Flying cars and hoverbikes need even more TLC to keep them running smoothly, and drivers need a place to grab an energy drink and a day old hotdog while they’re far from solid ground. That’s where this whymsical floating service station by Brickleas comes in. With something for everyone, and the most skilled robot mechanic in the sector, the only downside is keeping track of where it is when you need it, as the owner likes to move where the wind takes them.
Have you ever dreamed of flying? Me, too. And Matt Goldberg wants to remind us that’s a dream we share with some birds. Matt has done an amazing job of imbuing this brick-built penguin with plenty of personality. You can practically hear it squealing with delight. And I appreciate the little details in this build, like the tiny brown straps going just under the wing to indicate how the rocket pack stays on. Make sure to check out more of Matt’s creative creature work in our archives.
As excited as we are for the newly revealed One Piece sets, we still hold out hope that LEGO will return to the Age of Sails with sets that aren’t infused with clowns and talking reindeer. For minifig-scale ships, there are few LEGO shipwrights as skilled as Saran (MocYourBricks) who for years has been upgrading designs from LEGO’s past with an AFOL’s eye for detail and custom sails and rigging. This photo comes from bee.brick, who recreated the Black Pearl and Queen Anne’s Revenge from Saran’s instructions. with extra flourishes, like brick-built canon blasts.
Built from 4,000 pieces, the Queen Anne’s Revenge is a thing of beauty, and even if the roughly $1000 cost of sourcing the parts and instructions is out of your price range, you can vicariously experience the joy of building it in this one-hour “speed build.”
Well, if we can’t have flying cars and personal jetpacks like we were promised in turn of the century visions of the future, maybe we can get something like this stylish exosuit by Wynd to make our morning commute to the office a bit more fun. With hands big enough to hold on to our giant Stanley cups and legs sturdy enough to leap over cars and busses on the long drive to work.
Back in the 80s, I remember the older kids always showed a certain disdain for Ewoks. But I was just young enough when The Return of the Jedi came out that a giant alien treehouse manned by warrior teddy bears seemed like the coolest thing ever. And Simulterious has made my inner child beam with delight at the sight of this amazing Ewok village build.
Click through to check out the full build!
LEGO themes might officially come and go, but they live forever in our MOCs. And Braylon Turner is helping keep Ice Planet 2002’s memory alive and well with this Seraphic Scarab Amphibious Vehicle; a unique craft perfect for exploring the frozen frontier with powerful mechanized legs that can handle the harshest terrain. This build makes terrific use of Technic and even Bionicle pieces, giving it a unique look among the Ice Planet 2002 fleet, but the color scheme of black, white, and blue capped off with those trans-neon orange bits is unmistakable.
The original Star Wars hadn’t even been released when Alan Dean Foster started writing Splinter of the Minds Eye, the first story in the Star Wars Expanded Universe (later called Legends). Prior to Lucasfilm’s sale to Disney, telling stories in the Star Wars sandbox was a fairly freewheeling business, guided more by a code of honor to not contradict what came before, and to be game to retcon anything that George made canon.( I had first-hand experience writing in this era, penning a choose-your-own-adventure style book full of EU easter eggs.) These days, the Star Wars Universe feels a bit trapped between three aesthetically very different trilogies, with Dave Filoni doing his best to fold EU favorites like Thrawn into the continuity between Clone Wars and Rise of Skywalker. I love The Last Jedi and Andor, but I also miss the era when the Adventures of Luke Skywalker was an endless blue ocean of possibility.
Jan Woźnica certainly carries a torch for the Expanded Universe. In the past, the builder shared an incredible LEGO model of the Moldy Crow from Star Wars: Dark Forces. Now Jan is back with a bevy of expanded universe characters, perfectly assembled from official LEGO parts and staged on custom stands. There are some pretty deep cuts here, so in the gallery that follows, I’ve added links to Wookiepedia if you need a refresher on who’s who.
Take a closer look at Jan’s minifig tributes to the Star Wars Expanded Universe
The praying mantis female will sometimes consume the head of the male while mating. What’s this self-made widow’s secret? alex_mocs knows that there’s nothing more alluring than Bionicle and Constraction elements, seamlessly integrated into organic LEGO builds. This model of the
Viridis Mantidae is the pinnacle of elegance with a touch of menace. Like a master sculptor, alex manages to coax disparate LEGO elements together in ways that suggest that this was the role they were destined to play, from the green whip antennae to the Ninjago sail wings to the Bionicle chest.
alex_mocs is one of the organizers of the Bio-Cup. The first round, with the theme “Dreams,” closes on June 9th. If you’re interested in building MOCs that play with non-system elements like alex’s model here, it’s not too late to enter. Don’t worry – they won’t bite!
This public market style bike shop by adotnamedstud uses the metal gate element to attach shingles along different angles for a great weathered look. The addition of a small utility pole, a satellite dish, and rooftop foliage adds visual interest. I also like the compact tool drawer in front, made with modified tiles.
To anyone who has built a model kit of the non-ABS type of plastic, you can probably feel the texture of the these plastic frames. I love every ounce of detail that Oshi has included, down to the last sprue. As someone who has built both plastic models and LEGO, it is a great combination of worlds. In looking at the details of the “model parts,” don’t miss a wonderful start to the actual car model. It looks like Oshi has selected “green forest” for the model’s final color. I don’t believe that is an official LEGO color, but I trust the builder that it will look incredible.
The Micropolis standard enables big cities to come together at LEGO conventions, but more than that, building at microscale also presents a challenge to builders, encouraging them to push their creativity by working with parts largely designed for minifigures. Take this charming Japanese micropolis block by Ids de Jong, which makes clever use of minifigure accessories as foliage. A roller skate element works well as a roof-mounted utility, and the red part, commonly used as a fire extinguisher handle, is used to create a traditional arch. The choice of building, including a convenience store, colorful vehicles, and cherry blossoms, completes the scene very nicely.
From Johnny Thunder to Jurassic World, LEGO has a long history of sets featuring dinosaurs and other prehistoric life, but as much fun as it can be to pose a mighty molded Spinosaurus, we’re partial to brick-built dinos, like a Creator 3-in-1 T.Rex or the recent Mosasaurus Boat Mission. Of course, our favorite creatures of all are original creations from the LEGO building community, like those that were just unearthed as part of the Bones to Brick collaboration. Seven talented builders contributed an ancient creature in their own style, and we’re excited to share the full collaboration. These builders are also all veterans of the BioCup, the annual competition that also kicks off this month, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing more from this crew very soon!
J6Crash presents Ankylosaurus magniventris, an armored dinosaur of the late Cretaceous. Sand blue and black bricks make a pleasing combo, and the technique of laying claw elements flat to create ridges along the back is brilliant.
Benjamin Anderson is next up with Dimetrodon limbatus, a creature of the Cisuralian period, some 40 million years before dinosaurs showed up. There’s a lot to love about Benjamin’s creation, but I’m smitten by the spine sail with a colorful gradient created from alternating teeth.
The paleontology tour continues after the break