There are guys who take competitions very seriously, and lisqr is one of those. With his entry for category 1 of the competition Eurobricks Batman Contest, he has just set the bar very, very high for the other participants.

It presents the Axis Chemicals factory, where Red Hood will become the Joker by falling into a vat of toxic waste. We can also evoke the Jack Napier of Tim Burton's Batman who becomes the Joker following a bath in the same vat of toxic waste.

This MOC recreates the industrial atmosphere of the place well, with its pipes, grids, control dials and metal stairs while keeping a certain side comic. With a few well-chosen minifigs, it could even make a nice set from the Superheroes range ....

I let you go see the other photos of this pretty MOC, and you will discover on the dedicated topic at Eurobricks the vat in which the Joker became Batman's worst enemy ...

I come back to an MOC which is undoubtedly the most successful when it comes to the famous scene of the arrival of Darth Vader and his henchmen on the Tantive IV ou Rebel Blockade Runner, vessel carrying Leia Organa and commanded by Captain Antilles who will suffer the wrath of Vader.

Small precision precisely at the level of the name of this vessel of which LEGO has used the two names for the two sets released:  10019 UCS Rebel Blockade Runner (2001) et 10198 Tantive IV (2009). It is indeed the same vessel and the nickname of Rebel Blockade Runner comes from its use by Corellian smugglers to break down the imperial blockades .....

This MOC perfectly reproduces the sanitized atmosphere of the ship's corridors when it was taken by Vader. The use of new and still shiny LEGO parts is the key to this type of reflections on the floor of this type of MOC. The pale lighting is also one of the elements that make this scene a perfect recreation of the one in the film.

In the meantime, you can see other photos of this MOC on MOCpages and discover in particular a photo of the complete construction used for these scenes.

As we never have enough, and we find it hard to go a month or two without spending a little money on our favorite passion, I got it into my head to search on Bricklink for some exclusive sets distributed over the years at San Diego Comic Con.

I do not regret the deadlock on Cube Dudes 2010 (selling price between 70 and 250 €) that I find awful and without particular interest or on the series of Collectible Display Set sold between 80 and 150 € each and which boil down to 3 minifigs stuck on a plate and packed in a box without much interest.

I must say that the prices also honor the rarity of these two sets that I find more interesting: Comic Con Exclusive Clone Wars Set from 2008 and  Comic Con Brickmaster Pack of 2009.

First example: The Comic Con Exclusive Clone Wars Set sold for $ 75 at Comic Con 2008 and produced in 1200 copies. It contains 16 minifigs (1 x Captain Rex, 4 x Clone Troopers, 1 x Battle Droid Commander, 6 x Battle Droids and 4 x Super Battle Droids) and actually consists of sets 7670 Hailfire Droid & Spider Droid (2008) 7654 Droid Battle Pack (2007), to which were added Captain Rex and 4 x Clone Troopers. This exclusive set also includes a poster.

Its current selling price for a new MISB version varies between 134 and 250 € (i.e. a price multiplied by 3 in 3 years)  according to sellers on Bricklink.

The other set that particularly appeals to me for its collector aspect is the Mini Republic Dropship Mini AT-TE Brickmaster Pack from 2009. Limited to 500 copies and sold for $ 49.99 at Sans Diego Comic Con in 2009, it is on sale today between 100 and 250 € on Bricklink.

It contains a Republic Drospship and an AT-TE for a total of 202 coins. I must admit that I am still hesitant to spend such sums on these two anecdotal sets, but which are all the same real sets in the LEGO spirit unlike other exclusive products at Comic Con in San Diego which are more promotional gadget ....

The 2011 edition of BrickCon held in Seattle on October 1st and 2nd was marked by the superb MOC "The Last March of the Ents"which somewhat eclipsed another equally spectacular creation: Mines of Moria (MOC flickr gallery at BrickCon 2011) which reconstructs down to the smallest detail this underground space where majestic columns are aligned for a striking effect.

But even stronger, we must go back to Brick World Chicago 2011 which was held in June 2011 to see that this MOC is only a very small part of a titanic collaborative project reconstructing dozens of scenes and places from the world of Lord of the Rings.

If you are a fan of Tolkien's universe, you will not remain indifferent to the photo gallery published on MOCpages on the occasion of this event.

As with all licenses for which LEGO has not yet released anything official, customs of all kinds are flourishing and invading flickr galleries.

Lord of the Rings is no exception to the rule and there are hundreds of customs that can be found as in this photo above which includes customs designed by Baron Von Brick with Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Sam, Pippen, Frodo, Merry, Aragorn and Boromir. We can discuss the choice of parts or heads of these minifigs, but we must recognize that the set is worthy of being included in an official LEGO set ....

There are some other recent achievements like these minifigs of Gollum, Sam and Frodo proposed by Mcshipmaster. There is no doubt that the pace will accelerate with regard to the production of customs in 2012 on the LOTR theme with the buzz surrounding the release of the first film. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey by the end of 2012.