Posts by Jake Forbes (TBB Managing Editor)

A stately villa for the Dragon Knights (and their goats)

During LEGO’s 2010 Castle revival, Kingdoms, the Dragon Knights got a whole new look with earth green tabards and a new crest. The faction was also framed as overtly villainous, focusing on prisons and siege weapons. Builder Tom Studs prefers to imagine that the Dragon Kingdom isn’t all about oppression and scheming and that their knights deserve a charming chateau. Tom’s seed part for the striking tower roof design was inspired by a previous Iron Builder challenge with the teal cylinder. The manor roof, made up of 1×1 round tiles, is gorgeous and apparently held in place by Majisto’s magic. Great castle techniques abound, from the round SNOT tower design to the lovely weathered brickwork to the clever lattice window made of interlocking brackets. Of course, the villa is also home to the pair of goats “liberated” during the Mill Village Raid.

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Heavenly clockwork mech glistens in LEGO gold

Gold LEGO elements in LEGO aren’t nearly as rare as they used to be, but the mix of shapes available still makes it quite tricky to use it as the dominant color in a model. Builder Yakin Xipe, a member of the Mexico RLUG community, shares a mech in mostly gold that looks truly divine. The halo ring and feathered wings give seraphic vibes, but the red skull in the ring and the mech’s name, Sister Sorrow, suggest a fall from grace. Or perhaps she’s auditioning to be a boss in the next FromSoftware game.

Yakim is quite a prolific mech designer thanks to a custom frame used to scaffold most builds. I might have to try this techique myself!

We adore Jayfa’s smashing pumpkin dragon in LEGO

Usually, a ripe pumpkin invites you to carve its flesh to make a Jack-o-Lantern, but Joss Ivanwood‘s pumpkin creation needs no help in creating a scary face and it looks poised to carve you up if you get too close! Draconis Cucurbita is the 10th entry in Joss’ Year of the Dragon series of monthly LEGO builds and it’s one of his best. Big macaroni tubes are the star elements here, supplying the ribbed pumpkin bodies – a wonderful technique, with bananas filling in the gaps – and the snaking neck and legs. The long vine-like tail is especially effective at evoking a pumpkin patch. With only two dragons left in the project, we can’t wait to see where Joss will draw inspiration from next!

Did somebody order an Uber to Deadwood?

Builder Ghost Hunter Gunn‘s vehicle game is strong. When it comes to old-timey roadsters, sci-fi dragsters, and steampunk whirligigs, Gunn is a LEGO ace. Turns out this Gunn doesn’t miss when he sets his sights on Old West conveyances either, as this LEGO stagecoach is a thing of beauty. The design owes a lot to the Lone Ranger Stagecoach Escape (one of our favorite Western sets), even using the same printed tiles, but fixing the scale with a tighter and sleeker package where every brick counts. The red carriage in particular uses some great SNOT techniques for the clean lines and curves that we’ve come to expect from Gunn’s vehicles, and the perfect minifigs capture the cutthroat spirit of the Wild West.

Is there room in your X-Mansion for the Master of Magnetism’s throne?

Magneto was right – a lot of people have been saying it. Even Professor X saw fit to hand over his X-Men to Magnus in the event of his death (or engagement to a space empress). LEGO builder and Marvel fan flambo14 shows their pro-Magneto stripes, creating a throne from a dismembered Sentinel hand for the the Master of Magnetism. Flambo14 creates artfully arranged chaos with a mix of scrap metal parts for the raised dais, held in place not by magnetism, but by tension and cleverly concealed LEGO connections. It’s the perfect display piece for Marvel’s most magnetic personality. But good luck fitting that throne into the X-Mansion, bub.

New November 2024 LEGO sets now available: X-Mansion & Botanical Garden [News]

November sees the release of two of the year’s most anticipated LEGO sets: LEGO Marvel 76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion and LEGO Ideas 21353 The Botanical Garden. Each set is paired with an exclusive gift-with-purchase during the first week of availability. This is also your chance to acquire a copy of the GWP LEGO 40698 Books Are My Passion, while supplies last. For full details on November’s sets, visit LEGO’s website (US | CAN | UK).

Take a closer look at November’s heavy-hitters and GWPs here!

Addams Family butler won’t be left in the Lurch

Spooky, ooky, with the most eloquent of moans, Lurch is more than a butler in the Addams household – he’s family. mc tung celebrates Halloween with a lumbering LEGO tribute to lovable Lurch. The builder plays with the Frankenstein association with Lurch’s ears jutting out like the Monster’s bolts. Why is Lurch crying? Maybe he misses Wednesday now that she’s sharing a room with Enid at Nevermore Academy. At least Thing is here to walk Lurch home to the microscale Addams house .

Isn’t it necromantic?

What makes a cozy home? For a necromancer, nothing beats a mildewed crypt full of bones and a little pumpkin patch for a splash of color. That’s just what artist Gabriel Midgley built in LEGO to get into the Halloween spirit. Gabriel beautifully presents the spooky vignette with exposed roots creating a dynamic base and custom lighting giving the scene a suitably eerie glow. The necromancer is a chilling minifig design with layered robes, a custom staff, and the back of Szazz’s Tam‘s head making for an unsettling eyeless face.

Gabriel has only recently started sharing LEGO builds and we’re excited to debut them here on TBB. A noted Tolkien fan, Gabriel offers some wonderful vignettes from the books that are defintitely worth a look, like the Council of Elrond or this Rohirrim Homestead.

LEGO Radahn packs phenomenal cosmic power on an itty-bitty horse

Elden Ring boss Starscourge Radahn is peak character design: giant swords, ornate armor, and an imposing profile you can spot a mile away. Seeing this beast of a demi-god teetering atop a tiny horse would make you stop and laugh if Radahn couldn’t one-shot kill you from across the map. poodooMOCs nails the absurdity of Radahn in LEGO at minifig scale. The builder employs great parts usage to build out Radahn’s hulking body. I especially like the use of Ninjago lion shields on the legs and the red bush for the Starscurge’s wild hair. As impressive as LEGO Radahn is, can someone please take down this boss so the poor horse can have a break?

Ben Brickson dreams of electronic greebles

One of the most exciting attractions at LEGO conventions over the past two years is the massive Cyberpunk collaboration of New Hashima. An array of builders contribute cubes or toppers to the modular megacity that keeps growing and evolving. Ben Brickson is one such collaborator and he recently shared a wonderfully detailed gallery of his residential Hex Home Block. Capsule homes slot into a honeycomb grid of girders like a high-rise hive.

Jack in and see Ben’s block up close

LEGO Strahd finds immortality in fabulous fashions

Builder and photographer Darth Electra is no expert on Ravenloft lore, so when they learned the vampire minifig in the new Dungeons & Dragons Collectible Minifigs was named Strahd von Zarovich, it was obvious that he was destined to be a fashion designer. Strahd trades his sword for shears and swaps the drab armor of Barovia for a look befitting a project runway star (with a top cleverly borrowed from the Alien Tourist minifigure to get those dual-molded arms in grey to match Strahd’s complexion). I love the portrait on the wall showing Strahd’s roots in royal couture before turning to the cutthroat world of fast fashion, where looking good won’t bleed you dry.

Do you remember loving VF-1 Valkyries?

For anime fans and toy collectors of a certain age, there will never be a vehicle quite as cool as the VF-1 Valkyrie from Macross. The “variable fighter” helped usher in the era of the transforming robot, with this design even getting shoehorned into Transformers as the Autobot Jetfire. Valkyries have long been a popular subject for LEGO builders, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one as small as this model from umamen. Even at this scale, it’s fully transformable to all three modes.

Of course, umamen is no stranger to miniature mecha and character builds. The builder has been innovating with tiny robot builds for over a decade, so it’s great to see them back on TBB!