Air Superiority

Every big city needs an aerial unit in their police department.  Bricksburgh isn't THAT big, but given Lego's enthusiasm for creating police sets our citizen:cop ratio is pretty high!  How do the police keep Bricksburgh citizens safe?  With their "eye in the sky" police helicopter, of course.  Last year we showed you some of the design in our post called:  "Rule the Air" and in the video below.

This year... we're showing you how to BUILD it.   Click on through!

The Comeback!

Who doesn't love a comeback?    We're proud to call Pittsburgh our adopted home.  This city was once a huge powerhouse that was pushed to the edge of oblivion as success moved on.  But then... IT CAME BACK.  It is now a beautiful park-filled vibrant city on the rivers.  It has exceeded its own best expectations and is continuing to rebuild itself into a gleaming jewel with big city attractions with a small town atmosphere.

Like Pittsburgh, our own Lego town enjoyed great success on YouTube but then was pushed-- literally!-- into oblivion (if you consider getting packed out of sight, oblivion).
After nearly a year in boxes, crates, and storage bins...
BRICKSBURGH IS COMING BACK!   Want to see?   Click on!

We Will Rebuild

Every disaster or war movie has that great scene in it-- often at the end-- where a leader stands before his/her people and declares that they will rebuild their land.   
We were just watching the end of "Deep Impact" last week and President Morgan Freeman stood before a ruined Washington, chronicled how a comet impact had really screwed with property values in the area but that they would rebuild it.  His resounding battle cry?  "So now, let us begin."  What??   "So now, let us begin?!?"  That's the best President Morgan Freeman can muster??  Hasn't he seen his own movies??   Did the scriptwriter forget to finish the speech??  

It was pathetic.

Well, like that ruined Washington in the movie, Bricksburgh was completely destroyed about a year ago.  A YEAR.  It has been a long time.  Finally our tables are complete and nothing else stands in our way to reconstruct our great city.  Plate by plate, brick by brick, we will erect a new city, with new sets, new buildings, and more space than we ever had before.  
With nothing to stop us and no reason to delay-- So now, let us begin.

Rooms With a View

Last time we showed you how the Bricksburgh TV Station was built.  Since we're talking about how our landmark buildings in town came into being, it seems only fitting to talk about the City Hotel.  The City Hotel was a natural addition to the town.  After all, if the town is to be a vacation island with a famous beach... it would need a hotel-- and one that would offer First Class service! 

 But what was the REAL inspiration of the hotel and why does it look the way it does?  

You might be surprised....

Super Vans!

In between projects at the new house, projects at the old house, and moving stuff from one to the other, we've been working on some Lego projects too.   The town may be boxed up and the table dismantled but there are plenty of unused Lego pieces lurking about and now and then we find enough to cobble together some interesting creations-- some of which are good enough that they will survive to make an appearance in a future Legotown Tour.  These "Super Vans" (from our YouTube video) are two of those recent creations.  Read on for their story.

Where Dwight Works

Once we move into the new house the Legotown will be getting some upgrades.  Among the first buildings to get upgraded will be the Office Building.  It will gain another floor (for a total of 4) to bring it closer in height to the Condos.  With that in mind, I thought we'd take a closer look at its history so far.

Not a Geek!

Over the years I've made a lot of custom sets for the kids.  One of the most popular was the TechMan company.  The TechMan company started out from a single idea:   I wanted to use a pair of grey panels that I'd found.   From panels...  there came a grey van...  then an IDEA.

Biggest Loser Ambulance

A few years ago Tyler received a new ambulance set for Christmas (or a birthday?).   The set was built around a much wider chassis than anything else in the town and didn't really fit it.  You can see the original set here: Lego Set 7890.  In order to fit into the town we'd need to rebuild it and make it closer to the 4-wide vehicle standard...   and here's what we came up with:

Rule the Air!

The police station set # 588 was the very first Lego set I ever had.  It was Christmas of 1982 (I think) and I was both thrilled to get it and also mystified by what I remember thinking was a weird puzzle of some kind.  Lego weren't something I had see before!  The set is superb, even by modern standards, with lots of details and selection of vehicles to mess with.  As time went on the motorcycle was replaced by the more modern types (and dismantled) and the patrol car itself was vastly upgraded.... but the helicopter still... well...  stunk.  And then we upgraded it to THIS:

Just Truckin'

It started simply enough.   We had two black fenders in the new style and were trying to figure out how to use them in our "classic" style town (where the vehicles are only four studs wide).  Most vehicles have at least four fenders...  so this was a puzzle.  Pawing through the parts bins and randomly snapping pieces together, we found inspiration.   We designed around the two fenders and came up with a pretty decent (and quite useful) flatbed truck.  What town can't use another dude with a truck?!