Star Wars
In a way, it all started with Star Wars. I’d been back into LEGO for a few years when they launched the Star Wars licence. I remember seeing them on store shelves for the first time and desperately wanting the sets. I was really into Technic and the Episode I sets were awesome with all manner of droid. If LEGO hadn’t had such success with the Star Wars theme, it’s doubtful we’d have the Marvel and DC themes.
LEGOSaber V1
(2009)
The first build I ever shared online was these two custom LEGO lightsabers. I built them as weapons for Obi Wan Kenobi of a parallel timeline where his master was turned to the dark side and so was he. Since our Obi Wan was always dropping his lightsaber, I figure a dark Kenobi would always carry two.
Dual LEGOSaber Podracer
(2009)
FBTB used to do a challenge every so often to build themed pod racers. I decided to use the lightsabers I was working on to create engines and develop a pod to go with them. This really pulled me into the community and inspired me to start building a lot more and posting them online.
Lightning Saber
(2009)
Again, alternate fantasy timelines played a part in this build. My inspiration was the concept of Nikola Tesla building a ‘Lightning Saber’ for Alan Quartermain. You can read the story if you’re so inclined on the original post here.
Ghetto Blaster Yoda
(2009)
Cole Blaq has been an inspiration for me since I first spotted his LEGO graffiti art years ago. I had the idea to do a Star Wars graffiti scene and of course Yoda would be the last character you’d expect to be a street artist. So, of course I used him.
LEGOSaber V2
(2010)
I really enjoy building lightsabers and I really wanted to build one in metallic silver, but it took a long time just to build up enough parts in that colour to pull this off. I had planned to revisit this build, but LEGO discontinued using metallic silver and the few parts available got far more scarce and expensive.
Pod Mater Racer
(2011)
Another pod racer built two years after the original contest that drew me out into the light. This time the challenge was to build a racer in any licensed theme BUT Star Wars. I chose Cars, because my son was three at the time and a massive fan of the movie. I made Larry The Cable Guy the pilot and I was off to the races again!
Hybridfighter
(2011)
This was a challenge to kit bash two Star Wars vehicles into one and I went with a AT-ST head on an X-Wing frame. The pilot had heavily modified the head into a skull to strike fear into his adversaries and it was loaded up with extra armaments. It was as crazy as it was fun to build.
FBTB Award Concept
This one has never seen the light of day. At the height of my work on FBTB, they launched an awards program to allow people to vote on various LEGO themes and sets that year. We needed a physical award for promotions and I came up with this. It was rejected in favour of an Oscar-esque statue of C-3PO. Hard to compete with that, but I was pleased with how this came out.
The Lickity-Split Pod Racer
(2012)
The next year brought the last pod racer challenge to date and it was to be based on the Collectable Minifigure line. I chose the Gorilla Suit Guy and the rest just fell into place. Trying to work with primarily one colour can be a challenge, but when it works it can be very rewarding.
Lickity-Split Jr
(2012)
Sometimes you have so much fun building something, you want to find a way to keep going. Making a tiny version of what you just built is one way to do it!
LEGO Saber V3-V6
(2014)
I wanted to build another lightsaber for my display at East Coast Comic Expo in 2014 and so I sat down and started building. A week later I had four new versions completed, each based on a unique concept and each for a different alien species. Once I star to build lightsabers, it can be all I want to do. I think I might be due to start on V7…
buriedbybricks 