Posts by Jake Forbes (TBB Managing Editor)

A sunny estate provides solace between wars for this LEGO lord

It’s been far too long since we’ve spotlighted a build by Ayrlego, an Australian AFOL specializing in historical builds that span centuries and cultures. It’s been a while since Ayrlego has shared a larger build, but he’s back as part of “Brethren of the Brick Seas” role-play setting hosted by Eurobricks. The challenge for this chapter was “Homecoming,” and here Ayrlego shows the estate of Basil Vatatzes. The sunbaked bricks and terra cotta roof create modest grandeur where one can easily imagine fields of olive trees and ancient grape vines on the noble’s lands. Wands on their sprues create detailed railings, while a judicious use of SNOT techniques allows for elegant tilework around the windows.

Here we see a closeup of the estate’s owner. As the build is part of a role-playing challenge, of course, Ayrlego comes with excellent lore:

Widowed in his earlier years, Basil raised two sons who have since carved their own paths: one as a soldier in the imperial legions, the other as a clerk in the imperial court. His recent remarriage to Yazinta, a Mogholay woman and daughter of a prosperous trader, has raised eyebrows among the local land owners. Yazinta Vatatzaina, herself a widow with no children, brings a quiet dignity and worldly insight to Basil’s household, challenging the insular traditions of Pyrite aristocracy.

For more wonderful castles and other historical builds, check out our Ayrlego archive.

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These Spanish locomotives in LEGO are positively electric

Some trains traverse continents but more often than not, locomotives are built for more regional markets. The trains a railfan sees every day in Spain are completely different from those seen next door in Portugal, for example. That’s what I love about LEGO train builders – the models aren’t just feats of brick engineering, but a story grounded in a sense of place. Take these two latest builds from Julián (Ferro-Friki), a train aficionado from Spain. The builder’s latest are two electric locomotives from Spain’s state-owned rail company Renfe, based on designs from Mitsubishi. First is the Renfe Class 251, of which only 30 were ever produced. In addition to capturing the detailed shaping, Julián had to overcome the technical challenge of a three-bogie wheel configuration that is capable of handling curves.

Next is the Renfe S-269 in Estrella livery. Dubbed “La Japonesa” locally, this versatile locomotive could be used for both freight and passenger lines, and that versatility meant the 269 could be found all across Spain in its heyday. Now retired by Renfe, the engines can still be found in use with private tour operators.

Julián worked on the two locomotives throughout 2025, starting with renders before completing the physical builds and outfitting them with motors. Check out the builder’s Flickr page to keep up with what Julián is working on next!

Casey McCoy’s Moments of Melancholy sequence is a celebration of life, color, and music in LEGO

LEGO has always been an inherently creative medium, but it’s less often that LEGO creations are used to explore the human condition. Seeing Casey McCoy’s Moments of Melancholy builds, it’s hard not to be moved – both by the skill of the builder and by the emotions evoked by the abstract cube people that represent stages of life.

Casey completed the first three Moments in 2023. The first, “Die in your arms,” won the Best Vignette and contributed to Casey earning the Brickworld Master accolade at Brickworld Chicago while a second, “Growing on You,” was selected to be displayed at LEGO House. (Casey was interviewed about this incredible year of accomplishments over on BrickNerd). Casey’s work on the remaining three continued through 2023-2024, but it wasn’t until last month that shared photographs of the full sequence. The builds are shared below along with insights from Casey about their creation.

Casey’s Moments of Memory begin after the break

Nexopirate castle welcomes cyber sailors in the sky

Jente Bijl brings whimsy and wonder to every build with a singular way of playing with color and form. Her latest work, NEXOPIRATES, which debuted at LEGO World Utrech, maintains that record with a monolithic station for flying skiffs in a cyberpunk setting. Take away the ribbons of fluorescent color and you’d have an impressive neo-brutalist building where walls lean at odd angles, finding beauty in chaos. Statues of a centaur and a gargoyle add to the dreamlike design. I wonder what sights those flying boats see over the horizon?

A Monday Mosaic of Byzantine Bricks

According to scholars, mosaics in the LEGO medium flourished between the years 2020-2022, but believe it or not, people were making mosaic art long before this, especially during the Byzantine Empire. Joël Jurg, history student and AFOL, recreates the famous mosaic portrait of Emperor Justinian I as seen in the Basilica of San Vitale. Joël wrote his undergraduate thesis on Justinian’s construction project in Constantinople (Istanbul), including the Hagia Sophia, which also looks incredible in LEGO.

Celebrating autumn with bell jars and bento boxes

LEGO’s Botanicals line introduced many to the world of brick-built decor, but for builders like umemaruko, LEGO has always been a medium for elegant home decorating. Alongside her wall hangings and table settings, umemaruko celebrates the seasons with a rotating mix of bell jar vignettes. Her latest is an enchanting encapsulation of fall featuring forest critters picnicking among mushrooms.

The builder augments her fall collection with a custom wreath and a seasonal bento box.

As falling leaves and mushrooms give way to snowy nights, I wonder what LEGO decorations umemaruko will craft next?

Bonsai in bloom or a minifig vignette?

Ten years ago, a young Denil Oh won a Star Wars building competition at Legoland Malaysia that cemented a lifelong passion for building. Last month, Denil received a second honor when his bonsai creation was chosen to join the LEGO-hosted Botanicals exposition at Kuala Lumpur’s Pavilion mall. The builder fuses bonsai with a minifig vignette, adding a bridge, torii gate, and shrine to the ornate round pot. The grey and pink color combination makes for a pleasing tree. Look closely and you’ll see a clever technique for the flowers – they’re still on their sprues! Sprues also appear as vines around the trunk. Congratulations, Denil, on having your work celebrated again!

Cowboys and Dinosaurs make for a very wild west

Cowboys and Dinosaurs are the perfect B-Movie pairing (don’t believe me? Watch this clip of Valley of Gwanji from 1969). Builder Martin Dasnoy agrees as he wrangled up a trio of dino-riding Wild West factions. First up, “The Law” features an armored transport wagon pulled by a beefy ceratopsian. The dinosaur design is ingenious, with a fully brick-built head on a molded body that has been augmented for a more cohesive LEGO look. I like this approach more than the Jurassic-branded dinos that only use a few large molds.

Next up is the Red Raptor tribe where a pair of indigenous minifigs ride atop their prairie raptor. Again, the dino design is a lot of fun with its wide mouth and copious spines.

Last is my favorite of the trio, the Miner atop his trusty Hadrosaurid mount. The dino offers a lot more cargo capacity than a mule and can ford dangerous rivers with ease.

You’ve got chainmail!

LEGO Castle sets have offered plenty of armor options for your medieval knight minifigs, from pauldrons to full plate, but while mail has been available on printed toro, the company hasn’t figured out how to deliver the supple weave of a true chainmail experience. Hamilton Whitney solves the minifig chainmail problem by working with a really big head – one of the sorting bin variety! The effect is uncanny. This clever creation was built for the MOCtober challenge hosted by NOVA-LUG, an annual tradition asking builders to make a MOC a day based on a prompt. In this case – Armor! Hamilton excelled this year with some real lateral thinking around the prompts. Congratulations, Hamilton, on your 31 builds.

Visit Kyoto’s Gion district in LEGO

Meredith Najewicz is no stranger to Japanese architecture, having created several incredible cubes and towers for the New Hashima collab. At this year’s Brickworld, Meredith traded cyberpunk for the Edo era with a miniland-scale scene of meiko in Gion, Kyoto’s geisha district. This larger scale allows for beautiful architectural detail and clever techniques, like the rooftops made from garage door panels, and wood texture from stacked spiral staircase axles.

The two meiko (apprentice geisha) feature beautiful kimonos with floral patterns of bright colors, and of course obi (the NYT Crossword puzze’s favorite 3 letter word). My favorite construction detail is the geta, sandals, bound by rubber bands, on which the women delicately balance.

This month, as part of the Creations for Charity fundraiser, Meredith created a standalone geisha vignette with a variation of her Bricksworld character. The golden folding screen behind the character is a beautiful design that makes excellent use of gold tiles. The model will go on sale shortly at the Creations for Charity store where MOCs from many of your favorite creators can be purchased to raise money to send LEGO to children in need. The fundraiser runs through November 30th.

LEGO sets phasers for stunning on Black Friday with 3,600 piece Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D

Star Trek, the final frontier of fandom, is coming at last to LEGO this month with the Black Friday release of LEGO Icons 10356 U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The 3,600 piece set is designed by Hans B. Schlömer (no stranger to big ships, having also designed the Millennium Falcon and Endeavor) with graphic design by Crystal Marie Fontan, who wonderfully captures the look of the crew across the 9 included minifigures. The massive display set features one play feature – a removable saucer section. When the set goes on sale on Black Friday, November 28, it comes with a Gift With Purchase of the Shuttlepod Onizuka and exclusive minig Ensign Ro.

Photos of the set leaked months before today’s reveal, but what didn’t come across was how substantial the set is (see some of the lifestyle pictures below to better appreciate the scale). We’re also thrilled to see Star Trek minifigs at long last, with new molds for Worf and Guinans’ headpieces.

Click to boldly go where LEGO has never gone before

Celebrate 15 years of LEGO Ninjago with fantastic Four Weapons Blacksmith [News]

This coming January marks 15 years since LEGO introduced Ninjago, and to celebrate, LEGO is planning a year of surprises, starting with a set honoring the very beginning of the Ninjago story. We had the chance to go hands-on with 71858 Four Weapons Blacksmith in Billund, and it’s a remarkable set with broad appeal. For longtime Ninjago fans, the nostalgia factor is high as the set recreates the opening of the animated series’ pilot episode and features beloved characters as they first appeared. For fans of Asian architecture, it’s an attractive and detailed model that looks good from all angles. There’s a sophistication to the set that evokes the MOC in the way that few official sets do.

After a year of so many enormous sets with large space demands, it’s great to see LEGO starting out 2026 with sets like this one and the Iron Man Mark 3 that offer a beautiful build at a more modest ask. We’ll hold off on a final assessment until we build it for ourselves, the Four Weapons Blacksmith has us excited for a year of Ninjago celebration.

Click to get the Ninjago Anniversary party started!