Boris, Author at Stuck In Plastic

December 9, 2018December 9, 2018

The Winter Village Station

Second Advent.
The second Sunday in the period of advent. A week closer to the return of the light. Only two more weeks until the turning of the solstice.
Another grey and rainy day here in the Stockholm Archipelago.
A day of some LEGO building and exploring some photographic skills with LEGO Winter Village Station. A story that continues where the Winter Village Fire Station ended last week. The sequel so to say.

A set listening to number 10259

The Winter Village Train Station is still available in the LEGO shop and retails today for 70 EUR give and take. The set is maybe not the most inspiring one in the whole Winter Village series but it is connecting the tracks in our ever developing story… and provides for a good latte or should I say a Santa’s Eggnog or a Ho Ho Cocoa …

Ho Ho, let the story begin.

900 plus pieces, including two trees brings us to the snowy winter landscape where our story from last week continues.

A story of long travels through the barren landscape in a warm and cozy bus. Bus 318 to be exact. A pretty cool bus from the outside. I am not convinced the inside inspires me that much, but it is good enugh to take us to the next level of our story.

When suddenly…

A railroad crossing shows up out of nowhere. In the middle of the white snow.

The crossing and the bus are two distinct elements of this set. Is this where our firemen were called to in the middle of the night (see previous week). Or is this just another cliffhanger in out little build?
Time will tell.
I really did not like the stickers on the railroad crossing and given that this is such a common utility piece, it should really be printed.
It looks good from far, but the close-ups are far from good.
Ho Ho Ho, this set is packed with stickers…

On the other side of the stickers snow

Two new figures show up. Each holds their own sign. And yes, both signs are stickers, but actually here they do work better.

And they do not just come with stickers, but with a true Winter Village train station.

Holding a post box, a ticket office, a coffee shop with a news stand and a magic clock or two. There is of course more in the box and I will come back to the magically “microphone” Amsterdammertjes (sorry Dutch only, more to come). Stay tuned.

Ho Ho Ho. Our friends from the previous set 10263 are coming to the rescue. While train conductor B. is putting the ticket sign up, our firefighting friends show up in their classic fire truck. The late-night telephone call to the Winter Village Fire Station from last week Sunday must have been related …

So we find driver engineer Joan high up on the ladder putting up the Winter Village sign while C. is enjoying one of this special Ho Ho Ho Eggnog’s. Is there some romance in the air?

Wait but why …

Why is our conductor B. waiving with a ticket?
Why is the railroad crossing closed?
Is there more to come?
Why is the clock 20 minutes to twelve?
And what is so special about ticket 0937?
Time will tell.
In this developing story.
Stay tuned, for more breaking news …

The missing ticket

Most probably my absolute favorite piece of this set is the printed ticket tile of mystery ticket 0937. I am sure it will play an important role in the next chapter of this little adventure.
Or not.
But it is really a beautiful piece.

Stay tuned for the next development in this breaking story.

Boris

Taking plastic places.
Exploring my inner child and following Me2’s wanderlust into untold stories for generations to come.
100% Stuck In Plastic.

http://boris.vanrillaer.com

December 3, 2018December 4, 2018

The Corner Garage

Boris - 14 Comments

Last year around this time, The LEGO Group announced my absolute favorite set of 2018. And they are doing it again. The corner garage unveiled.

The new Creator Expert 10264 Corner Garage is the natural extension of the Downtown Diner. No doubt, I will be queuing at my local LEGO store here in Stockholm on January, 2nd to pick up my Xmas present.

Boris

Taking plastic places.
Exploring my inner child and following Me2’s wanderlust into untold stories for generations to come.
100% Stuck In Plastic.

http://boris.vanrillaer.com

December 2, 2018December 3, 2018

Winter Village

Boris - 5 Comments

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. It marks the beginning of the Christian liturgical year, and it officially opens the period of Advent. A period of expectant waiting that finds its origins in the wait for the return of the light. The winter solstice. The longest night. A cup of hot chocolate and deep dark nights with fresh snow on a pale moon. Ahh, winter is coming. And so is the Winter Village Project.

And so it begins.

Here in Stockholm, Sweden it is far from wintery yet. It feels more like the grey November we just left behind. So no better time and place to start the unboxing of the latest Winter Village set. A set that consists out of 1166 pieces, is considered 12+ and falls in the expert build category. A set that listens to the set number 10263 and made me think back directly to the iconic 10197 Fire Brigade.

This beautiful little build retails at 99 EUR in most European countries (89 EUR in Germany) or 99 USD in the US. In Europe this set is on backorder at the time of writing but orders are accepted on the LEGO store and it should ship by December 6th. The US was still shipping.

Boris

Taking plastic places.
Exploring my inner child and following Me2’s wanderlust into untold stories for generations to come.
100% Stuck In Plastic.

http://boris.vanrillaer.com

November 18, 2018November 19, 2018

Once Upon A Brick

Boris - 9 Comments

The new LEGO Ideas Once Upon A Brick set 21315 is available on the shelves today. King Kalle and Queen Victualia could not resist and got their own copy for their royal library. They both love a good book, and have a special place in their heart for historical pop up books and modern creations alike.

The book is created by Fan designers Jason Alleman and Grant Davis. Their names are on the cover of Once Upon A Brick. The book has been co-authored by Alan Talbott and Crystal Marie Fontan. The official LEGO designers taking the LEGO Ideas into a production set. Their images can be found inside the booklet accompanying the book.

The Unboxing

First impressions of the LEGO Ideas box is that it is not the high end box we used to see for LEGO Ideas. It is a classic paper box you wont keep for posterity, and so the unwrapping went pretty fast. I am not sure if I should be disappointed. Or happy as the money went onto what is inside the box.

Boris

Taking plastic places.
Exploring my inner child and following Me2’s wanderlust into untold stories for generations to come.
100% Stuck In Plastic.

http://boris.vanrillaer.com

November 10, 2018November 12, 2018

Voltron

Boris - 1 Comment

A mysterious telephone call

During the summer we got a mysterious call from an undisclosed number on a faraway island, asking us if we would be interested in collaborating on a top secret project. We had to keep it a secret, but we said yes. Of course! We love top secret projects, especially when they involve our favorite kind of plastic, some serious creative challenge and a good portion of photographic fun.

Boris

Taking plastic places.
Exploring my inner child and following Me2’s wanderlust into untold stories for generations to come.
100% Stuck In Plastic.

http://boris.vanrillaer.com

October 14, 2018October 18, 2018

Week 41. Harmony

Boris - 2 Comments

har·mo·ny

(här′mənē)n.pl.har·mo·nies
1.a. An orderly or pleasing combination of elements in a whole:
color harmony; the order and harmony of the universe.
b. A relationship in which various components exist together
without destroying one another:
different kinds of fish living in harmony.
c. A relationship characterized by a lack of conflict or by agreement,
as of opinion or interest: family harmony.

The Origin

Boris

Taking plastic places.
Exploring my inner child and following Me2’s wanderlust into untold stories for generations to come.
100% Stuck In Plastic.

http://boris.vanrillaer.com

October 7, 2018October 13, 2018

Skærbæk

Boris - 1 Comment

It is a wrap.

It is a wrap. Last week around this time Lluis closed the doors of the LUG Lounge on the first floor of the Skærbæk Conference Center, ending the very first SiP Pop Up exhibition. It took place in no less than the iconic Fanweekend.dk in Denmark. A good hour away from Billund. The hometown of the brick. Skærbæk, the Walhalla of (at least the European) AFOLs exhibitions.
And what a wrap it was.
Awesome.
But let’s back up a little and go back to the beginning.

And everything
Goes back to the beginning
Hollow Talk, by Choir of Young Believers
My theme song whenever I cross the bridge to Denmark

Boris

Taking plastic places.
Exploring my inner child and following Me2’s wanderlust into untold stories for generations to come.
100% Stuck In Plastic.

http://boris.vanrillaer.com

September 15, 2018September 16, 2018

Candy Crush

Boris - 10 Comments

Some of you will remember the early days of Candy Crush on Facebook. Friends poaching for you to help them out to get more lives. Advertisement everywhere. And while my partner in crime can be found quite often playing a game of Candy Crush on her iPad, I never downloaded it or made an attempt to give it a go. Too much sugar for me.

By now you will wonder what Candy Crush, one of the most successful freemium online games has to do with toy photography. Clickbait of some sort or a toy photographer went crazy.

The World Greatest Photography Game

For sure not the first, maybe the latter, but hold on, things will clear up pretty soon. I am here to talk about another freemium game that has been on all my social channels over the summer. On Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube I got presented with adds for a new game. A photographic game. A game listening to the name of Guru Shots. The world greatest photography game according to their own website.

Guru Shots, Here I Come.

I could not resist and signed up.
If you want to sign up right away and don’t want to read the whole post, you can do so through my little referral link by clicking here, and let me know, so I will follow you as well but do read on. This is not some kind of infomercial.

Boris

Taking plastic places.
Exploring my inner child and following Me2’s wanderlust into untold stories for generations to come.
100% Stuck In Plastic.

http://boris.vanrillaer.com

August 3, 2018August 5, 2018

Heavy Lifting

Boris - 3 Comments

When The LEGO Group sent us a little email asking if we would be interested to review some LEGO Technic sets, we looked at each other and scratched our head. LEGO Technic is not the obvious sweet spot of the average toy photographer and while we have reviewed iconic LEGO Technic sets in the past with the Porsche and the Bugatti Chiron both reviews were two years apart.

Not your day to day toy photographer sets.Click To Tweet

And while we almost said “no, thanks” I remembered the discussion we had in 2016 in one of our hangouts where I tried to convince Vesa to shoot the LEGO Technic Claas Xerion in the Finnish woods. I got that idea when I saw that beauty in the RLFM days of 2016 in Billund hidden behind the Porsche. And while that idea did not realize itself in 2016, it made me go all in two years later. Be brave and bold and hit the reply button with “Yes, Of course”. Continue reading “Heavy Lifting”

Boris

Taking plastic places.
Exploring my inner child and following Me2’s wanderlust into untold stories for generations to come.
100% Stuck In Plastic.

http://boris.vanrillaer.com

July 30, 2018July 30, 2018

Harry Potter and the second half of muggle shots

Boris - 9 Comments

Just two more nights of sleep before LEGO releases the new Harry Potter Minifigure series around the globe officially.

A new box full of awesome minifigures to delight kids, adults, Harry Potter fans and LEGO toy photographers all around the world and here is part two of our introduction into the magic world of JKR aka …
If you did not read the first one yet, we warmly recommend you zap yourself over to that magical booth and start from the beginning by clicking here.

For all of you who are eagerly waiting for part two of the mug(gle) shot … let’s just dive in with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named after all the good vibes yesterday.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

Tom Marvolo Riddle was born on the last day of 1926 as a half-blood wizard with serious father issues. His pure blood wizard mother was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin and died minutes after giving birth to one of the most powerful and dangerous dark wizards of all time, Lord Voldemort.

Sealed together in the same bag is Nagini. A long, green female snake that belongs to Lord Voldemort. She has a special bond mainly due to becoming a Horcrux after her master had killed Bertha Jorkins and new a piece of his soul is in her and it is obvious in our little photoshoot who is the alpha.