A LEGO castle legend returns to the Guilds of Historica

Since 2013, over in the Eurobricks forums, Castle fans have been building out a shared fantasy world with story arcs and challenges called Guilds of Historica. Peter Ilmrud is a longtime member of the community who hasn’t added to the world in a while, but returned last month with a beautiful piece of forced perspective featuring his sigfig Parzival approaching a desert metropolis.

With just the microscale model in focus, we can better appreciate the wonderful technique, like one boat made with chocolate frogs and another from a hotdog bun, an upturned butterfly net as a dome, and a book cover for a tent.

Peter promises that the microscale model above is just an appetizer for a larger return to Guilds of Historica next year. Based on the builder’s previous creations in the setting, we’re in for a treat. Here is Peter’s creation from the GoH 10th anniversary contest two years ago – the Port of Zamorah. (Visit Peter’s Flickr to appreciate it close up.)

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How three builders celebrate travel with LEGO [Feature]

LEGO sets can make excellent souvenirs to take home from vacations, but how can LEGO prepare you for a trip and make that journey even more special?

Australian AFOL Kristel Whitaker recently wrapped a European vacation where she documented her trip with Polaroids built from LEGO. Rather than visit first, build later, Kristel prepped her “photographs” before leaving Australia based on iconic locations, then took an on-location photograph to match. The results are so much fun!

I love the use of monochrome for the LEGO versions, which makes them feel timeless but could also simplify the need to color-match exactly, like with this snapshot from Copenhagen’s Nyhavn.

Kristel’s compositions also help keep scope manageable when the subject is enormous, like with this shot of the Colosseum that she managed to perfectly match on location.

See the world with more AFOL adventurers after the fold!

LEGO Icons 10366 Tropical Aquarium: deep-dive into the world of re-colours [Review]

Four years ago, LEGO released an intriguing Creator set that stood out for its uniqueness: 31122 Fish Tank. What a great idea! A way of bringing some aquatic LEGO into your home without all the yellow of their traditional underwater themes. Clearly, some bright spark at LEGO saw that set, and went: OK, but what if we made it bigger? That’s clearly just speculation on my part – but the end result is the same: 10366 Tropical Aquarium, which releases this November 13 for US $479.99 | CAN $599.99 | UK £399.99. Among its 4,151 pieces, it counts a large number in new or rare colours, and in good quantities at that. But there’s more to this set than just new re-colours! Take a dive into the tropical waters, and let’s check it out together.

LEGO Icons 10366 Tropical Aquarium | 4,154 Pieces | Available November 13 | US $479.99 | CAN $599.99 | UK £399.99

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All aboard the itty-bitty choo-choo!

When LEGO dropped this season’s winter village addition, 10361 Holiday Express Train, we were shocked to find a 3D-printed engine inside. Builder Owen (_brickbytes) used that one funny element as the seed for a full microscale scene. The little engine is followed by cars that mirror the scale and detail of the printed piece using system elements. The extra-thin quality of LEGO hinges works brilliantly both as tiny wheels and to give the coal hopper interesting shaping. Owen’s microscale chops extend beyond the centerpiece train. Using book covers as thatched rooftops is clever indeed, and of course, I’m always happy to see green antlers used for microscale foliage!

Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil

Italian Certified LEGO professional Riccardo Zangelmi is living the dream and has built a detailed oil rig for VALLAND SPA. They don’t make hot tubs as I initially thought but rather oil and gas valves. An oil platform makes perfect sense, then. Riccardo tells us that most oil platforms are gray (can confirm) but he took some artistic license and made it a bright white and a happy yellow. With the happy colors on there, this seems like a fun place to work- or at least a super fun playset. Get the boat and fishing gear! Is that not what they do on oil rigs? Even if it’s all serious business, I imagine a hard day working on an oil rig would warrant a trip to the spa to be pampered like a god. But not VALLAND SPA, as we’ve already established, they make oil and gas valves.

Gearheads unite- Building on motorcycle MOCs of the past

I’m the first to admit, I’m no gearhead – I can barely tell the difference between a Buick and a Bentley – but that doesn’t keep me from having the deepest respect for LEGO builders who are as passionate about their cars as I am castles. The precision and innovation that go into making recognizable vehicles in miniature is its own kind of magic. Sam Andreas, aka Sseven Bricks, is one of my favorite automotive builders, thanks to his sharp lines, crisp photography, and clever parts use that never skimp on detail, even at 6-7 studs wide. Like this Chevy P20 step van. Now the builder is first to admit that this vehicle is just “a big grey box on wheels,” but it’s what’s in the back that caught my eye.

What a beautiful chopper! So much detail at minifig scale with tricks like using minifig hands for handlebars and kickstand. I love builds like this. Now, as talented as Sam is, he’s also building on a the innovation of those who came before and it’s wonderful to see him credit those inspirations.

The motorcycle above was inspired by the work of Sanel Lukovic from back in 2018. Sanel hasn’t been as active in recent years, but his legacy is massive. It’s always great to be reminded when legendary builders past works are still inspiring new builds.

Read on for another example of Andreas iterating on iconic builds for his incredible vehicles

“You will always be my greatest adventure”

I don’t know who needs to see this today, but if you need your spirits lifted, Xiheng Xu, a new LEGO builder on Instagram, has turned the lovable Children’s Teddy Bear set into the equally lovable Grandpa from UP. Carl Fredricksen is his name and he’s responsible for probably the most emotional movie intro since Saving Private Ryan. You’d think I wouldn’t correlate the two movies together but yet here we are.

You can’t help but loving Carl, and by extension the work of Xiheng. Modding official sets seems to totally be his jam. Hare’s an example from earlier last month featuring Baobaolong, a creature who hates carrots built from a creature that positively loves carrots.

LEGO goes Back to the Future with sleek and affordable Speed Champions set [News]

Great Scott! LEGO is bringing Doc Brown’s DeLorean, and not only is it an awesome-looking set, but it’s also priced like sets from the ’80s? This is heavy. Arriving on January 1, 2026, LEGO Speed Champions 77256 Time Machine from Back to the Future has everything going for it except for that clunker name. 357 pieces for $27? Yes please. New minifigs for Doc and Marty? Don’t mind if I do. Excellent shaping and details on the DeLorean on two alternate builds? If my calculations are correct, this set delivers. The only things not included are roads, but where this car’s going, you don’t need ’em. Coming off an onslaught of massive and expensive IP-based sets, it’s refreshing to have an affordable way to indulge in nostalgia or share a classic with a new generation. More of this please, LEGO! What do you think? Will you be picking up the new DeLorean when it flies in next year?

LEGO Speed Champions 77256 Time Machine from Back to the Future | 357 Pieces | Available January 1, 2026 | US $27.99 | CAN $34.99 | UK £22.99

If you don’t click to see more of this heavy set, Darth Vader will come down from Planet Vulcan to melt your brain.

LEGO goes re-colour crazy with new Icons set 10366 Tropical Aquarium [News]

NPU: Nice Parts Use. Often used to denote a cool or unusual use of a LEGO piece. LEGO themselves have been no stranger to this concept, and themes like the Botanical line have taken that maxim even further. And although we’re only now getting a first glance at the latest LECO Icons set, 10366 Tropical Aquarium, that first glance is full of parts in new colours! We can see what appear to be two fresh colourways of hat and some new transparent leaf pieces among its 4,154 pieces. The price of admission seems accordingly high – US $479.99 | CAN $599.99 | UK £399.99 – but you’ll have to wait for our review to find out if there’s treasure in that sunken chest or just a soggy old boot! This colourful coral tank with its fishy inhabitants is slated for release November 13th.

Dive in for more pictures of LEGO’s latest underwater exploration

Minifigs of spooky season – the first omen [Minifig Monday]

Throughout October, spooky builds take over LEGO feeds like a Spirit Halloween store. With so many eerily good costumes and creepy characters this month, we thought it would be a treat to summon the specters early for a month of monstrous madness!

ASortaOkayBuilder kicks things off with Manny, the skeletal bard. Equipped with Héctor’s guitar from Coco and a trans neon green ectoplasmic flourish, this swashbuckling is the perfect minifig to lead us to the lands of the dead.

Captain Dark Shark captures footage of paranormal activity in medieval times. Created for the newly launched Graymane Guild Role-Play community, this haunting is sure to kick of an epic quest when the villager enlists magical help to solve the Ahsenhollow curse.

Anotherlegoaccount has been going through the decades capturing obscure horror films you’ve probably never heard of, like the obscure 1979 Soviet sci-fi thriller “In Space” with its hideous Extroform. The scene with the mandroid was terrifying. I’m just glad the dog survives.

Trick or treat? Spooky Halloween and horror minifigs continue after the fold

Ooo-lah! Melt all your LEGO bricks with this Martian tripod’s heat ray

You know when you can hear a picture? Well I can hear this LEGO tripod built by Ivan Martynov. The sound I can hear is ‘ooo-laah’. If you’re confused, go and listen to Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds. In fact, even if you’re not, you should do that anyway – it’s a brilliant album. But back to Ivan’s build – which is based on art by one Henrique Alvim Corrêa. It’s full of spindly, biomechanical bits that don’t look like they should hold even this LEGO build’s weight, let alone a deadly heat ray. But that’s the wonders of Martian tech for you!

It’s Wolfpack vs Lion Knights in this incredible LEGO Castle collab

German AFOLs Andreas Pettau (Feanor) and Larsvader have each created impressive medieval builds on their own, but past builds could hardly prepare you for the epic collaboration they debuted at Berlin SteineWAHN! event last month. Spread across 24 32×32 baseplates, “The Wolfhunt” pits two Classic Castle factions against each other in a detailed landscape enhanced by lights and motion. Andreas built the fantastic Wolfpack Tower and the surrounding swamps, while Larsvader constructed a castle, palisades, and forest for the noble Lion Knights. The collab won the popular vote for best-in-show as well as the judges’ vote for best collab.

A collaboration like this is best enjoyed in video, and thankfully, Feanor documents the build for those who couldn’t see it in person. Watch till the end to see the incredible dark mode.

Brace yourself for more pics of this epic castle collab