Comic-Con for the LEGO nerd (2010 edition)

Since there’s a lot of crossover between LEGO fans and general geekiness, it seemed like a good idea to mention a few of the LEGO-related attractions at that the Xanadu of Nerddom: Comic-Con International. It’s tonight through Sunday at the San Diego Convention Center.

If you’ve got tickets, I’ll assume you already know most of the where and when, this is just a quick & dirty guide for all things LEGO.

LEGO: booth #2829. Smack-dab in the middle of the convention floor. On Wednesday evening, the upcoming Obi-Wan Jedi Starfighter set will premiere and be on display for the duration of the convention. Licensed theme sets for sale, LEGO electronic games, play tables, and the line for a chance to win the exclusive set (CubeDudes by Angus MacLane). Angus will be available for signings on Fri. from 2-3pm and Sat. from 12-1pm. The new Hero Factory buildable costume characters will premiere on Sunday.

BrickJournal: TwoMorrows Publishing booth #1301. Magazines and compendia for sale, hassle the ever-popular Joe Meno, and see if he’s arranged for another batch of fans to display their creations.

There are also more LEGO oriented panels this year and they’ll be going on every day except Saturday:

  • BrickJournal, Thur. 2:30-3:30pm, room 7AB. A discussion for and about the LEGO fan community moderated by BrickJournal editor Joe Meno, featuring awesome builder Brandon Griffith, LEGO: A Love Story author Jonathan Bender, LEGO certified professional Nathan Sawaya, and LEGO community operations boss-man Jim Foulds.
  • DK LEGO Star Wars, Fri. 10-11am, room 7AB. DK is releasing a new series of LEGO Star Wars books, and this panel will feature authors Ryder Windham, Daniel Wallace, Gus Lopez and Pablo Hidalgo as well as illustrators Chris Reiff and Chris Trevas. They’ll discuss the making of the books and provide some some sneak peaks. Panel attendees will be entered to win some of the featured books.
  • LEGO Universe, Sun. 11:30am-12:30pm, room 5AB. An official LEGO panel to promote LEGO Universe, the new massive multiplayer online game. The panel will include members of the development team including creative director Ryan Seabury, senior director Mark Hansen, media coordinator Chris Brubaker and videographer Ryan Baier in a addition to a few others who haven’t been revealed yet.
  • LEGO Hero Factory, Sun. 1:45-2:45pm, room 6DE. Sneak peak of the new Hero Factory line of constructible costumed heroes from LEGO. Designers of the line will be on hand to provide some back story and a preview of the accompanying TV series. I don’t usually check this sort product promo panel out, but I figure because of the controversy surrounding the discontinuation of Bionicle and its replacement by this theme, I should find out what the fuss is about. I’ll be there.

If any surprises turn up while I’m at the convention I’ll do my best to keep you posted.

Bird Under Water

This creation by Shamisenfred isn’t a duck or a penguin or anything else that’d make sense in the context of an underwater bird mecha. It’s an ostrich wearing a hardsuit.

Since I don’t own any of the new ostriches yet, I’m not sure whether the heads simply detach, or if tools are involved. In order to suit my purist heart, I’ll assume that the head was easily removed and affixed onto this body. There’s just something about the ostrich wearing goggles and a snorkel that really amuses me.

"TRITON" aquatic hardsuit

Bloody puppet, do your dance…

Brian Kescenovitz (mondayn00dle) is another builder who probably has more works featured on our blog than not. What makes this creation unique is the combination of an emotionally arousing scene and backstory (yes, a Lego creation can be more than eye-candy). The rust stains on the rare Bionicle mask of the hardsuit mirrors the stains of blood and adds to the twisted setting. The hardsuit also seats a complete minifig.

Cruella DeVille, if she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will.

As much as we try not to populate the blog with every creation by a single builder, it’s difficult when said builder keeps making blogworthy MOCs from different themes each time. Tyler Clites (Legohaulic) recently ventured into the world of Disney with his Cruella DeVille’s Rolls Royce. As usual, Tyler’s minifigs are also innovative; I never made the connection that Two-Face’s hair also doubles for the hairpiece of this classic Disney villain.

For the record, I purposely refrained from blogging Tyler’s Organibot for the above reason. You should still check it out if you haven’t seen it.

Metamorphosis, a stop motion animation

David Pickett (fallentomato) presents his best brickfilms animation showing Lego bricks morphing into different objects. Each change from one object to another consists of many brick-built transition states that are shown for only a fraction of a second, and the results are well worth it. Check out more descriptions and behind-the-scenes info about the video on David’s website.