If your LEGO city is situated by the seas, here are four complementary birds that could be residents of the local shores. Tammo S creates a few feathery friends from a lesser black-backed gull, a parrot/finch, a common redshank and a royal tern. They’re tiny enough for a quick build, so start looking in your bin of parts and give them a go! My favourite is the proud parrot – what’s yours?
If you blink or scroll a little too fast, you may just miss that these items are made of LEGO. Marco Gan reminisces about his younger days when his father did his daily ledger work using an abacus and a Chinese ledger. The writing on the ledger follows actual records he made. The beads of the abacus are built with, yes, you guessed it, LEGO tyres. The gold finishing gives it an authentic touch of antiquity, leaving us in awe about how much we’ve advanced since the days when these were the essential tools of a merchant. Of course, some older folks today still claim that they can calculate faster using an abacus than you can on a digital calculator…
Builder Bruce Lowell built a bust of Boba Fett using a technique he made popular known as the Lowell Sphere but left it unfinished 5 years ago. It was only now that he picked up the recent Boba Fett BrickHeadz which came with the 2×2 printed triangle pieces that it made sense to revisit the project. Sometimes you just need the right part to come along to inspire you to finish an outstanding build. The result speaks for itself with the instantly recognisable bounty hunter from a galaxy far far away.
Builds by Martin Redfern have a signature style, even when the main feature is not an object but just characters. These types of build, using what looks like very simple techniques and common colours, remind me of how powerful LEGO bricks are as a medium.
Martin had a stroke 3 weeks ago and this is his comeback piece, to be gifted to the folks that took care of him during his recovery at the hospital. Martin, from the team at TBB and the LEGO community, we’re glad to see you’re building again, and we wish you a speedy recovery!
Every once in a while I get that feeling of “why didn’t I think of it?” and this is certainly one of them. Peter Reid, who designed the 21109 Ideas Exo-Suit, makes use of parts both new and old in unique ways. I’m particularly impressed by the method with which the thin blue lines were achieved, using the Hinge Brick Base and the Top Plate. The parts have been around for quite a while, which means it was technique waiting to be discovered. The two other new pieces are the Hoop Blade, which was only introduced this year, which forms the notepad’s rings, and the realistic looking end to the pencil thanks to the obvious use of the Eraser Minifigure from the Batman Collectible Minifigure Series.
LEGO TOKYO is a special collaboration between Aurélien Mathieu (better known online as Shobrick) and Cole Blaq. To be precise, it’s really Shobrick’s swan song from the LEGO scene–and what better way to make a grand exit but with a monumental partnership to release four epic scenes that were put together by professional set designers and talented artists.
Click to see the duo’s amazing images of LEGO Tokyo and read about how they were created
Celebrate Halloween LEGO style with this BrickHeadz Brick-o’-Lantern designed by stormythos. You’ve got to love the simplicity of it all with the clever usage of the cheese slopes to create that ghastly grin. The best part of it all is that it’s made with parts all from the Go Brick Me BrickHeadz Set. If you don’t already have it, it’s never too late to get one. You can get the instructions over here.
Optimus Prime is someone full of wise words of leadership, and he dishes them out frequently to his team of Autobots. It’s something that I’ve always liked about him besides his general cool factor. This excellent build of the Generation 1 series by Marco De Bon triggers some of those memories. I like how the ingot bars are used to create a very mechanical feeling at just the rights spots in the build.
There are a few LEGO Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts deals on Amazon right now that are a steal if you haven’t already got them. Here’s your chance to grab them before they’re gone.
Click to see the items on discount
Borderlands 2 is a first-person action role-playing game and the most popular title from 2K Games, selling over 13 million copies. It’s no wonder that there are hardcore fans like Sam Beattie who can’t resist bringing them to life as LEGO character models.
(Left to Right) Axton, Gaige, Krieg, Claptrap, Maya, Salvador, and Zer0
It’s not often we get to peek inside a builder’s mind to learn their development process, so hopefully some of you will be inspired by the amount of toil and sweat to get to the end product. Every journey begins with a spark, and Sam tells The Brothers Brick that this group of heroes has been in idea form for many years. What triggered him to finally get building was when BrickCon was nearing — just 6 weeks before the event earlier this month, to be exact.
Learn more about these Borderlands characters built from LEGO
I’m always thrilled by tiny vignettes that squeeze in details that tell the story well. This vignette by Zed highlights the memorable scene in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone when the Hogwarts invitation letter is delivered to Harry in the Cupboard Under the Stairs. Though not fully movie accurate — as I do recall the door of the Dursley’s home was at the bottom of the staircase — it makes more sense for this little vignette to have it on the opposite end. I still can’t figure out how LEGO elements were arranged to construct that sturdy-looking entrance door, but it certainly looks good.
Batmobiles are a recurring theme in LEGO because they come in many variations featured in all the different franchises, which gives LEGO builders a clean slate to work on. This particular Batmobile by Lucas is his version of the vehicle featured in Arkham Knight. What I find particularly unique about this are the tyres made from Technic chain links and some nice use of Katanas to shape the back of the vehicle. Lucas scaled the build with the wheels as a reference point and everything else came after, and he even made it fit a Batman minifigure comfortably.
