Monthly Archives: March 2019

A bird that looks majestic in miniature

For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, Spring is finally here. In observance of the season, Jarema has built a small, yet elegant-looking LEGO bird returning from the tropics. It doubles as an excellent case study in how just a few parts can go a long way in modeling a subject that is instantly recognizable. Coupled with the tilted beak, black wings staggered above white wings imply we are birdwatching from beneath the clouds.

Spring of life

Meanwhile, the placement of each element is carefully calculated. Red crowbars make for excellent feet stretched out in flight, and the mechanical arm doubles nicely as a neck. I particularly love how the minifigure epaulette has been used to form the bird’s belly. It looks like it could hold a fish or two!

An Imperial probe droid. It’s a good bet the Empire has seen this perfect reproduction

Sometimes you look at a creation and don’t even realize you’re looking at something built out of LEGO bricks. That’s exactly what Lino Martins has achieved with his Imperial Probe Droid. At first glance, you might mistake the Arakyd Industries Viper probe droid for an action figure, but upon closer inspection you realize that it is, in fact, made up of LEGO elements. LEGO Imperial Probe Droid (Probot)
Of course, it helps that he’s used certain pieces that are perfect substitutes for what is seen in the Empire Strikes Back, for example the Technic pins look almost identical to the ends of the antenna. And that’s just starting at the top – scanning the rest of the model shows more and more components that look enough like the reel thing to make you think it’s searching for your hidden Rebel base.

Great shot kid. That was one in a million!

There’s one thing I never get tired of in the world of Star Wars, and that’s seeing yet another custom LEGO X-Wing model. Each builder brings their own flavor to the table, including neat techniques. What seems easy usually isn’t. For example, builder Koen Zwanenburg experimented with four different iterations and modifications before ending up with the X-Wing seen here. For those unfamiliar with Koen’s work, he’s quite a versatile builder with everything from the cuteness overload of his classic rubber duck to the elegant grandeur of his Minas Tirith from the Lord of the Rings!

Red Five X-wing starfighter

The art of the butterfly

LEGO artists often title their creations with a cryptic title like “Daydream” or skip the title altogether, allowing the viewer more freedom in interpretation. Dario Minisini’s latest creation surprises with a descriptive and beautiful title: “Life is not always grey. There are colors too.”

Life is not always grey there are colors too

Multiple gray butterflies leading to a rainbow-colored one makes for a powerful composition. Their flight path seemingly implies that the colorful butterfly and its monochromatic counterparts represent a single butterfly, possibly viewed from a different angle or transformed as it flies through the triangle. Supports are made from bent translucent bar pieces that Dario uses in many of his builds. I think it’s great how Dario manages to keep the creation’s message open-ended, even with the descriptive title. However, it is not quite true that the three gray butterflies are void of color – they use sand blue wedge plates for the undersides of the wings. Could this be a subtle message or just a lack of parts?

Classic Space takes flight in a Macross crossover

Benny is a man and minifig of many talents and versatility, having captured the hearts of many around the world. With the help of LEGO fans, he has been to the Star Wars galaxy, and now he’s taken a leap into the Macross Saga with this unique three-in-one transformable model built by Wallace Chow. I’m impressed by the level of thought and effort it took to represent multiple forms in a single LEGO model, all while maintaining thematic consistency. Each form stands on its own as instantly recognizable.

Benny’s Marcoss spaceship spaceship spaceship! This time I created Benny’s spaceship based on the style of Macross. It can be fully transformed into Jet, Walker and Robot mode. Hope you all like it. # #legomovie #legomoc #macross

Click to see the alternate Mech and Walker mode

Scout mech that packs a mean look

Tim Goddard’s EERV, or Extreme Environment Reconnaissance Vehicle, brings to mind the Destroyer from the Thor movie, menacing and a lot of damage to be done. My favorite parts of the build are the batch of elements used for textures, which look like very functional armor, especially around the abdominal area. Don’t let that red threatening cyclops eye scare you however, as this guy seems to be a lot friendlier once you see who’s piloting it.

The EERV (Extreme Environment Reconnaissance Vehicle)

Click to see more of this towering mech

The LEGO VIP rewards program is changing and going digital [News]

The LEGO VIP rewards program is changing and going digital. Starting in June, LEGO will be launching a new online rewards center with digital VIP cards that will “introduce some new ways to earn and spend VIP points.” The changes follow a beta program launched earlier this month offering a few users mobile wallet versions of their VIP cards on Apple or Android devices while also promising “targeted and personalized offers sent directly to your phone.”

While the digital push is framed as being part of LEGO’s environmentally conscious “Planet Promise,” physical cards will still be available upon request. There are no planned changes to existing VIP points or values, though VIP accounts must now be registered online and connected with a unique e-mail address.

VIP points will also now be valid for 18 months with the expiration countdown clock renewing after every purchase, essentially extending their life indefinitely for fans who make a LEGO purchase at least once every year and a half (a change from the points expiring two years after earning them if they were not used).

There are many benefits to the LEGO VIP Program including signing up for free, accruing points toward discounts on future purchases, early access to select product launches, as well as access to other offers and promotions throughout the year. (For example, the LEGO Store is running double VIP points through the end of March.) Going digital will hopefully lead to faster communication about new offers and more clarity about LEGO’s reward system.

However, the LEGO VIP Program has had several missteps in the past including the exclusive Black VIP Card roll-out which promised “exclusive contests, exclusive rewards, exclusive access” and then hardly delivered, as well as tracking and enforcing hard purchase limits across several online orders. It remains to be seen what the “new ways to earn and spend VIP points” will be, but we are cautiously optimistic based on past promises if the program remains true to providing loyalty rewards and doesn’t veer toward increased tracking with even more fragmented offers than currently exist.

We will publish more information about the changes when it is announced, but in the meantime you can read the full email announcement from LEGO after the jump.

Click to read more about the new digital LEGO VIP program

The LEGO Movie 2: Its box office performance and what we thought of it [Feature]

It’s been a number weeks now since The Lego Movie 2 hit the big screens, and while we’ve already published our review, we also wanted to share our final thoughts on the movie. We all know the opening weekend didn’t perform as well as compared to the first movie, so with that in mind we wanted to take a longer-term view. Now that it’s in its 7th week of screening, the good news for LEGO and Warner Bros. is that it has now crossed the 100M (USD) mark for the domestic market alone, and is doing much better than The LEGO Ninjago Movie did in 2017.

While there have been few explicitly negative reviews out there, most of the feedback we’ve seen online seems to indicate that audiences felt while it entertained and surprised, the ‘freshness’ of seeing a new LEGO Movie has somewhat diminished. We asked a few of our own writers to compile their views on The Lego Movie 2. And if it isn’t obvious enough, yes, spoilers ahead. Continue reading →

Attention all Rock Raiders! This is not a drill!

Twenty years after its inception, the often-overlooked yet undeniably cool LEGO Rock Raiders theme finds its way into fan creations as well. In February we featured a collection of vehicles built in honour of this theme, and now it’s Chris Perron‘s turn to show off his gritty tunneling hovercraft, with all its glorious teal and chrome highlights. Chris notes that this creation is actually a year and a half old, but was inspired by friends to give the tunneler a base and finally upload it.

Basalt Borer

The base is a convincing cutout of a rock tunnel, dotted with chrome green crystals (these crystals actually come from the Space Port line from the same year–Rock Raiders featured trans-neon green crystals), and it’s perfect place to show off this cute little drilling drone. The drone itself is quite a perfect representation of its theme. The colour combination has all the characteristics of Rock Raiders; teal highlights, black and yellow warning stripes, a brown rollcage and grays as the main colour. What is especially impressive is the complex drilling head in the front, built of various custom chrome elements.

From the sewers, Warsaw – it’s time to rise now!

In LEGO fan creations, the Second World War is quite a common theme. This is understandable, as this is a historical period that has a very personal connection to many people, while also bringing some action and gritty machinery to the table. Jan T. takes inspiration from an important part of Polish history that’s much less often recreated in LEGO, the ill-fated Warsaw Uprising.

Warsaw Uprising 1944 (main)

The street combat is captured very well with makeshift barricades made of bricks, furniture, and an excellent period street tram surrounded by barricades.

See more of this detailed World War II diorama

What will you do with your AI multi-purpose shell?

March is nearly at an end, and that means the end of another fun month-long building challenge known as Marchikoma, where LEGO fans build tributes to the semi-autonomous spider bots from the Manga/anime franchise Ghost in the Shell. When I saw this entry by Oscar Cederwall (o0ger) I was blown away. Not only does the model capture the aesthetic of the source material in a unique but instantly recognizable way, there are some great part usages to call out.

Personal AI Multi-Purpose Shell

The ice skates make perfect details on the feet, and the microphones used as the primary eyes are spot-on! Also, check out the hands made from Hero Factory minifig arms. But one of my favorite parts is used as the top of the head: it’s a Bionicle armor element that was used on the legs of the Star Wars constraction figure of the Range trooper from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen steps down from LEGO Board of Directors [News]

Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is stepping down from LEGO’s board of directors, essentially passing on control of the company to the next generation of the Kristiansen family. Like a parent giving their child a LEGO set they grew up with, Kjeld announced that he will step down from LEGO next month, which leaves his son Thomas Kristiansen acting in his stead as the fourth-generation Kristiansen to help lead the company.

The change follows a plan to make a generational shift in leadership which has been happening for several years since Thomas joined the board in 2007. He and LEGO Brand Group CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp are interviewing candidates to ultimately replace Kjeld on the board with the goal in mind of bringing in someone to help the company through their centennial anniversary.

Kjeld has been a reassuring presence to the LEGO fan community throughout the years, visiting several conventions and driving the creation of the LEGO House in Billund, Denmark. He is the son of Godtfred Kirk Christiansen (who was the son of LEGO inventor Ole Kirk Christiansen), and appeared on LEGO boxes as a child. He was CEO of LEGO from 1979 until 2004 and has continued to be a driving and inspirational influence on the company.

The full press release as well as a history of the Kristiansen family’s ownership of LEGO is included after the jump.

Click to read more about the history of LEGO