Posts by Chris Zukowski

Light is Green, Trap is clean

LEGO builder Marco De Bon has created a movie-perfect 1:1 scale recreation of the Ghostbusters trap that looks like it truly could contain a focused non-terminal repeating-phantasm aka a class V full roaming vapor. Marco said he modeled his trap on a mélange of several films in the franchise (there is no single canonical version). The tiny details are what make this build work. For instance, look at the handle made of tires to add a nice ergonomic grip before sliding it across the ballroom floor of The Sedgewick Hotel. The interior of the trap also detaches so you can slide it into your custom made storage facility. Do look directly at this trap.

Lego Ghostbusters Trap

Great Scott! Look at this hover board!

I am still mad that hoverboards aren’t real (despite Justin Anderson telling me in the 4th grade that his Uncle totally bought one when he went to Japan) so this build by LEGO builder Alex Jones is the next best thing. The actual construction of the board has nearly movie-perfect lines and looks great in classic neon pink. I am a sucker for good LEGO-tile lettering and Jones nails the “Hover Board” text. The build also stokes my 80’s kid feels with a perfect recreation of Nike MAGs (no note from the builder as to how many gigawatts the light kit takes). Jones notes that he is publishing the instructions “soon” but without access to a time machine, I can’t give you a specific date.

BacktotheFuture Mag&Hoverboard

Classic Aerosmith album Just Push Play cover in LEGO

LEGO builder Adnan Lotia is a self-described Rumpelstiltskin who “converts music into LEGO.” Specifically, he takes classic album covers that we have spent hours zoning out to as our favorite songs play and somehow breathes new life into them as truly inspired 28 x 28 mosaics. Squint your eyes and they look like the real thing! Take this recreation of Aerosmith’s 2001 album “Just Push Play” featuring the fembot artwork of Hajime Sorayama (don’t image search him if you are at work). The dazzling chrome of the original is achieved with the most subtle combination of blues. Eagle-eyed viewers will note the edge of the dress features the brand new yellow 3 x 3 macaroni tile that I have only seen in 43202: The Madrigal House.

What I love so much about his work is that he could have just done a lazy pixel to 1×1 round-tile conversion like in the Beatles mosaics. Instead, he uses unique parts to do this amazing optical mixing trick that totally destroys my brain. Look closely at each mosaic and you will see they are full of tiny visual puns: the orange bars that somehow reproduce neon on a Dave Matthews Band cover, the 2×3 plant leaf that turns into Prince’s chest hair, the blur logo that looks like it has always been represented in LEGO tiles.

Intricate and mysterious LEGO cathedral

I am totally impressed by the architectural skills of Lego builder Hobo Sapien and his digital creation titled Cathedral of the Great Visage. This is a fictional cathedral but it’s actually a fairly accurate layout for an Early Gothic-era Cathedral. Who would have thought my art history would come in handy one day? So get ready: I am going to lay down some knowledge like a lintel on a post (sorry). First off, the silhouette of the building is pretty good. You have your giant rose window centered right above the front entrance. Beautiful! The buttresses are flying (as they should be). The designer used ingots and Microfigures in a clever way to recreate the archivolt over the main entrance. The peak at the top is a traditional-styled gable, but you don’t often see them filled with a wizard in handcuffs (though that is some cool creative license). 

Cathedral of the Great Visage

The interior is pretty neat too! Looking across the transept you have a nice view of the altar with the ambulatory wrapping around behind it. The Ionic—actually, I think they’re Corinthian—columns draw the eyes up to the vaulted ceilings. It is all lit by mysteriously glowing candles which provide this really mystical vibe. Man! LEGO bricks are cool.

Cathedral of the Great Visage

You better not cry, Winter Village Mech is coming to town

LEGO builder Anders Martin Hulth has combined at least 5 separate Winter Village sets into the most terrifyingly festive Winter Village Mech that is ready to kick in your doors for merely thinking of throwing out that Christmas tree before Three Kings Day. Nobody is done with Christmas! His 4-barreled rotating reindeer Gatling gun repurposed from Santa’s Workshop will make you take back your cliched joke about how early the mall starts playing Christmas music. You better hope that is just tree sap when his evergreen fist comes smashing through your kitchen window after hearing you say eggnog tastes like toothpaste. This Jingle bell Juggernaut is a Voltroned together Winter Village Station, Santa’s Workshop, Elf Club House, Gingerbread house, Winter Village Cottage and does not suffer fools gladly who deny Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

Whirly purple spiky bikey

LEGO builder Yannick summed up his process for creating this amazing ATV as “I started with the giant purple wheels” and “then covered it in spikes.” Spikes are like lime juice and Yakety Sax – everything you add them to turns out better. Let’s count all the spikes shall we? You have a pair of rad Purple teeth on the amazing brick-built helmet, CLAW 1X4X1 on the back of the ATV, a devilishly clever use of Bionicle 1 x 3 Tooth on the hood and headlights, some dorsal fins that make excellent wheel spikes, and finally a couple of conical horns to really cause some tire damage. Despite everything in this build saying “back off,” I just can’t look away.

Spiky 3

This stunning 93-pound LEGO turtle kingdom was nearly 20 months in the making

Everyone knows that an Archelon is a species of marine turtle that went extinct during the Late Cretaceous period. What this LEGO build supposes is, maybe they didn’t and then a hermit community built a castle on one’s back. Archelon Castle by Fraser Ratzlaff is a fanciful, Mindstorms-powered, articulated creature with 4 independently swaying appendages, an anatomically correct mouth masticating a lobster, and oh yes—the entire beast (and affixed castle) slowly rotates 360 degrees. Hitch a ride as we explore the intense environmental storytelling of this build that took almost two years to create.

ARCHELON CASTLE

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How the other half lives

These amazing brick-built trophies by Markus Rollbühler are for the winners of “The Rich and the Poor” category of the Brickscalibur castle-themed LEGO competition. What is so striking is the many layers entwined in these two figures. From a purely aesthetic approach you can marvel at the creative use of brown scarves for crumpled pant cuffs, the One Ring to accent the boots or the pearl gold beard plate for some dazzling epaulets. From a metaphorical perspective, appreciate the contrasts: the goat as a helper vs the goat as a pet. The gold coming from the land vs the gold coming from currency. Then notice what each man extends in their hand and think of what they are plotting. Whoa! Sorry to get so deep there but I can’t help it with such a great build. 

Brickscalibur 2021 Trophy: The Rich and The Poor