I’ve built fully-functional weaponry from legos. 2 pistols and a rifle. One pistol could shoot those neat little technics discs (the ones used in pulleys), while the other, a 2nd generation model, shot pencils so hard they would go through cardboard. The rifle had a rotating magazine that could cycle through several pencils. Unfortunately that was the final generation of the weapon, because I was caught firing it at school windows to see if they would break. Funny, because in this day and age they’d probably call in the SWAT team if they caught a kid with the kind of shit I had. Couldn’t have been much older than 8…
Out of curiousity, how did you ever make this thing work?
I built them out of standard legos and used a technics set for the moving parts. The trigger was a technics connector bar which controlled a couple of pulley wheels. The propulsion was a stretched technics rubber band. The rotating magazine on the rifle was done using a system of pulleys. They worked more like crossbows than anything else, and aside from the pencils, they were made entirely out of legos. Once I got some working ones I started gluing the pieces together to make them more stable, since the pencils created a lot of tension. Actually, I could probably still build the things today… I tried a lot of different models before I got one that worked.
I saw the cruiser on sale when I was at Star Wars Celebration III (it was on display at the LEGO booth), and it is one hell of a piece of work. If it wasn’t insanely expensive and it wasn’t a prequel ship, I’d consider it. At least it’s for charity.
As for us mere mortals, we must be content with the greatest LEGO item ever, at least until they bless us with a walking LEGO AT-AT.
Doesn’t bode well for airline security :/.
You should make a super-real virtual reality videogame in which you build a gun like that out of mutant lizard bones.
I got this for Xmas from my mom. It’s ridiculously huge. Just managing the pieces is a full time job.
Shit now I want that thing.
Ugh. Yeah, thanks a bunch. I already dropped like $400 on the X-Wing and Tie-Fighter deluxe models a few years back. Resisting that and the Death Star is only possible by periodically forgetting the kits exist.
Doesn’t bode well for airline security :/.[/quote]
I hereby dub thee, MacGyver! His mind is the ultimate weapon.
I always had more fun with the massive bucket of random legos that had been passed down from my cousin than any of the store-bought sets. The sets would get built, played with for a day or two, then deconstructed to become a part of the collective. I think its gone to two more cousins since I had it.
Here, I hope this works:
That’s the bulk of the sets that are still completed. I’m pretty proud of that castle on the far end. Also, the X-wing is pretty cool.
Here is my harbour set and a boat that really floats in water! Also, as a bonus, there is half my DVD and game collection.
Some random odds and ends sit here, those buckets are also have lego accessories (cars and stuff). Clearly we should be getting rid of some of that other junk. That remote control car hasn’t worked for 10 years.
I made the mistake of disassembling and indiscriminately mixing all of my 18,000+ bricks when I last moved (they’re about 50% sorted now). :(
Anyhow, about five years ago, there was a fan community backlash against the increasing use of special-purpose pieces. The LEGO community even had acronyms for discussing them, like CRAPP and SPUD. For a while, LEGO responded by trying to include more generic pieces. Unfortunately, the newer Castle and Viking sets have gone back to relying on lots of those special-purpose pieces.
- Alan
That was the only thing our our 7-year-old’s list this year. Thanks to a 20% off sale from Lego and lots of relatives, he’s getting it. Fortunately, we have a large playroom in the basement.
If you guys want help resisting this stuff, just watch one of the prequels again.
December 30th is Star Wars Day at my friends’ in San Diego. All 6 films in numerical order on his 105" projection screen. It will be awesome.
Fuck Star Wars Haters. :D
Lego is not as good as it used to be, but it was never as cool as Fischertechnik.
Actually, I’ve recently asked this question of several of my friends and colleagues (not thinking to defer to the ubergeeks here, strangely enough):
What is the prefered viewing order for the entire Star Wars Saga?
a) IV, V, VI, I, II, III
or
b) I, II, III, IV, V, VI
This is not a trick question, nor is it for which I have the definitive answer. I’m genuinely curious what the answer should be.