Transportation contest at LUGPol continues, with new challenges that contestants are trying to solve. We have finished Round 2 with the following task:

Challenge 2: Build a nautical transportation vehicle, capable of transporting 5 tons of cargo for 500 miles distance.

SF: No change. Fantasy: 2 tons, 200 miles.

Bonus: +1 point for a hull not built from metal, wood or plastic.

Let’s see how our players approached this one. Jerac (winner) built a hovercraft:

Longer, the winner of first round, took the similar approach with his civilian vehicle:

But the most popular solution were sea monsters. Pit built a transport turtle:

ImpreSariO employed Godzilla-like sea monster to deliver the cargo:

and Nori built a “Legendary Creature of a Mild Disposition“:

Ciamek chose more realistic approach and built CSS Turtle - one of the last armored ironclads of the American Civil War:

and Kaczor rendered a beautiful model of a concrete submarine:

Next round is event more difficult, our contestants are building a “near” transportation system, so we’re about to see conveyor belts, lifts, cranes, ski lifts and such. Just wait another week…

Bionicle creations are very rare on Klocki, but this one is so great I just have to feature it. Meet “The Lady” by BZPower’s user Distorted (ahkmou)

Little black dress is made of course from tyres. It is probably revealing too much than Coco Chanel intended, but  who cares, it looks great!

Via BioniBlog

In August 2007 Matthew Ashton, LEGO creative director, LEGO Castle team leader, giving an interview for Classic-Castle mentioned, that at the end of 2008 there will be ‘something very special’ waiting for us.When Advent Calendar 7979 was introduced it was quite obvious to bind that fact with the mentioned interview, because is there anything more special than jester, peasant women, new witch, dwarf…

…is there anything…?

Yes ! There is !!!

I have a great honour to present you newest LEGO Castle line product, real cherry at the top of the tasty ‘fantasy era’ cake. Ladies and gentlemen, kids and… a bit older kids as well, here is…

….warbles…

10193 ‘Medieval Town’

Don’t try to wake yourself up - it’s not a dream, don’t look suspiciously at your drinks - it’s not a hallucination, it’s just a day dreams come true.

The set is so incredible that for the first twenty minutes I saw the pictures I was like hypnotised, couldn’t get my eyes off the screen.

Villagers

What makes the set really special, compared to previous castle products, is it’s civil character. Since Yellow Castle it is second set (after 3739 ‘Blacksmith Shop’) without any military elements in design. Set includes eight minifigs: 2 soldiers (they just passing by as I can imagine), 2 females (peasant woman already known from Advent Calendar and brand new, absolutely fabulous Inn-keeper) and 4 males (blacksmith, old man, peasant, and a boy).We also get some animals: a horse, 2 brown cows (details below), a rat, little froggy and brick-build chicken, rooster and duck.

Parts selection

One of the best parts of the set is elements selection. As you probably already saw that, we are getting here quite a lot of new parts, and some of those old, but very rare. This set will be for sure must-have for almost every Castle fan because of things like:

• female minifigs - two female peasant. One we already know from Advent Calendar, but the second one is brand new Inn-keeper with lovely Agent Trace wig (at the moment it’s for sure the most beautiful LEGO minifig EVER).
• clothes design - 6 civil torsos, including two female. Designs of prints is really very detail and goes well with medieval style.
• cows - brand new animals, already known from leaked pictures of upcoming LEGO farm playtheme. At those good quality pictures cows looks very, very good (and they can move their heads).
• fish - next new brick. Some of you already seen it at some unofficial 2009 LEGO Pirates pictures.
• turkey - mmm turkey !!! (at last, something else than just turkey leg…till noe turkey was very rare, and very expensive)
• lunette- next new part form new pirates line, here it was used as architecture detail
• new flame - was also used as rooster tail. If I’m right, its new plumes type we all waited for so long
• new hexagonal part - used as watermill wheel
• carrot and apples - well known, but always welcomed

Except that we will get some useful doors, windows, a lot of brown bricks, tree leaves, black rooftiles and some tan, light blue and grey bricks.

And some more pictures, it is soooo lovely !!!

Price

This set, like other ‘Exclusives’, will be available at http://shop.lego.com/Default.aspx in January 2009. Price of the set will be €99.99 (Euroland), £84.99 (UK), $99.99 (USA), $149.99 (Canada) $149.99 (Australia), 379,95 zl (Poland) , what is really reasonable amount of money for this excellent product.

Special thanks to The LEGO Company for  set information and pictures.

Also, read our collegues’ opinions on The Brothers Brick and Classic-Castle.

All fans of LEGO trains can now enjoy the 4th issue of Railbricks magazine (download it from here).

In this issue:

• Interview with Brian Williams, one of the winners of our Indy Contest and a huge train fan (which I was not aware of)
• Reports from LEGO train shows, with some interesting hints on how to create a good layout
• New bumpers (available at S@H) review by LEGO Ambassador Jordan Schwartz
• In-depth article on integrating LEGO 9V system with DCC controllers
• and more!

I have been busy lately but  I got a good excuse. I’ve been building this diorama for Forbidden Cove Castaway Contest.

The most difficult thing was to fill up this large space (32×32) using only single minifig allowed in the contest, but the exploding volcano helped a lot here.

Ciamek (Piglet) has presented us one more fantastic diorama about a rescue during the second world war - Catalina and Corsair:

Unlike the recent constructions using the SNOT (studs not on top) technique, this one has almost all the studs up… and the result is also very good! The airplanes models are quite interesting… and the raft too!

Head over to Ciamek’s website to read author’s comments and see more creations!

Peer Kreuger (mahjqa) has presented another great construction. This time he reminds us of the old TV series Dukes of Hazzard. This is his wonderful General Lee and what probably would happen to it with all those jumps he gave…

This model also has a pullback motor included and the flag on the roof…

This time Aaron Andrews (DARKspawn) has built a Mecha Repair Facility. And they look good inside it:

I love this kind of doors… it reminds me the old science fiction movies!Uwielbiam taki rodzaj drzwi… przypominają mi stare filmy science-fiction.

Dear Readers,

It’s been a while since we have invited you to participate in some of our contests, and now we want to make up for it. The gears and motors lovers should be satisfied this time, as the contest’s goal is to build a device that is helpful in your home’s everyday life. The contest is called Home Improvement, and there are three Lego Technic sets to win, one for each of the three winners who will make it to the podium. If you’re still hesitating, let us inform you that before the final winners wil be selected by our Readers in a poll, all submissions are to be judged by a very particular jury. The four judges that make it are: Philo, known to every Technic builder at least for his excellent Lego motors specification, me, and two official Lego Technic designers: Anders Gaasedal Christensen and Markus Kossman, who has already honoured Klocki with an interview some time ago.

Go ahead, we’re all impatient to see your submissions! The full rules of the contest can be found here, and the entries can be submitted at this page. We keep our fingers crossed for you!

Our friends from The Brothers Brick have done a great job. They managed to convince TLC to make Castle Advent Calendar available in US and Canada. Initially TLC decided it wasn’t right product for this market (imagine!). Thanks to great campaign by The Brothers Brick this decision was changed last week and a limited number of Advent calendar was made available to US fans. It took me 30 minutes on the phone but finally I got one!

Thanks guys, well done!