Today, the three judges of the venerable Iron Builder competition announced the results of the latest face-off between defending builder Ari “loafbuilds” Hytti against challenger Ben Anderson. While Ben came out on top in the number of builds (7 MOCs to Ari’s 4), it was Ari’s consistent highlighting of the seed part that gave the returning champion an edge, and the judges were unanimous in picking their winner. You can read the judge’s comments here.
The see part for this round was the wave rounded flame element in dark blue, which with its unusual connection points and irregular shape made for a true building challenge.
Now, let’s recap the builds, starting with the victor, Ari!
Shared on Halloween, Ari’s “Infernal Bargain” is one of the most impressive build I’ve seen come out of an Iron Builder competition, and one of the largest! The seed part is used to excellent effect for the demon’s hair, as well as for the quill pen’s feather. The other parts brought, from a Viking sail contrct, to dragon legs for brows, to the truly inspired mountain elements for the neck, boggle the mind.
Ari’s first build in the competition is this imaginative Industrial Samsara, a mechanical representation of the cycle of death and rebirth. The seed part is used 51 times for the conveyor belt.
Ari’s third creation highlight’s the builder’s skill at using constraction style parts, with copious leg armor, bones, and Bionicle bits making up the body of this “Heartforged” hart. The seed part makes for haunting antlers an well as front hooves.
For their final build, Ari continues with the constraction style for this shockingly good “Electrocutioner” robot, with the seed part used primarily for the character’s sash.
Now we move on to Ben’s builds, starting with Lilium Inter Spinas, the “lily amongst the thorns.” The seed part works so well as flower petals, can we expect to see it showing up in a future Botanicals set?
Ben’s second entry, “Caught in the Wind,” features a gorgeous balloon and great minifig storytelling. If the seed part was the brown leaf used in the basket dozens of times, this could have been a best-in-show build, but the actually seed part is mostly hidden under all the trans flames.
Ben’s third creation is two builds in one – the Headless Horseman (45 of the seed part) and his horse (4 flames). This mode also pulls double duty as part of the Halloween monster mash collab we featured earlier this month.
“Ari Lost in the Supermarket” pays tribute to the two builders’ first meeting at BrickFair VA, and is an a showcase of fun elements on the store shelves and some amazing sub-builds like the shoping cart and brick-built Ari. Ben’s photography here is at the top of his game.
The “Armadoculus V3” is not a robot I care to mess with. I appreciate the mix of chunky limbs with tiny connection points, that gives the bot an almost puppet-like appearance. And kudos for the novel use of the seed part that emphasizes the bottom connection points.
“The Innsmouth Harbors” is maybe my favorite use of the seed part in any of this competition’s builds, with 40 of the blue flames being used as water lapping against the Dagon-worshiper’s boat.
Finally, Ben ends the competition with “Another Hobby.” We’ve seen LEGO used to recreate model kits and tools before, but never like this. The grey elements of the model truck are a perfect snapshot of a work in prgress, with the mix of tools detailed enough to pass for the real thing. The seed part is a star as the wet paint brush.
Congratulations to Ari on another Iron Builder victory, and well done, Ben, with seven incredible creations.