all that much either, it mostly sits here looking good in my carport. And you're in luck - there's a dealership in the picture below!"

So, Mr. ReBrick suddenly found himself in the next picture, at the Small Car dealership, where he was met by what was obviously a ver nice and friendly salesman. Not to mention honest. Obviously.

"I'm interested in a ForOne," Mr. ReBrick said.

(Note: I didn't design this lovely car dealership, either - it's the work of sens1992. I liked it so much that I copied this, too, but never took proper pictures of it.)

"Ah, but you look like a man who cares about his image. Are you sure you shouldn't consider our new Klossbraid model? It's right there, on the top floor of our fancy, impossible-to-reach glass tower," the salesman replied. Honestly. While he made sure that his gold tooth caught the reflection of the sun (which wasn't really the sun, just a couple of cheap spotlights from a nearby Clas Ohlson shop).

*whoosh*

And, inexplicably, the car was right there, in front of Mr. ReBrick. He had to admit that it was something special - but could it really be practical?

"Oh, yes, of course. Your need to shower at home will be drastically reduced, because you'll get soaked every time you drive it in the rain! And it's so easy to get in and out of, because look! The Klossbraid doesn't have any doors, just these bars that you lift up. The other bonus is that you'll get a refreshing splash of water from every car that passes you, as you're totally exposed to the elements." The salesman had it all figured out.

Mr. ReBrick wasn't convinced. "Well, I don't know. It does look nice, and I like to stand out a bit. And my house is like most LEGO houses, so I don't have a bathroom, and your point about the shower is a good one. But don't you have something just a bit more... normal?"

"Normal? And yet a bit flashy?" the car salesman wondered. "Then this one is perfect for you. Bright orange, but apart from that, completely ordinary. It even has a little squeaking sound coming from the engine, which is absolutely normal with these cars when they age a bit. Shouldn't give you any problems, at least not until you get a bit further down on this page. Oh, and it's sold 'as is', so it saves you the hassle of signing contracts and stuff." And then, the best part:

"Did I mention the price? 100."

"100 what?"

"Just 100."

It just so happened that Mr. ReBrick had exactly 100 in his pocket, and that pretty much sealed the deal. A car for 100? Where he comes from, even a Christmas tree at the Winter Village Market costs 100 these days. So for a car, that must be a steal. Right?

As he drove away, he thought he spotted the salesman in the rear view mirror, collapsing from what looked like a laughing fit, but it obviously couldn't be that. I mean, Mr. ReBrick couldn't think of anything particularly funny about this. Then again, he'd always been bad at reading facial expressions. After all, he only had one himself.

And he certainly couldn't find anything funny about being stranded by the roadside just five minutes later.

"These modern cars," Mr. ReBrick thought. "You remove the grille tile, and there's nothing but a couple of hollow studs underneath. Back when everybody had the same carefree facial expression that I still have, and only a few even had hair (in one of the two hairstyles available), there were engines.

Speaking of which, the rumble from a proper engine was suddenly heard.

"My name is Doris," the butch-looking lady driving the hot rod said, "and this is my Blue Fury. I could probably fix that thing you call a car, as I know a thing or two about engines, but I don't really have the time. I'll tow you to the hot rod clubhouse, though, maybe they can help you," she added, and who was Mr. ReBrick to decline such an offer?

As soon as they arrived at the clubhouse, Doris and the Blue Fury drove off.

"Hi there. Doris said that you might be able to help me? I've just bought a car, and something seems to be wrong with it. It's just not working, Mr. ReBrick said.

"I'm sorry. By the rules of the club, it's forbidden to service any car that isn't cool. And that thing... well, it's basically just an overgrown tangerine," said the girl in the hat that made her look quite a lot like... Stevie Ray Vaughn.

"There's an old garage in the picture just below, though, so it might be worth trying there," she added, in a friendlier tone.

But nobody offered to help Mr. ReBrick push the car from the previous picture and into this, so he had to do it all by himself. Luckily, the car was incredibly light.

The garage was tiny, but the elderly owner, with - surprise! one of the two hairstyles available in the old days - was ecstatic about being able to help.

"It's been years since I've seen a car that will even fit in my garage! When I first started repairing cars, they were all four-wide. The monsters they build these days... I tend to break off the mirrors if I try to get the cars into the garage. And that makes the owners very angry, for whatever reason. I mean, it's normally just a couple of hinge plates. It's not like they cost a fortune on BrickLink," the old man sighed.

So, after having left his newly bought car in the safe hands of the old-fashioned garage owner, Mr. ReBrick once again headed towards his hotel. But now he was much further away. If he only could hitch a ride with someone.

Hey! Wait... what's that sound?

Wow! A Sky-Fi plane!

"Hi! I'm Jon, and this is my V-22 Phoenix... well, actually, it belongs to Captain Gail Storm, but I've borrowed it since the Days of the LAB. Don't be alarmed by the big guns and the menacing black bomb hanging from the fuselage, it's just for show. Mostly, anyway," Jon said. He actually had a gun in his belt, too, although Mr. ReBrick first wondered if the pilot was just happy to see him.

"You're not, by any chance, on your way towards that hotel in town?" Mr. ReBrick asked, realising just then how stupid the question sounded.

"Of course I am! That's exactly where I'm going. Do you need a lift?"

Mr. ReBrick nodded, and couldn't believe his luck...

...but he didn't quite see this coming.

(Note: I most certainly didn't design this plane - it's the work of the pilot, Jon Hall, an extremely talented builder and a genuinely nice guy. I built it from instructions found in the LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 1... and Jon had a couple of extra wing stickers that he very generously donated.)

This experience was actually so terrifying that Mr. ReBrick developed a new facial expression, while he clung to the wing of the Phoenix, wondering how this could possibly be legal.

"You probably can't hear me, but this is not legal, by the way," Jon shouted through the wind and the noise from the two massive engines. He was right, Mr. ReBrick couldn't hear him.

"There you go, the hotel is just two pictures further down on this page," Jon smiled after touching down.

"Thank God for that," Mr. ReBrick thought as Mr. Hall prepared to take off again. The good thing about normally only having one facial expression is that it doesn't take long to get over harrowing experiences. And Mr. ReBrick had never had a good short term memory anyway, so he was quickly distracted when a white truck entered the picture from the left.

"Hey, I know that logo! I visited your studio just the other day," Mr. ReBrick exclaimed when he saw that it was a TV 2 van.

"That's right," the lovely female reporter said, "but you disappeared so quickly that we didn't get a chance to talk to you. Can we have a word?"

"Of course! I haven't been interviewed by anybody else than that guy from set 6661, and that's a long time ago. You're much prettier. Is that a Friends hairpiece?" Mr. ReBrick was almost falling in love.

"It certainly is! You know your LEGO, Mr. ...?"

"Mr. ReBrick! I have been sent out to spread some information about the ReBrick web page."

And by the time the reporter had finished the interview, it was getting dark.

Mr. ReBrick finally got back to his hotel room, which was a pretty unusual one, considering the fact that it came complete with teddy bear (and other extras). It was also a bit strange that it didn't have any walls, just a door. But now we're nitpicking.

"Wow, that was some day! I tried a supercar, visited my friend who knows nothing about cars, bought an overgrown tangerine, got mocked by some hot-rodders, cheered up an elderly mechanic, caught a (terrifying) ride with a Sky-Fi legend and then, finally, got interviewed by TV 2. I have to come here more often," he thought as his head hit the pillow, after he had changed into his favourite pyjama pants.

Maybe another day, there'll be another adventure...?

Thanks for wasting a bit of time to find out how my mind works in the middle of the night. It's weird.

[The_Viking]

I see both Bryggen in the background and the words "Stevie", "Ray" and "Vaughan". Enough to eulogize you!

Very nice job, anyway ^^

Edited February 3, 2014 by The_Viking

[TheLazyChicken]

Brilliant and funny story! Keep up the good work!

[lightningtiger]

AWESOME so awesome 'L@go' and that piece of sky-fi (cool plane) is just the bomb ........Brick On 'L@go' !

[L@go]

Thanks, guys, I'm glad you like it :)

AWESOME so awesome 'L@go' and that piece of sky-fi (cool plane) is just the bomb ........Brick On 'L@go' !

It's a lovely model. It's not the most sturdy thing in the world, but it looks great. Jon did a great job with it (as with pretty much all of his stuff).

[Kristel]

That was fun! Thanks for sharing.

[neonic]

It's so dumb that is funny I like it

Funny to see that old garage too, wich I had too.

And the hot-rod (yellow one) thats realy cool

[SalvoBrick]

I like the TV news van (and the whole story, of course )

[timmyc1983]

Haha this is a great story!! You managed to work all the MOCs into the story really well I think!! And I really enjoyed the humour, particularly the bit where he's paying for the car, very clever!!

Fantastic work and happy building

[Vincent Kessels]

Great story, L@go. Very fun to read.

[TheBear]

Great job. I think that old garage was the first set I ever got!

[L@go]

Thanks for your kind words :) I had fun writing it. That garage is one of the all-time greats, I dug it out from the closet in my old room at my parents' place over Christmas.