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The Canadian Broadcasting Center in LEGO

by on July 17, 2017
in Featured LEGO Creations

(Written by Julio Preuss)

Earlier this month I participated in Brickfête, a LEGO convention in Toronto, where I displayed one of my recently finished models (well, it’s never really finished, but at least it was presentable enough). A replica of the Canadian Broadcasting Center (CBC), the model ended up winning the Best of Brickfête Toronto Award. So, I thought to share a little bit about the building and my LEGO version of it. 🙂

The Canadian Broadcasting Center is the broadcast headquarters and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s English-language television and radio services. It also contains studios for local and regional French language productions, and is the home to the North American Broadcasters Association as well (photo from Wikipedia).

I’m a product manager on CBC’s Digital Operation team, and every day as I have been walking towards the southeast corner of the building, I kept thinking that it had such a LEGO-ish look. I love LEGO, and I love CBC, so it made perfect sense to recreate the building in LEGO.

It took me around six months to design and build the model. I started with some digital sketches back in January, then began gathering the necessary LEGO pieces. I built mostly in the evenings and weekends.

In the meantime, I have also learned about the Canada Builds 150 Project, which is an initiative by LEGO fans Simon Liu from ToroLUG and Adam Dodge from SLUG to recognize Canada’s 150th birthday by highlighting the diversity of the Canadian identity as seen through the eyes of LEGO hobbyists and artists from across the country. Through the project, LEGO fans from across Canada showcase their models based upon moments in Canadian culture and history, architecture, wildlife, and images of national significance. My CBC model seemed to be a perfect match for the project.

To give you an idea about the size of the model, I ordered around 30,000 pieces, which doesn’t account for the pieces I already had in my collection, so yes, it is big. The missing parts came from LEGO’s Pick-A-Brick section and from other LEGO fans via BrickLink. It took 49 BrickLink orders from 45 different stores in 11 countries to get all the parts!

The only non-LEGO elements are lighting components from BrickStuff.com, and the “big screen TV”, which is actually a disguised cell phone. Some slightly modified LEGO pieces are the CBC/SRC custom engraved bricks, and the girders that support the atrium were custom chromed by fellow LEGO enthusiasts. The display also includes 150 minifigs to match Canada’s birthday, including all skin-colors and age-groups, a couple of wheelchair users, and two costumed characters.

So how much all of that cost, you might ask. I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. Probably more than I should have spent, especially since I bought everything at retail prices. This project is a labor of love, and I’m grateful that I was able to build it.

I think what people liked about the model is that it doesn’t just faithfully recreate the external features of the real building, but it also includes things like working lights and a big screen TV. And it has a lot of fun activities going on the inside as well. I have included some pictures here, and feel free to visit my flickr album for more.

Even though this is not an official CBC project, the model was so popular that it will be on display in the CBC atrium on July 19th and 20th for CBC Kids Days. After that, it will probably be moved to a semi-permanent display close to the CBC Museum. It’s definitely better to have people enjoy the model, rather than having it sit in my basement. Below are some fun facts about some hidden features of the model:

  1. Can you spot the CBC Radio producer going bananas in his Halloween costume?
  2. Someone is trying to microwave something forbidden by our office policy. What is it?
  3. We do have beehives on the roof. Once a year employees can buy tasty CBC honey.
  4. The round room next to the hive is the Artist Lounge. A former figure skater is giving a talk.
  5. We used to have paper airplane competitions in the atrium. Some employees miss them.
  6. We use lots of sticky notes on whiteboards. Can you find some in a boardroom?
  7. There is a zombie product manager wandering around. If you see him, run!
  8. Speaking of running, did you see Rasputin, the mail robot, chasing a scared coop student?
  9. We call that block of elevators in the Atrium “The Green Monster”, but don’t be afraid of it.
  10. The host in the TV studio is Peter Mansbrick. Thankfully, LEGO celebrities never retire.
  11. Speaking of celebrities, did you see Matt Leggoway, radio host of Bricksburg Morning?
  12. How about Brick Mercer catching some sun while waiting for the opening of his show?
  13. The room with all the screens is not a Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! It’s the Master Control.
  14. There is a LEGO model of the CBC building in this LEGO model of the CBC building.
  15. While you are at the CBC Museum, say “Hi!” to Mini Dressup and the Friendly Minigiant.

And here are some factual facts about the LEGO CBC model:

  1. The outside of the LEGO model has the same number of windows as the corresponding section of the real building, where each window “pane” corresponds to an entire floor.
  2. The real Toronto Broadcasting Center is 13 stories tall, including three underground levels, and totals 1.72 million square feet. The atrium is only 5% of that area.
  3. The CBC building was built from 1988 to 1992 at a cost of $ 350 million to replace 20 individual facilities that were scattered around the city.
  4. The pillars have black footings to represent the 3,000 rubber pads that protect the sensitive studio equipment from vibration caused by nearby train tracks.
  5. The real building houses 3 radio studios, 19 radio production studios, 3 television studios, 2 local television studios, 2 all-purpose studios and 1 national news studio.

I hope you had a good time reading about this project, and maybe learned a thing or two about this interesting building. If you are in Toronto, you are welcome stop by to see it on display. And if you have any questions or comments, feel free to share them in the comment section below! 😉

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LEGO Minecraft The Mountain Cave review

by on July 15, 2017
in Other LEGO Sets & Themes

One new set that we haven’t talked about yet is the enormous #21137 LEGO Minecraft Mountain Cave. With 2,863 pieces, this is the largest LEGO Minecraft set released to date, and because the set is built of mostly standard LEGO bricks, it is also one of the largest sets as far as overall size. So let’s talk about this beast! 🙂

Something I would like to point out right away is that you don’t have to be a Minecraft fan to appreciate this set. The price/piece ratio is less than 9 cents, which means that it is also valuable to those who would like to bulk up on basic LEGO elements in nice earthy colors. To give you an idea of some of the interesting pieces, the set includes eighteen 2×2, eight 2×6 and twelve 6×6 sand-green plates (yes!), twenty-nine 2×2 bricks and 18 2×2 slopes in translucent-blue, twelve 1×4 masonry bricks and seven 6×6 plates in nougat, and lots of basic bricks and plates in white, tan and reddish-brown. The bulk of the set is light-gray, including some very useful basic pieces, like sixty-two 1×2 bricks, thirty-six 1×6 bricks, ten 1×16 bricks and eighteen 1×16 LEGO Technic bricks (yes to both!), twenty-eight 1×2 corner bricks, eighty-three 1x2x2 bricks (another yes!), fifty-six 2×6 bricks, twenty-eight 2-stud wide wall panels, eighteen 2×4 tiles, forty-six 1×6 tiles, and more. There are also some other colors like various shades of green, yellow, orange, red, blue, dark-gray, black, and translucent colors. Not a lot of small pieces in the set, which is why model ends up being so large. Oh, and we shouldn’t forget the sweet light-brick!

And of course, for LEGO Minecraft fans The Mountain Cave is meant to be the crown jewel of their layout, and the ultimate set in their collection. Keep in mind that the set is huge, measuring over 12” (31cm) high, 20” (53cm) wide and 11” (29cm) deep, so you will need a lot of space to display it. It practically needs its own table! Speaking of Minecraft fans who are always looking for more characters, the set includes Steve and Alex, plus a cave spider, wolf, baby wolf, slime, 2 small slimes, 2 bats, zombie, enderman, skeleton, sheep and a charged Creeper. The charged Creeper is definitely the best, but I also like the big slime with the small slimes inside – lots of fun.

The main moving play-feature of the set is the minecart track, which waves through the entire model, and also includes a minecart elevator. The first set that included a minecart and minecart track was the #21118 LEGO Minecraft the Mine from 2014. The track was quite choppy, especially at the corners, so LEGO improved the system with some new pieces that were introduced in the #21130 LEGO Minecraft The Nether Railway (see below). The corners were replaced with new curved tiles, and the connections between the tiles are made with a special new piece. The overall result is a much smoother ride for the minecart.

Besides the minecart track and elevator, there are lots of other simple but fun and functional play-features, which are a characteristic of LEGO Minecraft sets. This includes TNT blasting, explosions, lava bursts, traps, and more. The light-brick function is a nice touch and can be slipped into a number of different areas to illuminate the rotating spider-spawner, wall of redstone, jack o’lantern, first-night shelter, furnace, lava or the torch above the cave entrance. If you have more than one light-bricks, you can make this feature even more awesome! I also wanted to mention that big cave at the back, and all the little nooks, corners and hiding places throughout the terrain that make this set so interesting!

Just like all other LEGO Minecraft sets, the layout of the Mountain Cave is modular. This means that chunks of the set are built as a unit, and they can be swapped around to quickly and easily create a different layout without taking apart the whole model. The back of the instruction manual includes a couple of alternate layouts as inspiration, and of course, you can make your own as well.

All in all, The Mountain Cave is an excellent set for LEGO Minecraft fans, and it is also a great parts-pack of basic LEGO elements. The construction is very solid, and the play-features are fun and interesting. I would have perhaps liked to have a bit more modular sections like in some of the other LEGO Minecraft sets, however because the cave is hollow inside and need structural stability, I think LEGO designers did the best they could with the layout. In the video-player below, JANGBRiCKS will take you on a tour of the set, so you can see review all the features and functions in more detail. I have also included the speed-build (also from JANG), and the designer-video and behind-the-scenes video from LEGO. Enjoy!

Here if the official description for your convenience: Build and experience the Mountain Cave, featuring an amazing minecart track with an integrated redstone‑powered minecart elevator, and an array of other features and functions, including TNT blasting, rotating spider‑spawner, charged Creeper explosion and a lava burst. Position the light-brick to illuminate the rotating spider-spawner, wall of redstone, jack o’lantern, first-night shelter, furnace, lava or the torch above the cave entrance. Enjoy hands‑on Minecraft adventures featuring your favorite characters and objects with this easy-to-reconfigure, modular LEGO Minecraft set designed for young fans of the highly successful sandbox video game. Includes 2 minifigures: Steve and Alex, plus a cave spider, wolf, baby wolf, slime, 2 small slimes, 2 bats, zombie, enderman, skeleton, sheep and a charged Creeper. Measures over 12” (31cm) high, 20” (53cm) wide and 11” (29cm) deep. 2,863 pieces. Price: $249.99 – BUY HERE

Please note that The Mountain Cave is currently out of stock due to popularity, however LEGO does accept backorders on the set, and it will ship by July 23rd, so the wait is not that long. If you are interested in purchasing the set, I would suggest to get it earlier than later, so your order is further ahead in the queue. You can find it under the LEGO Minecraft section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Minecraft The Mountain Cave? Do you have it already, or are you planning to get it? Feel free to share your thoughts and own review in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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