BrickPlayer http://brickplayer.com/blog LEGO Brand Build Block Projects Discussion News Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:42:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 en LEGO Conversation Heart Box http://brickplayer.com/blog/2009/02/12/lego-conversation-heart-box/ http://brickplayer.com/blog/2009/02/12/lego-conversation-heart-box/#comments Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:42:37 +0000 Dave http://brickplayer.com/blog/2009/02/12/lego-conversation-heart-box/ With Valentine’s Day in just a couple days, I decided to build a small heart-shaped LEGO Box. It is designed to look like a candy conversation heart, complete with a printed message on the front. All thumbnails images below link to larger pictures.

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The box even has a removable cover, so it could be used as a small jewelry or treasure box.

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This isn’t the first time I’ve posted a project with a love theme. I have featured a Legend of Zelda mosaic with an ‘I Love You’ message as well as a love sign language sculpture.

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Small LEGO Mosaics http://brickplayer.com/blog/2009/02/12/small-lego-mosaics/ http://brickplayer.com/blog/2009/02/12/small-lego-mosaics/#comments Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:22:13 +0000 Dave http://brickplayer.com/blog/2009/02/12/small-lego-mosaics/ It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything new. Lately, I’ve been spending most of my LEGO hobby time on my BrickLink store. I miss building, so I decided to build a couple small LEGO mosaics. I’ve done several other 8-bit video game inspired mosaics in the past (e.g. Pacman, Dig Dug, Zelda, Mario, Pengo) but these two are the smallest. Even at this small size, the characters depicted are still recognizable.

The first mosaic is a close up of Mario Brothers Toad. Click on the thumbnail image below for a larger image. I used this picture as a building guide.

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The second mosaic is the green dinosaur from Bubble Bobble. I found this article and adapted it to LEGO.

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On this mosaic, I decided to cut the LEGO baseplate to the shape of the mosaic. I’ve used this technique before on several mosaics including my Starbucks Coffee Mosaic.

Here is a picture of the back so you can see how I’ve cut the baseplate. I wrote a post a while back detailing my technique for cutting LEGO base plates.

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LEGO Black Friday Deals http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/11/28/lego-black-friday-deals/ http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/11/28/lego-black-friday-deals/#comments Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:39:05 +0000 Dave http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/11/28/lego-black-friday-deals/ For the weekend of November 28th - December 1st LEGO Shop at Home has some incredible deals, all of which can be combined. Click the banner below to check them out!

LEGO

There are several great sets for half price

…and FREE shipping on any order over $99.00

…plus, take $10 off any order over $100 / $20 off any order over $200 / $30 off any order over $300.

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LEGO Minifig Display Stands http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/10/24/lego-minifig-display-stands/ http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/10/24/lego-minifig-display-stands/#comments Sat, 25 Oct 2008 04:32:42 +0000 Dave http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/10/24/lego-minifig-display-stands/ Although I don’t really collect LEGO Minifigs, I have a few favorites that I’ve acquired over the years. I also have many minifigs that are part of sets I own. Until now, I haven’t had a nice way to display my minifigs, so most of them have been in zipper storage bags. However, that has just changed because today I built several stands to display them (out of LEGO bricks of course)!

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More pictures and information on how to build… (more…)

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Twin Cities Brick eXpo 2008 http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/10/15/twin-cities-brick-expo-2008/ http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/10/15/twin-cities-brick-expo-2008/#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:43:20 +0000 Dave http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/10/15/twin-cities-brick-expo-2008/ This past Saturday, October 18th, was the first Twin Cities Brick eXpo (TCBX), and my first time displaying at a LEGO event.  I attended BrickWorld 2008 this summer in Chicago, but did so with my family just to view the displays.  Although, TCBX was smaller than BrickWorld, it included many different types of displays, offering a great cross section of LEGO projects.

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The event was free and the number of visitors were not counted.  The consensus was that we had at least a few hundred visitors and there was steady stream of people at my tables all day.  It was mostly families and it was great to see so many kids pulling parents between items saying, ‘Wow, look at this!’

I only learned about TCBX about one week before the event from the Fascinating LEGO Model of the Day, and was very gracious that event organizer Stein Settergren was able to accommodate me with such short notice.  I met members from TwinLUG and the Greater Midwest LEGO Train Club on Saturday for the first time and everyone was very friendly and welcoming.

The event was in Bloomington, Minnesota, which was about a 3 hour drive for me.  After arriving and setting up my stuff, I took pictures of the other exhibits before the event opened to the public at 10am.

See Full Article for Pictures and More Details… (more…)

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Halloween LEGO Sculptures http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/10/06/halloween-lego-sculptures/ http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/10/06/halloween-lego-sculptures/#comments Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:13:06 +0000 Dave http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/10/06/halloween-lego-sculptures/ Here is a set of five small, Halloween-themed sculptures. These models contain mostly common bricks, are easy to build, and I think make cute holiday decorations. There is a Ghost, Witch, Pumpkin, Bat, and Skull.

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I created these sculptures for a LEGO building workshop on Saturday, October 11, 2008 at the Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum. I did a LEGO Discovery Days Workshop in June, and the museum asked me back for another project. There are 16 kids signed up to build and I’m looking forward to this event.

Building Instructions and Part Lists… (more…)

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LEGO Love Sign Sculpture http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/08/29/lego-love-sign-sculpture-complete/ http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/08/29/lego-love-sign-sculpture-complete/#comments Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:26:16 +0000 Dave http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/08/29/lego-love-sign-sculpture-complete/ If you knows sign language, hopefully you will recognize the following LEGO sculpture, which is the sign for ‘I Love You’.

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More pictures and information… (more…)

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LEGO Love Sign Sculpture Preview http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/07/31/lego-love-sign-sculpture-preview/ http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/07/31/lego-love-sign-sculpture-preview/#comments Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:17:32 +0000 Dave http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/07/31/lego-love-sign-sculpture-preview/ I don’t usually write about projects that are not complete, but today I’m making an exception. I’ve been working on a sculpture of a hand signing ‘I love you’. It still needs a lot of work, especially the back - which is why it’s only pictured from the front. However, since I haven’t posted much lately I decided to put up a sneak preview of this project.

Updated 08/29/2008:  This project is complete!  I’ve completed a full article with many pictures here.

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Smaller LEGO Chess Set Complete http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/07/22/smaller-lego-chess-set-complete/ http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/07/22/smaller-lego-chess-set-complete/#comments Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:09:51 +0000 Dave http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/07/22/smaller-lego-chess-set-complete/ Back in May I started on a Smaller LEGO Chess Set sized for 4×4 squares, which is the size of the official LEGO chess set boards.  Finally, today, I have completed a full set of red and yellow pieces.  Here it is, on one of the official boards mentioned above.

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More pictures and information… (more…)

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Legend of Zelda LEGO Mosaic http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/07/07/legend-of-zelda-lego-mosaic/ http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/07/07/legend-of-zelda-lego-mosaic/#comments Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:15:18 +0000 Dave http://brickplayer.com/blog/2008/07/07/legend-of-zelda-lego-mosaic/ I’ve built another video game mosaic, this time inspired by The Legend of Zelda from the original Nintendo. (See several other video game mosaics posted in mosaic category). Once again, I found a cross stitch plan to use as a guide, this time on .tastethehappy.

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Like I did with the Pacman LEGO Mosaic, I’m showing a thumbnail-sized image here, because it simulates seeing the mosaic from a distance, which makes it look more realistic to the game. (The thumbnail links to the full-sized image.)

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