Lego

He’s Addicted to Bricks: Mike Unboxes 3 More Marvel Lego Minifig Wave 2 Boxes [Video]

I did very well this time.  I’m getting more of the figures I really wanted.  You might see some of these end up in upcoming Tee Bone Man Multiverse stories.

The first 2:

Mike Unboxes Marvel Lego Minifig Wave 2 Blind Pack [Video]

Let’s just say I didn’t end up with an A-lister!

Note to those who used the “baggie feel” method to identify figures: Lego just changed your game.

The Adventures of Tee Bone Man: Tee Bone and Superdekes Vs. The Lego

THE ADVENTURES OF TEE BONE MAN
PHASE TWO: THE MULTIVERSE SAGA


Chapter Nineteen: Tee Bone and Superdekes Vs. The Lego

“Woah!  Look what I found!” exclaimed Deke from beneath a pile of boxes.

It was cleaning day at Deke’s Palace.  Time to make everything spic and span, for winter was coming and it was well overdue.

“Is that what I think it is?” asked Tee Bone.  “Has it been sitting here all this time?”

Deke blew the dust off the box.  “We’ve been so busy, we just haven’t had time,” said Deke.  “Hey…I have an idea.  Let’s put cleaning duty on pause.  Let’s build this instead.”  Deke tossed the box over to Tee Bone, who caught it in one hand.

Tee Bone gazed with admiration at the box.  “A custom Lego version of Deke’s Motorcycle, a Christmas gift from the Braniac.  Sure.  Why not.  I haven’t built Lego since I was a kid!  Might be fun, right?”

Deke slowly got up from his crouching position on the floor.  “Absolutely should be a lot of fun!  Let’s get the Scotch and get building!”

The two were now seated across from each other at a large work table.  In his hands, Deke held the Lego box, while Tee Bone looked on.

“Ready?” asked Deke.  Tee nodded yes, and Deke ripped into the box with glee!  He dumped the contents out on the table.  Before them were a dozen clear plastic baggies, all numbered.

“Did Lego always come like this?” asked Deke.  “When I was a kid, I remember boxes with compartments in them.”

“Me too…” answered Tee Bone.  “But this looks easier.  Do we just start with bag one?”

Deke leafed through the instructions.  “Yeah…looks like it.  Ready to open it?”

“Go for it,” nodded Tee.

With a mighty rip, Deke dumped the contents of the baggie onto the table…and onto the floor.

“Oh, shit,” he moaned.

At that, both men got up out of their seats and began crawling on the ground, picking up little coloured bricks of plastic.

“Wow…this one’s pretty cool,” remarked Tee Bone upon spying a neat little brick with studs on all sides.  “We sure didn’t have this one as kids!” he said.

Deke removed his glasses to have a closer look.  “Wow…that’s cool for sure.  So now you can build sideways as well?”

“I guess!” said Tee as he resumed searching.  “In fact I don’t recognize any of these pieces.  Remember when Lego used to be square bricks?”

“That’s how it always used to be!” answered Deke.  “Square bricks, flat pieces, and some wheels.  That’s all I had?”

“Think this new Lego is too challenging for old guys like us?” asked Tee, somewhat serious.

Deke laughed.  “Nahhh!  We’re grown men who save the world on a regular basis!  We’re not going to be taken down by a Lego set for kids!”

“We won’t make it far if we don’t find all these damn parts!” chided Tee Bone.

The two men searched and searched, and after about 45 minutes, were finally satisfied that they had found every last brick, plate, tile, slope, pin, and wheel.  Tee Bone slowly got to his feet, but his legs were cramped and his eyes were strained.  Deke was in roughly the same condition.  He slowly took his seat, making sure not to twist his back in an uncomfortable (eg: painful) way.

“How come I feel like I’ve gone a round with Tyson, and we haven’t even put two bricks together yet?” asked Deke.  “Lego sure ain’t what it used to be!”

Tee Bone had taken his seat and was now leafing through the instruction booklet.  “I don’t even know what these pieces are!” he exclaimed.  “Look for a red thing with holes on the sides,” he asked.

“There’s a lot of red things with holes in the side,” said Deke as he sifted through a pile.  “In fact there’s a couple different shades of red.  Shoot man, when I was a kid, Lego was red, white, blue, black, green, and yellow.  That was it!  I can’t even tell the dark greys from the light greys…”  He squinted.  “Maybe we should go do something else?”

Tee Bone was startled at the suggestion.  “Deke, this says ‘Ages 18 and up’.  How old are we?”

“Well then you look for the red thing with holes, I’m going to put these two black pieces together, like it shows in the instructions,” responded Deke.

Tee Bone shook his head.  “Deke!  Step one, and we already got it wrong.  See, there’s two different black ones there…a left slope and a right slope.  You grabbed the left, but it’s supposed to be the right.  Right?”

Deke squinted again.  “Shit.  This Lego is hard, dude!”

“Don’t tell Brainiac!  Whatever you do, don’t tell Brainiac.  He puts this stuff together while writing articles and making videos at the same time!”  Tee Bone made it clear that he was serious.  His face spoke of severe consequences if Brainiac ever discovered they were having such a hard time.

“Put on a record,” answered Deke.  “Let’s make our pain less…painful.”

Tee Bone chuckled, selected a record, and set the needle on the last track.  “Hee hee,” he mock-chuckled as he tip-toed back to his chair.  Helix blasted through the speakers.

“Bangin’ off-a-the bricks!” belted out Brian Vollmer from the turntable.

Deke gave Tee Bone a deadpan look.  “Seriously?”

Tee Bone laughed.  “Too much?”

“Yeah, and don’t put on ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ next, wise guy!” answered Deke as Tee Bone went to go change the record.

Tee Bone selected something else instead, an album that would remind both of their younger days.  Kiss Alive rested on the platter, and the needle dropped.

“Perfect, the hottest band in the land!” shouted a re-invigorated Deke.  “Let’s kick this Lego’s ass!”  The two high fived each other and got to work.

Three Days Later…

Tee Bone was passed out on the couch.  Deke, in his favourite armchair.  On their work table in the middle of the room stood an impressive sight:  a perfectly built Lego Ultimate Collector’s Series custom Flying Motorcyle, just like the real thing in the garage at the Palace.  They did it.  It took three days, two bottles of Scotch, four pizzas, six Dekeburgers, twenty chicken wings, and the entire discographies of Kiss and Van Halen (1978-1996 only), but they did it.  Now, they slept like babies, exhausted from their work.

Deke’s computer suddenly rang, waking up the superhero from his well-deserved slumber.  He creaked upwards and stumbled towards his desk.  With a touch of the mouse, he answered a video call.

“Hello?” he asked, as his blurry eyes slowly focused.  “Brainiac?  What are you doing calling at…1:00 am??”

Brainiac was on the screen, smiling but puzzled.  “What?  1:00 am?  What are you…oh…Deke…you’ve got your watch on upside down.  It’s 7:00 pm.”

“Oh!  Yeah I knew that,” said Deke trying to cover for himself.  “What’s up?”

“I was just calling to check in, see if you found out anything about Moustachio’s whereabouts…oh hey!  There’s the Lego motorcycle!  Holy shit, it looks great Deke!  How much fun was that to make, eh?”

Deke stumbled over his words.  “Yeah it was really…awesome!  Tee Bone was saying, he…loved doing Lego…and, yeah!”

“…Great!” answered a puzzled Brainiac.  “Well I can see you guys have a lot going on, so I’ll let you get back to it.  So nothing on Moustachio yet?”

Deke was happy to change the subject.  “No, I’m sorry to say, we don’t know what happened to him.  My working theory is that he got sucked through a portal of some kind.  To where…and how…I couldn’t begin to fathom.  I can tell you this goes far beyond anything in our known physics.”  He took a deep breath.  “Sorry man.  We’re not quitting until we find him.”

“I know, you’re good guys.” sighed Brainiac.  “Alright, well, I gotta run, Leafs are losing and Jen’s not happy, so I better go get her some coffee.  You know how it is.  Say hi to Tee for me!”

Brainiac signed off, and Deke breathed a sigh of relief.  He turned in his chair to notice Tee Bone was also awake.

“Thanks for not blowing it to the Brainiac, Deke!  I thought for sure I was going to have to stun you,” smiled Tee Bone.

“Hah-hah,” deadpanned Deke.  Tee Bone then revealed a stun gun under his cape.  He was indeed serious.  The two exchanged looks.  There was an eerie silence as neither man knew how to react.  Finally, Tee Bone broke the silence and chuckled huge guffaws of laughter.

“Aww, crap!” he said.  “I was only going to stun you on the lowest setting, you know!  Payback for stunning me back when I had the cursed Iron Maiden socks, I guess!  But seriously…if the Brainiac ever finds out it took us three solid days to put that thing together, we will never hear the end of it.  You know it’s true!”

Deke pondered, laughed, and put his friend’s mind at ease.  “Don’t worry man, I’m just as embarrassed as you are.  Let’s get some shuteye and we’ll both feel better in the morning.  You know what’s funny?” asked Deke.

Tee Bone gave him the side-eye and answered, “No…”

“What’s funny is that to guys like Brainiac and Harrison, and children of all ages…Lego is fun!”

“Must be something wrong with all them!” shrugged Tee Bone.  “G’night Deke!”

“G’Night, Tee!”

With that, the two heroes went to their rooms, calling it an early night.  The motorcycle stood proudly in the center of the room, shining like a trophy.  An accomplishment.  Which it was.

Looking for a snack, Ripper the squirrel entered the room.  He spied the motorcycle.  Just his size, he reasoned.  No harm could possibly come from trying it out.  Just sitting on it.  Nobody will know.  Ripper forgot that he was hungry, and ran towards the table.  He gingerly climbed aboard.  Lego reminded him of Moustachio.

A mighty crashing sound, deafening to squirrels and chipmunks alike, didn’t even wake the two slumbering superheroes.  The remains of the motorcycle were strewn all over the floor.

“Squee, squee,” he muttered.  Squirrelese for “Aw, crap.”

And with that, Ripper gathered the pieces, opened the instructions, and began assembling the Lego one more time.

The end.

 

 

THE ADVENTURES OF TEE BONE MAN:  PHASE ONE – THE SQUIRREL SAGA 

THE ADVENTURES OF TEE BONE MAN:  PHASE TWO – THE MULTIVERSE SAGA

  • Chapter Eighteen:  Shinzon – Origins (By LeBrain)
  • Chapter Nineteen:  Tee Bone Man and Superdekes vs. the Lego (By LeBrain)
  • Chapter Twenty:  The Death of… (By LeBrain) September
  • Chapter Twenty-One:  The Fate of… (By LeBrain) October

 

  • Noirison:  Chapter One (by Holen)
  • The Mole in Rock and Roll Heaven (by 80sMetalMan) TBA
  • Shinzon – Dread and the Fugitive Mind (By Harrison Kopp) TBA
  • Noirison:  Chapter Two (by Holen) TBA

 

THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES OF EDIE VAN HEELIN’

THE WRITER’S ROOM

 

 

 

VIDEO: Eight Days in June at the Cottage – 2023

We had a lot of fun over the last two weekends.  It is very rare we can get that much cottage time all at once.  Obviously, it had to be captured on video!

In this video you will see:

Hope you enjoy!  All set to the music of Blotto.

 

#1069: A Tale of Three Seizures

RECORD STORE TALES #1069: A Tale of Three Seizures

It happens every few months.  Clusters of seizures, wreaking havoc on our mental health and chaos in the house.

We had a great weekend, but a weekend without seizures of some kind is very rare for us.  We made it all the way to Sunday morning without an event.  Although I didn’t witness them all, I counted three seizures on Sunday morning.

I figure there was one before 2:00 AM.  I woke up around then, and I found my Lego trumpet player smashed.  Jen had no memory of doing it, but she did manage to pick up most of the pieces and put them all aside somehow.  The final missing piece was found in the morning.  They only way we know a seizure happened was because the Lego was smashed, returned, and she had no memory of it.  It’s a bit like piecing a mystery together from the evidence left behind.

The second seizure happened before 5:00 AM.  I am certain that Jen could not get into the bed, because I was sprawled over the whole mattress.  I went looking for Jen.  Not on the couch.  Not on the spare bed.  Not on the parents’ bed.  I lit up all the lights in the house and called for her.  Not in the bathroom.  That’s all the rooms.  I went back into the spare room and she was on the floor.  I assumed she went to bed in the spare room due to lack of options, had a seizure and fell off the bed.  It was very difficult to wake her up and get her into a proper bed.  She was uninjured.

Third seizure was the one I witnessed.  I was outside working on the porch.  In between songs, I heard unpleasant noises coming from the bedroom window.  I looked in and Jen was convulsing.  It took her approximately three hours to come back to reality after that seizure.  And a lot of cleanup that I won’t get into.  Suffice to say it was a tiring and difficult morning for me.

For Jen it was a day of sleeping.  She spent most of it in bed.  I spent the morning watching two of the greatest sequels (with two of the greatest sequel soundtracks) of all time:  The Empire Strikes Back, and The Wrath of Khan.  I wasn’t in the mood to be outdoors.  I wanted to be in where I could better monitor Jen’s recovery.

Incidentally, we have a pretty good idea of what caused the seizures this time.  She missed her meds the previous day.  That’ll do it.

We try not to let these things ruin our weekends.  We had a great five days at the lake, regardless of Sunday being a writeoff for Jen.  We made the best of it.  We had a tomahawk steak for dinner, but I was just wiped out afterwards and called it an early night.

Nobody said it was easy.  But we don’t quit either.  We don’t give up on each other.  We’ve been through enough this year already.  This wasn’t even a roadblock or an obstacle in our lives.  Once it’s over and done with, all that’s left is to write the Record Store Tale.

REVIEW: Lego Ideas Jazz Quartet 21334 Toy Building Kit (1606 Pieces)

LEGO Ideas Jazz Quartet 21334 Toy Building Kit (2022)

$130 Canadian (18+)

It took me two leisurely days to assemble this kit.   I must be getting better at this, or this kit isn’t as hard as some of the Speed Champions car kits (9+).   It consists of four classic era jazz musicians, assembled in four stages from smallest to largest.

Each musician is built in conjunction with his or her base.  The bases were fun in their own right, recalling classic childhood Lego building experiences of the 70’s.  The trumpet player was first, a splindly and fragile figure that you’ll want to pose correctly and leave alone.  His red tie, slightly askew between his suspenders, is really cool.  Each of the three male musicians has a unique tie.

The upright bassist is second.  His deep brown instrument has a real Lego string piece for added effect.  The bass itself looks really cool, while the player is skinny and delicate.  His bowtie is made from a Lego video game controller.

The drum kit was one of the most fun steps.  The bass drum building technique features studs on five sides.  There are no stickers, only printed graphics on the sides.  The snare drum, two toms, and floor tom are all slightly unique from each other.  Likewise the crash, hi-hat and ride cymbals.   They come in a shimmery golden colour, but if you like gold, you’ll love the pianist!   Meanwhile, the drummer has a beard and hat, and an undone bowtie.  His stool is actually built upside down.  Very cool design.

Check out the drum kit below, as it is assembled.

The piano player has a lovely orange dress that was fun to build.  Her gold earrings are old-fashioned chromed design, the same as the One Ring from the recent Rivendell set.  Her piano was one of the most complex sections.  It is very curvy, with shapes that would have been impossible without these newer rounded Lego plates.  For authenticity, inside there are 31 little pieces assembled in a row that resemble that piano’s hammers.  The keys themselves are very nice prints.  There are pedals, and the top can be opened up for you to admire the details inside.

The full stage (including stylin’ looking front steps) measure almost three feet in width.  It’s huge, but fits exactly the space of our old VCR in the entertainment stand.  Fear not though — each musician’s stand / stage section is removable, and you can display them any way you like, even on separate shelves.  They certainly look best all together in the order designed.  My bassist’s head is slightly tilted towards the drums so he can hear them clearly.  The pianist is gesturing to her band, conducting their jam session.  The little posability you get is often limited to shoulders and elbows when you get any at all.  All four musicians have ball-jointed necks.

This is a fragile set and not for play.  Be careful dusting!  But have fun building.

4.5/5 stars

GREAT SCOTT!! Dr. Kathryn, Rob Daniels, Jen & the Mad Metal Man Grab A Stack of Lego & Toys!

Epic Lego-based show tonight, with a splash of vintage Star Wars, some new music, and lots of laughs!  Together, Dr. Kathryn, Rob Daniels, the Mad Metal Man and I viewed and discussed the following:

  • Plenty of Star Wars Lego, both current and old!
  • More Star Wars.
  • 8 track tapes!
  • Simpsons minifigs, and a secret technique for finding a complete set of your own!
  • The new Lego Space Galaxy Explorer anniversary set, mid-build.
  • Jen arrived and showed off her five Spice Girls Brickheadz figures.
  • A pair of questions from Jex Russell the Jexciter.
  • Lego Delorean from Back to the Future.
  • Indiana Jones Lego.
  • …and a sneak preview of a brand new Tee Bone Man villain named Dr. K!

All this and more on this week’s Grab A Stack of Rock.  Thanks everybody for a fun Friday night!

 

Dr. Kathryn, Rob Daniels, and the Mad Metal Man Grab A Stack of Lego and Toys!

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Episode 22:  Dr. Kathryn & Rob Daniels Return!  Lego & Toys!

 

Dr. Kathryn is back!  A knowledgeable expert on all things fun, this time we’re taking a look at Lego and toys.  With her will be Rob Daniels, our resident specialist in sci-fi and cinematic knowledge!

Under the influence of Harrison the Mad Metal Man, my wife Mrs. LeBrain has gone a little Lego crazy!  Therefore we have a lot of Lego around the house now.  Star Wars, cars, Space, and more.  I have a brand new 2022 Galaxy Explorer set that I am excited about.  Jen has the Spice Girls in Lego “Brickheadz” form!  Dr. K has the Delorean from Back to the Future!  She’ll also be showing off her Simpsons Lego collection.  As for Harrison and Rob?  Expect them to be exploring space with their collections…

New “Ask Harrison” question from Jex Russell is on its way, and we’ll also sneak in some music content, with fresh unboxings!  Mr. Durling strikes again…

 

Friday June 2 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

#1065: Even the Best Weekends Can Turn to Crap

RECORD STORE TALES #1065: Even the Best Weekends Can Turn to Crap

It started great!

Thursday night, the music on the trip up to the lake was amazing. We began with The Cult’s Fire Woman EP, and moved on to Michigan Left by the Arkells.  Jen fell asleep in the car and I was left to sing along by myself.  Never a problem!

We came packed with lots of Lego, and plenty of new music to unbox live on Grab A Stack of Rock.  We arrived with coffee, treats and tunes!  Immediately I set up on the front porch and started playing mellow music.  Jim Cuddy’s All In Time is one of the best cottage front porch albums for dancing that I have ever heard.  From rockers to tear-jerking ballads, what an album!  I used to consider it “just a Blue Rodeo album without Greg” but it’s actually far more than that.  Articulating it is hard, but the album evoked emotions and dance moves that Blue Rodeo didn’t.  We also played some of Alice Cooper’s more emotional, cinematic tunes that night.  It was a magical start.

Friday was a wonderful day!  I commenced with some more porch music, and then we hit The Beef Way for our weekend meat!  We chose two T-bone steaks, a turkey breast fillet (for Jen) and a beautiful duck breast (for me).  It was my first duck breast.  I seasoned heavily with salt, pepper and garlic powder to offset that gamey taste.  I scored the fat, cooked it skin side down in a frying pan for 10 minutes to get it cripsy, and finished it in the BBQ.  When finished, you could have mistaken it for steak, it was that good.  The skin was the best part, and I’ll get duck breast from The Beef Way again.  Just an awesome lunch!

Of course, Friday night was Grab A Stack of Rock, and an excellent show was had, almost two hours long!  Grab A Stack really did rock this time!  Lots of new music revealed, to be reviewed in the coming weeks/months, including Journey Through Time.

First thing Saturday morning, I taped an excellent Tim’s Vinyl Confessions, reviewing the new Def Leppard Drastic Symphonies.  I cannot wait until this airs!  Although we were both kind but critical, I’m sure the Fanboy trolls will be out when it’s released on YouTube.  I will of course be posting it here for ease of viewing.  It was possibly my favourite Tim’s Vinyl Confessions that I’ve been involved with to date!

We did “Jazz Saturday” morning with Herbie Hancock’s Quartet.  By recommendation of Robert Lawson, next Jazz Saturday will be to Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life.  It’s ordered and on its way.  Then we switched to the back yard, and built Lego all afternoon.  We are both enjoying the Lego “Speed Champions” series of licensed car models.  They are all roughly the same scale and although they are similar in design, very few of them use the exact same design techniques.  Jen also build a New York City skyline, while I finally finished my knockoff Titanic set.  I’ll never buy knockoff Lego again.  It looks cool complete, but it was very hard to build with confusing instructions and bags.  The final fitting pieces were not up to Lego’s standards.   It does look good, but never again.

It was Saturday evening that turned everything to shit.

I made the steaks, damn perfect if you asked me, and Jen proclaimed “I’m gonna eat the whole thing!”  I was already half full from snacking on chips so I knew I was keeping leftovers.  As she took a mid-meal break, Jen had a seizure.

The coffee spilled.  The Coke spilled.  I could stop neither because I was busy keeping her from falling off her chair.  Eventually I got her safely down, where she soaked herself in spilled coffee.  It took some work to get her into bed.  More seizures later that night.  She fell off the bed, and once again Mike managed to pull off a save.  I’ve lost track of the rest of the seizures that night but we figured it was four or five total.  Not the most restful night, and I was completely exhausted from cleaning up the spills.  I went to bed early and slept in late.  Not the way I usually do things at the cottage.  I like to stay up late and enjoy the creatures of the night.  That didn’t happen this weekend.

I came home Sunday completely exhausted and Jen slept the entire way.  Music on the way home was also mellow:  Ward One: Along the Way and When the Bough Breaks by Bill Ward.  Really good and felt appropriate to my mood.

We will have more Lego to build next time.  My Jazz Quartet set looks challenging and interesting.  Hopefully the next trip will be less eventful!