Thursday, March 19, 2015

My Lego General Lee by C3Brix - And Lego Minifigure Bo, Luke, Daisy & Uncle Jesse


There is no better toy to bolster the imagination of children and children at heart like Legos.  As a kid, my grandmother, Dolly, bought me Lego castles and cities and I filled entire rooms of her house with my Lego sets.  I had police stations, airports, garages, kingdoms, horses, ghosts, planes, space shuttles, and cars...so many cars.  Naturally, I always wanted a Lego General Lee.  That day has come as I can finally add this beautiful, three-of-a-kind Lego General Lee by C3Brix to my collection.


How could I acquire this exquisite Le'go Gen'ral without getting the Dukes in Minifigure form?  Bo, Luke, Daisy, and Uncle Jesse are along for the ride!


I've wanted one of these bad boys for a long time.  I've talked to Lego builders at comic and toy shows and came close to buying custom Minifigure characters before, but it never worked out.  I've searched for Lego General Lees online and saw some pretty interesting designs, but nothing that made me want to take the leap.  But when I saw this design by Cody at C3Brix, I fell in love with it.  This is by far the best Lego General Lee I've ever seen.  It had to be mine.



I appreciate the custom Lego scene from the outside, but never ventured inside before.  There is a huge culture of collectors and custom builders.  Legos are masive.


The General Lee has a great looking push bar.


Cody made a custom license plate that I really like.


The flag on top looks great.


The whole Dukes family is ready to take the General for a spin around Lego Hazzard County (can you imagine?)


Bo and Luke look perfect behind the wheel.


The addition of the driver's side view mirror really show Cody's attention to detail.


Even more so that it is only on the driver's side.  We all know only the movie Generals had both mirrors.


The roof comes off very easily to put the figures in.  It is Lego after all.  No Kragle here.


You also get a better view of the detailed interior with the roof off.


Cody did an amazing job on the inside.  It has a gear shift and window handles.


The car is solid.  It is heavy considering the large amount of bricks that make it up.


It is a tad bigger than a 1/25 scale diecast.


You knew I had to have at least a few comparison shots.


Who new Lego made Vector Wheels?  These really add the finishing touch to the General.


I like Lego's logo on the tire.


This is an amazing assortment of meticulously arranged orange Lego bricks.



Nailed it!


I'm really glad Cody supplied me with Minifigures to go inside my General Lee.  It would have looked empty without them.  I love Bo's hair.  He is going with the non-smiling look he sported on some early products like the guitar and tray tables.


Smile Bo!


Luke has a nice little smirk on his face...just like he does on the above tray.  Cody, did you use this tray as inspiration?


Daisy looks great and has very Daisy like hair.  I love how the effect of the Daisy Dukes is achieved by simply using a blue center piece and skin colored legs.


Uncle Jesse is perfect.  Overalls, white beard, and red hat.  Lego Uncle Jesse is very grateful the roof comes off so he doesn't have to climb through the window.



The Dukes and the General Lee in Lego form look great.


You know I had to show off my other custom General Lee toy mash-up.  Now I have a Transformer General Lee and a Lego General Lee.  I love them both.  Cody at C3Brix told me he is keeping this design limited to only three.  He kept one for himself and one went to a prominent comic shop in New York City.  I am fortunate to get the third.  Cody has serious Lego talent.  I asked him a few questions about the Lego world he lives in.


How long have you been making lego creations? 
As long as I can remember! My parents moved out to the country when I was 5. I was afraid to sleep by myself for fear of ghosts, so my dad suggested I make a Ghostbusters ghost trap out of my Legos. I did, and I slept with it on my chest. The rest, as they say, is history.


What drew you to make the General Lee? My Grandpa loved the show & I spent a lot of time with him. My parents worked and my Grandpa & Grandma took care of me. So I grew up on The Dukes Of Hazzard.  My mother's favorite color is orange, which made me love the car even more. And one of my first words was "Yee-Haw" because I loved how the Duke Boys said it when they jumped.


You have so many great WWE creations including your awesome Championship Title.  Who is your favorite wrestler?
Well, who didn't like Hulk Hogan growing up. My ultimate favorite was Stone Cold Steve Austin, but you have to always have someone to cheer for. After Austin left I was kind of in limbo, but then came along the Best In The World CM Punk! And to this day, my ringtone on my cellphone is "Cult of Personality" (CM Punk's song) by In Living Color.



Your Duck Tales Money Bin is amazing.  How long did it take you to create it? 
A couple of days - it's actually my second version and it's STILL not big enough. I have to say my fiancee is not happy with how much money I've spent filling it with Lego money. I would tell you how much I've spent, but then I'd be single.


Legos are so huge right now.  Standard sets are really popular, but custom creations, like yours, have an enormous following as well.  Could you explain to me and my Dukes readers a little about Lego Cuusoo and how it works? 
Lego Cuusoo (now called Lego Ideas) is a great stepping stone for people to have their voices heard for what sets they would like to see built. In my humble opinion, everyone is a master builder. And to the ones that have sets chosen to be the next Cuusoo projects, I consider to be very lucky.

What current projects do you have on there right now? 
I have a few archived and would be honored for Lego to chase any of them.


Your portraits are unlike anything I've ever seen before. How do you make them? 
One brick at a time!



A lot of your work has been displayed for thousands to see.  Could you talk about some of your displays? 
I've been honored to be asked to lead & make some incredible displays. I was the lead designer & builder for the 50th Anniversary of the World's Fair which had it's exhibit at Flushing Meadows. Another favorite was an 8-foot-tall Lego sandcastle for the Resorts World Casino. I've done work for the NYY Steakhouse, Ellen's Stardust Diner, Silverline, and ABC Carpet & Home just to name a few.



The best seller on your site is the Booper.  Could you tell us a little about it? 
It's an interactive wristband that fires darts. When you wear it, you can channel Spider-Man or Iron Man .... What kid doesn't want to emulate them?


Let's talk a little about the General Lee specifically.  The wheels look great and very accurate.  What set do they come from? 
The wheel only comes in two colors - Metallic Silver & Pearler Gold. Those wheels were only available in 2005 in sets 8658 Big Bling Wheelie & 4883 Gear Grinders




Well I must say they look better on the General Lee.

You told me that you had to special order a piece from Finland.  Which piece was it and what is it used for? 
Believe it or not, pieces you think would be available in all colors are not always available. The part that you're referring to is the inverted orange slope that you can see holding up the roof of the car. It was only in one set 3047, which was only available in 1998. Four came in that set and two are required for the General Lee to be made.



Can you tell me about the process used to create the car?
Lots of trial and error! Everybody has their own building technique. I always build from the front of the car back. I base the rest of the car's size on the detail I can put into the front. This is not what most people refer to as "mini-fig scale." My style is more what I like to call "architecture scale 2.0" which is slightly bigger and requires more detail. In the General Lee's case, I looked at a picture of the car and let my hands go to work.




Where do the pieces come from?  
Other than Australia, I believe that collectors from every other country were contacted to collect these pieces.

How about the decals, did you print them yourself? 
No, those were from a great company called CustomBricks.net run by a wonderful woman named Kristi who I have worked with on several projects. I would recommend her for any custom decals/printing needs!




My Lego General Lee is truly a work of art.  I can't thank Cody at C3Brix enough.  I'm very happy he agreed to the interview as well.  Visit his site C3Brix.com.  Besides building Lego customs, he also hosts Lego building parties.  He is truly a Master Builder!  The General Lee is a very special piece and I'm so happy to add it to the collection.  

5 comments:

  1. This guy does incredible work. This is a great addition to the collection.

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  2. Where can u get the general Lee Lego kit at and how much

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    Replies
    1. This one won't be made again. There is a smaller version that is available. More info on this post: http://dukescollector.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-grand-opening-of-daisy-country-was.html

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  3. Where can I get a General lee transformer?
    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. This was a custom made just for me. The creator didn't make any others.

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