It definitely takes talent and building skills to create a realistic, yet funny vehicle or aircraft. John C. Lamarck nails it with a chubby JL-450 “Wolverine” inspired by fighters and bombers of the 1940’s. A perfect choice of stickers completes its clean look very well, but it is its short and clusmy body that really creates the character.
Of all the incredibly impressive Great Ball Contraptions out there, you don’t see too many that mime regular objects. Intro Berthil van Beek’s roulette wheel. This expertly engineered marvel is a real treat to watch!
Click to be mesmerized by a video of it in action!
Welcome to Day 8 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2018 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick team.
If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. Will Day 8 be great?
Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!
I think it can be a fun practice when someone takes an official LEGO set and puts an entirely new (or old) twist on it. This Classic Space version of 10251 Brick Bank released in 2015 built by Justin Winn is just the kind of thing I’m talking about. Its façade is easily recognizable as the bank, but has all the classic colors and vibe of the retro-space and M-Tron themes. I’d love to see this idea applied to the entire modular series!
Justin’s Classic Space Brick Bank has a full interior, with a vault and plenty of old-style computer terminals.
This isn’t the first time Justin has “spacified” an existing LEGO set! Check out his customization of the 10196 Grand Carousel!
Hong Kong’s bustling urban atmosphere is exciting, but sometimes it’s nice to take some time out to relax and enjoy nature. It’s worth hopping on the MTR bound for Lantau Island, where you can visit the quaint fishing village of Tai O. Alanboar Cheung has captured the spirit of Tai O in LEGO-form, right down to the green mountainous landscape behind it. He has included the town’s famous stilted homes, a dragon boat, and the squat-looking sampan boats. One of the sampan even features a traditional Tai O water wedding.
This head-on shot of the display is great for honing in on all the tiny details. Techniques like forced perspective and layering also help maintain the illusion of depth. Take me to Tai O!
Although it’s not clear if builder Jay Bramhall just liked the bright colors (or maybe M-Tron), given the time of year I prefer to think that he got into Christmas spirit with this colorful Vic Viper. The ship conceals a sweet feature, namely the sweeping wings which are geared together and activated by turning the engine. The clean color blocking brings a nice pop of color to the drab regions of space, and Jay incorporates both old and new shades of dark grey to give a hint of the weatherworn nature of this craft.
You don’t have to be a fan of the Overwatch game to appreciate this stunning model depicting one of the characters from the game. His name alone, Doomfist, immediately captures the imagination. Mech builder Kelvin Low brings this character to life and captures the likeness of its onscreen inspiration very well.
One of the many subtle details that make this model work so well is how the gold pyramid slopeson his left hand mirror the same detail in dark grey on the larger right hand. Kelvin, who typically builds mechs and robots, does a great job of creating sculpted muscles and clothing to take this figure to the next level.
When LEGO released 75192 Ultimate Collector Series Millennium Falcon last year, the company made a big deal of the various promotions and special offers that LEGO VIP Program members who purchased the UCS Falcon would be receiving over the subsequent year, starting with a special new VIP “Black Card”. The reality has turned out to be considerably less awesome, with the Black Cards arriving several months after purchasing the Falcon and no unique promotions at all in the past 15 months since the Falcon’s release. But there’s finally some good news for Black Card holders, who will be receiving an email with a special code that adds a free Black Card display stand with a unique minifig when you purchase any LEGO Star Wars set.
In LEGO Shop news for everyone, the LEGO Shop is offering double VIP points on all purchases this weekend, today (Friday December 7th) through Monday, December 10th, just in time for last-minute holiday shopping.
Welcome to Day 7 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2018 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick team.
If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. Will Day 7 make an impression?
Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!
The LEGO Foundation recently announced a $100 million grant to Sesame Workshop to support children affected by the Rohingya and Syrian refugee crises. The LEGO Foundation is the charitable organization affiliated with LEGO Group owners, and is itself a 25% owner of the LEGO Group. The grant is being disbursed over the following 5 years, with funds being released as milestones are met. The partnership with BRAC, the IRC (International Rescue Committee) and New York University’s Global TIES for Children will reach children affected by the crises with play-based learning opportunities.
If you’ve ever witnessed a building contractor installing drywall, with those funny looking stilts, then you know why this long-legged robot by John Judy caught my eye. The builder has taken a more familiar sight, of a somewhat boxy bot in basic grey with no upper appendages, and turned it into a striking figure that I can’t decide whether to pat on the head like a friendly puppy, or run screaming for my life.
If the basic silhouette seems familiar to you, maybe that’s due to the fact that if you squint your eyes, it might bring to mind the profile of the AT-AT “chicken” walker from Star Wars, which John has also built with striking accuracy.
With the release of 10260 Downtown Diner in January 2018, the design aesthetic of LEGO’s Creator Expert modular buildings series shifted from pre-war architecture to the chrome and neon of the 1950s. This trend continues with the 2019 modular building, 10264 Corner Garage. The set includes 2,569 pieces and retails for $200 in the US ($269.99 in Canada and £159.99 in the UK).
Like the recent LEGO Star Wars set 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle, the initial reaction from LEGO fans and collectors has been mixed. But how does the set hold up when we look beyond the box photos and actually start building?
Read our hands-on review of 10264 Corner Garage