Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve already seen a LEGO version of Batman’s base. But while that one opted for a vertical build, Carlyle Livingston II and Wayne Hussey chose to make their Batcave sprawl lengthwise. It’s crammed with wonderful details just waiting to be discovered.

According to The Brothers Brick, the diorama is made of over 20,000 parts and weighs over 100lbs. Some of its parts – such as the Batmobile’s turntable and the costume wall – are moved by motors to evoke Batman’s cutting edge technology. Then there’s the excellent lighting that sets the gloomy mood. It took Livingston and Hussey a total of 800 hours over 12 weeks to finish the Batcave.

Want more pictures and video? Quick, to the Flickr!

[via MAKE]

This incredible thing is made entirely out of LEGO pieces. This full-sized Hylian Shield from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has been lovingly recreated by brickbuilders Alyse & Remi otherwise known as Bolt of Blue.

If you have to see this amazing creation in person, you can see it at this years Brickcon in Seattle, WA this weekend. I’m not sure how LEGO pieces it took to create this thing, but it must have been a ton of work. And they clearly have way more talent than I have.

If you are in the Seattle area this weekend check it out and let us know what you thought of it in person.

[via Obvious Winner]

In this world of Star Wars inspired gadgets, sometimes the same device gets rehashed. Yes, we’ve seen an R2-D2 alarm clock before, but that model simply projected the time on the ceiling. This new one actually has movements and sounds like the little droid when it wakes you.

A recent import from Japan, this R2-D2 Action Alarm clock is a precisely-detailed model of R2 (other than the part where there’s an LCD clock hiding out in his chest.) What’s cool about this droid is that you can set him on the floor, and he’ll drive around when the alarm goes off. His head even lights up, and the alarm sounds are based on samples from the films. Just be sure not to step on the 6.5 inch-tall droid on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

You can choose wake-up sounds from Princess Leia’s “Help me Obi Wan Kenobi” message, several R2-D2 beeps and bleeps, as well as the main title music from Star Wars and Cantina Band if you feel like dancing first thing in the morning. Sorry, no Yub Nub, though.

So scoot on over to Strapya World now, where you can grab the R2-D2 Action Alarm Clock for about $100(USD).

I’ve been a huge car guy all my life. My dad had a car lot growing up and I always went with him to buy new cars for his lot. I have a particular love for muscle cars, sports cars, and any car designed to be capable on the track and on the street. I’ve honestly never given the Hyundai Genesis Coupe a second look because it hasn’t been appealing to me.

Cosworth has seriously changed my mind and my opinion of the Genesis Coupe with a concept car that will be on display at the SEMA 2012 show. The car is called the Cosworth Genesis Racing Series and is painted in a sexy satin blue color. The car has a bunch of carbon fiber goodies on the outside including brake cooling ducts, a splitter, and lots more.

Inside, the car gets a wealth of Cosworth goodies including a fancy steering wheel, pedals, and racing seats. Cosworth also fits the car with a set of the brakes and special suspension for track work. The most interesting thing to me is that Cosworth tuned the V6 engine to produce 389 hp and 325 pound-foot of torque. The company promises that the car can spend the day lapping competition at the track and then drive you home in comfort. That’s my kind of car.

LEGOs can be used to make all sorts of contraptions, but I never thought about making a record player out of them. But that hasn’t stopped numerous people from attempting the task over the years – as you’ll find if you do a search on YouTube.

YouTuber Old Music on Vinyl’s LEGO turntable is fully-functional, and has LEGO and Technic components for the base, mechanism and the parts that hold the arm. The platter itself isn’t a LEGO part though, and is actually a giant gear from a toy kit called “The Gear Box.” Of course when I say “fully-functional,” that doesn’t mean that records play properly – something about the instability of the player causes records to play with a horrible, warbly tone that sounds like it came out of a horror movie. Or maybe something you’d hear in the background after Rapture floods in BioShock 2.

Wow, I’m going to have nightmares with that song going through my head now. That sounded like ABBA on quaaludes. So maybe LEGO isn’t the most practical tool for building a good record player, but it’s still kind of cool that people are trying.