About Iain

Iain Heath is an avid builder specializing in the "Bricks of Character" style, which he helped define. He has been using LEGO to parody popular culture since 2007, when he created the now infamous Stephen Hawking model. He is a SeaLUG member and regular theme coordinator at BrickCon. For five years he also ran a blog called The Living Brick, that showcased the best character-based LEGO creations from around the world. You can find his irreverent body of work on Flickr.

Posts by Iain

TBB cover photo: June 2017

Our cover photo for the month of June is this scene by Ben Tritschler depicting a medieval version of a counting coup challenge. Eye catching textures abound in this nicely staged build which is just a little reminiscent of that memorable moment from Mission Impossible. Now all our brave thief has to do is decide which of those shiny objects to take!

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LEGO Ideas 21310 Old Fishing Store revealed [News]

LEGO has just revealed full details and images of its latest addition to the LEGO Ideas range of fan-created sets: 21310 Old Fishing Store, based on a design by Dutch builder Robert Bontenbal. The set contains 2049 bricks and will be available from September 1st, 2017 for a recommended retail price of USD 149.99 / EURO 149.99 / GBP 139.99. Official set description and box shots are included below. Get your hooks and lines ready to reel in this beauty in the Fall!

Find all the gear you need for a fantastic fishing trip at the Old Fishing Store! Walk up the steps from the beach into the shop selling fishing rods, hooks, harpoons, diving equipment, oxygen tanks and much more. Climb the ladder to the top of the watchtower and look through the telescope to enjoy the view. Then relax and read the newspaper in the office. Just make sure the cat or seagulls don’t eat the freshly caught fish hanging outside!

The Old Fishing Store is ideal for display and role-play, this model has 2 removable roofs, an opening back wall in the shop for easy access, 4 minifigures, cat and 3 seagull figures, as well as loads of other cool details and elements to fire up the imagination.

Don’t miss our interview with the LEGO Ideas design team behind this new set!

Birds in their little nests agree

Builder Josephine Monterosso once again demonstrates her flair for out-of-the-box building techniques with this beautiful bird’s nest. We’re used to seeing builds with no exposed studs, but this one seems to take the biscuit, lacking any normal connections whatsoever! Josephine jokes that “there are a few illegal techniques used here”. However, I don’t see any illegal techniques because this isn’t intended to be an official LEGO set.

We amateurs aren’t bound by same rules as LEGO’s designers. If we were, half the stuff you see here would never have existed. So be thankful that people like Josephine keep pushing the envelope on what’s possible with all these tiny little – and often highly flexible – plastic bricks.

Those were the salad days

Seasoned fans of Japanese television might recognize this tricycling toddler as Kinoko Sarada (lit. “Mushroom Salad”) from the 80’s show Doctor Slump. The show – which I’ve never seen but sounds completely insane – was the brainchild of Akira Toriyama, who later went on to create the more widely known Dragon Ball. In fact many Doctor Slump characters – including Miss Salad – even make cameos in the latter. Taiwanese builder Helen Sham has captured the bratty fashionista’s likeness perfectly, right down to her cool shades and pull-along radio.

Don’t ride a bike to add days to your life – ride a bike to add life to your days

What started out as a dare to find a use for the giant technic gears from LEGO’s 2003 Hailfire Droid set has turned into this charming LEGO representation of a picnic in the city. Inspired by fond memories of summer bike rides, Canadian builder Mel Finelli has made ingenious use of many unusual parts to create an almost photorealistic scene. From the reproduction vintage ’30s LaFrance bicycle, retro radio, wicker basket full of goodies and Kensington lamp post, every component of this build demands closer examination to truly appreciate the techniques and finer details. No wonder then that this build won Best in Show when it debuted at BrickCan 2017 in Vancouver last month.

Click here for a closeup look

When food fights back

“Poultry: Weak. Unintelligent. Delicious. But no more. Mankind’s only remaining food source has been converted to the ultimate weapon against the evil alien overlords”. This is how Will Galbraith begins the sales pitch for the Mega Chicken aerial weapons platform. He continues: “Once known as a flightless bird, Mega Chicken now owns the skies with its enhanced flight capabilities made from technology so cool, its wings are literally made out of swords”. Click the image below to read the rest of what is probably the best description I’ve read in a while (because it’s either that or have me start making chicken puns, and you don’t want that). Then package your poultry for shipping, and place your order!

Aren’t you cold, Finn? Walk into the well, Finn!

Now that the mathematical cartoon show Adventure Time is up to 260-something episodes, I must admit I’ve fallen waaaay behind, so I was pleased that this splendid collection of AT vignettes by Tim Lydy were based on stuff I actually remember watching! Here we see Finn battling a brick-built version of The Lich over a great rendition of the Well of Power. Meanwhile Jake eats a sandwich, naturally, BECAUSE HE’S A DOG. Tim makes great use of the LEGO Dimensions Finn and Jake minifigs in these scenes, and the inclusion of a certain gastropodic Easter egg in each one also makes me very happy.

Happy Star Wars Day from the REJECTZ!

Unless you’ve been living in a Dolovite mining colony on the Outer Rim for the past five years, you’ll be aware that today – May 4th – is Star Wars Day! To mark this most made-up of holidays, I decided to go for the throat with my latest batch of REJECTZ, the adorably ugly characters that aren’t Brickheads and that you hate to hate but have to hate because no-one messes with Star Wars except George Lucas.

Check out the Flickr album for more photos and a little Star Wars Day themed LEGO humor.

Groovy baby, yeah!

I can scarcely believe it but the classic Bond spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was released 20 years ago today! To that end, I present to you my latest shagadelic LEGO creations: The out-of-his-era gentleman spy, and his equally time-shifted nemesis Dr Evil. I think I’ve managed to capture Austin’s mojo, but apologies to our evil readers for the lack of any sharks with frikkin “laser” beams. Oh, behave!

TBB cover photo: May 2017

Everyone needs a bit of downtime, even in space! This month’s TBB cover photo is this scene from English builder Jon Blackford showing what Benny the Spacemen gets up to after hours. When I first saw this it immediately reminded me of that scene from 1972 movie Silent Running. But that’s because I’m practically as old as space itself.

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today. Photos that do not meet the submission guidelines will not be considered, and will be removed from the group, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters.

BrickCon 2017 registration is now open [News]

Registration is now open for BrickCon 2017. This longest-running of LEGO fan conventions takes place in Seattle, Washington from Thursday October 5th thru Sunday October 8th. Early Bird registration is available until August 1st and costs $65. This will be the 16th BrickCon event, and the theme this year is “Brick to Old School”!

Like last year, there will be an exclusive “friends and family” night on the Friday from 8:30pm to 10pm. And new for this year, Thursday is now a full convention day! Table space, badges and goody bags will be available from 8am that day. Opening ceremonies have been moved to Thursday and there is also a “surprise game” on that day.

As a reminder, you must be registered in order to display your creations, and attendees ages 14-17 must be accompanied and supervised by a registered adult.

For those coming from out of town, the main hotel is the Maxell, located one block across from the Exhibition Hall. Special room rates have been arranged for convention attendees at both the Maxwell and nearby Hampton Suites.

BrickCon is the “home” convention of The Brothers Brick and we’re excited to see faces both old and new there this October!

You gotta kiss a lot of princesses to find your frog

LEGO’s BrickHeadz sets seem to have triggered an avalanche of increasingly clever custom versions of late, and it’s all we can do just to keep up with these adorably super-deformed critters. Meanwhile in a parallel dimension, the significantly uglier REJECTZ line continues to grow… The male superheroes from my first collection desperately needed girlfriends, so I decided to give Disney Princesses the REJECTZ treatment. Sorry.

…so pretttttty.