1Andy's Room made 4-dimensional by Toy Story 3 fanatics
A perfect recreation of Andy's desk
It took not one but THREE fanboys to create this incredible replica of Andy’s room from Toy Story 3, and it took them TWO years to do it. They copied everything as perfectly as they could, from the posters and stickers to the dry erase board. They found the dartboard for just $5 at a thrift shop and the desk, which they say took the longest, used to belong to one of their grandmothers.
2Michael Myers' Halloween home recreated on farm in North Carolina
Kenny Caperton once jokingly told his friends that one day he’d like to live in the Michael Myers house from the Halloween movies. “It never crossed my mind that I would ever actually get to do it,” he exclaimed.
Caperton seized upon making the idea a reality after he visited the original Victorian home in South Pasadena in 2008. Back home in North Carolina, he and his wife embarked on a year-long odyssey to build the house as close to the original as possible even though there were no blueprints available to guide them. The exterior and main areas of the house are all according to the original (although bathrooms, which had yet to be invented, were added). Visitors are welcome by appointment, especially during — you know — Halloween!
3Lamborghini built in a basement over 17 years, wall had to be knocked down to get it out
Ken Imhoff spent 17 years in his basement building the car of his dreams, piece by piece. Starting in 1990, after being inspired by the movie The Cannonball Run, Imhoff crafted every piece of a Lamborghini Countach by hand and assembled it. A car enthusiast and perfectionist, he thought the job would only take five years — it didn’t. And when he was finally done, he realized he had no proper way to get the car out! Ken removed a wall and put in a temporary ramp — and yes, it runs!
4Chinese mechanic builds $2 million Lamborghini for $9500
If you think the last hand-built Lamborghini story was nuts, check THIS one out! A poor, but incredibly resourceful, Chinese mechanic built a replica of a $2 million Lamborghini Reventon for just $9,500.
Wang Jian from Jiangsu welded together a Volkswagen van and Nissan Santana to a body hammered out of scrap metal. OK, it may be a bit funky — there are no lights or windshields, and there’s not a fancy interior to speak of, but it certainly is one-of-a-kind!
5Bilbo Baggins' Hobbit house rebuilt in director's basement
The ultimate fanboy for all things J.R. R. Tolkein just happens to be the director of several of his most famous adaptations, Peter Jackson!
Jackson, director of both The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, bought a two-story 1930s mansion in Masteron, New Zealand and hired his original design team to dig out the basement and recreate a replica of Bag End, Bilbo Baggins’ house. Builders were given an additional instruction — make it habitable. Visitors must enter through a secret door in the cellar and make their way through tunnels and a mock torture chamber before reaching Bag End. Both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are said to have visited and been very impressed.
6Real life Simpsons' house created, then destroyed
Back in 1997, Fox and Pepsi had an unusual competition when The Simpsons was still new. They spent $120,000 to replicate the home of Homer, Marge, Bart, Maggie, and Lisa in Henderson, Nevada and offered it as a grand prize in a sweepstakes.
They didn’t do a rush-job, either: decorators spent 50 hours watching episodes of the show to make sure they got every detail. Unfortunately, the winner of the raffle, Barbara Howard, lived in Kentucky and didn’t want to move, so she took the alternate cash payout instead. The house still stands but was completely redecorated back in 2000 and sold to another owner. D’OH!
7Builders of the Ecto-1 Ghostbuster's car took 9 years to find the perfect frame
Loren Baldwin had been in love with Ghostbusters since he was three years old and had always dreamed of creating a replica of their vehicle, dubbed the Ecto-1. However, making it was almost impossible — he could not find the 1959 Cadillac/Miller-Meteor combo hearse/ambulance, the model the original car was based upon. After nine years of searching, he stumbled upon a listing on the Internet for $2500. He knew this was his only chance and spent two years and $25,000 painstakingly replicating the original. It’s fully functional and has the same model sirens as the original, and the thumbs-up from original Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson, who says it’s the closest to the real thing he’s ever seen.
8Rare WW 2 airplane Bugatti 100p recreated to actually fly
The Bugatti 100p is the stuff of legend. Originally built by famed Italian mechanic Ettore Bugatti, it was designed to be the fastest plane ever built. However, only one prototype was built and never flown. In 1940, it was hidden from the Nazis in a barn in France and largely forgotten, but ended up in a museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Scotty Wilson, an aviation history buff, never forgot the blue plane and made it his mission to make a replica that would fly. There were no blueprints available, but with the help of the museum, he was able to reverse engineer and completely rebuild it using tools and processes particular to the era. He got about 90% of the way through the project then turned to Kickstarter to get him the rest of the way. He’s raised over $60,000 and has gone on 2 tests flights so far!
9The Munsters' home built to look just like the TV show inside and out
Sandra McKee from Waxahachie, Texas had a tremendous love for The Munsters’ while growing up. A veteran house restorer, she said to her husband on a whim that they should try and create the creepy home. He agreed, and they began making 1313 Mockingbird Lane come to life. They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to recreate not just the facade, but the interior as represented in the TV comedy. They managed to find Grandpa’s original organ, Lily’s harp, and, of course, there’s Spot, the fire-breathing dragon that lives under the stairs. The McKees sacrifice personal comfort to live in the house all year round and receive thousands of visitors from around the world.
10Fan re-creates playable Dejarik game from Star Wars IV
Tip: let the Wookie win
Finally, what fanboy list would be complete without Star Wars fan recreations — in fact, that could be its list! But if we have to pick one, it’s the incredible dedication of Ian Martin, who has been working years to build a replica of the holochess game called Dejarik, which appeared for less than 30 seconds in the original film. From those few moments, Martin has been able to recreate an entire game, complete with rules, that is playable. He is working with VR designers to get it in holographic form so that anyone can play. You can geek out on all its features below: