Bill Ward's Brickpile » News

Setting up my LEGO studio

Bill — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 06:54:14 +0000

I’m writing this from my new LEGO studio, which is a work in progress that I’m in the process of setting up.

A little backstory: Just under two years ago, my wife Holly and I decided to break up. At first, she stayed in our bedroom, and I moved into the second bedroom. At that time, the second bedroom was a combination office and LEGO room, but to a large extent was really just a storage room. You know how a lot of the time one room in the house becomes the catch-all dumping ground when you need to clean up the rest of the house? That room served that purpose. Anyway, I cleared the junk out of that room, went to IKEA and bought a bed and some other furnishings, and moved into it. In the meantime Holly redecorated what had been our bedroom – I put our queen size bed into storage, and she got a new folding couch/bed and set that room up as her own space. We lived like that for a few months, and then in the spring she had to suddenly move across the country to Pennsylvania to help her mother, who had fallen ill. Although her mother recovered pretty quickly, she stayed there, and rented her own apartment in a nearby town. In the meantime, her room (our old room) was left pretty much as she left it. She flew out to visit once, and stayed in her room, and for a while she was paying me a part of the rent to keep her room available for her.

Eventually it became clear that I should take over the room, but I took a long time to get around to doing it. After living together for 18 years, it was hard for me to make those final steps of moving her out of the house. Finally though, this month, I finished packing up her stuff and putting it into a rented storage unit for her, and in the past few days I’ve been moving my stuff into the room. My LEGO collection had outgrown the two IKEA PAX armoires I was keeping it in, and now having the entire bedroom will allow me to organize things so that everything is easily accessible to me. Moving the LEGO out of my bedroom allowed me to reorganize the room to have a lot more elbow room, and the new LEGO studio is shaping up nicely.

The Advent calendar project, recently finished, was done in the living room until the 22nd day. The last two days were photographed in the studio, and I’ve just finished building my birthday present from Holly – the Battle of Alamut (Set 7573 from the Prince of Persia line). Hopefully with the new studio I will be more active building LEGO. But I have a lot of sorting and organizing to do first…

My MOC featured in Australian housing article

Bill — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:16:18 +0000

My Yellow Victorian House MOC (“My Own Creation”) has been featured in an article about the housing boom/bubble in Australia. Since I use the Creative Commons licensing for my photos, that’s just fine with me, and they gave my name (“Bill Ward’s brickpile”) so people can easily Google me and find the rest of my work. That’s what Creative Commons is for!

Thanks to Tim “gambort” Gould for pointing this out to me.

Registration is now open for Bricks by the Bay 2012

Bill — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 04:00:41 +0000

The 2012 Bricks by the Bay Convention registration is now open!

The 2012 LEGO convention for the bay area will be held Friday-Sunday, March 16-18. Benefits of attending the convention include:

Custom engraved name badge made out of LEGO bricks
Access to speeches, presentations, and discussion sessions
Show your models in the Grand Ballroom for convention attendees and the public
Become a vendor (additional fee applies) to sell LEGO and related products at the convention and public show
Exclusive discounts at the LEGO store (TBD)
Chance to receive free LEGO sets in Prize drawings and contests

The event theme this year is “Green.” It is inspired by the fact that St. Patrick’s Day takes place that weekend, but we’re not limiting it to that: any creative use of the color green, subjects relating to the environment, and of course Ireland or St. Patrick’s Day themed models are suitable. In 2010 our theme was “The Brick Artistic” and in 2011 it was “Creative Combinations.”

If you’re interested in attending the whole convention, read all about the Convention, Hotel, Registration, and Schedule, along with more information about the weekend’s events.

Not sure if you want to come to the convention or just the public day? Read our FAQ to find out more.

How to Register:

Go to the hotel site and reserve your room if you’re staying at the hotel – $10 discount per room on convention fees.
Go to our convention registration form and register for the con.

Participation Options:

If you’re bringing anything to display, we are using a wiki workspace to plan space for each theme. Request a wiki account and add what you are bringing to the appropriate wiki page(s). (Click the Edit tab at the top of the page you want to edit to get started).
If you want to volunteer to help behind the scenes, subscribe to our planning mailing list.
If you wish to be a vendor, first register for the convention, and then fill out out Vendor Registration form (everyone working your booth must be a registered attendee).

LEGO makes a deal with Marvel too?!

Bill — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:27:36 +0000

I just posted about the new deal with DC Comics, and now I hear that LEGO’s Disney deal has expanded to include Marvel superheroes as well! So it looks like we’ll be getting Spider-Man back also. According to an article on stitchkingdom.com:

The LEGO SUPER HEROES Marvel collection will spotlight three Marvel franchises – Marvel’s The Avengers movie, and X-Men and Spider-Man classic characters. The LEGO Marvel’s The Avengers movie line brings such ever popular Marvel characters as Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Loki and Black Widow to LEGO minifigure form. The LEGO X-Men collection includes minifigure comic versions of Wolverine, Magneto, Nick Fury and Deadpool, while the LEGO Spider-Man sets offer minifigure comic versions of Spider-Man, and Doctor Octopus. The first buildable characters in the LEGO SUPER HEROES collection are highlighted by Captain America, The Hulk and Iron Man. Select figures will be unveiled in the LEGO booth (#2829) during Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center July 21-24.

LEGO Batman is coming back, with reinforcements!

Bill — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:24:24 +0000

Good news for superhero fans! LEGO and DC Universe (aka DC Comics) have announced a new partnership made through Warner Brothers that will have LEGO making new sets featuring Batman and other heroes from the DC Universe. According to an article in Variety,

The multi-year licensing deal, made through Warner Bros. Consumer Products, will start rolling out the new line in January, starting with 13 characters, including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and villains the Joker, Bane, Harley Quinn and Lex Luthor.

This is great news for minifig collectors and superhero fans! LEGO made Batman themed sets a few years ago, which have become highly valuable to collectors in the past few years. My advice? Buy as many of these new sets as you can afford and stick them in your attic for a few years, then sell on eBay.

LEGO Conference Table

Bill — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 22:53:02 +0000

Have you seen this? An Irish advertising agency called Boys and Girls has commissioned their conference table to be made entirely of LEGO bricks. They hired the architectural firm abcg Architects to design and build the table for the agency’s conference room at their Dublin headquarters.

Check out the article at The Resident Architect for more pictures and information. There’s a stop-motion video showing how it was built at the end of the article.

Bricks by the Bay 2011 Registration now Open!

Bill — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:43:52 +0000

I’m happy to report that the registration form for the Bricks by the Bay 2011 LEGO convention is now available for general registration. I’ve been working hard with a team of volunteers (we can always use more help if you are interested) to get the convention organized and planned.

So if you’ve been waiting for this news to register for the convention, your wait is over. Head on over to the site now and sign up!

http://www.bricksbythebay.com/register/

R.I.P. Daniel Jezek, Bricklink founder/owner

Bill — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:01:19 +0000

The LEGO community has lost one of its most valuable members. Daniel Jezek created and ran BrickLink, the online marketplace for secondhand LEGO parts and sets, which is a cornerstone of the LEGO hobbyist community. He will be sorely missed.

Daniel Jezek, 1977-2010 ... Rest in Peace

More information and a copy of his eulogy can be seen at a special page on Bricklink established in his memory.

Let Your Android Control Your Robot

Bill — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:28:05 +0000

Today, LEGO has announce a new Android App for LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT. If you have an Android based phone, you can use this to manipulate your LEGO robots using Bluetooth. I have a Motorola Droid, and I have two MINDSTORMS NXT sets, but have never built anything with them. I really should get around to doing something about that.

(About half the words in this post are trademarks of someone or other, but I don’t feel like inserting all of the ® and “TM” indicators….)

Goodbye, nnenn

Bill — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:34:24 +0000

I was stunned to learn today of the passing of Nate “nnenn” Nielsen in an automobile accident. Keith of the Brothers Brick has posted an excellent eulogy which I encourage you to read along with the many comments from members of the online community included in the post.

It’s relatively rare that we learn of the death of a LEGO hobbyist, but whenever it happens I always wonder what would happen to my collection of bricks after I’m gone? Estate planning is always a touchy subject, but I would encourage everyone to give it some thought, as I will be doing.

And even if you’re not a space builder, consider building a Vic Viper for the Missing Man Fly-In at BrickWorld in Chicago in June or BrickCon in October. Keith is collecting contributions for a group display honoring nnenn’s work.

http://www.brothers-brick.com/2010/04/13/farewell-to-a-legend-mourning-the-passing-of-nate-nnenn-nielsen/

New Power Functions Remote Recall

Bill — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:51:17 +0000

I just got the following notice in my email from LEGO:

SAFETY RECALL NOTICE

Dear LEGO Consumer

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the LEGO Group is voluntarily recalling the 8879 Power Functions IR Speed Remote Control unit, which poses a thermal burn hazard to users when batteries inside overheat. The remote control unit was sold separately as item #8879 or was included in K8882 Power Functions Kit or the K10194 Emerald Night Collection.

We are writing to you because our records indicate that you purchased one of these items. LEGO Systems has found that some of the remote control units (the kind that was included in your set) are not performing correctly. If your remote is one of the affected you would have noticed that it becomes hot to the touch in the first 5 to 10 minutes of initial operation. If you did not experience this situation when you first loaded batteries into the remote then your remote is not affected. If your remote is affected, we ask that you return it to us in exchange for a new remote control unit. Simply call 1-800-718-1858 between the hours of Monday-Friday 8am-10pm ET and Saturday-Sunday 10pm-6pm ET (if outside the US/Canada dial +1-860-763-3211) and we will give you instructions on how to return the unit and also answer any questions that you might have.

Thank you for your time and attention to this, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We wish your family many more happy and creative hours of building fun with LEGO brand products.

Yours sincerely

LEGO Consumer Services

LEGO Systems, Inc.

555 Taylor Road

Enfield, CT 06082

Mine seems to be fine – how about yours?

Ignite: Hillel Cooperman – “The Secret Underground World of Lego”

Bill — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:25:30 +0000

Hillel Cooperman gave an “Ignite” presentation on the adult LEGO community recently. You can see it here on Youtube:

I found this through a post on Facebook by Felix Greco (I don’t think I can link to that because of the way Facebook works). The comments were not entirely positive, mostly around the way he talks about the adult LEGO fans, implying that they are so nerdy that they don’t date. It does sound to me like Hillel is not entirely comfortable with his AFOLishness. If he hadn’t had a kid and a wife who was enthusaistic about Harry Potter LEGO, do you think he would’ve rediscovered LEGO? Somehow I doubt it. However, most of the presentation was pretty positive. I do think he needs to take more pride in LEGO as a hobby and not denigrate his fellow AFOLs. But all in all, it’s a pretty good overview of the LEGO scene, told in an engaging and lively manner.

Frisco Bucking Bronco

Bill — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:02:27 +0000

When I heard that LEGO was opening a store in Frisco, TX I asked my friend Sylvia who lives there if she could stop by the grand opening and try to score one of these bucking bronco sets. They were given out to the first 300 customers at the new store. But Sylvia is not one to do things halfway – she was third in line to get into the store, and first to check out. That’s right, this is the first ever bucking bronco given out at that store! Check the timestamp on the receipt…

No related posts.

Steve Barile on TV

Bill — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:50:52 +0000

Portland’s KATU Channel 2 recently featured Steve Barile (organizer of BrickFest) on a TV interview. Aside from the fact that they kept using the term “Legos” they did a really good job of showing the AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) hobby in a respectful, positive way. It’s nice and long, too, with plenty of great shots of Steve’s LEGO collection and models. Steve seemed very relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera, which is a great feat in itself. Go Steve!

You can watch the video on KATU’s Web site.

Little Australian Houses?

Bill — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:04:41 +0000

One of my pictures has been used by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on their Web site to illustrate a radio story about the relative merits of buying versus renting a home. You can see it on the ABC News homepage as a small thumbnail on the right hand side, and if you click the “Best of abc.net.au” link it takes you to a “best of” page where that story is featured with a larger version of the image at the top of the page. Here’s the photo they used (from their Web server):

My photos are published with a Creative Commons attribution license, so I’m not mad that they used the photo, but they (as far as I can tell) failed to credit the photo which I think is in pretty poor taste. (If you like the models, I have posted the LDraw instructions online.) Here’s the original photo, linked to its page on Flickr:

You can really see the blurriness created when they cropped it and re-saved the JPEG (probably with a high level of compression). Thanks to Stephen Calder, aka aussiechef67 for pointing it out via a comment on Flickr.

Bricks by the Bay Facebook event created

Bill — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:23:20 +0000

Bricks by the Bay now has an event on Facebook. Please RSVP there if you’re a Facebook user, and join our Facebook group. (If you want to be my Facebook friend, visit my public profile.)

We created a group a while ago, but I had to wait until May 1st to create the event since Facebook doesn’t have a “year” field for events – 12 months is the limit. In other words, the convention is less than a year away!

Bricks by the Bay is also on Twitter, so follow us there. We also have mailing list for announcements as well as people helping with planning at our site, bricksbythebay.com.

Emerald Night Video

Bill — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 07:34:35 +0000

Last night at BrickFest, the new 10194 Emerald Night train set was officially announced. For the announcement, they played this video on the big screen…

I shot video of the rest of the announcement and will try to get that edited soon!

New Flickr Group: LEGO Antigravity

Bill — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:56:07 +0000

I had a hare-brained idea the other night, to create a Flickr group for antigravity-based vehicles. You know, Jetsons cars, Blade Runner spinners, Star Wars speeders, stuff like that. I’ve really enjoyed the LugNuts group that Lino runs, but wanted something like that with a more science-fiction bent. So I created the LEGO Antigravity group, and pimped it on the LugNuts and Sci-LUG forums. I added a few of my own aircars to it and invited a few other MOCs that seemed on-topic to join. Check it out!

From Jetsons to Star Wars to Blade Runner, antigravity has always been a fixture in science fiction. This group is for LEGO models of vehicles that levitate, hover, or otherwise defy gravity. Any scale, from nanoscale up to life size, is welcome, but probably most will be minifig scale.

New LEGO blog: Sariel’s LEGO Technic creations

Bill — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:27:46 +0000

One of the most well-documented LEGO builders out there is “Sariel,” a Polish LEGO builder specializing in Technic models: construction equipment, trucks, military equipment, etc. They feature a lot of moving parts, often with motorized and/or pneumatic power. He takes excellent quality photos and even has Youtube videos of his models.

Until now, I mostly saw his models on the Klocki blog (pron. “klosskey”) that started in Poland (and written in Polish) but has expanded to an international audience and is also available in English and Portuguese. Sariel was often featured on Klocki along with other great builders from LUGPol, the Polish LEGO user group, and Comunidade 0937, the Portuguese group (hint: look at “0937″ upside-down), as well as other great builders from around the globe.

But now, Sariel has his own blog Sariel.pl: Sariel’s LEGO Technic creations where he will feature his work in great detail. Even if you don’t build Technic, it’s still inspiring. And of course I trust that Klocki will continue to feature his work as well.

BayLUG on TV?

Bill — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 21:18:07 +0000

Yesterday, a crew from KTVU channel 2 television came to see the Bay Area LEGO Users’ Group exhibit. Watch this Video on KTVU.com about our exhibit at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto. Russell (the club president) and I weren’t there, but Loren did a great job explaining the exhibit for the camera. I’m sure that must have been nerve-wracking but I think he’s got a great voice for that kind of thing so I’m glad he was willing and available to do it.

I heard that it was going to be on the TV today, but I haven’t heard any details about exactly when. Probably on the news or something. But the way that video clip was put together doesn’t really feel like a news segment to me, so maybe not.

I’m not there right now because I’m home sick with a cold, but hopefully I can be there next weekend – which is our final weekend, by the way! So come on out and see it while there’s still time!