Posts by Norm Harper

A shockingly good Transformer

With the new Transformers Soundwave set officially out in the world, it’s time to pay tribute to the other wave-monikered Decepticon from Season 1, Shockwave; brought to brilliant life by Ben Cossy. This evil Decepticon, who turns into a ray gun and was tasked with guarding the base back on Cybertron, was never as popular as his cassette player teammate. But I don’t think that bothered him. Shockwave is a cold, calculating type, driven by logic. And, logically, a vocoder-voiced dude with a zoo in his chest is just cooler. That said, Shockwave isn’t without his charm and Ben has captured it all, from the distinct cyclopean visage to the laser gun in place of a left hand. If only there was some way to shove a jaguar inside his chest.

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A haunting still life to make you ponder

If you’re like me, you’ve always considered LEGO creations to be works of art, and this build by FS Leinad is a perfect example. This still life is a wonderful visualization of life’s impermanence, with a skull set amongst blooming flowers, and the contrast of the two candles at different stages. And it isn’t just the composition, but the technique that I admire. The melting wax made from a minifigure beard and wisp of black smoke made from droid arms are lovely touches. I hope I live long enough to get this good at building.

A Fender to remember

It’s been 20 years since I’ve seen Robots, the 2005 animated film about…well, robots. As my memory has been impacted by the years, I couldn’t tell you much about the plot, but I’d still recognize those character designs anywhere. And Maxx Davidson has brilliantly brought Fender Pinwheeler to life with this build that’s full of charm. Maxx has perfectly captured the expressiveness of the character with lots of well-constructed joints and great details like the different sized eyes capped off by the sausages for eyebrows. Why, I can practically hear Robin Williams’ voice coming out of it…or, at least, I would be able to if I could remember any of the dialogue…

Who says LEGO bricks have to connect?

As Melchar the Mage looks deeply into his scrying pool, you’ll want to stare closer at this scene by Joel Short. That’s because the most eye-catching elements of this scene don’t use bricks that connect in the usual way. The floor is made of cheese slopes turned on their sides and crammed together to create a flawless impression of stone. And the srcying pool itself is largely just some arches, likewise sideways and tucked in on each other. A simple, but magical effect.

A build with real horsepower

You can practically hear the hoof beats emanating from this amazing build by Jan Woźnica. Jan has captured a sense of speed and power in a surprisingly compact, minifigure-scaled steed. The horse’s organic shapes, and even the posing of its mid-gallop legs, are perfectly recreated with just a few pieces that a lot of builders would consider table scrap. Why, there’s even a pair of brick-built legs for the minifigure rider astride the animal, adding to the realism of the scene. Giddy up!

Even Decepticons deserve a holiday

The reaction to the Transformers movie series hasn’t always been glowing, but there’s no denying that Michael Bay’s modern vision for those old 80s robots resonated with some viewers. Case in point, Student Scissors is celebrating summer 2025 by depicting Megatron and Devastator – specifically as seen in the 2009 film Revenge of the Fallen – on a festive day at the beach. And, you know what? Good for them. The “Bayformer” designs aren’t easily replicated in LEGO, and to see them rendered recognizably in these stripped down, almost chibi-style versions is a delight. In fact, the next time I get the urge to revisit one of those movies, I think I’m just gonna spend a couple of minutes scrolling Scissors’ feed.

This gargoyle is stone cold cool

Gargoyles are often thought of as monstrous and scary, but Jule is out to rehabilitate them with Noxalas, a gargoyle creation that couldn’t look friendlier. Sure, by day Noxalas is a stone beast, but by night this friendly winged creature is keeping evil at bay and protecting the city. You rock, Noxalas.

This terrible toddler tramples the town

Kaijune has come and gone, but we can’t get too far into July without celebrating this adorable baby Kaiju by Maxx Davidson. This precious little lizard is hard at work learning how to flatten cities on his puzzle themed playmat, with wooden blocks standing in for some unfortunate metropolis. Let’s hope he tires himself out, otherwise getting him down for a nap is going to be a big job.

We can’t take our eyes off this microscope

Kamil Banasik has been hard at work in the LEGO lab, and the result is this magnificent tribute to the microscopic world. The microscope at the center would be a note-worthy build on its own, as a near perfect 1:1 scale recreation of the real thing. But the way that it’s framed, with those LEGO particles climbing up the those angled arms, takes it from a clever piece of engineering to to a work of art.

The only thing that troubles us is that when you peer into this microscope, it looks back up at you. Someone call Ant-Man, I think the Quantum Realm might want a word with us.

A Millenni-YUM Falcon

Summer is here, and everyone loves a juicy slice of watermelon to help beat the heat, even in a galaxy far, far away. So Maxx Davidson is helping deliver that treat to the furthest reaches of space with this fresh take on a classic Star Wars ship. Maxx has made perfect use of various shades of green to capture the look of the melon rind, and those diamond tiles as seeds on the front mandibles are inspired. But my favorite detail is the round fruit slice tile serving as the cockpit window. Delicious.

This robot is the bee’s knees

If you haven’t been following Shannon Sproule, you’ve been missing out on a plethora of delightfully quirky robot builds. Case in point, this Hadal Wanderer minibot that trudges a vast, endless abyss for signs of life. But we don’t have to look too hard for signs of Shannon’s personality, as this build is full of them. From the horse rein eyebrows to the bee hive legs, Shannon always finds unique ways to incorporate the kinds of pieces you might not immediately associate with robotics. For more of Shannon’s special take on sci-fi, check out our archives.

Have you ever wanted to hug a brick so much in your life?

We all know you can build anything out of LEGO, but the builds we feature do trend towards certain repeated themes; spaceships, mountain sides, sports cars, robots… In other words, hard, solid stuff. That’s why this teddy bear by Simon Küntzel delights us so much. We know it’s not soft. We know it’s a solid chunk of hard plastic. It weighs more than 13 and a half pounds. But, gosh, does it look soft and huggable. Simon has perfectly captured the curves of a plush toy. And it’s no wonder, as Simon devoted 200 hours to the construction.