About Jennifer

Jennifer Spencer received her very first LEGO set, 6419: Rolling Acres Ranch, at age six. But she found the instructions far too complicated and so she forced her father to build (and rebuild) the set for her. He must have grown weary of looking at that instruction booklet because Jennifer did not receive another LEGO set for several years. Jennifer builds her own sets now. She has been active in the online LEGO community since 2011 when she first discovered The Brothers Brick. She’s also a member of her local LEGO users group, NEOLug. You can check out her original LEGO creations on Flickr.

Posts by Jennifer

An artistic take on the classic space shuttle

Have you ever looked at a piece of art in a museum and initially thought, “that thing is downright ugly.” But then the longer you look at it, the more interesting it becomes? Well, I had that exact same experience when I first looked at F@bz‘s strange pizza slice-shaped space shuttle. At first, I couldn’t get over the bland palette and the fact that the rear end looks like two futuristic electric razors.

But then I looked again and I couldn’t stop looking at it. This ship has some amazing details and somehow, the longer you look at it, the better it gets. I love how F@bz incorporated several of the new Nexo Knight pieces directly into his ship, and then mimicked their unique shapes throughout the entire build. Also, if you look closely, you can see the builder stealthily included his self-portrait in the final product (like many great artists have done before him).

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Anyone care for a game of medieval dodgeball?

No, you won’t hear the sound of sneakers squeaking on a gymnasium floor or the satisfying bounce sound of one of those heavy rubber balls slamming into your opponent’s face. In Mark Erickson‘s version of the game, all you’ll hear is the plunk of bowstrings, arrows whizzing past your head, and cheers from the blood-thirsty cheers. Sounds like fun… I guess.

I love that Mark included loose “arrows” scattered across the ground and stuck in the walls of his LEGO scene. They give this simple little scene a sense of mayhem and chaos.

These shoes rule!

(These shoes suck) No really, these LEGO shoes by Aaron Newman rule! Aaron based his design off of a super-expensive and ultra-rare pair of Nike high-tops from the 1990s. These kicks are stylish enough to impress even the most hard-core of sneaker heads. And for those of us who can’t afford the originals, these amazing LEGO replicas would suit us just fine.

...we salute you!

The other side to this year’s MOC Olympics finale madness was built by none other than Slovenian builder Deus Otiosus. Check out this amazingly detailed and rather mossy arena. The crumbling brickwork and throne are quite impressive, but my favorite details are the wonderfully expressive brick-built characters and the and fire-breathing dragon. Just look at that cone of flame erupting from the lizard beast’s mouth!

I think that the character sitting on the throne looks more jester than king, but that only adds to the madness of this LEGO creation. Deus Otiosus’s opponent in this LEGO duel to the death is W. Navarre, with his stupendous arena battle between a gladiator and a tiger. I certainly don’t envy the judges this year. To find out who was victorious, head over to MOCpages.

Those who are about to die...

The final round of battle of the 2016 MOC Olympics is here and the top two contestants have been thrown to the lions and forced to build spectacular scenes of gladiatorial combat. For his final entry, W. Navarre built a gladiator facing off against a fearsome man-eating tiger.

The most impressive thing about this build is not the beautifully sculpted figures (though those are amazing!), but the fact that the entire scene is completely filled with LEGO. There’s so much texture and even a bit of gore, it feels like I’m sitting in the front row of the great Colosseum. Mr Navarre’s opponent in this LEGO duel to the death is Deus Otiosus with his fantastical arena battle between a knight and a dragon.

Warning! Bridge ices before road

Although there is no snow in this little ravine scene by Lukasz Wiktorowicz, it certainly looks like a chilly day to be on that Asian-inspired covered bridge. The composition and muted color palette of this build are both remarkable. I love that Lukasz ingeniously used the old LEGO rope bridge piece upside down to add a beautiful curve to the bottom of his wooden bridge. But my favorite details are the roots and autumnal leaves on those stunning gray trees.

How many ways can you escape this LEGO maze?

Last month we featured a stunning maze made out of LEGO. But the design of that creation was stationary, leaving only one way out. In contrast, the walls of Jake Lee‘s LEGO labyrinth shift and move, which means the tiny maze runner inside has to constantly adjust and find a new escape route.

Jake’s maze is made up of 15 unique, moveable squares and one stationary “temple” square that serves as the maze’s starting point. The outside pieces can be moved around and worked like a puzzle. The ultimate goal? Preventing dead ends and finding a path to freedom. Just so you know it can be done, one solution to this maze is pictured below, but the builder claims there may be more than one way to solve this LEGO puzzle. Can you find another solution?

What does LEGO hell look like?

What sane person would ask themselves this question? Deus Otiosus and Letranger Absurde would, that’s who! To be fair, both of these builders were forced to come to terms with the LEGO underworld thanks to the 2016 MOC Olympics contest. Deus and Letranger recently faced off in the semi-finals. Their task? To go to H. E. double hockey sticks, literally.

Deus’s scene depicts Satan’s throne room, complete with a throne of bones and plenty of gore. The lava even lights up! My favorite detail is the bone pentagram on the back of the Devil’s throne. You’ll want to check out all the other angles on this gruesome build as a single image doesn’t do it justice.

Letranger’s hellish creation is equally impressive, though perhaps a little too cute (it’s hard to truly fear anything with Mixel eyes). Sitting on his throne in all his glory is Baphomet, the diabolical Sabbatic goat supposedly worshiped by early Knights Templar. If you’re feeling brave, take a look at what sits beneath his throne.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix recreated in LEGO

Expelliarmus! Riddikulus! Stupefy! Come on, even if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, you’ve probably been impressed by the amazing HP vignette series that a group of talented LEGO builders have been compiling. Most recently Vaionaut finished building Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the results are fabulous!

Vaionaut’s vignettes are a little wacky and a little dark, just like the book. Throughout his builds there are some tremendous details. I especially love the detailed floors and quirky headwear. (Tonks’ hair is perfect!) For those that missed the LEGO vignettes from the prior four books, check them out here:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by Marvel V.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Markus Rollbuhler
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Kevin Wollert
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Thorsten Bonsch

Click below for more amazing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix vignettes from Vaionaut.

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“M I see K E why M O you S E!”

Koen‘s LEGO version of the little mouse that started it all is phenomenal. Just look at that face! So expressive. This adorable Mickey stands 21 centimeters tall and is made from 313 LEGO pieces. Koen was inspired to build Mickey after he noticed that the new inverted dish with handle looks a lot like the classic Disney mouse ears. My favorite details are the sausage eyebrows and gloved hands.

The world’s an inn, and death the journey’s end

Out of necessity, most LEGO castle builders stick to a regular color palette of light gray or dark gray. Sometimes we’ll use tan if we’re feeling particularly frisky. But Patrick Massey has kicked this old convention out the window and assembled a medieval inn out of beautiful autumn colors. The end result is a stunning and unique creation that looks well lived-in (if not a little spooky).

A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze

To be fair, this maze does have an exit, assuming, of course, the rat (or minifig) can find it. Kevin Moyer took the simple LEGO building technique of pressing tiles in between the studs on a baseplate and created something quite extraordinary. The slightly rounded edges of the tiles make this microscale maze look ancient and worn down by time.

Of course, the best thing about this build is trying to solve the maze. See if you can find the path to the exit. But don’t start at the end like I always do, because that is cheating.