MEGATech Showcase: It’s a LEGO Extravaganza! Beth Snyder March 21, 2013 Features I swear, my LEGO file multiplies when I’m not looking. Just a couple of days ago, I opened it and there were almost, but not quite, enough different items to make a showcase worthwhile. Now there are too many again, to the point where I’m weeding out the ones that aren’t quite as fun so it doesn’t get ridiculously huge. Of course, it’s LEGO, and what you can do with them is limited only by your imagination. Or in some cases an engineering degree. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDcZejF7jvg&w=560&h=315] First up is a LEGO Harlem Shake. I assume by now most of you have heard of this thing whether you wanted to or not. I don’t get it, but it’s popular with the kids, so whatever. This one happens to be the Harlem Shake as performed by LEGO minifigs of pretty much every genre. It starts as you’d expect, and continues on as they all do…and then there’s this surprise. I laughed right out loud. So even though normally I don’t include videos in showcases, I didn’t want you to have to click on the source link to see it. Because it’s pretty darn funny. Source: Nerd Approved How do you know you have entirely too much free time on your hands? When you spend a year building Hogwarts out of 400,000 LEGO bricks, using no glue at all. Just a theory. The effort paid off somewhat, though…it won People’s Choice and Best in Show awards at last year’s BrickCon, and was on display earlier this month at Emerald City Comicon. This one was created by Alice Finch and what appear to be a few friends, and as I said, it took her a whole year. That’s either dedication or a horrific case of OCD. Either way, it’s pretty neat. If you’re interested, there’s a time-lapse video of it going together that lasts about a minute over at Geekologie. Source: Laughing Squid How about a game of Mailbox Baseball? If you’re not familiar, you were either a good kid or grew up in the city. See, it’s this game where you drive around in someone’s car, and one or more of you leans out the window with a baseball bat smashing mailboxes. Yeah, it’s a bad idea, and could get you arrested. But when you grow up in the middle of nowhere you have to make your own fun. Anyway, this is one of several pop culture scenes created by Christian Cantrell out of LEGO, and I love it. Of course, since it’s Star Wars themed, Luke Skywalker isn’t using anything as mundane as a baseball bat; he’s taking out mailboxes with a light saber! Source: Technabob Hey, look! It’s one you can actually buy! It’s the Star Wars Rancor Pit, and it comes with 380 pieces including Rancor, Skeleton and 3 minifigures: Luke Skywalker, Malakili and a Gammorrean gua. It features an opening gate, secret room and hidden compartment, as well as coming with a bone, 2 keys, pitchfork and a bucket. Measurements are 6″ (16cm) high, 7″ (19cm) wide and 7″ (20cm) deep. The Rancor figure has movable arms, hands, fingers and jaw. You can take one home today for about $50.00 US. Source: 7 Gadgets This one is so very wrong, which is why I love it. At first glance, it appears to be a scene from Star Trek. All well and good, no? But then you look at it. Is that Wesley Crusher on a leash, being led by his mother? And Deanna Troi sitting at Picard’s feet, while Worf looks on sans shirt? Yup, that’s what’s going on, all right. What the heck? Iain Heath designed this one, and in the process kind of became my hero. I think it would do little Wesley some good to find himself at the mercy of his elders for once, don’t you? Supposedly, this is a representation of what could happen if Picard decided to abandon the Federation and give in to his dark side. But now it’s got me thinking…what do they do for fun in their down time? Source: Nerd Approved First, I just have to ask…There was a Back to the Future III? When did that happen? I remember the first one, and sort-of the second one, but three? I’ve got nothin’. However, this particular design is the train from Back to the Future III, and features the old west time-traveling train as well as the family to ride on it. Created by Masashi, this one isn’t available (although he’s trying), but it’s an actual electric train that works on LEGO train tracks. Source: Geekologie I admit it. I laughed. A lot. Like, there were tears running down my face and I was holding my sides. Probably I shouldn’t, but I’m like that. If you can’t tell from the picture, this is Stephen Hawking. In LEGO. Please tell me I’m not the only one who almost shot my coffee out of my nose when I saw this for the first time. You can actually buy this, by the way. You know, if you really need a LEGO kit so you can have your very own Stephen Hawking to roll across your desk. The kit sells for about $40.00 and is a limited edition, but if you think you can make your own out of bricks you already own, you can pick up the instructions on the internet for free. I’m sorry. I can’t stop laughing. I think it’s the face. Source: Geek.com Another one from the “too much free time” files…a life-sized Superman built of LEGO. The kid who made this, Evan Bacon, also built a life-sized Batman. Superman stands 6 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighs about 110 pounds. He’s made out of 18,000 LEGO bricks, and he’s got LED eyes that actually light up. Evan spent about 100 hours making Superman, and plans to show him off at this summer’s Brick Fiesta. Source: Technabob Are you a fan of Zelda? Now’s your chance to make this Legend of Zelda LEGO set a reality. Designed by Wes Talbott, this set is up for voting on Cuusoo, so if you want one, you’re gonna have to vote for it and get all your friends to vote for it. And all of their friends. And their friends’ friends. You get the idea. The set would include a custom Iron Knuckle, Link, rupees, pots, a treasure chest and a background with breakable pillars. Source: Nerd Approved The Iron Man 3 LEGO set is here! Well, actually, there are three different ones. This one happens to be the Malibu Mansion Attack set, and it’s pretty darn fabulous. It contains 364 pieces, including rotating computer console and holographic screens, tools, armory with exploding floor function, and kitchen area with cupboards, blender with mandarins and assorted kitchen tools. The attack helicopter has side-mounted cannons, flick missiles, and its rotors spin. The cockpit is even big enough for a minifig, so you can choose which one of the five it comes with to fly (the Mandarin, Pepper Pots, Tony Stark, Starks Mark 42 Armor, and an Extremis Soldier). Pricing is about $40.00 US for each set. Source: Gadget Review I haven’t got the first clue what this is all about. Apparently there’s a smartphone app called Tamago, which wants you to crack open an egg to see what’s inside it. In order to do that, you have to tap the egg one million times. Jan Gerritsen didn’t want to have to actually tap the screen that many times, so he built a robot using LEGO Mindstorms to do it for him. That’s all it does; taps the screen of his phone enough times to open the Tamago egg. Now that I understand, I’m still not sure I get it. But hey…it’s LEGO! Source: Technabob If that last robot wasn’t quite your thing, how about Legonardo? Built by Daniele Benedettelli, this one uses regular LEGO bricks as well as Mindstorms to create a LEGO version of Leonardo da Vinci that can sketch on paper. He’s kind of creepy looking, but I like him. The drawings are initiated by custom software, but then the robot takes over and puts pen to paper to actually make a sketch. I really want to see this one in person. Source: Damn Geeky While not an official LEGO product, this iPhone case is compatible with LEGO bricks as well as other less popular brands of similar plastic brick shapes. This Brick Case is only for iPhone 5, but it comes in a wide variety of colours, including glow in the dark. I can see a lot of times when that would come in handy, as well as many times when it would not. Aside from being a toy to play with, the case does actually protect your phone, and leaves all ports and buttons open for use. If you’d like one, you can get it for £19.99 (about $30.00 US). Source: Coolest Gadgets These look real enough in pictures that I involuntarily shuddered when I saw them. Insects made of LEGO, laid out in authentic display boxes and with each part labelled as if in a museum. I haven’t got a clue how many or what kind of bricks were used in these, but they are all modeled after insects that actually live in the real world, and were designed by Siercon and Coral to look as much like their real-life counterparts as possible. Creep cool is exactly right! Source: Nerd Approved As I’m sure you know by now, I cook. A lot. So I tend to collect herbs and spices like most women collect shoes and purses. At first, I saw this and immediately wanted to make one. And then I realized…it holds eight bottles of spices. I would need something like 42 of these to hold all of mine, and they don’t all come in the right shape with the right tops. But it’s still neat, and you can make one for yourself if you’d like. Matthew Ebisu designed this one using chipboard and cardboard for the base, and then simply inserted spice bottles into the holes. He is even so kind as to offer a downloadable design template so you don’t have to figure it out for yourself. Source: Technabob You’ve all seen this by now, right? A truck carrying LEGO bricks got into an accident on a West Virginia highway, spilling its load and closing said highway for hours while the mess was cleaned up. If it had been just a few bricks, it might have been all right. But assuming all of you have stepped on a LEGO at some point, you know how sharp their corners are. Can you imagine the number of blown tires if people were driving over hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of LEGO bricks? Of course, the sick and wrong part of me got a giggle out of it, but then I thought of the horrible waste. Because you know they couldn’t just clean them up and sell them, they had to go back and be recycled into new bricks. Source: Gadget Review Last, but by no stretch of the imagination least, is Tard. You know…Grumpy Cat. Her real name is Tarder Sauce…yes, she’s a girl, and no, her name is not short for that offensive word meaning mentally challenged. I love her long time. She’s one of the few internet memes I haven’t yet gotten sick of seeing. And now someone has created her out of LEGO. You know what I love the most? Her mouth. Not just because of her permanent scowl, though. If you look closely, you can see they are made out of minifig hands holding drumsticks. That just tickles my funny bone. This one was created by Iain Heath, which only solidifies how much I like him (he’s the same guy who created the Star Trek scene above, in case you don’t remember). Source: Laughing Squid Share This With The World!
