About Lino

Lino is an artist, humorist, and occasional responsible adult. He is the co-founder of a challenge-based LEGO car club called LUGNuts which boasts over 1100 members worldwide. He proposed automotive building challenges every month for ten years (120 challenges!) which he and the other members built accordingly. LUGNuts has retired its challenges on its 10th anniversary but still remains a cornerstone for LEGO automotive builders. Between his artistic work and LEGO builds, Lino has been published in several books, including Beautiful LEGO, Beautiful LEGO: Dark, and Beautiful LEGO: Wild. He lives in Washington with his girlfriend and dogs.

Posts by Lino

Ask and you shall receive a hedgehog

Not too long ago, LEGO builder Hejjo Demkowicz asked his Instagram friends to come up with ideas for him to build. Soon after they suggested a hedgehog and now we’re all better off for it. I mean, who can resist that cute little face? Asking friends for creative suggestions is such a neat thing as people (who are not your own self) will think of the darndest things. It’s a test of your meddle to successfully come up with what they suggest. Sometimes they can be doozies! This looks to be the start of what might be a long string of suggestions from Hejjo’s friends. With ideas this good, we look forward to whatever else Hejjo might have in store.

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A Bathynomus giganteus mech for all your Bathynomus giganteus needs

By a show of hands, who here demanded to see a Bathynomus giganteus mech made with LEGO? Really, am I the only one? Well, frankly I didn’t ask for it either but now that I see this fantastic creation by Mitsuru Nikaido I’m compelled to share it with you all. The real-life counterpart is not some extinct dinosaur, but rather a living, breathing deep-sea creature common in cold waters. While they typically reach a length between 7.5 and 14.2 inches, some can grow up to 20 inches long. With that segmented complex carapace, compound eyes and seven sets of pereiopods what’s not to love, really? I am not doubting your intelligence (heck, I barely get by with the help of Google) but it is possible that just a moment ago you knew nothing of such a creature and now its likeness is forever burned into your posterior parietal cortex. You’re welcome, I guess? Nituru has a distinct style and a knack for building some very interesting creatures both familiar and bizarre.

Celebrate independence in the heart of Philadelphia

Independence Day has already passed here in the US but that doesn’t mean we can’t be smitten by Rocco Buttliere’s stunning new LEGO creation. Independence Hall played a crucial role in the founding of the United States, as its storied assembly rooms witnessed the signing of both the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787. I’m loving the trees and the impressive Colonial Georgian Architecture. Rocco’s signature on the handsome, well-appointed base is a nice touch indeed. While microscale, this smallish (for Rocco) creation doesn’t diminish the grand setting of Philadelphia’s old city center. That is this builder’s specialty, really; building absolutely grand things on a small scale. Please check out our Rocco Buttliere archives to see what I mean.

Solve the Blue Mystery of Neptune’s Garden

One thing legendary LEGO builder Bart De Dobbelaer is quite good at is taking us to unique alien worlds. Take Neptune’s Garden, for instance. Whether it be the eerily luminescent jellyfish or the shale-like rocky structures, I can easily get lost in all these amazing details right up until I run out of oxygen, which wouldn’t be very long. Bart tells us that ocean exploration is dangerous (well, duh!) but when Blue Mystery manufactured their OFE (Ocean Floor Exploration) units, a new world opened up. It turns out there’s big money in ocean exploration as Blue Mystery emerged as a Fortune 500 company. But many of their autonomous units were lost to the depths, never to be seen again. The company went under both figuratively and literally. What happened? Did they find something that would best be kept hidden?

Care to plumb the depths?

Death moves on many legs

Of all the ways Death can arrive, and some of them admittedly icky, this version, built by LEGO Bionicle builder Will Hafner, moves on many legs. This…inhuman centipede…is a thing that fuels nightmares. The trans-light blue and gold color scheme is rather neat though. It was created for Bio-Cup which is currently heating up like Georgia asphalt in July. Since it presently is July my hokey colloquialism finally makes sense. Here’s to small miracles! Now if you wish to avoid an icky demise from this creepy crawler I recommend you put an egg in your shoe and beat it.

LEGO is soft on space travel

Don’t adjust your screens; that is not a LEGO minifigure someone left in a microwave to see what would happen. You’re looking at a Ted Andes creation of an up-sized remote control space rover built for a plush Lenny. Despite being a seasoned writer for The Brothers Brick, I didn’t know these LEGO plushies were a thing until like two minutes ago. I’m apparently the wrong demographic, but they’ve been all the rage with youngins for a few years now. Look, I never said I was attuned to what the kiddos are into; I don’t even know what kind of bourbon they like. Anyway, while you’re trying to figure out how a TBB volunteer can be given the pink slip, check out these other works by Ted Andes whom, it turns out, is a master at making unusual parts seem pretty cool.

Don’t tell anyone but if I had a plushie Lenny I’d probably give him an occasional squeeze for good luck.

A resto-modded homage to Blue Fury

Way back in 1995 LEGO came out with the Model Team 5541 Blue Fury set and hot rodding enthusiasts were revved into high gear. It’s sort of like how normies are thrilled whenever a cool Star Wars or Batman set comes out. LEGO must have heard the roar of our engines because they released it again in 2004 and we once again lost our collective shiznit. Clearly BHBricks knows what I mean. They have crafted the Blue Fury II, a modern homage to the classic set. The front tires are from the new Vespa set. I’m loving the engine and the sick pipes, but then again I would. And you really can’t go wrong with that iconic blue and red.

If you’re loving Blue Fury II as much as I am, then check out what the other sick LEGO hot rodders have done, including a few pretty old offerings from yours truly.

The spy who loved a submersible. And also me.

James Bond is known for several things: looking great in a tux, being suave with the ladies, and enjoying his drinks shaken, not stirred. Oh, and also awesome cars. Take a gander at this LEGO 1976 Lotus Esprit built by Paul Nicholson. It’s from The Spy Who Loved Me and clearly Paul is a builder with no shortage of suave moves. It captures the iconic vehicle nicely and the undersea stand is a great touch. Now why is it that we never got any official James Bond LEGO sets? Oh right, we did and most of us were less-than-thrilled. Perhaps now is the time to improve on that? In the meantime check out some other James Bond stuff built by our friends around the globe. I try to be as suave as 007 but when I order my beer shaken, not stirred it’s usually met with a quizzical look and a disapproving shake of the head. Maybe it’s because I’m just too short and paunchy for a tux.

A tiny tanker tickles our fancy

LEGO builder František Hajdekr specializes in the little things. Take this tiny tanker truck on for size. It just shows you don’t need a truckload of LEGO bricks to build something that really packs in the details. What a great color scheme, too! If you squint, it just about looks like a real truck. This might be the best thing I’ve seen all day, and I’ve seen what happens when someone consumes bananas and Sprite. If you’d rather not Google that then I’d suggest checking out some other awesome vehicles built by a truckload of talented builders around the globe.

Pet the space doggy. What can go wrong?

Occasionally you hear stories of people with diminished reasoning and an overblown sense of entitlement climbing into a bear cage at the zoo to get a good selfie with the big cuddly teddy. Drama ensues and often the photo doesn’t turn out as post-wothy as expected. That’s just evolution working itself out, really. Speaking of evolution, LEGO builder Vohdoff demonstrates some highly evolved skills with Bionicle. Behold the Blooming Wolf! I’m loving the use of pretty pink flowers on this tentacle-butted beast. However, if it’s crouching hunter’s stance doesn’t signal danger the blade in its snarling teeth just might. I’m convinced to enjoy this odd creature from a very safe distance; lightyears away, in fact. If you’re braver than I am check out our beastiary of wild and wooly creatures in our archives.

Sweetly a squirrel sleeps

I’ll admit I only have a few Bionicle LEGO pieces and, for reasons unknown to me, I’m often stumped as to what to do with them. But clearly Arcticpine is a master at building with Bionicle as evidenced by this darling little sleeping squirrel. This woodland creature is just a precious sight to behold. Maybe it’s just my dark and creepy sensibilities talking here but it doesn’t hurt that the entire form looks to me like a human heart. More to love, right? If you adore this as much as I do then take a gander at other impressive Bionicle creations on TBB built by builders who have a better understanding for how to use the odd niche pieces than I do.

Attack of the corn-fist aliens!

I’m not sure which is funnier; the fact that this LEGO alien seems to be built using like a dozen Hulk fists or his head seems to be made from a corncob. Either way, Dan Ko is at it again with another entry for Iron Builder. This corny alien is chock full of hilarious personality. If you have been following Iron Builder or The Brothers Brick in general this is propably not even the weirdest thing you’ve seen today. That’s what we do; bring you the wild and weird so you don’t have to.