Over the years we’ve featured many LEGO versions of Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam and Marvin the Martian. But this is the first time we’ve seen Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century in brick form. Thanks to the talents of Tyler Clites we see him pictured here during his first screen appearance in 1953, battling for control of “Planet X” against Marvin:
Mike Dung has brought Aya Shameimaru from the Touhou Project to life in LEGO. Aya Shameimaru is a character who appears as a reporter in many of the games within the Touhou Project series. Aya covers the news in the fictional realm of Gensokyo and also belongs to the Crow Tengu species, giving her a height advantage when taking photographs. Mike manages to convey character details and also the fantastical nature of the game within his build.
I have to admit that I really like all the crows, Aya’s wings, the crow seen flying just below Aya, and the clever use of the black hotdog part to show a crow flying in the background. Forced perspective is utilised particularly well in the microscale Shinto shrine that appears to lie far below Aya as she enjoys her birds-eye view of the world. The overall feeling is one of movement, distance and height, something that is not easy to achieve within a small build.
Spawned from the loins of mold-breaking show Adventure Time, and apparently destined for a similar kind of cult following, Steven Universe is a critically acclaimed American animation about a boy and his troop of supernatural friends, the Crystal Gems. It’s on frequently in my house, although I’ll admit I haven’t been bitten by the bug yet. But Danish builder Ilia must have, judging by his superb sculpture of the show’s titular character:
Today, children and adults from all over the country will be donning their festive creepy and cool costumes for a night out gathering goodies or having fun with friends. But I know two particular builders who probably won’t be out and about. At all. Because right now they are locked in a life-and-death struggle for victory.
For those who are surprised, the Iron Builder is a recurring contest which pits two talented builders against each other in a duel to best incorporate a secret part. The current round is bringing forth some crazy good LEGO creations!
Chris Maddison brings us our favorite feathered ballistic missile from the ever-popular Angry Birds game.
When you finally get over how eye-catching and realistic the build looks, the clever simplicity is stunning. As a side note, in case you hadn’t heard, you can expect official LEGO Angry Birds sets next year.
Not to be outdone, Mike Nieves shows his characteristic System/Bionicle/Technic style with his recreation of Renji Abarai from Bleach.
I’m not very familiar with Anime in general, but a quick Google search shows just how well Mike was able to recreate the distinctive character at this scale.
Both builders have used the black forklift skid (the mandatory secret piece) to full advantage. But who will win?
The Brothers Brick are huge fans of the Japanese animator and film maker Hayao Miyazaki. And even though his works have got the LEGO treatment on many occasions, we always enjoy seeing a fresh take on them. So we were thrilled when Finnish builder Eero Okkonen decided to build large scale versions of Mito, Nausicaä, Lord Yupa and Kushana from the epic Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds.
UPDATE: Here’s the complete cast (for now, Eero says), with the addition of Charuka, Chikuku, and Kurotowa.
Vehicles and vessels from anime shows continue to be a popular subject with LEGO builders. Christopher Hoffmann joins the fray with this small but well-executed Swordfish II fighter from Cowboy Bebop.
If you like this microscale version, I think you’ll also enjoy Adrian Florea’s minifig-scale Cowboy Bebop Swordfish.
Despite more comebacks and fewer female characters than the Star Wars franchise, the Smurfs are still wildly popular today, almost 60 years after their first appearance as a Belgian comic strip. With two new Smurf movies behind us and another one in the works, it was only a matter of time before fans got tired waiting for LEGO to get in on the action, and took matters into their own hands. Which is exactly what Lee Jones and a team of builders did at BrickWorld Chicago did last month!
This huge diorama depicts the Smurf village, complete with forest landscaping, mushroom houses, and a forced-perspective version of Gargamel’s castle. All beautifully rounded off with the giant intruding faces of Gargamel and Azrael (courtesy of Tyler Halliwell and Kevin Lauer).
But the most remarkable part of this display have to be the Smurf minifigs. No, you’re not seeing things… Those aren’t shoddy clone brand figures. And no, LEGO didn’t secretly launch a line of collectible Smurf figs when no-one was looking. These are 100% custom manufactured! Lee’s team worked with BrickForge and Brick Fortress to design and produce custom components (heads, tails, even rotatable arms) all to “LEGO quality”. The results speak for themselves. Our pals at Beyond the Brick talked to Lee at BrickWorld and got the low-down…
We’ve seen the Friends minidolls show up in all sorts of interesting creations since they were introduced in 2012, including sky-fi airplanes, giant spaceships, tiny spaceships, and mechs. But these anime-inspired hardsuits may just be one of the best uses I’ve seen yet. When paired with the crazy hairpieces from LEGO’s official anime-inspired theme in 2006-2008, Exo-Force, the minidolls look like they’re straight out of an anime. And builder 3D Foundry has done some great work building cool hardsuits for them.
Mike Dung has built a lovely version of RWBY’s Blake. The sense of motion and power in this build really jumps out at you. Mike is a master of anime characters and it shows in this figure.
Our friend Pascal (pasukaru76) must have been watching Ghost in the Shell recently, as he’s built a fantastic “think tank” (basically a robotic tank mecha) inspired by the one in the movie. Pascal describes it as a close cousin, and that works for me. The build achieves some simple geometric shapes, which on close inspection prove to be rather elegant implementations of complex techiques, for instances at the angles at the base of the legs. The use of stickers on the model is also top-notch, and really brings it to a higher level.
Mike Dung has done an incredible job of recreating the “2013 Snow Miku” version of Hatsune Miku. The posing of the figure is great, but the folds and layering of the shiromuku are really exceptional. It’s too bad he had to make her hair green instead of turquoise but the figure wouldn’t have turned out nearly as well, due to parts constraints. It was a great compromise, as there are limitations, even in LEGO. Mike really turned out a beautiful creation here!
Moko used his magic and created this lovely, little warrior. I especially like her armor, the look in her eyes and that impish grin. She’s adorable!
