KotZ

Yes-yes, kill the manthings with the DOOMWHEEL! For Clan Skryre! I'm a huge fan of the Total War games (I credit them with having instilled in me a love of history... or well "history" from an early age), and I was a bit reluctant to get into the Total War: Warhammer games, but after some convincing of friends about a year or so ago, I've been playing the new ones nonstop. While I love the Empire and Eltharion, I've got a fascination with the Skaven, especially Ikit Claw and his oh so lovely doomrockets, doomwheels, etc. So I did what any other AFOl would do. Design a doomwheel. As you can see below, it's basically a modified 75040: General Grievous' Wheel Bike. I doubled the wheel design, making two wheels instead of one, and had 2x3 plates replace the "center wing" pieces on Grievous' wheel. I then had to modify the parts of the outside wheel, or brown tire really, to be a bit longer, and then also build a bit of an interior to fit a rat/minifigure to control. While some pieces aren't available in the colors shown here, this should be entirely buildable, and playable. For me, if it looks like it could be played with (such as not an Architecure set or similar), it should have some sort of playable element. This one does roll. In theory. So like the Skaven. It works. In theory. And if it doesn't, sacrifice those skavenslaves and nuke the enemy. Neon green comes from the nukes/warpstones/crazy magic the Skaven tap into to crash the moon into the world. Yeah, that happens. Oops, spoilers. Yeah, these ratmen are nuts. What's that, Mr. Witchhunter? You say there are no ratmen? Ok.

I've met a lot of good people through LEGO, and it's always fun to discuss stuff or work on MOCs together.

Brickshelf is my go to for LEGO stuff. You could also try imgur, especially if you post to Reddit a lot.

Been awhile since an update, but I got a PaB shipment in and went through a bunch of bricks that I have to make this update. I can probably build more this week, and I don't know how much it will change from this update, but here's what I have so far. What you don't see are the walls are mostly finished on the three built up sections. There's like 20 parts I need to order left to complete them to what I want. Basically finishing up the merlons and crenels. Most of that was done with the most recent PaB order, but there are some pieces I need to get from Bricklink. Anyway, I started the second 48x48 stud section of this build, which is probably going to be the most challenging portion of this build. I'm allowing myself 36"x40" (128 studs x 112 studs), and I know how the outerwalls and the few pieces inside them will go, but this final 42x42 baseplate needs to hold the throne room, the dungeon, the grand library (which I can have go by height), and two (hopefully three) spare bedrooms/"office". So I need to go vertical for this. This is what I started with. It's finishing along the tan walkway from the other section. I'm having everything level out to ground level. here. A better view of what's happening. On the right, you can see the dungeon being formed. On the left, basically a stairway or an idea of one, and a landing to lead up. Here, you can see the armory (top left) taking shape. Up along the top of the section are parts to keep it light but sturdy, as this thing will go high. You'll also see in the bottom right the dunegon has expanded by a lot. I found some 4x1x6 (or whatever their technical name is) grille parts for what I remembered was my original plan. A walk in area to the dungeon with one door that leads to the actual cells and a torture area. The sectioned off areas will have doors for the cells. The larger open area will have a breaking wheel and hopefully a rack. Here you can see me laying out what will be much higher up, but what is the basis of the throne room. It will be level with the 48x48 first section (or at least one plate). The rest of this section's levels will hold bedrooms/office, and the library.

I love the boat! My only suggestion is some transparent studs around the survivors.

I collect official sets now because they're ones I really like, they have minifigs I like, and they're an outlet for me to work on photography and photoshop. I collected sets as a kid because I loved playing with them and creating stories with the characters and making brickfilms. Most of my sets have always stayed together, especially now. I did always have a bunch of spare parts to build whatever I wanted as a kid, usually very colorful. Various purist custom figs would be made for ongoing storylines I had for myself, my brother, and friends. It was always my favorite toy. Now, I collect specific parts/sets from Bricklink and PaB because I either didn't own a specific set as a kid and always wanted it, or in the case of parts, it's something I need for a physical MOC. I do a lot of building in LDD as well, so LEGO always is around me. Like Peppermint_M, I never had a dark ages. I was still buying stuff in high school and college or building in LDD. Of course, school and other activities also were very important, but I never stopped building or paying attention to LEGO. I've worked at an LDC, I've worked on LEGO Masters. I basically eat sleep breathe this toy. I collect because it gives me a great outlet to be creative, to figure out problems (mainly in writing or filmmaking, minifigs are great for blocking out scenes), and it's calming. Yeah, sometimes looking for that one piece I swear I just saw can be frustrating, but building and designing is extremely relaxing for me. And because I'm addicted.

I kind of boxed myself in with William and Gilbert seeing Lotus lands and forgetting a few challenges to get them out.

Well I was right on the Home Alone. I'm not surprised Bionicle didn't make it. After G2 flopped, LEGO might just be wanting to forget about it. Although since it is their anniversary year, there's a possibility they already had something in the works (there have been rumors Christian Faber is working on something) and this set would then technically be a liability. As for the typewriter, I just don't think it looks very good. Seinfeld (at least in the States) was a hugely popular and influential show.

.... ****.... Hang on, give me a minute to edit this... As for the builds, thanks! I took a lot of inspiration from Orient Expedition, actually.

As long as Karen is there, there will be a Kyle.

I personally use LDD for building and most minifigure posing, as I find all of it a lot easier in LDD. I'll then import the .lxf file into Stud.io for decals and then rendering.

Off the coast, a junk commanded by mercenaries hired by Carno came upon an attacking force of Lotii soldiers in canoes. Carno's other ships were tied up in other engagements, so their foreign mercenaries would have to do. "Surely we can take these rabblerousers!" the captain yelled. "Get ready to loose arrows and fire the hwacha!" But the Lotii boats were too small and spreadout for the hwacha's missiles to accurately wipe out the oncoming assault. Gilbert, who had been tasked to explore the Lotus Kingdom and found himself assisting the Lotii, helped lead the attack. "Keep us spread out. Musketeers! Fire on their archers!" The rowers rowed as fast as they could. The Lotii commander fired shots from his pistol. William, in the same figurative boat as his friend Gilbert, his trusty boarding axe in hand, shouted, "Alright, boys! Once we can board, use those glaives to clear the decks. I don't see any swordsmen on there, and it looks like no guns, so put up a good fight!"

Wall-E came out before the big Disney castle and train stuff, essentially before Disney really began pushing their brand in LEGO more than normal.

I think because Disney would rather have Ratatouille under a "specific" Disney theme. We got Steamboat Willie in Ideas, but everything else has been either Brickheadz, or a kind of quasi-independent theme in the Cinderalla castle or the Disneyland train. Steamboat Willie was a smaller set, but the other two are bigger ones, and I think Diseny would want the kind of prestige of it being in their own "line." Just look at the box art. For Cinderella and Disney Train, "Disney" logo is prominent and big. With Steamboat Willie, it's smaller. Of course "Mickey Mouse" is large, and everyone knows MM is Disney, but the brand recognition is what they want.

That's my biggest complaint with this setup. It's great for the occasional, random game, but if this became a constant setup we regularly use, I'd probably get annoyed with it. It definitely was unexpected, and I love DD used it, but I am not a big fan due to all the confusion.

Queen: I Want to Break Free - Eh, I could see this one happening, but it would be heavily modified, like how Barracuda Bay was radically changed. Seinfeld 30th Anniversary - It's kind of bland, and I can just see a bunch of MOCs with Michael Richards' infamous Laugh Factory incident with an official LEGO minifigure of him... The Legend of Zelda - Since LEGO is partnered with Nintendo, and if Mario does well, I'm sure they have Zelda sets prepared. Planet Express Delivery Ship - It needs minifigures. If it gets approved, I see them adding minifigures. Ratatouille - I really feel like Disney wouldn't allow this. LEGO Typewriter - This one seems just too bland. I think if it gets approved, LEGO would modify it and make it more fantastical and ornate. The Legend of the BIONICLE - I can see it happenning. But I'd rather have them not do this and just make a big anniversary Great Spirit Robot set or something. The Huascar - Too big, and way too bland. It's just a hunk of grey. Winter Chalet - This has a good chance I think. It fits in well with the winter village sets (and this would help boost that line's sales I'm sure). LEGO already has had the Treehouse and the Old Fishing Store which fit perfectly with their Creator Expert modulars. Rocket Subway Train - I don't see the appeal. Home Alone - I can see this one, and it fits in with the Winter Village sets as well. There's just not a lot of traps with it. And while Ideas sets aren't supposed to be playsets, Home Alone without traps makes no sense. Clockwork Aquarium - I can see them scaling this one up if it gets picked. It's the Ship in a Bottle of this review period. I don't think we'll get both Home Alone and Winter Chalet. They wouldn't do two houses. I think it will be one of those, more likely Winter Chalet, and possibly Clockwork Aquarium or Futurama.

I was Ellis. Fun game, DD, thanks! It was a really fun, interesting game, and completely had me confused the entire game. Also, Hinckley, stop thinking I'm scum. I'm never scum.

Perfection takes time.

Picked up 21318 Treehouse today.

Both are great! I'm not sure which I like more.

I can see LEGO approving it (although I think very unlikely) due to them already having made Avatar sets back in the day (and only two, we needed more. How did Spongebob get so many but Avatar only two?) and with Netflix remaking the series in live-action would surely help boost sales.

We might disagree sometimes on CITY sets and the volume of variety they produce, but oh well. I think your points about LEGO working to be race-free are spot on as well. I agree on all of this.

If I can jump back into this, depending on the person, you definitely can. I currently live in Los Angeles (or, well, one of the numerous neighborhoods), and I've met a lot of LGBT people out here. I've met quite a few even back in my conservative, Texan hometown. I've met LGBT people who absolutely did not strike me as gay or lesbian. But when you live out in LA, and when you go around West Hollywood especially, you can definitely tell if someone is gay or not. Don't take this as me knocking on them. There are just a lot of gay stereotypes, and where I live, it seems like a lot of people live up to that stereotype. In Texas (and depending on what region you're in), they might not be as apparent, but that's really a discussion for another forum, not this one. I think you've got it spot on. LEGO minifigures can be whoever and whatever you want. You can make straight figures, you can make gay figures, you can make trans figures. You can make figures of any race thanks to LEGO's yellow-minifigure approach. I think LEGO would do best avoiding colors of figures (unless it's a licensed theme) and instead focusing on culture. The more cultural torsos we see, the better overall. Because we can get figures for lots of themes that way. Hairstyles are also a good way to do it. For example, my girlfriend is white but her hair is insanely curly. The best minifigure hair (which it represents her well) is the curly mass of hair in the new Bookstore modular. TLG should highlight different ethnicities and cultures, as long as they don't divide it among race. There are a lot of physical qualities humans share that aren't just race. Classic Yellow shows we're all human with slight variations, and you just need a little imagination to be whatever or whoever you want.

Fantastic work! Hopefully you've got a whole legion for these!