A. Lemur explains it all, episode 1: What a bunch of AFOLs! [Feature]

Hello, I’m A. Lemur and I’m The Brother’s Brick mascot. Our newer readers might be saying; what the heck is going on here? Admittedly, the last time I gabbed at ya, Adele’s 25 won Album of the Year, and everyone was getting all saucy with Fifty Shades of Gray. You see, I got into a poo slingin’ altercation with my neighbor and, as a result, was sent to the lemur pokey for a while. But, as per my court-ordered community service, I’m here to teach you about some common LEGO acronyms you may have heard at conventions or right here on our own pages.

MOC – what does that mean?

A MOC is the common term for something that is My Own Creation. This is when you take LEGO and design your own thingamabob without instructions. This can be achieved with the LEGO you may already have or through orders from our friends over at Brickset or Bricklink. Keep in mind that this is not simply building a LEGO set, although it’s totally OK to do that. Most LEGO folks young and old just build sets and display them proudly on their shelves. But a MOCer-that is a breed apart! You can usually identify them at LEGO conventions by their brick badges, thousand-yard stare, and the demeanor of someone who generally can’t be trusted with the undergarment section of a Sears catalog. The last MOC I made got me kicked out of my local LUG because those sweaty nerds just don’t know good art when they see it!

Wait, what’s a LUG?

A LUG means LEGO Users Group. There are LUGs all over the globe and it’s a great way to get together with like-minded friends, usually in a library or other public spaces (that incidentally also host Poo-Slingers Anonymous meetings) to talk about LEGO sales and happenings, and show off your newest MOCs. If you are so inclined, get yourself on the Google and discover LUGs in your area. From there you can behold the aforementioned thousand-yard stare as someone there is sure to completely nerd out over NPU.

Which brings us to NPU

This means Nice Part Usage. This is when someone very cleverly uses LEGO bricks in unconventional ways to illustrate a complex shape or detail. Our contributors are forever going on about NPU in our articles. That means job security for us. I’m pretty sure if they didn’t have that to talk about, they’d otherwise be avid and lonely gamers. There is nothing more soul-crushing than playing a board game by yourself when someone walks in on your one-handed solo campaign!

What a bunch of AFOLs!

And what are all those grown-ass folks called who enjoy building with LEGO? They’re known as AFOLs or Adult Fans of LEGO. These are the guys and gals you see at conventions, your local LUGs, or lurking in the toy aisle at Walmart or The LEGO Store looking for the latest and greatest LEGO sets, and pretending to buy them for their “kids”. It was once suggested that we are not AFOLs, as adult FANS of LEGO are the folks who pay to see us at conventions. Instead, they reasoned, that we are Adult Hobbyists of LEGO but that moniker didn’t stick because – well – no one likes that acronym.

That’s all I’ve got for now but stay tuned for another day as our other contributors or I will come back with explanations for other common LEGO acronyms. Wait ’til someone explains BURP to y’all! It’s a hoot! Or look it up for yourself and more in our LEGO Glossary. Thanks for reading, friends. Until next time, keep it real and trust me when I say to keep your poo in your own yard.

In space, no one can hear you make swooshing noises

Sometimes, you can hear a LEGO model even when all you’ve got is an image. Take this spaceship by Al-Tair here, which inspires a reaction somewhere along the lines of KSHEWWWWWW PEW-PEW-PEW! For anyone who doesn’t speak spaceship onomatopoeia, that’s the sound that automatically springs to mind as you imagine yourself swooshing the model around, firing those deadly-looking wing cannons. Bonus points for the use of one of my favorite cockpit pieces (we all have those, right?): the newer trans-blue helicopter screen from the City theme.

AF-30 'Bulwark'

Adorable LEGO kid in a Triceratops costume

Minifigures wearing costumes have becom quite common with many of the Collectible Minifigure Series includiong them, but this LEGO model by filbrick takes the costumed character to a whole new level! This brick-built kid wearing a Triceratops costume is full of great details. from the tussled hair to the little nose to the oversized feet. I especially like the eyes, which inlude a 1×1 transaprent blue tile for the pupils. The expresion is pure joy!

Triceratops

Celebrate Star Wars Day with insights into the design of the UCS LEGO Star Wars 75382 TIE Interceptor [News]

Here at TBB, we’ve already shared our review of LEGO Star Wars 75382 TIE Interceptor, as well as the announcement of the set’s release a few days ago. But on this unofficial holiday when we tell one another “May the fourth be with you!”, we thought it would be a good time to talk even more about this new LEGO set. Last month, we had the opportunity to sit down alongside other LEGO websites to talk with Henrik Andersen, designer of the new UCS Interceptor and the original LEGO Star Wars 7181 TIE Interceptor from 2000. We’ve got a summary of that roundtable below, with plenty of insights into the design of both models. And for those looking for your own copy of 75382 TIE Interceptor, it’s available from the LEGO website for US $229.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £199.99

Read on for designer insights below

What’s all the Buzz about?

Buzz Lightyear flies again in this LEGO model by Inthert aka Tom Loftus, bringing us a custom take on the movie starfighter previously depicted in the official set 76832 XL-15 Spaceship. Strap into your cockpit, because there’s oodles of great building techniques on display in this model. From the outside, the techniques are so smooth that they’re almost hard to see: The red stripes on the wings are separated by white ingots; the winglets are made from claws; and there are tonnes and tonnes of cheese slopes to help create all the angles of the fighter.

Buzz Lightyear's XL-15

Tom has also kindly provided us with in-progress pictures of the internals of the fighter. I’m sure I can’t even describe the half of it. There’s boatloads of various brackets and 1×1 bricks with studs on the side. There’s also 1×2 round plates, and 1×2 round plates with bars. Finally I’ll point out that there’s a few little minifigure utensils scattered throughout the build. See if you can find them!

Buzz Lightyear's XL-15 - Build Log

Black Falcons are on the move

LEGO ships come in various shapes and sizes and are captained by different factions. Builder Andreas Lenander transports us to a scene where the Black Falcons are embarking on an adventure. The builder shows off with the construction and placement of the sails, as I’m sure those things weigh quite a bit. Undoubtedly this portion of the build presented a challenging task as well as a unique approach to a frequently visited part of a ship build. Brick-built sails are not unique, but the approach here diverges from the often-seen use of borrowed capes and other fabrics and provides depth and volume to the overall build. Although the sails are great, a closer look at each shipmate intrigues me as I try to determine where the hairpiece was borrowed. I see a couple of familiar options- Ariel? Leia? Finally, the water caught my attention. Although the approach is simple, it almost seems obvious now. I don’t know if this builder utilized a groundbreaking approach to depicting water via LEGO bricks, but I sure enjoyed seeing it for the first time here.

Perilous journey

Towering stones, reddish tones, and brave clones in the Star Wars action scene

At first glance, the most show-stopping part of ARKUM ELO‘s LEGO diorama of the planet Geonosis is the stunning array of organic-looking rock formations. A second glance highlights the elite clone Delta Squad taking on a detachment of Geonosians and battle droids, the action so vivid that you can almost hear the whine of superheated plasma as both sides trade blaster bolts. But what makes this model stand out are the extra touches from the LEGO Star Wars video games: the health bars hovering over the action and the floating studs ready for collection. Good thing both parties appear to be at full health because it looks like the battle is about to get nasty.

Delta squad on Geonosis 2.0

A scale model in plastic kit form (no, not that sort)

Joao Nunes is sharing some pictures of his latest plastic kit. The painting is done, he’s got the brick separator and scalpel ready, and all that’s left to do is… Hang on. We’re confusing our LEGO bricks with our Airfix here! This is a very convincing facsimile of a Tamiya-style model, where instead of simply clicking bricks together, you need to painstakingly cut and paint each piece before gluing it all together. (With Kragle, presumably.) To the purist, that might sound like a nightmare – but fear not, no LEGO pieces were harmed in making this tableau. Even the box and sticker sheet are as good as new!

Speed Champions VS Tamiya

Fall in love with Fallout 4’s rustiest truck stop

Whether you’re a video game veteran who’s been wandering the Wasteland for years or a Brotherhood initiate who just gleefully binged the Fallout show, there’s plenty to love in Raymond Stuijvenberg’s LEGO diorama of the Red Rocket Truck Stop from Fallout 4.  The details are too numerous to mention them all, but let’s start by properly appreciating the building techniques involved. You can’t see them—which means they’re doing their job—but the builder used ball joints to get the roof and support at just the right angle. And yes, those are Dogmeat and Mr. Handy at the vault-dweller’s side.

Fallout Red Rocket Truck Stop

Do you dare venture inside?

Creative adobe suites in LEGO

The stacked adobe houses of Taos Pueblo are an architectural wonder whose living history goes back a thousand years. Brothers Brick alum Nannan Zhang takes inspiration from Taos for his breathtaking model The Enchanted Pueblo. While the pastel colors are much more vibrant the the walls of Taos Pueblo, they absoultely reflect the palette of a desert sunset and art of the region. The offset houses with their rounded roofs and exposed viga beams are unmistakeably pueblo, but serindipitously echo the architecture of LEGO House in Billund. There are so many lovely details with brilliant parts use, from the strings of dried chilis that hang by the doors, to the custom red soil base, to the incredible array of desert succulents (love that flowering yucca on the left!). If, like me, you’re wondering where those curvy pots that fit so well on the terraces come from, they’re sourced from old Scala flower pots.  Nannan estimates the build took 60 hours over 2 months to achieve, but the results are truly timeless.

Enchanted Pueblo

Le voyage dans Hyperspace Mountain

You don’t have to travel to Billund for LEGO-themed thrill rides. Skip the queues and visit Gregory Coquelz‘s Disney park mini-builds instead! Space Mountain was the second of Disney’s E-ticket mountains and unique among roller coasters for its fully enclosed light-and-sound experience. Four of the Disney parks followed the original 1975 design of a retro-futuristic white cone, but for Disneyland Paris, the Imagineers took a different approach, taking inspiration from Jules Verne and remaking the ride with a steampunk veneer. Gregory pays tribute to this incarnation, with a tan and azure roof and the signiture barrel of the space gun up the side (true to the Jules Verne roots, this ride launched visitors into space via good old-fashioned ballistics). I love the use of interlocked domes in dark red for the loading shute. The Verne theme extends to a micro Nautilus moored next to the “Mountain.” Should you visit Disneyland Paris today, you’ll find the shell of the mountain largely the same, but inside your coaster is accompanied by projected X-Wing fighters and TIE Fighters as part of a Star Wars retheming.

Space Mountain 1

To see more Disney Parks mini builds, check out Gregory’s Tower of Terror and Big Smol Thunder Mountain.

Trim and bear it

According to LEGO builder extraordinaire Cecilie Fritzvold, your once beloved toys get lonely once you cast them aside. That’s why Teddy here has learned the art of topiary trimming so that he can trim himself a new friend that he can care for, just as he was once cared for many years ago. Sweet moments like this make Cecilie one of our favorite builders lately.Check out our Cecilie Fritzvold archives to see what I mean. Maybe it’s time I phone up the ‘rents and have them send my childhood stuffed animals to me.

To be a teddy bear