LEGO Dala Horses

Some of my heritage is Swedish, and I’ve always loved the simple beauty of the traditional Swedish Dala Horse.

Dala horse
One of my Dala horses

Originating from the province of Dalarna, the painted wooden horses were originally carved as toys for children, but gained wide popularity as souvenirs of Sweden at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. They continue to be collected and displayed proudly in homes today.

Recently I decided to see if I could come up with a simple and elegant LEGO representation of the Dala Horse:

Tan LEGO Dala Horse
Tan LEGO Dala Horse
Blue LEGO Dala Horse
Blue LEGO Dala Horse

 

Red LEGO Dala Horse
Red LEGO Dala Horse
LEGO Dala Horses
LEGO Dala Horses

And once I started building them I started looking for fun ways to decorate them. Soon I began making other variations and I was amazed at how much could be conveyed in the Dala horse form.

So, here’s my first batch of pop culture LEGO Dala horses! Enjoy!

LEGO Captain America Dala Horse
Captain America
LEGO AT-AT Walker Dala Horse
AT-AT Walker

LEGO Trojan Horse Dala Horse 1

LEGO Trojan Horse Dala Horse 2
Trojan Horse
LEGO Superman Dala Horse
Superman

LEGO Saturn V Dala Horse 1

LEGO Saturn V Dala Horse 2
Saturn V
LEGO Batman Dala Horse
Batman
LEGO Godzilla Dala Horse
Godzilla
LEGO Classic Space Dala Horse
LEGO Classic Space

LEGO Reindeer Dala Horse 1

LEGO Reindeer Dala Horse 2
Reindeer

I’ve got ideas for dozens of other LEGO Dala horses, so stay tuned!

Batman vs Superman – The Winner Is…

With Batman vs Superman coming out soon, I thought I’d revisit some of the great Batman & Superman stuff I’ve shared over the years. Maybe it will help us decide who’s gonna win. Lets start with…

Whitman Superman Card Game

Batman vs Superman Pic 1This Superman card game plays kind of like Uno and includes standard Superman characters including Lois Lane, Supergirl, and Krypto (labeled as Superdog). But who are these two?
Batman vs Superman Pic 2

Batman vs Superman Pic 3

I’m no Superman aficionado, but they don’t ring any bells with me. And is that a stray Omega Beam hitting Melba in the elbow?

Check out the whole thing here. Not a bad start, but then there’s…

It’s Fun to Be a Batman

Batman vs Superman Pic 4

Wow. I don’t even really know where to start on this one. I mean, look at at these…

Batman vs Superman Pic 5

Batman vs Superman Pic 6

Yeah, you just can’t unsee that. Good luck.

Check all the rest of the sordid, and I mean sordid, pics here. OK, back to Supes…

Superman Greeting Cards

Batman vs Superman Pic 7

OK, to be fair these 1978 DC greeting cards aren’t all just Superman, but predominantly so.

Batman vs Superman Pic 8

Batman vs Superman Pic 9

These cards are some of my absolute favorites and you really should go see and download them all.

Those are pretty strong, but now we have…

Unnecessary LEGO Batman Vehicles

Batman vs Superman Pic 10

Batman’s stable of Bat-vehicles is well documented, but I built a bunch of lesser-known machines (like the Bat-Tractor above) that you just know Batman has off in some Bat-shed somewhere. Here’s a few more:

Batman vs Superman Pic 11

That’s the Bat-Segway.

Batman vs Superman Pic 12

And the Bat-Pogo-Stick.

See the rest of my LEGO Batman vehicles here.

Hmmm… I’m not sure there’s a clear winner yet, so maybe we let this set of stickers decide?

Batman vs Superman, 1978 Sticker Card Edition

There are 12 cards where Superman is pictured, including these where both Lois and Clark are dreaming of Superman:

Batman vs Superman Pic 13

Batman vs Superman Pic 14

But there’s only 3 cards featuring Batman.

Batman vs Superman Pic 15

Check out the entire collection here.

So does that give Superman the win? I don’t think so.

For my money, the clear winner in Batman vs Superman is going to be…

Wonder Woman!

That’s right, Wonder Woman. Finally everyone’s favorite Amazon is getting some big screen time and that makes her the clear winner in my book!

So here’s some of my Wonder Woman stuff to peruse:

Batman vs Superman Pic 16Batman vs Superman Pic 17

wwomlemenBatman vs Superman Pic 18

Batman vs Superman Pic 19

Batman vs Superman Pic 20

Batman vs Superman Pic 21

So that’s it for my Batman vs Superman roundup. Who do you think will win?

 

 

 

Superhero Valentines

I love comics and I love Valentine’s Day, so over the years I’ve collected a lot of different superhero valentines. Here are just a few of my very favorites:

1966 Batman Valentines

Superhero Valentines - Batman 1966 1 Superhero Valentines - 1966 Batman 2

Love that 1966 Batmobile! (And that hand lettering!)

Superhero Valentines - 1966 Batman 3

Superhero Valentines - 1966 Batman 4

I dunno what it is exactly that Batman has against a giant red heart, but I trust that he know what he’s doing. He is Batman after all.

Check out the rest of these Batman valentines here.

1979 Marvel Valentines

Superhero Valentines - 1979 Spider-ManSuperhero Valentines - 1979 Spider-Man 2

Too late, Spidey, my Stalker-Sense is tingling.

Superhero Valentines - 1979 Hulk 1

Superhero Valentines - 1979 Hulk 2

Nothing says I Love You like the threat of impending violence. This one makes Spidey look downright well adjusted. Sheesh!

Check out the rest of these Marvel valentines here.

1980 DC Superhero Valentines

Superhero Valentines - 1980 SuperFriends 1

OK, these are actually kind of amazing. The idea was to punch out the various parts, put them together, and make 3D action valentines. I tried a few out and they’re challenging, but so rewarding. Here’s some more…

Superhero Valentines - 1980 SuperFriends 2

That PlasticMan one is disturbing. Just saying.

Superhero Valentines - 1980 SuperFriends 3

Batwoman?! That’s clearly Batgirl.

Check out the rest of these terrific valentines here.

More 1966 Batman Valentines

Superhero Valentines - 1966 Batman 2 - 1

People simply could not get enough Batman back in the 60’s. Even if they’re weird and pretty poorly drawn. And have the answers upside-down on the bottom.

Superhero Valentines - 1966 Batman 2 - 2

Robin, you’re making me… uncomfortable. Also, that’s a rope, not a trapeze.

Superhero Valentines - 1966 Batman 2 - 3

OK, you’ve got me on this one. Batman stabbing a dragon/snake with a heart to demonstrate his feelings?! Bad. But that “THUNK!” sound is just awful!

I dare you not look at the rest of these.

1978 Wonder Woman Valentines

Superhero Valentines - 1978 Wonder Woman 1

OK, technically these are more general romance cards than true Valentine’s Day cards, but I couldn’t resist sharing these.

Superhero Valentines - 1978 Wonder Woman 2

Environmentalist Wonder Woman, you had me at ‘energy crisis.’

Superhero Valentines - 1978 Wonder Woman 3

That is pretty lame, but I’m not proud. Yes. Yes, Wonder Woman, I would.

See the rest of these unbelievably awesome cards here.

So, if you’re in a lurch for superhero valentines, feel free to print these out! And have a super Valentine’s Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

DC Super Powers 1988/2016 Wallpaper Calendar

DCCalendar8816Cover

Happy New Year!

Did you know that calendars repeat occasionally? There’s a 28 year cycle wherein certain years will begin on the same day of the week as other years. (There’s a more detailed explanation here.) For example, 2016 has the same days and dates as the years 1988, 1960, 1932 etc… Neat, huh?

So while there’s a lot of nice 2016 calendars out there, I’m going a little more old school and hanging up this 1988 DC Super Powers calendar instead. (Believe you me, a good leap year superhero calendar was hard to find!) And as long as I was scanning everything in, I thought I’d share them!

Click on the images below and you’ll get big beautiful 2560 x 1200 images with both the top image page and the bottom calendar page. Feel free to grab them and use them as some awesome desktop wallpapers.

Have a great year!

January

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 January

February

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 February

March

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 March

April

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 April

May

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 May

June

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 June

July

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 July

August

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 August

September

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 September

October

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 October

November

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 November

December

DC Comics Calendar 1988/2016 December

 

 

 

Man of Steel Sticker Cards (1978)

Man of Steel opens this week, so to help get you in the mood, here’s some super sticker cards from 1978! (I’ve just posted the Superman ones here, you can see all 30 over at Flickr.) Enjoy:

Superman Sticker
Man of Steel Sticker
Clark Kent Sticker
Lois Lane Sticker
Leaving Krypton Sticker
Jimmy Olsen Sticker
Jor-el & Lara Sticker
The Kents Sticker
Lois Lane Sticker
Supergirl Sticker
Superman & Lex Luthor Sticker
Superman Locomotive Sticker
Perry White Sticker
Krypto Sticker
Lew Luthor Sticker

Can’t get enough Man of Steel? Then check these out: