LEGO!

[Diabolical]

Not sifting through 25+ pages, so these may have been posted before.
Lego patents.

[Jargo]

I am sad. These days I'm poor as a church mouse and can't afford to buy sets. Just minifigures and a few parts. Occasionally I'll buy a vehicle or building from a split set on ebay. It actually hurts like a gnawing feeling inside that I won't be able to buy any of the cool stuff out next year. Galaxy squad, Legends of Chima, Lone ranger, TMNT, City, Superheroes. I guess I'll just have to try and keep up with minifigures from the themes. My latest purchase was Bruce Wayne from the Batcave set and the Chase McCain exclusive fig from the Lego City Undercover game.

Regarding those patent images, I saw a site that had tons of them, the Red Indian chief's headdress and the palm tree elements, the various drawings for the minifigure. I may have them saved somewhere. Pretty awesome that someone sat down and drew them by hand. I sometimes wonder how the world would look today if they'd had C.A.D. back then.

[Ran]

Walmart had the Jabba set for $79. Seems early to clearance that one out.

[anarky]

Got the City and Star Wars advent calendars at Target today for $19.98 and $24.98. Also a Cars 2 set of some sort that was $7.48.

[anarky]

A double-post and a news scoop! BLOW MY DOUBLE-BARRELED COCK AT ONCE, NEWSBOT AND GRIMLOCK!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... osque.html

Muslims claim Jabba's Palace Lego toy is racist as it is 'based on iconic mosque in Istanbul'
Turkish Community Forum issued statement criticising toy manufacturer
Claims that Jabba's Palace set resembles Istanbul's Hagia Sophia mosque
Describes Star Wars character Jabba the Hutt as resembling a 'terrorist'
Lego denied any link and said the toy was based on the Star Wars movies
By MARIO LEDWITH

Lego has been accused of racism by the Turkish community over a Star Wars toy allegedly depicting a mosque.
The critics claim that the Jabba's Palace model, part of Lego's Star Wars range, offends Muslims as it resembles the Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul - one of the world's most renowned mosques.

Members of the Turkish Cultural Community of Austria group also accused the toy manufacturer of depicting Asians as having 'deceitful and criminal personalities'.

The group has released a statement calling for an apology from Lego for its cultural insensitivity.

The Lego set is based on the home of Jabba the Hutt, a central character in the Star Wars series, who lives in a domed palace, with a separated watchtower.

As well as bearing a likeness to the Hagia Sophia mosque, the Turkish group also claimed the toy takes its design from the Jami al-Kabir mosque in Beirut - while the watchtower is said to resemble a minaret.

A post on the community's website contains a picture of the slug-like creature's Lego home, pointing out similarities with the Istanbul mosque.

Outraged Muslims have criticised the toy producer on the community's website, accusing it of deliberately placing contextual errors in the toy.

The case came to light when a Turkish man expressed his dissatisfaction with the toy after it was purchased for his son by a family member.

After investigating, Dr Melissa Günes, General Secretary of the Turkish Cultural Community, said that Lego had been contacted with an official complaint.

A statement posted on the organisation's website refers to Jabba the Hutt as a 'terrorist' and says that he 'likes to smoke hookah and have his victims killed'.

It adds: 'It is clear that the ugly figure of Jabba and the whole scene smacks of racial prejudice and vulgar insinuations against Asians and Orientals as people with deceitful and criminal personalities.'

The statement says that the figures in the set are made to resemble 'terrorists, criminals and murderers'.

Referring to weapons contained in the set, the statement suggests that the 'combination of temple building and bunker facilities where shots are fired cannot be appropriate for children between 9 and 14 years old'.

It concludes: 'One would expect more empathy and responsibility from a manufacturer of toys that has produced toys and models that are good for teaching for decades.'

The organisation also says it is planning legal action in Austria, Germany and Turkey against the toy firm if it does not get a satisfactory response.

Lego's Katharina Sasse said: 'The Lego Star Wars product Jabba´s Palace does not reflect any actually existing buildings, people, or the mentioned mosque.

'The Lego mini-figures are all modelled on characters from the movie.

'We regret that the product has caused the members of the Turkish cultural community to come to a wrong interpretation, but point out that when designing the product only the fictional content of the Star Wars saga were referred to.'

Wow. That is downright fucking pathetic. Fucking toy doesn't even look like the mosque--I mean, ROMAN CHURCH that was repurposed as a mosque centuries after the fact.

[jjreason]

They keep glossing over the important part about this whole story - Jabba got resculpted & looks waaaay better.

[jjreason]

Tom got his first Chima set today, the all terrain vehicle with 2 wolf figures & 1 eagle. Pretty cool. I wanted him to save for the Warg attack Hobbit set but he couldn't hold out.

[Ran]

I've actually seen the Jabba set marked down to $80 at WM. I don't have the space or money to do Star Wars Lego. But it is cool that Jabba's palace stacks on top of the Rancor set.

[Jargo]

I can't believe I have to wait six fugging months for Galaxy Squad to be released in this damn podunk country. I love the little jellybean coloured space dudes and Lego decide that releasing two waves at the same time is the best way to go. Smart move in a country hit by a double dip economic recession.

[vynsane]

The offer still stands if you want me to pick up some of those orang squad poly bags.

Meanwhile, here's something I made on the computadoro.

"Tortuga Moon" - modified Shirasagi Class Medium Cargo Shuttle


"Tortuga Moon" modified Shirasagi Class smuggling ship by vynsane, on Flickr

"She might not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."

This modified variant of the Tanuki Corp Shirasagi Class Medium Cargo Shuttle is captained by the notorious smuggler Kaizoku Kortez.

Named for the infamous moon used by pirates and smugglers before it was rendered uninhabitable during the piracy crack-downs in this sector of the galaxy, the "Tortuga Moon" has seen better days. While piracy and smuggling has been drastically reduced, it is still the preferred method of wealth acquisition in the small pockets of the galaxy that is too far-flung from the central seat of government influence.

Rumor has it Kortez and the mercenary Aliss Oyuki first became romantically entangled while the duo were running guns and fighting, respectively, for the Rendolo Prime Resistance Army. They were, as we all know, on the wrong side of that conflict.


Landing Mode


"Tortuga Moon" modified Shirasagi Class - Landing mode, Rear access hatch by vynsane, on Flickr


Removable Panels


"Tortuga Moon" modified Shirasagi Class - Removable Panels by vynsane, on Flickr


Hidden Details


"Tortuga Moon" modified Shirasagi Class - details by vynsane, on Flickr


Details include (above, clockwise from top left)
- Hidden smuggling compartments, with removable crates, under removable deck plates
- Outer airlock doors/boarding ramps w/built-in stairs
- Gear-driven inner airlock doors
- 3x light brick per engine, activated by pushing on the cone at the front of the engine


File:
- "Tortuga Moon" - modified Shirasagi Class Medium smuggling ship

[Ran]

Cool ship. Was that inspired by a combination of Firefly and the Millennium Falcon?

[Diabolical]

Where can I buy this set?

[vynsane]

Cool ship. Was that inspired by a combination of Firefly and the Millennium Falcon?

naturally... in fact i came up with the engine rotation mechanism while watching the entire Firefly series last week.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Firefly is awesome. Fun Fact: did you know Alan Tudyk played King Candy in WreckIt Ralph? I only mention it because somebody was slobbering all over WreckIt Ralph the other day, yet refuses to watch a show that's ∞ cooler.

Kailee: "You think the Captain's been acting kinda funny?"
Wash: "Oh, Kailee...Everybody knows. I'm the funny one."

[vynsane]

my favorite Wash quote has to be

"Oh, yeah! I definitely have to say it was her legs. You can put that down! Her legs, and right where her legs meet her back. That - actually that whole area. That and - and above it."