A Seattle-area dad is offering what might be the Craigslist deal of the century: a 1/3-scale TIE Fighter with a cockpit big enough to sit in for a mere $150.

Here's his sales pitch for the model starfighter:

Have the coolest toy in your neighborhood! 8x8x8 feet but breaks down into 5 pieces for easy transport in a pickup or can haul partially assembled (except for the top half of the wings) on a trailer. Wheeled casters make it easy to move once assembled. Laser cannons are set to fire standard party poppers. Well built out of 3/4 plywood with the wings sheeted in cardboard. Tested to hold over 300 pounds. Cockpit is 38 inches by 38 inches and my 5ft tall son comfortably sits inside.

Let me repeat part of that for emphasis: laser cannons are set to fire standard party poppers.

Okay, I'm sold.

Why would anyone part with this Imperial Clubhouse of Awesome for 150 smackers? Perhaps the family decided to upgrade to a TIE Advanced x1. The hyperdrive really makes all the difference.

[geekologie]

F.A.T. Lab and Sy-Lab have teamed up to create a set of 3D-printed toy adapters that connect pieces from popular construction toys like Lego, Tinkertoy and K'nex.

The Free Universal Construction Kit works with 10 systems in total, and the patterns for each of its pieces are free to download from Thingiverse.

The kit's creators also envision future adapters for new construction toys, so that Duplo blocks and Lincoln Logs will always be able to interoperate with the next hot building system on the market.

Legally speaking, they feel they're on solid ground, because the patents for most of the toys have expired, and 3D-printing a design for your own non-commercial use isn't considered infringement.

Long story short, as long as you have a 3D printer that can handle the level of detail in these adapters, your K'nex and Lego bricks can finally play together after all these years.

[fffff.at]

Lego has unveiled an official 2127-piece R2-D2 set, complete with rotating dome and retractable third leg.

The Lego droid measures around a foot tall, which is just over 1/3rd of his actual height, and his front panel opens to reveal some of the R2-D2 features seen in the Star Wars movies, including a buzzsaw and the universal computer interface arm he uses to open doors.

He's not concealing any projected messages from Leia, but there is a special edition Artoo minifig inside.

The Ultimate Collector Series R2-D2 goes on sale at the local Jawa camp Lego.com in May, priced at $179.99 for U.S. buyers.

[likecool]

A new Lego ad campaign by Hamburg-based agency Jung von Matt features minimal Lego brick versions of characters from several popular comics and animated shows.

The South Park kids, The Simpsons, the Smurfs and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are all represented, among others.

Just because Lego hasn't officially released figures for a series doesn't mean they don't exist somewhere in your bucket full of bricks.

[ibelieveinadv]

Lego builder Julius von Bronk has created what might be the single most '80s thing known to man: a Lego Game Boy Transformer with a Tetris cartridge Transformer as a sidekick.

The duo are called Domaster (named after the original Game Boy's dot matrix screen) & Tetrawing, and they transform into a badass robot and a bird, respectively. Two Lego AA batteries form Domaster's guns.

Even more impressive: Tetrawing (in cartridge form) actually fits inside the Lego Game Boy's game slot, and the batteries fit in its battery pack.

Check out more shots of the amazing Lego 'bots at Von Bronk's MOCPages account.

[dvice]

YouTuber native118 has customized a flying quadrotor to look like the DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future.

Although the shape of the car's body makes the quadrotor's flight a bit uneven, it manages to stay stable thanks to MultiWii software.

Now that the DeLorean is off the ground, all that remains is to get it up to 88 mph. That might take a real Mr. Fusion in the trunk instead of a model version, though.

[technabob]

YouTuber vinciverse created his own Lego tribute to NASA's space shuttle program, launching a Lego space shuttle (model 3367) toward space aboard a helium weather balloon.

While it didn't quite reach space, it did hit an altitude of around 21 miles, "proving that although retired, this machine can still fly, albeit in toy form."

Although the Lego shuttle had a GPS tracker on board when it took off from central Germany, its creator didn't mention where it eventually touched down.

[marysue]