Posts by Jake Forbes (TBB Managing Editor)

All the best LEGO builders are mad as a hatter

When you go chasing LEGO rabits, you never know where you’ll end up. Perhaps, like Alice, you’ll find yourself at a mad tea party, like the one created by Centuri Chan and Wendy Graham from over 80,000 bricks! This entirely bonkers display took home Best in Show and People’s Choice prizes from Christchurch Brickshow 2024, and it’s easy to see why with the incredible characters and whimsical details at such enormous scale. To get a sense of just how big this scene is, squint and you can see a minifig-scale tea party under Alice. Curiouser and curiouser!

Uninvited Alice sits at the head of the table with yellow hair that only a very rude host would say wants cutting. If you want to ask Alice how she got that lovely powder blue dress, it took three copies of the LEGO Creator expert Vespa 125 to source the required bricks. (The builders added a cheeky tattoo tribute!) I love the use of ~~pies~~ tarts for buttons. Hopefully there are no knaves around to steal them.

Click to feed your head like the Doormouse said!

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These meddling heroes are ready and willin’ to catch that villain

When it comes to solving mysterious dungeons that make lesser heroes shake and shiver, Jack McKeen has recruited a party of meddling adventurers you can count on. The LEGO minifig team is composed of Lady Daphne the Fair, Sir Fredrick the Foolhardy, The Orange Crone, The Wandering Gastronomer, and the Curse-ed Hound of Fear and Hunger (Although they are known to team up with the likes of Darkest Knight, Uruk’el the Vexing, and TV legend Don Knotts).

Jack’s medieval remix of the Scooby Gang is an inspired bit of figbashing that pairs the personality of each character with the perfect fantasy… parephernalia. He even built out an appropriately spooky dungeon diorama for the ensemble. The deathly statue is an especially chilling sight with its binocular bones.

This madcap builder is no stranger to pop-culture remixes. We loved his sci-fi twists on Breaking Bad and Mr. Freeze. As for this gang of medieval gang of mystery solving meddlers, Jack put them together for the Brickscalibur “Adventuring Party” category. The competition runs through January 15, 2025.

Zamor spheres, Clikits, and candlesticks, oh my!

Sometimes a handfull of the right LEGO elements can make you look at your collection in a whole new light. This “Midnight Mushrooms” vignette from Eli Willsea is just such a build, invoking a whole matgical world on a base just 8 studs in diameter. The bulbous tree tops are made from Zamor Spheres, bygone Bioncle ammo, while the mushroom caps come from the Clikits jewelry line from the early 2000s. At ground level, the smiling salamander is a Friends recolor of Elsa’s magical pet and provides the perfect contrast to the cool blues. It’s a fantastic mix of unusual parts.

Next LEGO Art set revealed: 31214 LOVE [News]

LEGO has announced the latest iconic work of art to become an official set: LEGO Art 31214 LOVE, based on the sculpture from artist Robert Indiana. LOVE joins other classic works in LEGO like the LEGO Ideas 21333 Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and 31213 Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci. Keeping with the love theme, the set is designed as a collaborative experience for two adults to build together. You can buy LOVE starting January 1st or pre-order now for US $79.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £69.99.

Check out the full details to see if LOVE is all you need!

Epic LEGO Moonshade Cathedral is a midnight masterpiece

Over the past three years, Jakob Kaiser and his LEGO building community, The Workshop, have an annual castle collaboration themed on Gothic builds and time of day. First Gothic: Mistlands focused on dawn. Gothic II: Twilight explored dusk. Now, comes the grand finale: Gothic III: Noctural, with Jakob’s showstopper contribution: Moonshade Cathedral. The massive diorama is a masterclass in medieval brickwork, landscaping, and presentation and the builder’s most impressive work to date. Let’s take a closer look!

Click to see more of Jakob’s impressive cathedral!

Once upon a dream I walked through a castle like this

While LEGO has released several versions of the iconic Disney Castle in various scales, but those all focus on Cinderella’s Castle from Disney World. There are five other Disney castles around the globe, each charming in its own way. Some argue that Sleeping Beauty’s Castle (or rather, Le Château de la Belle au Bois dormant) at Disneyland Paris takes the crown, and it’s easy to see why in this Microscale version from Jean Paul Bricks. Inspired by the Architecture line and previous builds from Koen Zwanenburg and Dario del Frate, Jean Paul puts his spin on the pink and blue landmark. Jean Paul employs SNOT techniques (Studs Not On Top) to work white stripes into the pink tower. As in Koen’s version, a Gungan shield doubles as stained glass. Someday I’d love to see this version of the castle at minifig scale.

“It looks like you’re trying to build a LEGO creation...”

Keep your Siri, Alexa, and chatGPT powered agents. There’s only one digital assistant for me, and he lives exclusively in Microsoft products between 1997-2003… and in hour hearts. And now in LEGO thanks to Piotr Gierwatowski! Assembled from just a few dozen bricks, LEGO Clippy is just as adept as his digital inspiration at recognizing when you want to write a letter. Better yet, LEGO Clippy is never afraid to voice wrong-headed guesses about which pieces you might want to include in your next creation.

A winning woodland hero awaits a champion builder

There’s something irresistible about seeing tiny woodland creatures as brave heroes in the medieval mold, whether in books like Redwall, board games like Root, or comics like Mouse Guard, the latter captured here in LEGO by Markus Rollbühler. The blue jay riding member of the guard keeps to Markus’ unmistakable style of character build, with a strong focus on geometry and color with no eyes or mouth. The balloon panel is a clever solution for a dramatic cape. The acorns and fall leaves create a cozy stand.

This mouse rider isn’t just a tribute to a beloved comic. It’s also a trophy for the 2024 Brickscalibur competition, which is currently open to build submissions. One lucky builder in the “Tails from the Meadow” category will go home with this one-of-a-kind work from LEGO senior designer Markus. May the best mouse win!

Solarpunk BOTanist spreads saplings and smiles

Between OpenAI and Tesla bots, I’m not feeling so rosy about the automated future promised by Silicon Valley these days. I’d much prefer autonomous machines of the Wild Robot variety, decoupled from capitalism and just out to help. Like this LEGO fella from Maxx Davidson! Inspired by the art of Victoria Orolfo, this BOTanist is programmed to help its precious plant cargo find the perfect place to take root. Maxx’s robot design is a spot-on tribute to his inspiration but it’s the little patch of terrain that hints at a bigger story. Maybe this little bot could help WALL-E with repairing a neglected future Earth.

Crusading LEGO knights get a horned visitor

While LEGO’s official Castle sets have stuck to European and fantasy inspirations, adult fans have been increasingly inspired by Middle Eastern architecture for medieval builds. This immersive scene from Alberto Ulfhednar has Classic Castle knights playing crusaders in a grand walled city. The arches, weathered brickwork, and clever supports (love the use of roller skates!) are all excellent, but the standout technique is the cracked street. The camera work is beautifully done, with the angle and depth of field putting the viewer in the scene. It could almost be a historical build if it weren’t for one mysterious rider. Is the rider hinting at epic worldbuilding in Alberto’s imagination, or is this the D&D city of Al-Qadim, and the rider is a canonical Tiefling looking for a quest?

LEGO Master Michal Horáček’s medieval village is a towering, teetering triumph

Czech builder and LEGO masters winner Michal Horáček is a true artist at erecting big, rickety stonework in LEGO. It must help that he lives in Prague, one of the most architecturally exciting cities in the world. Over the past year, between contributing to a Tim Burton exhibition and collaborative builds with others like poMOCník & dirigent, Michal has been working on a massive medieval city showcasing his unique style. The central building in the tableau — the red town hall and adjoining tower and astronomical clock — is heavily inspired by Prague’s own Old Town Hall.

Ramshackle brickwork and half-timbered buildings have long been in vogue with castle builders, but usually with a Norman or Tudor influence. Michal’s buildings incorporate Gothic flare with elaborate (bordering on chaotic) detailing that captures the flamboyant style that swept through much of Europe during the late Medieval period. Michal draws on a wide range of parts to add texture, with stone facades that rival Star Wars ships for greebly goodness.

While Michal recently debuted his town at a local event, he plans to keep expanding the scene, including adding a church and more houses. We can’t wait to see how his village grows!

Righteous swimming LEGO sea turtle totally rocks, so give him some fin

Grant Davis is a true LEGO wizard. His talent for creating whimsical and nearly stud-free models that innovate with colors and complex angles would be enough to make him one of our favorite builders, but it’s Grant’s mechanical artistry that makes him a legend. Like his LEGO Ideas pop-up book collaborator Jason Alleman, Grant often builds kinetic sculptures – LEGO models that integrate power functions for fluid movement. His latest creation, the Swimming Sea Turtle Machine, is a slice of Finding Nemo brought to life in bricks. The adorable seat turtle with its surfboard fins and cartoon eyes delights as it swims under the waves, but to truly appreciate the model, you need to look deeper.

On his Brick Innovations youtube channel, Grant walks us through the months-long development process. The video reveals Grant’s iterative design process and serves as an excellent primer on the challenges of kinetic builds. You’ll learn ratios of how gear rotation translates into vertical motion and see the pitfalls when rigid bricks and motors are out of sync. You’ll also see how the turtle evolved from a more realistic sand-green model to the cartoonier lime green version here, and you can even see them swim together! Even if you’re not ready to invent a kinetic model of your own, Grant’s behind-the-scene look is sure to give you a greater appreciateion for what your LEGO bricks are capable of.