Mariann Asanuma

Thanks every one! For now you can only order it through my Model Building Secrets website. You can easily order it if you are in the US. And you can order through UPS in most European countries. Or if you can't order it from your country, you can go to my Contact page and I will find out the postage for your country. I mention Eurobricks quite a lot, but I guess I forgot to add it to my "Cool Websites" section. An over-site that I will fix shortly.

Hi all, I'm sure you've probably seen my first book How to Build a Round Ball with Square Bricks! Well I am proud to announce that my second book Beyond the Ball is now available. You can read about it on my Model Building Secrets blog.

I've started putting several items up on Etsy now in my Folded Fancy Creations shop I've had pretty good success with it too.

I like this model so much I posted it on my Model Building Secrets blog.

This is one of the best Star Wars Christmas MOCs I've seen!

Thanks! I'm glad people are enjoying reading the posts as much as I enjoy writing them.

I know this might shock some of the purists out there, but if you absolutely can't find that piece I'd recommend getting some of these: Plate, Modified 1 x 8 with Door Rail and cutting them to be 1x2. It takes practice to get it right so that it doesn't look cut in the final model, but that part is much cheaper and you can get them in quantity. Also it will be the right color.

Yes, you can take the figures apart just like regular minifigs. The hats are stuck to the head unfortunately and Bullseye's (the horse) saddle is also stuck on.

Despite the rainy weather here, I happened to go to LEGOLAND California today. Much to my happy surprise I saw that they were putting out 5 Toy Story Sets. I couldn't afford to get them all, but one that I did get was Woody's Round Up. And, as I have yet to see a review on it, I decided to do one of my own. Cover of Box Back of Box Close Up of Figures All the parts bagged up Close Up of Actual Figures -- Although they come preassembled you can take them apart except for the hats on their heads. The arms and legs (3 studs long) are longer, but the torso is standard size. I like them, but when you put Woody next to Buzz, he seems really tall. Much to my annoyance -- Sticker Sheet Figures Assembled -- One thing I forgot to take pictures of was the back of Woody and Stinky Pete. They both have printed on backs. I was happy to see that Bullseye can actually move his legs His saddle, which I like the cactus design on the side, doesn't come off though. Random Instruction page The complete set, sorry I don't put stickers on Stinky Pete's Mine -- sorry for such a dark picture Built Cactus with Stinky Pete Front of Jail -- just pretend I put the stickers on the 2x4 grey tiles Sheriff's Office (sorry about the dark picture) Side of Sheriff's Office -- I really like the Med. Blue Windows in this set Back of Sheriff's Office -- Not much to it, but it does have a safe with 3 money tiles Back of the Jail -- It has a lever on the side so the wall "breaks" out Side of Jail -- You can see the turn mechanism for the lever Price of set: $49.99 Pros: Great new figures -- I like the way they did Woody, Stinky Pete, and Bullseye. Jessie is okay, but it isn't as good looking as the other 3. Great amounts of parts -- I knew I wanted this set, what I didn't count on was all the great parts that come in it. There are medium blue windows, lots of dk. brown tiles, 4 of the new 2x4 tiles, 4 of the 1x2 cheese wedges, nice amounts of tan plates, and the large dark tan plates are a nice bonus. Cons: Stickers instead of printed elements. I picked up Buzz and Woody to the Rescue today too and I was happy to see that the RC car and rocket elements were printed on so I expected that this one would have printed elements too. Playability: 10 out of 10 -- For kids this would be a great set. At $50 the price isn't too high, you get 4 figures (3 of them only in this set so far) and you actually have a play set for the figures to play in (something that some of the newer LEGO sets have been lacking). I would highly recommend this set as a must have, even if you are not a Toy Story fan just so that you could get all the great parts. You can see close ups of all the pictures on my Flickr Photostream.

Hi all! Thought you might enjoy a little micro build of a Gingerbread House I designed for BrickJournal. You can download the instructions here.

It helps to have friends in Europe. Actually I have CopMike to thank for helping me get the set.

It's coming -- the 2nd Annual Advent Calendar Review. Just like last year I will be posting the daily sets from the Pirate Advent Calendar on my Model Building Secrets blog and not only will I be showing the picture, I'll be writing a little story as to why the sets come in that order. So if you are interested in seeing what is in the Pirate Advent Calendar set -- or reading my take on it -- come and check out my blog.

The ring doesn't "do" anything really. It just looks cool.

Thanks SlyOwl. Yes the new tooth element is like the long spike triangle pieces from Exo-Force.

The set may be for 2010, but I found it at my local Toys R Us just yesterday and since no one else has done it yet I decided to do a review. Let's start with the box art. Above you can see what the front of the box looks like, if you haven't seen it. Top of box Back of the box. You can see in the picture that there are 5 different types of the ring element. I've always loved LEGO's underwater themes and this one doesn't disappoint. Unopened bags Sticker Sheet New elements New ring element Diver (notice the printing on the legs and feet) Diver in full suit Back of Diver Diver with Ring Element For those of you wondering (I was) -- Back of Ring Element Parts list Built Set. I don't put the stickers on, sorry. The mouth of the shark can open, his side fins can bend and move. Pros: Lots of new elements Low price, $15 (USD) Great price to parts ratio Very cool model Cons: The new large tooth element is made of the bendy plastic. (Its a small complaint though) The tail on the shark looks rediculous! But I can't complain too much about that either since you get 2 1x12 yellow plates because of it. Bottom line, for a $15 (USD) set this is an excellent source of new parts and an impressive model. You can read more of my views on this set on my Model Building Secrets blog.

First of all, I think that it will be a Hobbit movie, not movies plural, it only has one book. And the Hobbit is a lot less violent than the LOTR trilogy, in fact its my favorite Tolkien book. I have heard of the Hobbit LEGO demo, that would be really cool if LEGO made it, but I'll wait till I see it. However, considering that they are bringing out Prince of Persia and Toy Story next year anything is possible. One thing I have to disagree on is Calvin's mention Calvin, the LEGO company doesn't think like that, trust me I know. It wouldn't lose LEGO money to have a lot of themes, because even if some people like most or all the LEGO themes, other people only like a few. Plus I'm pretty sure that if LEGO had come out with a LOTR theme at the same time as Star Wars, a lot of people would buy both themes, even if it was a strain on their wallets.

I heard -- and this is from a friend of a friend, so take it as you like -- that when the LOTR trilogy movies were made LEGO was offered to do license, but that they thought the movies were too violent! A shame really, considering that the knock-off brand that ended up getting it did such a lousy job. And of course Star Wars isn't violent at all . . .

If you would like to see how other people store their lego The LEGO Storage Extravagansa Flickr Group

This is a great set! I have two of them, one from the original release and one I found for a jaw-dropping price of $12 UDS at a thrift store a while ago. The thrift store one, besides being dusty was completely in tact. And there was the 6716 Covered Wagon mixed in there also in tact! The only "down-side" to the set is the wooden wall panels, since there isn't all that much you can do except make a fort out of them (case in point -- the Vikings). But other than that, great set and a must for Western lovers.

The "ginormous" lock isn't supposed to be a lock, its supposed to be a giant chest of treasure. There are actually two of them in the cave. And the reason that I scaled the ships the way I did was that I wanted them to be that scale. I'll experiment, but making a larger scale ship would probably throw off the scale of everything else.

104c After surviving twenty long years on the high seas, three mutinies (two of them he instigated), and being stranded on a desert island five times Captain Brickbeard has decided to retire and give up his life of plundering and pillaging -- well semi-retire, you can never have enough plundering in your life. So to fund his retirement Brickbeard takes his "loyal" crew to Skull Mountain, a location known only to him, to retrieve his ill gotten gains. Many have tried to find Skull Mountain and a few have even succeeded. Yet none have been able to possess the mounds of gold and treasure that lies within the heart of the mountain. All who have tried have met a grisly fate. For Skull Mountain is also the home of a colony Gigantic Man-eating Spiders that owe their allegiance to Brickbeard. He alone can quell their man-eating tendencies and safely trespass on their land. Brickbeard plans to load his fleet with the gold and leave all but his most trusted men to the fate of the Spiders. The Spiders themselves have other plans however. They have begun to think of the gold and jewels as theirs. The Storm may have passed, but for Brickbeard, another may soon be on the horizon . . . You can see larger images of all the pictures at my Flickr photostream.

It was the yellow tray. All the other combinations that you guys are mentioning sound good (except the mint and peanut butter). And you don't need patience, it only took about 15 minutes tops. Unfortunately they won't be used in a MOC, they taste too good.

I was bored and in the mood for chocolate. It only took about 15 minutes. 1. I melted the chocolate, put it in the tray. 2. Stuck it it in the freezer for a minute or so 3. Pulled it out and scooped out the middle chocolate in the mold 4. Put peanut butter in there, added more chocolate to fill it to the top 5. Put it back in the freezer 6.It was ready a few minutes later. 7. I slowly and gently pried it from the tray, plus used a knife to cut the excess chocolate on the edges. 8. Eat and enjoy!

I saw it at my local Gamestop. It's not printed, its a sticker.

It's not available in the United States. Sign me up! I got the Castle one when LEGO had the "mistake" of sending it here. I want them to make the mistake again and realize that those of us on this side of the Atlantic like alternatives to the City Advent Calendar just as much as Europe does.