What would the Headless Horseman look like in 2018? Patrick Biggs is re-imagining the famous character from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and now the horse is gone, replaced by an awesome bike inspired by Mel Finelli’s works. Instead of a pair of leather boots, here are sneakers, with a design borrowed from Luke Staten. But it’s the posture and the motion of the figure that makes everything work together. Even though we don’t see the face, no doubt, this guy is having the time of his life this Halloween!
Category Archives: LEGO
Only two days left for double LEGO VIP points [News]
It doesn’t happen very often anymore, but LEGO is offering double VIP points for the month of October. Halloween marks the end of the month, so you have two days left to shop and maybe make bigger purchases like the Hogwarts Castle or Betrayal at Cloud City for the best discount. (Double VIP points equates to earning roughly 10% of the order price which can then be applied to a future LEGO purchase.)
Along with double VIP points, LEGO is offering a free minifigure collector frame as a gift with any purchase more than $75. The promotion runs through the 31st or while supplies last. To see all the most recent sets released by LEGO, check our list of new October sets as well as all the new sets from the summer.
(As always, when you click through from The Brothers Brick, a portion of each sale goes to support the site, so thank you in advance!)
Salazar Slytherin’s slithering serpent stalks students
Robert Maier has opened the LEGO Chamber of Secrets and unleashed a fantastic beast of a basilisk! If you’ve followed Robert for a while like we have you’ll note this model, while a bit of a departure from his usual post-apocalyptic fare like a toxic wasteland and a world without trains, displays his typical knack for textured, murky worlds.
In this scene you can see Tom Marvolo Riddle (AKA teen Voldemort) near the climax of the book/movie after he has spent months manipulating Ginny Weasley with his diary-Horcrux. Here she’s unconscious just before Harry Potter swoops in to save the day on Fawkes the phoenix in a bit of deus ex machina. The ambiance of the scene is perfect with bones of victims past, rotting plant life, and foggy water. The basilisk model itself dominates the chamber as it slithers out of Salazar Slytherin’s statue. I especially like the vertical nature of the statue against the horizontal striations of the chamber walls. You can check out some finer details of the basilisk itself in the closeup shot below. It’s a far cry from the basilisk we reviewed in the Hogwarts Great Hall!
This eco house brings the great outdoors indoors
The LEGO Group has committed itself to making LEGO plant elements out of plants. Thanks to Sarah Beyer, there is now a LEGO house to compliment them. Sarah’s eco house, named Lilium after the lily flower, has been designed with self-sustainability in mind. Electricity is supplied by roof-mounted solar panels, while large windows on the south and west walls capture warm rays of sunshine. The house looks fresh and modern, enhanced by the surrounding colorful landscaping.
Sarah’s house has been constructed so LEGO minifigures can immerse themselves in the outdoors. The second-floor porch and vine-laced patio offer an excellent view of the garden. Click to see more, including the interior
Wild winter wanderland
Rockstar’s newest video game, Red Dead Redemption 2, has been a highly anticipated sequel for fans of the first. Maybe it’s the vast open wild west world, with so many ways to create a unique experience. For some players, the greatest appeal for an open world like this is wandering around the wilderness like in this scene by Tuxedo Greedo. The landscape is both peaceful, and hostile in its stark setting. Curved white elements smooth out what would otherwise be a lonely, rocky landscape. Transparent clear bricks in place of more traditional tiles is a great choice for the stream, and white flower elements make the perfect snow-covered blossoms. One more missable details is the quarter-circle tiles wedged between the studs on the pine tree to represent fungus.
A spaceship that resonates with us
Space builder Nick Trotta is one of the undisputed masters of minifigure-scale LEGO spacecraft. A fastidious perfectionist, Nick builds and rebuilds each of his models, tweaking every detail before finally letting the world see the finished result. It’s always worth the wait, however, as this new spaceship evidences.
The simple geometric shapes belie the ridiculous amount of engineering needed to achieve them. The technique that always grabs my attention (Nick has used it before) is the use of panels to create the white leading edge on the wings, cleverly hiding any unsightly joints and gaps. Plus, there’s the awesomely retro color scheme, with my favorite detail being the “health” bar on the ship’s nose beneath the cockpit.
A chocolate box cottage scene
The phrase chocolate box cottage is a peculiar British saying that dates back to a time when biscuits, toffees and other treats were sold in packaging depicting country idylls. Builder Emil Lidé has run with the idea, creating an archetypical black and white timber-framed cottage. From the bowed roof that meets at a pleasingly crooked LEGO chimney, to the authentic thatch made from an array of tan bars and clips, he’s captured the essence of the English countryside. I can just imagine taking tea in the garden with a slice of Victoria sponge cake, and in spirit, I’m in England.
A sunny wedding by the sea
This gorgeous piece of Mediterranean architecture is brought to us by Italian builder Gabriele Rava. The church’s asymmetry works beautifully to highlight the bell tower, and the building is loaded with great details, from the mixture of white and tan for the peeling surfaces to the wonderfully simple dark orange textured roof over the nave. The small chapel sits atop a tall quay with a spacious courtyard, which is currently hosting a wedding attended by a wide variety of personages, up to and including Dumbledore officiating.
Meeesa built a micro Gungan City!
Elemental LEGO’s micro build of Otoh Gunga is a superb example of micro building. How can any of us forget seeing the shot of Jar Jar and the Jedi swimming under water revealing the glowing city of golden spheres with John William’s score a swelling maelstrom of choral voices filling out the soundscape.
The builder has made an effective use of Submersible Bubble, Canopy Dome, Glass Dome, Minifigure Globe, Crystal Ball, and Minifigure Helmet as the hydrostatic spheres encapsulating the city. Notice the small Bonga Submersible made from Ninjago Throwing Star, and Mifigure Claw. Using the Infinity Stone this must be the smallest school of fish made with LEGO elements.
Elemental LEGO is on Instagram and Flickr.
Pull over for this pleasantly posh Porsche
Jordanian builder Firas Abu-Jaber has built an international reputation on making authentic-looking LEGO cars. You might remember us featuring Firas’ cars before, such as his Bugatti Chiron. This time he’s back with a sleek and powerful 2017 Porsche 911 GT3 RS. His model’s body is orange, just like the official LEGO Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS but is distinct enough to stand on its own.
See more details and working features on this LEGO Porsche 911
There’s a thin line between being a hero and being a memory
Optimus Prime is someone full of wise words of leadership, and he dishes them out frequently to his team of Autobots. It’s something that I’ve always liked about him besides his general cool factor. This excellent build of the Generation 1 series by Marco De Bon triggers some of those memories. I like how the ingot bars are used to create a very mechanical feeling at just the rights spots in the build.
Not your average arachnid
All true spiders have eight legs, my friends. Unless, of course, they lose a couple to predators, which is fairly common, but I digress. Fortunately for those in the creative LEGO world, arachnids can have as many legs as they darn well please! And so a contest has been born. BBC contest №76 is dedicated to building spiders without eight legs, and this is an entry by Leonid An. This cyber-esque build caught our eye with its neat parts usage and great color scheme. The turquoise and purple pieces were popular in Technic and Bionicle sets from the late 90’s and early 2000’s.
Leonid is a great builder who we’ve featured before. Check out his Horus and Set, as well as his eerie-looking “Sleuth” from a couple months ago.