Fire And Ice Roundup

This challenge was based on duality...and equal balance of the very important elements of Fire and Ice. How did we do? Well, some of us nailed it...and others...um...was more like lukewarm fire and melted ice. Lets review!

J0n4th4n D3rk53n sets the trend that lots of others will follow by interpreting fire as red and ice as white with this sort of neat panel truck. There's some cool curves on here. Yep. Sure is an interesting tour so far. Anyone want to raid the candy machine in the lobby? No? Ok, lets move on then.



Ooops, wait, we're still with J0n4th4n here! He says after 7 long hours the masterpiece is finally finished...and so early in the challenge too! Usually the heavy hitters come later in the challenge but what do I know? This is a three window coupe...mostly fiery red with a white blower and stripes representing ice. Looks like he got his thumb in the way of the picture in the lower left there.



I bet you're thinking this tour wouldn't be complete without a virtual entry from J0n4th4n, right? Well, your prayers have been answered! Its a...um...bus! Its almost tall enough to be one of them London double decker buses except the whole bottom deck is windowless...perfect for when you don't want your friends seeing you travel in one of these.



But wait there's more! (Is it too soon to crack a Billy Mays joke? Yeah? Ok then.)For when you need to haul several tons of gasoline across the arctic tundra to Bjork's house, here is the Gasnowmobile! Say it with me now...gasnowmobile. With any luck at all, it just might explode once it gets there.



Aaron Dayman heats up the challenge...and some chicken wings with this...um...Zamboni Barbecue! His interpretation of Fire and Ice is more clever than anything I can come up with so lets use his own words; "In my fave team the Detroit Red Wings colors. Red (fire) and White (ice). Built to celebrate the Wings (fire) impending victory over the Penguins (ice) to win yet another Stanley cup championship. After which this vehicle might come in handy seeing as its a Zamboni (ice) and a mobile BBQ (fire) to not only clean the ice(ice) but fire(fire) up some snacks for the celebration as well." Now that's smart thinking, Aaron!



Let's say I'm skating on thin ice, trying to impress some girl with my slick moves and I break through and get my fool self submerged in the freezing cold water. Then I'm going to need Ricecracker's Ice Swift/Water Rescue Truck, pronto! It comes equipped with tread wheels for better traction on ice and a boat and net for water rescues. just the name of his vehicle makes me feel safe...but I'm pretty sure this means the girl is not impressed and the date is over. Oh well...hope you also have some hot chocolate on that thing!



New guy Pitrek02 shows us a unique interpretation of Fire and Ice with this pair of quad ATV's...one fiery hot and the other icy cool! I'm seeing some pretty advanced build techniques here. I want to take them for a spin! I wonder if the minifig girls will be impressed if I can do donuts on the thin ice.



Pitrek02's next entry, I wanted sooooo much to be perfect! Here we see he obviously has some raw talent with this very nice interpretation of the Hummer H3. I mean, check out those reversed tires over Lego motorcycle rims...and he's pulled off details flawlessly that is so difficult in this small scale. But in a challenge that demands a perfect balance of Fire and Ice, I see the fire...but where's the ice? From such a clearly talented builder, I'm hoping this is just a temporary lapse in integrity. If the gray rocks were instead the same piece only in white...he would have nailed this challenge perfectly.



Sometimes when you mix two awesome things together you get something else awesome...like chocolate and peanut butter. When you mix the greatest Japanese battleship ever constructed in both real life and Lego with the great city of Hiroshima you get...um...well the Yamato Hiroshima...a 4 wide sports car thingy with a spoiler and some kind of...um...snowplow/cattle prod looking thing up front. Sharpspeed said he built this to honor those who were bombed in Hiroshima in 1947. (Great, just what they wanted!) Oh and...um...Mr. Speed...the bombings took place in 1945...NOT '47.



Next Sharpspeed brings us a pair of what he calls his iconic Rogue Firepower GT, one in fiery red and black, the other in icy cool blue and white. In Sharpspeed speak that has to be followed by like 14 exclamation points but...I don't know, I'm just not feeling the excitement. At least he followed the rules of the challenge and didn't attempt to honor some historic event he barely understands. Anyone wanting to raid the candy machine in the lobby now? No? Ok, lets move on.



Dylan Denton interpreted Fire and Ice with this admittedly cool pair of Formula 1 racers, one in fiery red and the other with just enough red trim to somehow still call it ice. I like the use of shifter bases as helmets. Good call! Dylan tells us not to worry...that his next entry will be bigger and better and a little more clever than just a two toned vehicle. Sounds great!





As promised, Dylan's second entry is bigger and...um...is a two toned vehicle. Not very clever, but its a good build anyway. Its a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. Anyone excited for that new Lambo Gallardo set? Meh, I think it looks exactly like a yellow version of all the Ferrari sets we've seen but it does have new rims and the steering wheel is black and not the usual gray. Looks like some great parts in it. You know why we have so many Ferrari sets? Its because the CEO of Lego and the CEO of Ferrari are friends. Too bad the CEO of Lego isn't friends with George Barris or Chip Foose!



Raphy thinks a little outside his normal box with this Hot Rodded ice cream truck called I Scream. Yeah, that was the name I gave my Ice Cream clown truck a few months back, but hey, ya got to dig the concept! It has a fiery paintjob and the other side has a window with three ice cream flavors...red, yellow and...um...gray. Yuck!



But for something a little more flavorful, Raphy tackles an unusual interpretation of Fire and Ice indeed. Here we see an icy blue firetruck! At first I thought blue firetrucks just don't exist but further research proved that they do. Still, they're a rare breed and this quite possibly be the first blue firetruck built in Lego. Way to go, Raphy!



On that note...sigh...Philip Ryman, what are we going to do with you? All month long, I bit my tongue on this one...I waited patiently...maybe at the last minute he would submit an icy car and all would be right with the world...or so I hoped. As its obvious my round up jokes at your expense in hopes to improve your integrity are going way above your head, let me word this so that you can easily understand. Philip Ryman...you failed this challenge! I see the fire but where's the ice? What part of Fire AND Ice, NO EXCEPTIONS did you not understand? Every challenge has one weird little rule that everyone must follow. Do I do this because I'm rule crazy? No...but without just one unique rule to follow all the challenges would be exactly the same. We never would have survived through 20 plus challenges if they weren't fun and unique. You insult me and everyone else when you can't even follow just one rule! Please take a break from LUGNuts until your reading comprehension and your ability to follow directions improves.



Ok...sorry everyone, but had to be said. Now we move on to someone that knows how to dazzle us time and time again. Firas Abu-Jaber ditches his modern super cars for this challenge and takes a cue for me and Ralph with this classic Volksrod. The lowered stance, fenderless design and flaming hot paintjob are spot on! And the icy cool interior...I'm digging the spinner-without-the-spinner technique to make sort of a white on blue snow flake effect. All around, this vehicle is so cool its HOT!



Nathan Proudlove and Lino Martins once again puts their collective huge noggins together for a buddy team up to construct these iconic 70's era losers straight from the list of the 50 worst cars ever made. First comes Nathan's icy cool white and blue '75 Pacer called Brain Freeze. With stylish rims, Lambo doors and a video game console in the back, this is one loser of a hatchback I'd be proud to own! Next, Lino heats up the dragstrip with his fiery hot '70 Pinto called Hot Flash. Why am I referring to myself in the 3rd person? Anyway, he...I spent most of my early childhood strapped into a babyseat in the back of a Pinto and little did I know I was traveling in the car dubbed..."the barbecue that seats four". The Pinto had a reputation to explode in a rear end collision as illustrated by this humorous reverse flames design. It also has a wheelie bar, icy cool seats and opens like a funny car...proving that even a stinker like the Pinto can be made totally hot!





Who says a Fire And Ice entry had to be red and/or white? Not Tim "rabidnovaracer" Inman. His all black entry still suits the rules for the challenge...its a '96 Chevy Impala SS that has been refurbished into a Zamboni by Jesse James and friends on that Show Monster Garage. Incidentally, that's the show that helped turn me into a car builder...albeit just a lego one. With his skill at fabricating, his unwavering coolness and bad attitude, I wanted to be just like Jesse James. Then he stopped caring about his own show then went and married Sandra Bullock...and I found other car builders to admire. Oh and check out the flaming zoomies! Nice one, Tim!



Kin.lego interprets Fire and ice with this sleek fiery red Honda NSX LN20. The Icy elements are the white interior and the blue engine. The C32B engine is modified by dropping in a turbo and an intercooler to boost the horsepower to a staggering 400hp. Why did he choose the Honda LN20? because kin.lego says its named after the challenge. Huh? Ooooh, I get it! LugNuts 20th challenge! great job!



Our resident Mad physicist, Ralph Savelsberg has had one hell of a month! First he gets a few of his fine quality aircraft indoctrinated into the UK's Museum of Science and Industry, then he gets voted by his fellow AFOLs into the top three nominees spot as Lego Ambassador for flickr. (Final results still to come!)THEN he goes and wins two top prizes over at the military group for MOCs he's entered there! We're proud of Ralph but he doesn't stop there. Somehow he finds the time to enter our build challenge with his interpretation of Fire and Ice with a red hot Fire Department Ambulance and an icy cool reefer truck. That means refrigeration, you stoners, so don't go thinking its supposed to deliver your stash! I don't know how Ralph found the time to enter this challenge with all the cool stuff happening to you but we're certainly glad you did!



Cole Blaq and Orion Pax tear a page from the good Nathan/Lino Buddy Build Challenge Rule Book to construct this very neat pair. I like the mix of old and new here...completely different car cultures...but together they make it work. Cole built the icy white Citroen GT with gull wing doors, blue interior and very neat trans light blue headlights. Orion goes more oldschool with this fiery Lowrider with highly unusual round skylights and...get this...working hydraulics! They even made the four hour trip necessary to photo the two vehicles together. Take notes, my friends...this is how to succeed in a buddy challenge. Great job, guys! Way to dedicate to the cause!





We could have ended the challenge with Cole and Orion's sweet pair and called it done. But Blood Red Dragon takes a misguided cue from Philip at the last minute and builds...sigh...an all blue and white Hailstorm RC car. The name is cold...the paintjob is chill...but where is the Fire? C'mon, man, do I really ask for that much? Why must the same people disappoint me over and over again? What am I to do, here? Anyway, kudos to everyone who did an awesome job. And for those who repeatedly just don't get it...I don't know. Maybe something needs to be done.



This next challenge is Millennium Marvels where we try our hand at building only modern cars. If our inspiration was manufactured on or after January 1st, 2000 its good. That's pretty much our only rule for this one so we're hoping its going to be foolproof. But I seem to think that of every other challenge thus far and well... Lets see how this one goes.

Junkers And Clunkers Round Up

In terms of popularity, this has been a relatively quiet month. Maybe folks were busy, maybe they were doing other things or perhaps the notion of building a disheveled junker just didn't appeal to someone used to producing perfectly crafted showstoppers. Who knows? But for those who participated, some have found that their creations were received very well...letting us know that maybe there's something magic to this whole junkers idea. lets get to the round up and see!

Azaghal Gabilzaramul says he cheated a little as he built this post apocalyptic junker a few months ago. It has a wooden side door and its kinda lopsided. He also said he'd come back later in the challenge with something else. And he did!



Later Azaghal finds inspiration from that show Junkyard Wars with this neat pair. Here is the red team's junkyard dune buggy.



Followed by the green team's half truck with caterpillar traction. Neat!



J0n4th4n D3rk53n puts his own spin on the junker challenge with this rusty old AMC Gremlin. Here's a car that's not sure if it wants to be red or yellow. It also has a little black thrown in in the rear fender. With a profile like an AMC Hornet with its tail chopped off and vaccuum operated windshield wipers (how does that work?!)The AMC Gremlin is among the top 50 worst cars ever made. Great!



Rabidnovaracer lives up to his name this month with a pet project close to his heart. Everyone knows Tim owns a prize winning Chevy Nova...but exactly ten years ago (to the month!)Tim took home an ugly rust bucket with no engine and four mismatched wheels. He replicated it nicely in Lego. To show he wasn't exaggerating he provided a pic of the sad, dejected car being towed into his driveway. With lots of tender care and quite a bit of money, Tim nursed the dilapidated old husk into one sweet ride!



Duq's first attempt at this build challenge resulted in a neat rough and tumble rat rod from modifying the car from the Indiana Jones set 7682 Shanghai Chase. Incidentally that's how real rat rods are made...except there's less Lego involved and more axle grease and sheet metal. But you get the idea!



Then he flexes some rat rod muscle with this rusted classic 1913 390 Cadillac. According to his write up anyway, he made it seem as if this was built the way a real rat rod is done...over time. First he dropped the suspension,ditched the fenders,chopped the roof,swapped out the engine from the 5541 Blue Fury hot rod set, stretched the wheelbase and gave it some bitchin' racing tires! The result: pure rat rod awesomeness!



And speaking of rat rod awesomeness, get a load of Nathan Proudlove's Lockjaw! This rusty ride is chock full of not to be missed details...everything from the suicide doors to the skull carburetors to the rats nibbling at the pizza to the beer bottles right down to the greaser working under the car. Those cool headers...was a problem I couldn't solve with my gasser. I told him I wanted four exhaust pipes that became one and I couldn't do it. Looks like he succeeded nicely!



As mentioned with my gasser pipes, Lino occasionally fails. Yep, its true. But sometimes I hit a home run out of the park and halfway to the moon! Sure, I built this '49 Buick, sure I poured over the details and sure I posted the pictures. But after a MOC is let loose online it takes on a life of its own...a life that sometimes even its creator can never fathom. Maybe it was the heartfelt diary entry of the fictional John Brick, maybe it was the overgrown plants or the little frogs guarding this old wreck...but with nearly 2000 views and 44 faves, one image of this car became one of my most popular photos in my entire stream...overnight!



In the unlikely event that you run out of gas while on your way to the car show in your junky rat rod...executioner3 comes to the rescue with his equally junky Rat Rod Refueler. Who woulda thunk there is such a service!It features a rainbow of peeled paint and rusty colors as well as tank treads...in case you get stranded at say The North Pole. I knew we should have taken that exit right after Albuquerque!



Philip Ryman, the LUGNut formerly known as Ozzy Osbourne must have gotten a cease and desist order from The Prince of Darkness himself. I'd change my name to Philip Ryman too if Ozzy showed up at my door all pissed off. I mean seriously...that guy used to bite heads off of bats! You don't mess with a maniac like that. Plus you can't understand a word he says. I remember the first time I heard "Iron Man" I was digging through my parent's tapes and put in Black Sabbath. I got goosebumps when I heard the evil heavy guitar riff, then when that scary voice came on I nearly crapped my pants! Oh...and Philip built a couple of cars. here they are.






The Ranger of Awesomeness pays a little tribute to me and the whole car-left-in-field-with-tree-growing-out-of-it phenomenon with this Willys jeep that has been abandoned by a farmer circa 1954. What's with farmers always leaving their stuff around like they own the place? Oh wait, they do! Anyway, I'm digging the tall weeds and the pink flowers. Nice!



I never use the internet term LOL. Its too overused...too fake. When you're chatting with someone and every other word is LOL it makes you think...really? You're laughing THAT much? But when I first saw nolnet's flattened 1978 VW Derby, I really did Laugh Out Loud. No kidding! The accompanying story and photo about these mullet guys crushing it with their monster truck is absolutely not to be missed! And just take a sec to really appreciate the skill involved in replicating crushed metal and burst tires in Lego. Its just flawless! AND its still recognizable as a VW. I'm lovin' it!



New guy Sharpspeed enters in his first ever LUGNuts challenge with this Dying Thunderhead Roadbeast. It has pink flowers and weeds. Kinda like my dad's lawn. Sharpspeed says this Roadbeast died doing what it was made to do...rot in a field. Hah!



Our own resident Mad Physicist seems to be a sensible, orderly guy. He probably keeps his DVDs organized alphabetically, I'm sure he balances his checkbook nicely and I'm certain he keeps his socks and underwear neatly folded and put away as opposed to strewn about the floor. This is probably why he likes neat, sensible cars. Loud exhaust pipes on a gritty rat rod just wasn't Ralph's thing...until he discovered the Volksrod. Already having an affinity for the VW bug, it was only a matter of time before the fenderless Volksrod sent Ralph's heart aflutter! Its doing it for me too!



Raphy told us...three times that Rusty Leaf would be his sole entry. Then he built two more. He also said this a rat truck with bent stacks that kinda look like bunny ears is going to be in a future project he's working on. He doesn't want to spoil the surprise but he tells us its going to have a trailer. That pretty much spoils everything! Hey Raphy, if you like rat trucks have your parents rent the movie "Duel". It was Stephen Speilberg's first movie ever. There's no swearing or boobies in it so that means you can watch it. I don't wanna spoil anything but its a totally suspenseful thrill ride!



Then Raphy ups the ante and the scale with this abandoned 70's era Dodge Daytona. he tries his hand at writing and according to Raphy's story, (probably influenced by my John Brick fake diary entry)this car can be found in a prairie, somewhere in northern Kansas. Sounds like a road trip to me! I'd say Raphy ought to work in 6 or 8 wide scale from now on. What do you all think?



But wait, there's more! Raphy reaches for his trusty blurred cellphone cam and recycles this...um...old...something or another from some previous contest. When you reuse old MOCs for our challenges its kinda like eating that meatloaf that's been sitting in the fridge for like five months and then immediately regretting it. No amount of pepto-bismol can wash down this bad boy!Oh my stomach! Someone call an ambulance!



Dylan Denton helps ease the upset stomach a little with this rat rod called "Blood Hound" he says its probably too nice to be a rat rod (nah!)and it also...wait...did I read this right? ANOTHER recycled old MOC?!Oh God here comes the heartburn indigestion upset stomach nausea diarrhea!



Dylan's next entry does nothing to relieve the nausea...but he does put a new spin to this challenge. The 1980 Fiat Panda is both a junker and a clunker fresh from the factory. Not only is this taxi cab a loathed car...but its also a loathed MOC according to Dylan. It gave him nightmares AND he had to destroy his much adored '67 Charger to build it. You're kidding?! NO! Just like the real Fiat Panda, this MOC was reduced to scrap immediately after its debut.



New guy 6nichcar...(or is it 6 inch car?)built well...a 6 inch car. Or maybe its just 5 inches. Its kinda small but its an old farmer's ute truck. It has hay bales in the back...and a farmer guy without a farmer hat and overalls. Yep. Its also the mottled color scheme of my dad's Aries K wagon. I did it! I found a way to slip in another Aries K joke. Score!



With a tail light missing and an unfinished bed, The Big Rafalski is a little embarrassed to post such an unfinished MOC...but he has captured the spirit of this challenge perfectly with this half way restored custom '36 Chevy truck with a rebuilt V6 engine and tires good for a few drags. The black and white filter gives this beauty a nice old timey feel. Rafalski says the truck won't be winning shows anytime soon but she wins a place in our hearts and is a great way to finish off the challenge. It was just the relief for the upset stomach that I was looking for!



That's a wrap, kiddies! Let's see how we do this month when we try to perfectly balance the essential elements of Fire And Ice! As this is a challenge based on duality you can team up with a buddy. We haven't had one of those in awhile. So let's see how we heat up the challenge and cool off our competition with Fire And Ice!

At The Races Round Up

I knew At The Races was going to be a crowd pleaser...but I never fathomed how wild and unpredictable this was going to turn out. Let's start this race off with a bang, shall we?

And by bang, I mean the noise you'll hear as this first car off the finish line sputters and backfires. Our Prince of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne once again reaches for his trusty circa 1993 white bricks to construct this...um...basic dragster for Reggie Spader. I wonder what the rigging is for? Apparently it helps boost the horsepower up to a beefy 900. Yup.



Then Ozzy builds another car but this time for "Old Pops" McGraw in predictable white...(gasp!) no, wait...RED! He has red pieces! And this one is a...um...Charger-Challenger-Nova-GTO type thingy. Crammed into that tiny little frame is a 427 Hemi Big Block. Who woulda thunk it?!



Tommy N also shows some respect for the old racing legend by building him a Porsche 917 Kurzheck. According to Tommy, Old pops talks like an 1820's gold prospector and just like all crusty old codgers...he hates youngsters! You kids get off my lawn!



MetalGearAddict gives the mysterious El Espiritu a name (Edward Nix) and a custom Mercedes with bulletproof glass,(because The Scorpion and Lady Venom never play fair) steel frame and a suspension that can handle any terrain. I think his version of El Espiritu used to be in The Village People.



MetalGear's second entry looks suspiciously like his first...except with a roof. Its KIT, but not the KITT of Knight Rider fame. This one is white and vaguely modeled after a 50's era police car...sort of. According to MetalGear, what the commentators thought was racing legend "Old Pops" McGraw was actually a remote control receiver. The car drives on its own!



J4ke proves that cute little Japanese girls like Yuki Nakamura would drive none other than the cute little Toyota Aygo Crazy concept car. It makes perfect sense, really. jake says the awesome Space Skulls set helped generate enough 1x3 curved pieces to give this car just the right shape. Domo Arigato, Mark Sandlin! You kids research that and get back to me on it.



What would Lugnuts be without Raphy? Quieter, perhaps...but you'd miss out on that 4-wide goodness and drama. Here he taunts Tommy Nunez to sue him with this first sunny yellow car called Sliced Citrus built for everyone's fave underdog, Reggie Spader. This car sucks big time! No, really it does...the hood scoop sucks more air in than the Bugati Veyron...and we all know the sucking capacity of that car! This also proves that rivals on the race track can be friends. Legendary Ace "Old Pops" McGraw helped Reggie design this winning racer.



Then Raphy builds outside of his comfort levels with this decidedly cool bar stool racer. At first it was for no racer in particular, but then I asked him what driver did he build this for. That was followed by a week of Who? What? What are you talking about? Huh? Then finally Raphy saw the light and determined this barstool racer was built for Sgt. Rage...for irony, yanno. Sigh...other people's kids...what can you do?



Then Raphy slips right back into his comfort zones with this classy white coupe for El Espiritu and a souped-up blue muscle car for the handsome and charismatic Billy Angel.



Next on Raphy's to-do list is to bring back the "Ace of Spades" friendship/rivalry with Ace McGraw's white racing truck and Reggie Spader's Minigarage Road Maintenance Vehicle 4x4. Reggie sure likes yellow!



For those whose ever wondered what Raphy looks like, it turns out he's been a dark haired minifig all this time. Here he is posed next to his Fiat 126p "Maluch"...a decidedly cool hatchback sporting the colors of the Polish flag. For those of us who thought Poland was either on Mars or Asia, you'd be wrong on both counts! Darn...I soooo had Raphy pegged for a Martian!



"Rura do dechy", Raphy tells us in his crazy Martian moon language. It probably means...take me to your leader. This time he builds Francesca, who is an Italian fan of "made-up, copied-from-lego, 3-inch lego cars from supposedly Poland" (Who isn't, right?);)Raphy tells us he spared no expense in building this car...$4.99! Girl not included. Hard to find, he says. Well duh...dontcha know, Raphy is from Mars, and girls are from Venus! :D



But wait, there's more! Raphy submits this black rat rod called "Vile Varmit" for Australian racer Peter Wildfire. He has a dog named Mikey whom Peter nursed back to health when he found him under a pile of heavy metal. Speaking of Heavy Metal, that movie was a teenage fantasy like no other! Wow, the thought that a skinny nerd can grow super huge(Den of Earth)and have hot naked chicks lust after him! And you can fly home from space in a 50's era Corvette!I'm totally putting that movie on my netflix!Totally awesome boobage, man! Anyway...Mikey is the fastest dog in the world.



Fe2cruz proves that sometimes good things come in very small packages. If Raphy's cars are tiny turbos, these great MOCs are micro turbos! Its no surprise that the smallest racer Yuki Nakamura, will have the smallest MOCs, in this case a pair of Suzuki bikes and a trailer truck to haul bikes and equipment to the races. Mr. cruz takes inspiration from the incomparable Monsterbrick. Great job!



LegoMonster knows the way to my heart! First you take a stunning SAAB S3X in patriotic (to Swedes anyway) yellow and blue. Then you throw in The Swedish Ice Queen Erika Melberg...also in patriotic blue and yellow. Just look at those beautiful round...um...eyes! I heard in Sweden its a national felony to badmouth Abba. Its true, I saw on this show No Reservations, this American journalist Anthony Bourdain badmouthed Abba incessantly for like 45 minutes while everyone around him tried to get him to hush about it. Then he spent a night in jail. As he's a snarky loud mouthed American he probably would have landed in jail anyway, but just in case...Abba is awesome and so is LegoMonster! :)



J0n4th4n D3rk53n likes mixing numbers and letters together. That's why he built the Porsche 550. See what I did there? ;) Anyway, its a sleek red Porsche with nice details. He must have missed the challenge rules as it doesn't have mention of a driver. Still, its a pretty cool car.



I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the line, Matt "Monsterbrick" Armstrong has lost his sanity...in a good way. he creates a concoction that only he can dream of...it turns out Humpty Dumpty drives a brick wall! Really, it makes sense after a few beers. His write up features an all-star cast, including Linus M, who is probably my evil twin brother (oh wait...I'M the evil twin!)as the voice of Humpty and this wild ride has more glitz and shine than a Las Vegas casino. The brick and mortar racer comes with a pit crew of three pigs and all the King's men...are embedded behind the grille. Matt proves without a doubt he is one-of-a-kind!



Tim "Gambort" Gould builds us a sleek white racer for little Yuki Nakamura. And what self respecting Japanese girl would be complete without a robot friend and mascot? Yeah, Yuki bought the robot earlier this month but as the Japanese are so tech savvy he's already outdated and in need of upgrading. The new upgrade can to all the same 10 million tasks her current robot can do but is the size of a cell phone!



Steve "kwycstix" Walker finds a way to cross the finish line without even leaving the bar stool. Enter the bar stool racers! He masterfully brewed up all ten racers plus two commentators. Sgt. Rage's blood alcohol content must have topped the charts as his little stunt seen on World's Craziest Drivers caused a ten stool pile up (insert your own medical joke here) and ended the bar stool racing circuit forever!



Tim "Rabidnovaracer" Inman's policy is go big or go home! He proves this with his massive 22 stud wide 1994 Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI built for the popular Ace "Old Pops" McGraw. The stickers are mostly hand made. The high output V6 engine is a sight to behold. Awesome!



Somehow I knew Gold2 would build a vehicle for Sgt. Rage. I don't know, call it military intuition. But I didn't know it would be a totally badass MMW (Martian Motor Works) Ursa-6 in the iconic lime green and orange Power Miners colors. It turns out Sgt. Rage can safely channel his excessive aggression on the ice roads of Mars. Gold says being the biggest, most badass racer on the road is all the thrill he needs! And cracking lame jokes about it is all the thrill I need. See, everyone's a winner!



new guy kin.lego produces a surprisingly realistic Ferrari F512M. There are lots of sleek details not to be missed on this one. What is missing though is the name of the driver that this car goes with. Therefore we can only assume the driver is the red hat in the photo. ;)



The incomparable Firas Abu-Jaber says he's just no good at stories at all so didn't include the name of a driver. But what he lacks in story telling ability he more than makes up for it in raw talent. He graces us with the legendary Ford GT LM Race Car. Firas is one of those rare builders who can fool even the most astute of us into thinking his models are not Lego. I don't know...I don't have any lame jokes for this one. Just enjoy.



Speaking of lame jokes, Lino builds an old gasser. I'm talking about the car, not the old man.The car is a '55 Ford Crown Vic. The old man is Ace "Old Pops" McGraw and when he's not shaking his cane at youngsters and telling them to get the hell off his lawn he's winning against them on the drag strip. Some questioned if Old Pops fig depicts me in my advanced years. Well, I tend to walk like that when I first get up off a chair and my goatee is already showing some strands of white. But I can only hope to have as much hair as "Old Pops" when I reach his age...as it seems my own locks may eventually go the way of the dodo. Damn it all!



Ralph "Mad Physicist" Savelsberg almost didn't build this great Mitsubishi Evo X. Work, real life, and sometimes just a lack of motivation gets in the way of even the most astute of builders. (Boy, don't I know it!) But his friend Ed built the sexy Yuki fig that goes with his Swedish Erica Melberg and a couple scrapped car and bike ideas later, Ralph finds motivation anew with the sleek Evo X. Every detail came out phenomenal. Let us all bask in the glory of the great car that almost wasn't.



Nathan Proudlove figured that my write up for the challenge read like a soap opera so naturally he built...soap box racers! He used my over the top script in his write up, complete with heroes, villains, legends, rivals and drama. It admittedly turned out hilarious when pitted in conjunction against his silly soap box racers. He teamed up with his friend Hatgurl to build all ten soap box racers, he did the cars, she built the figs to go with them. She may be new to the Lego scene, but is already constructing some of the coolest miniland figs around. Lets take a look:

Billy Angel has the coolest hair in the history of miniland figs ever. That's why the girls love him!



Next is the beautiful Natasha Molotov. Can you say Russian mail order bride?



Everyone's fave underdog is Reggie Spader. Hang in there, kiddo!



next is the wildly unpredictable Kyle Armstrong. What a colorful character!



Even soap box races isn't without their evil cheaters, as evidenced by The Scorpion.



Next comes the legendary Ace "Old Pops" McGraw. Old gray mare she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be!



Followed by the young Yuki Nakamura...she probably loves Hello Kitty dolls.



Next up is Lady Venom...she's a bad girl in a pretty blue soap box racer!



Next comes Sgt.Rage. He's so angry all the time...maybe he just needs a hug!



Followed by El Espiritu...he's a masked white ninja racer for some reason!



Its easy to miss as he didn't provide a pic, but newbie ricecracker entered a Toyota Fj Cruiser Race Truck for The Scorpion. His version of The Scorpion has really intense eyes...like the guy on all the wanted posters at the post office. The one wanted for aggravated arson. Maybe its him!



new guy Cole Blaq provided an awesome trio of concept racers each with strange new spherical tires. First up is Lady Venom and her toxic lime green Anaconda racer. Her glasses were sent from the future to find and kill Sara Conner!



Followed by Reggie Spader and his deep blue Mantis. Who woulda thunk that Reggie was a super ripped bald guy in wrestling tights!



Then comes Billy Angel and his fiery red and silver Ray of Light. He's so dreamy! Looks like Cole Blaq is gonna be a great addition to our LUGNuts team.



ZitoVince shows us a sleek little orange and black RC racer. Six days ago I asked him to provide a name for a driver to go with it. My request still remains unanswered. I guess we're just going to have to keep guessing. Sigh...



BloodRedDragon says to always save the best for last...which is probably why two top notch builders came after him.;)But before we get to them, BloodRed shows us The Scorpion fig with his Scarlet Supernova vehicle. According to BloodRed, Scorpion was raised by animals in Australia...which somehow gave him astute knowledge of cars. Oh and his reflexes are so fast he sneezes at the speed of light. Probably the animals in the Australian outback taught him that too. Hah...sometimes these jokes just write themselves! Really, they do.



Dylan Denton keeps it real with this very cool 1967 Dodge Charger built for Lady Venom. There are badass spider details through the whole vehicle not to be missed...like the web design in the trunk, the spider on the steering wheel and the black widow pattern on the seats! While no slouch, Dylan has certainly stepped up his game for this challenge. He says it took all month to build and was more difficult than it looks. I believe him entirely...I see some very advanced solutions to difficult problems here. Dylan, we salute you, buddy!



Then Dylan nods and cracks jokes in Thomas Nunez direction with this slick red and silver So-Cal Cruiser Amphicar. He says this car is bigger than Thomas' fist. Ok! Be sure not to miss the funny pic of the amphicar floating with its engine on fire and the Thomas figure having to paddle ashore. Funny stuff! But why so many jokes about Tommy N this month? Was he raised by animals in the Australian outback?



Speaking of animals in the Australian outback...I saved this one for last. Lets see...how do we begin? Some people are crazy. That's just how it is. Insanity manifests itself in many different ways. Some people hear voices that aren't there...others shout obscenities about smelling waffles...others show up pantsless on the bus. Peter lego911 builds 47 cars in a month. Let me repeat that in case you missed it...47 cars! In one month! Holy Crap!! lego911 has got to be a Lego car building world record holder. I haven't the slightest clue how he pulls it off or how his Mrs. tolerates him...but 47 cars this month. I can't crack jokes about each one. I just can't...but I urge you to check them all out. Wow...my head is just spinning. 47 cars!

















































Alrighty then, we bring At The Races to a close and this month we bring you Junkers and Clunkers...the only build challenge so far that demands you leave your shiny new show rods at the door in favor of rusted broken down old crap. Maybe someone will build my dad's Aries K wagon...and you thought we'd go this whole round up without a Aries K joke! Stay tuned to see how this all unfolds. I'm sure nothing will be predictable!