Yearly Archives: 2018

Wherever you are, no one can hear you scream if you are a giant fish

They say space is full of stuff of all sorts — Death Stars, teapots orbiting the Sun and even a red roadster. Sheo. explores some of the most distant corners of the outer space to find an interstellar… fish. Yes, he calls his latest LEGO creation a giant space fish, and it’s hard to argue since we have no idea what else can be floating up there! The real highlight of the creation is, of course, a gray sphere right in the middle of the body secured with some crazy amount of red tentacles. Does this creature look intimidating? Absolutely. But can a lonely traveller escape its attraction..?

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Awesome LEGO makeover series of Sweden’s Dala horse

A Dalacarlian horse, also known as a Dala horse, is a common trinket in Sweden that’s almost become a national symbol. The history of these tiny carved wood sculptures dates back to the 1600s, and they’re often decorated with a wide variety of colors and patterns. Builder Mark Anderson built a cute little version out of LEGO, with a body only six studs long.

The original horse features traditional decorations with a bold main color and careful ornamentation.

However, after building a few Dala horses featuring the traditional markings, Mark decided to mix things up and expand the decorations to more contemporary themes, which is where they get really fun. Here’s Mark’s Batman Dala horse.

Click to see more Dala horses in other costumes!

LEGO and Bricklink will sell fan-designed sets through new AFOL Designer Program [News]

Today LEGO launched a new initiative in cooperation with Bricklink called the AFOL Designer Program where fans can submit custom designs which will be then be produced and sold by Bricklink. (The term AFOL is an acronym that stands for “Adult Fan of LEGO.”) The creations will be judged by current LEGO designers, “crowdfunded” through pre-sales, then released as limited edition 60th Anniversary sets.

The one-time program will accept submissions through November 18, and the designs must be created in Bricklink’s new Studio 2.0 software. Up to 20 finalists will be selected for judging. The eventual release of the fan-designed sets is slated for April 2019, with 10 percent of the sales going to the designer.

Do you live to eat, or eat to live?

In modern times, “eating good food” has become a hobby of sorts around the world. There are hotspots for foodies to relish in simple and local food sold on the streets or pushcarts, just like this huge LEGO scene from Malaysia depicting such a location, where food lovers hang out and where a few dollars can go a long long way.

This build is a collaborative effort by members of SynergyLUG Malaysia, led by Bruce Lee, along with a large team which includes Junious Tan, Chua Chee Yan, Marco Gan, Tommy Tong, Michael Choy, Zi Quan, Foo Wen Yao, Leroy Pang, Vincent Kiew, Cheng Heng Ching, Wong Chee Keong, Zac Wong, Daphne Gan, Jack Tan and Terry Lai.

Click to see more of the Avenue 4 Street scene

A collection of fantastic LEGO South American feathered fauna

As a zoology nerd, my favorite things to write about are, of course, animals. When I saw these lovely LEGO birds by Luis Peña, I just couldn’t resist! The creative build features iconic species, including the Hyacinth Macaw, Scarlet Macaw, Andean Condor, Black-Necked Swans, Ringed Kingfisher, and Magellanic Woodpecker.

I adore Kingfishers, but I’d have to say that my favorite bird in the series is the Woodpecker. There is some clever parts usage here, giving it character. I love that mohawk headpiece, and the worm that is formerly an “Insectoid” (13757) from 70709 Galactic Titan.

Luis is a talented builder who we’ve featured before. If you like these animals, check out his recent Paleozoic sea creatures!

The dark art of LEGO building

I completely understand YOS Bricks‘ fascination with the black brick, having been featured myself on TBB before for this reason. You can see the appeal in his build of a Thestral from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which uses the black elements to capture the creature’s eerie silhouette.

Again, in a more complex form such as this giant horned dung beetle, the dark colour allows individual bricks to read together as single forms — the insect’s antenna and wings being particularly good at showing this.

Black also works marvellously against brighter colours. The turquoise eyes of the Mooncalf from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, glow magically in YOS Bricks’ final example.

“How can you build this? There’s no pictures!”

“Well, some people use their imagination.” Mike Nieves has used his imagination to create a wonderfully whimsical representation of Belle from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Mike’s character build may not have a defined face, but the pose and setting is iconically Belle. Thanks to her outstretched hand and head tucked in a book, I can almost hear her singing.

Thanks to an extensive use of curved and angled slope elements, Mike has done a great job of capturing the look of Belle. As we can see in this shot, sloped elements are also used to convey a sense of motion with the flow of Belle’s dress. There is some incredibly nice detailing here, including the clever ribbons for the hair and dress.

If you like Mike’s model of Belle, you won’t want to miss his other LEGO Disney character builds.

TEEN TITANS (LE)GO!

Although I’m up to date with all the movies in DC’s cinematic “Extended Universe” it’s not the part of their media empire I’m most familiar with. Instead, I get to blame my kids for every episode of Cartoon Network’s “Teen Titans GO!” that I’ve had to suffer through (and then eventually succumb to). It is unapologetic in its juvenile humor and will break down your will to resist and then begins to hammer home with clever gags, running jokes, and surprise DC comic character cameos.

Which brings me to this humongous LEGO scene from builder Living Rave in Canada. The cacophony of the show is perfectly encapsulated in this diorama that features the iconic Titans Tower just offshore from Jump City, which is appropriately under attack from every direction.

The elaborate build is enhanced with the addition of official characters thanks to the waves of minifigures released with LEGO Dimensions and the LEGO Batman Movie Collectible Minifigures series. I also love the giant brick-built TTG logo in the background. There’s even a brick-built version of their strongest enemy, the demonic Trigon, who also happens to be heroine Raven’s father.

Come see this Victorian city block, love

Welcome back to The Brothers Brick, Łukasz Libuszewski, and thank YOU for welcoming us back into your magical miniature world. This time Łukasz has plunged us straight back into the Victorian era with a modular-style street mashup that would fit right at home with LEGO’s own Creator Expert series…if it time traveled about 150 years.

There are details here for even expert-level builders to appreciate. Look at how the repetitive use of common clips, rails, and minifig utensils add dimension around window and door frames; there are very few flat surfaces to be found. The most mind-blowing parts usage for me was the side by side white modified 1×2 tile w/ handles used in the middle building’s windows.

What also really impressed me when checking out this model is that Łukasz drew his envisioned city block back in May before bringing the model to the real world for us to enjoy.

Łukasz has been featured on TBB a handful of times, notably for his gorgeous cars and modular-style work. A particular favorite of mine was his city Bike Shop.

His Lordship will see you now

We see lots of impressive LEGO castles, often huge models festooned with towers and crenellations. Detailed medieval interiors prove a little less common, but here is an excellent example from O Wingård, and one which shows you don’t have to build big to build good. Although not put together with complex building techniques, this scene is packed full of detail — a hallmark of the best LEGO creations. The walls use a good selection of different brick types to add realistic texture to the backdrop. There’s a fine assortment of armour and weaponry on display, and the ceiling beams are nicely done. However, the highlight for me is the brick-built door with silver “tooth plates” providing hinges — nothing particularly complex in its construction, but a perfectly proportioned portal all the same.

K.I.T.T. – the talking, crime-fighting, Hasselhoff-tolerating car

It took almost three decades, but I’d equate the evolution of a talking assistants like K.I.T.T (short for Knight Industries Two Thousand, from the 1980’s TV show Knight Rider) to what we have today with Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and other voice-activated systems, although these modern systems are still much less capable than K.I.T.T in many ways. This version of K.I.T.T by thewdarren is quite spectacular not only in size, but in all the details built with the LEGO Technic system.

Click to see more of this LEGO Technic KITT

The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth

A man built a thing. He had a name, in those long-before times when salmon ran in the streams like silver clouds in the moonlight and people went about their business in great cities gleaming with glass as yet unmelted by fires from the sky. His name was Patrick B. The thing he built was built from bricks and told a story. A story about a man and his child a boy. That story was first told by a man named Cormac McCarthy in a book called The Road. A book is a thing made of trees but you cant eat it like you can bark and leaves and the little stems that try to push their way toward the darkened sky at the end of the months of snow. This thing this story these bricks by the man Patrick show the man and the boy as they walk long miles along long roads to the sea. It is a thing to behold. A thing you cant look away from.