MetroiD

I know I'd be if I were in their shoes!!! Pity that making intricate sandcastles is such a daunting task though... Robinson, welcome to Eurobricks! Or should I say - hos geldiniz, komsu! Congrats on entering the contest with such a wonderful entry - we all love summer and the beach (or at least I do!) and you've combined those two with an interesting third element to get a wonderful result here! I really love your sand castles - they look very nice, believable and detailed (and if I were a sand castle judge, I'd totally vote for the one on the right :D). I like the "yellowness" of this MOC - most people would go with tan as the sand colour and whereas that might be a bit more realistic, it is also much less cheerful. The yellow colour is very vibrant and works really well here! I would suggest a couple of things as minor improvements here... First off, I'm not really sure about the plants/ flowers along the shore. While I know that's a common sight along the beautiful Aegean shores of Turkey, I still don't think many plants can be seen that close to the water. I'd suggest placing those in the background instead - or perhaps replacing them with a palm or some other nice tropical plant. I also feel that you should replace the musket and the sabre in the cask with a couple of shovels and brushes instead - after all, that's the kind of utensil which would be much more useful given the present scenario :) I'm also not sure about the gold trophy - while it is a nice idea, it is just lost in all the yellowness around it... I'd suggest trying to come up with a brick-built cup/trophy instead, that would stand out more and look even better! Your SNOT base is a very nice option and I feel it gives you great potential to improve the MOC even more - I'd love it if you could add actual "ripples" along the shore (by using trans-clear / trans-blue and white plates in the base) - that would really look fantastic. Perhaps you could even try placing a few trans-blue plates/bricks so that they cover up the yellow bricks underneath them - I think that would work nicely and add tons of depth here! That way the water wouldn't look so generic. Here's a quick mock-up I made to help you visualize what I had in mind - I'm sorry but that's all the trans-blue bricks I have :/, I hope you still find it useful though. Oh, and covering up the studs at the end with a few blue tiles wouldn't be a bad idea either. Last but not least - the beach itself... As I said, I like your use of the yellow colour here, my only suggestion would be to add some more "curves" to the shoreline to make it look more realistic - regardless whether you use yellow wedge pieces or just more plates to break it up (as I did with that mock-up), just try to make it look less straight... I'd really love to see the final result of combining that idea with the above approach for making the water look more "believable" :) Best of luck in the competition mate! Edit: Added pic.

I wouldn't say Youtube = Computer... Even though YT could sometimes be useful when checking out on new artists that you're not familiar with yet. I prefer listening to my favourite music on my PC in lossless format and that's as close to vinyl as you can get. Despite that, there's something to buying, playing & owning an original CD that just can't be replaced. Sort of like reading a real book and going for that Kindle contraption (or audiobooks). As to means of playing music - I don't think that the PC really is the best thing there is out there, or the most enjoyable option... I don't currently own one, but I love hi-fi systems and will be getting one later on (Denon / Marantz / Focal, that kind of hi-fi). And regarding the CD / Vinyls thing, I guess I was just born a tad bit too late for the latter, besides getting hold of quality vinyls here in Bulgaria is as good as impossible. I voted computer (got me a nice pair of Altec Lansing stereo speakers and 100gigs of music), CDs (I've been trying to buy as many boxsets & CDs of my fav artists as I can) & other. When I'm on the go, "other" = my phone + 8gb micro-sd + bluetooth stereo headset. I used to own an ipod-like mp3 player but I ditched that and now I prefer using my phone as an all-in-one device - there is no way to get top sound quality on the go anyway! P.S.: Oh, and of course, add radio to that. Regardless whether it's DAB or regular FM radio, I've always enjoyed both, even though I find that "regular" FM stations are getting crappier and more predictable by the day :/ DAB stations are really enjoyable though, I like sky.fm's range.

Penguin, you rule. Simple as that. You've created a bunch of wonderful and very original minifigs and I think your imaginary world is really starting to come to life (please don't send the orc clown after me for saying "imaginary"!)... Can't wait to see those in castles and dioramas!!!

Heh, reminds me of this... After having seen that, DUPLO has gone to a whole new level in my estimation... Perfect use of that here as well, Etzel!

Meeerry Chri...er, in about a month. Seriously though, 10 years? And she STILL hasn't made you go to the dentist to have those teeth checked? OR gotten you out of the "I'm a sailor, yo ho ho" stage? Hmmm... Oh well anyway, all's good that makes it to 10 years!!! Congratulations to both of you guys, I hope you enjoy a lot more happy decades together ! As to our Mandelmassenasseman - no congrats for you until you give us a vig of YOUR wedding!

That's what I said when I meant they were using a "desacrated" sign. Originally, this used to be a sign of something good, a talisman, which was adopted and tarnished forever. If they see an inverted swastika (or rather - svastika, as it is in Sanskrit), most people would think it was another kid who thinks being neofascist is cool and has no idea what he was actually drawing. As a matter of fact, the swastika precisely as used by Hitler & co. is also a symbol used in Hinduism and Buddhism - its both sides (flipped and unflipped) are the forms of a Hindi god and it represents eternity for the buddhists. Ironic how that symbol was mocked by Adolf's ideology and is now hated in every corner of the world, isn't it?

Die Weserübung. Hitler = pure evil. Which is why the world just can't forget him, or the desacrated sign he uses - I mean the Swastika... which surprisingly means "lucky object" in Sanskrit - did you know that? It was an ancient sign of goodness and prosperity... until the Fascists turned it into a few broken lines, the depiction of which is now forbidden on German soil. WWII however did bring out the worst in men - and not only in the face of Adolf. There was Hiroshima, there was Pearl Harbour and the bombings all over Europe... And then there are also the vicious bombing of Dresden or Leipzig... Or my city - Sofia - for that matter - as Bulgaria had joined the Axis being given no other option with Hitler's troops at our norhern border. We didn't bomb anyone though... neither did our Tsar allow for Bulgarian jews be taken away to camps. Instead, a few months later, we joined the Allies and lost tens of thousands of soldiers who died to free Europe and the world of Fascism. At the end of the day, it's not just Hitler who's evil. It's as if the whole world had gone mad during those years... But yeah, it does show that it only takes one deranged person to bring out the worst in us all...

Same deal here mate. I've bought the Market Street, Town Plan and Cafe Corner at the very end of their shelf lives... and I couldn't be happier, it would be a crying shame to miss out on such sets. Cagri, I was wondering whether you could please confirm the information regarding the Recycle and Cement Trucks? Are they also going to be discontinued soon?

Beagles rule! And so do retrievers ... and mutts Nice to know you're still around, Hound Knight. Have fun with your artowkrs mate! Cheers ;]

Comment win!

Yeah it would, but I seriously doubt it. I rate Jenson at least as good a driver as Heiki. But he's gone down in my estimation with that move. Should have stayed with Brawn / Mercedes for another year. He'll NEVER be a top dog over @ McLaren, we all know who's the leading driver there and there's a solid reason for that - Lewis possesses twice the talent of Jenson and ten times his potential. That said, Button is a good team player so it will be interesting to see how next season pans out. Best thing is, I've got my two favourite drivers in my favourite team. What more could you ask for!

Is it going to be a part of Durnovaria? As to this MOC - Swash Buckler, this is one sweet-looking port scene!!! The tan building really helps to get that Spanish look and I also enjoyed the angular side of the fort :) I wouldn't recommend loading that cannon onto such a small boat though - regardless of what LEGO might want us to think with their official sets, I'm convinced those big guns are not supposed to be fitted on these babies Have you considered adding a ship to this wonderful scene?

A lovely MOC, kudos for that! Your ship looks terrific - as a matter of fact, it may be not the biggest one I've seen, but it's definitely one of the most thought out vessels, especially bearing in mind its size! The way you've done the full deck is really wonderful, I totally enjoyed seeing that. Same goes for the natives' island - I especially like their home, it reminds me a great deal of wigwams such as the Apache tribe used - excellent rendition. The bear skin in front adds a lot to the indigenous look of the whole place - this really does look like an outpost, like for example a hunter's home, as opposed to something you'd expect to see in the middle of an Indian village. So I'm not even going to mention wardrums, campfires, totem poles, etc., I really don't think this MOC needs any of those - it suggests a raw combination of local people among the "unexplored" (at least for the newcomers) wilderness which is just how it should look! As to the looks - you've totally captured the "scouting" feel there, along with the suspicion that the arrival of this ship has caused among the Indians. My only suggestion regarding your wonderful entry would be to take another photo to use as your main pic here. I understand that you wanted to show the MOC in its entirety with this overhead shot, but I don't think that it's actually the best pic. I'd suggest taking a photo from a bit closer - ideally, a slightly diagonal photo from up front showing some details of the ship, the coastline and the path that leads towards the inland, the two scouts alongside the tree and the wigwam in the background. Sorta like a seagull that was just passing beside the ship and looking towards the beach :] Even though you probably wouldn't be unable to demonstrate every single thing in your MOC that way, I still think the viewers will get a better impression of what this one's all about. Besides, that way one wouldn't see (or have to focus on) the sideview of the island which, the way your current main pic is taken, is pretty much in the spotlight - and I'm sure you'll agree that there are tons of other interesting things to see there instead of these grey brick layers :) Best of luck in the competition! You've got a big fan in me.

ROFL!!! Great MOC mate :))))

And that's precisely why I'm considering leaving the HTC camp... The Droid looks snazzy and can pretty much do it all, besides it's just the type of phone I wanted to get next - full-qwerty slider with minimalistic design. HTC had one that matched this description canceled earlier this year, so I'm wondering if they'll come up with something by Q1 2010 to rival the Droid... Anyway, back to the HTC Touch - I guess everyone's got their views and it's only fair that way. To me, the cell phone is the most important gadget for me. If that can be also combined music in a plausible way (let's face it, even if you're not an audiophile, no mp3 player will ever be able to match the sound of a proper home system!), then that's all I need. I've found out I don't even play games on my phone whenever I'm bored - I'd much rather play my music or surf the net. Best of all - you can go jogging, listen to your music and still remain reachable by phone in case someone needs to call you - without the need to drag half of your household appliances along. I did forget though that a Touch would set you off ~200 USD, whereas a good pocketpc starts at double that price - or costs an obscene amount of money divided into 24 instalments. So whatever you pick Joey, make sure you enjoy it mate cause at the end that's the only thing that really matters.

Hey Joey :) I can't help but wonder why would you need an Ipod these days anyway? I used to own one myself - in fact, not an Ipod, I bought a Creative Zen Touch since the sound was notably better on that. It was 20GB and was chock full of songs throughout the 2 years during which I owned/played it. I loved it to bits, but I sold it since I no longer listened to it (that, and I was broke). But that was back in 2005... Mobile phones have come a long way since then and now I'm using a pocketpc with an 8gig microsd card which holds all my music. Add to that a pair of Bluetooth headphones (both Dell and LG sell great BT headphones) and you've got all you could ever need, instead of having to carry around a bagful of devices. The Touch tries to combine anything under one roof anyway, so why not go that extra mile and buy a phone that does all that as well Just my 2 cents...

Hey Milan :] You got a nice thread running here! I used to hit the gym a lot a few years ago, really enjoyed it! I'd never had real weight-related problems even tho I was chubby as a kid but I lost a lot of weight in my late teen years and after that I guess I worked my extra fatty into some muscle - but then again, muscles weigh much more than regular fat anyway I must admit I haven't really been working out seriously (actually, not worked out at all!) throughout these last 2 years though, which is a shame. Back when I was serious about it, I was progressing well despite not being able to keep a good diet (could only squeeze one/ max two meals per day in between university and work)... I've recently picked up hockey once again tho and I'm thinking of visiting the gym once again in order to shape up properly. The only real problem I find is that training on your own is bloody boring most of the times - used to have a mate back in the ol' days whom we trained together with. Nowadays everyone seems to be a "fitness fan" but no one is actually going to the gym!! Oh well, at least I've got a pair of perfectly fine dumbbells at home and you can pretty much do anything (except pull-ups) with those... especially when you haven't been training regularly in years. So I guess I'd better stop complaining and start working out @ home before I consider the gym again. P.S.: As to measurements, I guess I lost trace of mine while moving around Europe but I must now weigh ~82 kilos @ 1.82 m which is more or less OK, apart from the fact that there's not much muscle anymore in those 82+ kgs... :/ Good news is, I've still got that Manowar Discography, it's the best thing when working out - motivates like hell P.P.S.: Much like the Penguin here, I'd replaced the gym with jogging during the last few months though... Have a nice garden and a stadium nearby where I live so I used to go running for about an hour to keep me from getting a six-bag rather than a six-pack. Never been a real fan of jogging though, I totally prefer weight training, although it's a fact that they work best when combined (cardio + weights).

Tradition says that the light and warmth of the branch symbolize the birth of Jesus and the rising of the sun. The branch is treated like a sacred object - after it is taken, it is carried by men on their shoulders and must not touch the ground. When it enters the house, there is a number of rituals carried out before it is actually put in the fireplace. As you can probably tell, Serbian and Bulgarian people are quite alike, even though our politicians have done their best to antagonize our folks... Cheers for that wonderful MOC Sammael!

Believe me, it does. Guess you weren't around during the great Brickshelf migration, but I can totally see history repeating itself. Not that I myself was MOCcing back then, but a little digging around will tell you how much of a shock BS' spell on the brink of extinction was. Once again - Brickshelf is a free service and, unlike Flickr, it's not backed by Yahoo! or anyone else. As a matter of fact, I'm still amazed that they've managed to keep it free for so long, even despite the severely outdated layout/structure. So it would do you a world of good to have it in mind that Brickshelf is not always going to be accessible / trouble - free / there at all.

I admit, I was mislead... If you'd used grouse instead of that apple, it would have been much clearer though (joking there, but yeah, for some stupid reason I did mix up the concept of trap shooting and air-rifle target shooting). By the way, I was not trying to be wry in any way when I mentioned your building style - I really do appreciate it and enjoy your minifig use. If you feel this one needs a fresh start though, it's your call. Hope you're all inspired :) As to me entering the contest - no, it's not the most appropriate time for MOCcing for me. And btw you can call me Bobby - it's much shorter ;]

You don't really have to do that Mr Ratshot Keep the Skeet Club idea, it's brilliant, and work on that - just get rid of other things that don't add anything to it. Seeing as you like including C-P / EB members in your MOCs, you could perhaps try having C-P members as the soldiers who are doing the shooting and other members (admins, counts, etc.) as the generals... Keep it all in your unique funny style and just do whatever you feel works best given the idea you have :] Please don't be downhearted by what I said... I may have pointed out this and that which could use updating / reworking, but that doesn't in any way mean you should scrap this one! I'm sincerely sorry if it came out this way - please don't give up this great idea

Agreed. Our young artist shouldn't be pressured into continuing if that's not what he wants :) RL > all.

Give it a break. If they said they're doing maintenance, then they're doing maintenance - simple as that. Even if they're down for a week or two, it's all up to the guys who run the site. Another gentle reminder to everyone who hasn't backed up their pics posted on Brickshelf...

Well I personally don't think there's too much to adjust anyway! The simple yet innovative approach of this MOC is really brilliant - you've brought the "two-stor(e)y" construction to a whole new level here mate :] And now we also know how heaven's gates look when built out of bricks... The use of minifigs (and cats!) there is also absolutely brilliant. I guess Santa takes a break to drink tea in heaven when he's off duty (i.e. during 355 days of the year :D) I also really enjoyed the Captain's Hawaiian shirt All my suggestions are just tiny things that wouldn't change the way this one looks, because I really love it :) Here's what I think you could add though, to make it look EVEN better: 1) The gallows pole could have been a tad bit higher - I'd suggest adding two or three additional brown bricks. Actually, back in those days, pirates were hanged and left to rot in an iron cage in order to ensure a slow and painful death while hanging above the heads of people at crossroads, town gates, etc. That way the authorities thought they could scare the regular folk (to death!) from the notion of commiting crimes. Didn't really work though... Anyway, that's just a (rather grim) thought - but I think that look could be achieved by using a net piece - of course, that is, if you want it to look like this. I'm only suggesting it because I think that way the contrast between his ugly death and the funny scene in heaven would be even greater. 2) If you have enough parts (white curved plates would work best, I guess), I'd suggest making the base of the "heaven" story look like actual clouds. I think that would look absolutely brilliant! In any case, I really feel you need to take away the outer layer of blue bricks and trans-blue tiles, they just don't look appropriate. 3) In case you own enough blue bricks, actually building the blue wall out of these bricks might be a good idea. That way you could also incorporate some other designs into that - such as, perhaps, clouds or something else. Regardless whether you consider these ideas or not, this MOC is still going to be a wonderful contender, at least in my eyes. Best of luck in the competition Admiral!

Wow, that really looks wonderful - great job, Ralph! What's next, the London eye? Btw, I really love how this MOC oozes your instantly recognizable "mad physicist" style, that's what really sets it apart! I say this because I was almost sure I'd seen that line-up of Routemaster bus+ cab before and indeed, Firas Abu-Jaber had posted this about half a year ago on MOCPages. Funny how such similar objects can indeed look totally different when done by different MOCcers :)