About Chris

Chris Malloy (porschecm2) has been a LEGO fan nearly all his life, having started with System bricks at age 3. He is the co-author of Ultimate LEGO Star Wars, and his creations have been featured in several books and The LEGO Movie. He also helped develop the first LEGO Minecraft set, 21102 Minecraft Micro World: The Forest, which has gone on to inspire a whole theme of sets. He's been active in the online community since 2002, and regularly attends LEGO fan conventions such as BrickCon and BrickCan. He enjoys building in a wide range of themes, but keeps returning to Castle, Space, and Pirates. Check out his LEGO creations and photography here.

Posts by Chris

The LEGO Movie 2 Collectible Minifigures 71023 Feel Guide [Review]

The latest series of LEGO’s Collectible Minifigures theme based The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part are now hitting stores. We’ve already brought you our full, in-depth review, so that means it’s now time for our Feel Guide to help you poke and prod your way to a full set of 20 characters. 71023 LEGO Minifigures – The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part are available now in retail stores and online, for US $3.99 | CAN $4.99.

So let’s check out what makes these figures stand out from one another when all you’ve got is an opaque package and a crowd of onlookers in the store aisle.

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The being that rises from the abyss

Out beyond the stars there’s a world of terror, and sometimes it comes closer than you might wish, especially if you live in a Lovecraftian tale. Among the worst terrors of that place is the legendary Cthulhu, imagined in LEGO form by Hongjun Youn. A multitude of Bionicle Kalmah masks gives the perfect tentacled element for otherworldly shaping for the head and torso, while Dino tails fill in for the larger tentacles.

With its uncannily flowing shape, it’s no small wonder losing one’s sanity was the most common reaction to the dread horror.

LEGO BrickHeadz from The LEGO Movie 2 revealed [News]

Today LEGO has revealed four BrickHeadz based on The LEGO Movie 2 in a roundabout way, thanks to uploading the instructions to LEGO.com. The four characters are the film’s main characters, 41634 Emmet, 41635 Wyldstyle, 41636 Benny, and 41637 Sweet Mayhem. They’re numbered BrickHeadz 88-91. While we don’t have the official release date or price yet, it’s a safe bet that they’ll fall into the standard $10-per-figure range. Check them out below, and read our spoiler-free review of The LEGO Movie 2!

41634 Emmet

Click to see all four new BrickHeadz

Whatcha gonna do when the Space Police come for you?

Let’s take a moment and go back to 1992. If you’re about my age, you were probably sitting on the floor surrounded by a huge pile of LEGO bricks building literally the coolest spaceship ever. With the hindsight of 20+ years, it probably wasn’t that great, but to my childhood imagination, it looked a lot like this Space Police II ship by spaceruner, which is definitely the coolest spaceship ever. Inspired by classic sets 6781 SP-Striker and 6897 Rebel Hunter, it’s the perfect mashup of outlandish design and wickedly cool styling. Plus, who doesn’t love those classic Space Police II colors?

When the wind blows your way

There’s nothing like a stiff breeze in your sails and a bit of steampunkery to make the workday fly. This rickety windmill by Martin Harris hits all the right notes with its exposed framework, abundance of gears, and plethora of thingamabobs that are the hallmarks of the aesthetic. The LEGO ship rigging elements pull double-duty here as framework, with Martin even taking advantage of their flexibility to bend them into place. Now the real question is: what does it power?

The LEGO Movie 2 Collectible Minifigures 71023 [Review]

With LEGO having just announced its 21st set for The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, it’s safe to say they’re betting big on the film franchise. And just like the first movie in the series, that means there’s also a tie-in wave of the infinitely popular Minifigures theme (commonly called Collectible Minifigures, or CMFs). 71023 LEGO Minifigures – The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part will be officially available beginning Feb. 1, though they’re already beginning to pop up in retail stores. They’ll be priced at US $3.99 | CAN $4.99. Remember to check out our Feel Guide if you’re on the hunt for these figures.

This series features the main movie crew of Emmet, Lucy, Benny, and Unikitty, along with newcomers like Rex and a newly happy President Business. There’s also a contingent of characters from Apocalypseburg and The Wizard of Oz, plus Lucy’s all-girl band is ready to rock with all four members in the series. Finally, a sprinkling of the ever-popular costume characters is present with a giraffe and crayon. Let’s take a look at these figures one by one.

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The drinks are on us

When you think of Star Wars, the first things that come to mind are likely spaceships and laser swords. But cantinas occupy an only slightly less iconic place in the lore of that galaxy far, far away. One of those seedy, backwater bars is the Half-Pint Cantina, proprietor Hass Mavoc, brought to us in LEGO form by bcinman6. A character from the builder’s own imagination, Hass is a Sarian barkeep with some excellent shaping to achieve his alien features. Most notable are the red Hulk arms used behind the eyes and the space armor for the mouth.

We’re off to the races on this rad bike

If you ask me, cafe racers are about the coolest style of motorcycle out there. And you can’t get much better than a BMW motorcycle, so this sweet LEGO build by George Panteleon of a BMW R100 Cafe Racer is about as good as it gets. George’s bike-building skills are on full display here, with a perfect frame made of Technic elements combined with a motor and tank of regular System bits. It’s scaled to match the official LEGO BMW R 1200 GS bike, sharing tires with the roadster. Now if only LEGO would make this their next motorcycle kit…

The Nian beast roams again this Lunar New Year

According to Chinese lore, the Nian beast emerges each New Year’s to prey on the world of men, thwarted only by its fear of the color red. This was among the origins for that color’s prevalence in Chinese New Year’s celebrations, which this year falls on Feb. 5. This magnificent LEGO Nian by TBB-regular Jonas Kramm shows the creature in all its splendid glory, ready to wander the countryside in search of unfortunate humans to feed upon after its winter slumber. Everything about this model looks polished, but the tiny detail that struck me was the perfect manner in which the Bionicle ball sockets are integrated into the head to hold the teal eyes.

A new order of LEGO TIE Fighter

Like us, Koen Zwanenburg was amazed by the LEGO TIE Fighter models created by fellow builder Jarek, but rather than just marveling, he thought he’d have a shot at building a world-class TIE Fighter himself. Judging by the results, it’s quite a success. While at first glance the build may seem to take a similar approach as Jarek’s, Koen has actually redone the model from the ground up. Naturally, the convergent evolution of the building process means that there are some similarities (and the fact that they’re both based on the same Star Wars ship), but it’s truly remarkable how different this model is while being just as accurate.

The ability to achieve clean lines with minimal studs visible on a ship this lean is an accomplishment not be underestimated. I can almost hear the TIE’s distinctive engine roar now…

The Dragonborn speaks

Skyrim players the world over know the joy of a well-timed FUS RO DAH! The iconic shouted spell will blast your enemies, and if you time it just right, as in this scene by Victor, the results can be spectacular. This also happens to be the perfect use for LEGO’s new power burst elements from various Superhero sets, showing the blastwave emanating from the Dragonborn. Also not to be missed is the use of the tree-costume element as the tree’s trunk. Despite the obvious application, this is actually the first time I’ve seen a good tree made with that element.

A spiny lizard beast

This green monster by Mitch Phillips look tough enough to tackle anything, thanks to a heavy layer of armor plating. It’s a fitting LEGO element to use as armor, since that was its original purpose. However, it was originally designed to clad two-legged characters rather than creatures like this. Look closely at the upper legs, too, for they’re actually sea monster heads from the oft-overlooked Alpha Agents theme.