LEGO Hero Factory MOC: Maelstrom + Gunship "Fire Storm"

Right, back to the Hero Factory MOCs I go!  This is my first 2011 series villain MOC, or should I say MOCs.  Paired together, the gunship Fire Storm and its pilot, Maelstrom, make the most wrecklessly destructive force in Fire Storm's private army.  Little is known about Maelstrom, but he is believed to be the personal apprentice of the Fire Lord.  Next in the line of succession, should Fire Lord fall?  What we do know is that he has no concern or caring for life or property, other than his own, and he uses all of the current villains' unique armor pieces.

The gunship Fire Storm features two lava sphere cannons under each wing, plus a forward-facing flame thrower.  Power comes from two giant turbofan engines.  These engines guzzle so much fuel that the entire frame of the whole craft is used for fuel storage.  Small cracks in the frame have developed over time from high-G maneuvers and these leak small amounts of jet fuel.  When the engines come to life, these fuel leaks ignite, causing the whole craft to appear to be on fire as it streaks through the sky like a phoenix.

Check out the unveiling video for this destructive duo:

Video: LEGO Hero Factory MOC: Maelstrom & the Gunship "Fire Storm"

Lego Hero Factory 2011 at Nuremberg

At this year's Nuremberg Toy Fair, Lego began teasing out the summer 2011 Hero Factory releases by showing an apparently complete (and delightfully massive) Witch Doctor, golden Rocka 3.0, and a Stringer 3.0 & Nex 3.0 combiner model.  Note that the green color for the hero unique armor pieces has unfortunately been preserved from the early leaked photos, though in translucent form.

Credit to the site Spieletest.at for the photo.

Lego Bionicle / Technic bulk parts sell-off on eBay

In my last post I previewed my upcoming excess parts liquidation, and today I'm happy to announce that it has begun.  Items are already selling quite quickly, so if there's something you want, jump on it!

• Bionicle / Technic parts for sale

Here's a quick slide show of the lots I've listed:

Lego Bionicle / Technic bulk parts sell-off on eBay

A few weeks ago on my YouTube channel and my second Bionicle Untold blog, I gave a preview of my upcoming excess parts liquidation, and today I'm happy to announce that it has begun.  Items are already selling quite quickly, so if there's something you want, jump on it!

• Bionicle / Technic parts for sale

Here's a quick slide show of the lots I've listed:

Lego Hero Factory MOC: Kalek 2.0 + QUADRO

This time instead of unveiling one more Hero Factory 2.0-series MOC, I went for a team of two!  Kalek 2.0 is a combat engineer whose primary task is to train and control the only semi-autonomous QUADRO (QUADripedal Remote Operated) weapons platform.  QUADRO has a friendly personality matrix programmed in, but this is no house pet.  With twin, double-barrel, rapid-fire ice cannons, QUADRO can stop nearly enemy in his tracks, scaling unfavorable terrain to close to close range without putting his operator in harm's way.

Speaking of his operator, Kalek 2.0 is specially trained & certified to use a very complicated remote control unit which features several failsafes and redundancies to prevent jamming or signal takeover.  Should the need for direct combat arise, though, Kalek does keep a capacitor-boosted ice pistol holstered by his side.  The pistol has a limited number of shots, but it packs quite a punch!

Check out the unveiling video on YouTube too:

Video:  Lego Hero Factory MOC: Kalek 2.0 + QUADRO

LEGO Hero Factory MOC: "The Drone" from Rise of the Rookies

I finally saw the Hero Factory Rise of the Rookies "movie" (4-part TV miniseries rolled up into a DVD).  In it are flashback sequences featuring a rookie Preston Stormer being betrayed by fellow rookie Von Ness (later to become Von Nebula).  In this historical mission, led by Thresher, a giant maniacal robot is terrorizing New Stellac City.  As soon as I saw that character, I recognized most of the major parts, and knew I had to have it.

I did not know at the time that character was based on a MOC that won a BZPower contest; I only just learned that while doing research to complete this post!  It took many hours of tiresome eye straining at frozen frames of the movie to complete this creation.  The movie character has many differences from the original MOC, and I based my version entirely upon that movie version, building it up part by part based on very little footage featuring some very obscure angles that presented more than a handful of very tough building challenges.

As it turns out, the movie Drone is not a very structurally stable character at all, once you build the "real" thing.  As a result, I had to add a couple customizations to help it stand up.  The heels are new and provide essential support, holding much of the weight of the MOC.  Also added in are the secondary joints added horizontally behind the hips.  I did my best to keep these deviations as discrete as possible. Check out the unveiling video:

Video: Lego Hero Factory MOC: The Drone

Quite a fun build and looks great on display! 

Bionicle masks on Hero Factory 2.0 bodies!

Here's a simple way to get some Bionicle Kanohi masks on a 2011 Hero Factory 2.0 & beyond hero body, using just three small pieces & a rubber band. 

Please spread the word!



View it on YouTube.

Epic PARTS! Lego Bionicle & Technic surplus sell-off

It's coming!  My first big Lego Bionicle & Technic parts liquidation will be on eBay under my items for sale.

Check out the preview:

LEGO City Repair Truck 3179

My fourth LEGO City build & review and the last I'll do for awhile...

• Video: LEGO City Repair Truck 3179

LEGO Hero Factory MOC: Alba 2.0

Introducing Alba 2.0, a sassy female rookie aligned with Beta Team.  With a bit of spontaneous ingenuity, she has created the first ever auto-focusing ice cannon by using Furno's silly-looking goggles, four mini-sized repulsor rings, some servos, and some quick programming.

Learn more about Alba 2.0 in this quick video:

Video: Lego Hero Factory MOC:  Alba 2.0