Posts by Jake Forbes (TBB Managing Editor)

Bedtime for Bowser Jr.

They may be selfish, mean, and bad to the drybones, but somehow King Koopa and his kids still come off as charming and loveable. They’re like a family of Charlie Browns, always missing that football. It’s that sympathetic side that TBB regular Dicken Liu brings out with his LEGO tribute to Bowser Jr. The Koopaling looks so vulnerable outside of his shell, ready to tuck into bed. Hopefully papa will sing him a few bars of Peaches as a lullaby.

This little scene is packed with some delightful parts and techniques. Dicken models Jr.’s shell on the massive Mighty Bowser set. The Nexo Knights lampshade comes from the Beastmaster’s Chariot. The Koopaling’s eyes were exclusive to the Powerpuff Girls Team Pack for LEGO Dimensions, and I’m pretty sure that Bowser Jr. is keeping his little tuft of hair dry with an inside-out Scala sleeping bag. The results are utterly adorable. Please, Mario, go easy on the little guy!

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Through the power of protoculture, LEGO and Robotech combine

While most adult fans might prefer to keep their LEGO collection separate from other toys, for plenty of kids, LEGO elements are part of a shared toybox where GI Joe and fashion dolls can play with brick-built accessories. SPARKART! keeps that spirit alive with a sleek LEGO Flash Clapper hover cycle at action figure scale. SPARKART! perfectly captures the vehicle’s on-screen look, which is like a cross between a Harley-Davidson and a vacuum cleaner. The studs-free design helps the action figure rider feel right at home.

For those curious, the action figure in question is either Dana Sterling from the second season of Robotech or Jeanne Françaix from Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, depending on how you came upon the series. Robotech cobbled together 3 disparate series into one continuity, like if The Croods, How To Train Your Dragon, and Boss Baby were reframed as one multigenerational story. It was the 80s. It was awesome.

Majisto trades his magical workshop for a spellbinding tower

When LEGO first introduced the wizard Majisto, I was confused that this affable bright blue Merlin-type was working alongside the Dragon Masters, who with their black and red color scheme, halberds, and mustaches were coded “bad guys” to young me. So while Majisto did have his own tower (and chariot!) back in the day, it felt wrong… like a version of Gandalf who sided with Saruman. A new builder on the scene, Lego Library, offers up a home for Majisto that trades Dragon Master darkness for fairy tale splendor, and it suits the blue mage to a T. Lego Library employs stellar stonework in both the rock foundation and tower walls to achieve a perfect profile that avoids right angles. I adore the blue pointed roof that mirrors Majisto’s hat, and the coral accents add a nice patchwork element. It’s a perfect mix of nostalgia and modern techniques and an amazing debut from Lego Library.

What are your thoughts on the perfect home for Majisto? Is this Wizard Tower the place he was always meant to live, or do you miss Majisto’s alliance with the Dragon Masters?

Creature comforts of desert living

For a planet best known for its hives of scum and villainy and unforgiving climate, Tatooine boasts a remarkable variety of large animal life, from humble Womp Rats (not much bigger than two meters), to enormous and deadly Krayt Dragons. Builder Maximillian Bricks has recreated several of Tatooine’s charismatic megafauna in LEGO and the results are adorable. For instance, this pair of mounts from Disney Plus outings shows Obi-Wan and his Eopie, plus Boba Fett riding a Bantha as an honorary Sandperson. Flatulence and blue milk, not included.

Dig that breakdancing queen in LEGO

The 2024 Olympics brought many of the best b-boys and b-girls to Paris for the sport’s inaugural games, but it was Australia’s Rachael “Raygun” Gunn who captured the internet’s attention with her unconventional breaks. Rickard Stensby captures Raygun’s signature kangaroo hop in LEGO. Building tube-limbed dancers in kinetic poses is something of a specialty with Rickard, so even if Raygun’s breaks aren’t jam, you’ll find plenty of LEGO dancers in other styles in his feed.

Voyage out to the lighthouse in LEGO

Like moths to a flame, many LEGO builders are drawn to the fresnel lens glow of lighthouses for inspiration. Hugo Huang answered the foghorn’s siren call and recreated a historic Lighthouse found on a tiny island outside Tsingtao (Qingdao) Harbor. First established by the Germans in 1900, the lighthouse was destroyed and rebuilt by the Japanese 14 years later during the Siege of Tsingtao. If you know Tsingtao as a beer, it was those Germans who founded the brewery there back in 1903, who then sold it to the Japanese post-siege, who in turn transferred ownership to the Chinese after WWII. Oops, I got stuck in the history rabbit hole. Back to LEGO! The octagonal tower is flanked by residence buildings with red clay rooftops recreated with cheese slopes. Hugo puts a vintage LEGO pirate ship mast to great use as a flagpole. Hugo pairs the building with a lightship, a vessel equipped with a lighthouse-style lantern used when a land-based lighthouse wasn’t an option.

If you too want to ~~marry~~ be a LEGO lighthouse keeper and live by the side of a sea, the official Motorized Lighthouse is charming, or you can take Hugo’s approach and bring a bit of history to life in bricks.

The root of inspiration

Mushrooms seem so small and innocent when they pop up on the forest floor, but down in the soil, their mycelium roots make up a vast network that connects plants and fungus in ways that humans are just starting to understand. Builder Margit explores the secret life of mycelium in LEGO form with a dramatic interpretation of this subterranean world where a forest spirit sacrifices its body to connect mushrooms and tree roots. Margit’s staging is quite striking, using clear supports to suspend the model and let the roots and network shine. The mycelium spirit is beautifully shaped, especially its rounded belly and haunting face.

Build your own minifig scale Alien Xenomorph [Instructions]

We’ve seen a lot of impressive LEGO takes on the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one as perfect at minifig scale as this take from twin brothers Brandon and Taylor. The micro model packs in 41 LEGO elements and manages to capture the biomechanical menace of Giger’s design despite being smaller than a juvenile newt. The designers were generous enough to share the instructions so that you too can dabble in creating the perfect organism.

Click to see the instructions!

Maybe this wonderful wall will be the one that saves you

Walls were an essential part of medieval life. You could send your protagonist there to defend from the coming winter, you can blow raspberries and throw chickens from them, and they offered great views of the moat. In a pinch, they could even hold off invading armies. This LEGO medieval wall from builder n.o.l.d.o.r is a beautiful bit of brickwork, it would be a shame to see it besieged. I’m in awe of the subtle textures on the brickwork, where slightly recessed sections of wall allow SNOT tiles to stay flush. The tall wooden parapets are gorgeous. Even the patch of landscaping is a masterclass on subtle shaping.

n.o.l.d.o.r continues the wall’s story on the other side, with even more impressive brickwork. The green and black banner again uses the trick of recessed bricks to create the illusion of a thin surface. The mix of minifigs adds drama and hints at a larger fantasy world of goblins and elves co-existing with humans. Those halberds with ice skates as axe blades are truly wicked designs.

Magenta Haunter is the belle of the Shadow Ball

A wildly good Haunter appears courtesy of LEGO Pokémon master Zane Houston. Just thinking about making a huge ball in LEGO using just an uncommon color like magenta would make a Sobble (#816) cry, but Zane makes it work with a deft jigsawing of wedge plates. Haunter’s floating hands grasp its special Shadow Ball attack. Creating this erratic form must have made for a bumpy ride, especially considering every non-white surface is covered in studs. The erratic shaping of the energy ripples framed by purples is brilliant and hearkens back to Zane’s electrifying Pikachu model from last year. During the build process, Zane experimented with brick-built eyes, but his solution of using T pieces for the tiny pupils perfectly captures Haunter’s ghostly gaze.

X-treme makeover, X-wing edition

Over 25 years of LEGO Star Wars, we’ve seen at least 10 different Tie Fighter variants but the beloved X-wing has only ever come in two flavors: your classic T-65, or the modestly upgraded Resistance era T-70. True, the “good guys” have a veritable alphabet of other craft, but surely the flagship fighter deserved a bit more variety? Builder Don Wilson imagines a New Republic-era fighter that takes a bolder approach to upgrading the X-wing design. Based on a fan design from Corellian Customs, the “Thumper” Heavy Artillery X-wing trades curves for sharper angles and muscle car power.

Click to lock S-Foils in closed position and see more of this sleek fighter!

LEGO Rosalina watches over you from beyond the stars

Cecilie Fritzvold is no stranger to building Nintendo mascots with LEGO. She brought Mario Kart to brick form long before there was an official license (and revisited it in adorabuild form!) For a recent Smash Bros collab, Cecilie chose her fighter from the constellation of Mario characters: Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy. The celestial maiden and adoptive mother of the Lumas became a fan favorite, injecting more sadness and story into the Mario formula. Cecilie perfectly captures Rosalina’s charm in brick form, from the half-covered face to the pre-spin pose with the Star Cursor. The design of Rosalina’s partner, Luma, is equally impressive from just a handful of parts, especially the floppy point made from a cattle horn. While the pair might look sweet, especially in LEGO, don’t underestimate them in the Smash Bros arena or they just might blow you to star bits.