Travel beneath the waves in style with this beautiful scene by LEGO 7. It features a pair of humpback whales swimming alongside some dolphins, and carrying an unusual passenger: Low-Fi Girl? She’s just reading a book and riding along with her orange cat while a nearby angler fish provides her some light. There is some amazing rounded shaping used in all the underwater mammals. Drifting along with this unusual group, several notes complete the scene.
Made as a part of a collaboration with Colorado LUGs (LEGO User Groups) CoWLUG and DENLUG, this Imperial fortress by Evan Crouch is just one piece of a massive LEGO Pirates layout. The cliffside citadel has a beautifully-textured outer wall, and is capped with quite the military unit. The large cannon, shown mid-discharge, is an excellent touch! And the motorized windmill is well done, sporting a roof similar to the LEGO Ideas Medieval Blacksmith. But my favorite part has got to be the perfect coastline at the base of the cliffs. Trimmed in lime green vegetation, the two tones of tan are a great remnant of the waves coming in off the coast. Add to it some of the white-capped waves off the shore, and the setting feels almost alive, even in this still photo.
Inspired by the houseboats of Amsterdam, Jonas Kramm has crafted a cozy minifigure scale houseboat perfect for living a life on a canal. This watercraft comes packed with all the comforts of home, including a bed, a small kitchen, and a fully equipped bathroom. Feeling cramped inside? Just step out onto the rooftop patio and enjoy the string of party lights as you sip a cocktail on the bench built for two. Need to stock up? Pull into port and use the bicycle to hit the nearest grocer. And don’t worry, a set of solar panels on the roof will keep your home running even when you’re out at sea.
Sarah Beyer’s title for this new LEGO creation; Blueberry Container House enticed me enough to research it just a bit further. Once I did, I was treated to some breathtaking spaces both inside and out. Sarah tells us that this recycled home is primarily made of two shipping containers connected by a spiral staircase. While it’s safe to assume she’s a bit of an architectural dynamo, this is her first attempt at a container home. The solar cells indicate that this home is energy efficient. The structure’s oddly stacked juxtaposition makes for some exciting areas; particularly the nestled walled sitting area among the trees and the angular deck beside the top floor.
It’s not everyday that you see a tribute to the video game Genshin Impact in LEGO form. But that’s not the only thing that’s exceptional about this microscale Jade Chamber by builder Quy Chau. For instance, those roofs tiled in pearl gold are quite fetching! Sharp angles aplenty adorn the structure in the clouds, from the central octagonal tower to the hexadecagonal stone base it rests upon. The trans-light blue pond that rings the main tower is a great splash of color, with all its accompanying greenery. While I’ve never played the game, this model certainly makes me want to give it a try!
While autumn is in-uh-bloom, which means torrential downpours here in the Pacific Northwest, LEGO extraordinaire Dan Ko takes us on a summer vacation. He’s competing in the infamous Iron Builder competition and we’re all as pleased as Hawaiian Punch, by golly! He’s used four of the requisite red Technic Rotor Blades to construct the neat beach chair. I suppose that alone would have pleased the Iron Builder Gods but he’s gone the extra mile to depict a sunny beach scene in a travel case. I can feel the warm sand getting into all my nether bits! With Iron Builder, there’s no telling what our esteemed builders will do! Here’s to hoping Dan Ko will take us on vacation again soon.
Everyone wants to get LEGO for Christmas, right? Even better if it’s free! (Santa Claus may make it free to you, but even he surely has to pay for it.) Well, LEGO Insiders will have the opportunity to get just that with a sweepstake to win sets on your holiday wishlist. All you have to do is sign up for Insiders if you haven’t already, create your wishlist here, email it to yourself (make sure you use the same email linked to your Insiders account!), and fill out the entry form on the Rewards page. Do note that it’s only applicable in certain territories: the USA, Canada (excluding Quebec), the UK, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and, naturally, Denmark.
Click here for more information
The esteemed Iron Builder competition is firing on all cylinders and the equally ‘steamed LEGO builder Duncan Lindbo has answered the call of duty. This time he’s used the requisite red Technic Rotor Blade to render Raphael’s ninja-eye-mask-scarf-thingy. Thanks to my chosen title, those of us of a certain age now hear the theme song that was the soundtrack to our Saturday mornings and are remembering the sewer-dwelling, pizza-loving crime-fighting antics of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It all made sense when we were twelve! Here’s to hoping Duncan Lindbo continues to be our action-packed Saturday-morning-and-every-other-day soundtrack.
You probably know Finland for a few things: sauna, northern lights, rally drivers, and Eero Okkonen. What you might not know is its propensity for excellent art nouveau architecture. And what better way to show that than with Eero’s fantastic, and enormous, model dubbed the Tampereen Pankki! Eero might be better known for his character models, but he’s clearly a dab hand at LEGO architecture too. This doesn’t depict a specific building, rather it’s an amalgamation of a few different bank buildings in Eero’s hometown of Tampere (hence Tampereen Pankki = Bank of Tampere). See, you’re even learning some Finnish thanks to this build!
What do you get if you cross the Giant’s Causeway with Doctor Strange? That’s the vibe I’m getting from Daniel Church‘s kinetic LEGO vignette here. The geography looks quite otherworldly – I love the look of the hexagonal columns. But the meditating chap in the middle adds an extra layer of mysticism. This has to be some temple or shrine at the top of the tallest mountain, where only those seeking true enlightenment will dare to venture. And if you do make it to the top, and you achieve the inner peace you’ve been craving, you may get to see the stones dance thanks to Daniel’s clever mechanics.
When it comes to life-size prop recreations built from LEGO, Nick Jensen might be the reigning champion. His latest work is the revolver wielded by Gotham’s Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker. This is the perfect weapon for going bat hunting, with a movable trigger and a perfectly purple grip. But my favorite part is the “Bang” flag coming out of the barrel. Thanks to a clever sandwiching of a LEGO net between some tiles and plates, the flag can actually wave. As in, wave bye-bye to the Batman…
A little over a month ago, I talked about a collaborative LEGO project debuting at BrickCon 2023: a massive modular Dungeons & Dragons dungeon. I was lucky enough to be invited to take part, contributing the 3-wide module with glowing green eyes I talked about in September. But now, having passed the History check, I’m able to give some further details behind this amazing, fantasy-themed project.
Head deeper into the dungeon below!