Posts by Jake Forbes (TBB Managing Editor)

Belle and Beast star in beautiful LEGO minifigure habitats

Disney 100 might be over, but for LEGO builders like legonano(tama), the animation celebration never stops. Her latest tribute is a collection of minifig habitats based on Beauty and the Beast. Each scene is packed with fun details, my favorite definitely the being the “Be Our Guest” dining room scene with dancing plates and Cogsworth encased in gelatin. The builder plays with two scales here: traditional 8x8s on top of larger 12×12 habitats that allow for more complex scenes.

Minifig habitats are 8×8 vignettes that can and stacked and rearranged in pleasing geometric configurations. During COVID lockdown, it was a pretty big trend! So much so that even LEGO released some “official minifig habitats.” Its’s such a fun format for building that doesn’t demand a huge collection of parts to make something delightful. We’re warmed to see builders like legonano keeping the habitat trend going strong.

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Powerful princess of the Saphire Sword

Fantasy-flavored minifigs might be all the buzz right now thanks to LEGO’s new D&D partnership, but prolific Finnish builder (and TBB regular) Eero Okkonen is here to take the crown with his latest swords and sorcery inspired brick-built character. Eero makes clever use of the latest plant elements, like the lavender breastplates sourced from a new mold in LEGO Friends 42620 Olly and Paisley’s Family Houses. One of my favorite elements of the creation is how perfectly the opalescent sword pieces work as both hair and skirt. There are so many details to admire, like the Prince of Persia dagger of time as a brooch, Gungan shields on the belt, and alien cocoon thighs. Like most of his characters, this one is highly-poseable, so be sure to dive into Eero’s Flickr page for a full gallery and build insights.

Looking for more of his great character creations? We’ve got plenty of Eero Okkonen’s LEGO builds in our archives.

Animal Crossing glow up takes you to new horizons

Someone’s been busy upgrading her Animal Crossing island! Rylie Howerter gives Nook’s Cranny an impressive glow up, and terraforms a pixel-perfect island landscape to go with it. Even the little gift balloon gets an HD upgrade. The grass, made from a mosaic of cheese slopes, is an especially nice touch that perfectly mimics the game franchise. Now that Animal Crossing minifigs are in the wild, I hope we’ll see many more original island creations. Excellent work, Rylie! I hope you make good use of all those Nook Miles. Now, can we interest you in a loan to expand your diorama?

A spry manipulator of alien orbs

Cody Avery is no stranger to mechs that blend LEGO themes in surprising (and sometimes distrubing!) ways. His latest shared creation, the Hyper Manipulator, is a mech that pushes the boundaries of Neo-Classic Space. Thanks to sets like 6882 Walking Astro Grappler, Classic Space will always be synonymous with mechs wielding snaking manipulator arms. In his modern creation, Cody trades grab jaw arms for macaroni tubes that unfurl like living ropes. No Classic Space inspired build is complete without a trans-yellow windshield, and Cody takes advantage of the recent 4×4 sphere top to great effect. It’s almost punk the way Cody breaks convention with white accessories and one mismatched minifig leg. Down on the ground, the use of pearlescent balls makes for a truly otherworldly setting. It’s a great design that shows how much vitality there is to even the most venerable themes.

A bewitching build of spooky Salem

Jeff Chapman has been sharing his bewitching LEGO creations for less than a year, but we’ve already fallen under his spell. His latest build, a 17th-century Salem farmhouse, is uncannily accurate to the historical reference, and utterly haunting. Jeff uses an impressive assortment of printed planks for a slick finish that photographs incredibly well – especially under spooky lighting with the back-lit stained glass windows. The house’s simple shape hides some clever building techniques to pull off those lovely flush corners. It’s such an elegant build that transports you back to the time of the witch trials. (This build’s real-life inspiration is briefly seen in the film Hocus Pocus!)

More than a marvelous builder, Jeff brings his creations to life on his Spooky Brixx YouTube channel. Each short video offers a detailed build overview, photo references, and a dash of animated story and effects that bring the history and haunts to life. If you enjoyed visiting the Salem Pioneer house as much as we did, be sure to check out Jeff’s other haunting creations.

From City of Lanterns to Shibuya Scramble

Inspired by his time in Shibuya, the latest modular from LEGO Masters Sweden finalist Olle Moquist captures the shuffle of old and new that one feels walking the busy backstreets of modern Tokyo. Olle picked an unusual seed part for the Lotus Hotel, beige DUPLO cushions, which give the building a distinctive stud-free texture. I’m also really struck by how perfectly the vintage Homemaker theme‘s maxifigure works as a Buddha with his compassionate long earlobes. While this city center is grounded in a more realistic setting, the modular wouldn’t look out of place next to Ninjago City, and after a busy day of shopping or a stay at the Lotus Hotel, visitors to this LEGO neighborhood can presumably take the tram to Monkie Kid’s City of Lanterns.

Try not to B2EMO on Rix Road

Big screen Star Wars adventures might lean heavily into swooshable LEGO-ready ships and alien vistas, but Andor emphasized sides of that galaxy far, far away that feel uncannily grounded and close to home. Abe Fortier (Hypolite Bricks) has been recreating those gritty, lived-in spaces with vignettes from every episode of the series’ first season, and his latest – a tribute to the uprising on Ferrix – movingly captures the spark of revolution from the finale. A digitally added projection of Maarva Andor looms large over the tense scene, but look closely and you’ll see that she also appears in brick-built form as… a brick, as per Ferrix traditions, the remains of local heroes are “bricked” into funerary stones. Bricks feature heavily in Abe’s creation, which uses no less than five colors of masonry bricks to recreate the earthy tones of Rix Road.

See more of Cassian’s exploits in LEGO form below