According to official government files and weirdo LEGO builder Fedde Barendrecht, the strange phenomenon seen in the ’60s by farmers and other people without degrees has nothing to do with UFOs or hallucinogenic drugs. Yep, it turns out all the eerie lights in the sky, stories of alien probing, and the whole go-go dancing fad can be explained away by swamp gas. I’m loving Fedde’s presentation of this little creation on top of a pretty green geode. Neat! But all the weird flying saucers over Area 51 were definitely swamp gas and nothing more so don’t go thinking otherwise if you know what’s good for you. But still, who knew swamps could be so flatulent?
Category Archives: LEGO
A LEGO Gnome and his patch of mushrooms
This stout LEGO gnome built by 8mm-plastic has lots of character, from the rumpled hat to that big fluffy beard. He stands beside a well-crafted mushroom while glittering butterflies flutter. At first glance, it might seem that those butterflies are the smallest creatures in the build, but look closely on the ground in front of the mushroom and you’ll find a snail made from just 2 parts.
There ain’t room in this build for the both of us
Don’t get distracted by gGh0st‘s exquisite hat choices in this imminent LEGO duel. The real battle is one of technique between the two buildings in the background. Will the bank take the win, with its multitude of wooden slat techniques (stacked plates, stacked jumpers, and stacked candles)? It’s also got that darling lettering and an interesting black awning. But the brown building is no slouch, either. Smooth curves and sand green highlights at its crown lead down to more slats, this time with gray cheese slopes. The golden yellow curtains in the window are a great touch, as are the anti-studs (undersides) of a couple of 1×3 jumper plates at the base of the building. And each structure sports its own type of brick-built door. I can’t tell which one I like better!
Miniature LEGO floating island sports a hoot of a nice part usage
Using only 92 LEGO elements, this whimsical model of a floating rock with a miniature windmill by Mbricks packs quite a lot of nice part usage, or NPU! While hair pieces make great foliage as they come in a rainbow of colors, my favorite part is the white owl used as a cloud. A couple of flexible whips make excellent roots.
Bruticus Maximus is a bunch of brawling Transformers combined!
A LEGO Transformer built by Alex Jones is no special thing. I mean, let me clarify; it certainly is special, mindblowing even, but he’s built dozens in his time and has by now mastered the art. But a combiner, by his own admission, is quite a difficult thing. Behold Bruticus Maximus, a massive transforming brawler comprised of five individual brawlers. They are the Combaticons: BlastOff, Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, and Vortex which are somehow both the best and worst fraternity brother names ever. He tells us that weight and clutch power become a difficult obstacle when building a bipedal mech this large. But clearly, he has pulled it off with finesse.
Here is another image showcasing the individual Transformers in vehicle and robot mode. Alex seems to be a master at, not only Transformers but all things awesome and pop culture-ish. You owe it to yourself to check out our Alex Jones archives to see what I mean. And if Transformers is totally your jam, then tuck and fold into that archive as well.
So GLaDOS to see you
Ivan Martynov has turned to everyone’s favourite evil-robot-overlord-with-homicidal-tendencies for inspiration in the Digital Iron Builder contest. This doesn’t appear to be GLaDOS herself – but there’s no telling whether it’s just as evil or not. The seed part is a SPIKE sensor, an unusual part in its own right. It does look superb as the iconic eyes of Aperture Science technology though. In a way it makes perfect sense for this particular part use – the colour sensor is basically an eye, of sorts. The massive robot in the centre would be impressive enough on its own here, but the addition of a turret and Personality Core really ties everything together.
Chrome Crusher redux: less chrome, but more crushing
There seems to be a lot of nostalgia for LEGO’s Rock Raiders theme going around at the moment, and I am so here for it. French builder F@bz has turned his attention to 4970 Chrome Crusher. I always thought this was the coolest Rock Raiders set, and F@bz has done a great job of upping that cool factor! There’s been a touch of realism added too. The original cockpit piece was quite open to the elements, and this one made from ladders and a net will probably offer a bit more protection from any small rocks flying around. The drill also looks more purposeful. It isn’t chrome like the one in the set, but I think this one truly is a thing of beauty!
LEGO reveals new DreamZzz theme with 10 trippy sets and tie-in show [News]
LEGO is launching a brand-new theme, DreamZzz, which the company says is designed to help kids process complex emotions by engaging with the things they imagine in their dreams, whether nightmares or happy dreams.
The theme will be accompanied by an animated show that will stream on LEGO’s YouTube channel. The first 10 episodes will be available starting May 15, followed by an initial launch of 10 sets and the remaining 10 episodes of the first season in August 2023. A second season of the show is slated for 2024.
Read more about LEGO Dreamzzz and see the full product lineup
A library for those who aren’t tirelessly building...
After over 30 years of building with LEGO, I can’t tell you how many rubber tires I’ve amassed in my collection. And as someone who never designs anything automotive (primarily due to lack of skill), they have sat collecting dust for far too long. But Tom Studs gives me hope for their eventual use with this brilliantly floored scene. Utilizing forced perspective, Tom gives us a view out the building’s main portal into a green wilderness, complete with a perfectly positioned minifig to convey all those feelings of wanderlust. The interior of the door is beautifully designed, with plenty of intricate brown designs that stand in stark contrast to the verdant outdoors and its winding stone path. But, again, the real star of the show is the cobbled black floor, comprised of a multitude of brick “nuggets” each wrapped in an appropriately-sized tire.
LEGO Creation of the Week (#16): The Water and Moon Guanyin Bodhisattva by dicken liu
Every week readers of the The Brothers Brick Telegram channel choose the Creation of the Week: one project that impressed all of us the most. In a tight competition Dicken Liu grabs the last week’s Creation of the Week award! His most chilled-out Buddhist deity you’ve ever seen in LEGO form joins our pool of the best creations of the year!
Meanwhile, the new vote is already on! Join our Telegram channel to follow all the best LEGO creations, latest news, and, of course, vote for your favorites. See you there!
This LEGO pilot is dreaming big, on a little budget
Sometimes using a limited number of parts is an excellent forcing function to drive creativity, or in the case of this simple vignette by Justus M pilot creativity. This airplane is built from boxes and tables and uses everyday household objects like a desk lamp and a dart board. It looks like these young adventurers have everything they need to fly off into the sunset of imagination.
Remember to take a break sometime–the cost could be deadly
This LEGO build comes to us from builder Ghalad through the Digital Iron Builder competition this year. It features the use of the SPIKE Prime color sensor, wonderfully used for the eyes of the skeleton and on the headphones. Every detail of this build is great with so many parts usages from Technic to the more classic LEGO pieces. I don’t know about you, but I really like the use of Mixel joints for the framing of the collarbone. I’m not particularly familiar with the finer details of skeletal anatomy, but this skeleton looks to be fairly accurate, which is something I can appreciate. I know this is a digital build, but this would be awesome to see IRL just to look at it from every angle.