Posts by Theo Spencer

Getting deep into Bionicle lore with the Bio-Cup

The Bio-Cup, as the name suggests, challenges builders to make creative use of parts from LEGO’s beloved Bionicle theme. This theme covered a lot of ground, so it’s easy to draw comparisons between MOCs and sets, but Margit‘s latest reminds me of some of my favourite Bionicle villains. The underwater-dwelling Barraki were very reminiscent of some of the strange aquatic creatures you might see in the ocean deep. Creatures that have a certain ghostly quality. Which makes them perfect for Margit’s chosen sub-theme for this round of the Bio-Cup: Ghost/Wraith! See, it all comes full circle.

Margit’s spectral spectacle won her category in round 1. We can’t wait to see what she comes up for in Round 2!

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LEGO Nike 43008 Nike Dunk: does the swoosh swish? [Review]

Four years ago, our Alexander reviewed a thoroughly unusual set: a LEGO shoe. That set was among the first of a big push from LEGO into the world of brand tie-ins targeted at more than just AFOLs, and now, we have some more legendary footwear to contend with. This time, we’re shooting some hoops with LEGO Nike 43008 Nike Dunk! And it’s an altogether different vibe to the Adidas Original. With 1,180 pieces, this snazzy sneaker hits the court on July 1 for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99. You may also find it on third-party retail sites like eBay or Amazon. Is LEGO’s latest basketball collab a slam dunk? Or are brick fans about to get skunked? Let’s find out!

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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Colour us impressed by this colourless LEGO diorama

Colour is an important facet of good LEGO builds. Yeah, that might sound like stating the obvious – a consistent palette will generally look nicer than a mish-mash of colours. But Syrdarian has graced us with a prime example. It’s a nice build to start with: some cool terrain shaping, and the top of the bridge wall mirrors the hammers used in the archway. But most noticeably, it’s all so drab! The grey background seems to have been chosen carefully for its resemblance to a grey winter sky. And even the figure is dressed in muted colours. The only relative bright spots are the tan reeds, and the figure’s skin, standing out against the harsh environment, and drawing us in as a result. A good build, but with great composition!

Let me hear your engines roar! No, wait, not like that...

Alt builds seem to be having a real resurgence lately. In case you’re not familiar, it simply involves taking a LEGO set, setting aside the instructions, and letting your imagination run wild. Sometimes, the result can be completely different to the original! Flickr builder R 194 has got their hands on 10330 McLaren MP4/4, turning a fossil fuel-powered race car into a bionic dinosaur! And since there some very nice printed elements in that set, this re-imagined dino has a distinctive racing feel to it. Even the Ayrton Senna minifigure gets involved with a nifty two-piece remote. RC dino-mech racing? Now that sounds rad!

Finding the unusual in everyday Japanese architecture

We’re used to seeing some weird and wonderful buildings from Pan Noda, from the quirky to the downright fantastical. So imagine my surprise when I found that their latest build is of a real house! This depicts a residence in Kitano Ijinkan – a historical district of Kobe, in Japan. Many of the buildings here are built with more non-Japanese flair than traditional influence. Pan’s build, though, is of their usual high standard!

This is the ‘Hilltop House’, which apparently used to serve as the Chinese Consulate, among other things. There are a pair of ‘komainu’ guardian lion statutes just inside the gates, and rumour has it that walking past them will lead to success in your love life. I don’t know if there’s any truth to that, but I do know that I love Pan’s LEGO recreation of these statues!

See more of Pan Noda’s haunting recreation of the Kobe Hilltop House

Putting the ‘rat’ into pirate – with clever parts use to boot

We often see collaborative projects in the LEGO community where different builders will all build within a similar theme. But it’s not often that said collab is themed around a specific builder! Steven Howad (Ghalad) and co have undertaken a “special secret collab” (his words) to celebrate LEGO designer and AFOL community stalwart Markus Rollbühler. Steven was handed five mice to get him started, but he has taken them and really ran with it – there is so much NPU here! The mice are in the beard, but we also have: octopuses and tyres for the hair; Dots wristbands for the sash and headband; lifejackets for the jacket buttons; long-haired dogs in the cheeks; and plenty more besides. But my favourite – and the most meta – are the boat hulls used for the hat and epaulettes!

Street art from the walls of London to the bricks of Denmark

For such an inherently 3-dimensional medium, there’s an impressive amount of 2-dimensional LEGO builds out there. Mathew Walls makes his TBB debut with one such build – and appropriately, it’s an artwork that was famously drawn on walls! Perhaps Banksy’s most famous artwork, Girl with Balloon was originally made with stencils and spray-paint – and you can’t get much more 2D than a single layer of paint. But Mathew has done a great job of replicating it here, with the help of various curved and angled tiles and plates. Even the girl’s outstretched hand is there, reaching for the balloon that has escaped this 2D frame.

Massive power loader takes on enormous Xenomorph in LEGO sci-fi battle of the ages

Alien creations appear to be like London buses. You wait ages for some great LEGO creations, and then two come along within a few days of each other! We featured a wonderful Miniland scale power loader earlier this week (along with an excellent title, I may add). But one-time LEGO Masters Australia winner Henry Pinto has upped the load-rating on the power loader, and then some! He’s made a truly titanic take on Ellen Ripley’s yellow ride. But that’s not the only big build here. After all, what’s a power loader without a Xenomorph to chuck around the USS Sulaco’s lower decks?

Click here to take a closer look at these phenomenal creations!

You want the tooth? You can’t handle the tooth!

The internet’s best Bionicle-based building bonanza, the Bio-Cup, got up and running last week with its preliminary rounds. Margit has busted out her LEGO constraction pieces and is getting in on the action, too, with a tooth fairy! I’m sure we can expect some bright colours, clever contouring with some armour elements, and… Oh. Well, I guess it’s true that no-one’s ever seen the tooth fairy, so who’s to say this isn’t what it looks like? I do like the Visorak leg skirt, and the tooth-filled wings are clever too, using inverted clear dishes to keep the illusion of transparent membranes. I still wouldn’t want it coming anywhere near my pillow though.

A demon amplifier? Now that’s metal

Remember in Spinal Tap when they turn up their amplifiers to 11? You might think it’s just a funny gag, but rumour has it if you do that too many times you’ll turn your amplifier into a mischievous demon. Bionicle builder Mischief has seen it, and rendered its likeness in LEGO bricks And what LEGO bricks: the gaping maw hiding the speaker is a goal net, and the design of the quarter-inch jacks using tyres is fantastic. What tricks will this amped-up poltergeist get up to? Creating an annoying feedback hum? De-tuning guitars? If Spinal Tap are to be believed, it has a propensity for blowing up drummers…

LEGO Star Wars 75428 Battle Droid with STAP: studs not on STAP [Review]

The Single Trooper Aerial Platform, probably isn’t one of the first vehicles to come to mind when you hear “A long time ago in a galaxy far away,” but by virtue of LEGO Star Wars debuting alongside The Phantom Menace blitz, the humble STAP was one of the first of the first to get the brick treatment. That pedigree aside, I think it’s fair to say some were surprised by the vehicle’s return in 75428 Battle Droid with STAP, which offers a large-scale version of that vehicle and its pilot. But you know what? As a big fan of Episode I, I’m all here for it! This set contains 1,088 pieces, and can be pre-ordered now for US $139.99 | CAN $169.99 | UK £119.99. Shipping starts from July 1, after which point it may also be available from third-party retailers like eBay or Amazon. Is that price too steep for a STAP? Let’s find out!

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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Building a little help to clear up the table-scraps

A few days ago, I wrote about W.F Ikhasi’s efforts in letting an idea for a LEGO creation simmer for a while before finishing it. As I wrote that article, it’s a topic that was fresh on my mind. My desk is absolutely covered in table-scraps; little builds that never fully grew into a finished article. And when I say covered, I mean I’m starting to struggle for space! It’s about time I enlisted some help to clear them. Fortunately, one of those ideas – a frame for a folded net piece – did grow into a scavenger’s speeder. So now this guy can help me clear out things, like this old engine, that were sitting around gathering dust!

The crane/tow-rope was also lying around among the detritus and quickly became this speeder’s party piece. Of course, it folds up neatly for zipping around the mud flats, where you might spot some older builds too… This walker is an older MOC, but it’s far from being a table-scrap!