Yearly Archives: 2019

Booze and LEGO don’t usually mix this well

In these dark times, I find a lot of comfort in watching silly YouTube videos. In heavy rotation for me (builder Chris Doyle) is The TRY Channel. There, a bunch of Irish comedians react to odd foods and activities. It’s really funny. Sometimes the challenges involve a lot of alcohol, and thus feature drunk Irish comedians. This, to me, is even funnier. Imagine my delight then, when TRY released Drunk Irish People Try Building LEGO Sets. I’ll give you a quick recap of the episode: It doesn’t go particularly well for most of them.
Two of the TRYers, though, Dermot Ward and Bláithín de Burca, manage to get through more than two-thirds of the build of the 76119 Batmobile set. I felt really bad for them when time ran out and they had to stop. So, being the sort of person who builds with LEGO myself, I thought I’d make a little alternate-reality ending for the video where they did finish.

This was one of my first times building characters in the likeness of “real people”, as opposed to robots or super-heroes. I think they turned out pretty recognizable. Dermot likes to joke that he has an oversized head, so there are a few extra bricks in his forehead. His mostly-unbuttoned plaid shirt, though, was a real pain at this scale. I used a combination of headlight bricks and 1×1 tiles to get a suggestion of the pattern. Creating a version of Bla had some challenges as well. I used rubber bands for the straps on her top, and digging into my sticker stash to find something to use for the decoration. A pair of chrome grill tiles and some Brickheadz glasses complete her look. I also built a tiny Batmobile, Batman, and Joker. Because context matters.

The best part of this build for me was when the TRYers reacted to it. It’s super gratifying when a bit of fan art gets a big thumbs up from the people depicted in it. And Mary-Claire wants me to work up versions of her and Lolsy next. That sounds like something I’m going to have to…Try. (Sorry. I couldn’t resist.)

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A brand new take on a true classic castle

Growing up, I was lucky to have one of LEGO’s early sets in the castle theme, 375 Castle, which, along with several classic space sets catapulted my LEGO building creativity to a whole new level. And it seems I am not alone in my nostalgic feelings for this set. Galaktek has built a LEGO model inspired by this set, featuring a central section, with four hinged wings that open up for further play and display options. This one perfectly represents feudal Japan with an arched front gate, very detailed stone foundations and vegetation, and a lovely pagoda with ornate gold details.

And if this castle mash-up feels familiar, it’s for a good reason. You may have seen this model in person if you were in Seattle for Brickcon 2019 in early October, where the builder had several castles all built as an homage to the original castle LEGO set. We also covered another of these castle mash-ups recently here on TBB.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Starscream!

The character attributes that I’ll always remember Starscream for are being whiny, always going around his boss’s plans, and frequently retreating when things go wrong. I guess those are also his best attributes that make him memorable after all these decades. What’s more interesting, however, is YouTuber Starscreamer’s creation of his namesake, the Transformers Generation 1 Decepticon Starscream. It’s created with an uncanny likeness, with the signature colors and parts that give it the perfect shaping.

Click to see the video for the transformation process

LEGO Originals – gallery opening and interview with Sine Klitgaard Møller, LEGO Design Director [News]

Seven Dials is a small area of London, squeezed in between the city’s theatre district and the nightlife of Soho. It’s one of the cool parts of town, narrow streets stuffed full of quirky shops and art galleries. One of these galleries is playing temporary host to a new LEGO launch — the Limited Edition large-scale wooden minifigure, the first release in the new LEGO Originals line, and we attended the gallery’s opening this morning. We also had a chance to sit down with the project’s design director for an interview.

Fans were invited to register for a timeslot to visit the gallery through the LEGO VIP loyalty programme, and the first session was booked up almost immediately. Although guaranteed admission, these first visitors still arrived early, and there was a good-sized queue well in advance of the official opening time. A further “standby queue” had also formed — people hoping some of those registered to attend might not show up. LEGO’s PR proved to be on-point, with the general air of excitement wafting off the line of adult fans and kids prompting photos and questions from passers-by.

Fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy in 1/72 scale

The Millennium Falcon is one of the most iconic ships in Star Wars, and perhaps all science fiction. It’s so familiar that it’s been made into quite a few official LEGO sets as well as countless fan creations. Interestingly, despite the numerous recreations, there’s still room for new design ideas, such as Tim Goddard’s latest 1/72 scale version.

Built at this scale to fit in with some of his other Star Wars ships, this model is full of interesting design features. A very noticeable aspect of the build is the sheer variety of pieces used. This is evident in the shaping of the overall shape of the ship, as well as in the details, like the cockpit. And that’s not even mentioning the greebles that emphasize the pieced togetherness of the fastest hunk-a-junk in the galaxy. The smartest design choice though, has to be the colours. Not content with the same old mixture of gray with splashed of dark red and various earth tones, this version of the Falcon features a mix of old and new light gray, further hammering home the point that the ship really is scrapped together.

This house flirts with Brutalism, but don’t we all?

There are several ways to relieve stress; meditation, good diet, adjusting your jazz intake from acid to smooth. Or you can take a gander at Sarah Beyer’s Artsand House and imagine yourself relaxing among the many verandas and green spaces. See, don’t you feel better already? Sarah tells us that to engage in this house is to flirt with Brutalism. (We’ve all been there, right?) All kidding aside, her meaning has nothing to do with batting eyelashes at someone who might be a toxic thug. Brutalism, in architectural terms, is a style of building that emerged in the 1950s and is characterized by imposing monolithic concrete slabs and rigid, often cold geometry. This style works effectively with courthouses, police stations, town halls, prisons, often big municipal buildings of importance but rarely do we state that Brutalism can describe a relaxing and lovely home. But in Sarah’s hands, this is the case.

Click here to see more of the house.

LEGO reveals giant wooden minifigure as part of new collectible Originals product line [News]

LEGO is celebrating its past in a big way this year. When founder Ole Kirk Christiansen began making toys in 1932, he made them out of wood before shifting to plastic. LEGO manufactured wooden toys until 1960, always with the highest commitment to quality. The LEGO brick may have taken over eventually, but the company’s origin is rooted in wooden toys. Today, LEGO announced they are returning to those roots in a big way — by launching a new product line selling an upscale wooden minifigure: LEGO Originals 853967 Wooden Minifigure.

The giant wooden minifigure will sell for US $119.99 | CAN 154.99 | UK £109.99. in select LEGO stores and online beginning November 3rd for LEGO VIPS with general availability beginning November 8th.

(EDIT: The wooden figure is also available from LEGO in bundles including a discount of up to $30 US when combined with various other LEGO products, including one 1,500-piece Classic set.)

LEGO Ideas 21320 Dinosaur Fossils now available [News]

The latest LEGO Ideas set 21320 Dinosaur Fossils is now available from LEGO. The set features three skeletons including a T. rex, Triceratops, and Pteranodon. It also includes a minifigure skeleton and a paleontologist. The set comes with 910 pieces and retails for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99.

Be sure to check out our incredibly in-depth review of 21320 Dinosaur Fossils to learn how accurate these LEGO recreations are.

And if you’re looking for older Ideas sets, the incredible 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V is currently 25% off on Amazon US. Check it out in the link below.

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When the ants go sailing in...I feel bad for the spiders.

My original title for this article was something along the lines of a Zoolander quote, but then, that just made me feel old. But enough about me. We’re here to talk about a few amazingly detailed pirate ships at a scale suitable for Ant-man, the Wasp, or any other shrinking superhero, built by Robert4168/Garmadon and adorned with tiny sails made from paper, I think, and dozens of hand-tied rigging, which makes me tired just thinking about… or maybe that’s just me being old again. These ships may be small, but they still strike a mighty fierce cut.

This black-sailed ship is even firing cannons, using the ice-cream cone for the cannon smoke.

Halloween Zombie Freak-Out 2019!

What are your Halloween plans? Mine are to buy a bag of candy for trick-or-treaters, stay in and watch a few schlock horror flicks, but leave the lights out in hopes trick-or-treaters won’t actually come so as to have all the delicious candy for myself. What? Don’t judge. I like schlock horror flicks. It would seem Pieter Dennison has some schlock Halloween plans of his own that involve surviving the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Shipping containers make great zombie deterrents (right up until they learn to climb) and a rickety ladder serves as optimum transport between the two of them. I can’t see how that can go badly. Cattails (nature’s corndogs) populate the center area while the power lines in the background are an excellent touch. If this layout was a movie, I’d totally watch it with a bag of candy. Trick-or-treaters be damned!

Get high on sugar this Halloween with a LEGO automated chocolate dispenser

You can always depend on Jason Allemann to take all things LEGO to a new level. For Halloween this year, the actual action of dishing out treats to tiny monsters, ghouls and all toddler-sized superheroes has been automated. It’s powered by a Mindstorms EV3 control unit and motor.

It holds a total of 40 candy bars separated by Technic axles acting as dividers. The buttons are connected to lift arms which go all the way to the back activating touch sensors to release the sweet goods.

Click to see the dispenser in full action

A castle is a wish your heart makes

The subject of an impressive official LEGO set, Disney’s Cinderella’s Castle has also proved itself a popular building with LEGO microscale modellers. However, few of the versions we’ve seen previously have captured the detail of the original as effectively as this beautiful creation by Koen Zwanenburg. The high walls rising out of the water are nicely shaped, with some ingenious parts use (check out the hammers as supporting buttresses beneath the crenellations). The soaring towers are lovingly depicted, with a level of texture and detail which makes the model seem much bigger than it really is. And who would have thought the underside of plates would so perfectly depict the tall windows built into the Mansard roof?

This is an extensive redesign of a model Koen built a couple of years ago. It’s a great example of a builder revisiting their work and improving on it in almost every aspect. This is excellent microscale LEGO building.