Lego Town Hall

For some reason this one flew under my radar. I usually keep a close eye on new Lego releases but somehow I completely missed the new Town Hall set. I didn't find out about it until the day it was released! Last year, when the Pet Shop and Brownstone were released I was at my local Lego store that day! But fortunately for me my local store had plenty of Town Halls in stock when I went to pick it up last week. Upon arriving home I wasn't able to even start construction for another few days due to work and other responsibilities, but once I finally did the build went fast. This is another great modular building set from Lego, and it does a great job continuing to add more and more interior details.

Lego Mini Rockefeller Center - Architecture Series

Since Borders Bookstore is having a fire sale due to the company going out of business I popped in the other day to see if I could snag anything at a good price. I originally had about four Harry Potter Lego Sets in my hands but I decided to put them back since they all were a complete impulse buy. But what an impulse buy that would have been; I almost walked out with Hogwarts, Hagrid's Hut, The Hogwart's Express and Hogwart's gates. Fortunately I came to my senses. Instead I moseyed on over to the games and decided to buy the Rockefeller Center Architecture model instead. It has a lot of neat pieces and wasn't too expensive, especially with the sale. (I almost bought Fallingwater too but decided against it; I'm such an emotional buyer!)

It was a fun little build and was amazingly accurate to the real thing. This is the first Architecture set I have purchased since the skyscrapers I usually build are in a much larger scale. I'm not sure I would spend my money on any others though because they just don't have the detail I am looking for in a Lego model. I feel like Lego models can be very, very accurate, down to the tiniest detail if you are innovative enough. Lego and Adam Reed Tucker did a nice job with this set, it is just a little small for my tastes.

Although you do get a very nice book describing the history and construction of the buildings which is a nice little bonus. I liked it at least.

Inspiration: Spencer Rezkalla and his Lego Skyscrapers

In the Lego community, AFOLs (Adult Fans of Lego) sometimes refer to themselves as Brick-Artists. One of my favorite brick artists and the source of much of my inspiration is a man named Spencer Rezkalla; you may have seen me refer to him in some of my previous posts. Spencer takes real life skyscrapers and re-imagines them in Lego form with both correct scale and colorization. His claim to fame is that he doesn't go for super accurate designs, he more or less focuses on a "mind's eye" approach so that when you see the model it is instantly recognizable and looks very much like the real thing. The irony of this approach is the model usually ends up looking super accurate anyway. His designs are always very clean and often don't even look like they are constructed out of Lego. You can check out many of his designs on his MOCPage.

Last week Spencer started what I hope will be an ongoing tradition: Skyscraper week. He unveiled one creation per night for five nights in a row, culminating in the awesome One World Trade Center from the new WTC site in New York. After a very long time without any updates this was an awesome way to showcase some of his newest creations. I swear every time he creates something new, I want to build it myself. I am normally not a copycat, but his models look so good I don't believe they can be improved upon.

Spencer first came to my attention back in 2001 when he built his original World Trade Center site after September 11th. I have always had a peripheral interest in skyscrapers and the WTC was one of my favorites. After it was destroyed, I wanted something to commemorate it and I thought Spencer's Lego model fit the bill quite nicely. However at that time I was still in college without a whole lot of money and even though I have a lot of Lego's from my childhood it was still going to cost me over $1000 because of all the specialized parts needed. And I had just planned on building the two main towers! So needless to say I put the project on hold. As time passed by the project came back to me every now and then, but lots of other stuff kept getting in the way like moving, jobs, marriages. You know, adult stuff. So finally in 2009 when things had settled down and I was finally in a position to order all the parts I needed, I began work. It took over two months but I was able to finish the model exactly how I wanted it: complete with all seven buildings and surrounding streetscapes.

But then I got the building bug. All of a sudden I decided that my WTC looked lonely and needed a few more companions to accompany it. So I took on the challenge of Spencer's Sears Tower (I refuse to call it the Willis Tower) which was a piece of cake compared to the WTC complex and only took maybe a week. But I still wasn't done; I decided to try the Aon Building in Chicago next. I really loved the design and how it mimicked the WTC without copying the technique. In fact, it uses a fairly ingenious technique involving hinge bricks and rail plates. So basically the point of all this is: I am addicted to Spencer's designs and I love his interpretations. He just takes everything to the next level. I know of no other AFOL that can design and create like he can. There are quite a few fans (myself included) who copy his designs for their own but none of it would be possible without the vision that he provides when he first creates something.

So thank you Spencer, for having the ingenuity to create these wonderful designs for all of us to enjoy (and sometimes copy).

Lego Pet Shop Full Disclosure

Well I managed to complete the Pet Shop set yesterday and it turned out quite nice. I really love how Lego has started doing full interiors with these Modular Buildings starting with the Fire Brigade. It makes a real difference. This set is a little smaller than the previous two, and since it splits in to two distinct buildings (a nice feature as well!) it allows for much more customization than prior releases. The only other modular building that can really split apart is the fan-designed Market Street. This set also introduces the classic 'brownstone' style building that can be found in many cities in the Northeast United States. Overall it is a great set and really adds to a Lego street scene.

First, the Pet Shop

The rear exit/pet washing area.

Interior first floor, notice the fish in the aquarium.

Second floor apartment.

Third floor loft.

The Brownstone (I added the sailor from the Minifig series)

I also added the weightlifter from Series 2. Note the basement access.

The first floor, finally a toilet!

Second floor renovations.

Third floor storage & garden.

Another slam dunk from Lego, I eagerly await more Modular Buildings and hope the line continues for years to come!

See also:
Lego Town Hall
I love Lego Pets!

I love Lego Pets!

I had the good fortune to be able to pick up the brand new Pet Shop/Brownstone Lego Modular building yesterday. I haven't had a chance to build it yet, I just wanted to throw out some teaser pics. I'll do an update when the whole thing is complete.

Lego Sears Tower

Wow, almost a whole week without an update: things are really slow lately. This is probably due to a combination of me not spending much money because I am saving up for Botcon and no more new Generations or RTS releases. I'm not planning on buying many of Dark of the Moon toys preparing to hit stores so much of this blog will be dedicated to vintage releases for the next two years. I am, however stoked about Botcon and I'm sure I'll  have plenty to share from both the show and when I return home. In the meantime I'll continue to showcase some of my recent Lego creations just because they are a lot of fun.

After I completed the World Trade Center I still had the building bug. So based on another design by J. Spencer Rezkalla, I built the Sears Tower. Compared to the WTC, this was a piece of cake. It was a very straightforward build and I was able to complete it in just a matter of days. Enjoy the pictures!

The base still hadn't been finished at this point, compare it to the following pictures.

Street level and plaza

I still have a few other Lego creations up my sleeve, but I'll save those for later.

See also:
Lego World Trade Center
Lego Rockefeller Center

Lego World Trade Center

Well, not much has been going on in the Transformer world for me in the past few days so I thought I might showcase one of my Lego creations. First off let me say that this is not my design, but I was able to replicate it from the original without any instruction or direction. I loved the World Trade Center in New York and had the special privilege of being able to visit and enjoy it in 1997. I was devastated in 2001 not only for all the lives lost, but for the wonderful structure that will never be replaced. I will always have a great memory of that place and it will always hold a special place in my heart. This was my way of creating a small tribute to my memory so that the WTC will always be close at hand.

The entire WTC complex.

WTC 7

WTC 3, the Mariott

The WTC Plaza

The entire complex again.

This build took me around two and a half months and about 19,000 lego pieces. The main towers were the most complex but the rest of the site was fairly straightforward.

See also:
Lego Sears Tower
Lego Rockefeller Center