I absolutely adore this red goldfish LEGO build by Dicken Liu! Its big, gaping white mouth is perfect for a cyprinid with a known memory problem. The use of rounded tiles for scales feels perfect for such a cartoonish creation. And the intricate touch of the gold ring around its eye is absolutely perfect here. But the real star of the show is the terrific use of Doctor Strange capes throughout the model. The part fits in perfectly for the goldfish’s flowing fins, bringing the model to life.
No bones about it, builder ZiO Chao knows their LEGO anatomy! Their impressive hybrid of System and Technic parts gives us a peek into our innermost core while still providing quite the possible finished model. The cranial crafting here is spot on, with an excellent pair of eye sockets and two dazzling rows of 1×1 plate teeth. And at the opposite end of the model, Mr. Skeleton’s feet are well-crafted. I particularly like the detail of a distinctly larger hallux, or “big toe,” compared to the rest of the foot. And the use of the robot arms for the metatarsals gives each pedal construction the perfect arch on their underside.
On the heels of some sweet Indiana Jones news earlier this week, it’s a good time to pop in on the ongoing escapades of LEGO’s other, less cross-promotional adventurer: Mr. Johnny Thunder. And no one captures that better than builder Ids de Jong! Here he and his team explore a beautiful jungle pagoda while braving the hazards of a rickety rope bridge. The minifig posing here is spectacular, with one teammate about to take the plunge thanks to a snapped plank. The temple stands in brilliant contrast to the surrounding vegetation, a white monolith among so many earth tones. But the flora itself is the true standout here, utilizing parts both new and old to create a lush landscape atop these cliffs.
Season three of The Mandalorian dropped about a week ago. And to celebrate the return of our favorite perma-helmed hero, Jez Williams has provided this slick remake of Mando’s helmet in LEGO bricks. The lines are very clean here, despite being more compact than the official LEGO set. It really shows a mastery of all kinds of curved slopes and tiles. The half-plate offset to the ridge over the top is most impressive, as are the cheekbone insets in the face that match so well with the rest of the model. But my favorite part, intentional or not, is how much the base reminds me of the Armorer’s forge from season one.
No need to adjust your glasses. Everything’s looking rosy in this darling LEGO FebRovery build by Julius Kanand. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the jewel piece put to such excellent use as to create the ground in this diorama. Add in the mass of red crystal behind the rover, as well as the occasional bump and crag from the LEGO crystal part, and it’s hard to tear my eyes away from the background. But when I do, I’m greeted with an astonishing white rover, reminiscent of NASA’s best work! Each gray tube and bit of texture tagged onto this beauty provides a level of realism betrayed by its fantastical location.
Like many, I’ve been glued to my TV every Sunday night to watch the next episode of The Last of Us, a show (based on a popular video game series) that supposes a world overrun with fungally-infected zombies. The remaining shreds of the US government, known as FEDRA, rely on handheld scanners to check citizens for potential infection of the mind-manipulating cordyceps fungus. And Julie vanderMeulen gives us one of those very scanners in LEGO form. Her construction has some wonderful clean lines, masterfully utilizing curved and straight slopes to give the device the proper shape. I love the simplicity of the trans-green screen, indicating an uninfected individual. The grid pattern made by the transparent 1×2 bricks replicating the lines of lights on the scanner from the show. But the perfect touch is her use of the gear at the top of the box, adding just a bit of technological texture to an otherwise sleek design.
Everyone has their favorite LEGO keychain. Maybe it’s the Beskar slab GWP from May 2022, or a classic 2×4 brick in your favorite color. Personally, I’m rocking Spider-Ham on the keys to my LEGO studio. And builder Bricktacular Builds gives us a brick-built version of Hank Pym’s infamous tank keychain, along with a couple of Pym Particle Discs, all built to a 1:1 scale. While the whole setup is downright adorable, my favorite bit has got to be the use of this 2×2 socket to hold the tank’s cannon. It’s the perfect piece in the perfect color and at the perfect scale to anchor the build in microscale-reality.
The LEGO Imperials are totally overwhelmed in this Pirate battle scene by Faëbricks. The design of the black and brown sloop is exquisite, lean and ready for a fight. And yet, it still doesn’t steal attention away from the scene as a whole. The same can be said of the port structure: beautifully textured and colored, it looks as if it’s seen its fair share of weathering. But it’s clear that the current cannon fire is creating a bit more damage than years of wind and water. Gaping holes in the gate and foundation show that the pirates are clearing winning this fight, with one more cannonball about to make contact in this frozen slice of the action. Good luck, Imperials! You’re going to need it….
Tommy Frost has been giving us quite the alphabetical tour of the LEGO theme month known as FebRovery. But, just in time for Valentine’s Day, he’s taken a short detour before the letter M to cover four other letters: L–O–V–E. The heart-shaped rover is adorable, with subtle bits like the black and yellow striping and red wheels paying homage to my Valentine: Classic Space. The space-y textures atop the vehicle, created with various light gray bits and bobs, are a great touch. And the surrounding landscape rounds out the scene well, dappled with light blue moon flowers and pink terrain.
Here’s an aerial shot better showcasing the rover’s cardial shape. Good luck to Tommy and his copilot Amy as they explore this pink planet together. And I hope you, dear reader, have a spectacular Valentine’s Day!
Years of LEGO trophy construction has left me with quite the hunger for builds with big detail and small square footage. And this doozy by EMazingbrix is a meal unto itself! Specifically utilizing the 1×1 plate with three leaves piece, this design puts it to work as a drumstick, a pile of cheese, and some drawer handles. But there’s a lot more great parts usage here besides that! Check out the super simple solution for salt and pepper shakers in the upper left corner. And I bet you can’t handle this handle made from the hammer on this wheel of tools.
But the real design win here (and the reason I knew immediately I was going to write about this build) is the LEGO black magic EMazingbrix uses to get the leafy drawer handles to stick in place. Passing the leaves through a groove in the 1×2 grille tile requires that the grille isn’t attached to any studs from behind. As there’s no other standard way to affix the part to the rest of the build, a 1×1 clip is employed behind the scenes. It holds the grille to the tile next to it while not interfering in the rest of the design. As evidence, you can see one finger of each clip through the grille parts. Truly spectacular!
I’ve really been enjoying all the recent builds revolving around the LEGO Bionicle novel Prisoners of the Pit. And one of the best of the bunch is by constraction expert Patrick Biggs, rehashing the Toa Hahli set of 2007. What a truly remarkable figure, clad in dark blue and sporting some excellent lime green highlights. The shaping of the limbs here is exquisite, intricately blending Bionicle and System pieces together into a perfect harmony. I also appreciate the detail put into the Toa’s breathing apparatus and scuba tanks, while still utilizing the mask of the original set. But the real standout feature of this figure has got to be its spiny wing-like fins. Falling somewhere between lionfish and angel, the array feels like the perfect application of pearl silver weapon parts first found in the Toa Nuva sets of yore. And speaking of weapons, that massive trident is quite the impressive armament as well!
You know you’re in for a seriously large LEGO creation when four great builders (Joshua Morris, Rod Fiford, Gavin Rich, and Handoko Setyawan) put their heads together on a pirate scene. And with the Cerulean Straits clocking in at a fully-detailed nine square meters, they did not disappoint! All 144 baseplates of brick were on display recently at Brickvention in Melbourne, Australia. I’ll do my best to cover as much of the 800,000 bricks as I can….
Click here to discover the treasures buried within this build!