Posts by Theo Spencer

Well, he’s not called Stanley Ku-BRICK for nothing, I suppose...

Take a look through Shannon Sproule‘s Flickr photos, and you’ll see his interest in toys extends beyond the plastic bricks we cover on this website. He may not be the most prolific builder, but he’s a skilled toy photographer. What that does mean is that whenever his LEGO gets put in front of the camera, the results are stunning. Best of all? He’s also got a keen eye for retro sci-fi styling! Take a look at his latest scene. It’s a hotel room with a robot concierge, which sounds fairly innocuous. But the framing, the lighting (I love the backlit anti-studs above the bed!) and the positioning of the figures give this a real sense of foreboding. It doesn’t help that the concierge is keen to point out the escape routes in the caption. If you mixed The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey into a film, I bet this is what the poster outside the cinema would look like. Stanley Kubrick would be proud!

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Hot dog! These are some good sausage dogs

As much as I consider myself a dog person, I do think there’s a certain size of dog that is a bit too small for me. Nothing against them (or their owners) – it’s just personal preference. We all know that all doggos are good doggos, after all. That said, I do have two exceptions: puppies (because, you know, puppies!) and sausage dogs, or Dachsunds. In particular, these delightful Dachsunds built by daisy brick. The smooth-haired variant on the left was actually built some four months ago, with the long-haired companion the most recent addition to the family. They are a perfect complement to each other! Despite their similarities, Daisy has done a great job at differentiating the two breeds by switching up the way the fur is built. And do I spy some poseability in those little legs? Perhaps they can recreate the adorable waddle of their real-world counterparts!

Don’t you hate surprise visits from your supervisor?

I’m certainly not a purist when it comes to LEGO creations – I quite like seeing the outside world rearing its head among the plastic bricks. In Andreas Lenander‘s crystal cavern, that comes in the form of a piece of black glass representing an underwater lake. Naturally, LEGO bricks aren’t that reflective, so seeing such clear reflections is unusual! It makes the whole scene very serene. Aside from the water, though, everything else in the frame is 100% authentic Danish bricks, and it looks wonderfully immersive. The dwarf has clearly been busy unearthing those crystals, and presumably the boat is there to pick up his spoils. Or to check that he is actually working. I do hate it when your supervisor looks over your shoulder while you’re worki—

Huh? What? Yes, that report will be with you today, boss. I’m, uh, writing it right now…

A brilliantly built tiny temple on red rocks

Idoneas of Hillcrest opens the description of this creation by stating it’s a “super quick build”. I think that’s an understatement – I count a grand total of seven pieces here, so surely it must have taken mere seconds to build! In truth, that is underselling it slightly. The build may have been quick, but such a careful choice of parts requires a lot of thought. A piece of Hero Factory armour makes up the rocky base, while treads make up the basic shape of the temple at the top. Interestingly it’s the second creation in a row where Idoneas uses tread pieces to great effect, albeit at different sizes. That’s the mark of a great builder – a master in all scales!

Now that’s what I call sci-fi

Although I didn’t grow up during their heyday, I’m a bit of a sucker for that retro, 70s sci-fi aesthetic. You know, original-series Star Trek, Silent Running, Alien, that sort of thing. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Keith Goldman has perfectly encapsulated that (as he so often does) in his latest creation. The build itself is impressive, but the composition is particularly stellar. Keith says the off-kilter angle was deliberately chosen to evoke the unsettling intrigue of a comic book cover. In fact, all it needs is a title in a dramatic font, some catchy quotes, and a little ’50c’ sticker to make it look exactly like that.

The sense of scale and position is quite deceptive: initially, I thought we were looking up at some massive space cathedral, but the little white trophy ‘nanofigures’ give us our reference. This means that that skeleton in the glowing green cell, tank, pod, or whatever it’s in must be enormous. That’s what I love about this piece. No backstory, but by poring over the details you start asking questions which quickly set the imagination running. What facility is this, and where do all those tunnels go? What’s in the yellow pods? What (or who) was that skeleton? Who are the figures gathered around it? Most importantly, why is it there? Somehow, I don’t get the impression this is a zoo…

Excellent Excalibur in a stone with a secret

Dicken Liu has added another life-sized weapon to their collection, following on from the lightsaber that we featured a few weeks ago. While this one still comes from a long time ago, though, it does come from a galaxy that isn’t so far, far away, even if it exists mainly in legend. In fact, you could be forgiven for thinking this is just your average very good LEGO sword. But since it’s embedded in a rock, there’s no mistaking it: this is the legendary Excalibur. As a piece, this looks excellent – the gold highlights and green foliage add some visual interest to the black and greys of the rest. But hang on… There do some to be a few holes in this particular stone… What’s going on here?

Let’s see what happens when we pull the sword from the stone…

Spiders are not the only forest creature to be wary of

LEGO nostalgia is a big thing these days — and I’m not just talking about the footprint of the colossal 10305 Lion Knight’s Castle. Sigmund Haugland has big-ified the legendary yesteryear factions of the Black Falcon knights and the Forest Guardians in this amusing scene. Our brave Falcon knight must be suffering from a bout of arachnophobia, given the way he’s pointing his spear at the poor spider. The Forest Guardian is taking advantage of the situation to lob a net over the unsuspecting soldier. Perhaps he’s in league with the spider? I’m never sure whose side they’re on. These forest dwellers sure give off some chaotic-good vibes. Either way, both protagonists in this picture are full of character. I like the use of the closed eye for the mouth on both characters – despite using the same piece, they both have very different expressions. The door handle is nicely done as well using a pair of antlers.

In order to finish first, you first must finish (building)

Calling a build for a contest ‘First Place’ could be seen as a tad arrogant. But I think we can let it slide in Vohdoff‘s case given the quality of this latest Bio-Cup effort. It’s a build so smooth I had to triple-check it was indeed made of Bionicle pieces, let alone regular LEGO! All the panels are so seamlessly blended – I bet this thing cuts through the air like butter. The bike itself is very Akira-esque. It bears a resemblance to modern high-performance motorcycles you might see on the road, but there are just enough unusual elements to give it a near-future sci-fi aesthetic. The same could be said for the rider in their chunky leathers. Take the head, for instance: it comes from a K-2SO buildable figure, which could imply a mechanical pilot. But it looks just human enough that it could equally be a futuristic helmet suitable for high-speed riding. Either way, they have good taste in machinery!

Parts of a feather will flock together

I’m sure I read a piece of wisdom on this website a few years ago that read: “for a great LEGO creation, you don’t need a lot of pieces – you just need a lot of one piece”. Having had a look through Azurekingfisher‘s photostream, I wonder if they might have said it themselves. They are clearly a big fan of the classic leaf element, which sees a lot of use in their collection. It’s done everything from mosaics to planets. Another frequent use is as avian feathers, often with spectacular results – none more so than this stunning bird! I love creations like this that use the inherent mechanical properties of LEGO parts to creative effect. Since the plastic is quite thin in places on this bit of foliage, it can be gently flexed into a curve, at odds with LEGO’s inherent grid-based nature. In this case, the part repetition also makes it visually appealing. Especially in pink! I’m not sure if it’s based on a particular type of bird – to me, it’s reminiscent of a phoenix. Which, for a build this majestic, is entirely appropriate!

I only paint in black... Or very, very, dark grey

Confession time. I know Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones is one of the most well-known rock anthems ever, but… I prefer the cover that pop singer Vanessa Carlton did. (She’s just an incredible artist, OK?) Before you accuse me of blasphemy, let’s take a look at this creation by another incredible artist, Woomy World. This build is inspired by the lyrics from the song (“I see a red door and I want it painted black”), with the black rose rising from the door forming the title of the piece. The rose looks fantastic, using everything from macaroni tubes to a dragon wing to give an ethereal, almost other-worldly feel to it.

It sits in contrast with the other everyday elements of the build, but they are no less impressive for it. I love the umbrellas representing drips of paint from the bucket. The painter would also be worthy of a feature on his own! The suit jacket uses Technic panel pieces which are an inspired choice and look fantastic. The hair is where I keep getting drawn to though: there are so many different pieces but they all seem so carefully placed. I can see flintlock pistols, a minifigure satchel and at least one minifigure arm. The Rolling Stones might be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but this creation surely belongs in an art gallery!

Who needs a sleek starship when you have an enormous engine?

Everyone builds at their own pace. Some builders crank out builds every day, others will go months or sometimes years between creations – which, to be clear, is completely fine! In the case of Drew Hamilton (Wami Delthorn), it’s been over a year since he last posted one of his spectacular spaceship designs. It’s been worth the wait though, as he has reinvented one of his older Classic Space designs into this LL-528 Rapier MkII. It has all the hallmarks of what is now known as Neo Classic Space: clean lines of blue and light grey, with plenty of texturing and the signature black-and-yellow bumblebee stripes.

The design itself is very cool. With starships, it’s often tempting to make them sleek, speedy-looking machines. And with a name like Rapier, you’d be forgiven for thinking this would look the same. But I love how bulky it is! The rear of the vessel is dominated by that great hulking thruster, which blends nicely into the stubby wings thanks to some neat use of angles. It’s all broken up with subtle asymmetric panel detailing to give it quite a realistic feel.

The only thing I would question is the choice of co-pilot. Surely a control panel full of flashing lights is a poor mix with a space-going cat…

You can have it in any colour you want, as long as it’s brown

Nothing says 1970’s automobile like a brown paint job, does it? Legostalgie has added to their growing collection of Eastern bloc runabouts with this Wartburg 353 Tourist, in authentically drab reddish brown. The Tourist is the estate version of the East German Wartburg 353, a model which has featured in Legostalgie’s collection before. The functionality that is typical of their models is present here: bonnet, tailgate and the doors all open, and the roof comes off to access the interior as well. The boxy shape is well represented and there are some neat parts uses here in the design! The hood ornament is a boomerang, but my favourite is the headlight panel. This uses wheel axle pieces to add some detail to the front grille. Not only does it look great, since these parts typically come in small car sets, there’s something a bit meta about them being used on a larger-scale car. If you ask me, that’s the best kind of clever parts use.