Posts by Jake Forbes (TBB Managing Editor)

New machines and a new ally for Aloy! LEGO reveals new Horizon Adventures set [News]

Hot on the heels of the LEGO Horizon Adventures video game, LEGO has announced a new playset in the Horizon universe: HORIZON ADVENTURES ALOY & VARL VS. SHELL-WALKER & SAWTOOTH  (77037 ). The set follows 2022’s LEGO Horizon 76989 Tallneck and lets fans assemble new machine beasts with added play features. While the Tallneck set was designed for builders aged 18+, the new set is rated for ages 9+ and, like the new video game, should be accessible to younger fans while still looking great alongside the older model. Containing 768 pieces, it offers one of the highest piece-to-price ratios from a licensed set. ALOY & VARL VS. SHELL-WALKER & SAWTOOTH is available on March 1, 2025 and can be pre-ordered now for US $44.99 | CAN $59.99 | UK £39.99.

Steady your bow and read on for more details on the machine beasts from the Horizon world!

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Bootstrapping a botanical brewery in LEGO

Scandinavian folklore is full of tales of little people living in the woods and meadows. Swedish builder Peter Ilmrud gives us a glimpse of one community of fairy folk who have made a lingonberry cidery out of an old boot. Peter incorporates DUPLO and Scala elements alongside wildflowers from the Botanicals line and many custom flowers and berry bushes in the vibrant display.

Break out your magnifying people for a better glimpse of what these wee cider makers are up to!

Mind if I barge in?

New Hashima, the sprawling cyberpunk LEGO fan collaboration, is known for its towering buildings, but thanks to builders like Gerrit, the futuristic city is home to some impressive vehicles as well. The Aerox C-1 Heavy V8 Twin Engine ICS is a powerful flying tug that can move hover barges around New Hashima with ease. I love the blend of futuristic tech and mundane utility in models like this, but what I love most about Gerrit’s creation is the colors! Purples, azure, and bright yellow orange all contrast nicely with the dark grey utility. Those anime engines and the purple tower evoking a tug’s steam pipe give the vessel an eye-catching profile.

Santana starship is a smooth addition to the Star Wars fan canon

While Star Wars fans eagerly await more reveals of the next season of Andor, over in the Factions role-play community, LEGO builders are busy adding new stories and ships to that galaxy far, far away. Simulterious introduces the Santana light freighter, a ship built for speedy hauls and avoiding Imperials. Based on concept art from the artist Spacegoose, the Santana features smooth teal curves and four impressive ion turbine engines. Simulterious incorporates chain links for a ring of greebly texture, a technique also used in their brilliant take on the classic B-Wing Starfighter.

Mindblowing LEGO Warhammer 40k Space Marines reporting for duty

As a fledgling tween nerd, I really wanted to get into Warhammer, but unlike my main plastic hobby, LEGO, the models didn’t look great without some serious painting skills and they weren’t much good for building anything but battlefields. If LEGO and Games Workshop had offered build-your-own miniatures half as cool as this squadron from vic mk2, there’s no way I could have resisted the call! These gold-clad warriors are no mere Space Marines — they’re the Adeptus Custodes, ultra-elite fighters who answer only to the Emperor. I believe they’re joined here by the angelic Primarch Sanguinius. Each of the 10 units has a unique weapon and power armor, which is all the more impressive in how Vic captures the Warhammer style so perfectly using mostly gold elements. There are some deep-cut parts, like Hero Factory robot heads.

As imposing as the Adeptus Custodes are, Vic has also assembled heavier firepower in LEGO, like this Blood Angels Leviathan Dreadnought. Vic achieves incredible curves in the mech’s torso without any constraction elements. Interchangeable arms allow for a range of configurations. This beast could give the Hulkbuster a run for its money.

Botanicals becomes its own LEGO theme; Four new Botanicals sets announced [News]

Today LEGO revealed the next four sets to join the thriving Botanicals line of life-like plant models. Coming on January 1st, LEGO Botanicals Mini-Orchid (10343) and LEGO Botanicals Lucky Bamboo (10344) complete the “Four Gentlemen” quartet alongside the Chrysanthemum (10368) and Plum Blossom (10369) sets that were released earlier this year. They are joined by LEGO Botanicals Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet (10342), a loose arrangement of flowers like the Wildflower Bouquet (10313). On February 1st comes LEGO Botanicals Flower Arrangement (10345), which features some of the largest flowers yet in a decorative vase.

Additionally, Botanicals moves from Icons to its own theme, complete with a new logo.

See what’s blooming in these four new Botanical sets!

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!

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.