Brickshelfer shaddow has a fine rendition of popular video game character Sonic the Hedgehog. Actually, I have no idea if he's popular anymore. I think he was at some point? I don't play many video games. Anyway, the Glatorian hands really come through here, and the head is well done.

Brought to you by a vague feeling that I should be blogging more and at the expense of mangling a Harry Potter paraphrase, the Bioniblog presents Distorted's Train. It's rather cute and chibified and has a "NPU," as the kiddies say, in the form of a Power Functions motor.

BZPower's latest BBC (Bionicle-Based Creations) Contest requires entrants to build one of the site's administrators. Many of the entries (my own included) are fairly banal humanoids, but as with any contest, there are some standouts. You've already seen BCii's rendition of Tufi Piyufi. Here is a version of former admin Ninjo by Shannara:

The use of the wheel technique pioneered by Primus is notable, and the general spiky robotic look is just plain cool.

Puffins are the animal to style your entry after if you're building Tufi Piyufi and don't want to take the humanoid route. Bundalings has done just that, and added a comically oversized weapon for good measure with his majik puffin:

Nice thighs, and the rest of what Internet rumor informs me is Moko's first published Bionicle MOC isn't half bad, either. He's really worked well with the asymmetry of the Gali Mistika mask.

Fair Bricks

BrickFair 2009 took place recently, and there having been a peculiar and deplorable lack of good Bionicle MOCs recently, I have decided to throw patience to the winds and post pictures of some of the peculiarly and deplorably unpublished(?) MOCs that made their appearances there.

First up is an unattributed MOC, possibly black fantasy. Note the use of stingrays as ears.

Next, Bundalings's Packbot.

Perhaps most impressive, at least in terms of technical skill, is ToM's Autobot Jazz. Yes, it really transforms.


And because I'm a sucker for small cute MOCs, a model of the beetle Click from the upcoming Bionicle movie.

For more pictures, see here and here. BrickFair 2010 is August 5-8th of next year. Be there or be an oblong rectangularish sort of thing?

The Final Frontier...

...A la Bionicle, purrhaps? Well, with Dablackcat's UFO Invader...

...Primus's Steel Falcon...

...and my own (admittedly rather old) Green and Orange....

...Bionicle/Technic building is definitely making inroads into the space scene as of late. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues. Qapla'!

BBCC Winnerview #3: Bundalings

Better late than never is a maxim by which we proudly live here at TBB (Though if we really cared we'd blog about those BBCC54 entries. Maybe later.), and so we are pleased to present an interview with Bundalings, winner of BZPower's 51st Bionicle Based Creations Contest with his Batterfly.
TBB: Congratulations on getting a BBCC win all to yourself for the first time! Anything you'd care to tell us about your winning entry? Perhaps how the building process went, or any obstacles you encountered?

Thank you! And thanks for interviewing me. It makes me feel all special inside. Ah, the MOC. Well, when I heard about the theme, I instantly gravitated to Eisley's music. It's very visual, at least to me. And then I instantly gravitated to their most bizarre and possibly demented song, Marvelous Things. So yeah.
At first I was a bit (read: a heck of a lot) worried about making a bat... with butterfly wings. But then I randomly (but pleasingly) found that tentacles make wonderfully skeletal shapes when looped, and Nuparu Mahri armor makes great ears. The rest just kind of fell together...
Except for the legs. Is it safe to say I still hat them? I do. I really hat them. I spent lots of time on them and they still aren't eye pleasing. Icky.


TBB: How do you start work on any given MOC? Do you usually have a good idea of what you're aiming for, or do you make it up as you go?

That depends. Usually I have a vague idea, like I see a picture and think "oh, that would make a cool MOC," and other times I just sit down and mess with parts. I'm sure it happens with everyone, but more than half the time you end up with something unexpected.


TBB: What genre, if any, of MOCs do you most enjoy building?

I like building a variety, but Rahi are always fun. You can build all sorts of crazy things and just pass it off as a Rahi... with rockets on it's back...
I've been dabbling in Mecha some lately as well.


TBB: For this entry you obviously were inspired by the song Marvelous Things. From what other sources do you derive inspiration whilst building?

Inspiration comes from everywhere. Movies, books... but a lot of times I'll see another builder do something crazy and I think, "can I imitate that and get away with it?" Usually the answer is yes, since what I end up with is usually pretty mutilated. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way, but I just keep messing with it until it either: A] Works. B] I get sick of it. C] Another BBC contest starts and I have to pirate the pieces. Arrr.


TBB: Any bunniful advice for your fellow MOCers?

Don't be afraid to be a copy cat in the privacy of your own home. By imitating other people, you can find out how their style works, and so refine your own. But it's probably not a good idea to post the exact same MOC as someone else... without credit... yeah, someone did that to me. I am still really ticked, 'cause they didn't give credit--

BUNNY TRAIL

Back on topic. If you DO copy someone's design, give credit. Also: If at first you don't succeed, give up dramatically, and someone will probably shove you hard enough to get you back to work.


TBB: Which summer sets are you most excited for?

Mata Nui looks kk, Stronius and Ackar look awesome... and who could hat the rickety Thornatus and hugimongus (but still red ;_;) Skopio? Summer has a pretty good lineup, really, bar the Baranus and Titan Mata Nui. It's hard to just choose a couple.

TBB: Anything else you'd like to say?

Thanks for interviewing me... LONG LIVE LAPRAS.

Words to live by, those.Thanks to Bundalings for his interview, and watch this blog for interviews with the winners of BBCCs 53 and 54, hopefully coming soon. Hopefully.

The Disembodied Hand That Didn't Strangle People

Rather, it hung limply from a dull chain above a pool of putrefying blood and gore, rotating ever so slowly in tandem with its chiral opposite...Yes, I should write horror novels, but I'd have to give credit for that particular scene to Distorted, whose Surgery is a singularly unique MOC for a number of reasons. Not only is it a good and proper vignette, a thing rarely seen in Technic form, but the tone (aided by the dark photography and color scheme) is rather morbid, such as I've rarely seen in a Lego creation. I think the use of Bionicle (and yes, that MOC is made entirely of Bionicle/Technic parts, no System) makes it even more effective than had it been done in that blockier medium, since it allows for details such as fingers and all the mechanical-looking bits that Bionicle is so good for. Note too the use of the rarely-used Rhotuka launchers in the base. So yeah, props to Distorted for an extremely original MOC. w00t!

Dablackcat has a pretty spiffy submarine-excavator-type thing here. I'm digging the Lehvak faceshields as seaweed, as well as the landscape in general. The scrubber-wheel hands are nice too.Via YSAB, not that they need further traffic after getting featured on Gizmodo. Someday...

Rawr rawr rawr

Never mind that Kraata are little more than invertebrates (though admittedly superpowered ones), Distorted's Kraata skeleton is great regardless. The curvature and parts use combine to create a bit of a menacing aura about the thing.
Additionally, Peguo's "Cypris-Morpho" has a nice look, as well as an interesting hand technique.