Little Coloured Bricks

34 year old Darren Smith has the biggest private collection of the little coloured bricks in the world. The British collector started collecting Lego bricks when he was 5 years old. What started as a Christmas present became a fascination and the boy decided to collect the blocks all his life. The entire collection is 2 million bricks now and it is worth over $92, 800. His favorites are Lego Star Wars apart from his collection of astronauts, cowboys, police and superheroes.

His wife Claire does not mind him collecting all the Lego he wants as long as he keeps them in their garage. But as they started spreading all over their house, she started to get mad as well but there is just no stopping the British collector. He orders all the new Lego toys and said that he wants them all.

When Darren turned 27 he joined the adult Lego Club “Brickish Association” a UK-based community interested in anything Lego. The association has its very own newsletter and it is called “The Brick Issue” written by members of the Brickish Association for its members.

If you are in the UK and is a Lego aficionado but is not yet a member of the association, you should join the community today. When you’re a member you will get a subscription to the community’s newsletter, access their website and the opportunity to join events organized by members both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

The aims of the association is to provide a forum for adult Lego fans within the UK and to make it known that there are lots of adults who still love and will keep on loving the coloured bricks. The Brickish Association also organize shows for the general public and of course for its Lego-loving members.

If you love the farm and love Lego, better equip your Lego farm with the newest tractor in Legoland. The tractor comes with a pig farm, making your Lego farm collection a complete one. If you are trying to make your own Lego nation, what’s a nation without the countryside?

An amazing Lego farm creation was built by The Hornernersburg with an umlaut on the o (Ö). The creation is modeled after actual buildings in Germany from the 1600s. These buildings however are no longer in Germany since they were moved to the US and are now at the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia. The farm house has amazing German architecture and its Lego replica is as cool as the real one.

The farm house was built using fachwerk which means half-timber construction. The first thing that builders did to the house is to use large pieces of lumber leaving spaces between these pieces of timber. The space is then filled with interwoven pieces of wood also known as wattle. The next thing that the builders did is to cover the wattle with mud (daub). After that, the mud is coated with white plaster. The original farm house has a roof made out of clay. The Lego farm house is not made out of these materials though since they are made out of the Danish bricks, but they sure do look the same as the original.

In the Lego farm house, you will find an entrance hall covered with pavement. To the right, Lego minifigs will see the living area and straight ahead is the cozy kitchen of the Lego farm house. If you go to the left upon entering the hall, you will see an enclosed staircase or what they call in Deutsch as a treppenhaus and behind the treppenhaus is another staircase that will lead you down to the cellar.

Lego has consistently come up with various themes that appeal to the general public – both the kids and the kids at heart.  Although it is fitting to say that the themes usually ride on whatever is common  or popular at a certain period of time, the Wild West remains wild and alive with the Lego System Cowboys minifligs.

Sheriff’s Showdown is an adaptation of a criminal chase – in the wild west.  With just enough pieces to set the imaginary cowboy feel, the bad-ass looking bandit and the clean and “awarded” cowboy sheriff minifligs completes the set with a very elegant touch of realism.

Covered Wagon is a simple system, primarily capturing a transport theme.  The Cavalry Lieutenant miniflig completes the set together with the horse lego, wheels and the pieces that shall comprise the wagon.

If you want to complete an ideal event, try to combine Sheriff’s Showdown with Sheriff’s Lock-up. Sheriff’s Lock-up creates the jail break set-up as in this system, there are 2 bandits and only 1 soldier which is the sheriff.  Another cowboy miniflig is included but that can be treated as a casualty during a jail break.  This shall add tons of fun in the Lego Cowboy world.

Bandit’s Secret Hide-Out is all about crime never paying.  From the title itself, the hide-out is supposed to keep out everyone else and with the 3 bandits outnumbering the 2 soldiers in minifligs number, this is the bandit’s turf.  No harm can come to them with their guns, canons and tower-like hole.

What’s a cowboy theme without the bank robbery?  Gold City Junction captures this concept perfectly, situating only 2 soldier minifligs which includes the sheriff and 4 cowboys including the banker and the bandit.  Conspiracy is the key.  The theme is set in major action with bricks and pieces that connote a shoot-out or perhaps a “run” too common for the Wild.

Fort Legoredo is the ultimate Cowboy themed Lego System.  Coming with 10 minifligs and over 500 pieces to set-up a police headquarters, the set encourages many action-packed possibilities.  The watch tower at the back and the two towers in front are great look-out standpoint.  The spacious headquarters, the prison and the stable inside Fort Legoredo are also good areas of action.  Generally, the 4 bandits will not stand a chance over the 6 Cavalry soldiers properly positioned in the system however, with great imagination, that picture can be reversed.

The Lego System Cowboys Sets were first released in 1996.  It was re-issued recently and is still considered a valuable collection item.

So you think you are Lego’s no. 1 fan? If you think you are, you should go to the website of the Danish bricks and take the quiz. The quiz is a fun way to see how well you know your LEGO City, your Lego blocks and all the things included in it. You can choose from three main categories if you want to take the quiz or if you do not feel like taking the quiz, you can just browse what is in it. For those who love fire trucks, you can take the Fire Emergency quiz. For those fond of airplanes and airports you can take the Airport quiz. There is another category and it will ask you random things about LEGO City. Once you have chosen which category you would like to have a quiz on, you will be directed to the exam questions. Do not worry though this is not a rigid exam. In fact, you do not even have to choose between A to D, you only have to take a look at the pictures and click on your answer. Easy isn’t it? Well, it is not only easy, it is fun as well.

If you have children, have them take the quiz, it will not only teach them about LEGO City but will teach them practical stuff such as which types of vehicles have a hose, which ones have a special lift, which one is used by the police and which one is an ambulance. These are very basic questions that are made for children. For adults who love the little coloured bricks –this website and the building blocks, you can take the quiz as well.

Aside from determining which types of vehicles are used for what, children can also practice their color association skills i.e. what color are firemen uniforms usually are, etc.

South Park has fast gained its popularity since it was first aired in the 90’s.  It’s considered cartoons for a mature audience focusing on nasty humor amongst four kids.  Opening its upcoming 14^th season, it’s quite fitting to consider, where does Lego come in play?

Lego enthusiasts have begun exploring building South Park characters from their bricks.  Although Lego hasn’t come up of a South Park themed System, Lego enthusiasts are but excited to push the concept and share their talent.

Eric Cartman
Eric Cartman is considered the antagonist of the series.  He seems to be a sociopath behaving as if he’s against everything else outside of himself and he, Kyle, Stan and Kenny (the two other main characters in the series).  The article doesn’t say who built this Lego art but it seemed to be almost a life-size of Eric Cartman.  The pale colors of his hat and shirt was ultimately captured, as well as his pale skin color.  His obese body was obvious, as well as his big eyes and half-opened mouth.  The Lego piece, however, did not capture the plump cheeks that Eric has.  In a way, he looks malnourished but the display is nothing short of wonderful.

Kenny McCormick
“Oh my God, they killed Kenny! …You bastards!”  This is a phrase often associated to Kenny McCormick at the South Park series.  He seemed to have a habit of dying in almost all episodes but managing to return alive on the succeeding ones.  His deaths are usually gross and each time, Stan or Kyle manages to mention the phrase mentioned already.  After his death, rats suddenly appear to eat his corpse.  His deaths however, were cut short as another character was given more prime, Butters.

The Lego depicting Kenny captures the parka hood he wears as well as his partially covered face.  The Lego captured him with an axe piercing his skill and is in the process of dying because the rats are already gnawing his brain and his body.  It does look violent but this is exactly Kenny’s role in South Park, up until the 6^th episode at least.

Butters Scotch
In the South Park series, Butters, generally replaced Kenny’s character and has often become the subject of Eric’s exploits.  He rarely complains and maintains a mild temperament until he assumes another character later on.

The Lego piece captures everything about Butters Scotch, from the hair, eyes, clothes, shoes, even the skin color.  It was an amazing Lego piece standing 12 inches tall.  It looks even better than the plush toy.