About Chris Doyle

Chris has been involved in many parts of the LEGO community for over twenty years, and has been building most of his life. A love of transparent bricks and pop culture combine in most of his creations, which tend to be pretty large scale. His website, Reasonably Clever, featured one of the longest running brick-based webcomics, as well as one of the first LEGO-themed avatar creators. His photographs and creations have appeared in several books.

Posts by Chris Doyle

Play(mobil) well?

Once, long long ago, I nearly got fired from my job at Toys R Us. Someone had called in asking if we had Playmobil sets. I thought they meant LEGO. My TRU did not stock Playmobil. When they got to the store, they were NOT happy. I have since learned my lesson. Playmobil is a very different toy line. And then Miro Dudas comes along and makes me question everything all over again. Dangit.

Built as an entry for the Iron Forge contest, this masterful bit of deception uses the minfigure wrench as a key piece. That part creates the distinctive shape of the figure’s hands, as well as appearing as the hands of the clock. You also have to appreciate the 1:1 scale artist tools. I particularly like the use of the 4×4 round plate with hole to form the rim of the open paint jar. I also like the compass – the use of a minifig rapier for the pointy end is pretty neat.

It’s a very nice creation. Even if it does make my head hurt a little.

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Don’t go dragon my heart around

Whenever LEGO releases another wave of the Collectible Minifigures theme, I always look forward to what builders will come up with to contextualize them. Usually we’ll get some some cool vignettes, but occasionally we’ll get some great companion builds as well. The Super Warrior from Series 20 certainly inspired Stu Pace. Taking cues from the figure’s design and style, the Hyperzord Ultra-Rex is completely ready to fight off some giant, rubbery monsters!

Beyond just looking cool, the dragon has some fun part usage, too. Check out the microphones that make up the missiles, and the tassle for chin whiskers. There’s even a roller skate as part of that huge arm gun.

Whatever this knock-off Power Rangers show is called, I’m ready to binge watch it.

Rarin’ to go

Despite the great variety of LEGO tensegrity builds lately, almost all of them seem to have a few traits in common. In particular, most builders have “explained” the chains and string that connect the base to the hovering elements in similar ways. Either the connection is designed to look like it’s pulling the top section straight down, or it’s minimized to try and enhance the sense of gravity-defiance. What I like about this build by lokiloki29 is that the design of the connections implies obvious motion away from the center of the build. The 10-SGTY Racer feels like it’s trying to escape, and is being barely held in place by the tie downs. The result is a very dynamic build.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that the racer stands alone as a quality spacecraft build. Technic panels and curved slopes in medium azure give a sleek bit of contrast to the bright-light-orange of the quarter-arch bricks. I also like the ring of 1×2 tiles that match that arch. There’s some clever building with lightsaber hilts going on there.

I think it’s also a nice touch that the pilot has a big grin on their face. After all, I imagine flying a racer like this would be quite the joy.

It was a very small box of scraps

Way back in May of 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off with Iron Man. Now, a mere 12 years later, Josephine Monterosso pays tribute with an amazing microscale rendition of the Mark I armor. As you’d expect at this tiny size, there’s a lot of meaning packed into each and every piece. The legs, made of robot claws add some weight to the hips, and the connection grooves on the minifigure hands that make the arms manage to suggest elbow joints. The round helmet (looks like the base of a lever to me) conveys the right shaping. But the real star is the torso – made from a single roller skate. Not only does that part provide all the necessary attachment points, it also transforms the central LEGO stud into a perfect ARC reactor. It’s amazing how much information you can get from just six tiny LEGO elements.

As impressive as the armor is, it’s also important to call out the setting Josephine built for it. Without this jagged rock backdrop, you might have mistaken the figure for a robot or even a sci-fi spacesuit. It may be a “simple” build of slopes and plates, but it adds great depth and context to the scene. Makes me wonder what other Marvel Moments might be possible at this scale. It’d make for a great, space-efficient diorama!

Galidor II: Electric Boogaloo

Shameful LEGO admission time: I like Galidor. It was a goofy theme, but the figures and creatures were cool. And while the component parts may be large and clunky, builders have found ways to repurpose them in all sorts of interesting creations. Galidor rocks. And to prove that, just look at Mitch Henry‘s creation Mike. This doesn’t feel like an element or two has been hidden or transformed, so much as “renewed”. Mike looks like he’s ready to go on tour as part of a cool new reboot of the Galidor line. New brick-built arms and lower legs reach beyond the theme’s limitations, and the keyboard and EDM launchpad are quality additions.

There are a couple of non-LEGO elements present: Those are shoes from a Ken doll. But I have a feeling Mike has always been a bit of a rebel like that. Or maybe Mitch is the rebel. Either way, it seems to have worked out well.

Tanksegrity

The LEGO community has been on a big Tensegrity kick lately, and I for one couldn’t be happier. While the art-lover in me is fond of the abstract sculptural versions, there’s just something cool when builders combine the mind-bending physics with their own choice of theme. Carrier Lost has chosen to take things into the realm of science fiction with this Tensegrity Tank. The sleek design and neon highlights makes this feel like it was lifted directly from some TRON:Legacy concept art. Is it a stretch to label this as a new take on a “hovertank” as well?

Building Hands built by building hands

For a medium that’s based around the core idea of “you can make anything you want,” LEGO builders just love to impose limitations on their creations. Things like “use only one color of brick” or “it has to be symmetrical,” or even the tricky “you can’t have any exposed studs.” Once again drawing inspiration from the drawings of M.C. Escher, Simon Liu takes that particular set of challenges and overcomes them. (Again.) Escher’s Drawing Hands transforms from flat art into a sculpture of hands creating themselves out of LEGO. Building Hands adds just the right touch of meta-level humor to a great build.

I particularly like how Simon found a clever way around the “no exposed studs” limit. By replicating the studs out of 1×1 round tiles, they both flaunted and followed the rules. Sure, the use of red lights may annoy the “monochromatic purists” among us, but I have a feeling they’re in the minority. No one said anything about limiting the light sources, after all. Or if they did, I didn’t hear about it.

How do you get down from a Bantha? Keep reading and find out!

Ah, the bantha. In Star Wars lore, these giant horned beasts serve as steeds and companions to the bandage-fetishist Tusken Raiders. In the film, they were portrayed by an elephant named Mardji in a giant costume. Not sure why I bring that up, other than to mention that wow, that’s a lot of hair. In related news, Andrew Miller has created a LEGO version of a bantha that somehow transforms plastic elements into the best representation of matted fur that I’ve ever seen.

The effect is created by a skillful combination of curved slope, claws, horns, and even modified plate rock. The legs get their textured look thanks to the inclusion of ridged 2×2 round brick. The use of all the various shades of brown in the LEGO color palete also helps to sell the effect.

But despite the apparent need for a bath, this minifigure scaled beast is still just adorable. I’d love to see this level of detail show up the next time LEGO includes a bantha in a released set.

Oh. And how do you get down from a bantha? You don’t. You get down from a goose. Silly of you to even ask.

Don’t leave me hanging

One of the hottest LEGO fads right now is tensegrity sculptures. These builds use tricky physics to create models with sections suspended in mid-air with no obvious means of support. I’ve seen a lot of different approaches, but captainsmog has come up with one of the best. Invocation features a giant flying dragon, suspended in the air by taut lengths of LEGO chain. There’s no Photoshop trickery here. It’s just science. But I’m willing to admit there’s just a bit of magic, too.

Even if there wasn’t mind-bending suspension going on, this would be a great build to look at. The dragon’s belly is constructed of minifigure arms, creating an eerie organic feel to that armor. And the invocation platform is pretty swanky, too. I like the use of minifigure beards to create different versions of drippy candle wax, and the use of glow-in-the-dark tile for lines of mystic power is inspired. There are even tiny little touches, like the candle flames all blowing outward from the downdraft from the dragon’s wings. I love that attention to detail.

A canopy as tasty as a canape

These are challenging times. I’m pretty sick of hearing that. Even more, I’m pretty sick of living it. But occasionally…occasionally…challenges can be pretty great, too. I mean, it’s hard to be too grumpy when great LEGO builders challenge each other and we get to look at the sweet, sweet results. One such outcome is the 4-D4 Recon & Fighter Craft built by Inthert. Challenged to build a ship around a specific 10x4x3 canopy in under 48 hours, the resulting ship still looks like it took months of work.

The orange version of the canopy is lifted from 2007 Mars Mission theme, but that’s not the only callback. The black, white, and orange color scheme is also a direct tribute, as are those orange wheels. The curve to the front of the ship is the result of some very tricky building, but it’s the triangular bracing at the ends of the arc that makes me smile the most. Or maybe it’s those tank treads. Or the texture and pattern from those grey wedge plates. It’s hard to make a choice. It’s all just so tasty.

Anyone else suddenly hungry for a re-release of Mars Mission?

It takes all sorts of sorts: LEGO organization and me, Chris Doyle [Feature]

Continuing our series on LEGO organization and sorting, contributor Chris Doyle invites you on a tour of his workspace and processes.

So, let’s start by putting things into context. One of my most vivid childhood memories is lying on a thick shag carpet, watching Battlestar Galactica, and being super frustrated that the clone brand LEGO that my parents had bought for me didn’t have the fine detail I needed to build Colonial Vipers. I remember swearing to myself that if I made it to adulthood, I would buy enough LEGO to fill a room. So, eventually, I did.

But a collection like this comes at a cost. And I don’t mean just that official LEGO product is on the expensive side. It eats up space, and time, and quite a few additional purchases just to keep things organized. So, in a vain attempt to justify this non-trivial investment, let me show you around and share my sorting process. C’mon. It’ll be fun!

Continue reading →

The heroes among us

I won’t lie, this is a scary image to me. Enough of my family (both chosen and biological) are in high-risk groups when it comes to COVID-19. Seeing a possible future, even “just” in LEGO form, is sobering. But this is also an inspirational image. Health care professionals are doing everything in their power to help, often at great personal risk. That, to me, is a level of heroism that deserves to be recognized. Builder Horhat Razvan shares my view, based on this creation. It is part of the Brickenburg Association and LEGO Certified Store Romania initiative #eroiidintrenoi. Which, as you may have guessed, means “the heroes among us.”

From a LEGO and photographic standpoint, I like the bright light and clean lines captured here. The bed looks completely functional, as does the supporting equipment. Printed tiles give just the right level of technical detail to the setting, and the use of a pneumatic T-piece for the ventilator is both apt and clever. Razvan says that they would have given the minfigures the correct protective gear, but they lacked those parts. (Shortages seem like a common theme, sadly.)

Even when this crisis passes, let’s all do our best to keep health care professionals in our highest regard. Because this is what they do. They care. Every day.