rodiziorobs

Presenting Capt. Fist and his hearty crew of cosmic corsairs! Their infamy as ruthless scallawags is spread all across the galaxy, and while it has earned them the ire of the Imperial police, it has also earned their fear--few be they who dare to tangle with this motley crew. Many a ship there be that has surrendered at the first sound of even so much as a warning shot from Capt. Fist...Which is exactly how he and his crew like it. After all, the best fight is the one you win just by having a scary reputation. Of course, they still fight when they have to, committing a massacre here or there and leaving only a few survivors--to tell the stories of course. What's the use of being fearsome if you kill off everyone who might spread the word of fear for you? Besides, once word has got out that a pirate has gone soft, it's nothing but work, work, work all the time. Truth be told, however, they like quick surrenders because that leaves more time for their favorite game, pirate's dice. On to the crew! Sloroth the Savage First mate Sloroth was always scary: his scaly skin, red eyes, and scraggly mustache were menacing enough, let alone the two pulse pistols he wields with deadly accuracy. But the problem was, he was just...Sloroth. That is, until Capt. Fist suggested adding "the Savage" to his name, after which his fame as a bloodthirsty blackheart spread like wildfire. Speaking of wildfire... Fogo Chen Chen is a bit of a gearhead, which is a good thing as he has had to build himself prosthetics after burning off so many of his actual limbs. He is also, as is probably evident, obsessed with fire, which occasionally leads to mixed results. He helped design and build Capt. Fist's ship, the Flying Fist; fireproofing was high on the list of necessary design features. Arsenica Starstriker Arsenica never leads anything to chance; she is a meticulous planner, and is stubborn enough and determined enough to see that everything goes according to that plan. She is the crew's navigator, and is also tough as nails. No one is quite sure how she, being human, is able to breathe in space without a helmet, but she isn't about to let something like asphyxiation get in her way, is she? While her weapon of choice is a light phase cannon, she also loves tossing tetra bombs as well. Gnaark the Unhinged When it comes to reputation, Gnaark's name says it all--and those blades back it up. Slightly Generally unstable, it is the one no one wants to sit next to during a round of dice, and everyone makes sure the rum is on the opposite side of the table from it at all times. Manahu Not a member of the crew, but a loyal ally to Capt. Fist, Manahu is the leader and shaman of his people. He and Capt. Fist were first allied fighting a common enemy, and soon became friends. He can summon spirits and other cosmic forces through the oracle he carries in a glass sphere. In return for Capt. Fist's assistance to his people, he granted unto the captain a special gift. And last of all, Capt. Abraham J. Fist Capt. Fist is a merciless villain who will stop at nothing in the pursuit of gold and other valuables. Before he met Manahu, he was a decent enough pirate, save for his poor eyesight--one of the problems that come with having a head less than one stud tall, you know? But Manahu gifted him with a companion from the spirits--a crow. Once summoned, the bird leapt to Capt. Fist's chest and immediately began to peck out his tiny eyes. After a moment of panic, the captain realized the sensation he felt was not pain, but clarity: his eyes gone, his vision was the bird's own. Now he can not only gain a greater perspective of the scene during the heat of battle, but he is even better at picking out gold and other shiny objects. Other photos: The crew at their favorite pastime These pirates really are a scurvy band! Yo-Ho Yo-Ho a Pirate's Life for Me! Most importantly, their vessel, the Flying Fist, my entry for Category C. See the rest of my Flickr page

Same. I thought I could manage, but the temptation to click on those spoiler tags is too great--I must leave before I succumb! I'll be back to join the discussion in two weeks, as well.

^ Also, there is the problem of an accumulation of tolerances to each brick. I.e. a 16 stud long brick is not actually the same length as 16 1x1s laid in a row, because each brick, regardless of size, is a little smaller at the edges. This allows a brick to be placed easily between two others, albeit with a minimal gap between them. If they were perfectly exact on the edges this would be very hard due to the additional friction. This is why you may notice it is hard to line up several 1x1s next to each other without some looking crooked--each has a tiny bit of wiggle room. This is also why TLG began releasing, for example, 1x1x3 bricks rather than just 3 1x1s stacked high--to reduce the effect of accumulated tolerances. The difference is minimal, but across long distances can become a problem, depending of course on exactly what you build and how. Beyond the engineering complexities, I also see one giant baseplate as an accident waiting to happen. You have to carry all the weight at once, fit through doorways, balance it, and if it goes wrong--slides off, gets bumped, etc.--you risk the entire MOC being broken up. Modularizing solves all of those problems. While having to plan and build modular connections can be difficult, I think the benefits--especially when facing a layout of any considerable size--definitely outweigh the risks and costs.

Very fun--I thought those were the actual canoe pieces at first, then realized they were brick-built! I love how it evokes the old set. Good luck!

It was used for a SW speeder:

Mine (for Categories A & C) are finished, but I'm waiting for a few days to see if I want to change anything before going through all the hassle of photography, image adjustment, etc. Probably later this week, if I have time.

I see two benefits here: 1) for people who see the wall and ask what you're supposed to do without instructions. This kind of brings the PAB wall down to the lowest common denominator, but will probably help parents who were otherwise intimidated by the wall and ensure that those kinds of people can also have a good experience. 2) it enables the rest of us to give PAB bricks as a gift to someone who falls into the above category. Although I agree the bricks are a much lower value in this format, I can see myself getting one or two a year for my LEGO-inclined nephews and nieces. I would then use it to introduce them to the PAB wall themselves (for my own kids, I would skip the PAM and just go straight to the wall). Do these benefits outweigh the cost to the wall (of space for other elements, particularly?) Perhaps. I see the PAB wall as essentially paying $16--what I might have paid for a small set anyway--and getting an extra 500 pieces for free as gravy, so it's hard for me to complain about a slightly smaller selection, especially since I suspect that the PAM parts will usually include wheels and tires, parts that I already avoid getting. If it helps others have a good experience with the brand, I can see every reason for TLG to want to do it, and I'm okay with that.

This happened to me, but the missing part was the instruction manual (and the stickers--which is all I really wanted). Instead I had to give them a number from the box, which I believe was just the set number, actually. The set in question was the original Quinjet, and they sent them--including the stickers covered with the obviously licensed SHIELD logo--with nothing more than a long wait on hold, which I assume was because I didn't have the number from the instructions. Granted, they aren't physical LEGO parts, so YMMV.

Ha! I have the same hairpiece in black on my Loki minifig. Looks great.

I would suggest after painting to put the fig in an area with a strong air current--not strong enough to blow the paint off, of course. Maybe a fan on a low or medium setting. That would help evaporate the residual acetone quickly (rather than simply air drying) before it has a chance to cause the color to bleed. Also painting it white first might make matters worse, as the acetone will likely dissolve the white almost immediately, depending on the kind of paint.

The Moonraker fig is remarkably accurate, and your Timothy Dalton fig is pretty good as well. Love the ATAC, by the way. Looking forward to the next installment!

All your brick are belong to Us

Good one, Bob. For half a second there you nearly had me.

I understood it to be not an issue of color preference, but to better standardize the actual manufacturing process. As they started to build more factories around the world, LEGO was getting plagued by color inconsistency depending on which factory the parts were produced at. The recoloring process was to make it easier and cheaper for any given factory to produce colors that more closely matched the production of other factories. I may be wrong on that, but since it came at a time when the company was having to evaluate a lot of other production factors, it makes a lot of sense. I sadly never picked any up. I was recently out of my dark ages at the time and more interested in catching up on the castle sets I had missed. I see them now (at TRU, horribly marked up) and wish I hadn't passed up the chance.

This is my new favorite thread!

Love it! The Hydra logo is a little abstract, but that's a pretty good comic Zola.

Exactly this. You can kind of see the rabid desperation to pump out franchises lately--the DC Universe, the Hobbit, HP (a Newt Scamander trilogy?), etc. Not that other studios aren't doing the same or that that makes the movies inherently bad, but it seems like they get in their own way somewhat with their ambition to launch the next mega-franchise.

Yeah, that's why I didn't take a screengrab from that scene. Besides, the Drive Bee is one of my favorites...among many

Dang that was fast! Yes, that's the one. Your turn

Here you go:

It's funny, because I was thinking about that movie yesterday--more specifically, the Roger Rabbit short that came before it on the VHS. We would watch the crap out of that cartoon as kids--not that we didn't also like the feature itself, but that first seven minutes of the tape got more use than the rest ever did.

It seems like certain colors from certain time periods/sets are more susceptible to cracking. My dark red cheeses from the X-Men helicopter are also cracked, as are some dark red headlight bricks from Knights Kingdom sets, I believe. I have a few cracked greys but my others are fine.

I had a minifig sword that bent nearly double...I used it in a Rivendell vignette. When I find broken or chewed up pieces I like to see if I can put them in a build as battle damage, or as worn spots. Granted, there aren't always opportunities for that, but it is possible to use those warps and cracks to your advantage. Put them next to the Hulk bigfig and that will explain everything.

Honey I Shrunk the Kids But I probably wouldn't have remembered without that "Amy" clue.

I went and saw Cinderella yesterday with my wife for her birthday, and have to say it was much better than I expected. The story is the same old cliche, so no surprises there, but the characters didn't feel like the paper doll/cardboard cutouts that fairy tale characters often are; each character seemed well-realized in ways that surprised and delighted me. It was very well cast, and I think much of the general character depth can be attributed to Branagh's direction, even if he can be hit-or-miss sometimes. As for the stepmother, I thought nobody could rival Angelica Huston (Ever After), but between her and Cate Blanchett the race is neck and neck. Both cruel characters but with different personalities. She was amazing to watch. Oh, and we also saw, of course, Frozen Fever. Frozen (the actual movie), was okay despite its faults, although generally unsatisfying. Frozen Fever just felt... ...pointless. The song was pretty instantly forgettable, and the short reeked of nothing more than a cash grab mandated by studio execs, and served no real purpose to the story, the characters, or their world.