Nifty Fifties, Daddy-O Roundup

Sweet baby jeebus, I am off to a late start writing this roundup! That's because I'm still feeling the love from BrickCon 2012 early this month. We had so many LUGNuts attend that we were all meeting old friends for the first time. Dylan came out all the way from Nebraska and Gilcelio, the party animal, as it turns out, made the journey all the way from Brazil! And let's not forget Anthony. Who the heck is Anthony, you might ask...its ok, I said the same thing. Anthony is sort of a silent stalker and major fan of LUGNuts. The kid has some mad skillz with the car building so hopefully he'll come out from behind that curtain and join in on our reindeer games. As Mad magazine calls their staff, "the usual gang of idiots" was also there, minus Nathan this year. You missed out, Nathan. All of us have scores of unpublishable photos from the after parties that will never see daylight. Don't worry, guys and girls. Your secrets are safe with me. What happens at BrickCon stays at BrickCon. Right, Gary? Wink, wink, smiley face. Alrighty, with that said, lets hide away the naked photos and get to this month's roundup for the challenge called Nifty Fifties, Daddy-O...all about automobiles from the fifties. Daddy-O.

Tim Inman was there. He got rear ended on the way up from SoCal and all of his LEGO MOCs turned to chop suey. He spent all of Thursday and Friday restoring them back to life including this dirty thugged-out ratrod he calls Yellowjacket. Way to class up the joint, Tim!



Aww cripes! Is this happening already? Yes, its Peter Blackert's legendary flurry of productivity. Make yourself some coffee. Get comfortable. Have some cheese and crackers. Maybe some hot cocoa with the little marshmallows...maybe some gin...I don't know, whatever you do to relax. Its gonna be a long journey starting with this neat 1950 Merc.



Chevy produced the Corvette and Ford had to come up with their own solution...in this case, Peter renders the 1955 Thunderbird, dubbed as the "personal luxury car." Turns out this car outsold the Corvette by a large margin. Hah! In your face, Chevy!



But Chevy...and incidentally Peter, had a few tricks up their sleeve including the 1958 Impala, which was the ulitimate late-50's American dream car on wheels. He cleverly makes most of his entries look like original ads from the 50's. This one says "you'll get that Chevy feeling-fast". I'm definitely feeling that Chevy Feeling.



Or did I just wet myself? I don't know. Its hard to keep the bodily fluids contained in the giddy afterglow of BrickCon. I mean, I have my own trading card now! Yep, the ever awesome Brandon Griffith put out a series of trading cards and nothing puts a swagger in your step like signing your own trading card for all your adoring fans. Oh, and Peter built a really cool 1959 Cadillac Series 62 4-Door 6-Window sedan.



And appropriately enough, the card series is called Studs. So, in case there was any doubt that I am a big stud, I now have proof in trading card form. Me and Mickey Mantle are tight now. We both know what it's like to be a public hero tasked with signing trading cards for screaming kids and more than a few good looking moms. Peter builds a 1955 Chevrolet 'Task Force' 3100 Pickup in light blue.



Then he chimes in again with the panel truck version in red. Grown-ass men want you to give them signed cards too. Who are you damned people? Have you ever known the tender touch of another? I bet you haven't. And you kids shut the hell up! You're all a bunch of animals! Get the hell off my foot! Wow, fame is hard! Nathan has his own Studs card too. I wonder how he's dealing with all the fame.



Did that man just wet himself, mommy? Lets get away from the scary man pretending to be famous, Billy. Let's get a signature from Bruce Lowell instead. He's dreamy! You know what else is dreamy? This ad for the hard working '55 Chevy truck in yellow. Peter has really been working the magic with these ads lately.



I live by one code and one code only...if its brown flush it down. But I'd have to make an exception for this lovely 1950 Cadillac Series 62 Hardtop Coupe. Man, look at those curves and clean lines! This is what we live for here at LUGNuts. That and BrickCon after parties. And wearing kilts, apparently. And waiting for Joe to finally publish the all LUGNuts issue of BrickJournal.



Man, that thing was supposed to come out in August, then pushed back to September. Now that it's mid-October, I don't know what to think. In the meantime, we'll just have to live for this final retro ad by Peter Blackert and my favorite of them all...the 1958 Buick Century Caballero 4-door Hardtop Wagon. A heart Warmer indeed.



Now that we're all warm and fuzzy, DoktorZapp builds a decidedly cool 52'Ford COE with a 50's styled dragster posing on its bed. And by bed he means its negotiating the punishing terrain of his neatly made bed. I wonder if it has regulation hospital corners. And can you bounce a quarter off of it? A well made bed is next to godliness, which could explain why mine looks like a crumpled leopard print heap with donuts on it. True story, bro.




The Bing-Bong Brothers, who previously brought you the bathroom Lamborghini now bring you the bathroom Santa's New Ride. Its a custom 1949 International KB-2 Pick up truck with Chip Foose styling and Bel-Air fins. Are the Bing-Bong Brothers actual brothers like the Arvos or is it just one guy? Can somebody clear the air on this mystery, please? Please!?



I'm pretty sure Ralph Savelsberg is just one guy. One guy with a doctorate degree who has definitely traveled in time and is the reason strip clubs now exist. He also has a penchant for "bog standard" vehicles. Looking pretty bog standard yet still exciting is this 1954 Hudson Hornet. Ralph, you've traveled in time, can you make it so that the Hudson Company is still producing cars today? never mind the Butterfly Effect, it'll all be good.



While we're waiting for Ralph to tear a hole in the space-time continuum and thereby turn us all into slaves to some alien master race, lets enjoy this Li'l Gassa built by Raphy. With very few pieces, he has captured the essence of the '57 Chevy Bel-Air custom gasser. While he may build small, I found out the little bugger is no little bugger at all but actually he's 6ft2. Does this really mean I'm the shortest LUGNut now? Damn it!



You Goth kids can now change your Facebook status to slightly less melancholy with Rolic's 1957 Cadillac Hearse all dolled up in wedding regalia. Marriage asks us to vow to love one another 'til death do us part, but Rolic asks the question what if that never happens? That is a concern indeed. Might I suggest more skydiving. Deep sea wreckage salvation can be quite nice and ice road trucking isn't without its charms. Just sayin'.



A face can say a lot. Sometimes a person's naturally pompous face says "I'm glad I don't have to look at the other passengers in coach." My face says "I just sold a human foot to some Chinese dudes in a van." Jonathan Derksen's face says "cookies!" I have lots and lots of cookies and I'm willing to share. Its a clean, honest face...pleasant to be around. But don't let his boyish charm fool you. He can build a mean T-Bucket.



Lino Martins can also build a mean T-Bucket, but this time I went with a mean black and blue '53 Ford Panel Truck. I shed my gruff, crass exterior and for once I considered the needs of a wheelchair guy and built him the most badass, handi-capable retro ride on the planet. With two customized ports of entry, our friend doesn't necessarily need handicapped parking spaces to get around. And thanks for the write up, Brothers-Brick.



See, this roundup starts all warm and fuzzy and ends all warm and fuzzy. And somewhere in between there was Studs trading cards, slaves to an alien master race and naked photos of Gary. Sounds like a successful roundup, then. Which is perfect considering there will be many new looky-loos brought to us from BrickJournal magazine. For realz this time. I know I mentioned that like three months in a row but now we are definitely ready for you. Yep...still ready and waiting. Looky-loos. Plenty of 'em. Any day now. And while we're waiting, stay tuned for our very special challenge called Happy 5th Birthday, LUGNuts! Yep, we're 5 years old this month. And just like BrickCon after parties, the birthday challenges are pretty much a free-for-all excuse to do whatever you want. Will you build a snazzy new sports bike for the Rubber Side Down, Shiny Side Up Challenge? Will you grace us with your own rendition of the classic VW Beetle for the Love for the Bug challenge? or will you go way back in LUGNuts history and build us a millennium marvel for...Millennium Marvels? You'll just have to stay tuned and see. That's the magic of the birthday challenge. Anything goes. Cookies! Cookies for all you new looky-loos!