LEGO occasionally releases little teaser videos to announce their upcoming sets, and we started this week off with the Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts trailer. Today we’re getting the first look at the new Tron set from LEGO Ideas that we first announced back in November.
Click to watch the teaser video
We’ve featured Sarah Beyer‘s tropical holiday home LEGO models in the past, but this latest creation takes her architectural style and moves it out of the jungle and onto the beach. This Tahiti-inspired holiday hut is a delight — a showcase of effective texturing, nice landscaping, and cool water effects.
It’s worth diving-in to take a closer look at some of the details, like the path towards the veranda with its mix of stones and plants…
See more views of this tropical LEGO paradise
There is a certain Swedish style to these instructions for your own Fåctötum, a robot from IMEA (Intergalactic Manufactory of Electronics and Automata). Luigi Priori has definitely found inspiration by eating a few Swedish meatballs and assembling some flat-pack home furniture. While the instructions are for a cute little robot, half the fun of this build is enjoying the time and energy Luigi has put into designing the instructions themselves.
You will require a few minifigure tools and a friend to help you to carry the box of parts — this is a two-minifigure lift.
Build your own little LEGO robot with step-by-step instructions
Last week LEGO released its annual financial results for 2017, and to some of us, it may have seemed like it was written in a foreign language. You know what it means to have a profit and loss, but to help cut through all the accounting jargon, we’ve simplified things a bit further for you. Note that we’re taking a huge amount of liberty with the complex details to keep it simple, but it should give you the right general idea.
Read our simplified break-down of LEGO’s 2017 financial results
The original Pacific Rim was a huge inspiration for many LEGO builders. The Jaeger were an obvious choice for mech builders and we saw a tonne of recreation of them at various scales. With the second movie, Uprising, out soon, we’re starting to see the same thing happen again. Talented builder Kelvin Low, whose amazing custom LEGO Hulkbuster we featured earlier this week, is responsible for this Bracer Phoenix rendition. That’s the mech from the trailer with what looks like a morning star attached to one arm.
If you want to make you own, you’re in luck. This 22-minute video uploaded by the builder will show you exactly how Kelvin created this custom mech.
Finally, if tan’s just not your colour, Gipsy Avenger has also been made, complete with its own build video.
Fresh from winning the ABS challenge in spectacular fashion, Didier Burtin has created a delicious Ikura maki roll. At sushi restaurants ikura (salmon roe) is always served gunkan-style (battleship.) Besides the rice and the nori (edible seaweed), there are no other embellishments and it is not served with any sauce, although you may brush a little soy sauce (shoyu) on top of the eggs with a small slice of gari (sweet pickled ginger) and the all-important wasabi.
The custom Brickhead models just keep coming! I am glad to see that the latest LEGO building trend to make custom versions of the popular Brickheadz line is not limited to pop-culture like Star Wars and Marvel. This Roman centurion by Koen demonstrates some very nice parts usage. From the mini-fig spear and shield to an assortment of recently released curved and angled tile elements. And don’t miss the gold printed Wonder Woman tile! The curved fan on the helmet really completes the look.
This bulky spaceship by Nick Trotta, called Ataraxis has caught me completely off guard. I am used to seeing unique LEGO spaceships with a handful of unique ideas and shapes associated with them, but this one is in a completely different class. Of course Nick is one of the best space builders out there, but even so his latest work is incredible. No wonder, as the builder has spent the past four months worth of weekends on it.
There are countless angles and lines all around the spaceship that just a list of them would be too long to be read in a reasonable time. Nick seems to be able to capture any shape and detail that would cross his mind, to a degree that it looks as if he was designing LEGO bricks specifically for this creation. This effect might also originate from the disproportionate amount of newer elements, of which most builders only have a handful and can not use in ways Nick did. My all-around favourite part is the most subtle detail in the build though; on a few spots, you can see jagged edges of grill 1×2 bricks showing, which just seems to make sense.
For an even greater appreciation of the build, you can see the pictures that inspired it.
If you’re looking for a scurvy mate to fill your pillaging needs, here be the fellow! He’ll stand guard with his cleverly crafted musket, making sure your enemies walk the plank! The creator of this “maniac gunner pirate” is LEGO 7, and he’s no stranger to great builds. One of the best parts of this particular creation is the unique personality of the character. Not only does he have that wonderful classic pirate look, he also has the best expression on his face. Not to mention, his weapons display a uniquely creative use of parts.
And if you’re looking for a captain to add to your crew, you won’t be disappointed! LEGO 7 has also created a devilish Blackbeard to go with this first mate! He even has the peg-leg and macaw!
World-renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking has passed away at the age of 76. While his professional accomplishments are well-known (and too numerous to list here), he was also a staple of popular culture, making cameos in numerous television shows and even becoming the subject of a 2014 bio-pic.
Among the many parodies of Professor Hawking was the LEGO version that I built 11 years ago, which continues to be rediscovered by people across the web to this day. Over the past decade I’ve had fun watching him pop up in mass media, and have also featured him in a variety of comical new situations. And exactly 1 year ago this week, this little LEGO model travelled on the same zero gravity flight that his real-world counterpart had taken 10 years earlier …the event that had inspired me to create this build in the first place. Thank you for allowing us to ride your coat-tails, Mr Hawking; rest in peace, and congratulations on beating the odds and having an amazing life that was an inspiration to us all!
Before you mistake this for 76105 Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition, it’s not! It’s a modified version of it by the famous Singaporean Mecha builder Kelvin Low, who’s better known in the fan-builder circles as Chubbybots. Hardcore Mecha fans like Kelvin will never be satisfied with stock builds which sometimes may have limitations because of the way parts are used. The only right thing to do is fix it! I think with the mods he’s made, it turned out well much better than what LEGO did!
Click here to take a bette look at this massive Hulkbuster…
Let Anthony Wilson guide you on a trip back to the late ’90s with an inspiring take on the City Slizer (also known in North America as Turbo Throwbot). Turbo was my favorite in this brief precursor series to Bionicle, and to see a beautifully stylish upgrade makes me nostalgic. It’s the retrowave presentation, however, that completes Anthony’s radical remake.
The addition of magenta accents and silver detailing is a bold choice for a remake. The risk pays off, as the model has the feel of the original set while emphasizing Anthony’s unique building style.
