As LEGO has always been my primary hobby, I’m not the biggest video game enthusiast. But I’ve definitely put in way too many hours playing Katamari Damacy in my youth. As the Prince, I’ve rolled that sticky ball around rooms, houses, towns, and the world picking up all sorts of items, all in an effort to reform stars and constellations stripped from the night sky. And if that description hasn’t piqued your interest, this excellent LEGO build by Maxx Davidson certainly will. Fresh off of winning TBB’s Builder of the Year 2024, Maxx has nailed the Prince, his katamari, and even a few small bits from off the floor that he’s picked up — that red thumbtack is a brilliant mini-build in its own right. The King of All Cosmos would definitely be pleased!
Category Archives: Models
A terrifying tree (and a lesson in awful alliteration)
Its name might not be as catchy as Whomping Willow, but you still won’t want to get too close to talented Ukrainian LEGO builder Illia Zubashev (AKA Dwalin Forkbeard)’s “Mysterious Shrub”. Just ask the two soldiers in this scene! One is being dragged under by the tree’s roots, and I fear the other may not last much longer. Perhaps that’s why it hasn’t earned a catchy name – no-one lives long enough after meeting its gaze to give it one. Thankfully, Illia’s diorama is built at a safe distance, so we can ponder the question ourselves. The Swallowing Spruce? The Odious Oak? The Brutalising Birch? I would find out what type of tree it is, but I’m not about to ask it to find out…
Everything is awesome when you’re Renaissance art
Thanks to sets like LEGO Art 31213 Mona Lisa we can experience a classic art as it be experienced by a LEGO minifig peering into our dimension. Bricko Nicko brings us one brick closer to a true LEGO reality by reinterpreting the Mona Lisa as the Renaissance minifig of Leonardo Da Vinci always intended – with a cylindrical yellow head, clamp hands, and an unambiguous smile just like everyone else’s. Truly this masterpiece belongs in the Louvre (21024).
Set your sights on this amazing A-wing
Despite being named for a pretty basic letter of the alphabet, the A-wing is a notoriously tricky design to reproduce in LEGO bricks. The notch in the front, the smooth angles of the fuselage, and the tilted stabilizer fins don’t lend themselves easily to existing elements. But Inthert and Trevor.2004 set out to build an A-wing anyway. They managed the curves along the front with a flexible spike element, while the cockpit is made from Throwbot and Technic figure visors. The result is aesthetically pleasing enough that you’d think twice before, say, crashing it into the bridge of a Super Star Destroyer.
Social greeting between two angels
The odd scenario before you is a new LEGO creation featuring seraphim and cherubim by Haoming Qiu called “Social greeting between two angels”. I imagine the dark one says “Howdy do! I’m all dark and brooding and stuff”. Meanwhile the other angel is like, “Sup, brah? As hideous as I am, I’m actually a biblically accurate angel”. Then the dark one is like “cool, brah!” At least that’s my interpretation of the story. The builder didn’t offer any other clues. Let us know in the comments if you have a different dialogue for this admittedly fantastic pair.
Heating up a LEGO House with the help of hardy Harald
Up here in the northern hemisphere, we’re properly in the depths of winter now, and this LEGO build from Jaka Kupina is here to remind us of the fact that it’s cold outside. Or is it? Certainly we’re in colder climes here: all that nicely clumped snow is a dead giveaway. But this is a house built for such weather, with a touch of Germanic or Scandinavian flair to last the winter. Its owner (that would be Harald) looks well-prepped, too – all that luscious black hair is sure to keep some heat in. Not that he might need it! He’s busy chopping firewood to warm up all those wintry nights. And that in itself will be enough to warm him up!
Tiny train stations hold a big place in my heart!
BetaNotus has been working hard to put together a lovely series of microscale LEGO train stations from along the Philadelphia main line. While the real life train moves through space, Notus’ builds bounce backwards and forwards through time to show off Philly’s architecture through the ages. Our first image spans almost 150 years of railroading history. Wynnewood and Bryn Mawr date back to the 1870s, while Merion and Haverford are dated to the 2000s (although Merion was actually built in 1918). Due to the micro-scale nature of these models, Notus has built with admirable delicacy. All the roofs of these stations are only a plate or two thick. The grand staircases up to Bryn and Wynnewood are built of half-plate-offsets
See some more micro-goodness here!
Settle down for a long winter’s nap
With the holidays coming to a close, food consumed, and relatives gone home, you might think it’s time for a good solid nap—and the hero of Yuan He’s (aka BuildGoNuts) latest work would agree! The old gentleman has fallen asleep in his favorite rocking chair by the fire, midway through a book about boats and attended by his two cats. You’re probably not as comfortable as he is, but feel free to settle in as you peruse the fun little details surrounding him, from the pastries on the dining card to the model ship on the mantel. I also love the overlapping rounded bricks for the gramophone’s bell and the sideways grooved bricks used to get some fun texture on the rug. And that’s just scratching the surface of all the abstract little details on every surface that make the scene look so lived-in and cozy.
The final dragon from The Year of the Dragon
In the waning hours of 2024, Joss Ivanwood presented his final LEGO dragon for his Year of the Dragon project and it’s a doozy of a deer. Draconis Cervus takes inspiration from fallow and sika deer with their reddish nougat-colored fur and white underbellies. Joss tells us that the furry parts he has been using in this series are quickly becoming his favorite pieces but he takes particular pride with how the eyes turned out, which makes use of a Technic tow-ball inserted into a gray Mixel socket. What a lovely and satisfying end to an equally satisfying project! I look forward to whatever Joss will be doing in 2025. In the meantime, be sure to check out our Joss Ivanwood archives to discover highlights from the Year of the Dragon project and even older offerings from previous years.
An unexpected party of LEGO adventurers
Oscar Cederwall‘s sci-fi LEGO creations are consistently impressive, whether massive SHIPs or character-focused cyborgs. So it’s quite a treat to see the builder dabble in fantasy as part of the Brickscalibur competition. Challenged to create a party of adventurers, Oscar combines minifig heads with cleverly-constructed bodies of his own design. The Pyromancer, Druid, and Frost Mage on the right all incorporate Modulex bricks for their legs, a slick technique the builder came up with last year. An assortment of cloth elements and even Scala jewelry give the cast doll-like detail. The standout has to be the Spider Queen with her striking profile, wicked staff, and Galaxy Squad alien abdomen.
Ghalad’s red dwarf is a LEGO giant built from 15,000 bricks
No stranger to big fantasy characters, from his Aztec shaman to this Warcraft-inspired orc bust, Steven Wayne Howard even has a Dwarven King currently residing in Billund in the Masterpiece Gallery. For his entry in the Brickscalibur Dwarf Tales category, Steven returns to the LEGO mines and digs deeper than ever to create his largest character yet. Weighing in at over 15 lbs and built from roughly 15,000 pieces, the Red Dwarf is a truly imposing figure, especially when lights are dimmed to let the integrated custom lighting shine. This monster build just looks heavy with all that brick-built chain mail and a beard made from rubber tires. Steven finds brilliant uses for a wide range of parts, from rail ties in the helmet to vintage wheels on the belt and shins, to Combo NEXO Power Shields on the belt buckle and shoulders. At this rate, Steven’s next LEGO character build is likely to be life-size!
Gotta cast them spells, Pokémon!
Mainline Pokémon games are iconic RPGs with all of the stats, XP, and leveling up you expect from the genre, so fusing Pocket Monsters with D&D is a perfect fit! That’s just what builders Dan Ko and Gino Loshe teamed up to prove with this character collaboration called Dungeons & Pocket Monsters. Dan was responsible for giving Pikachu and Bulbasaur their mage makeovers, while Gino tackled Squirtle and Charmander. Created for the Brickscalibur competition “Elemental Emergency” category, each character wields a different flavor of magic matching their Pokémon type. Even more impressive, each sports a different type of wizard cap! Join them as they travel across the land seeking the power that’s inside.