22 Foot Long, 250,000 piece LEGO Aircraft Carrier

Posted on November 6, 2010 by

Photo: BNPS.CO.UK

There are MOC, and then there are MOCs. This is one of those MOCs.

It’s an aircraft carrier, the World War II-era USS Lexington, and it was built by Ed Diment, with the help of his wife Annie. It comes complete with LEGO aircraft, life rafts, and minifigs/crew. It is considered to be the largest LEGO warship in the world, and Ed can’t even fit it (completed) into his house. Note the term warship – as the article mentions, there was a 25.1 foot-long cargo container ship built in Germany by 3,500 children, using over 500,000 bricks.

If you’ve heard Ed Diment’s name before, it’s because he built a replica of the HMS Edinburgh which was between 9-10 feet long, as well as a replica of the HMS Hood, which came in at 20 feet long.

It’s hard to describe in words, so I’m going to give you some statistics:
* 22 feet long
* 250,000 LEGO bricks
* It took 600 hours over nine months to build
* It weighs nearly 500 pounds (227kg)
* Valued at around £15,000 ($24,000 USD)
* Around 100 life rafts
* 200+ minifigs/crew

Highlights:
* Actual LEGO aircraft
* Working lift/elevator from hangar to main flight deck
* Moving gun turrets
* Spinning radar

By the way, the life, turrets, and radar are radio controlled.

Read: Daily Mail

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LEGO Space Shuttle (Literally) Headed into Orbit

Posted on November 5, 2010 by

NASA and The LEGO Group have announced an agreement that will literally send a LEGO Space Shuttle into orbit on November 30th, 2010. It would have went up this week, but the STS-133 shuttle mission that would have launched the Discovery into space, had to be temporarily delayed through November 30th due to some needed repairs. This month’s launch will be the Discovery’s last mission.

The launch of the LEGO space shuttle is meant to interest children in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Part of the press release:

A LEGO space shuttle headed to orbit helps mark the Tuesday signing of a Space Act Agreement between NASA and The LEGO Group to spark children’s interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

To commemorate the beginning of this partnership, the small LEGO shuttle will launch with the crew of the space shuttle Discovery on its STS-133 mission, targeted to launch Wednesday, Nov. 3, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The partnership marks the beginning of a three-year agreement that will use the inspiration of NASA’s space exploration missions and the appeal of the popular LEGO bricks to spur children’s interest in STEM. The theme of the partnership is “Building and Exploring Our Future.”

The LEGO Group will release four NASA-inspired products in their LEGO CITY line next year. The space-themed products will vary in terms of complexity, engaging audiences from young children to adult LEGO fans. Each product release will contain NASA-inspired education materials.

While it’s ostensibly for the children, a major result of this is that the LEGO City line for 2011 will be expanded to include four NASA-themed LEGO sets, and the press release mentions that at least one of the sets will be targeted towards adult LEGO fans (AFOLs).

The press release mentions a “small” LEGO shuttle. I don’t know what their definition of “small” is – there is an existing/current Shuttle set in the Creator line, the 10213 Shuttle Adventure, which is still available through the LEGO Store or retailers like Amazon.com. That set has 1,200+ bricks in it..

If you check the official LEGOSpace.com website (see below), there are some photos with a very small shuttle. Most likely that will be the size.

Update: The smaller Shuttle you see at the LEGOSpace.com website below is the proper size.

There will be a really unique event in February of 2011. There will be special LEGO sets flown up to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the shuttle Endeavor on the STS-134 mission. These are actual sets that are not already assembled, and astronauts will assemble them in orbit while children and students assemble similar sets across the US (and world?). It will help the children visualize what it’s like to build something in space.

Links:
* NASA.gov Press Release
* LEGOSpace.com
* NASA’s Education Site

Posted in 2010, 2011, Announcements, City, Creator, LEGO Company | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Dan Jezek, BrickLink Founder, Passed Away Last Week

Posted on November 4, 2010 by

Just as Jason and I are revamping our own site, and readying some new reviews, we found out the sad news that Dan Jezek, the founder of BrickLink, passed away last week.

Dan was 33 years old, and in his short life played a major part in expanding the LEGO hobby, especially among adult fans of LEGO. BrickLink is a cornerstone of the online LEGO community, and was founded over 10 years ago by Dan in order to meet a need that many AFOLs had – meeting up and buying, selling, and trading LEGO pieces, in an easy manner. Up until BrickLink (originally BrickBay), it was very hit-or-miss with buying bricks on eBay, and it was difficult to obtain exactly what you were after. Many of us remember having to buy a lot more than we wanted to in order to get specific parts. Along comes BrickLink and over 51 million visitors later, it is still chugging right along, and helping people find the exact pieces and quantities they need.

This was the statement issued by BrickLink.com:

We regret to announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Dan Jezek, owner and founder of BrickLink.com. Dan will be greatly missed by all of his family and many friends at Bricklink and around the world. A memorial fund is being set up and will be announced at a later date. If you wish to send condolences, you may do so via e-mail to condolences (at) bricklink.com and they will be passed on to his family.

The website will continue under the ownership of the Jezek family. Eric Smith, owner of Northstar Computer Systems, will act as BrickLink Administrator. Northstar has been the host for BrickLink for the past decade. The current BrickLink moderators for the various aspects of the site are all continuing in their roles. Troy Ceferatti is resuming his role as Community Overseer.

The site will continue operating without interruption and all Bricklink users – buyers and sellers – can be reassured that the policies and fee structures will remain as before. Please remember Dan in your thoughts and prayers.

Announcement: BrickLink

Memorial: BrickLink.com/DanJezek

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LEGO 3862 Harry Potter Hogwarts Game Showing up in Stores

Posted on August 5, 2010 by

The new game from the LEGO Game Series, LEGO 3862 Harry Potter – Hogwarts, is starting to become available everywhere, at least in the US. It’s been going in at out of stock for $29.95 on Amazon.com and I’ve also seen it in person at Target tonight. By the time I saw it tonight, I had already ordered it online and it had shipped unfortunately.

This is the first major licensed game LEGO has put out in their new game series. It comes with buildable LEGO pieces, and revolves around searching Hogwarts castle, and is for 2-4 players. The description claims games take 10-20 minutes. We’ll see. Maybe we’ll videotape a session and put it on YouTube.

Features:
* 1 buildable LEGO Dice
* 9 LEGO microfigures (not minifigs!), including Harry, Hermione, Ron Weasel, Draco Malfoy, and Dumbledore, along with microfigs from each house.
* 332 LEGO pieces

This is going to be the next major review we do.

Posted in 2010, Announcements, Featured, Harry Potter | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

LEGO Kingdoms 7949 Prison Carriage Rescue Review

Posted on July 19, 2010 by

Today’s review is of the new LEGO Kingdoms 7949 Prison Carriage Rescue. This is set within the new Kingdoms line (or universe). Like yesterday’s review of the LEGO Kingdoms 7955 Wizard, this review will be fairly brief, although there is much more to this 50-piece set versus the 19-piece 7955 set. Like yesterday’s review, it also highlights a fantasy element of the new Kingdoms lineup, although don’t get the impression that the new Kingdoms line is fantasy-based. Fantasy takes a backseat in this replacement series for LEGO’s popular Castle line.

LEGO Kingdoms 7949 Prison Carriage Rescue - Review (2010)

What is it? It’s a simple two-wheeled carriage that is being used to transport a prisoner. The fantasy element is the unicorn, which is actually a horse with a piece of armor for its head that includes a mount for a unicorn horn. With the horned helmet it becomes a unicorn. In addition to the horse/unicorn, it comes with three minifigures – a captured soldier from the Red Lion faction, along with a knight from the same faction intent on rescuing him. Opposing them is a knight from the Green Dragon faction.

By the Numbers:
Set: LEGO Kingdoms 7949 Prison Carriage Rescue
Year of Release: 2010
Type: Kingdoms vehicle/horse set with three minifigs
# of Pieces: 50
# of Extra pieces: 2 (1×1 wedge)
# of Minifigs and what kind: 3 Minifig Knights/soldiers (1 King’s Army soldier, 1 King’s Army knight and 1 Dragon Knight soldier) + 1 Horse/Unicorn
Stickers? No
Price: $9.99 US MSRP – Official Shop.LEGO.com, Also at Toys R Us, Amazon.com (US) and Amazon.co.uk (UK) (Prices may vary through third-parties based on retailer and availability)
Ages: 5-12
Time to Complete: Less than 10 minutes

Box Art:

LEGO Kingdoms 7949 Prison Carriage Rescue - Review (2010)

Continue reading →

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LEGO Kingdoms 7955 Wizard Review

Posted on July 18, 2010 by

It’s been a while since we posted anything new, but that’s changing, and there are a lot of new and very interesting sets coming out. I’m also nearly done with a new site design that will roll out next week. I’m most excited about the new Atlantis sets as the new Kingdoms line from LEGO. Kingdoms is replacing the Castle series, and it has a feel to it that goes back to some of the classic sets.

LEGO Kingdoms 7955 Wizard Review (2010)

This is going to be a very short review of the LEGO Kingdoms 7955 Wizard set, since it’s an “impulse” set consisting of less than 20 pieces and is meant to compliment the larger sets, but it’s a good start to the upcoming reviews we are posting. I’m also testing out a new camera so the color might be off slightly. I’m using two different 32×32 baseplates which is why the gray seems off on one.

The LEGO Kingdoms line is meant to replace the Castle series in 2010, and it does so with two factions – the Green Dragon and Red Lion factions. These are more of a medieval style setting, and rely much less on fantasy. From the sets I have, there are wizards (or sorcerers if you prefer), unicorns, and dragons, and nothing else that points to a fantasy setting – no trolls, dwarves, etc.

By the Numbers:
Set: 7955 Wizard (Kingdoms)
Year of Release: 2010
Type: Impulse minifig set
# of Pieces: 19
# of Extra pieces: 2 1×1 rounds
# of Minifigs and what kind: 1 – Wizard + little green dragon
Stickers? No – book/scroll is printed.
Price: $3.99 MSRP, Available at Amazon.com (US) and Amazon.co.uk (UK) (price may vary depending on seller) or through the official LEGO Shop Online, and Toys R US.
Ages: 6-12
Time to Complete: Less than 5 minutes

Box Art:

LEGO Kingdoms 7955 Wizard Review (2010)

Continue reading →

Posted in 2010, Featured, Kingdoms, Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment