This year’s 42078 Mack Anthem is the 5th largest LEGO Technic set released of all time, and it’s definitely a beauty. At the moment, it is on back order from the LEGO Shop online, so If you need to grab one (or two) they’re now available in stock on Amazon US for $179.99 (RRP). You can pick up your copy by clicking the image below!
One of the most moving scenes in The Empire Strikes Back is when Darth Vader freezes Han Solo in carbonite and hands him over to Boba Fett. Leia tells Han, “I love you.” Han of course replies, “I know.” Joshua Morris has recreated this key scene in LEGO, at a monumental scale that dwarfs 75137 Carbon Freezing Chamber (which I thought was a rather terrible set anyway). The entire platform lights up, giving it a very atmospheric look.
The platform is surrounded by tanks and pipes, with a catwalk where stormtroopers can ensure the Rebel prisoners remain compliant. “He’s alive. And in perfect hibernation,” Lando reassures Vader.
” Watch out for bridges and hop-ons. You’re going to get some hop-ons.”
TBB’s own Ralph Savelsberg continues adding to his collection of iconic vehicles with the airport stair car from the TV series Arrested Development. Ralph’s vehicles, built at a larger scale than the minifig-scale we typically feature, has a distinctive style that doesn’t shy away from showing the studs that LEGO is so famous for. With the stair car owned by the dysfunctional Bluth family, Ralph incorporates brick-built stripes as well as custom signage.
Naturally, the stairs actually extend, and the outriggers flip down to stabilize the vehicle.
Last month we featured Patrick B.‘s lovely version of Bag End, Bilbo’s house in the Hobbit and later Frodo’s in The Lord of the Rings. It turns out Patrick wasn’t done making cheery hobbit holes, though, as now he’s followed up with Samwise Gamgee’s home on Bagshot End, which is just as welcoming and snug.
It’s loaded with details, including lots of clever uses for unusual elements, such as the unusual Scala flower pot and vase paired together along with mini-doll Belle’s light yellow dress as large garden jars. Each section of this homely dwelling bears close scrutiny to tease out all the shrewd techniques. Continue reading
Perhaps this helicopter is actually a better size for ants rather than people, but it is definitely a fun little LEGO build. GolPlaysWithLego has built this great microscale helicopter out of 30 LEGO parts. The fuselage is built using some of the newer 1×2 curved slopes with notch and the tail rotor is a boomerang. Clever use of parts for a small build!
Whether in person or through the tubes and pipes of the internet, looking at a LEGO castle diorama has always been somewhat akin to viewing a renaissance painting in an art gallery for me. Like many great medieval artworks, there’s always so many things happening, and so many visually foreign and intriguing things occuring all at once — so much to take in. Brickwielder‘s latest build is filled to the brim with fun details and nifty building techniques. From the waterfall to the winding staircase, the bridge, or even all the foliage, there’s enough here to get lost.
Giving a fresh new twist on the classic LEGO grey-and-blue space theme, this shuttle by Horcik Designs is a perfect example of what fans like to call Neo-Classic Space. Despite its relatively small size, the shuttle seats two minifigures abreast in the trans-yellow clad cockpit, and the addition of lots of stickers adds a bit of extra flair that makes this spacecraft feel more industrial.
I’m starting to get suspicious that LEGO builders are creating pug-themed creations because they know I’ll feature just about every single one. Well, keep it coming! This pug astronaut by 鄭 仲恆 appears to be surprised by something he sees off in the distance above him. The space suit is well-constructed and realistic, with a bubble helmet to encompass the pug’s bubble head and bubble eyes.
Here at The Brothers Brick, we can’t help ourselves sometimes — we hope the talented builder doesn’t mind — and we took it upon ourselves to give this lovely space-pooch some adventures. Here he is landing on the moon. Or was he already there and he’s been surprised by the Apollo 11 crew landing next to him?
See more of this adventurous space pug’s adventures in space!
It doesn’t take a big model or a lot of pieces to be clever with LEGO. In fact, one of the best ways is to take take a piece and find a use for it so good that it looks like the element was purpose-made for it. Case in point: the hood of the tiny speeder by F@bz, which was originally the barding (blanket) of a Friends horse. It’s also worth pointing out the background made of brick anti-studs and spaced plates, with a Mars Mission aero tube in the foreground.
Our friends over at New Elementary are holding a contest in honour of the reintroduction of teal-coloured LEGO elements by LEGO. There are some great prizes to be won, including two Grand Prize winners receiving a copy of 10260 Downtown Diner. The competition is based on the ‘Mark Stafford Killed Teal’ story (if you do not know this story, it is explained on the competition page), and a previous build of mine that jokingly showed Mark Stafford killing Teal by sweeping it into a furnace.
Your entry should be a LEGO creation depicting the following: How might Mark Stafford kill teal again? The closing date is 22 February 2018, so there’s still time to get building and enter. All the details, rules and entry form can be found over on New Elementary’s contest page.
Cassette players scream eighties so loudly that it seems kind of redundant to mark tapes as “80s mix”, but Jarekwally still decided to bring out the nostalgia even more. The builder was inspired by his father’s stories of how they used to pirate music nearly forty years ago with a radio and a tape deck. Cassette players are so iconic, you don’t even need to have 80s nostalgia to be inspired by them.
Jarekwally’s build is not the first time we’ve seen cassette players in LEGO, which kind of makes sense, as tapes are just blocky technical items with a limited variation of texture — which translates into bricks very well. What I love about this particular version is the use of chrome silver around the cassette slot and the underside of a plate as the speaker mesh. Simple indeed, but inspired.
Check out these other LEGO retro audio instruments:
Take a journey back before the launch of humans, robots, and Tesla Roadsters to space with a LEGO 1950s retro rocketship built by Jason Hlavenka. Slick transitions from the cone shape on top to the cylindrical body and quad fins at the bottom make his model pop.
