I'm really sorry, somehow I let this thread die without finishing my thoughts.
Next up
Misc.
My personal top three:
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V1 (Noddy) - Tower of Brothers[/url] - Quite frankly I have nothing to say about this. This is a perfect MOC, a work of art. Some creations demand no comment, only silent contemplation and amazement. Best castle MOC in the contest, best I've seen in ages, maybe best ever.
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DARKspawn - Crown Manor[/url] - Another amazing creation. The only reason this didn't win was that this is more "standard" and squared off (though exquisitely done) in contrast with Noddy's more innovative/artistic organic design. As expected from Aaron, the windows, details along the top of the wall, interiors, etc are all wonderfully done and the whole MOC is very balanced. Favorite build detail is probably the railing leading up the steps to the main keep's entrance. Skelly in a barrel is a funny touch, remniscent of Nelson's Urban Commando. The homecoming scene is appropriately emotional.
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Maciej's Arabian Street[/url] - A lot of action and detail to check out here. I like how there are multiple levels to this MOC. Favorite details include the use of technic beams to add ornamentation to the white building, the brick built camel and donkey, hooka, weges as steps and hanging tiles as a curtain. If I have any complaint, it is probably that I wish the tan baseplate was broken up some, maybe with some landscaping or some cobblestones, or maybe a grassy patch. That would also help set off the tan buildings and camel, that sort of blend in.
Others, in no particular order:
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Dennis Coh's Winter Meeting[/url] - This is a touching little scene - full marks for emotional impact. Nice construction to get all of the non-right-angles on the gate.
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Tom's City Wall[/url] - Nice construction on the wall and a lot of details to look at. My favorites are the fisheman (who seems to have hooked a big one) and the beggar. I'm a little disturbed that one farmer has a wagon full of hands (presumably hay). :O One suggestion would be to make the rock of the river bank dark gray, because in some pics it seems like the city wall goes down to the water with a green stripe ten feet up. I like the plates finishing off the back and sides.
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Sir Nadroj's Troll's Den[/url] - This is certainly a fun entry. I'm a little disturbed by what that one orc is doing to his stuffed bunny. Good inclusion of odd elements (Scala? Belville?).
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Maciej's Corner House[/url] - Very effective achievement of that rounded shape. Beggar is a nice touch. One complaint - the dark gray section of roof should also be black, IMO.
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BaronSat's fortified city[/url] - This is a nicely balanced MOC with both martial and civilian aspects. The gatehouse seems very substantial and I like the little bell tower. It looks like the drawbridge is functional, so it would be nice to see it in open and closed configurations. Of course I always love brick-built animals, and the pigs are very well done.
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Bluesecret's Trekant Castle[/url] - An interesting shape to this. My favorite details are the little trangular cutouts, the tapestry and the tents. The courtyard area seems a little bare. I agree with whoever it was who noted that there should be some sort of walkway along the tops of the walls for defenders to get from tower to tower.
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Chris Edwards' Island Lookout[/url] - A really unique MOC. The verticality is really striking. Cliff texture is very well done, and the hidden face is hilarious. Texture of the roof (in dark blue!) is really nice. The stacked porches and the pull-up stairs are really nice. Some life would really improve this, with a couple of figs and maybe a boat pulling up below.
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Kris' Road, Inn and Black Owl[/url] - A really nice scene that looks like it would be fun to play in. Nice life details like the guy fixing the roof, another fixing a wheel, falconer, wagon with carrots and beets. Cobblestone road is very well done, and I love the design of the fence using gates. I'm not wild about the incorporation of log bricks into the walls of the main inn, and I think it would look better with brown instead of tan above the arch bricks in the building on the left
in this pic
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Lord Doom's watchtower[/url] - I like the structure atop the tower, and the texturing of the walls with the randomly snotted tiles is nice. Fig placement seems a little muddled and it distracts that some of the fig action is off of the LEGO base.
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Thomas Wunz's dwarves welcome[/url] - A really nice idea with the castle built into the cliff, leading into an underground fortress. It does seem like this should be the dwarves' castle, and they should be welcoming the Crusaders, though, rather than the other way around. A couple of improvements would be to make the cliff face dark gray to contrast with the light gray walls (or the other way around), and to make the cliff top a little higher relative to the castle walls. Perhaps also to make the landscaping less regular - perhaps it should slope up to the cliff bottom a little more, and the cliff top should be more at an angle rather than a horizontal surface.
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SOJ's Fall of Troy[/url] - A nice idea. I particularly like the Trojan Horse and that collumnade in tan. The lighting effect is really nice and atmospheric.
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Micah's centaur[/url] - I've already praised the horse in the farm entry, and I think the body here is the same. The addition of the torso is nice, though he's got kind of a waspy waist. I'd like to see this guy set into some landscaping illustrating a scene.
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Micah's gnome cart[/url] - More of Micah demonstrating his awesome skill with brick-built creatures. The elf is great, as is the goat. My favorite bit is the goat in the second shot trying to eat the cherries. That hoe/rake is a very simple but effective design.
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DNL's Gorg Castle[/url] - The achievement of shape in this one is really nice. Nice detailing in the courtyard - lettuce head guy is funny. One complaint is that the gate seems too small.
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Luis Baixinho's Pursuit into the Underworld[/url] - The cliff and entrance here is really cool, as is the irregular base. I'm a little unhappy with the fig action. I think this setting would have been more interesting illustrating the story of Orpheus, placed in the legends category, as the entrance seems Greek to me. I could imagine this with orpheus just turning back and his wife looking all ghostly in the doorway. Just a thought.
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Tania Baixinho's Winterfell[/url] - Another really nice entry. The snow effect with the white leaves overtop the dark green leaves is really nice, and my favorite effect is probably the snow on the roof over the balcony, made of white and brown cheese wedges. The SNOT exterior and dark red accents on the building are very nice. One complaint here, though, is that I think that this is another case of a mottled structure against a mottled landscape getting lost. The mottled building would stand out more against a solid background, either rock or green grass, or the ground spotted with snow would hightlight a more single-color structure better.
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Randman's Tower of London[/url] - Good incorporation of the round portion with the straight sides. Tops of the towers are clever, with the saucer pieces and those octagonal bits. Also nice how sections of wall pop out for interior access. I think this MOC suffers a bit in that it's a very good reproduction of what is, in real life, kind of a boring building. Imposing and impressive, but overall very square and regular. More fig action would have helped, including customized Beefeaters and a flock of ravens.