Once upon a time, LEGO’s were a simple kind of fun where the greatest thing you did was make weird Tetris-like shapes. Now, we use them to artfully recreate some of our favorite places, people and things. That includes one cheeky Star Wars fan who submitted a proposal to LEGO Ideas that calls on 1,482 colorful plastic bricks to recreate one of the franchise’s most iconic moments. User szabomate90 has laid out their plans for the “I Am Your Father” LEGO set that would allow you to build the Cloud City lightsaber duel from The Empire Strikes Back. If you couldn’t guess from the project title, the set creates the original trilogy scene where Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader battle it out, and Vader reveals he’s Luke’s father. Although the concept of rebuilding this most dramatic of scenes is slightly funny (because why would you want to relive someone getting their hand chopped off?), it also feels like a natural fit for the Star Wars LEGO universe, which already released a larger Cloud City set back in 2003.
As of now, the project has more than 2,000 supporters. You can check out a video for the project below. Chicago's skyline to be sold in Lego set Chicago's towering skyline is shrinking — to just four buildings. The city's iconic landmarks, which provide the sprawling backdrop for major city events, including the Taste of Chicago and Lollapalooza, can soon be built in miniature using Lego bricks.Lego will introduce a 444-piece Chicago skyline set for $39.99 as part of its Lego Architecture Skyline series. The Chicago set will feature building blocks for four skyscrapers: Willis Tower, the John Hancock Center, the red CNA tower and the white Wrigley Building. It also features the Michigan Avenue Bridge and Millennium Park's Cloud Gate, commonly referred to as the Bean, according to a news release. The new set will be available on Dec. 11 in three Chicago-area stores: the Chicago Architecture Foundation retail shop at 224 S. Michigan Ave., the Lego store at Water Tower Place at 835 N. Michigan Ave., and the Legoland Discovery Center near Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg.
It will be available online and in stores nationwide in January.Chicago joins other cities in the skyline series — including Berlin, Venice and New York, which features the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, One World Trade Center and the Flatiron Building. Additionally, individual landmarks are sold separately, including the White House, Eiffel Tower and Buckingham Palace. Chicago-area native and architect Adam Reed Tucker, a Lego certified professional, first created the Lego Architecture line in 2008 with the Lego Group, but the line is now designed out of Denmark, a spokesman for Lego said. Tucker is showcasing more than a dozen of his Lego structures — including the Golden Gate Bridge and Roman Colosseum — in the temporary "Brick by Brick" exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry through February.The John Hancock Center and Willis Tower were previously sold as separate Lego sets but were retired in 2011 and 2013 respectively, a spokesman said.
We are looking to discuss hundreds of special minifigures and will have a price guide that covers many of the major minifigures. But unlike our first book which gravitated towards more text and analysis than pictures, this book will make the photos of the minifigures the focal point of the book. This book will be a hardcover book, with higher quality images and page finish. While there will be plenty of data and analysis, the publisher wanted to put LEGO minifigures in “creative LEGO” and “real world” scenes or dioramas, besides having the traditional body shot of a minifigure found on Brickset or Bricklink. The creations of French photographer, Samsofy Pardugato, is an excellent example of mixing real world situations with LEGO minifigures and coming up with a dynamic photograph. Here are a few of his works and you can check out more example here… A person can also create a wonderful photograph with just LEGO sets, pieces and minifigures. Here are examples illustrating such techniques…
As I stated above, there will be dozens and dozens of important, unique and valuable minifigures discussed in the book and not all will receive special treatment, but quite a few will and this is where Jeff and I need YOUR help. We need the help of those LEGO fans and collectors out there that have a creative flair for photography and we are willing to offer fame and fortune for it... Jeff and I are going to run LEGO photography “contest” for any person who wants to give it a shot. We are looking for people to come up with “creative LEGO” and “real world” scenes or dioramas for each one of the below themes: Each new chapter will have one of these creative LEGO minifigure action scenes or dioramas attached to it in some manner, whether it’s in the introduction or later in the chapter. Some major themes might have multiple “special” images. These creations should include one or more minifigures from that theme. That is really the only rule for these images.
They have to have theme based minifigures in the photos. Besides the major creative layouts in each chapter, we will discuss dozens and dozens of other important minifigures that require high quality photos. Examples of these can be seen here: These can also be creative in nature, but they don’t have to be. Sometimes, a quality high resolution photo of a cool minifigure speaks volumes. Specific minifigures that will be discussed in the book will be released to those who are interested by contacting Jeff or I. I have a list for each theme and will be looking for quite a few to be honest. Feel free to share any ideas that you have. As for the contest itself, there will be various prizes. First off, each person who sends in a photograph that gets accepted by the publishers to use in the chapter introductions, which focus on real life images & LEGO dioramas, will get a “Limited Edition” book and a special call out in the book. Basically, there will be a small bio for each person who submits winning photos in the book.
Each one of these “special” photos will have a title and breakdown of minifigures in the image, so we can make a proper “blurb or call out” on the page. The photographer’s name will also accompany these images. The TOP TEN images (in any form) that we receive will win a $100.00 LEGO or Amazon Gift Certificate each. Judging will be done by the publishers and one person can win multiple prizes for multiple submissions. There will be a BRICKPICKER GRAND PRIZE WINNER of a $500.00 LEGO or Amazon Gift Card. This award will be chosen by Jeff and I and will go to the person who go above and beyond everyone else. Maybe it’s a few exceptional photos. Maybe it’s about dozens of solid images that can be used in the minifigure write ups and analysis or any combination thereof. We will take a look at all submissions and all will be taken into consideration, tracked and figured into the final judging. Lastly, I just want to say that Jeff and I want to make this a special LEGO “community” book.
We fought hard to make it a hardcover and upscale, visual book. Here is an opportunity to make some money and gain some recognition as well. Many of you are way more talented than Jeff and I and can create custom MOCs and images that we can only dream of making. Now is the time to show off your creativity and let the world see your creations. This contest will start immediately and run through the end of January at this point. Changes in the schedule will be dependent on response from LEGO fans, but we will need time to sort through the images and put them together for the book publishers. Winners will be announced in late Spring, after the publishers put out a rough draft of the book. The book will be available for purchase next Fall. Please, any questions or ideas, please ask and Jeff and I (and Krause Publishing) will try to answer them. Good luck and happy photographing... I will be posting a link to a form here for you to submit your photos. All the submissions will not be publicly viewable.