Yearly Archives: 2020

The Palm Beach concept that took 1956 by storm

Palm Beach, Florida is known for idyllic beaches, palatial mansions, and Jeffrey Epstein. Wow, that escalated fast! But optimism abounded in the 50s and legendary Italian designer Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina created the Rambler-Nash Palm Beach concept car in 1956. This ended up being one of his most eye-catching concepts and Tim Inman has replicated the design nicely in LEGO. It has all the niceties you can expect from a piece this size; the doors open as well as the hood and the interior is well detailed. Whether it be the thin flex-tube strip along the side, the rounded air intake up front, or the sloping tailfins around back, there is plenty to love about Tim’s creation. Tim has really been on a roll lately as we’ve also featured his Mercedes G550 recently.

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We used to build LEGO spaceships and wonder at our place in the stars

Going by the latest reports, Christopher Nolan’s long-awaited Tenet will finally hit big screens less than a month. While we still wait, it might be the best time to re-watch another movie by one of the greatest directors of our time. CheeseyStudios suggests the 2014 epic sci-fi Interstellar. His build of The Endurance spaceship is much more complicated than it looks. Note it consists of 12 sections, which means that the angle between them is 150 degrees. Caleb managed to find just the right piece for this task, giant flex joints.

And if you are interested in the design of the Ranger shuttle, note a brilliant use of ninja swords. Thanks to the curved swords, the otherwise somewhat blocky model becomes very recognizable.

At least it wasn’t just whitewashed

A limited color palette can be tricky to work with in a creation. I’ve done LEGO builds where I only used one color, and it was challenging. Cab ~ here has limited the palette in this cathedral to just three: light bluish grey, transparent red, and transparent yellow. The back-lit stained glass is beautiful, each window unique and telling part of the Easter story, according to the builder, if in an abstracted way. The vaulted ceiling, held together by interior flex tube, looks great, too. It does look a little bland with only grey, however, or maybe just incomplete; so perhaps now that the masons have finished their part, the rest of the artisans can get to work adding paintings, gilded ornaments, and tapestries to outfit the cathedral for its intended purpose, glorifying God.

Like church architecture? Check out some more churches and cathedrals in the TBB archives.

It’s a me, Mario! And all my friends, too!

Now that LEGO has released a line of Super Mario sets, I’m sure we’re not far from a massive uptick in the number of Mario-related custom builds. Anticipating them is Koen Zwanenburg, who has designed a series of cuddly characters from the games. I’m a bad child of the ’80s and don’t know all of them, but I can recognize Mario and Luigi, as well as Peach, Bowser, and Yoshi. Aficionados can no doubt name them all at just a glance since Koen has done an excellent job of capturing the essence of each with just a few parts. I love the jumper plates for mustaches on the brothers, but my favorite detail is the plates with teeth as Bowser’s toes. But they’re all great. Or should I say super?

This is not the first set of cute and cuddly creations by Koen; check out some adorable animals and delightful Christmas characters!

Eshu? Gesundheit!

It’s always a pleasure when a really artistic LEGO build comes along. This sculpture of the Nigerian trickster Eshu by Buttloaf Builds is a really elegant take on the subject matter. Let’s start off by talking about those wire-thin limbs. Those are made from LEGO flex tubing, joined up to larger animal tail elements. Small bits of larger gauge silver flex tube and Technic bushings form jewelry, creating a visual break for those thin lines. I suspect there’s some photographic trickery going on to make this sculpture stand upright…or maybe it’s just divine intervention.

But as cool as those limbs are, Eshu’s face is even more impressive. A mix of Bionicle and System parts in sharply contrasting colors draw the viewer in. I’m particularly impressed with the creation of eyes from the negative space between sets of horn elements. And check out that necklace of Technic gears. There’s just enough curve in the construction there to create a very organic feel.

And the curves don’t stop there. Seen from the rear, you can really appreciate the work that went into shaping the headpiece. I’m not sure if it reminds me more of a ram’s horn or a xenomorph skull.

Questionable name or not, I think we’ll be seeing more creations from Buttloaf Builds in the future.

More than just 4 walls and a roof

Home is where the heart is, and this residence by Ayrlego, loosely inspired by houses in the civilization-building sim Age of Empires 2 is a sturdy place to raise a family, with strong walls, a nearby source of clean water, and shady trees to relax with the little ones. The textured bricks built into the frame are a nice connection to the building, as well as a frame for the ground made up of sloped bricks.

It sounded like a good idea

Seismic communication? In my Federation? It’s more likely than you think. The Brick Artisan has created a LEGO Heavy Communications Rover that overcomes planetary dust and electrical storms with the power of vibration. It’d take a scientist to explain that, probably. Meanwhile, we can marvel at that intricate radar dish construction. There’s everything in there from minifigure jackhammers to battle droid torsos. The overall shaping of the rover reminds me of the old Rock Raiders theme, or the even earlier 6950 Mobile Rocket Transport, which isn’t too shocking considering the wheels and fenders were likely sourced from the Rock Raiders line and the canopy pieces from Classic Space — those three interlocking yellow windscreens take this build to another place entirely.

Speaking of Rock Raiders, how many of you first thought you were looking at a cave interior as the background here? I sure did. But that’s actually a still from Fury Road showing a massive dust storm. It still works for this creation’s backstory, but it sure felt weird to realize that. Anyway, if you want to see even more details of this clever build, check out this unedited shot.

LEGO Star Wars 75284 Knights of Ren Transport Ship from The Rise of Skywalker [Review]

As we continue our reviews of summer 2020 LEGO Star Wars sets, we’re moving on from The Clone Wars and Original Trilogy to the third wave of sets from the final movie in the Skywalker Saga, The Rise of Skywalker. 75284 Knights of Ren Transport Ship includes 595 pieces with three minifigs, and will be available September 1st (US $69.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £64.99). The set rounds out the full group of Knights of Ren minifigures, but is it more than a cash grab for minifig collectors?

Read our full review of LEGO Star Wars 75284 Knights of Ren Transport Ship

LEGO Mercedes G550 4×4 is a beast

When it comes to off-road capable vehicles, the motto seems to be, go big or go home. So it is no surprise that the 2020 G series from Mercedes is a beast. And LEGO builder Tim Inman has built a beast of model to show his appreciation. I especially love the low angle of this hero shot, showing the 4×4 in its natural habitat, driving over rocks.

Not only does this model of a Mercedes G550 look good on the outside, but it features a complete interior as well.

Who coils around the ruins under the sea?

Generally speaking, all the LEGO pieces can be divided into two huge categories: bricks of strict geometrical shapes and more sophisticated, organic-looking elements. The thing is, it takes much more than just a handful of organic shapes to design an awe-inspiring creature — you have to find just the right combination of pieces. This is exactly what Tino Poutiainen achieved in his most recent 12×12 vignette. There are so many things that impressed me in this work, and I particularly like how a dark red flex tube is combined with light yellowish-green fangs. And if you are afraid of sea-serpents, keep your eyes above the water level and you’ll find a set of brilliantly designed sails made with 3×2 cupboard door pieces.

Frolic in the fields, dance among the dandelions

There is perhaps no builder more skilled at crafting interesting and unique figures out of LEGO than Eero Okkonen. One glance at the TBB archives will demonstrate that. But the most recent creation to grace our screens is my favorite of the lot, due to her graceful pose, captured mid-frolic, and elegant shaping. The use of the spider net from a Hobbit set with some boat sliders makes a perfect top, with the soft edges of the fabric causing the Magadril of Dandelions to look more alive and less LEGO-ish than most of Eero’s builds. And since her eyes are up there, it’s worth highlighting how perfect minifigure hands are for eyes. If I were single and a brick-built LEGO creation myself, I’d gladly tiptoe through some tulips, or dandelions, with her. If only she didn’t have that midriff tattoo since my mother would never approve of her…

LEGO Star Wars 75291 Death Star Final Duel takes us to the Emperor’s Throne Room [Review]

With beloved minifigures and generally excellent vehicle designs in the LEGO Star Wars theme, location-based playsets often get a bad rap by comparison. Back in 2016, I described 75137 Carbon Freezing Chamber as half-formed, oddly over-engineered, ugly, and ultimately baffling — one of the worst LEGO sets I’d reviewed in recent memory. Then in 2018, we argued that the $350 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City doesn’t even live up to LEGO’s own product description, despite some stellar mid-scale vehicles and improved carbon-freezing chamber. Given that history, we were skeptical of 75291 Death Star Final Duel (US $99.99 | CAN $139.99 | UK £89.99), which includes 775 pieces with five minifigs and will be available starting September 1st (with the now-standard caveats about COVID-19 shipping). But has LEGO exceeded our low expectations?

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Star Wars 75291 Death Star Final Duel