For this year’s Rogue Olympics, Pohaturon has come up with quite the eye-catching LEGO ethernet cable. And clocking in at only 16 pieces, it’s quite the tiny blue marvel! The whole build centers around this light brick from the Exo-Force era, normally used to generate a red beam. But in this case, its shape is perfect for the standard RJ45 connector. The partially-connected 1×2 plate sitting on top if it is the perfect touch.
LEGO builder Sarah Beyer definitely has a style when it comes to house design. And every time, without fail, I’m left agape staring at yet another architectural wonder, one more take on her core modern look. This beachside house is gorgeous with its brown, black, and medium nougat coloration. I feel like I can make out every slat of wood in this build, thanks to some great tile and plate work. The beams sticking out over the patios are fantastic, especially when paired with the simplistic modern windows trimmed in black. And the landscaping is divine, especially the small irregularly-shaped pool to the right. It’s a difficult design to create in bricks, much less have it feel at home in a build full of right angles. But Sarah pulls it off quite well! Be sure to check out all the details inside and out on her Flickr page.
No, your eyes aren’t fooling you! LEGO has just announced a new mosaic, the latest addition to their Art series. 31213 Magic Eye Illusions features four four different designs, each with a hidden picture concealed within. While we only have full-size pictures of one of the four designs from their press release, the box showcases purple, blue, and red versions as well. The hidden image will be revealed by gazing at the completed mosaic with your eyes unfocused (it’s most frequently achieved by holding the picture up to your nose at first and slowly pulling back). This marks the first time LEGO has employed bars and clips in a mosaic set, no doubt to generate the proper lines needed for the illusion. However, like other sets in the Art line, this one includes a specialized soundtrack in keeping with the Magic Eye theme. There’s no official word on the price at this time, but LEGO.com is still accepting pre-orders. Given that the size is a third larger than the standard square pictures, I estimate the set will be north of $100 USD. 31213 Magic Eye Illusions contains 3341 pieces and will be available through LEGO stores or their website on April 31st.
Click here to see what’s hidden inside
It’s fascinating the stories that can be told with nothing more than a little LEGO scene. Abe Fortier (Hypolite Bricks) tosses us into a not-so-distant future with this dystopian look at life in a cyberpunk construction. The decay of the concrete is superb, especially when coupled with the small vegetation breaking through the cracks. The details in the general clutter on the street are wonderful, including the pair of arcade games and the duo of vending machines next to the stairs. But most of all, I love the androids Abe has created here. They use some printed 1×1 tiles to convey such expressive feelings. It reminds me of some TV-faced robos from pop culture like Prince Robot IV from Saga or Mr. House’s security force from Fallout: New Vegas. More than anything else in the creation, they really bring the dystopia home for me!
Builder Dan Ko has applied his special LEGO character treatment to the man, the myth, the legend: Mr. John Wick. The construction here is downright lanky, and appropriately so for Keanu Reeves’s titular hitman. As such, the build does a lot with a little, relying heavily on the perfect part choices for John’s slacks and jacket. The hair is an impressive tussle of various claw pieces, while his beard is nothing more than a double-wide cheese slope. But the most brilliant bit has got to be the 1×1 tile stuck inside a vertical clip for Baba Yaga’s nose. It feels perfectly in proportion with the rest of the construction, and is right in line with Dan’s impressive record of brick-built facial formations.
As the northern hemisphere is awakening from the cold slumber of the last 5 months, Ventum Vox drags me back into the icy chill of winter with this frigid-looking LEGO scene. The trees here, with rootholds in this snow-covered crag, are a masterful compilation of brown bits. They eschew the typical grid of the blocky medium, instead providing some of the most natural gnarls of wood I’ve seen in a build. There’s plenty of flex tubing and minifig utensils in the mix helping to manage this natural aesthetic. And the rockwork these trees cling to is no slouch, either. There’s a clear delineation in style between the stone of the ruined structure and the rocky precipice it sits upon, going well beyond just the color change. And while managing that transition perfectly, Vox still is able to add in enough snow to remind us that this is a cold, exposed destination. Let’s hope that knight is wearing some long underwear.
Perennial LEGO castle constructor Louis of Nutwood has debuted a glorious watchtower complete with palisade wall. I’m amazed at all the different brick-built textures he’s managed to work into this model. The cobbled stonework utilizes half-plate gaps to great success. The smooth wood of the watchtower’s roof stands in contrast, relying heavily on tile parts to emulate wooden beams. And the wonderful implementation of curved slopes in that tattered red flag evokes a weatherworn age that can be difficult in plastic bricks. But the real highlight for me (pun intended) is the choice of lime for the surrounding grass. This pop of color contrasts the grays and browns of the rest of the build well, further emphasizing all the brilliant textures in the construction.
Nature has gone wild in this swampy LEGO scene by Ciamosław Ciamek. In a daring design choice, opaque sand green tiles are used to excellent effect as the murky water in this morass. The cobbled tower, home to our birdkeeper, looks to have seen a few too many years. The tilework is perfect on its walls, and I adore all the details in dark gray around its entryway. But the real hero in this build has got to be all that thick vegetation. Dark green leaves stand in stark contrast to the lighter colors of the water and tower, making the build generally feel bigger.
Here’s some more detailed shots of the minifigures that make up the approaching party. But mind that you don’t get too distracted by the action in the boat. Who knows what monsters call this swamp home….
Peeled from the pages of Crayon Shin-chan is this intense rendition of Kantam Robo by Moko. I’ve got to say, this robot sports some incredibly clean lines, utilizing a wide variety of studless slopes and tiles to adult-ify the character from the manga by Yoshito Usui. All the contours and sharp corners along the build help to add depth to a creation that’s primarily green, creating pockets of shadow and bright reflective surfaces. But my favorite bit has to be the detail put into the mouth grill of the mech. It utilizes, among other parts, the minifig shirt collar to get the perfect spacing. Overall, it’s a significant step up from Moko’s first attempt at the character almost a decade ago (which was already pretty awesome).
I’ve been following the LEGO Pokémon creations of pino_creations and nunsseugae for a while now. But when these two trainers combined their talents to handle the duo Solrock and Lunatone, they really knocked it out of the park! The pockmarked craters on Lunatone’s surface are perfect, as is its little beak of a mouth nestled right inside its crescent. And I particularly like the use of this T-bar for the vertical pupil on this ‘Mon in the moon. Solrock’s eyes are also spectacular, utilizing the minifig handlebars to great effect. The flame yellow fins jutting out in all directions are wonderful, as are the pyramidal points bisecting its body.
While we don’t often feature LEGO works-in-progress here on TBB, when an update is as impressive and “complete” on it’s own as this amazing build by llego_pig, we make an exception! Acting as part one of a Red Keep build from Game of Thrones, this chunk of medium nougat tower is astounding, with it’s impressive texturing and occasional splotches of added color. The rockwork next to it is superb, as are the two little shacks at the base of the wall. Each construction is perfectly ramshackle for the setting, and utilizes some great technique in creating the walls. But my favorite part of the build by far has got to be the high tide waterline visible along the dock. What a fantastic little detail that does so much to bring the build to life!
No stranger to excellent LEGO bricksmanship, Andreas Lenander travels back to southern Mexico in the 1500s for his latest build. For the Aztecs of that time, feathers were of great importance and were frequently used to make intricate headwear such as this. Birds were seen as beasts of great power, were central in the story of the founding of Tenochtitlan, and were a part of their belief in rebirth after death. It’s no wonder that Lenander goes to great lengths to use a variety of feather parts in this headdress. The shaping is astounding, and pairs perfectly with the golden filigree and tri-leaf pieces used throughout.
