Kategoriarkiv: International

Sarah Alainn #5: Cinema Music

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After four albums with a mix of songs from classic ballads, game music, musicals and movie songs Sarah Alainn releases a new album consisting almost entirely of cinema music, as the name subtly implies. This time around there are fourteen tracks, although three of them are re-releases from previous albums and one is a translation. Aside from a slight change of levels, I can’t find any difference on the three reused songs, although ”Kimi o Nosete” is still a great track and ”Shadows of Time”, while not being a movie song, is a great showcase of Sarah’s composing talents. ”Bring the snow”, the title theme of the upcoming Moomin movie, is the Japanese version this time and just as delightful as before. ... Läs hela texten

Sarah Alainn #4: Anima

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According to a Japanese study, Sarah Alainn’s voice has therapeutically beneficial qualities. That is probably the scientific reason why I can’t stop listening to this amazingly talented woman. Ever since I discovered the theme to Xenoblade Chronicles, I’ve tracked down her albums and collaborations and she rarely disappoints with a mix of powerful musical ballads, classical pop and instrumental pieces. Yes, in addition to having a pitch perfect voice, she’s also an excellent violinist. Anima is the fourth solo album after Celeste, Sarah and F, and it continues the upward spiral in quality, with some amazing highlights and a very solid baseline. ... Läs hela texten

Lego MOC: Trico from The Last Guardian

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Lego Trico 03

After finishing The Last Guardian, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Trico is one of the best realized characters in gaming, and I wanted to make a tribute. So I sat down to construct my very own Lego Trico.

The most important part is the face, and especially the eyes and the nose. I looked through the inventory of parts on Bricklink, searching for a suitably formed dark brown part for the nose. I located one in an unlikely place – the foot of the buildable action figure Rey from Star Wars! Loading this part into Lego Digital Designer, I could figure out the basics to fit the eyes on it. To have the dark areas around the eyes, I placed Erling bricks with the bottom out, and used inverted slopes on these to round off the face. From there it was just a question of building the rest. ... Läs hela texten

Lego Assembly Square (10255)

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It seems like it was only yesterday that I bought Fire Brigade, as a sample of modern Lego and to see what everyone was raving about. Actually it was 2013. In four short years I’ve not only collected every new modular made since, I also pieced together the three that came before (and built eight of my own). I should be happy that I did it soon enough. Even Bricklinking a complete Green Grocer is now very expensive, and some parts of Café Corner and Market Street remain elusive, while Fire Brigade, Grand Emporium and Town Hall are steadily becoming more and more expensive. And just recently, Pet Shop finally went out of sale after almost six years, with Palace Cinema soon to follow. But I do have them all (even if Town Hall has been demolished) and so it’s fitting to get this anniversary celebration of ten years of modular buildings: Assembly Square. ... Läs hela texten

Figma Zero Suit Samus Aran

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It’s been four and a half years since I got my first Figma figure: Samus Aran. While she was based on one horrible game, she looked good enough and got me interested in getting several other Figmas. Now, after all this time Good Smile Company/Max Factory are returning to Metroid with both a Metroid Prime 3 figure and a Other M Zero Suit Samus. I might have prefered one that was actually from Zero Mission, but I realize how unlikely that is, so this will have to do.

What we get is a very sleek Samus, obviously. The Zero Suit is mostly skin-tight, but there’s some actual sculpted ridges that make it look more than painted on. The little markings on the hands and back are ridiculously detailed, of course. The same goes for her face, which is slightly longer than I would have liked, but is very sharply defined. ... Läs hela texten

Best of Lego 2016

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This is getting quite ridiculous. After a great 2015, Lego seems to have caught some form of megalomania. 2016 had more extremely big sets than ever before. This year saw the release of the Death Star, which at 5499 SEK is the most expensive (new) set ever. Then there’s the Ghostbusters Firehouse HQ and the Disney Castle both at 3799 SEK, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS at 3199 SEK, the classic Batcave at 2999 SEK, Assault on Hoth for 2799 SEK, Big Ben at 2499 SEK and the Minecraft village at 2399 SEK. Of course it’s unlikely that anyone cares enough about all of those themes to get all of them, but still! ... Läs hela texten

A brand new Lego Galaxy Explorer

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If there’s something I’ve learnt after years and years of collecting Transformers, it’s that vintage is overrated. I love my original items, both Lego and Transformers, but that’s because I know that I’ve owned them for thirty-some years. The wear and tear is there because I put it there. I used to buy collections of loose figures, but quickly realized that the grime and dust is much less attractive when it’s not mine.

Which brings me to the Galaxy Explorer, the first major spaceship in the classic space theme, released in 1979. Tracking down one of these isn’t that hard – it sold well and probably had a special status to many a kid, so the supply isn’t that bad. You can get one in decent condition for around 200 dollars, which is reasonable considering its age. However, that gives you all that grime and all those scratches. You can get an original unopened one right now, but in that case, say bye-bye to 2500 dollars, and I’d think opening it would be a crime against humanity. ... Läs hela texten

Lego Modular MOC: Pizza Plaza

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I don’t remember exactly how this came about, but I have had plans to build a Green Grocer copy in another colour, and it would have been interesting to make a pink one as a flower shop. I realized that it would be fairly dull, even if Green Grocer is amazing, but I held on to the idea. The proper design got started basically from a single piece – the Minecraft Enderman body. I wanted to use it as some kind of architectural feature, mostly to try the limits of the part. It turns out that it’s not too bad. The neck can be covered with a simple 1×1 round brick or an offset regular brick, and there is room between the legs to fit a standard rod (now that sounded dirty). ... Läs hela texten

Lego Elves: all of the dragons!

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Two separate waves, five distinct sets and a rather silly amount of money later, my collection of the dragons is complete: the earth dragon Thorne, the water dragon Merina, the wind dragon Gust, the fire dragon Zonya and the queen dragon Elandra. They come in three sizes: the earth and water ones are smaller and have new, smaller molded wings while the fire and wind dragons have the classic fantasy dragon wings (although Gust has another set of smaller wings underneath). The queen dragon is obviously the biggest, and also has a bigger head, but her wings are made of transparent plastic, like some sails used in other sets. ... Läs hela texten

Lego Elves: Queen Dragon’s Rescue (41179)

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The second wave of Lego Elves covers the conflict with the witch Ragana over the dragons, something that was obviously foreshadowed with the cursed well in the fire dragon set in March. Even without having seen the web series, it’s fairly clear what’s happening. This set includes a cute little evil tower with lots of play features but the main attraction is the Queen Dragon herself.

While the elves get their elementally themed dragons, the Queen is mainly white and gold with splashes of transparent blue, somewhat similar to Legend of Chima’s Eris. One thing that didn’t come across in the pictures is the size: the Queen is huge and towers over the medium (fire and wind) and small (earth and water) dragons. Before you even get started, you build a really complex, solid body that casually shows off many techniques which are sure to add new ideas to any builder’s arsenal. The wings are also special. Unlike the molded semi-soft plastic of the rest, her wings are thin, mostly transparent sheets in the same material as the new banners. The result is stunning, though. It can also be noted that the Queen has an exclusive head which is similar to the others but almost twice as big. ... Läs hela texten