January 30th, 2010

Making aircraft designs out of Lego blocks has its own distinctive challenges. Because the models are basically based upon real aircraft archetypes, recreating them using Lego can test the limit of a builder’s imagination and creativity. Furthermore, most aircraft designs have multi-directional curvatures that can be very difficult to rebuild through solid blocks. For these reasons, it is extremely interesting to look at some of the best Lego aircraft designs ever made.
One of these is a model of a McDonell Douglas DC-3, an American aircraft with fixed wings and driven by propellers. The DC-3 is considered as one of the most important transport aircraft ever developed. The Lego model for this was created by Klaus Dobisch. Dobisch has been making exceptional Lego aircraft for many years now and his awareness to the smallest of details is remarkable. Making sure that his aircraft designs are as smooth as possible, is one of the things that make him one of the four best Lego aircraft builders today.
Other Lego aircraft models that are considered to be some of the best are a Japanese army fighter Nakajima KI-84 Type 4 by a builder called Hien and a US Navy E-2C Hawkeye by Ralph Savelsberg. Although Hien has not yet produced as many aircraft models as Dobisch, the accuracy of his models are just the same. As for Savelsberg, he works really hard to get every angle of his models perfect. And like every Lego aircraft builder, the KI-84 and E-2C models tell a lot about the incredible talent of their builders.
Another one of the best Lego aircraft designs ever made is a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, an American fighter aircraft used during World War II. Its model designer is Mike Psiaki. Because of his skill to impeccably incorporate a number of different techniques in one model, Psiaki is able to provide wonderful and original designs that can give other builders inspiration for their own aircraft models.
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January 30th, 2010
Lego Rock Band is a video game that uses elements of the Rock Band game and other Lego video games. This game is made for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii consoles while a version for Nintendo DS is still being developed.

Like in the Rock Band games, Lego Rock Band can accommodate a maximum of four players, each one using the different instrument controllers: a lead guitar, a bass guitar, the drums, and the vocals. The four players will play along the rock music song of their choice among a list of selections. During the game, each of the players will try to match the scrolling notes in the time with the playing song. For the guitar players, they will do this by holding down the equivalent button and the strum bar of the controller. For the drummer, he or she will do this by hitting the right drum, kick, or pedal. As for the vocalist, he or she will do this by being in tune and singing the correct lyrics.
But what sets this game apart from the regular Rock Band game is that it uses features of Lego brick-building and has extra modes of gameplay that are Lego-themed. It also allows players to personalize the look of their avatars. The entire gameplay and even the selection of songs have been carefully chosen to make Lego Rock Band family-friendly. In addition, players can transfer songs from this game into other Rock Band games.
After its release, Lego Rock Band received average reviews, with the high point of the game being its integration of Rock Band and Lego video game elements. However, others have said that some of the songs in the selection, as well as some of its other features, are inappropriate for the game’s target audience. Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinions but to Lego fanatics, Lego Rock Band is one of the coolest games in the planet.
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January 29th, 2010
Google is one of the most popular companies that have used Lego blocks for their logo. In fact, the search engine company has always had a fondness for Lego. In January 28, 2008, to commemorate Lego’s 50th birthday, Google used a special logo on its homepage that was made up of Lego blocks. This commemorative logo not only appeared in Google.com. It also appeared in most country-specific Google sites like Google UK, Google France, Google Mexico, Google Israel, and Google Denmark, which doesn’t happen with most of Google’s special logos. Aside from that, the founders of Google themselves are known for their love for the building toys, and because Lego blocks look like computer pixels, so do most computer geeks. Google also share a unique history with Lego not only in its logo. The first and original Google servers were contained in a rectangular box made up of Lego. Now, two of Google’s offices, one in New York and one in Copenhagen, have installed Lego logos in their headquarters.
But Google is not the only company that used Lego blocks for their logos. Sean Kennedy, the professional artist who uses Lego to build anything a client wants and the same person who made the Google Lego logos, have been commissioned by a host of other companies to make their logos using Lego blocks. One of them is a Mongolian-based mining company called Gatsuurt. The resulting Lego sculpture is 3-dimensional representation of their 2-dimensional logo and it contains more than 3,000 Lego bricks. A software company called Fog Creek software also commissioned Sean Kennedy to translate their logo into one that is made up of Lego blocks, as well as a local New York TV news station, NY1.
This just shows that Lego blocks are not only for child’s play. They can also be used for marketing and corporate strategies to make a company look more youthful and appealing.
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January 27th, 2010
Legolandia – At 3 pm today, a young Lego boy spotted yet another “Z” graffiti in one of the main buildings in Legoland’s capital. There have been reports of Zorro battling the bad Lego guys to the delight of all the Spanish Lego ladies.

Who is Zorro?
Zorro, like most fictional superheroes, has a secret identity of a nobleman called Don Diego de la Vega during the Spanish colonial regime in California. The character was created in 1919 and has been used in many books, television series, and films since then.
Zorro’s character has been through a few changes since it was first made but his classic style is that of an outlaw in a black mask with a Robin Hood-esque agenda of defending his fellow citizens against the tyranny of the government officials and other bad characters. He is a well-beloved character not only because of his cunning and fox-like ability to get away from those who are trying to catch him but also because of his pleasure at humiliating them publicly.
It is not surprising that like most popular comic superheroes, there would be an interest in a Zorro Lego minifig. Even though its concept is not entirely original, Zorro is one of the first predecessors of the American comic book superheroes. Similar with Spring Heeled Jack, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and the more recent Batman, Zorro is an independently rich person hiding behind a mask and who is able to do good for the people using his great fighting skills and ingenuity. In fact, The Mask of Zorro is one of the many things that gave inspiration to the creation of Batman in 1939. This inspiration has been apparent in the comics themselves; it was said that The Mask of Zorro was the movie that Bruce Wayne and his parents watched at the cinema right before he saw them get murdered.
The character of Zorro had such a huge impact on most of the famous fictional superheroes of today’s youth. It is no wonder that some fans would be compelled to create a Lego minifig mimicking him.
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January 23rd, 2010

Lego JFF Assassination is a set of Lego blocks that you can use to depict that assassination of the 35th and one of the most popular presidents of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as JFK. The Lego set was first manufactured as one of the first Lego kits ever sold and it had a number of versions since then, including the 10th Release Anniversary version released in 1988.
The Lego JFK Assassination set was also initially produced as part of the Lego: Designing History series along with other historical sets like Lego September 11 which depicts the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the Lego Holocaust which represents Hitler’s reign of horror, and the Lego Challenger Space Shuttle which shows the explosion of NASA’s notorious aircraft. But what sets the Lego JFK Assassination apart from the rest of the historical-themed Lego sets is that it actually allows the builder to reenact the event in whatever way they want to. This is also what makes the Lego JFK Assassination more controversial than the others.
The idea for this Lego set first came about during the president’s special commission in January 1964 that investigated the assassination. When it was reported that the investigators were finding it hard to reenact the president’s motorcade, one of the representatives suggested that they use Lego blocks. His idea was not approved but when he got home, his son had questions about the event and so he used his son’s own Lego blocks to explain. This son grew up and became part of the Lego Company, where he proposed the Lego JFK Assassination set, inspired by his father.
The different Lego JFK Assassination kit versions have some variation in accessories. For instance, the 1988 version had buttons on the motorcade vehicles that produce sounds. But all kits have the important players: a Lee Harvey Oswald, and of course, a John F. Kennedy.
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