You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Robots/Mecha’ category.
First of all, I apologize for not posting lately, but I haven’t had a camera handy to take pictures of my MOCs so that I can post them here. Also, my Motorized Ringo Starr made it to the finals in BBcc #59 and will be at BrickFair. Voting will be held there, so feel free to drop by and cast your vote!
Last week, for my church, was Vacation Bible School. Volunteers manned the stations and projector, youth helpers were overwhelmed by the craziness that is 3rd graders. I, myself, signed up for audio and visual, and am I ever glad I did. (yes, this does tie into Lego)
On the first day of VBS I learned that I would be doing photography. The man I would work with, a particular Mr. Tucker, was a very kind person who did almost all of the church picture-taking. He coached me through the picture-taking process and loaned me his best camera. It turns out there’s more to it than just pressing the button. (Gasp!) I enjoyed my job thoroughly, however, and am convinced that at least one or two of my approx. 150 pictures weren’t terrible. (Mr. Tucker was convinced that my average was higher than that.)
The next day Mr. Tucker showed me his generosity by giving printouts of every picture I had taken the previous day, as well as a disk copy. I was very thankful. But his generosity didn’t stop there, for the next day he duplicated the feat and brought a tin of vintage Legos. ( I had told him earlier that I usualy only used cameras to take pictures of my Lego MOCs.) You had better believe that I was extremely grateful.
There was a story behind these Lego. Mr. Tucker had bought a Znap set out of curiosity some time ago and loved it. He then bought another Znap set and a Cyberslam set to expand his collection. Eventually, however, he stopped playing with them.
About a year ago, disaster struck. The Tucker’s house burned down. And yet, despite this, the Lego survived, to be passed onto me.
When I looked in the tin I thought, at first, that it wasn’t Lego because I was not familiar with the Znap system. But it was, two complete Znap sets, both with a 9-volt motor each. They proved very fun two play with and easy to build. The large pieces allow cool creations to come together very quickly. They are fully compatible with the Technic system.
It also included the Cyberslam set Spyder Slayer.
This is a wonderful set! The instructions tell you how to build a very fun creation full of playability and 3 configurations for the “Spyder”. But it also has MOCing elements that are to die for: Two rare technic figures, lots of teal, some purple, and a 9-volt motor! Thank you, Mr. Tucker!
TFOLs (Teen/Tween Fans Of Lego) and UFOLs (Underage Fans Of Lego [9 and under]) are often disappointed by their parent’s reaction to the latest cool creation they either build or find online. Non-Lego fans simply do not understand the rules of Lego and the effort that goes into any creation. I cannot blame them–you cannot fully appreciate Lego unless you have built Lego yourself. But still we want out parents to be amazed by the wonders of amazing Lego creations. This guide highlights some types Lego creations and qualities found in Lego creations that cause a parent’s increased awe. If you are a TFOL or UFOL and have your parent nearby, I suggest you invite them to read this post with you. I will include an example of each item.
1. Brickfilms
Stop-motion animation with Lego is very popular. Parents love the idea and think it is amazing that you can make a movie, of all things, with Lego. Here is an old example built by rymdrelage to promote the song “8- Bit Trip”:
You should probably stop for a moment now to pick your mom or dad’s jaw off the floor.
Thanks to Fasinating Lego Model of The Day.
2. Robotics/Motion
You can find hordes of robotic creations online if you know where to look. Most are made from the Mindstorms or NXT Lego robotic kits, but if that is out of your price range (NXT 2.0 costs $279.99) you can buy Power Functions Motors.
Robots and vehicles are great, but think out-of-the-box like NeXTORM:
Amazing, right?
Thanks to The Brothers Brick.
3. Huge Size
Anything is more impressive if it’s gigantic. Although most people don’t have enough bricks to make something the size of this model of the battleship Yamato, by Jumpei Mitsui, you can always build something impressive with what elements you do have.
Statistics:
Thanks to The Brothers Brick.
4. Creative and Original Build
Think: is a Toa really anything new? Is a spaceship truly noteworthy? Haven’t you built lots of custom minifigures before? Parents may tire of seeing the same old type of creation over and over again. But a Bionicle lobster? They’ve never seen that before.
So there you have it- the basics on how to impress your parents with Lego. Now go forth and build!
