Keith Goldman has popularized the term “boilerplate” to critique the derivative nature of certain categories of LEGO creations, even applying the term to his own work (by outside standards, hardly unoriginal). I’m certainly guilty of the occasional bandwagon-jumping, but there’s a certain sense of satisfaction in pulling together all of the elements you like about something else and making it your own.
We know that Shannon Young is fully capable of truly original stuff, but his latest creation melds some of the best microspace innovations of others into a seamless whole that takes its place among my favorites of recent microscale LEGO.
Behold Onyx:
- Color scheme evocative of a much-loved Space theme: Check!
- Hinged hull: Check!
- Lots of guns: Check!
- Asymmetrical antenna emerging from the bow: Check!
- Awesomeness: Yes indeed.