For the public display event at Rockefeller Plaza next month, I’m rebuilding Domaster with a major upgrade. The people have spoken… MOAR BATTERIES!! (oh, and better, sturdier flexibility, too)
- Baron von Brunk
At last, the evil Segacon “Gearhead” and his minions Supersonic and Knucklepunch make their debuts as the newest LEGOformers in my array of mechanized warriors!
Following in the same popular footsteps of Domaster & Tetrawing — the Game Boy & Tetris game — this brutal soldier transforms into a bulky SEGA Game Gear, and is accompanied by two Sonic games (Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Blast)! For primary weapons, Gearhead uses his battery blaster rockets attached to the shoulders, and in his left hand is a shotgun cannon powered by Chaos Emeralds! Gearhead transforms 100% without removing parts, and converts back and forth solely through bending/folding joints in his legs, arms, chest and so such.
With the hindsight of the previous LEGOformers, building this project wasn’t as difficult to engineer as expected, as I had my own previous work to reference. However, there were several challenges nonetheless. The first was making room for the games to fit in the back with the batteries simultaneously. This caused me to frequently disassemble the rear pieces and rearrange them in order to allow enough clearance for the cartridges to slide through with ease. Building the games themselves was also a challenge, and despite my best efforts, they’re a little thicker than a typical Game Gear game — and are about as thick as a Genesis cartridge. I had to sacrifice battery space yet again; I’m sure purists will scoff at the fact that this toy only fits two batteries, unlike a real Game Gear which used six AAs. Finally, the issue with the stickers/labels was a painstaking battle that took a third and final attempt to accomplish. Initially I printed custom waterslide clear decals similar to Domaster’s, but alas, they would not appear against black. Then I opted for laser printer address labels from Avery, which were a disaster. At last I discovered a little hole-in-the-wall print shop in Manhattan that printed 8.5”x11” full-page glossy sticker sheets for only $5 — so I crammed every single label graphic (with multiples) onto one big PDF sheet in Adobe Illustrator, and printed it as a master label!
I’d like to dedicate this project to Albert Cadabra, a New York City based magician and sideshow performer: thanks to his good word and connections, I’m soon going to get my own live performance art show involving assembling a giant LEGO sculpture at Ripley’s in Times Square! Also special thanks to Albert’s gorgeous gal-pal Dangrr Doll, a geeky burlesque dancer who performs a staple Sonic the Hedgehog striptease with D20 Burlesque’s “8-Bit Beauties” show!
Full unabridged photo shoot:
All projects built by me during late May to early July 2012, and photographed with my Sony camera and light tent on July 3rd, 2012.
-Baron von Brunk
P.S. - Whilst I never ask for donations, since my LEGO creations are all funded out of my own pocket, I do however ask for feedback and encouragement to keep cranking out the custom models. With that said, I’ve entered my recent LEGOformers to CUUSOO: a website where fans and creators can submit their original LEGO projects with the intention of potentially getting their work mass-marketed in stores as official LEGO toys. If an entry gains 10,000 supporters, the folks in the research & development team at LEGO will personally review the project and consider making it into a real product line! After all, how do you think the forthcoming LEGO Minecraft series got made!? Supporting requires no cash donations whatsoever, and merely involves joining, voting, and leaving feedback!
New Nintendoformer - “Moltron”, a replica Pokémon Red cartridge that transforms into a futuristic robotic version of legendary bird Moltres!
Using the same basic transformation cycle, construction and label-application method as my Tetris game bird Tetrawing, this robot is part of a new series I’m making of Game Boy games that turn into legendary birds. I sort of jumped the gun with this one, as I planned on making all three original birds simultaneously: Articuno as Pokémon Blue and Zapdos as Pokémon Yellow — which are currently awaiting their remaining pieces to arrive in the mail from Bricklink.com. Stay tuned, kids!
-Baron von Brunk
In addition to my previous t-shirt design, here it is — Plasmashock à la t-shirt graphic! Plasmashock was my first Nintendoformer, who was intended to resemble Megatron/Shockwave but ended up looking like a Decepticon Seeker jet such as Starscream. Regardless, this graphic will be mainly neon orange ink on a black shirt, and unfortunately without any glow-in-the-dark ink — unlike Domaster, who’ll glow his proverbial ass off!
First phase of my forthcoming Game Boy Transformer t-shirt design! I’m going to splurge the money and get all sorts of extra colors and materials used in this design — notably the glow-in-the-dark and fluorescent ink! Everything you see that appears to be lime green shall have a layer of glowing ink over top of it, and everything gray shall possibly have metallic glitter or silver on it.
I can’t name a definite date as to when these will be for sale, but probably within the next months or so, and the unit cost will be between $15-25, assuming the production costs aren’t too high. Remember, I’m not out to get rich, I’m out to slap my artwork on the chest of every decent geek in the nation! And yes, I’ll probably create a Plasmashock NES Zapper shirt, too!
By the way, please help support this original LEGO creation on CUUSOO — if we can get 10,000 supporters, LEGO Group will personally discuss having this sold as a real toy! Supporting doesn’t mean paying any money; simply login to CUUSOO, click “support” and leave some quick feedback!
-Baron von Brunk
You wanted the ultimate fan tribute to video games, Transformers & LEGO united as one, so I created The Nintendoformers! Next you wanted to potentially take a stab at building your own clone versions, so I provided you with instructions! And now, Brunkamaniacs, we can possibly have these bad boys mass marketed de facto and de jure — if we can get 10,000 supporters on LEGO Cuusoo, the fine folks at the research & development team of LEGO Group will personally review and make arrangements to have this sold as a real set — with an actual license from Nintendo and/or Hasbro!
http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/14089 - simply join, click “support”, leave feedback and share! No money nor donations of any kind required, folks!
Brunkamania lives forever!
-Baron von Brunk
P.S. - Check out May 2012’s issue of Nintendo Power… I’ll be interviewed in a 2-page spread in regards to these projects and my airship!
LEGO / Game Boy / Transformers instructional guide & parts list!
At last, the long-anticipated 3-D instructional guide of the ever so popular LEGO / Game Boy / Transformers mashup! In the link below, you’ll see step-by-step building instructions, in addition to a complete list of parts, resources where to download the custom labels, and further reading — like making your own multicolored clones and design variations…
http://www.instructables.com/id/LEGO-Game-Boy-Transformer-Official-Parts-List-/
Some of the 3-D CAD renders which you’ll see in the guide:
-Baron von Brunk
Behold: Domaster & Tetrawing — heroic Nintendobots! Transforming from Game Boy system & Tetris game to robot & bird, and back!
Update 4/11/2012 - Want to see these bad boys mass marketed in major retailers? Then help support the latest CUUSOO entry! If we gain 10,000 supporters — who support by simply joining, voting and commenting, and NOT through donations — LEGO will personally consider having this sold as a real toy!
Update 4/8/2012 - The instructional guide is now completed and ready for viewing on Instructables! Parts list, transformation cycles, and information on obtaining pieces — all included!
The name Domaster is an amalgamation of “Dot Matrix with Stereo Sound”, the blurb written above the screens of old Game Boys. The name Tetrawing was coined by New York burlesque girl Dangrr Doll (@dangrrr_doll on Twitter) who does a nerdy Tetris-themed routine with D20 Burlesque!
This project was the sequel to my popular Nintendo/Transformers crossover, “Plasmashock” the NES Zapper. I spent about a month or so (give or take) working on this Game Boy and cartridge — the latter of the two took freakin’ forever to engineer properly. The final touches of the Game Boy came the custom water-slide clear decals that I printed for the first time ever, and surprisingly didn’t screw up a whole lot (aside from the obvious crooked “Nintendo Game” half above the right thigh of the robot). Also, the “Dot Matrix” label printed out much darker than expected on my laser printer, ergo it’s hard to see — but the blue-on-gray text for the buttons and Game Boy logo look damn fine! As for Tetrawing, his sticker is actually a high-res computer printout on glossy paper, cut apart like a puzzle and decoupaged to his LEGO frame with the help of Elmer’s Glue.
The 2 AA battery blasters are a nice touch, if I must say so myself. It wasn’t really difficult trying to engineer a sturdy but hollow system for the back of the legs to keep the two batteries — if anything, the head and arms took the longest to build on the robot. The arms turn sideways and fold behind the screen, whilst the head is attached to a series of hooks and hinges to fold back. The robot’s feet fold at 90° angles and then slide into the lower legs. The legs rotate and form the bottom of the Game Boy. I used tiles to create the D-pad, A & B buttons, and the Select/Start buttons — which also took some time to figure out — originally I had planned to use thin, small gray bars to be the Select/Start buttons, and even tried using the small headlight clips from Star Wars Clone Trooper helmets.
-Baron von Brunk
Plasmashock: Heroic Nintendobot — Transforms from NES Zapper Pistol to robot & back!
Here it is, the final version and high-res display of my newest creation: Plasmashock, the NES Zapper pistol & Transformers ultimate geeky crossover!
For its transformation mechanism, I built it more similar to Megatron rather than Shockwave; both Transformers used their gun handles as legs, only Shockwave formed his arms to make the barrel, whilst Megatron’s arms formed the stock, and his barrel was a separate attachment (which became his fusion cannon in robot mode). Henceforth, when Plasmashock transforms into robot mode, the orange Zapper barrel becomes his side gun!
Some original Transformers (notably Starscream/Skywarp/Thundercracker) would only transform as toys by removing/adding multiple pieces, such as fists and landing gear, whilst others could easily switch back and forth by folding joints — Plasmashock does both; to go from gun to robot, his trigger becomes removed and attached to his head to make face decorations, and the barrel of course separates to make the side gun. Otherwise, the legs fold from the gun handle, the arms are made from the stock, the head rotates and rests inside the chest.
-Baron von Brunk
P.S. - I plan on making a large replica of a Nintendo Entertainment System that transforms into a giant robot, much akin to Metroplex and/or Fortress Maximus! Stay tuned, loyal Brunkamaniacs.
Plasmashock!
Transforms from NES Zapper pistol, to robot and back!
Plasmashock is gallant fighter from the Nintendobots faction, battling the evil forces of the Segacons!
These are the preliminary photos taken of my latest creation; later this week, I’ll re-shoot this robot with my professional makeshift light rigging for better image quality.
