About Bart Willen

Bart Willen (badboytje88) has been a fan of LEGO for as long as he can remember. When he hit puberty and slowly but surely started losing interest in the brick, LEGO released their first line of Harry Potter sets. Keeping Bart from slipping to a Dark Age. He is a fan of a quite broad range of themes, from Star Wars to Johny Thunder and from Elves to City. But somehow he always navigates back to the magical world of Harry Potter. He attends LEGO World in the Jaarbuurs in Utrecht on a yearly basis where he enjoys meeting other fans and seeing some of their creations 'in the brick'. You can check out his own creations here.

Posts by Bart Willen

A tavern to go along with your blacksmith

Versteinerts creation looks like there is an excellent blacksmith in town. You can tell by all the fittings on the door in the attic and the iron sign near the tavern’s entrance. For the fittings on the door Versteinert used the tooth plate which to me is just perfect. For the tavern sign, a couple of parts were used in a smart way. The fence is hung upside down using the round plate with handle in black (which apparently exists). The plant stem with thorns as an ornate element of the sign is a very nice touch.

The rest of the building looks amazing as well. The walls have a cobblestone look going on, which is achieved using a lot of different plates and tiles. The gold fence windows make the tavern look really fancy. Using the same roof technique as the Medieval Blacksmith makes it blend in really nice with the original set. The best thing about this creation is that it is designed as a modular building and is fully furnished on the inside. The upper floors and the two roof sections can be easily removed to gain access to the building’s interior.

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I’ll huff and I’ll puff!

As a kid, I always loved Disney’s version of the three little pigs. Alego alego managed to capture the big bad wolf in all its wickedness. I am always a fan of a creation that looks as if it is in motion. This LEGO creation is a wonderful example of one that evokes movement. A couple of things attributed to the idea of motion in this creation. Let’s start with the Wolf. His pose is very dynamic as if we caught him mid-action. The builder use of the boulder bottom for inflated cheeks is quite clever. The rock fingers and the polygon wedge top mimic fur brilliantly.

But not just the pose of the wolf evokes movement. We’re at the first little pig’s home. The one who has built his house with straws. The wolf just delivered his iconic lines about huffing and puffing and blowing houses away and he is now in the middle of the process. The straw flying everywhere sure looks amazing! All of the vegetation is bending in the same direction as the straw is flying. Even the books pages are moving along with the huffing and the puffing of the wolf.

A quite literal tea house

How does one turn an onion dome into a teapot house? Just ask Jonas Kramm! This little creation contains exactly 101 parts and my guess is that the onion dome is what inspired the build. Note the use of the Wampa horn, baseball bat and hinge top as architectural detail. The use of the flintlock musket as a tree trunk is really clever. And the rocking chair design is simple but effective. All I am wondering now is how Jonas managed to obtain a featureless friends face.

Mom, can we get a Nepomuk, please?

This little dragon designed by Marcel V looks like the kind of pet kids would beg and whine to get. The kind of pet who gets dropped of at the shelter after they are no longer cute and turn out to be not suitable as a pet. Nevertheless, it is cute as a button. The use of the ninja turtle shell as the mouth is very creative, and the eye tiles remind me of the wobbly eyes you would use as a kid in an arts and crafts creation. Somehow this entire creation reminds me of Calimero (must be the eggshell on the head). However, something tells me that this little Nepomuk transforms into something less cute after it hits puberty.

Spires in the Skies

Markus Rollbühler surprises us with a creation that could be straight from a fairy tale. Inspired Terry Pratchett, Markus created this giant turtle with a settlement on its back. The turtle is a lovely build, using owls for legs and acorn tiles for eyes. The best thing about this creation has to be the use of the ninja neck scarf to create the dome roofs of the settlement and the smalles airship (which is cute as a button). The bigger airship uses a combination of the magnifying glass and the barbell weight. After seeing these I want to build an entire fleet of cute little airships.

Yoda’s hut in micro scale or Grogu’s hut

The baby Yoda figure has been on my wish list since the first time I saw it. Carter Witz used it in their latest creation. It is either meant to represent Grogu and his little play hut, or it is meant to represent Yoda on a micro-scale. The creation is called (baby) Yoda’s hut, so my guess is it is up to you to decide.

The tree looks nice and lusciously green and the roots covering the little hut are a very nice touch. Carter used a mix of elephant trunks, spider legs and dinosaur necks to create the roots and the trunk of the tree. Indy had to hand in his whip to create vines and roots. I am not sure what the brown flower stem is meant to represent, but I am digging how it looks!

Gnomeo oh Gnomeo wherefore live thou Gnomeo

Patrick Bohn always manages to put really new and really old parts in his creation. This little cute cottage is no exception of this. The older parts are the 4×4 mushroom top (2002) and the barrel in medium blue (2001). The newer parts are the stem with thorns (2021), the quarter round tiles (2017) and the rock claw plate (also 2017). The last part has been used brilliantly to mimic a straw roof. Patricks mixing of old and new elements shows how LEGO keeps evolving but still keeps in touch with their past. Special mentions go out to the cattle horn grass, the curved minifigure stand tree and the brick build wheel barrel.

Crouching golem, hidden puma

Jonas Kramm never stops to amaze me. He always manages to incorporate the weirdest parts in the most original manner. This golem is no exception. I know for sure that this golem would not get past border security because it is smuggling contraband. There is at least one troll (minus the arms) and two pumas hiding in this golem figure. The foliage and little critters attached to the golem’s back add to the likability of this critter. It is also nice to see the 4×4 Belville mushroom top. The entire creation looks mystical and magical.

Fire burn and cauldron bubble

I personally am a minifigure scale builder. I never tend to navigate to building on a different scale. This does not mean that I do not appreciate when other builders do. Markus Rollbühler made an amazing creation on, what I’d guess is, Belville scale. There are quite a few LEGO parts used in an original way. The cauldron is made by turning a big tire inside out. The bubbling effect is created by using the new cake icing and a sausage doubles as a spoon ladle. The big table uses tree trunks as table legs. Simple yet really effective. However, the best design has to be the mumbo jumbo of parts used to create a beautiful white owl. The chima eagle head was used for the head. The Yeti head was used as the body of the bird and the wings were made out of a combination of the fur collar and the large figure pads. Last but not least, have you seen the globe with sausages used in the globe holder?

LEGO officially unveils 75304 Darth Vader, 75305 Scout Trooper, and 75306 Imperial Probe Droid [News]

Following the early view of the spring 2021 LEGO Star Wars sets published on Walmart.com this week, LEGO has now officially unveiled these three new sets targeted at adult builders and collectors. In addition to continuing the Star Wars Helmets series with new 75304 Darth Vader Helmet and 75305 Scout Trooper Helmet sets, LEGO will also be releasing a completely new, large-scale 75306 Imperial Probe Droid sculpture.

Last week, we spoke with the LEGO Star Wars design team about all three of these sets, as well as some upcoming sets that have not yet been fully revealed. Read on for some extra info we heard straight from the design team!

Read all the available details about these new LEGO Star Wars sets

Dreamy A-frame cottage

We love a good A-frame building over at TBB. This lovely creation by Marcel is no exception. Marcel manages to jam pack his creation with all sorts of little details. Most of them involve some serious nice parts usage. Let’s spot some of them. The door hinges are made using skates. General Leia lost a hairpiece in order for that bird nest to exist. Wands are used as deer legs and reeds in the pond. There are frogs and paint brushes used as ornate wood decorations in the bay window. There are plant vines climbing up the roof. The little round shutter for the round window is too cute for words and don’t even get me started about the chimney using ingot bars. Best thing about this creation is not all the little details (like the mushrooms) but the sense of calm and tranquility it evokes.

Johnny Thunder gets colorized

Norlego takes us on an LEGO Adventure with everyone’s favorite non-licensed LEGO adventurer Johnny Thunder! In some creations, the minifigures are the last things that get added to bring the scene to life. My guess is that in this creation, the minifigures were created first and inspired the rest of the build. All the usual suspects are there. We have Johnny, Pippin Reed, Dr. Kilroy, and wherever Johnny goes his nemesis Sam Sinister follows. Also, there are Slyboots, Mike and Harry Cane. This time they are portrayed in a more realistic skin tone rather than yellow.

Norlego built an irregularly shaped base with lots of angles and exposed studs, perfectly mimicking the desert lands of Egypt. What would an oasis be without some lush palm trees? These are made beautifully. The use of the prickly bush for the dead leaves at the base of the palm tree is a really nice touch. The colour of the swordleaf indicates whether a leaf is dead, doing fine or a baby leaf. Or maybe I am just looking into it too much? Last but not least I think the table deserves some love. It is made out of triangle road signs. The seams between the road signs make the table look fold-able which would really be handy when going on an adventure.

Want see more Johnny Thunder creations? Check out these articles.