Pimp My Wheelchair - WINNERS

It's time to announce the winners of the Pimp My Wheelchair contest!

There were a ton of great entries - choosing one over another was a pretty tough task. But we did it. Because we love you.

There were three themes to build in...here are the results for each! You can click on the images to be taken to the entry grids for each theme.







In addition, there were two "Judge's Awards" for our personal favorites...



Congratulations to the winners, and our hearty applause to all who participated!

Pimp My Wheelchair - Even MORE Prizes!

We're entering the final days of the Pimp My Wheelchair contest. We've had some really nice entries so far, and I'm sure we'll see a rush of new contestants at the last minute as usual. But right now it's still anyone's game.

There are three categories to enter, and great prizes to be had. Special "best of" prizes include a Pirate Advent Calendar for the best North American Build, and a Chromtastic Prize pack for the best Non-NA entry.

And, just to tempt you into building, Louise has once again upped the overall prize pool!

Every prize winner will also receive a Tranquility Base printed 1x8 brick, of which there are only 17 in existance

Yes that's printed, not a sticker! A truly cool addition to the prize pool!

So what are you waiting for? Go BUILD SOMETHING!

Episode 782

Read the comic here.

Episode 781

Read the comic here.

I'm working on the full announcement, but for now, just click here for the full contest details.

Episode 780

Read the comic here.

Full contest details get posted tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, be sure to check out Tranquility Base for more teasers and a ongoing guest appearance by Scotch!

Episode 779

Read the comic here.

For the record, Ian has never been a pain to work with. But it's funnier to think of our friendship as a bit more antagonistic.

There's a second strip for today. It'll be posted after 3:00.

Bad Day: Bad Day Winner!

It's time to wrap up the Bad Day contest. All this week we've been revealing the winners in each category, leading up to the big one...the Bad Day itself.

This was the most-entered category - probably because the top prize was that uber-sweet set, 7637 - Farm. Yes, builders will go a long way to take home a couple of Holsteins.

Like the Basic Module results, I've modified the entry grid to show the ranking of the top ten models with the rest of the crowd under the well-deserved heading of "Honorable Mentions."

But you can find out the top prize winner by just reading on...

Roguebantha's A sad day

Yes, the same model that claimed the Special Judge's Prize was also the model that unanimously earned top honors from the contest judges. Can you blame us? Just look at that model. Just LOOK AT IT!

Clever, well designed, and an AFOL in-joke all in one. It tugs at the heartstrings with the message that some disasters are personal in scope. Well played, Roguebantha. Well played.

Actually, all of our contestants did very well. The strict building rules may have kept the number of entries down, but it also helped keep the quality of those entries uniformly high. I consider this one of the most successful contests so far.

And, remember, just because this contest has ended there's no reason to give up on Micropolis. TwinLUG is going to have a display at BrickWorld where everyone is welcome to contribute a module. Take advantage of this chance to build with a larger crowd! I know I'm looking forward to the chance.

A special thank you to TwinLUG, our Judges, and all those who took part in the competition!

Bad Day: DoublePlusGood Module Winners

The Bad Day contest parade of winners continues today with the DoublePlusGood Module category.

The top model in this category scored LEGO Set 7945 - Fire Station, with the second place finisher taking home set 4916 - Mini Animals.

As I mentioned yesterday, this was another tough category for the judges. All six of the submitted models were of superior quality and the voting was extremely close. Once again, though, there was a clear winner once the points were average out.

Who was it, you ask? Well read on....

Brian Kasprzyk's

Empire State Building / Independence Day

Truly an impressive build, no? The before-and-after versions were a plus, but it was the overall construction that sold this model for me. Just because it's Micropolis doesn't mean it can't be a freakin' HUGE build.

Take a look at other entries to see more quality work - and see the results of the very close race for 2nd place.


Coming up is the big reveal of the most active category - the BAD DAY. Who won THE FARM? Who came close? Tune in tomorrow and see!

Bad Day: Double Module Winners

The Bad Day parade of winners continues today with the Double Module category.

The top model in this category scored LEGO Set 7632 - Crawler Crane, with the second place finisher taking home set 4916 - Mini Animals.

Before the reveal, let me say that both the Double and DoublePlus categories were extremely tough for the judges. We only had a handfull of entries, and all of them were top quality work. Still, someone had to win...

Rook's
FutureTown: Repair Shop and Landing Port

The judges were mixed on who should earn top honors, but the average point total put Rook's effort at the head of the pack by a full point. Personally, I think that's due to the stylish twist on his Landing Port sub-module.

Again, this was a tough call - take a moment and bask in the creative glow from the other entries. It'll be well worth your time.


Tune in tomorrow for the DoublePlusGood Module winners!

Bad Day: Basic Module Winners!

The Bad Day parade of winners continues today with the Basic Module category.

The top model in this category scored LEGO Set 4210 - Coast Guard Platform, with the second place finisher taking home set 4916 - Mini Animals. (Not wanting to wreck the final reveals on who won what, winners will be contacted early next week to arrange shipment of the major prizes.)

So...who won this category?

Vito's Twin Tower Hotel

The judges were unanimous in declaring Vito's model "Best of Show" in the Basic Module category. For me, the innovative detail of the window-washing platforms was the "little something extra" that made this model stand out from the crowd.

All the models were very well done, though. The top five placements are identified on the revised Entry Grid - with the remaining models all earning an "Honorable Mention" status.

Tune in tomorrow for the Double Module winners!

Bad Day: Time to start announcing the winners!

The Bad Day contest is over...and the judges have all responded with their rankings!

Every day this week at noon I'll be announcing another group of winners from the contest...starting today with Special Guest Judge Mariann Asanuma's favorite creation. This builder will receive a free copy of Mariann's book - "Building Secrets from the Masters - How to Build a Round Ball with Square Bricks."

And the winning entry is....

Roguebantha's A sad day

My disaster isn't he biggest but it may be the saddest. The 200 year old chestnut tree behind Cafe Corner and beloved by generations of children has been struck by lightening! Will it survive?!

More at Flickr

Mariann had this to say about the model:

This was a pretty hard decision! I liked a lot of the entries and I had a several favorites. But when it got down to it, I had to decide on Roguebantha's A sad day. Although there were a lot of really good entries. I was judging on the intricate details and the overall "story" of the model. Even though it wasn't the biggest "disaster" model, I thought it had a lot of heart and some very clever techniques.

Tune in tomorrow to find out who took home prizes in the Basic Module category!

Bad Day: Entry Grids are closed!

The Bad Day contest has ended, the entry grids have been updated with the expected rush of last minute creations, and now the anticipation builds as things are turned over to the judges.

I hope to have the grading spreadsheets in the judge's hands in the next couple of days - hopefully we'll be able to begin announcing winners late next week.

The final count was 45 legal creations spread over the four categories. We saw the most action in the Bad Day grid - looks like a lot of you wanted a shot at the Farm. Can't say I blame you.

A warm thank you to TwinLUG for sponsoring this contest and to all the builders who took the time to compete! And don't forget - if you're attending Brickworld in June, there's going to be a huge Micropolis layout you can take part in. So, even now, it's not too late to be thinking about building for Micropolis!

Bad Day: Let the rush of final entries begin!

The Bad Day contest ends soon - this Sunday, in fact. You've still got time to build an entry - and while there's some really good entries up already, the strangely low turnout for this contest so far means you can still claim a large share of the spotlight. I've updated the entry grids with the entries I've received so far - as of 10:00am EST on Friday. (Blogger seems to be having FTP update issues again, so who know when this will post.)

Remember, you have until May 3rd to get your entries in! Get to building!

Roguebantha's entry: A Sad Day.

Bad Day: Things get worse (or better, depending.)

The Bad Day gets worse for the citizens of Micropolis - another batch of entries arrived over the weekend. I've updated the entry grids with them - browse and be amazed!

We scored a blog mention over at The Brothers Brick, so hopefully we'll be reaching a even wider audience with this contest. Reasonably Clever fans have had a few extra weeks to work on their creations, though, so I'm still hoping for a "home team" advantage.

Remember, you have until May 3rd to get your entries in!

Ian Healy's entry: Cthulu Released.
If a busy webcomic author like Ian has time to build and entry, so do you!

Bad Day: An Entry for every Grid

More submissions to Bad Day have arrived...and now there's a contender for every category. So someone is going to win those fabulous LEGO sets. It could even be you...but if you don't play your odds of winning a prize are, frankly, pretty bad.

I've updated the entry grids - take a look at the competition and then get to building! Remember, you have until May 3rd to get your entries in. You can enter a model in each of the four categories if you're feeling particularly competitive!

(Mookage's entry: Big-Head Rex versus the Lava Scorpion : Smackdown Downtown.)

Bad Day: More entries ahoy!

More submissions to Bad Day have arrived...and I've updated the entry grids to hold them. Looks like we might just have a fight on our hands for those excellent prizes.

Remember, you have until May 3rd to get your entries in. Or it could be a really Bad Day for you as well!

(Dragma's entry: Tsunami bad day.)

Bad Day: First Entries are up.

The first submissions to Bad Day have arrived...and I've created the entry grids to hold them. I'm a bit concerned, though...is no one competing this time around? Or are you all waiting until the last moment?

You do have until May 3rd to get your entries in, of course. But right now I'm worried that the Micropolis might start to resemble Detroit...

(This is Brick Alchemist's Vacant Lot Entry. Timely, no?)

New Contest! Bad Day for Micropolis

It's time to announce the next Reasonably Clever contest! This time, we've teamed up with TwinLUG.com to present a challenge unlike any we've offered before. Working within the Micropolois Standard, it's time to bring on the disasters.

Click the pic for details!

Handtruck Challenge: Winners Announced

The Handtruck Building Challenge '09 is over! I've posted the Judge's comments (where applicable) to the Entry Grid and posted the all new Winner's Grid page. (There were four judges: Myself, Nathan, and the infamous Players A and B.)

For those of you wondering what the "special prize pack" was for the builder who used the most handtrucks....it's a Baggie of Handtrucks! Because, obviously, that builder knows how to make use of them, and I sure don't need a huge pile of them.

The winners have email waiting for them on how to claim their prizes.

Thanks to everyone who played! Details for our next (BIG!) contest are being finalized now...look for details very soon!

Handtruck Challenge: Judging has begun!

The Handtruck Building Challenge '09 is over! I've posted the final batch of contestants to the Entry Grid.

We had a grand total of 36 models submitted - and now it's up to our judges to pick out the cream of the crop. Look for an announcement on that soon - along with news of our next big contest, which should also be starting soon!

Thanks to all who participated in this goofy little challenge.

Handtruck Challenge Ends Today!

This is it, gang! The Handtruck Building Challenge '09 ends today! I've posted the latest batch of contestants to the Entry Grid, but you have a few more hours to get your own builds in.

For a goofy little idea, this contest sure has spawned some impressive creations. We'll have to do some more "odd piece challenges" in the future.

Handtruck Challenge: Final Days!

The Handtruck Building Challenge '09 is nearly over! I've posted three more entires to the Entry Grid, bringing the total to 24 MOCs at this point.

Remember, the deadline for entries is Friday the 13th! If you've been putting off finishing that build, best get to it! And don't wait until the last moment to send, either - I'd hate to see anyone disqualified for missing the deadline, y'know?

Handtruck Challenge: Entry Grid Update

The Handtruck Building Challenge '09 is in that slow stretch between the early builders and those who are waiting to surprise everyone in the last couple of days. Still, we had two more amazing entries - go check them out on the Entry Grid!

Handtruck Challenge: Entry Grid Update

The Handtruck Building Challenge '09 scores another batch of great entries. Go take a look at the Entry Grid!

Remember, you have until 3-13 to get your entries submitted, but act now before all the cool ideas are gone!

Handtruck Challenge: Entry Grid Updated

The Handtruck Building Challenge '09 continues apace - This weekend's submissions are now a part of the Entry Grid.

There are some really clever ideas showing up - I'm quite impressed with what you guys have managed so far!

Just a reminder, though, that entries need to have at least some MOC element to them. Setting up a display of LEGO-stock models and adding a handcart to the scene doesn't qualify. At the very least customize a mini-figure or (better yet) BUILD SOMETHING.

Handtruck Challenge: Entry Grid Updated

The Handtruck Building Challenge '09 continues apace - I received another bath of entries last night, so I've updated the Entry Grid.

Today's update shows why you might not want to wait until the last moment to unveil your clever idea - Entries 6 and 7 arrived within an hour of each other, with decidedly similar themes! I wonder who else is in the midst of a build on a "handtruck race" theme...

Handtruck Challenge: Entry Grid Updated

We've received a few entries to kick off the Handtruck Building Challenge '09...reason enough to set up the Entry Grid.

So far it's a tie for "most handtrucks used" at a staggering "one." I know you guys can do better than that - heck, I managed three in my One-Ringer hanger bay set.

On the "Most Creative" and "Most Nifty" fronts there's a bit more of a challenge brewing...for example, check out this great Deckchair by David Pickett!

So what are you waiting for? Time to put your handtrucks to good use! Go build something!

Handtruck Building Challenge '09

While the final details are being worked out for our next BIG contest, here's a little challenge to keep your building skills warmed up...

Click the pic for more details!

New contest under development!

For those of you chomping at the bit to get building on a new Reasonably Clever contest:

This weekend I'll be finalizing details of our next outing, with a hope to announce things late next week.

For those of you desperate for a hint, here you go.

Spooky Star Wars: The Winners!

Well, you've all been very patient - at long last here are the winners of the Reasonably Clever Spooky Star Wars competition!

It was a smaller turnout than we expected, but we were still pleased with the quality and variety of entries. The guest judges from Lucasfilm added a very interesting twist to the results - they were looking at the models from a different perspective than our usual crop of LEGO-addicted judges. Models that might not have even placed in earlier competitions scored quite high.

So: Here's the roll call of top finishers for our four categories!

Class One: Spooky Vehicle

CT-PT: Cthulhu Terrain - Pumpkin Transport

by: Polywen

2nd Place: EYE-Fighter by George Fox

3rd Place: Skull Interceptor by Luke Chapman

4th Place: heX-Wing by Greg

5th Place: Grevious' Sleepy Hollow Starfighter by Nioco

Class Two: Spooky Scene

The Legend Of Sleepy Endor

By Polywen

2nd Place: "Help me take this mask off..." by Sebastian Sand

3rd Place: Zombie Solo by Dave the Rave

4th Place: The Jawas of Death by S1MP50N

5th Place: Boba Fett Gets a Rock by Timothy Ratner

Class Three: Spooky Impulse

Ben's Trophy Room

by Dave Lartique

2nd Place: Death Star Seance by SuperDave

3rd Place: TAG (Twin Arcachnid Geeble) Fighter by Cadder

4th Place: A slight stomach ache by Generally Shrouded

5th Place: "One Things for Sure, We're all going to be a lot thinner" by Luke Chapman

Class Four: The Death of Jar Jar

The Successful Hunt

by Mr. Meep

2nd Place: Order 67 by Polywen

3rd Place: "Oops..." by Lt. de Martinet

4th Place: Jar Jars accident at the Jar Factory by Kaczor

5th Place: The Rack by rknum

If you look closely you'll that this was very nearly a sweep by Polywen - he entered three classes and took 1st, 1st, and 2nd in them. Luckily for the other contestants you can only win one Ranking award per contest! Polywen decided to keep the Class Two prize - meaning that the Class One award passed to the 2nd place finisher, George Fox. 

It's also worth mentioning that the Far Side Award winner Raxor (for his Candy Corn Star Destroyer) donated his prize to charity.  Since that was such a cool gesture I donated a couple of extra sets in his name as well.  Thanks for being such a cool person.

And that wraps up the Spooky Star Wars contest! Thank you to all who participated and all those who read along. The next contest will be announced in early January - stay tuned!

Spooky Star Wars: Light Side Award

The final judge has reported in - and that means we can now unveil the winner of the LIGHT SIDE AWARD. The model that Mary Franklin (the Events Manager for Lucasfilm Ltd.)  liked best will receive a troop-building 7201 Final Dual

And the winner is:

The Legend of Sleepy Endor

by Polywen

This model was a favorite of all the judges - a great combination of building, character, and theme. Polywn, be on the lookout for an email from Ian as to how to claim your prize!

In other contest news....

I've updated the Entry Grids with Mary's entry commentary - take a look and make your predictions as to our final outcomes. Tomorrow at noon we'll announce the winners and top placers in all four classes! 

Spooky Star Wars: Far Side Judge Award

Today's contest announcement is the Winner of my personal  FAR SIDE AWARD. This is the model that I liked the best. The builder will receive 4916: Mini-Animals as their prize.

Let me say first that this was a particularly tough choice. There were quite a few models I really enjoyed. But only one took the contest in an unexpected direction for me:

Imperial Candy Corn Destroyer

by: Raxor

What can I say? There's no candy spookier to me than those icky candy corn thingies...and to combine them with the evil of a Star Destroyer? Pure genius. And the micro scale work is impressive, too.

Raxor, be on the lookout for an email from me to arrange shipment of your prize.

Spooky Star Wars: Dark Side Judge Award

Today's contest announcement is the Winner of Steve Sansweet's DARK SIDE AWARD.

Steve Sansweet dubbed this model to be “Most Sith-y” and its builder will receive....a special award picked out by TK-1420! (It's still a mystery to me!)

And the winner is....

Ben's Trophy Room

By Dave Lartigue

Dave, be on the lookout for an email from Ian to claim your prize!

Spooky Star Wars: The First Winner

It's time to start unveiling the winners for the Spooky Star Wars competition!

First, though, I'd like to note that I've posted the comments from the three judges we've heard from to the entry grids - there are some hints there on how things are shaping up, although it's still anyone's game in the final scores.

Anyway, our first announcement is for the Imperial Award. This is the model that TK-1420 liked the best  - and who's builder will receive some cool 501^st swag!

And the winner is....

THE RACK by rknum

TK-1420 comments: EVERY STORMTROOPER'S DREAM. Well done!!

Well done, indeed! rknum, look for an email from Ian in the coming days to arrange for your prize to be delivered!

Tomorrow: Steve Sansweet's DARK SIDE award!

Spooky Star Wars: Winners to be announced!

Three of the four judges have reported in - and I hope to hear from the last one very soon. As such, I can start revealing the winners for the Spooky Star Wars contest!

Tomorrow at noon watch for the announcement of the first of Judge's Choice awards - we'll be starting with the coveted Imperial Award. The model that TK-1420 likes the best will receive some cool 501^st swag!

That's noon Eastern Standard Time, gang! Be here!

Spooky Star Wars

I've gotten a few emails asking when the winners of the Spooky Star Wars contest will be announced. Right now I have 50% of the judge's spreadsheets back - I hope to have the others by late this week.

Right now the only announcements I can make are two "Judge's Choice" awards - I may post those over the next couple of days while we wait on the full data to get here.

Spooky Star Wars: Grids are Closed!

The Entry Grids for Spooky Star Wars are now closed. If you emailed me and don't see your model listed, please contact me ASAP.

The next step is creating the Ranking Spreadsheets and getting them to our judges - I hope to have that accomplished by tomorrow.

We ended up with the following breakdown:

• Class One: Spooky Vehicle: 22 Models
• Class Two: Spooky Scene: 25 Models
• Class Three: Spooky Impulse: 21 Models
• Class Four: Death of Jar Jar: 17 Models

That's a total of 85 Creations - a smaller turnout than I expected, but still quite nice. (I'm sure our judges will appreciate the lighter workload.)



I'm probably not going to run a November challenge - but I should have something ready for December. I don't have a sponsor for the next round, so I'll have to dig into the prize closet and see what's available...

Spooky Star Wars: Final Days!

The Entry Grids for Spooky Star Wars are up to date - and the turnout so far is pretty light. There are some very nice models - but honestly I was expecting to see some more builders represented. Hopefully everyone is doing the usual - waiting until very near the deadline to submit...

Speaking of, you still have until this Sunday to get your entries in - but learn a lesson from our past contests and don't wait until the last day to submit. We've had some real prize-worthy entries have to be sidelined due to late emails. I'd hate to see that happen again this time around.

Click the banner to check out the rules - and get to building!

Spooky Star Wars - First Entries are up

I've just added the Entry Grids to the contest - we've already had two models submitted.

It's going to take a lot to top the quality of the creations we saw in the SCIENCE contest, but I have a feeling we're in for some very nice surprises.

(Since these things take time to develop, I should probably mention that I don't have anything lined up for a follow-up contest yet. If you're interested in partnering with Reasonably Clever for the next round, drop me an email.)

Spooky Star Wars!

It's time to announce our latest contest!

Thanks to the kind sponsorship (and connections) of Reasonably Clever Regular TK-1420 of the 501st, our October challenge is the

There are some incredible prizes, and some amazing celebrity judges...but first, let's let TK-1420 tell us about the competition itself....

(Click for full sized view)

Now...as to those prizes....how about some rare and out-of-print Star Wars sets?

And as to those celebrity judges...

---

Stephen J. Sansweet is the Director of Content Management and Head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm and the owner of the world's largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia. Sansweet is also the author of 12 books, 10 of them about Star Wars.

(Bio and photo lifted from linked Wikipedia article)

---

and

---

Mary Franklin is the Events Manager for Lucasfilm Ltd. where she coordinates various marketing and promotional events for the company, such as Star Wars Celebration II, Celebration III, Celebration IV, the yearly E3 Expo, and San Diego Comic-Con International.

Mary Franklin is also the current editor of Bantha Tracks in the Star Wars Insider magazine.

(Bio and photo lifted from linked Wookieepedia article)

---

How Cool Is THAT???

And that's not all...look for more announcements as the contest progresses!

New Contest - Spooky!

Tomorrow we start our October contest. This time around our sponsor is Reasonably Clever Regular TK-1420 - and he's brought some really big fun to the site.

Not only are we looking at rare and out-of-print sets as prizes, we're also looking at our highest-caliber celebrity judges yet.

Look for the big reveal tomorrow, but in the meantime, let me taunt you with one word.

Lucasfilm.

BRICK SCIENCE: The Winners!

The Winners have been posted!

It should be noted that all the races were closely contested - in three of the cases the winners were separated by less than a point in aggregate score! (The Diorama one had a larger margin, the MythBusters were loved by two of the judges and took a strong lead.)

Winners were notified by email earlier today - and prizes will be shipping out later this week.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a very exciting announcement about our October contest!

BRICK SCIENCE - Mad Scientist Award and Comments, too!

There's been an update to both the Entry Grids and The Winners.

First up, let me announce the winner of the MAD SCIENTIST award. Graviton selected a model that he enjoyed the most, and unsurprisingly, it's a very nice MOC indeed:

Konrad Zuse and his Z3
By: nolnet

Graviton added:

Loving that rendition of the old school computer!

For his efforts, Nolnet will receive LEGO set 8112: Battle Arachnoid. Better yet, he's still in the running for the major awards!

Major awards that will be revealed at noon on Monday!!

In the meantime, take a minute or ten and cruise the entry grids. Both Graviton and I had comments on several of the models, and they've been added to the entry grids. Do they contain hints as to the winners? Maybe - but don't let Graviton's frequent use of "total win!" throw you. There can only be ONE per category!

BRICK SCIENCE - Evil Scientist Award

Here's today's update to The Winners.


Today: GEM (Good/Evil/Mad) Awards - The Evil Scientist

Today I reveal my Evil pick of favorite model. It was a tough choice, but I had to go with the one model that really stood apart from the others - one that, once again, saw the contest in a slightly more pure light.

The Blow-Up-The-World Button!
By: Dave Rapp

I can't help but wonder if this isn't a close cousin to the History Eraser Button.

Dave will receive LEGO set 4916: Mini-Animals for his troubles - and he's still in the running for the Class Two grand prize!

Check it out.

BRICK SCIENCE - Good Scientist Award

Here's today's update to The Winners.


Today: GEM (Good/Evil/Mad) Awards - The Good Scientist

Bruce N H ( MicroBricks/VignetteBricks) selected the following for the Good :

Dr. Able Tosplice, Ph.D.
By: SirNadroj

SirNadroj's model was the first entry in the Good Scientist category- by winning a prize he continues the proud "First One Wins" tradition started by Polywen and his RedTRCTR in our last contest.

SirNardoj will receive a cool Batman Magnet set for his efforts - and he's still in the running for the Class One grand prize!

Check it out.

BRICK SCIENCE - The First Winner

There's a new link on the Entry Grids screen: The Winners.

Over the next few days at Noon EST I'll be post one of the winning MOCs. We'll start with the GEM awards (Judge's Favorites) and then move into the big prizes later in the week.

Today: The S-Team Crossover Award
Webcomic Author Ian Healy offered up a signed copy of his novel The Milkman for his favorite use of the Science Guy character from the Adventures of the S-Team in this contest!

The winner?

Marshmallow roasters
By: Wyrdness

Ian comments:
"Well, it seems pretty clear which is my favorite use of Science Guy. There are only two entries that used him and only one who did so more or less correctly. Wyrdness’s Marshmallow roasters easily wins the signed copy of The Milkman. It’s hilarious."


Check it out.

BRICK SCIENCE - Final Grids Online

The Entry Grids have been finalized.

As expected, I received a few entries after the deadline. I've put them in the grid as non-competing models. (A nice break for those who entered on time; some of those late creations were quite nice.)

The final tally:
33 Class One Models
38 Class Two Models
32 Class Three Models
28 Class Four Models

That's a grand total of 131 MOCs! Once again the judges will have their work cut out for them.

BRICK SCIENCE - Contest is Closed!

Well, if you've been waiting to submit your entry to the BRICK SCIENCE contest, you've officially waited too long. The deadline for entries passed quietly this morning.

Well, not "quietly" - I was on-line and watching and had four entries arrive in the last 30 seconds. Talk about cutting it close...

Anyway, I'll try and get the grids updated by tonight. Judgment Spreadsheets will be mailed out shortly after that. I hope to announce the winners by September 30th.

BRICK SCIENCE - Updated!

Just finished posting the latest batch of entries to the grids - if you've submitted something it should be in there.

I'd also like to point out that we lured in yet another celebrity in the LEGO community as an entrant. Too cool!

BRICK SCIENCE - Updated

I've been a bit lax in reporting the updates to the entry grids, but they've been going up pretty regularly.

With just a week and half left to build, the grids continue to expand with some high quality entries. Right now there are a total of 66 models - with just under half of those in the Class 2 "Evil Scientist" category.

Exciting times!

Brick SCIENCE - Update!

The entry grids have been steadily filling and the competition gets tougher day by day.

Take for example, TK1420's entry into the "Real or Mainstream Fictional Scientist" class, shown above, being held by the very scientist it depicts.

Oh yeah, this is gonna be good.

BRICK SCIENCE - Update!

Time for the first update to the BRICK SCIENCE contest!

The Entry Grids are beginning to show signs of life - and the pile-o-prizes arrived at my doorstep on Friday.

Looks like we're in for quite the competition!

New Contest - BRICK SCIENCE

Yes, it's time to announce the next Reasonably Clever contest!

The world is constantly being threatened by mad scientists and evil geniuses, bent on domination of planet Earth.
Our everyday livelihood is preserved only by the heroic actions of good and decent scientists and their gizmos (and occasional ineptitude).

Will you save mankind?

Doom it?

Or just sit back and make S'mores as the world burns?

A Reasonably Clever Contest of Skill, Creativity, and...SCIENCE!
Click for Details!

Oh, so close.

We're getting very close to being able to announce the next Reasonably Clever contest...close enough to change the icon, anyway....

(And no, it's not an Agents specific contest.)

Look for more info early next week!

New contest in the works

For those of you chomping at the bit, I thought you might like to know that the next Reasonably Clever contest is being developed right now. If all goes well, I should be announcing things by the 15th.

Pigs on the Wing: Unveiling the Winners: Part IV

And now, the final results for the Pigs on the Wing Contest.

Class One was the most hotly contested category. There were 134 unique models submitted - that's an astounding total, even if you consider 20+ model batches can be attributed to single builders. (Boy, I'll never allow *that* again.)

The entries ranged from the completely awesome all the way down to leftover Iron Man competition models with cave racer accessories stuck to them. There were polished AFOL builds, energetic YFOL ("Young Fans"? Is that an accepted acronym?) models, and stuff that defied classification.

For me, it was cool to see the works of returning competitors. It's been a lot of fun to watch people become more skilled in the use of the brick. It was clear that everyone (well, okay, almost everyone) put a lot of time and effort into their builds. It's an honor to have had so many people willing to compete.

But...in the end...just like in Highlander....there can be only one.

Click to find out who that is.

Pigs on the Wing: Unveiling the Winners: Part III

Today we announce the winners of the three "Judge's Choice" awards in the Pigs on the Wing contest. First up, though, the long-overdue reveal of the "Mystery Racer" designed by Cave Racing theme-creator Tim Gould:

(Click the photo for a much larger view of the awesomeness.)

The idea Petri Racer came about while Tim and I were defining the scope of the contest - the exchange went something like this:

Tim: So what about brick-built animals?
Chris: Should be okay, but I can see someone getting silly and doing a 1x1 round as a "Slime Mold".
Tim: If no one enters that, I'm going to build it myself.

And so he did. And now someone has won it.
And someone won Brickforge's Pick.
And someone won the Reasonably Clever Monkey Award.

Who were they?

Click and see!


But who won the coveted Class One prize? You'll have to check back tomorrow and see!

Pigs on the Wing: Unveiling the Winners: Part II

Time to announce the winner of the Class Two portion of the Pigs on the Wing contest!

Class Two: Duplo Racer

The top builder walks away with a Brickforge White Pig and $10 gift card, LEGO set 8159: Racer X & Taejo Togokhan donated by Reasonably Clever. (That'd be "me".)

As there were only five models submitted to this Class, we'll be showing the ranking for all of them. (Winner and 2nd-5th place)

Ready to find out who won?

Then CLICK HERE!

Tomorrow: At least one of the Judge's Favorite Awards!

Pigs on the Wing: Unveiling the Winners!

We're still waiting on the final scores on the massive Class One part of the contest...but since we have the rest of the results in, it's time to start revealing the winners of the Pigs on the Wing contest!

We'll work our way though the Classes in reverse order - so first up is

Class Three: The Dioramas.

The top builder walks away with a Brickforge Black Pig and $10 gift card, and LEGO set 8161: Grand Prix Race donated by Reasonably Clever. (That'd be "me".)

There were twenty seven entries in this class - the final grid shows the Winner and five Honorable Mentions (2nd-6th place.)

Ready to find out who won?

Then CLICK HERE!

Tomorrow: Class Two!

Pigs on the Wing: Update

I've received a few emails asking, so here's a public announcement.

Our judges are still working their way through the huge number of entries submitted for the Pigs on the Wing contest. So, no, I don't know who won yet.

I'm hoping to make an announcement at the end of next week if all goes well.

In the meantime, I'm looking for a good partner site/judges for the August contest - suggestions are welcome. Just post a comment.

Pigs on the Wing: CONTEST IS CLOSED

It's 3:33am here - that means submissions for the Pigs on the Wing contest are now all in.

THE GRIDS HAVE ALL BEEN UPDATED. If your entry doesn't show up, it was either disqualified (hint: Human skeletons are not animals) or I never got it. (hint: I told you not to wait until the last moment to send.)

What's next? I need to finalize the judgment spreadsheets, email them out, and start on my own round of grading. I'm hoping to post results next week, assuming the judges can wade through the nearly 200 entries by then. (Next time: One or two entries per person, max.)

Feel free to comment here with discussion of your favorite models - there's a very diverse field to choose from this time, and our judges are probably all going to be looking for different things. Who will come out on top???

Pigs on the Wing: Final Hours!

Remember! You only have until 3:33am EASTERN STANDARD TIME on June 30th (that's tomorrow) to get your entries into my e-mailbox. Don't wait until the very last minute - I'd rather not have to disqualify anyone for tardiness.

The Entry Grids will be updated today at 6:00 pm EST - right now I'm off to go see Wall*E.

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated again.

Boy, the judges are really going to have their hands full when it comes time to score everything...

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated again. We're over fifty racers in Class One - I doubt there'll be a racetrack/cave big enough to hold them all by the time we're done.

Great work so far, too - it's fun to see so many new names and styles popping up on the grid.

Pigs on the Wing: Entry Grids Updated

The Entry Grids have been updated again.

Again, as of this writing, I've posted all the entires I've received. I've you've submitted, take a moment and check things over. If you spot a change that needs to be made, please just let me know.

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated again.

As of this writing, I've posted all the entires I've received. I've you've submitted, take a moment and check things over. If you spot a change that needs to be made, please just let me know.

This is shaping up to be quite the contest!

Pigs on the Wing: Grid Update

The Entry Grids have been updated.

As of this writing, I've posted all the entires I've received. I've you've submitted, take a moment and check things over. If you spot a change that needs to be made, please let me know.

(But...be polite about it, ya? So far all the revisions I've had to make have been the result of mistakes on the part of the submitters. I'm not out to sabotage anyone's entry.)

Pigs on the Wing: Entry Grids Updated

The Entry Grids have been updated (Several new Class-1 and one new Class-3)

At this point, I've posted all the submissions I've received. Next scheduled update to the grid will be on Wednesday, May 28th.

Pigs on the Wing: More rule clarifications and Entry Grids

First up, the fun stuff: I just posted the starter Entry Grids. We're still clarifying rules, but there are already 10 examples to look at - some in compliance, some with a defiant spirit that refuse to be constrained by anyone's rules, and some inbetween.

Speaking of rules clarifications, here's what I hope to be the final words on the subject of "What is an Animal". I was going to go to the extreme of listing out all the LEGO part numbers, but, really, that's a bit much. I think the following shows what you can use freely - and where you're taking a risk.

From the rules page:

• The pilot must be a LEGO animal
  
  • Brickforge and other custom built animals are allowed
  • Megablok and competing major brands, however, are not allowed.
  • When wondering if a particular item counts as a LEGO animal, ask yourself "Does this figure look like a human wearing a costume"? If the answer is "yes", then odds are you're going to lose some points. If the item looks like the animal as you'd see it at the zoo, you're fine.
  • Monkeys are allowed, but be warned: The judges consider their use "too easy" so your build will have to be pretty spectacular to impress them! (Monkeys must be mounted as a "traditional" cave racer - they hang from a pair of handlebars by their front limbs.)

Yes, that's a flip-flop on Monkey use for those of you paying close attention. Since the animal-pilot twist was my contribution to this sub-theme, I figure I'm allowed to change my mind once early on. (Besides, having a Monkey-themed Prize doesn't make a lot of sense if you can't have monkeys in the contest, y'know?)

Anyway, that's it for now. Happy building!

Pigs on the Wing: Rules clarifications and a classy entry.

I've certainly been stunned with the volume of emails and posts about the rules for the Pigs on the Wing contest. I'm glad so many of you are concerned about getting your builds right, but, really, this isn't rocket science.

I've posted clarifications to the rules page, and will continue to do so as necessary.

But the best way to show you what needs to be done, I think, is to show you the rules in action. Tim asked me to showcase Polywen's Red TRCTR v2 (above) as a prime example of the rules followed correctly. Be sure to check out the full stream to see the clever way the cow is mounted without using the feet.

Remember the five main rules:

1) The engine must contain 2 1x1 round plates in trans-orange (or trans-neon-orange)
2) Between the pilot and engine there must be 2 1x1 slopes creating the "ribbed for pleasure" effect.
3) The front of the craft must have "hover thingies" (a shovel and a spear-like-piece)
4) The pilot must be a LEGO animal (be sure to check the rules page for a discussion on just what that means for this contest.)
5) The pilot must hang from the rear of the craft. (Again, check the full rules for a discussion on limitations.)

That said, your model doesn't *have* to match up with the above. I'm accepting (and will shortly be posting) all the entires I receive. Just remember that the "follows the rules" part of the scorecard is 40% of the total...

New Contest: Pigs on the Wing

From the Mind of Tim "Gambort" Gould came the cave racers.
From the strangeness of Reasonably Clever came the concept of making animals the pilots.
From the magic of Brickforge comes some swanky swag.
(And Prizes from Reasonably Clever and Tim as well!)

Click to read all about it.

New Contest: Clue #3

Full details tomorrow.

New Contest: Clue #2

Full details soon.
Next hint tomorrow at noon.

New Contest

Full details soon.
Next hint tomorrow at noon.

Pumping Iron: Winners Announced

The wait is over! The results are in, the creations have been ranked, and it's time to reveal just who walks away with the prizes from the Pumping Iron contest!

As usual, the top place models were all within a few points of each other - although this time the first place finisher had a good 20 point lead.

I've listed the rankings for the top 20 models - if your model didn't make that grid, you can always claim that your build captured spot #21. I won't argue.

To jump to the winner's grid, click the logo!

I'll be contacting the winners in the next few days to arrange for shipment of your prizes.

Thank you again to everyone who participated! I hope to see all of you again when we announce our next contest! (Probably next week sometime)

Contest Thoughts

Winners in the Pumping Iron Contest will be announced on Friday.

I'm working on concepts for the next contest - I have a theme in mind, but I have to hear back from the potential judges before I move forward with that.

That said, I'm always open to suggestions, ideas, and friend-of-a-friending. Anyone know of a person (or persons) who would make a fun celebrity judge for a contest?

Pumping Iron: GRID IS FINALIZED

The Entry Grid is now FINAL! We have an amazing SEVENTY ENTRIES for our judges to sift through - I'm working up the spreadsheet to be sent out now, and hope to have results back in a week or so.

In the meantime, talk about your favorite entires here - anything inspire you to try your own version? Anything strike you as particularly clever?

(Just don't bash anyone's effort - all our builders deserve respect.)

Pumping Iron: The Final Hours

The Entry Grid has been updated again - we're almost at 60 creations! You still have a few hours to get things submitted - but personally I'd rather be out watching the Iron Man movie.

(Remember, you HAVE TO SEND ME AN EMAIL following the entry instructions to get on the grid. Don't just post a comment, it won't count. And it has to be in my inbox by 2:22am Eastern Standard time on May 3rd.)

I don't envy the judges this time - there's some really funny and creative stuff on the grid. Picking the winners is going to be a tough job.

Pumping Iron: More Entries, BETTER PRIZES

The Entry Grid has been updated again - we're now at 35 models! (We'd be closer to 40, but you HAVE TO SEND ME AN EMAIL following the entry instructions to get on the grid. Don't just post a comment, it won't count.)

I also heard from Will at Brickarms today - amazingly, he's upped the coolness of the Brickarms prize packs!

First through fifth place, in addition to the Exo-Force prize, will now receive a
Brickarms SILVER SERIES III Pack!

The special Brickarms Grand Prize is now a SILVER Ultimate Pack!

What are you waiting for? Go build something!

Pumping Iron: Grid Update and Rules Clarification

The Entry Grid has been updated with all models submitted so far. We're up to 30 models at the moment - and there's some really creative work in there!

I have received a few questions wanting clarification on the rules. My fault, as I wasn't very clear in my restrictions. Let me try and rephrase things:

As long as your creation looks like it's armor designed to be worn by a mini-figure (or whatever scale) you're good to go.

You don't have to build around an actual mini-figure unless you want to.

Or, to phrase it yet another way: If you were to pretend your final model was completely hollow, a person of the same scale should be able to fit inside. Like a suit of armor.

If in doubt, email me with a description of what you're looking at building and I'll give you a thumbs up or down.

In the meantime, I've posted a clarification to the rules page as well.

Remember, you have until 2:22am Eastern Time on May 3rd to get those entries in!

Pumping Iron: Grid Updated

The Entry Grid has been updated with all models submitted so far. We're up to 17 models at the moment.

If you'd like the bragging rights of winning a prize in a Reasonably Clever building challenge, this looks like a good contest to enter - lots of prizes and not that many builders to compete against. (Although there are some really nice models in the running already...)

Why do so few of you share my love of Iron Man? *sigh*

Remember, entries must be in my mailbox before 2:22 AM (Eastern Standard Time) on May 3, 2008.

ETA: Sigh - Blogger not updating again. Note to self: Research MoveableType this weekend.

Pumping Iron: Second Grid Update

I've just posted the next four models (#8-11) to the the Entry Grid. Like last time, I've started creating multiple pages for the entries - 10 per sheet - to help with load times.

Remember, entries must be in my mailbox before 2:22 AM (Eastern Standard Time) on May 3, 2008.

Pumping Iron: First Grid Update

I've just posted the Entry Grid for the models submitted so far. Remember, entries must be in my mailbox before 2:22 AM (Eastern Standard Time) on May 3, 2008.

New Contest: Pumping Iron

Iron Man. You know him. You love him. You wish LEGO would pick up the license and make toys based on him. But you also know that just isn't going to happen.

Iron Man. Cooler than Batman because he's completely bullet proof. And he can fly.

Iron Man. The basis for this month's contest. (So if you honestly don't know who Iron Man is, here's the Wiki on him.)

Over the years, Iron Man's armor has undergone a number of changes. It's been rebuilt, streamlined, melted-down, rebuilt again, modularized, customized and optimized.

One of the coolest ideas about Iron Man, though, is that he has prototype armor designed for special missions. He has a Deep Sea armor. Stealth armor. Space Armor. An armor designed to fight the Hulk. Heck, there's probably even a prototype somewhere of his EZ-Bake Oven Armor.

Your challenge this month is help Iron Man tackle a tough job by designing and building a Special Mission Armor Set.

What special mission? That's up to you. Maybe he's on an Ice Planet. Or fighting Ninjas. Or
Pirates. Or Pirate-Ninjas. Maybe he's just having trouble cashing a check. Surprise us.

This contest runs from April 1st until May2nd - just in time for the US opening of the new Iron Man film!

Sound like fun? Well, we're just getting started!

When it comes to Custom LEGO Weapons there are none better qualified to judge than Will Chapman, founder of
This Tony Stark of LEGO builders will be rating all entries on the key quality of Special Mission Functionality.

Will has also donated weapons from his new mold, not available to the public until mid-April!

Want to learn more? Check out these links!

• Full Contest Info, Including the PRIZE LIST
• The Entry Grid! (with a Sample Entry to get you thinking!)
• Brickarms - because you know you need to know more about them.

Steampunk Winners Announced!

Reasonably Clever's LEGO Steampunk in 50 Bricks or Less contest has reached the end and the results are here! This was an amazingly close contest - and once again everyone who took part is to be commended!

Here's what our Celebrity Judge Jake von Slatt of The Steampunk Workshop had to say:

"Thanks everyone for giving me this opportunity! I was amazed and surprised at the number and variety of entries, when I first read the contest rules I thought 'what can you do with only 50 bricks?' Turns out you can do a lot! The top cluster of entries were pretty tightly matched, and on a different day any one of them might have come out on top. But it's clear that everyone put in a lot creative effort and I'm pleased to see that the Lego-istas (Lego-folk? Lego-nattii?) are such a vibrant part of the Steampunk world!

Cheers,

Jake."

• The Top 13 Models
• A listing of all the entries

I'll be contacting the winners over the next couple of days to arrange for prize selection and distribution.

Once again, a hearty "Thank you" to all who participated, and I hope to see you all again in our next contest. Details on that will be announced April 2nd!

Steampunk: Grid Update - Honorable Mentions

In order to help load times, I've broken up the entry grid into nine parts, with around 10 creations per page.

The final page contains the entries that didn't make the final spreadsheet for one reason or another. I still wanted to showcase the effort those builders made; I consider all of them "Honorable Mentions".

Thank you once again to all the builders - this contest couldn't have happened without you.

Steampunk: Final Entry Grid is Up

I've just uploaded the final entry grid for the Steampunk in 50 Bricks or Less contest. We had a grand total of 83 legal entries* - a record for Reasonably Clever. Thank you to all who participated!

I'll be mailing off the scoring spreadsheet to Jake von Slatt shortly - winners will be announced once he's had a chance to complete things and send it back to me.

*Unfortunately, I did end up having to remove a few models due a lack of parts list/grid as the rules required. We had over 90 models enter the contest.

Steampunk: Problem entries

I'm working up the spreadsheet that I'll be sending to our judge - and I'm marking the entries that haven't met the "show your parts" requirement. Remember: If you don't have either a shot of the parts spread out or a text list of the elements your entry will not be counted. I'm being lenient on this - if you've made an effort to show/list you'll be fine, but please check the list below, just in case. Just giving a total part count IS NOT ENOUGH.

I'll be updating this post as I build the chart in hopes of catching the attention of any problem builders before the entry deadline. Which is tomorrow at midnight (EasternST). Just sayin'.

All entries submitted as of 9:00am on 3/14 have been posted to the grid. If I missed your entry somehow, please let me know asap. Thanks.


Part lists needed:

• Entry #13 By: ArielJ (Mobile Missile Platform (MMP))
• Entry #14 By: ArielJ (The Fabulous Flying Thing)
• Entry #15 By: ArielJ (When Themes Collide (AKA Pohatu on steam))
  
• Entry#16 By: ArielJ (Imperial Army Landing Ship)
• Entry #18 By: Yellost (Jet pack Flier)
• Entry #21 By: takua777 (a steam suit )
• Entry #22 By: takua777 (steam chair)
• Entry #54 By: Roren42 (speeder)

Requests:

• SirNadroj, would you break your flicker stream into a few sets (one-per-entry) so the judge has an easier time of finding the right photos?
  

Post your entries here: Post #2

The first entry post is really quite full - so, to keep from missing anyone, here's a fresh post to enter in. (Previous post is now locked)

Steampunk: Grid Update

The Entry Grid for the Steampunk contest has been updated with ten more creations. This brings the entry total to an astounding 49 models - with more on the way, I'm sure.

A couple of rules clarifications - if you're wanting to cut up the rigid hose that LEGO makes, that's okay, as LEGO does that themselves. Each individual snippet of tube counts as its own element.

The 2 part lever (base and handle) counts as a single element, as that's how LEGO counts it. If you break it up to use the parts in different places, then count it as two parts.

Same thing with the 1x2 hinge brick - for the purposes of this contest, if you use it as a complete assembly then it's one element. If you break it up and use each part individually...then it's two parts.

You have until midnight EST on the 15th to submit your entry. There are some great LEGO kits awaiting the winners!

Steampunk: Entry Grid Update

The Entry Grid for the Steampunk contest has been updated with seven more creations.

Just a reminder, but please include a photo of your creation in "a grid of parts" style, or provide a text listing of the pieces you used. If I can't find either when I'm putting together the Judgment Spreadsheet for our Celebrity Guest Judge, you'll be disqualified. Just sayin'. (I'm going to start compiling that spreadsheet this week, so I can post a warning for anyone who's already entered. But I expect there'll be a rush of last-day entries, and those folks won't have a second chance to provide that part list...)

You have until midnight EST on the 15th to submit your entry. There are some great LEGO kits awaiting the winners!

Steampunk: Grid Updated

The Entry Grid for the Steampunk contest has been updated with eight more creations. This is really shaping up to be a tough competition!

Remember, you have until midnight EST on the 15th to submit your entry. There are some great LEGO kits awaiting the winners!

Steampunk: Entry Grid

Due to technical issues (like, oh, my not confirming you could post images in blog replies...) we've had to tweak the entry process for the Steampunk in 50 Bricks contest.

The only change is that I dropped the "post a sample photo" requirement. All you need to provide commentary and a link to your photos in the entry thread - I'll be taking care of making up a grid of contest entries as I've done for other Reasonably Clever contests in the past. If there's a photo you want to be sure I use as your sample, please make sure I know. (And if you need changes to the way things are displayed on the grid, also just drop me a line.)

It looks like it's going to be a very tough competition - I've just compiled the first 23(!) entries.
You can take a look at them on the Official Entry Grid.

If you've entered and I didn't include your creation, please email me again - I don't think I missed anyone, but it's been a busy couple of days.

Remember: You have until the 15th to post or email me with your entry!

Steampunk: Post your Contest Entries Here

This is it, gang! The time has come to share your Steampunk in 50 Bricks creations! Check the rules by clicking on the logo if you're unsure of what you need to post. If you're having problems, you can also email me and I'll help you get things entered.

Steampunk Contest scores guest Celebrity Judge

This just in! For those of you who were concerned about my possibly grabbing random strangers off the street to rate your Steampunk creations, worry no longer.

Jake von Slatt of The Steampunk Workshop has agreed to serve as judge for our LEGO Steampunk Challenge.

If you're not familiar with his work, I suggest you start out with his amazing Steampunk Keyboard Mod and continue reading with his interview with Wired magazine. You'll soon understand why we're so thrilled Jake was willing to get involved!

Steampunk Contest Reminder

No, I haven't forgotten about this contest, and neither should you:



I'll be making use of a suggestion from the comments and creating a NEW BLOG POST on the 1st where everyone can start sharing their entries. Later, I'll be taking those entries and compiling a standard entry grid like I've done for the past few contests (mainly for our judges' convenience.)

I'm looking forward to what everyone has come up with!

LEGO Steampunk: Sample Entry

Geoffrey H. isn't entering the contest, but that didn't stop him from putting together a great mini-model. I'm going to use it as an example, and to answer some questions people have had about the contest.

The first thing you'll want to share is a photo of your creation:

This photo can be up to 640x480 in size. (The shot above is 366x462)
Yes, this is from LEGO's digital designer. Virtual models are allowed provided you use only parts issued by LEGO. (And in color that have actually been produced!)

Next, you'll want to include a link to any additional photos you have of your model. These can be any size, and as many as you like. If you don't have anywhere to host them, I'd suggest signing up for a free account at Brickshelf or Flikr.

You'll want to use the additional photos to show off your creation. Here's two more that Geoffrey submitted:

One of your shots should be of the parts displayed so we can see all of them. Alternatively, a text listing of the parts you used is welcome. Whichever is easier for you. Basically, we want to see what goes into your model - and keep an eye on that 50 part limit...

Finally, you'll probably want to include a bit of text talking about your model. Here's what Geoffery wrote...

I'm not entering the contest so I figured I'd see what I could throw together in 50 pieces using LDD for the SteamPunk contest.

It's a little blocky, and lacks some decent detailing, but it's an example of what one can throw together using the 50 piece limit.

The boiler assembly was tricky to get as there wasn't really that many elements larger than a 2x2 round brick in the entire LEGO palette. So I opted for a multi-stage boiler with the blue 1x1 rounds representing an input from the reservoir hidden in the base of the vehicle and the output
driver pipe is from the tan 1x1 rounds leading out the other side of the boiler.

Straightforward studs-up construction has been used, no hidden tricks.

I couldn't provide some lunch for the driver, perhaps I could rework it but this is what I came up within a half an hour time limit I set myself - hey building the contest entries shouldn't take much free time out of your day.

I also don't have a name for it. Suggestions welcome.

Cheers ...

Geoffrey H

And there you have it. A nifty non-entry to get your own creative ideas flowing. If you have any more questions about the contest, please post 'em here.

Well, dang.

My Steampunk Falcon didn't even make cut to the second round of the FBTB contest. If the other entries weren't so great, I'd be quite depressed.

As it is, I'm bummed. But whatchagonnado?

*sigh*

Had a good time at the convention - still not home yet.

Here are two Bonus Strips I worked up for the Convention Booklet. It was the first time I'd ever been asked to contribute something like this, and I was more than happy to help out. For those of you looking for a RC fix before Tuesday, here you go.

Strip 1 | Strip 2

LEGO Steampunk in 50 Bricks or Less

Keeping the steam going from the FBTB Steam Wars contest, Reasonably Clever is pleased to announce the following:



This contest will run from February 1st until March 15th - click the logo above to read the full details, rules, and list of prizes!

Workbench: Ian's Steamwheel

Partly as a gesture of goodwill, partly just to see if I could, I spent some time last night trying to convert Ian's Steamwheel from a LEGO CAD file into reality.

Its going...okay. Some of Ian's color choices haven't been released by LEGO so I'm having to tweak the color scheme a bit. There are also a couple of small design glitches (gears not meshing, parts not fitting exactly right) that I don't think anyone could have spotted in the LCAD environment.

Still, it's an interesting challenge. Of course, if this wins over my Steampunk Falcon over in the FBTB contest, I'm going to demand choice parts from Ian's prize set... ;)