MELO 2014-2015 - In Dreams

Hey, the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics is just about done, and now I'm finally getting around to blogging about it. You've probably already scene the finalists, but rather than jump straight to them, let's go back to the beginning. The first round was open ended - anyone could build a MOC based on one of six songs from the Peter Jackson movies. 73 entered, and the best 32 went on to the head-to-head match-ups in round 2.

I think there were only two entries inspired by In Dreams.

Mark McPeek's In the Dreams of the Hobbit advanced to Round 2.



Reese Hawthorne's When the cold of winter comes.. just missed advancing.

Sneaky Little Hobbitses

Letranger Absurded made Sneaky Little Hobbitses as part of the Eurobricks contest.

Goldberry's Spring

Burlogh built Goldberry's Spring.

Flight to the Ford

Sorry about the lack of blog posts for three weeks, life has been hectic. In the meantime I've bookmarked a lot of MOCs to put here. For instance, NaNeto posted his Flight to the Ford.

Ford of the Bruinen

Next up in the Arte em Peças display is someone's (who?) Ford of the Bruinen.

Prancing Pony

Back to the Arte em Peças display, I've previously blogged Naneto's Long Expected Party and Luis' Buckleberry Ferry, so the next stop for our heroes is the Prancing Pony by Naneto.

Arte em Peças

Participants in the Arte em Peças gathering last month put together a great Tolkien display.

Gandalf at Weathertop

Pif500 shows us Gandalf at Weathertop.

Slipping on the Ring

Digger1221 used camera tricks (NOT photoshop) to show Frodo Slipping on the Ring at the Prancing Pony.

Attack on Weathertop

Legopard has this great scene atop Weathertop. Be sure to also check out some of the details around the outside in addition to the action above.

MELO round 1 selected MOCs - FotR

Here are some more selected MOCs from the qualifying round of the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics. These are focused on scenes from Fellowship.

David made a great rendition of the Old Forest and the Barrow Downs full of features like Old Man Willow with moving parts, the opening barrow, and everyone's favorite singing fool, Tom Bombadil.




Justin Knelsen shares the House of Tom Bombadil.


Aiden Frusher shows the difficulties encountered on Caradhras, as does Jedi Master Ronin.



Finn Tegotash shows Gimli kneeling at Balin's Tomb.


Patrick Devine has a nice little micro version of the Argonath.

MELO round 1 - more selected MOCs

Here are some selected MOCs depicting scenes from the from the qualifying round of the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics.

AM had a clever idea to feature the film crew for the Jackson movies On set at Bag End.


Legopard has Bilbo making a Last Look at Bag End before setting out on an adventure.


Hugo Van has a troll ask What's a burrahobbit doing in my pocket? Dodge has the trolls Turned to Stone.



Kenton Lanier has a great version of Gollum's Cave.


Matthew Oh has Laketown under attack in Fire and Water.

MELO Round 2 - Orthanc bracket part 1

More from round 2 of the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics, here is part 1 of the Orthanc bracket.

Kyle Ransom was pitted against Garrett A with the category A shortcut to mushrooms. Kyle Ransom advanced.



Jackson Williams was pitted against Hugo Van with the category Weathertop. Jackson Williams advanced.



LukeClarenceVan The Revanchist was pitted against A Sargent with the category The Council of Elrond. LukeClarenceVan The Revanchist advanced.



David was pitted against Toa Infernum with the category The caverns of Isengard. Toa Infernum advanced.

MELO round 2 - Barad Dur bracket part 1

Continuing on in our look back, round 2 of the MELO pitted 32 builders in head-to-head matches. I'll break this into four posts. Here's part 1 of the Barad Dur bracket.

Buurli Burri was pitted against Mister Lego with the category A Long Expected Party. I can't find Buurli Burri's MOC online any more, but he advanced.


Justin M was pitted against Poggle 55 with the category The Prancing Pony. Poggle 55 advanced.



Disco 86 built for the category Flight to the Ford, but his opponent did not enter. So Disco 86 advanced by default, but this was a really cool creation and he probably would have advanced regardless.


Kenton Lanier was pitted against Aidan Frusher with the category Fool of a Took!. Kenton Lanier advanced.

Weathertop

Borda built the attack on Weathertop.

The Road Goes Ever On

I've been wanting to post a lot of the great Tolkien MOCs that have been created as part of the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics, but have been frustrated by MOCpages' current problems. I know, many of these are posted here and there on Flickr and Brickshelf, but rather than hunt around I'll just wait until MOCpages is healthy again. In the meantime, though, I'll feature my own entries, as I also have them on Flickr. My qualifying round entry was The Road Goes Ever On.

The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began,
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

Fourth-wall commentary: As a challenge to myself I decided to illustrate poems for all of my entries. Many people skip over the poems in Tolkien, which I think is a mistake. They often help set the mood, or give important historical background to the action. Here, for instance, Bilbo brings an end to adventures and perhaps looks ahead to his own death. I was pretty happy with how this came out, in that I thought I achieved what I was looking for with a weary hobbit coming to the inn at the end of a day's journey and warm light coming out of the doorway. The inn is vaguely based on the Prancing Pony, in that Tolkien describes an arch leading to a courtyard between the wings of the inn and the door to the common room off to the left. My courtyard became more of a stable area, and there's only one side to the inn. Plus I've got a dragon insignia, so it must be another inn. Two stories, though, so it must not be in the Shire.

Prancing Pony

Thorskegga's Prancing Pony is on display at a LEGO store in Watford, England. I actually think the lighting is better in this pic by Gary Davis.

Christmas at the Prancing Pony

Greybrick wishes you all a merry Christmas.

Unexpected Journey

K.Kreations is getting ready to see the first Hobbit movie.

Happy Halloween

Brotherhood Workshop has created another great video for the season: A Hobbit Halloween.