What is the point in climbing into a cramped and odorous mech if you can’t swing a big spiked club like you were swatting flies? No point at all, according to Faber Mandragore. This mech suit for an Orc warboss packs a lot of punch in a compact frame. One of my favorite parts used in this stompy, spiky mech is the metal beard from, well, Metalbeard.
Our more sensitive readers who suffer from Coulrophobia may want to look away from bbchai‘s latest killer clown creation. Pennywise is here to lure you down to the sewers where you will get cotton candy, and rides, and all sorts of surprises! And balloons too… all colors. I suggest picking the red one.
While my black heart will always belong to Tim Curry as Pennywise, there is no doubt that the current incarnation is terrifying in ITs own way. This LEGO version is just as frightening and implements some wonderful parts use to create the famous clown’s costume and face. I really like the teeth used to make the frilly collar and the use of the actual minifigure frilly collar as cuffs is smart and clever. I’m also quite fond of the white lipstick pieces as fingers and the interpretation of his oversized forehead utilizing the curved wedge piece. Not to mention those eyes! Jeepers creepers, what scary peepers!
Of course, no IT collection is complete without Georgie. The hapless victim is wonderfully rendered here in his iconic yellow rain slicker. The builder has even included the toy that started the whole mess, the humble paper boat. But does it float? Oh, yes, gentle reader, it floats. And when you’re down there with Pennywise… YOU’LL FLOAT TOO!
Prolific LEGO builders scatter our desktops with inspiration constantly, showing us more with each coming build. Miro Dudas has been doing such for me for quite a while, with his Woodland Creatures Collection. His newest accomplishment, simply titled Buck, brings another to said collection, leaving me wanting this on my shelf too. The regal stag is such a strong animal, in muscle and stance as the king of the forest.
Dudas’ rendition, though heavily inspired by Joe Perez’s impressive Stag from earlier this year, stands on its own accord. The reddish brown coat with tufts of white are nice adjustments to his inspiration but it’s those antlers, made predominantly from small bony appendages and mechanical arms, that bring this build into a realistic zone. I don’t know about anyone else but when I first saw this, I instantly wanted to see two of them standing off with horns locked..
If you’re more sci-fi inclined, maybe check out Miro Dudas’ fury little Wicket..
Some folks are just too unruly for this world. Their actions can lead to a stint on Death Row, then eventually a final dance in the Electric Chair where, legend has it, they go to meet their maker or some other entity less favorable. When we’ve featured this builder’s creations in the past, they have left some of us asking what or why?. In every case, her own chosen name comes back with a defiant answer: why.not?. Why not, indeed. One thing for sure is she’s an enigmatic builder whose subject matter has us just intrigued enough to check in on her from time to time. As foreboding as this is, I like the use of tires as restraints. The overall lighting is inspired. There will come a time again (maybe soon) when this builder will grace us with something a little grim and odd to puzzle over. Until then, we’ll keep doing what we do.
For it is written, twas the Triassic Era LEGO Gods of Legend who sayeth unto he “go forth and buildeth a SHIP, a Significantly Huge Investment in Parts. It shall be no less than one hundred studs on one side. Thou shalt hence forth do it every September and thou shalt call it SHIPtember for that will be totally bitchin’.”
Like Noah, so many faithful disciples and space nerds had heeded the words of the legendary LEGO gods every September and has been building SHIPs for as long as we can remember. One such faithful disciple and space nerd is Shannon Sproule and this uncanny “Shipbreaker CALYPSO”.
Click here to learn more about this alien ship.
Today LEGO announced the newest set in the Speed Champions lineup will come from a new brand partnership with Panasonic Jaguar Racing. Set 75898 Formula E Panasonic Jaguar Racing GEN2 car & Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY will feature two of Jaguar’s newest all-electric vehicles along with one of the longest official LEGO set names. The Formula E I-TYPE 4 racecar has just been unveiled today by the Panasonic Jaguar Racing team and represents the pinnacle of the team’s technical capabilities. Meanwhile, the Jaguar I-PACE is the brand’s newest all-electric SUV, marketed to go toe-to-toe with the Tesla Model X. The set will be available January 1, 2020.
We’ve featured a few large LEGO spaceships for SHIPtember already this month, and with September over, there is sure to be more to come. But I think my favorite entry so far would have to be this lunar transport ship by Finn Roberts which — thanks to a beautifully staged photo — looks like a clear glimpse into our not-so-distant future, where cargo payloads and crew make regular round-trip journeys between the earth and the moon. The model makes great use of structural support like this scaffold part to ground it in current aerospace manufacturing. The heat-shielded crew capsules and the large solar arrays provide the perfect additions.
Another September is done and gone, and October is here. The season of Autumn is fully underway, and the string of highly marketable and deeply nostalgic holidays is fast approaching: the power triad (in the USA) of Hallowe’en, Thanksgiving, and finally Christmas. Sure, there are others, but they aren’t the lucrative cash cows that those three are. Patrick Biggs gets us in the mood with this lovely pumpkin headed scarecrow. What would Fall be without pumpkins, anyway? Flavorless and awful, that’s what. The crows, who don’t seem scared at all, think it would be flavorless, too.
I am a big fan of the black, dark red, and red plaid that the scarecrow is wearing, made from lots of small elements for a fabric-like waviness. The LEGO t-shirt underneath is a lovely detail, too. Some Hero Factory armor makes the hood of the shirt, and some other armor makes the lower sleeves. There are some clever uses of tires to fill in gaps, as well. But the star of the show is definitely that pumpkin, made from shoulder armor. With all that armor, one would think it would be good at protecting something, but one would be wrong. At least the gourd could be turned into pie once the crops are eaten by the birds. It’s good for something!
I was just researching bobbit worms for reasons having nothing to do with LEGO when I saw this LEGO version by Aaron Van Cleave turn up (for reasons having everything to do with LEGO) and I thought; what serendipity! Although serendipity usually involves a chance meeting with a good friend or discovering someone else likes burnt orange as much as you do. It rarely involves bobbit worms. Yet here we are. The bobbit worm (Eunice aphroditois) is a creature ranging from about 4 inches (10cm) to 9.81 ft (299cm) long and inhabits burrows that it creates on the ocean floor. It bursts out of the sand to hunt its prey with terrifying speed. As if that’s not scary enough, Aaron’s version is much bigger and robotic because apparently that is what the world needs now. There is excellent part usage here and the roiling, explosive sand effect he created is accurate. I know this already because…serendipity.
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While assembling the latest and the biggest LEGO Technic set ever, I came up with countless versions of the introductory paragraph for this review. However, once I turned this thing on and spend some time operating it, it became clear that none of my paragraphs work better than raw facts about the set which speak for themselves. So, here is LEGO Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator, the biggest LEGO Technic set ever with 4,108 pieces, among which are 7 Powered Up motors and 2 smart-hub. The finished model weighs around 6 kg / 13.2 lbs (including the weight of 12 AA cells). This is a fully motorized copy that can be controlled via a smartphone or a tablet and it is all as good as it sounds. With impressive numbers comes an impressive price tag; the set is available for US $449.99 | CAN $549.99 | UK £399.99. And here comes the most important question: is the set worth the money? Let’s build it, test it and find out.
Click here to read the review…
This month’s cover image across TBB’s social media comes to us from W. Navarre, who together with three other builders crafted a series of exquisite scenes from the 1985 film Ladyhawke. We covered all four scenes this summer, but we were so drawn to this beautiful portrait of the middle eastern city of Aquila that we just had to pick it. Everywhere you look the buildings employ ingenious patterns of bricks, making this feel like a vibrant, wealthy merchant town.
Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month or more? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today. Photos that do not meet the submission guidelines will not be considered, and will be removed from the group. Extra consideration will be given to images that have seasonal relevance and work well in a wide landscape orientation.
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