LEGO Display Cases

 

      People occasionally ask me about my Lego displays and so I thought I’d write an article on how I display them and what materials are necessary to construct them.

       Since I hate getting dust on my LEGO (I like to keep them in perfect condition for photography etc…) I generally wont leave my minifigures out in the open. Although (regrettably) about half of my collection is still confined to ziplock bags in boxes, I have managed to display a portion of them in various display cases on my shelf.

       I do actually have a few different types of display, but in this article we will largely be looking at the ‘acrylic box’ type case. What follows is a step-by-step look at where to get the various parts from and how to put it all together.

       So firstly the actual box itself.

 

       I bought these on eBay, but the seller also has his own website if you prefer to use that. There are various shapes and sizes to choose from, but the ones featured in this article (internal dimensions 280mm x 150mm x80mm high) are ideal as they are the perfect dimensions to house a 16 x 32 stud baseplate (also widely available on ebay or bricklink).

       With careful arranging they fit around 50 minifigures in each display – perfect for 3 complete series of collectible minifigures (16 figs x 3 series = 48 figs).

       Now you could just have the baseplate and set your figs on there, but I prefer to have podium/riser effect so that the figures at the back aren’t hidden away so much. For that you will need a bunch of good old standard LEGO bricks. Once again, these are widely available (ebay, bricklink or you may even have a bunch of them lying around), but for the sake of ease you can order them online (like I did) at LEGO’s online pick-a-brick shop or get them at your local LEGO shop.

      Once again, you can customise your set-up as much as you want, but I have found the following to be the most simple and cost efficient (some sizes/colours are cheaper than others!):

2x4 Brick   x20

2x6 Brick   x40

4x8 Plate    x4

       Lets start with the first layer. Leave the first 4 studs on the baseplate free and then start your rows going back from there. Each row will have 4 of the 2x6 bricks and 2 of the 2x4 bricks. I also like to stagger the positioning of the 2x4s within each row so that the whole structure feels more stable – especially when building the other layers on top.

       The next layer comes an additional four studs back.

       The final layer (the last four studs) isn’t actually bricks – it's the 4x8 plates. If the last layer were made of bricks it would be too high for minifigs to fit into the case – so the plates offer only a slight raise for the final step.

 

       Here’s how it fits in the case. There is a tiny bit of leeway at the front and back – so there is a bit mre space for any minifigure accessories, large headpieces or back pieces that stick out.

       Now it’s time to put your minifigs in. As there are 4 tiers and 48 minifigures (for 3 series), if you put on 2 rows per tier then it works out at about 8 figs per row. Again you can just freestyle it – that's just my rough guide. I would recommend staggering the minifigs each row too so that they are not directly stood behind each other.

       And here is the completed display with the lid top on:

       Here are series 1-9:

       What’s great about these is that if you want you can easily stack them too.

       Of course there are many other alternatives with which to display your minifigs. Another is the frame type display such as this below (which currently houses my series 10-13) – available from a number of retailers:

       These look really nice but have a number of problems, mainly stemming from the fact that it's a bit of a faff to open and close them. So if this kind of thing happens:

       ...I tend to leave it as it's a fiddly to keep opening and closing them. 

      The box displays are much easy however – you just lift off the lid! Great for if you need some figs for photography or if you just want to swap them out.

       There you have it! If anyone has any other suggestions of how to display your minifigs let me know.

23rd May 2015

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Mad Max: Fury Road - The Fast and the Furiosa

 

      I would like to preface this by saying I’m not particularly a fan of the Mad Max franchise. People mostly just seem to remember the kitch weirdness of the latter films: Master Blaster, Tina Turner, “Two men enter… one man leaves…” and so on…

       But the influence that Mad Max has had on popular culture is undeniable. Virtually every other post apocalyptic film, book and video game has taken a leaf from Max’s aesthetic – a harsh irradiated desert world, where savage gangs roam to prey on the weak for valuable resources that we take for granted today - such as food, water and fuel. And now that the 70 year old veteran director George Miller has come back to direct the fourth instalment in his own franchise 30 years later, it seems things have come back around full circle. Except this time he has a hell of a lot more money and technology at his disposal in order to realise his vision.

       And boy does it show. Fury Road is batshit crazy, both in terms of the sheer spectacle of what is actually shown onscreen: the production design, sound design, music, action and stunt choreography; but also in terms of howthey actually managed to film the thing: largely practical effects and always moving along at speed. Considering that a good three quarters of the film’s total running time is spent on the move, it’s mindboggling to think how complex it must have been to shoot the film. It's a technical marvel and it looks stunning.

       The collisions are bone-crunchingly weighty (with minimal CG), rust and dust everywhere on these battered junkyard-modded vehicles, driven by a horde of crazed mutants. There is a great sense of desperation, feral anger and savagery – the filmmakers have managed to snag a more box-office friendly rating by omitting some of the blood and nastiness (that I think could have elevated the feeling of being pursued by these grotesque villains that much more terrifying) - but nevertheless the action is brutal, relentless and most surprisingly: endlessly inventive.

      In this world where vehicular combat is a way of life, these tribes employ nitros, explosives, spears, spikes, poles, flamethrowers, machine guns, tank treads… you name it, in order to get the upper hand. Forgot to include a car stereo? Oh wait - they have a truck with a guitarist strapped to the front dedicated solely to rocking out constantly, in order to whip the chase into a frenzy (and also – rather ominously – to let their victims know they are fast approaching).

       It’s great that these touches inform you about the world, its power structures and beliefs - without having to over explain them to you. The strange slang they use, their warrior code that encourages the War Boys to seek a glorious death, the worshiping of the wheel and use of chrome spraypaint – all hint at a much larger world of which this is but one story.

      Essentially the film is just one long chase - and whilst some may take issue with that fact – it is undeniable that Fury Road does what it does very well – perhaps even one of the best chases ever committed to film. And that’s not said lightly.

      It is somewhat strange then that Tom Hardy (as the iconic character originally played by Mel Gibson) comes off a little short-changed here. It’s not that he is weak in this – it’s just that besides the physicality reqiuired for the action sequences he isn’t given that much actual acting to do; his lines are minimal (with a strange mumbling affect punctuated by the occasional grunt to boot). It’s actually Charlize Theron’s wonderfully named Imperator Furiosa that’s the real star of the film. She fully commits in all aspects of this film and her performance is simply astonishing. There’s a nagging feeling that at one point they may have been tempted to just run with it and call the film Mad Maxine, if they weren’t swiftly talked out of it by their marketing department.

      There are little niggles of course: the action is so loud and frantic that (mixed with the slang and shifting accents – English? Australian? American?) some dialogue is occasionally lost in the mix; and it is a shame that the iconic Interceptor didn't play more of a part.

       However these pale in the face of what has been achieved here, amplified more so by being viewed on the biggest screen you can find. It’s a jawdropping, ballsy, thrilling and occasionally nightmarish vision that is rare gem in this day and age of clean cut and packaged blockbusters. Witness it.

19th May 2015

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Avengers: Age of Ultron - Bigger and Badder?

 

      It’s a fact. The Avengers was massive.

       Let’s not wax on about how just how much this sequel, Age of Ultron, had to live up to. The huge weight of expectation behind it - not just as a sequel to a box office hit – but also as the benchmark for Superhero ‘event’ movies has been raised pretty damn high in the interim, with the likes of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy being particular standouts.

       So does it live up to the hype?

       Well not really.

       That’s not to say it isn’t any good. It is good. Even great at times. But (in my humble opinion at least) it falls short of greatness.

       One reason is the consistent feeling of familiarity throughout. It seems Whedon and co., (talented writers and filmmakers though they undoubtedly are) have opted to play it safe, the mantra seemingly being: ‘lets do all the things in we did in the first movie – people loved all of that – just try and make everything bigger and badder’. There’s a bigger cast, more story threads, more globe-trotting, a longer running time and so on.

       But that's kind of the problem – it’s just more of the same, and as a result it’s a little harder to enjoy. There seems to be more of that witty banter and humorous back and forth between characters, enjoyable enough but amped up to such a degree here it can occasionally feel forced. Whereas in the first movie the humour was used to great effect in breaking the tension (hulk punching Thor for example), here it is so prevalent it negates much of the sense of threat you ought to be feeling.

        On a related note: I get why Ultron (the arch villain of the piece) appeared to have a sense of humour (he was, after all ‘birthed’ by Tony Stark) but that, coupled with his narcissistic tendencies, frequent expressions of anger or fear, and tendency to philosophise out aloud - just made him toohuman. Some may argue that was the point (a robot aspiring to be human-like) – but to me that just made him a lot less scarier than he ought to have been. What we should have got was an Iron-Man crossed with the Terminator. Instead we get a villain who likes to throw out some jibes and then fly away when he started losing. Not so scary.

       Back to the feeling of familiarity. Let’s tick the boxes. Previously villainous players learn the error of their ways and become allies come the final act? Yup. The film climaxing on the imminent annihilation of a city? Check. Hordes of cannon-fodder invaders for the heroes to cleave into? Of course. Big set-piece shot in an Asian city so that the film performs even better in those increasingly lucrative overseas markets? A tad cynical perhaps… but you betcha! Yet another awkward and immersion-breaking Stan Lee cameo? Really? They are stilldoing this?

       They even have the ‘group hero-shot’ again. In the first Avengersmovie it comes at the end, mid-way through the battle in New York City against the Chitauri. For the first time the group is truly united and working effectively as a team, and the moment when the camera circles around the entire group comes off as one of triumph and elation. In Age of Ultron however, the ‘group hero-shot’ comes near the beginning of the film, when they jump over a barricade in unison. Sure, it looks pretty and the underlying motif is warranted (ie: this time they are already working well as a team as the story opens) but you've barely been watching the thing for five minutes. The moment seems to occur apopros of nothing, and as a result comes across as oddly choreographed, unnatural and even a tad too cheesy.

       Speaking of cheese, some have turned their noses up at the subplots included this time around. Namely: Haweye’s secret life and the Romanoff/Banner romance. Now I actually kind of liked these and can see why they were included (Hawkeye and Black Widow are considered the somewhat ‘less super’ members of the team and needed a bit more of a story boost this time around), but in the context of this film it feels a little like they were overcompensating too much in this regard, even to the point where it feels like Thor and Captain America begin to feel somewhat sidelined. With the already bloated running time (this is the longest MCU movie to date) it’s hard to see how everyone could have got a decent look in without the film going on for far too long.

       But really that’s one of the most impressive aspects of Joss Whedon’s Avengersmovies: the ridiculously difficult balancing-act he manages to pulls off with all these characters, interactions and storylines coming together at once. Simply managing to make that all work coherantly in and of itself is an incredible achievement. To me however, it just seems that Avengers: Age of Ultron is too constrained by what has come before (all the previous Marvel movies) and what it needs to set up for the future (the announced Marvel releases already set in place for the best part of the next decade). Couple that with some extreme fan service (seeing the Hulk-Buster armour was definitely cool – but at the same time seemed to be very contrived in the context of the story – they could have at least set it up a bit more beforehand), and the result is something that tries its best to please everyone and ends up coming across as actually being fairly predictable and ‘safe’. And that's really the crux of the problem here. The film isn't really given the opportunity to strike out and do it's own thing. It feels like it only exists to expand, connect and set up events of the past and future, whilst replicating a similar experience to the previous Avengers movie.

       Somewhat ironic then that whilst the vilain Ultron goads our heroes with snatches of Pinocchio’s There are no strings on me!, the same cannot really be said for the film Avengers: Age of Ultron itself - seemingly very much shackled by its current ‘role’ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

       Probably still going to go watch it again though…

30th April 2015

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