FlashBRICK Friday

I complained to Noah that all the LEGO creations he builds are for boys. So he sang, "Do you wanna build a snowman?" while building me some Frozen minifigs. Kidding!!!

He did make me girly Frozen minifigs!

Though I had to help with Elsa's hair. She was bald for a while and it drove me nuts. 

So I twisted a white rubberband and latched it onto her hand to make Elsa's hair. 

I really appreciated that Noah made minifigs just for me. For The First Time In Forever, I had my own minifigs. Love truly Is An Open Door. 

Okay, okay! I'll quit with the Frozen songs. I will now Let It Go. ;p

Noah's age when he created these: 9 years and 1 month

ThrowBRICK Thursday

This is one of my favorite homemade minifigs of Noah: Mr. Fantastic!

I love that he has stretched and unstretched leg options! And that he can bend!

I also find it adorable that Noah painted Sinestro's hair with liquid paper to make Reed's hair. 

Noah saw me writing this post and asked why I like this creation of his so much. The LONG and SHORT of it: This LONG minifig is nothing SHORT of amazing! 

Noah's age when he created this: 9 years old

FlashBRICK Friday

mu•tant

/'myōōtnt/

noun

1. a mutant form

    synonyms: freak (of nature), deviant, monstrosity, monster, mutation

Noah thought his first attempt at a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle was a mutant. So he paper-mache'd the head to make it less (or is it more?) of a mutant. Sadly, he thought the upgraded Ninja Turtle was still a monstrosity so he didn't make the other 3 turtles anymore. 

So while I think Noah's LEGO Customization talent is a freak of nature (in a good way), his ultra-high standards makes him kind of a freak too. I so wish he'd realize that he's got a monster of a talent. 

Noah's age when he created these: 9 years old

ThrowBRICK Thursday

What my then new LEGO phone case led to... A movie theater for Noah's minifigs. Funny that they're watching a LEGO movie - LEGO Harry Potter. More funny that Captain America is watching a movie!

In case you're wondering what my LEGO phone case originally looked like before it was converted into a moviehouse...

Fast-forward to early this year when Noah got my old phone together with my case... Because the studs at the back hurt his hand, he put smooth tiles at the back (I took out 1 black tile piece to show the studs that hurt his hand). 

I didn't notice it at first but if you zoom out, the smooth black & white tiles actually form the Apple logo! And if you zoom in, you'll see electric tape on some tiles because Noah didn't have enough smooth black tiles.

I love that my LEGO phone case turned into a blank canvas for Noah's LEGO creativity!

Photos are my own and from Amazon.com. 

Noah's age when he created the movie theater: 8 years, 11 months 

Noah's age when he created the Apple logo: almost 10 years, 2 months

Dissatisfaction Guaranteed

Since we watched Avengers 2, Noah has been busy working on minifig projects because he isn't satisfied with the standard issue LEGO Avengers 2 minifigs. He is obsessed with making minifigs that are as authentic and true to the movie as possible. 

For instance, this is work-in-progress Ultron made from Toy Story Woody's arms & legs. 

When he was showing me the LEGO Avengers 2 sets on Google, I noticed the LEGO Ultron is regular-sized. So I asked him why he decided to use Woody's long limbs for Ultron. He said Ultron is 8 feet tall versus Captain America & Thor who are 6'4". So since Cap & Thor are regular-sized minifigs, the Ultron minifig needs to be taller. 

He was also not satisfied with this standard issue Thor minifig...

So he carved (yes, etched with a knife!) these details on Thor's arm...

A plain leg didn't cut it either. Here are the hand-drawn leg details...

Thor's hammer needed "upgrading" too. It needed blending and a handle. 

The standard issue scepter of Loki was missing the mind stone, he said. 

So he cut off the middle prong, trimmed another prong, colored it silver, and stuck a blue mind-stone-looking LEGO piece in the middle. 

He was also dissatisfied by the fact that the standard issue Nick Fury doesn't have a coat. 

So he is making his own out of black paper fabric we got from Wrap Shop (I don't know if there are any other 10-year-olds who ask to go to this store), sticker paper he colored with a Sharpie and some colored pencils. 

You've seen Captain America's helmet before. So you already know that Noah used Flash's helmet to make Captain America's headgear. He cut off Flash's lightning horns with a nailcutter! Then, he used blue paint, aqua & blue Sharpies and a correction marker for the A. 

But did you know why he needed to make a helmet? Because he was not satisfied with the standard issue Captain America minifig that comes with a mask printed on the minifig head!

He was also dissatisfied by the standard issue Vision minifig. 

He didn't like it that they used "sand green" on the body. He says it should be a darker green. And the cape shouldn't just be plain yellow. 

So he fashioned one with the authentic details with these materials...

Finally, he was dissatisfied with Black Widow's body. So he carved out her sides to give her a more womanly body. 

Yes, my perfectionist son is incredibly hard to satisfy. But I love that his dissatisfaction leads to these homemade, customized minifigs with such intricate details. Ironically, his dissatisfaction guarantees my satisfaction. 

Noah's age when he created these: 10 years, 4 months

Photos of standard issue LEGO minifigs are from Amazon.com

FlashBRICK Friday

There didn't seem to be anything special about this old Wolverine minifig creation of Noah. Until I learned that he used Joker's hair...

He covered it with electric tape to make Wolverine's hair!

I still like the cardboard claws and hand-drawn quality of this older Wolverine though. 

Claws down - er, I mean, hands down, the older Wolverine wins. But hair-wise, my vote goes to the newer old Wolverine! 

Noah's age when he created the old X-Men Wolverine: 8 years, 5 months

Noah's age when he created the older Wolverine: 7 years old

ThrowBRICK Thursday

May the four(teen)th be with you! Okay, I missed it by 10 days. Actually, I really missed it by 3 years and 10 days because these are Noah's 2012 creations. 

Noah's homemade hand-drawn R2D2 is my absolute favorite of his Star Wars collection!

I love that he formed LEGO letters as the stand for his minifigs. 

S - Padme with baby Luke and baby Leah, T - Obi Wan, A - Luke, R - R2D2. 

W - Sith guard, A - kid Luke, R - Chewy, S - Chancellor. 

But the ones I will write Tatooine about are the ones with hand-drawn shirts like Luke...

Padme with her babies (hehe)...

X-Wing Pilot Luke...

As Yoda challenged in The Empire Strikes Back, "Judge me by my size, do you?" Certainly, these homemade minifigs should not be judged by their size. In my book, they're larger than life because they are proof of Noah's imagination & creativity. As Yoda also said in Attack of the Clones, "Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is". 

Noah's age when he created this: 8 years, 5 months 

Captivating Captain A

Shield meets Arm. 

Arm inches toward Shield.

Shield can't help it.

Shield finds itself being pulled towards Arm by an unexplainable attraction.

Is it infatuation? Is it love? 

No, it's a magnet that Noah Mighty-Bonded [Kragled] to Captain America's shield!

How does it work with Cap's arm? See the silver square on the hand in the first photo? That's a metal strip Noah glued onto the LEGO hand. 

Watch the love - er, magnetic - story here.

I was certainly captivated! Of course, am trying not to be bothered by the fact that Noah destroyed his LEGO Toy Story 3 train to get the magnet for Cap's shield (magnets connected the train cars to each other). Haha, I guess Shield' previous relationship was with a train!

Noah's age when he created this: almost 10 years, 4 months

FlashBRICK Friday

Noah has so many old customized LEGO creations that I need another series to post all of them. So welcome to the FlashBRICK Friday series! 

During the time of this 2012 creation, Shell had their LEGO Ferrari promo running. This led to Noah customizing racecars and racecar drivers. 

He made Honda and Toyota racecars and prepared the minifig torsos for the corresponding racecar drivers. I love that, on the paper above, he had handmade logos as headings for each car & driver!

I am so amazed at how my then 7-year-old could draw such tiny logos on the minifig shirts! I mean, just look at that tiny Ferrari logo!

Noah's age when he created these: almost 7 years, 10 months

Do check out this blog every Thursday and Friday for Noah's old customized LEGO creations. 

batteries now included

When I asked Noah at the start of summer what lessons he wanted to take, he said he didn't want the usual sports, music or art classes. He wanted "to learn things like woodshop or how to put a tiny light in my LEGOs". Needless to say, I didn't find any summer classes like that for kids. But he was determined. Turns out he didn't even need lessons.

I came home to Ironman with the front of his chest chiseled away with an X-Acto knife, some batteries and an LED light.

He hasn't started on the chest but I begged him to let me take a photo with a stand-in chest.

I was beyond amazed! I can't believe his homemade LEGO creations have batteries now included!

Noah's age when he created this: almost 10 years, 4 months

ThrowBRICK Thursday

Noah was obsessed with Ninjago during this time. Since he already had the white, blue, red & black (still in its box) Ninjagos and we couldn't find the green one and Sensei Wu, he made his own!

He turned Dumbledore's beard white with paper and made a ninja mask out of paper! I was amazed at how he sculpted the paper to make a helmet. 

I also love the origami-like shoulder armor made out of paper.

Sadly, my perfectionist Noah wasn't happy with these so we eventually ended up buying a real green Ninjago and a real Sensei Wu minifig. But I much prefer the homemade ones!

For me, the hand-drawn, handcrafted details on Noah's handmade minifigs are way more special than the store-bought ones. 

Noah's age when he created these: 7 years, 10 months