ie8 fix

Lego

Epic Lego Helm's Deep crafted from 150,000 bricks

Whatever your fandom may be, some Lego aficionado has probably already built a massive version of it. OK, so we've already seen a 200,000-piece alien city and a 70,000-piece Serenity spaceship. Now feast your hungry building-block eyes on this stunning 150,000-brick Helm's Deep from "Lord of the Rings."

Built by Rich-K and Big J, the model is 90 percent complete. The Lego fans (under the name "Goel Kim") uploaded the creation to MOCpages, an unofficial Lego fan site where builders share their accomplishments. And what an accomplishment this is. The creators managed to capture the regimented mayhem of the battle of Helm's Deep in incredible detail.… Read more

'Breaking Bad' Lego video game parody is breaking badass

The Lego franchise of video games has built itself up on the backs of family-friendly fare like "Harry Potter" and Marvel superheroes. Fan Brian Anderson has now taken us to the dark side with a video parody showing what it would be like if "Breaking Bad" were done up as a Lego game. And it's awesome.

The video throws in some spoilers from the first four seasons, but it's free from any fifth-season tip-offs. It starts with choosing your character, ranging from Jesse Pinkman to Saul Goodman.

We get Walter White in street clothes and follow along as he collects money, gets into a scrape with sidekick Jesse, and builds a mobile meth lab. This might not quite qualify as fun for the whole family, but it's sure a hoot for "Breaking Bad" fans.… Read more

Lego book does world landmarks in plastic (Q&A)

Lego fans! If you can't get over to Legoland Malaysia to gawk at its plastic architecture, here's the next best thing. A new book titled "Brick City" looks at Lego re-creations of global landmarks and shows you how to build them.

The 256-page manual has more than 400 illustrations of architectural icons such as the Taj Mahal, Buckingham Palace, the Eiffel Tower, Chicago's Tribune Tower, and Westminster Abbey, as well as 46 instructions and two posters. Author Warren Elsmore and 13 other builders constructed the 100 models in the book, which includes vehicles such as New York cabs -- check out the eye-popping creations in "Brick City" in the gallery below. … Read more

Lego Batman: DC Super Heroes debuts for iOS

I have unabashed love for the Lego series of video games, which have adapted a wide range of movie series -- "Star Wars," "Indiana Jones," "Lord of the Rings," and more -- into improbably excellent action-adventures.

Alas, only two of them have been ported from consoles to iOS: Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7. Great games, both, but with limited appeal unless you're a Harry Potter fan.

It was a long wait -- almost a year to the day -- but finally there's another Lego game for … Read more

Behold an amazing 200,000-piece Lego alien city

New York graphic designer Mike Doyle is best known in Lego MOC circles for his crumbling Victorian houses, but the city of K'al Yne on the alien world of Odan might just be his most ambitious project yet.

Crafted out of more than 200,000 Lego pieces and taking over 600 hours to build, the sculpture, designed entirely by Doyle, depicts a wondrous alien civilization. There's something Gothic about his soaring spires, bridges, buttresses, and villages clustered about the city's base. … Read more

Crave Ep. 113: Hot! A homemade solar death ray

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Backyard tinkerer Grant Thompson teaches us how to build a solar-powered death ray. A man gets a Netflix tattoo for life and only gets a measly one-year subscription for it. Plus, we meet Mr. Stubbs the alligator, the first reptile (that we know of, at least) to receive a prosthetic tail. Donation came from the Phoenix Herpetological Society and the Core Institute. … Read more

Lego machine makes, launches paper airplanes

We've seen all manner of jaw-dropping Lego creations, but some of the best are creations that create. This machine fashioned from the fantastic plastic creates and launches paper airplanes.

Created by Mindstorms user hknssn13, this mini factory was made from 6,000-7,000 Lego bricks and measures 59 inches long by 15 inches wide. Not exactly portable, but it works. … Read more

Lego spill tangles up West Virginia highway

One lane of Interstate 79 in West Virginia was closed down on Sunday for a tragic spill of Lego bricks. The bricks scattered across the highway, no doubt giving drivers traumatic flashbacks to the last time they stepped on a Lego brick in bare feet.

As hazardous as Legos are to unshod humans, they also pose a potential risk to vehicles. They may not be able to puncture a tire, but I imagine Legos could be pretty slippery, especially in the damp, cold conditions at the time. The only thing worse than a bunch of loose Legos on an interstate would be a bunch of wet, half-frozen loose Legos.… Read more

Minecraft is a chip off the adventurer and creator's block.

Minecraft is to my 25-year-old self as Legos were to my 5-year-old self: a time-sucking, mind-bending, and sleep-depriving experience in the simplest of activities. It hits the right tune on the subject of creation: it really does provide building blocks for your imagination.

Minecraft has no real direction, anchoring plot, or specific guidelines. Players are dropped into a world with only the ability to carve out resources from the surrounding land; you're a miner (duh!).

The game's graphics won't impress, but leaves you with one direction and focus: to build. Soon you'll find out that as … Read more

Vintage Mac in Lego looks good enough to use

The only thing that can top building something incredible with Legos is taking a good photo of it. Chris McVeigh does both.

The graphic and Web designer is a wizard with bricks and a lens. His latest creation marks the recent 29th anniversary of Steve Jobs' release of the original Apple Macintosh in January 1984. It's just too cute for school.

Based in Halifax, Canada, McVeigh has designed custom builds and images for Gizmodo, Esquire Malaysia, and Toronto magazine Spacing. When he first gets an idea for the classic Mac or, as seen in the gallery below, a vintage camera, he uses Lego's modeling app for designers, Lego Digital Designer.

'The advantage of starting off a project digitally is that I can play around with thousands of bricks without actually having them sitting out in front of me, which can be a problem when you have as many bricks as I do," says McVeigh, who gets his bricks from stores or online retailers. "But that said, I always seem to need bricks that I don't have with each new build." … Read more