Posts by Jake Forbes (TBB Managing Editor)

A LEGO encampment where legends train for battle

As much as we love a colossal castle, a brick-built LEGO encampment can be just as inspiring when depicting life in the Middle Ages (see our thoughts on the latest Bricklink Designer Program Siege Encampment). French builder Gus (Faëbricks) erects a training camp for House Austren in what promises to be the first chapter of a LEGO roleplaying scenario called Féodalis. Duke Galdric, accompanied by his wife Elyanna, trains for a joust against the Duke of House Clawthorne. The scene is packed with details of camp life like serfs unfurling a tarp over an a-frame tent and crossbow training.

I love the colors of House Austren, pairing the Forester stag crest with fur collars and dark green capes.

Click for a video tour of this model!

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How to clean a fish in LEGO

Clearly Harry Duncan has experience cleaning a fish, as the former LEGO Masters New Zealand contestant captures every gory detail of the process in this inspired scene. A fish scaler on the right left pearlescent tiles everywhere. Ropy red parts and stacks of pink skates are gutted and cast aside so the chef can begin the delicate work of deboning the fish. And here we see the most brilliant parts usage of all: a stack of white stems serving as a perfect fish bones. Harry brilliantly hides one of the stems in the counter, exposing only the v-shape of the spine. Ski poles and wands add some variety to the bony mix. Meanwhile, on the floor, a furry friend takes an interest in tonight’s meal. Should we report this to the health inspector, or is it more of a Ratatouille situation?

This build was created for the 2025 Iron Forge competition using the seed part of plant stems.

Something wicked stirs beneath the spires

In a building system founded on right angles, stringing together a bunch of LEGO macaroni tubes is anarchistically delightful. The snaking black tubes in the ruins of An-za-kàr Uru Dingir from Mattia Careddu, however, are downright sinister. I love how the layered ruins evoke organic anatomy, with fleshy tan bricks curved around a bony white core. What did this once-great city look like in its prime, I wonder? The model is a rare example of architecture from a builder best known for their weird and wonderful character builds, and an exciting direction from one of our favorite builders of 2024.

Two alternate takes on 10350 Tudor Corner

We called this year’s LEGO modular, 10350 Tudor Corner, one of the best sets in the line. While many who assemble this impressive model will likely leave it fully assembled, Japanese creator Azurekingfisher was inspired to remix the parts into two alternate builds. Each preserves a section of the half-timbered walls from the original design but otherwise takes the architecture in a wholly different direction with results that are unmistakably Azurkingfisher originals.

In the first alt build is a multi-unit residence with climbing vines and an outdoor fountain. The second looks like an old carriage and guard house converted into a cafe. This design is a real charmer, especially the clock tower cube with mosaic faces and soothing pastel colors. While the original set was inspired by British architecture, Azurekingisher ‘s models evoke the Netherlands or Denmark in the springtime.

Which of Azurekingfisher’s modulars would you rather call home?

A Batmobile beyond the need for roads

By my counting, LEGO has made roughly 50 versions of the Batmobile since the first version debuted in 2006, but one version that has yet to be sold in brick form is the futuristic model seen in Batman Beyond. One builder who couldn’t let that slide is F1Elevenbricks, perhaps the biggest Batmobile enthusiast in the LEGO fan community. The builder’s take faithfully recreates the distinctive silhouette of Batman/Terry McGinnis’ supersonic ride, while giving it a muscle car spin with added greebling. For a breakdown of the build process and more angles, the builder provides a video on Instagram.

There are LEGO space rovers aplenty in our Febrovery 2025 mid-month roundup [Feature]

Febrovery brings all the builders to the yard, and by yard I mean crater-pocked retro space surfaces that can only be tamed by big wheels and a whimsical design. With dozens of rovers being shared each day, and some builders creating a new rover every day of February, we can’t possibly cover them all, but as the event is such a supernova of creativity, we have to give it our best effort. With Febrovery half over, we present some of our favorite builds so far. Tell us in the comments which rover you’d rather ride!

Retro radar rover by Ids de Jong

Every day during Febrovery the mad inventor Ids de Jong has robots B1 and B3 encounter a new rover, drawing inspiration from classic Space themes or inventing new ones. Like this radar rover that looks like it rolled out of the atomic age (or the toybox of Shannon Sproule). The Alpha Team windscreen is a part we don’t often see in MOCs, but it looks great here, especially paired with that lovely sand blue!

Grab an air tank and helmet and ride along with us to see more amazing rovers!

“I am fire, I am death, I am made of LEGO!”

While it’s true that LEGO did offer a version of Tolkien’s iconic dragon, it fell utterly short of capturing the enormity of Smaug the stupendous. Stefan Johansson delves under the mountain and brings forth a fitting tribute to this chiefest and greatest of calamities. It’s a beautiful model with the great dragon too large to be contained by his gold-littered base. Smaug claims his armor is like tenfold shields, but Stefan instead makes excellent use of the pauldrons of a praetorian guard for that nigh-impenetrable belly. The best part of the impressive build is Smaug’s head with that great lower jaw, ready to chomp dwarves and chew scenery with Cumberbatchian gravitas.

The living history of a fictional LEGO city: building Medinat al Musawrah [Interview]

If you’ve ever been to a LEGO fan event like BrickCon or Bricking Bavaria (and if you haven’t, do look for an event in your area!) one of the highlights is seeing collaborative builds where the parts, creativity, and passion of a team comes together to make something epic. 2024 saw some incredible collaborations, like Rogue Ronin or the latest incarnation of New Hashima. One of our favorite collabs of 2024 was “Medinat al Musawrah,” a fictional city inspired by the architecture of the Middle East and North Africa that is both modern and ancient. When we learned that the display would be returning in 2025 at BrickFair NoVa with new additions from Blake Foster and others, we reached out to the organizers to discuss the project’s inspiration, creation, and future.

A big thanks to Michael Willhoit, George Hawes, and Tobias Whelan for sharing their story.

TBB: First, can you talk about how the project came together? You had all just teamed up for the Old City district of New Hashima. What inspired this new collaboration?

Michael: The project was born from a few different factors. First, I wanted to move away from cubes. Having just completed New Hashima, some collaborators and friends of mine expressed interest in breaking away from using just a cube standard because of the constraints it had. It’s a tried and true technique but I wanted to devise a new system. More odd angles, pockets and alleys, density, and generally capturing the feeling of a city that’s been standing for centuries. Originally I modeled this off the iconic Kowloon Walled City, but that brings me to the next factor. We wanted to move out of the Eat Asian aesthetic sphere. I personally find a lot of inspiration in the Middle East, and I was lucky enough that I found people to share that. Looking in that area you can see similar insane density in cities like Cairo. There were initially 11 of us to test this. Everyone brought something unique to the display that I think really pushed it forward. George and Tobias shared in coordination roles, and George particularly contributed a massive modern pyramid structure to the build.

Tobias: I’ve been collaborating with George, Mike, or both of them since 2019. They’re some of my closest buddies and we can all unify a vision despite stylistic differences in building. Even with the massive scale of 2023’s New Hashima, George, Mike, and I all built for the Old City portion.

Our in-depth interview with Michael, George and Tobias continues

This Week in LEGO Bricks: New Hashima goes global, Bricklink voting, and and a new Iron Builder is Forged [Video]

Cyberpunk is spreading as New Hahima collaborations appear in Australia and Germany, Bricklink Designer Program opens voting for the next fan-designed set, and a new microbuild contest challenges you to shrink your favorite 18+ set. These are just some of the stories covered by ABrickDreamer in This Week in Bricks!

A big congratulations to Dominique Boeynaems on a well-deserved Iron Forge victory! (You can revisit our spotlight here.)

Tiny living in a big galaxy

Most Star Wars LEGO builders focus on battles, starfighters, and Jedi adventures, but not Tim Goddard of late. These days the builder has been exploring civilian life in the Mid-Rim worlds, especially the day-to-day of apprentice sub-technician (junior grade) Jostoc, seen here with the tiny shuttle he converted for mobile living. After nearly two decades of building and sharing Star Wars vehicles, Tim has developed a personal style that is unmistakeably part of that universe while also distinctly “Rogue Bantha.” The shuttle looks so cozy in white with dark green accents, with a touch of weathering to show that it’s well lived-in. This compact, modular design reminds me of the Mini-Rigs that Kenner released after Return of the Jedi when they ran out of official vehicles and needed some more affordable toy options. (I had a few and loved them!)

Tim’s technician has picked up a pair of droid companions on the job, one of which you might recognize as a companion to the droids Jostoc wrangled at work in a build that we featured last year. The speeder design is brilliant, using just a dozen parts, including a pair of perfectly employed boomerangs. Inside we get a glimpse of Jostoc’s kitchenette and/or workbench. I’m sure the roving technician has a system for what goes where to so as not to confuse the two!

UPDATE: Tim previewed the shuttle as two independent modules, but now you can see Jostoc’s full cozy home.

See pics of the two modules together!

Ralf Langer returns with a tranquil gem of a build

Has it really been over a year since we’ve last experienced a new Ralf Langer build? Just when we need it most, Ralf returns to brighten our day with The “Geode,” a serene scene built atop a slice of polished stone. The builder’s hallmarks are here: soothing colors, twisting trees, intricate architecture, and composition that is second to none. The limited color palette is striking, sticking to white for the rocks, bark, and pavilion steps. For the geode surface, Ralf worked with lime green but confesses that he would have preferred to use medium green but lacked the necessary parts to pull it off. I especially admire the pavilion roof, which incorporates clever techniques like a twisted chain on the top and minifig hands to create intricate latticework.

Are you inspired by this zen-like build? Why not browse our Ralf Langer archives, or if you’re curious about making trees like these, check out this handy tutorial from the builder.

LEGO MetalGreymon is digidestined to impress

While Digimon might not have the enduring popularity of their pocket monster rivals, these cyborg creatures have a fierce intensity that some fans will never forget. Especially MetalGreymon, the Ultimate form of Agumon and basically the franchise’s Pikachu. Only if Pikachu was a cyborg T-Rex with a metal claw and purple wings. Builder nobu_tary brings the beast from the digital world into LEGO and the results are digidelightful. nobu_tary excels at building chonky little dudes, which makes for a perfect fit with the Digimon design.