I had a lot of fun with this one. I looked at some Transylvanian castles and buildings for inspiration. But in the end I took a lot of liberty. For instance, I knew I wanted to have a ship in the scene too. So I made it a seaside castle even though Transylvania is pretty land locked. Just imagine that this castle can appear anywhere it wants to like the castle in that old Count Duckula cartoon show.

Anyway, here’s the story behind this scene. These two fishermen see the lights of a castle and dock at it in hopes to sell there fish and wares.

But the fishermen soon discover that the castle is inhabited by Count Dracula and his undead skeleton army. So it won’t be the fish that the Count will feast on, but the fishermen themselves. bwahahaha. spooky isn’t it?

You can see the dock leading up to the castle.

Here’s the man himself, Count Dracula! You know what’s in that glass, don’t you? Here’s a hint, it isn’t Clamato juice. hehe

The Count doesn’t mind uninvited guests who stumble upon his castle. In fact, he looooves them. What he doesn’t enjoy are attacks from would-be Van Helsing types coming to harsh his mellow. So his castle comes fully equipped with dual cannon turrets. Not only can his skeleton minions handle a blade, they are also have pretty good aim with a cannon. So watch out.

Every Transyvanian castle needs a pointy capped observation tower.

Here’s the backside view of the castle. Hope you enjoy the shoreline water effect because I was kind of jazzed about how it turned out.

Here’s the beachfront entrance to Dracula’s Castle. Doesn’t it look inviting? The skull over the door is the universal symbol that says “welcome,” and “y’all come back now, y’ hear?” The hooded skeleton door keeper may not be much to look at but he has a charming personality and a lovely singing voice.

Those poor fishermen, little do they know this will be their final delivery. Oh well, vampires gotta eat too, don’t you know.

Here’s the back view again. I think the castle definitely has a central European feel to it.

I imagine this main floor is a large ballroom where the Count hosts his huge gaudy parties for he and all his spooky pals. They all end the same way though. The wolfman knocks over some priceless vase and the mummy gets wasted and passes out in the punch bowl.

Behold an aerial view of the castle. I love building walkways in my Lego MOCs. Here you can see the skeleton soldier strolling around on patrol.

Well this was my big Halloween Lego MOC for 2011. I hope this helps you get more into the Halloween spirit. Stay tuned to x-tropia Lego blog this month because I’ll be reviewing the new Lego Halloween building sets and much more.

-Daniel

Fergie the lovely lady singer of the Black Eyed Peas showed up at the Nickelodeon’s 24th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards wearing a dress made of Lego bricks. The dress was designed by L.A.-based Michael Schmidt.

You may have also spotted the artist wil.i.am wearing a cool Lego hat and necklace at last year’s American Music Awards.

-Daniel

See more Lego fashions here! Lego on the Runway: Bricks as High Fashion

Buy the latest Lego sets here! Lego.com

The program was made available to students who participate in the Louis L. Valentine Boys and Girls Club’s, Chicago Boys Club after school outreach. It began March 28th and lasts two weeks. During this period the students meet for a few hours after school and are instructed in how to design sculptures using Lego bricks. They are given short exercises and then also provided plenty of free expression time to build whatever their imaginations come up with.

The Lego Art program will culminate in an awards ceremony where the children display their Lego sculptures to teachers and family and receive trophies for their participation.

I had the honor of meeting with the main developer of the Lego Art program. I think this is a great idea for a program that will teach kids about art, sculpting, working with others and of course the joys of Lego! Hopefully this will become a regularly offered activity for the students. Other school administrators and teachers should consider incorporating a Lego art course as part of their curriculum.

Please visit the Chicago Lego Art program’s website at this link. Also they have a way for you to donate and give underprivileged students a great learning experience.

-Daniel

http://www.legoart.org/home

Here’s the latest Lego City minifigure collection that’s come out with it’s new police theme additions I’ve been reviewing. It’s a nice impulse buy set with 4 minifigs, a dog and some accessories.

There are two cops and two robbers. The minifigures are nicely detailed with new print torsos on the robbers. These guys are good for adding interest and personality to your Lego City display. Plus you have to have some one for your Lego popo to pursue!

You also get an ATV vehicle and an automated teller machine with this set.

I love the expression on this robber. He’s having way to much fun being bad. hehe.

-Daniel

These two are probably my favorite sets of the latest Harry Potter additions. There’s still time to pick these sets up before they are all sold out. (I got them last month as a christmas present to myself. hehe)

Read my full review of the newest Lego Harry Potter Sets and my review of the new Lego Harry Potter Diagon Alley set here.

-Daniel

Tatooine Rancor By AC Pin

Here is “Tatooine Rancor” created by MOCpages member AC Pin.

I think this is an amazing MOC of the Rancor. Just check out the way the face is sculpted. It looks like it’s fully articulated too with arm and leg joints.

The Rancor even has his earring!

This is an epic MOC from a creator with a large portfolio of epic Star Wars displays. You have to check AC Pin’s stuff out! Here’s AC Pin on MOCpages.

-Daniel

Lego City 7285 Police Dog Unit – 96 pieces – 1 minifigure with dog – $12.99

This Lego Police Dog Unit set is so adorable and for the cheap price I think it’s a must have. You will get the animal control cruiser, the police officer minifigure and a cute little doggie!

The back of the truck opens up to store the dog.

You also get a walkie talkie and handcuffs. I admit I’m a little confused why they even included handcuffs here. You don’t put handcuffs on a dog and these handcuffs won’t even fit on the dog figure. I think it would have been better to add a rope element for a leash. But maybe in play trials the test kids liked the handcuffs better. Maybe they pretended the dog puts them on the cop! Yep I believe this dog could do that too. Just look at that twinkle in it’s little eyes! Hehe

-Daniel

Lego City 7287 Police Boat – 172 pieces – 3 minifigures – $39.99

This is a no brainer for boat luvin’ Lego fans. This is perfect for pool-time or bath-time because the boat hull really floats in water!

This boat is long – 16 inches (40 cm) long. I love the look of this boat too. It has two decks and storage down below in the boat hull.

Includes 3 minifigures: 2 police officers and 1 robber. They come with a lot of kewl accessories include life vests, handcuffs and walkie-talkies.

The boat opens up to reveal storage space and a criminal holding cell below.

In addition to the police boat there is also a small jet ski.

The only complaint about this set that I’ve heard from others is concerning the price. You get 172 pieces and the price is $39.99. I agree that’s a little pricey but you also have to take into account that you get the large boat hull element that really floats in water.

It’s only counted as one piece but it is made of as much plastic as a lot of bricks. Plus, they were pretty generous with the minifigs and accessories included.

-Daniel

Lego City 7288 Mobile Police Unit – 408 pieces – 3 minifigures – $44.99

Hey fans of the Lego City Police theme check out the latest police truck set. We’ve seen similar sets like this before but you’ll get some interesting new additions here.

First lets take a look at the main attraction- the big police rig! The truck measures over 13″ (33 cm) long. The front cab detaches from the trailer which has drop down prop so it can stand on it’s own.

The side of the trailer opens up and folds back to reveal the mobile police lab.

There are so many kewl details in here including computer stations, wall monitors, evidence billboards and of course a coffee maker!

The rig also carries a holding cell for transporting prisoners. This little jail cell is detachable too.

I like the minifigures you get in this set. You get two cops and a robber. One police officer is a traffic cop and comes with a police motorcycle.

There’s also a new police officer minifig type that wears a dress shirt and tie instead of a uniform. He’s a detective or CSI (Crime Scene Investigator). There are some kewl accessories included for him like handcuffs, flashlight, magnifying glass and gold brick that the robber nabbed.

The one gripe I have about this set is that if feels like it needs a forth minifigure. I think this set needed one more cop to drive the truck. The first cop is on his motorcycle and the detective wouldn’t be driving the truck. He should be riding in the back looking at the evidence. Still that’s about the only con I have about this set.

It’s interesting to note that this set is very similar to 7743 Police Command Center which came out in 2008. However, that set had an ATV instead of a motorcycle and included a little police tower. Ironically it also included a forth minifig. Hehe. Don’t know why they decided to drop it from this new set. Probably to keep the price down.

Also in this new set the robber has a sweet set of wheels himself. If you’re gonna have a getaway car it might as well be a hot red sports car!

-Daniel

Okay so you know that the two types of Lego sets that will always be available in one form or another will be a fire station and a police station. This is because boys ages 5-12 are the Lego Brand’s target demographic and they just happen to love playing cops and firemen! That being said the Lego company knows that they have to up the bar a little and offer variations of the two classic municipal stations to widen the appeal to adult collectors too. And thus you have the Lego City 7498 Police Station which I think is one of the best Police stations ever. There are definite similarities to recent Lego Police Stations 7237 and 7744. However, with this new police station we get a lot of great window elements, two new vehicles and plenty of other great details.

Lego fans young and older have a lot to love in this set. The station is big at over 15″ (38 cm) wide and 10″ (25 cm) tall. This Lego Police Station includes 6 minifigures: 4 police officers, two robbers and a police dog. I especially like the tough looking lady prison guard. You definitely don’t want to mess with her.

The vehicles include a police cruiser and a prison transport van. They are in the current style of Lego cars using the wheel well element and 1×1 slope tiles to give them a nice smoothly rounded look.

There are two garages to house the police vehicles and the baseplate has two smooth driveways for rapid peel-outs!

The arrested robbers get processed through the mugshot camera station before they’re dragged to their cold cell. The station also has an evidence room and a secret compartment.

You know a criminal is dumb when they try to steal a police bike right from the station. The cops on duty in the security room will see that kind of thing on the monitor screens and dispatch the other officers to re-apprehend the pea-brained perpetrator!

The criminals have their own private cells. It’s a lonely existence but they may get out early for good behavior!

They better be nice to the warden. This set has great accessories like keys, handcuffs, crowbars and even a “wanted” poster.

There’s even a landing pad for the 3658 Lego Police Helicopter on the roof. It’s this kind of attention to detail that makes this one of the best Lego police stations yet.

There are search lights and communications array on the other roof. Check out the PA speakers the included so you can re-enact that scene in the Shawshank Redemtion where they play classical music over the yard. I’m sure that was what they were thinking of when they included this element. Hehe.

-Daniel