PhLUG's Brickfast 26

November's Brickfast was extra special for me. You see, PhLUG held a Medieval Watchtower MOC contest and it was my first time to join, bring my MOC and display it on the venue. Here's what I came up with:

Thank you, AUB!

Last Friday was my last day at AUB (Asia United Bank), a local bank here in the Philippines. I worked for the company's I.T. department for seven years as a system developer. It was my first job after college. I learned a great deal of valuable things especially from my amazing boss, Sir Wil Rodriguez, who has trusted and guided me all these years.

Leaving the company is probably the biggest decision I made this year. You just have to take some risks to make not just your own life but your family's life better. I will always be grateful to AUB for hiring a clueless fresh grad like me and giving me the opportunity to prove my worth. 

Lego Northern Invasion! Lego Certified Store Trinoma Opens!

A couple of weeks ago, the Waifu and I were chatting about the opening of another Lego Certified Store (LCS) at Trinoma. We were just talking about how excited we were of checking out the new store and already planned to do so as soon as our busy schedules allowed it. Little did we know, we would be getting invites to the opening of the third LCS in the Philippines, which is also the first one in the North. We were really looking forward to this LCS since out of all the three, this one's the most convenient for us in terms of location since it's just a train ride away from where we live. 

Celebrating PinoyLUG's 2nd Birthday @ PinoyLUG's Bricktober 2016

One of the biggest Lego events I attended this year is PinoyLUG's Bricktober 2016. Celebrating their second year anniversary as a RLUG, the folks at PinoyLUG, led by Ambassador Leslie Araujo, really prepared extensively for this important event. Kicking off the festivities, Ambassador Leslie has guaranteed the coming year to be more fun and interesting for PinoyLUG. Perhaps the highlight of his opening speech is his declaration of support to the Pinoy Bricksters community, a local group of brick enthusiasts, to become part of the Lego community by becoming an RLUG. In the spirit of PinoyLUG's values of Camaraderie and Inclusivity, this truly is something to look forward to.  

Nothing But Brick's Top 5 MOCs @ PinoyLUG's Bricktober 2016

Last month, PinoyLUG celebrated their second year anniversary with Bricktober 2016, the RLUG's biggest event of the year. The gang at PinoyLUG definitely wowed attendees with their awe-inspiring displays. Without further ado, here are Nothing But Brick's top 5 MOCs from Bricktober 2016. Arranged in no particular order, these are the MOCs that caught my attention as I checked out all the awesome creations at the event. Enjoy!

When Inspiration Strikes!

Sometimes, inspiration comes from unexpected places. A couple of weeks ago, the Waifu and I got free tickets to watch a ballet at the Aliw Theater. The show's called 'The Swan, The Fairy and The Princess' and was hosted by Ballet Manila, a classical institution and dance company here in the Philippines. 

The awesome cast of The Swan, The Fairy & The Princess

Nothing But Brick's October Builder Of The Month - Arvin Encarnacion

I have been attending brick events of PhLUG and PinoyLUG for several months now and I could attest to the fact that the local Lego community is filled with talented builders. These people are gifted with creative minds as they build innovative works of art using the brick as their medium. I have great respect for these guys and gals for being dedicated to their craft. It takes a lot of time and effort to build a MOC and I admire them for continuing to come up with new stuff.

Arvin Encarnacion giving a talk at Ayala Museum's Inspire Everyday Event last July 2015 (photo courtesy of Arvin Encarnacion)

A Preview Of Danish Days At PhLUG's Brickfast 25

Two weeks ago, I attended PhLUG's Brickfast 25 to check out the cool entries for the Danish House MOC contest. In preparation for the upcoming Brickxhibit at the Danish Days event hosted by the Embassy of Denmark in the Philippines at SM Aura, PhLUG members were encouraged to build their own Danish homes. As always, PhLUG's builders rose to the challenge and brought their A games.

Here are all the entries for the contest. Check them out!

Carl Sagan And The Pale Blue Dot

Carl Sagan is one of my personal heroes. I named my youngest son, Asher Sagan Grey after him. To those who don't know the man, Mr. Sagan is a brilliant astrophysicist who was a strong advocate of scientific and critical thinking. By making science popular and significant to the common folk, he was able to inspire people to seek knowledge to explain the nature of the universe and to determine the purpose of humanity's existence. Here's my small tribute to the man.

MOCs @ PinoyLUG & Lego Trading Group's BxB 5.0

The last week of September was very hectic for me. There were lots of meetings and projects going on at the office that needed my attention. Also, I went down with some sort of viral illness which made me bedridden from Thursday until Friday. As a result, I was unable to write several entries for the blog. I've already laid out these backlogs and plan to finish them ASAP so stay tuned for that, folks! 

Set # 75078 Review - Imperial Troop Transport

Today, I'll be doing a review of my current favorite set: Set # 75078, listed as Imperial Troop Transport. When I got my Star Wars fever, the army builder in me immediately wanted to start my collection by having my very own Stormtrooper army. Luckily, Lego came out with this set to address the needs of AFOLs like me. As seen below, the set includes a miniature version of an Imperial Troop Transport (ITT) and four (4) Stormtrooper minifigs.

Embrace The Dark Side

As you may have read from my previous entry, I just got into the Lego Star Wars craze and started buying several sets from the theme with the intention of building MOCs for the blog. One thing I've realized, I 'm much more drawn to the villains of the Star Wars universe and find them more interesting than their heroic counterparts. I've always thought that the Sith Lords and the Galactic Empire are cooler than the Jedi and the Rebel Alliance. This is why I've decided to collect minifigs and sets featuring Star Wars villains. That's right, folks! I've gone and chosen the Dark Side of the Force!

My favorite Star Wars character is none other than Emperor Sheev Palpatine, also known as the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, the most cunning and wicked individual in the entire galaxy. When I was a kid, I thought Emperor Palpatine was a purely evil character, driven only by malice and greed. However, upon reading several fan theories from the Internet and some material from the Expanded Universe, my personal opinion of the shriveled ruler of the Galactic Empire changed. 

The Force Is Strong With This One

I've always told myself to steer clear of Lego Star Wars sets. Although I'm a huge Star Wars fan ever since I was introduced to A New Hope when I was just a kid, I've acknowledged how expensive the sets are from the theme from a galaxy far away and have made it a point to focus on other Lego themes instead. For some reason, I watched all the eight films several months ago then all of a sudden, I was drawn to the idea of doing Star Wars MOCs. 

AsiaPOP Comicon 2016

After attending PhLUG's Brickfast 24 last Saturday morning, the Waifu and I braved the traffic to get to AsiaPOP Comicon (APCC) 2016 in the afternoon. We already anticipated the heavy traffic that's why we left Brickfast early. We were really excited to go to the event because we know there would be plenty of cool and interesting stuff to see at the Con. 

The Beat Goes On

Hi, folks! Today's post is a re-issue of an entry from my old blog focused on music. Hope you guys like it. Long live the Beatles!

Video streaming sites are one of the best things man ever brought to existence. Thanks to these gold mines, I've been getting glimpses of an era that I missed more or less by two decades. I spent the past couple of days watching live performances of old school bands who laid the foundation of rock and paved the way for the hundreds of artists who followed suit and eventually thrived on the scene. Among them are the Beatles.

The original Fab Four from Liverpool greatly influenced my passion for music. Though I learned about them when I was five, I still have the same amount of interest in their craft when I first saw them featured on a TV documentary which was aired everyday on a local channel. Back, them I only knew that they were a band that were very popular during a time when both my Dad and Mom were just teenagers. It never occurred to me that those four lads with mop-tops managed to changed the world and had gotten away with it.

As I grew up, the curiosity I had for them eventually turned into admiration which fueled the desire to learn more about John Lennon, the cynical genius, Paul McCartney, the sentimental charmer, George Harrison, the spiritual introvert and Ringo Starr, the easy-going comic. Each of them contributed a great deal of their soul to what is probably the most influential rock band of the previous century.

PhLUG's Brickfast 24

Saturday was a very busy day for me and the wife. We had to attend two events: PhLUG's Brickfast 24 and AsiaPOP Comicon 2016. We were actually excited since we've been waiting for the weekend to come because of these. Our day started early when we headed out to Jollibee Greenmeadows for PhLUG's Brickfast.

PinoyLUG And Lego Trading Group's BxB 4.0

Last month, I was invited by Sir Hermrei Ong of both PinoyLUG and Lego Trading Group (LTG), to attend BxB 3.0, a monthly meet-up for AFOLs where members of both groups can get to know each other more by bonding over bricks and figs. Unfortunately, my wife and I were running busy schedules all through out July so I wasn't able to go. For this month's BxB 4.0, I made it a point to attend the event to get to know more about PinoyLUG and LTG community.

Toy Kingdom's Amazing Toy Expo 2016

Days ago, my wife, Ava, received an invite to attend Toy Kingdom's Toy Expo which will be held at the SMX Convention Center. That's right! The same venue where the TOYCON PH 2016 was held. I was supposed to be her plus one at the event's opening day but due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to stay home and take care of our youngest boy. Nevertheless, Ava made sure she would take pictures of all the stuff she knows I'd be interested in and could feature in the blog. By the way, Ava's a lifestyle blogger here in the Philippines. Check out her blog at www.artsyfartsyava.com. Be warned though, this entry will be photo heavy. The wife took our new camera, a Canon EOS M10 for a field test. 

Enter! (Photo courtesy of Ava Te-Zabat)

Nothing But Brick's August Builder Of The Month - Lu Sim

One of the most iconic and influential subjects in science fiction in general are mecha or mechs. These giant humanoid robots often play signficant roles in their respective fictional universes and most of the time are militarized to serve as offensive or defensive war machines as part of a story's main plot.

This is fairly common and proliferated in Japanese anime and pop culture. A good example would be the prevalence of mechs, or mobile suits as they are called, in the Mobile Suit Gundam universe and its spin-offs. Mechs are also present in another famous title, Neon Genesis Evangelion, which use these bio-machines to battle the Angels, giant monstrous entities with the sole purpose of annihilating humanity. Last but not the least, the Macross series also makes use of mechs in the form of the variable fighter, which could transform into humanoid or jet fighter mode at its pilot's will. A lot of amazing mech designs have surfaced over the decades and this has captured the attention and passion of a lot of fans, which made model kits based from these franchises extremely popular.

There are brilliant people who tend to merge their love for mechs and Lego into one as they use bricks to create highly-detailed and well-articulated robots to satisfy their passion to build something of their own. One such fellow is Macross' main mech designer, Shoji Kawamori, who makes use of Lego bricks when designing variable fighters for the series. In the Philippines, we have our very own, Lu Sim, Nothing But Brick's August Builder of the Month, who is known to be one of the best mech builders in the local Lego community. 

Mech Master Builder, Lu Sim (Photo courtesy of Lu Sim)

Cowabunga!

I have always been a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ever since I was a kid. I was hooked with the old cartoons as well as with the three movies when it got really popular with us 90's kids back in the day. I remember owning almost all the core action figures as well as the most iconic vehicles from the cartoons. Too bad I don't have them anymore.

PhLUG @ CNN Life's Inspire Every Day at the Ayala Museum

July has been a busy month for Nothing But Brick. I really still can't believe that we're over half of the year already. Time sure flies when you're preoccupied with a lot of things. Balancing your family, work and hobby is a difficult task and I'm still trying to get the hang of it. I'm not complaining though. I'm blessed to have all three at this point in my life. There's still a lot of things I want to learn, do and accomplish but I guess there's a time for everything. Anyway, for my first entry of the month, allow me to show you PhLUG's displays at CNN Life's event, "Inspire Every Day", at the Ayala Museum last Saturday.

(Image courtesy of the Ayala Museum Foundation/CNN/Avida)

The 16th President Of The Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte

Tomorrow, the 16th President of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, will be having his first State of the Nation Address (SONA). Digong, as he is affectionately called by the Filipino people, used to be the mayor of Davao City, a progressive city in Mindanao, until 16 million of my countrymen, including myself, elected him as our president last May. 

To pay tribute to the man who will lead our country for the next six years, I made a mixed and matched fig of Digong wearing what he wore during election day. The tough-talking president is known to be a simple and humble man and the red shirt he has been caught wearing on several occasions affirms that image. That is exactly the reason why I chose the torso with the red plaid shirt from Set # 60134 for this fig.

To our president, I wish you all the best as you guide our people out of the rut that has sown indifference in the hearts, minds and souls of each and everyone who has stayed in this country, be it out of choice or circumstance. You are at the helm of this sinking ship and it seems you have the right amount of wits and will to navigate us through the dangers of what lies ahead. I wish you success in your mission to make our country a fair and better place for every Filipino regardless of their social status, gender, sexual preference, creed and belief. To wish you otherwise will doom us all. God bless you, Sir. Mabuhay kayo! 

Set # 60134 Review - Fun In The Park People Pack

The long wait is over! I've been waiting for this set to come out since it was first seen at the Nuremberg Toy Fair earlier this year. When it hit the local stores, I just knew that I had to get it and I did. Lo and behold, folks! Here's Set # 60134, listed as Fun In The Park People pack. I got this at a very steep price of PHP 3800.00 (USD 80.00) at Toy Kingdom, Megamall. 

This set really caught everyone's attention when initial images were posted online last January mainly because of two (2) never before seen elements: the wheelchair and the baby minifig. The wheelchair is probably the most significant piece in this kit since it represents the good people of the PWD community. Personally, I find this a very touching gesture from Lego since PWDs are often neglected by toy companies when they create their products. With this bold move, the brand reaches out to the minority and reminds the rest of us that no matter one's circumstance, all of us are and should be part of the community. Never forgotten. Never neglected. Each an important piece of the set. 

Nothing But Brick's July Builder Of The Month - AC Pin

Welcome to Nothing But Brick's new Builder of the Month segment! As the segment's title suggests, Nothing But Brick will be featuring a Lego MOC builder every month. The objective is to recognize and honor the creative and talented people behind the awesome bricks of art we see online. I think these guys and gals deserve it because they create their works out of pure love and passion for the hobby. Hopefully, this will also inspire other members of the local Lego community to follow in their footsteps and come out of their shells and start making their own creations as well. 

When I started the blog, I've always known that I must write about the awesome people who contribute to the Lego community and I'm really glad that I finally have the opportunity to do so. In a sea of people who are online in social media, there are amazing people out there who would go out of their way to impart their knowledge and talent in good faith to others who are treading the same path of learning to improve one's craft. One of these rare folks is US-based Lego master builder, AC Pin. 

AC Pin's Signature Pose behind his famous MOCs: Duel of Fates, Geonosian Arena, The Theed Hangar.   (Photo Courtesy of AC Pin)

Set # 79101 Review - Shredder's Dragon Bike

Hi, folks! Today I'll be doing a review of one of the few Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets that I have, Set # 79101, which is listed as Shredder's Dragon Bike. I got this set on sale at PHP1,800.00 (roughly USD38.00) from Glorietta's Rustan's department store. Good thing I had gift coupons, which means I only shelled out less moolah for the kit. 

PhLUG's Force Legion In Action!

Two weeks ago, Lego released its latest Star Wars video game: Lego Star Wars The Force Awakens. We got word from our ambassador that one of our SIGs, the Force Legion will be showcasing their work at Toy Kingdom in SM Megamall in line with the game's launch. I was lucky that the office was just nearby. After a day's worth of work, I immediately went to see the Legion's displays. 

PhLUG's Brickfast 23 & My Favorite Room MOC Contest

I went to PhLUG's Brickfast 23 last Sunday and as always, I had a great time enjoying the crowd, the displays and the brick stores. What's awesome about this month's Brickfast is the My Favorite Room MOC contest hosted by PhLUG's Urban Builders SIG. I think a lot of PhLUG members were looking forward to this event since this is another opportunity to showcase their building skills. As expected, PhLUG's talented builders did not disappoint.

Nothing But Brick's First Giveaway Winner!

Hi, folks! Tonight, I'll be announcing the winner of Nothing But Brick's first giveaway. Before we proceed to the main event, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's been reading and supporting the blog. I really appreciate every like, share, +1 and view from you guys. This really inspires me to write more entries for Nothing But Brick. I promise you there's more to watch out for. Now, let's get it on! 

Set # 40165 Review - Wedding Favor Set

Hi there, folks! Today I'll be doing a review of Lego set # 40165, listed as Wedding Favor Set. You heard it right, ladies and gents! This one's here for them love birds who are getting hitched. As the name suggests, the set can be used as souvenirs for wedding guests. The set is priced at around PHP750.00 (roughly USD15.00). 

Nothing But Brick's First Giveaway!

Greetings, Lego fans! Nothing But Brick will be hosting a small giveaway promo to commemorate the blog's recent milestone of reaching 5,000 views. One (1) Lego Star Wars Imperial Shuttle polybag (set # 30246) will be raffled away for this contest. All you have to do is like and share Nothing But Brick's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/nothingbutbrick/. Read the mechanics below on how to join. Good luck!

Set # 60107 Review - Fire Ladder Truck

Welcome back to Nothing But Brick! Today, I'll be doing another Lego City review for set # 60107, listed as Fire Ladder Truck. This set was a gift from my sister who's based on Australia with her family. They went home for a month-long vacation last April. I've checked the local toy stores and apparently, this set sells for PHP1,799.00 (roughly USD38.00). This is my first Lego fire truck and I really had a great time building this kit!

Set # 60126 Review - Tire Escape

Hi, folks! Today I'll be doing a review of Lego City Set # 60126 listed as Tire Escape. This set was an impulse buy for me. It happened during one stressful day at the office and I just had the urge to get something to calm my senses. 

Our LUGs Are Here To Stay

I really had a blast at TOYCON PH 2016. It was my first convention and it was indeed a very awesome experience. You can check out my previous entry to see all the good stuff there. What made it even better for Lego fans such as myself was the fact that the local community was well represented at the event. PhLUG and PinoyLUG, the two main LUGs in the country, welcomed TOYCON attendees with their jaw dropping displays. Lead by Lego ambassadors Sir Piper Protacio and Sir Leslie Araujo respectively, the two LUGs both brought their game as they wowed the crowd with their cool MOCs.

Sir Leslie Araujo of PinoyLUG and Sir Piper Protacio of PhLUG. (photo courtesy of Sir Leslie Araujo) 

TOYCON PH 2016!

This weekend is extra special for me and the waifu since it's our "sweethearts' anniversary" (as my cheesy parents call it) today. We've been together as a couple for 9 years and we've been enjoying life with each other since then. Though we both disagree in a lot of things as normal couples do, we both share a strong passion for toys. We're both kids at heart you see. Just imagine the excitement we both felt when we suddenly found out that we could go to TOYCON PH 2016! We were just planning to stuff our faces in some buffet to celebrate our special day. We ended spending spending most of it at TOYCON! Best anniversary gift to date! Thanks to our friend Paul Chuapoco of Paul The PR Guy for helping us get our day passes. Special thanks to Sir Azrael Coladillo of Azrael's Merryland for accommodating us. We owe you guys one!

Nothing But Brick's Top 5 MOCs At PhLUG's Abrickadabra 2016

Hi, folks! I've been pretty busy with family and work the past two weeks which is why I haven't posted new stuff on the blog. Sorry about that! But don't worry! I already have several entries lined up for this month. Just to give you an idea, I'm currently working on a MOC with a highway chase scene featuring my figs in black suits. It's almost done so I'll be able to do an entry for that soon. I also have two set reviews for Lego City sets coming up. Last but not that least, I'll be doing an entry about me and my wife's awesome TOYCON PH 2016 experience. For now, here's a look at my personal list of top 5 MOCs at PhLUG's Abrickadabra 2016. By the way, these are not arranged in any particular order. Let's get to it! 

PhLUG's Abrickadabra 2016

It was a big day for PhLUG members last Saturday because of Abrickadabra 2016. Abrickadabra is an annual brick convention hosted by PhLUG to celebrate the community's love for the brick and also to showcase the amazing talents of its builders. It lasted the whole day from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. 

Mission # 1 - The Night Hunt

Hi! Just a quick note before the main entry. Here's a look at the figs used for this post. I still haven't thought of names for them but I'll try to figure something out soon. 

Agents of the Black Cross

The Lady In The Tomb

As you may have guessed, this is going to be a series here in the blog. Hope I can come up with more material soon. Thanks for reading!

* * *

"The men and I were dispatched on a mission to hunt down a foul being terrorizing a small town outside the city. The Director wanted us to eliminate this creature that's said to be the cause of disappearing children. We talked to some of the townspeople and they reported seeing apparitions of a strange looking woman wearing an old-fashioned red dress during the wee hours of the night. Ever since these sightings began, several folks have disappeared, yet to be seen again. No one bothered to go after her fearing they would also go missing. Luckily, one of the younger and braver folks followed her and saw her head to this graveyard. Now, we find ourselves standing in front of a lone mausoleum in the middle of this vast land of the dead hoping to find what we were looking for."

The Mausoleum

This project has been keeping me busy for the past week and I'm glad it's finally done. The concept behind it was mostly inspired by two movies: Men In Black and Constantine. I've always wanted to create a theme that features agents wearing suits fighting demons and other malevolent entities. I guess this is the reason why Lego's Ultra Agents line somehow tickled my fancy, but not enough to ignore the price tag of the sets.

Happy Star Wars Day!

Much like Lego, Star Wars has greatly influenced my love for science fiction and space. It's really cool that we earthlings pay tribute to this epic franchise every year. Honestly, it's difficult to imagine pop culture without Star Wars. I'm just glad George Lucas turned his vision into reality through film decades ago. I also love the fact that three generations of my family love Star Wars. How awesome is that?! 

That's it for now, folks. I wish you all a Happy Star Wars Day! May the Fourth be with you!

Sith Lords with style.

The Monolith

One of my favorite movies is Stanley Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey.  I was awestruck the first time I got to see it on VHS particularly because it made me wonder if the effects in the movie were real. Aside from that, 2001 had a very profound plot, which made me question the purpose and existence of everything and us human beings, especially. I decided to create a MOC to honor one of Kubrick's masterpieces. Actually, this build has been bugging me for weeks and fortunately, I finally had the time to work on it.

Set # 853570 Review - Police Accessory Set

I made a quick run to the Lego Certified Store last week and I stumbled upon this simple accessory set, which had several pieces I wanted to use for my future MOCs. Set # 853570 offers four Lego City minifigs and several accessories.  Unlike other Lego sets, it comes with a card packaging.

PhLUG Brickfast 21

One of the things I look forward to every month is Brickfast. It's a monthly event organized by PHLUG, the local LUG I'm part of, where members get to interact with each other over breakfast and bricks. Though not a member of PHLUG, my wife has been tagging along for the past two months I've been attending Brickfast. We've always enjoyed the Brickfast experience since we get to meet awesome new people. We also get to see the amazing displays of PHLUG's highly-skilled builders. 

Mission Briefing

Today, I'll be featuring a MOC I recently completed using the old bricks I previously sorted. I mentioned in one of my entries that I plan to sort my stash by brick type. I actually started doing that bit by bit and it seems it's the sorting scheme that saves me a lot of time looking for bricks. I still haven't finished doing this since I've been pretty busy with work. Also, I still don't have a permanent storage solution. Just to give you an idea, I'm still using them plastic wares from our kitchen but this time, I've resorted to using zip locks to segregate bricks. Really helpful, them zip locks are! Anyway, back to the MOC. So for this week's build, I decided to create a briefing scene of a group of space pilots who are about to be deployed on a mission.

Lego Out And Have Fun!

My wife and I make sure that we spend the weekends with the kids since we're both busy with work and school during weekdays. Yesterday, we went to one of our favorite malls and unexpectedly encountered a mini Lego event at one of its activity halls. This was indeed a pleasant surprise for us.

A Step Closer To Infinity

I'm really giddy about this entry since it's my first MOC post for the blog. Hopefully, this will be the first among many. I've always wanted to try MOCing for the longest time and now that I've started it, I'm hooked! I'm actually proud of how this one turned out.

The Anti-gravity Field Generator and its inventor.

Dawn Of The Brick

One of the first sets my siblings and I had when we were kids was the Fabuland Amusement Park (Set 3683). As the name suggests, the set is a theme park complete with several attractions: a Ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, a water slide, a boat ride and some game booths. Initially, I wanted to rebuild the whole set. Unfortunately, I've lost some of the parts so I just built the main section of the set.

Sorting Them Bricks Part 1

Last weekend, I went to my parent's house in Manila to retrieve my old stash of bricks. I've always known that I still have a crate full of bricks back at home. The only problem is, I didn't have the time to clean and sort them. Since I started the blog, I've been thinking of ways to augment my current inventory so I could seriously get into MOCing. This motivated me into finally going through the excruciating task of sorting through my dusty collection.

The Stash. Contains pieces from Fabuland, old Lego City, Futuron, Space Police, Ninjago, TMNT, Sponge Bob and many more.

Nothing But Brick's An Amateur Guide To Army Building

Today, I'll be writing about the dark and sinful aspect of collecting Lego: Army Building. Well, it's really not that bad as long as you have your life and your budget under control. I admit that amassing an army of figs could get pretty addictive and it could burn deep holes in your pockets especially if you're not mindful of your purchases. 

I am not an addict.

Off To Space, One Brick At A Time

I am a space junkie. I absolutely love reading or watching anything about outer space and space exploration. I strongly believe that space is the next frontier for humanity. If our world's leaders would think and act on that concept fairly and unselfishly, then sailing out to infinity and beyond could give us an alternative to the inevitable dead-end we're facing if we choose to stay put on this pale blue rock.

Lego is probably the biggest influence behind my interest in space. I've been playing with space-themed sets even before I got introduced and hooked into Star Wars, Star Trek and other space opera franchises. There's really something about the figs and vehicles I built and played with as a kid that made my imagination crave for epic adventures in distant unexplored galaxies. I remember how much I badly wanted to be an astronaut back then so I could cruise along the stars on my very own ship.

One of my favorite sets is the Futuron/Blacktron starter pack (Set 6703). For someone like me, that set was a gold mine. With that kit, you instantly get to have you're own space crew and vile villains to play with. It comes with four (4) Futuron figs and two (2) Blacktron figs complete with colored helmets and air tanks. It also gives you several accessories which could double as either weapons or equipment. If I remember correctly, I think I had two boxes of these guys. Now, only a few of those figs remain in good condition. Sadly, the details on the heads and torsos of the bad ones were already faded and worn out.

The remainder of my Futuron and Blacktron figs. Plus 90s City Astronaut and Ice Planet figs thrown into the mix.

The Brick Remains The Same

Hey there! I'm Gersh. Welcome to my blog where I plan to write about one of the things that I'm passionate about: Lego.

I have been a Lego fan for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I always look forward to the summer break not just because school's out, but also it's the only time my parents would let me and my siblings take out and play with our humble collection of mixed bricks and minifigures. I was fortunate enough to grow up with two sisters who both share the same passion for the brick as I have. I was also lucky that despite them being girls, they were both into action-themed movies and cartoons which we re-enacted when we play with Lego. As we got older, my sisters eventually left the Philippines and I was left to take care of our Lego. They still send me a set or two once in a while.

Classic Lego City figs my siblings and I grew up with