They say that dogs are humankind’s best friend. That rings true in several walks of life, and among the elderly, they can be a vital source of companionship. But as Sigmund Haugland‘s LEGO vignette proves, they’re just as useful in times of emergency! All it takes is a little ingenuity- and I’m not just talking about those forced perspective portraits. A defective stairlift is no match for a fishing pole and a doggy treat!
I love LEGO builds that mess with your sense of scale. Mattia Careddu is the latest to discombobulate me with a mysterious, watery fantasy world. Clearly that temple in the middle is massive: there are rocks floating around – literally – with waterfalls coming out of them. But hang on, those birds look like ibises, making excellent use as they do of some dinosaur tail elements. And I recognise those leaf elements too, which means this build isn’t actually that big. But then you see the steps up the side of the temple… Wait, how big are those birds?! And that’s to say nothing of the great big serpent tree deity thing that looks ready to devour the lot. Whoever’s on that little boat sure is brave going wherever here is.
There was once a time (I’m told) that vans were strictly for businesses and tradesmen. The humble VW Transporter changed that and made them cool leisure vehicles; now, the Transporter and its variants are a near-ubiquitous presence on European roads. LEGO car builder Sam Andreas even went as far as calling this 1979 T3 “the Porsche 911 of vans”. Now I know there is some VW lineage to Porsche, but I can’t say I’m seeing it – much as I love Sam’s two-tone brown livery here. Then again, I’ve never owned either vehicle. So what do I know? I’m pretty sure you’re not getting a rubber dinghy in the back of a 911 though. So score one for the T3!
Sand green is a really fun color to build spaceships and military vehicles with. There are so many interesting parts in that color, and Tobias Whelan [Intense Potato] has made very good use of them. The cone on the underside of the cockpit is just one example. The open main compartment is equipped with a mounted machine gun, and twin side-mounted engines give this beast a boost.
Along the rear of the copter, two long angled fins provide unusual landing gear, and the tail fins feature another great part use, the small surfboard.
This magical island by Ids de Jong is framed by a shimmering trans-light blue base. But don’t let this small island fool you, it is home to quite a few animals (nine after I triple checked). After the great base, the feature that calls to me is the small, sandy beach. It fits snuggly in the build and offers just enough room to sit-down and do your reading. The impressively tiled rooftop and SNOT stonework is a step up from Majisto’s other hangout while keeping to the wizard’s color scheme.
The location of Minas Tirith in the epic fantasy adventure The Lord of the Rings is certainly one of the most iconic cities in Middle-earth, so it makes perfect sense to me that Grant Decker would choose to combine it with Night City from Cyberpunk 2077 as a source of inspiration for this build in the cyberpunk mashup category for a LEGO building contest. A cyborg version of Gandalf rides a silver and white speeder bike, standing in for Shadowfax, while a multi-layered holographic highway divides the city into two sections, just like the massive stone blade that gave the steward Denethor such a fantastic end.
V (minifiguring it.out) assembles one of the all-time great tales of adventure: a pirate crew braving curses and danger in pursuit of gold. A storyteller at heart, V’s builds are filled with lore and recurring characters, like the captain of this vessel, Jasper “Tidebreaker” Vane, a serial source of bad ideas. V’s excellent photography showcases a brilliant shrinking of the classic pirate ship into the keel of a rowboat, with a few bits of foliage in the background helping sell the illusion of a miniature world.
I love how V’s scenes, working with a limited scale, still feel boundless and epic. And her cast of characters always make use of LEGO’s growing range of skin tones to create a more inclusive fantasy world.
V’s buildings are just as charming as the tiny ship, like this miniature mill with a straw roof, climbing vines, and a great half-timbered effect.
V is a member of dreambuilderslug, “an inclusive community of builders of all skill levels, inspiring, supporting, showcasing black/ brown excellence” that is well worth a follow.
2025 has been a great year for Italy and LEGO with both Trevi Fountain and 21359 Italian Riviera, but for former Junior Classical League kids like me, what we really crave is a trip back to the SPQR. The classical world has only shown up in LEGO via the Coliseum Architecture set and a handful of collectible minifigs, but thankfully, we have fan creations from builders like Michael Crewe to keep the flame alive. Michael shares two minifig-scale scenes of ancient city life on the Ideas platform that I would gladly clear out shelf space to bring home. First up is a magnificent library that could be the famed Library of Alexandria, pre-sacking. The impressive columns evoke a Corinthian style with their ornate fern tops.
Inside the two-story building stand an impressive statue. I might have gone with Athena/Minerva rather than this more muscular fellow, but those marble abs are impressive.
Click for more pics of the ancient world in LEGO
Swan Dutchman recreates the XJ-6 Airspeeder from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, not seen in LEGO since 2002’s Bounty Hunter Pursuit. Oddly enough, this is my favorite vehicle from that movie, just as it was also Anakin’s favorite for the “open cockpit and the right speed capabilities.”
Swan has captured great detail on both those fronts, showing us nice big seats with a good steering column and nicely greebled engines. Truly UCS worthy. Swan chose a great scale to capture the distinctive lines of this memorable speeder.
This scenic little village built on a high bridge by Francis Wiemelt (Hubba Blöoba) looks like something out of a fantasy novel, until you notice the utility poles and the vending machine. While a safety railing would make me feel a lot more comfortable, the cats in this scene don’t seem to mind. While the structures are beautifully crafted, what stands out to me is the blend of colors, both in the roofs and in the gray stone bridge, which could represent the look of sunlight on various surfaces. Or, it could be a result of weathering. Either way, it looks fantastic. I also like how the tree foliage is made with plates and tiles rather than LEGO foliage elements, which adds some visual texture to the trees.
Francis based the model on Minecraft voxel art from digital artist Snarple and the translation into the physical world is perfect.
We’ve seen some incredible LEGO bird creations in recent years thanks to the explosion of molds and colors that can be interpreted as feathers, like this magnificent owl from TBB alum Nannan to this soaring eagle from Sakiya Watanabe. Now Sakiya (aka N.A.B.E._mocs) takes wing again with a brilliant scarlet macaw. The starring LEGO element for this feathered friend is the blue thruster blast from the Dreamzzz line, but the NPU doesn’t stop there. Sakiya makes excellent use of shells and feathers for the parrot’s face, with rubber bands on the cheeks and around the eyes for detail. As with the builder’s eagle, the bird is captured in a lifelike, dramatic pose. It’s a beautiful model from a builder with an impeccable eye for shape and form.
To learn more about the young builder and his passion for excellence, check out our interview with talented LEGO creator Sakiya Watanabe.
Every good girl deserves a great mech, and Djokson has crafted this cute and friendly character, with her hands in the pockets of her green overalls, into a strong yet gentle-looking beast of a mech using a collection of System, DUPLO, and soccer field parts. The chunky details combined with simple, clean angles and unusual DUPLO elements give this mech a style that is much more than the sum of its parts.
