About Jonathan

LEGO was always Jonathan's favourite toy growing up in Middle Zealand, until around the age of 16 when he was told he was too old for toys. 16 years of Dark Ages later he decided you are never too old for toys and became hooked again with 7477 T-1 Typhoon vs. T-Rex and has since amassed over a hundred thousand bricks to facilitate his MOC building obsession. Jonathan runs a small IT business from home with his wife and three young boys under 5 (who are allowed to play with Daddy's LEGO when they can learn to stop putting it in their mouths!). When not working or spending time with family Jonathan is usually sorting LEGO.

Posts by Jonathan

Everyone is a little Irish on St. Paddy’s Day

Harkening back to the good ol’ days, this delightful minifig presentation by Matt Oborne is a simple celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day. Showing a straightforward yet effective technique to curve LEGO elements into a beautiful rainbow, Matt has created a humble tribute to an incredibly enjoyable celebration. May you find your Pot o’ Gold this March 17th.

Happy St Patrick’s day #lego

LEGO Jurassic World BrickHeadz 41614 revealed [News]

It’s looking more and more like each LEGO theme will be getting the BrickHeadz treatment, with the reveal today of the first official box art and product photos of the BrickHeadz from the next installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (due in theaters this June). Following the combo-pack release of two characters in a single set we first saw with 41489 Rey & Kylo Ren last year, 41614 Owen & Blue features the protagonist played by Chris Pratt alongside a brick-built CGI dinosaur. The set includes 234 pieces, and we’ll bring you an update when we have a firm release date and price.

Blue is the first non-humanoid character released as a BrickHeadz (even the seasonal BrickHeadz like the Valentine’s Day Bee and Easter Rabbit are fairly anthropomorphic), so it will be interesting to see how LEGO recreates other animals and creatures in the future.

See more photos of the upcoming Jurassic World BrickHeadz

Japanese sushi that looks great and tastes blockish

Fresh from winning the ABS challenge in spectacular fashion, Didier Burtin has created a delicious Ikura maki roll. At sushi restaurants ikura (salmon roe) is always served gunkan-style (battleship.) Besides the rice and the nori (edible seaweed), there are no other embellishments and it is not served with any sauce, although you may brush a little soy sauce (shoyu) on top of the eggs with a small slice of gari (sweet pickled ginger) and the all-important wasabi.

Ikura maki roll

Alternative model for LEGO Ideas Exosuit

I love when a builder takes an existing LEGO set and creates an alternative model. Dvd has gone one step further with his Exo-Recon Walker, using the parts from Peter Reid’s successful LEGO Ideas set #21109 Exo-Suit to recreate another of Peter’s designs, the Recon Walker. Not only that, but Dvd has even been so kind as to include an LDD File so if you have the Ideas set, you can build your own Exo-Recon Walker!

Exo-Recon Walker

If chins could kill, the Punisher wouldn’t need a gun

Looking a bit like Bruce Campbell, Letranger Absurde‘s iteration of The Punisher looks great. I love the repurposed Galactic Empire Jetpack printed tile for strap buckles, and the binocular gunsight and minifig leg trigger work perfectly to create one of the many guns in Frank Castle’s arsenal. And finally, I think this is the best use of the Jack Stone skull piece I’ve seen.

The Punisher Bust

Outstanding sweltering frankfurters with this classic LEGO diner

If you have ever tried to imagine where the Collectible Minifig Series 13’s Hot Dog Guy would feel most at home, wonder no more as Andrea Lattanzio has captured a rare glimpse of him in his natural habitat. He looks pleased as a pickle surrounded by grazing minifigs scarfing down delicious hot dogs at perfect picnic tables, while the local cat sniffs hungrily for food. I love the tall arrowed sign and the giant hot dog on the roof.

Hot Dog Stand

Take a moment to appreciate all the small details that all add up to a great little scene; the gumball machine, soft-drink dispenser and delivery guy to name but a few. Continue reading

Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time and LEGO

Talented Seattle-area builder Shawn Snyder has created a wonderful pair of Fire Dinosaurs based on the Dinotopia book series by James Gurney. For the uninitiated, Dinotopia is an isolated island inhabited by shipwrecked humans and sentient dinosaurs who have learned to coexist peacefully as a single symbiotic society.

Dinos_main

Check out the latest in fire-equipped dinos the LEGO Dinotopia Fire Department has received, part of a collaborative build by ArchLUG displayed at BrickCon 2017.

See more of Shawn’s brick-built Dinotopia dinosaurs

SPARTANS! Prepare for battle! For tonight, WE DINE IN HELL!!

If you’ve studied antiquity or maybe just seen the film 300, you are familiar with the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, where a small collection of highly trained Spartans defended the “Gates of Hell” against an overwhelming Persian force. Letranger Absurde has created a cute little vignette featuring the shields of at least 50 battle hardened Spartans forming a protective dome or tortoise formation. I love how the simplicity of the colours juxtaposes the textures of the shields and rocks. A cracking little build.

Spartans

A good dentist never gets on your nerves

The Brothers Brick features many LEGO models created during build challenges like “Iron Builder” and the “ABS Builder Challenge.” Lucky builders get mailed “seed” pieces and are asked to create a series of wonderful, amazing designs in a short period of time. As luck would have it, Brick Samson (aka yours truly) was invited to participate in the ABS Builder Challenge round 2.8.

After an inspirational chat with a friend about the seed part (the dark brown wheel arch fender looking thing) and the narrow leather recliner was born. Add a suitable gaudy tiled floor, sterile white walls and cupboards, appropriate fixtures and a few lethal instruments and you have a squirmy colourful scene to send a shiver down the back of your spine. Enjoy!

Take a seat

LEGO 60th Anniversary Classic limited edition sets revealed [News]

LEGO is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its iconic 2×4 brick this year, and to mark the occasion the company is getting back to the brick by releasing a number of Classic-themed play boxes. These boxes typically include bricks in varying shapes and colors with only a few examples or instructions to allow for building and rebuilding, letting the imagination run wild.

In addition to these five already-available Classic sets, three previously unknown sets celebrating the anniversary have now been revealed, as well as one set that will be getting some new packaging. 10715 Classic Bricks on a Roll will receive a limited edition vintage-style box along with a booklet illustrating the history of LEGO.

Click to see the other limited edition anniversary sets

1:50-scale LEGO U-Boat VIIc is ready to hunt Allied shipping

The destruction of Allied shipping by German U-boats was a spectacular and tragic feature of both World Wars I and II. Luis Peña has recreated the much-dreaded underwater menace and scourge of Allied sailors at 1:50 scale with U-Boat VIIc, the most common class of German submarine.

U-Boat type VIIc 1:50 Scale LEGO Model

See more photos of this incredible U-boat model in LEGO

What would farm animals do, if they could do anything they wanted?

Paul Hetherington thinks that the average farm animal would want to cruise around the country roads, partying in a dilapidated, old, rotten Model T salvaged from the barn. Initially Paul set out to only construct the splendid animal heads and started with the googly eyed horse’s head. In the end, Party Animals took Paul five weeks to build. Once he had an idea of the animals’ size, this set the scale for the vehicle. Creating the Model T using a combination of lovely dark greens and rustic colours, Paul has even thought to include bird droppings. 

Party Animals!

Look out chickens!