Photos!

This post comes to you in two parts.

Part 1: My review of the Lego collectible minifigs. Lego sells them in series of 16, one figure per bag. These are all unique figures that are not available in any sets. They are sold as "mystery" items; there is no way to see which figure is in the bag until you open it. I decided to start collecting them, and picked up one from each series at Borders today.

This is the baseball player, from Series 3. I love all of the details here, particularly the little design on his baseball cap. I was hoping for the Lego elf, but this little guy is pretty cool too.

I wish the same could be said for my Series 2 figure.

With her long blond hair, red swimsuit, and pouty lips (which are too small to show up in the photo) I swear Lego was trying to create a Pamela Anderson minifigure. Is there really that great of a demand for Lego Baywatch? I will chalk this one up to Rule 34 and back away slowly.

I realized later that there is a way to at least guess which figure is inside the package. If Lego really wanted to be devious, they would pack the figures in bubble envelopes, but they have not done that. By carefully feeling through the plastic, it is possible to determine which of the 16 figures is inside. I decided to try it out, and was quite pleased when I correctly identified the 2 figures from Series 2 I wanted most. Here we have the Wicked Witch; with her skirt and pointy hat, she was pretty easy to pick out.


Finally, I was quite pleased to find the Lego vampire. I was able to identify the bat here.

"Children of the night...what a mess they make."

It took me a bit to figure out how to put his cape on, but he is definitely my favorite from the lot. Was my method of identification cheating? Possibly, but Borders was charging $3.99 each for the figures. If I am spending four bucks on a Lego person, it darn well better be the one I want.

Part 2 of this post is what I have been doing this evening. Jason found a Tenth Doctor action figure for me online, and so I have been posing Ten and Eleven to take some pictures. Here they are working on my laptop.


And again, trying to break into a safe.


I like this shot, particularly the way Ten is looking over his shoulder to make sure they are not about to be caught.

New Things, Including a New Hobby

Sorry for not updating in the past couple weeks. Life has been pretty busy. When I last wrote, I mentioned that Chicago was recovering from the Blizzard of 2011 quite nicely. After a pretty good cold snap, we had a stretch of warm, spring-like weather, so those 20 or so inches of snow are all gone now.

Some new things in the past few weeks...Jason and I had our first Valentine's Day together. I cooked breakfast-for-dinner for us. One of my favorite things to do is cooking for him. Before anyone protests that I am setting the women's movement back to the 50s, I would like to point out that I grew up in a house where everyone cooks. I have been helping my mom bake since I was very little. My dad and brother love to make chili together. When my brother starts dating, he will probably cook for his girlfriend. Cooking for someone is a wonderful gift, no matter who is doing the cooking (or the eating).

I also went to the Chicago Auto Show for the first time on Friday. My brother Johnny wanted to go, so our dad took him, Jason, and me. On the one hand, it was kind of neat to see all of the new cars. On the other hand, Jason and I know very little about cars, so most of the technical talk was lost on us. They had a slot car track, which was pretty cool.

My new hobby is building things out of Legos. Here is one of my favorite TV characters, in half-inch plastic form:

"Hello, I'm the Doctor." The sonic screwdriver in his hand is actually a sonic wrench, because there is no way to attach the blue piece to a screwdriver. I am not sure if Lego even makes minifig-sized screwdrivers.

And, of course, what would the Doctor be without something to save people from? Here is a close-up of my Lego Dalek design.


Good thing I was able to snap that photo without getting caught...

"ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME?? YOU SHALL BE EX-TER-MI-NA-TED!!"

Next on my list of things to build is a Lego TARDIS. I found some great designs on Flickr, and was quite excited to find a video tutorial for one of my favorites.


I only have about half the pieces I need, but that is easily fixable. I shall have more photos soon!

Resolution: Jan 18-20

For the first time, I am starting to wonder if I will be able to keep this up all year...

January 18: Spent most of my day with the kids I nanny for. It is harder to think of new things to do when stuck in one place...I put the youngest one down for his nap before his brother came home from preschool. Jason and I watched a special on PBS from their series "Pioneers of Television." This one was all about sci-fi, and they focused mainly on Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, and Lost in Space. Really interesting, especially because I think Twilight Zone is one of the best television shows ever created. I find it amazing how relevant most of the episodes still are, even after 50 years. Both Serling and Gene Roddenberry (creator of Trek) decided to start writing sci-fi as a way to discuss issues that otherwise were considered taboo. There was a lot more substance in those shows than in most of the crap that passes for television these days.

January 19: As I wrote about yesterday, I bought myself a Lego set online! I have a feeling this could be the start of a new hobby. Now I have the urge to go through all of our Legos and organize them. We still have a giant bucket full of them. The question now is whether they should be organized by size or color. Size would probably be more useful, but it would also require more containers. No way I would organize by size AND color. My collection is not large enough to warrant that.
Yet.

January 20: Nannying again. Took the little guy to the library so his mom could get some sleep (she works at a hospital, and got stuck on the night shift). Ran into a group of college students there on a tour...and realized that they were from MY alma mater. Remembered the professors from when I took the same class. I fit right in with them, because I was wearing my college hoodie. Completely unexpected.
Then I had the kind of afternoon that reminded me why I love working with kids. While the little guy was napping, his brother showed off the cardboard-box castle he made at school. He decided it was just the right size for Lego people, so the Lego firemen ruled the kingdom with their pet dinosaur. Then I built a spaceship for the Lego aliens, and the kingdom was invaded by UFOs. It was great.

Lego mania

I love Legos; who doesn't? I read a Lego webcomic and visit Lego fan sites. I am certainly not alone in this regard. There is even a name for adult fans of Lego: AFOL. I think what draws me to Lego is that I love miniatures. I always have. I love seeing how someone can take something and shrink it down, preserving the detail.

When I was a kid I would spend hours working on creations and playing with them. Of course, about half of that time was spent digging through our giant box of Legos looking for just the right piece. I especially loved the minifigs. For a while I had all of the "people pieces" set aside. Mixed in with the "real" Lego pieces were some knockoff sets. Most of the time I preferred to use the genuine item, but one of the knockoffs came with these large, flat interlocking pieces. I built a cube from them and stored all of the minifigs inside. One time my friend and I invented Lego babies, which were basically a Lego head stuck on top of a brick. Completely out of proportion, but we didn't care.

Recently I have been thinking about Legos more and more. The family I nanny for has two older boys who received several Lego sets for Christmas (and a two-year-old who needs to be kept away from them!). I was helping the boys with their creations when I realized I should start collecting Lego sets myself. So this morning I bought one online. This is the one I bought:


It reminds me of the kind of thing I would try to build as a kid, but of course this one comes with special pieces to make it look more realistic. I love the little details: the basketball hoop, the lawn mower, the satellite on top...

I would love to buy more. This set caught my eye a couple years ago, when I read about it on a fan site:


The snowman! The jack-in-the-box! The Christmas tree! The price tag... $60. The sets I want all run around $50-$60. I think I will have to limit myself to one a month at the most. This one is even more expensive; it caught my eye when we were at the Lego store. There I was able to get a closer look at all of the details inside, including a revolving door and escalators!


WANT. NOW. But this one will have to wait; they want $150 for it. Yes, Legos are an expensive hobby. Then again, I would be hard-pressed to think of one that is not. Once you really get into something, there are people waiting to sell you stuff to improve your experience, whether it is a 2,000-piece Lego set, mahogany knitting needles, or a custom-drilled bowling ball.