Joss Woodyard puts a mammalian twist on kaiju with Molethra. No mere garden pest, this giant beast has risen up from the subterranean depths to wreck untold havoc. Joss has done an amazing job of layering the stylized wing pieces to create a furry texture. And the damaged microscale city street does a perfect job of conveying the monster’s massive size.
Nikita Nikolsky takes us for a play date on an alien planet with this creative build. An extraterrestrial child dreams of interstellar conquest as he plays out his flying saucer toy attacking the sand castle he built. Despite his murderous intentions, there’s tons to love about this alien, from his expressive face to the use of the lime elements as sporty beach wear. I’m not looking forward to having to one day bow before him after he’s conquered Earth. But, at the same time, it’s gonna be like, “I’m proud of you, kid. You made it.”
The forces of Nature bloom forth from this epic LEGO kaiju by T. Jenson. I can imagine the scene of its emergence, the mountain it slumbers beneath crumbling away to reveal this beauty. First off, the color palette is bright and coordinates well together. Nothing distracts from the other elements, each leading the eye to the next. T. Jenson makes wonderful decisions with the Bionicle pieces for this Bio-Cup, kaiju category build. They coax some phenomenal curves from the parts, lending themselves well to the foliage. The luxurious mane gives way to the flowering spine and tail. The use of a tan gear for teeth is a lovely touch to an already great head design. Like any kaiju, I prefer to enjoy its beauty and majesty from a safe distance.
If you’re not familiar with LEGO, you might not realize this is made of the classic building toy. Of course, this is because of the excellent piece choices The Underscored Double made when crafting this natural scene. The parts from the Hero Factory and Bionicle toy lines push what anyone can do with LEGO, as the Bio-Cup event shows us with the unique builds on display. Here, The Underscored Double cleverly uses the Bionicle claw to create the lime green coral structure beneath the critter. The claw layering gives the coral a wonderful sloping texture, allowing the orange plant pieces to branch and curve around it. The creature itself moves around beneath the translucent green seagrass canopy. A part choice I really appreciate is the minifig microphones for the critter’s eyes. It’s a fun touch that brings your eyes to the alien crustacean enjoying the day in its bright coral home.
Ahh, Kraata. The 2003 attempt by LEGO to match the catch-em-all collectability of Pokémon with slug-like Bionicle creatures. If you look closely at these exotic plants from Will Hafner, you can see the subtle variations that distinguish the different stages of their life cycle. Will has even created a flower with just the rare seventh-stage Shadow Kraata (those are the violet ones). I also like the vase, which looks like it began life as a Bionicle canister lid. There’s no doubt these are some cool-looking blooms, but I think if I saw them in my garden I’d be a bit concerned about invasive species.
If you’re looking for more biologic diversity, check our archives for more amazing floral creations.
Grayson M‘s latest creation reminds me a little of the Discworld books, which is certainly no bad thing! He has created a charming sea turtle with a whole world on her back – a world of coral. The reef on the turtle’s back allows for some inventive parts use; everything from zamor spheres and macaroni tubes to wheels and Bionicle blades is in there. Impressively all this is happening without making it feel too crowded – the variation in parts, textures, and size seems very carefully done to achieve this. But don’t let the bright colours of the reef distract you from the ingenious construction of her head! This uses a Brachiosaurus body from the short-lived Dinosaurs theme from 2001. It’s a perfect complement to the colourful coral and gives a weathered look to this reef mother.
The cycle of Life and Death is something that most don’t like to think about, because it’s seen as scary. However, as we see here in this LEGO build by Dylan Mievis, it can also be beautiful. This build is for the Bio-Cup contest, where builders have to use pieces from Bionicle, Technic, Galidor, etc. The theme is “Nature”, and there’s nothing quite so natural as Life and Death, which Dylan describes as a “beautiful symphony”. In the build we see a potted plant growing up and through the seated human skeleton. The thriving plant brings a sense of wonder and grace to what would typically be frightening and stark. Of course, the plant doesn’t hold a monopoly on beauty. The amount of detail in the skeleton is astounding! It’s not often we get to see the radius and ulna in skeleton arms, or the tibia and fibula in the legs.
Even the knee caps are present, and the fingers and toes articulate. The ribcage is impressive as well, a good use of horns. I really like the design behind the spinal column. The ball joint connector has always reminded me of vertebrae, and here it fulfills that purpose. And let’s not forget to mention the wheelchair! It’s full of fantastic Technic parts, from the wheels to the footrests. The simplicity of the plant twining throughout pairs nicely with the complexity of the skeleton and chair. There’s a bittersweet note with the gold ring on the skeleton’s finger, speaking to a life left behind… Altogether, this shows the balance and cyclical nature of existence. Life turns to death, and death to new life. Truly, a hauntingly beautiful harmony in the symphony of the universe.
Occasionally you hear stories of people with diminished reasoning and an overblown sense of entitlement climbing into a bear cage at the zoo to get a good selfie with the big cuddly teddy. Drama ensues and often the photo doesn’t turn out as post-wothy as expected. That’s just evolution working itself out, really. Speaking of evolution, LEGO builder Vohdoff demonstrates some highly evolved skills with Bionicle. Behold the Blooming Wolf! I’m loving the use of pretty pink flowers on this tentacle-butted beast. However, if it’s crouching hunter’s stance doesn’t signal danger the blade in its snarling teeth just might. I’m convinced to enjoy this odd creature from a very safe distance; lightyears away, in fact. If you’re braver than I am check out our beastiary of wild and wooly creatures in our archives.
I have a real soft spot for birds, especially those built out of LEGO. Matt Goldberg has come up with a beauty of a build that is sure to ruffle a few feathers! Speaking of feathers, these are quite tricky to depict in LEGO due to their unique texture — they’re sort of like fluffy scales. Matt has used a plethora of parts to pull off the plumage here, from Hero Factory armour to minifigure arms. The tail feathers are the most spectacular of the lot, mainly using tentacle and horn pieces to great effect. Also present in the tail – and the wings, for that matter – are flexible pieces from 80012 Monkey King Warrior Mech. It’s a smart use of these pieces that I’ve only seen used in a small handful of builds. Not only that, it’s functional as well; you might be forgiven for thinking this bird can’t surely stand up on those two tiny legs, and, well, it can’t. The tail serves to conceal the structure to hold this phenomenal pheasant to the equally well-presented base. Very cunning!
This eerie scene by Djorkson, is one thought-provoking build. The menacing apparition, looming over a humanoid monkey, possibly represents the inner turmoil of the swaggering primate. The piercing red eyes and pointed claws of the creature provide the build with a threatening aura. The tongue of the creature appears to be an old Rahkshi worm piece. Stalked by the monster, the monkey blocks it out with large headphones made from wheel rims. The addition of the musical note pieces, from the Trolls sets, is also a nice touch emphasizing music playing from the headphones. One of the most inventive techniques of the build has to be the upside-down bread bun used to represent the monkey’s mouth. Let’s hope the chilled-out primate can ignore out the stalking darkness.
One of my favorite creatures of folklore is the Chupacabra, an animal known for draining the blood of goats and other livestock. Builder Joss Woodyard has created a post-apocalyptic take on this cryptid with the Gamma Sucker. No doubt livestock is harder to come by in the wasteland, so this nuclear-powered techno-beast drinks the radiation from whatever it can.
The use of color here creates the sense of a mechanical creature that’s coursing with energy and life, despite its dirty and rusted frame. And I love the implied function of the “digestive system.” It’s so easy to imagine the absorbed radiation flowing through the trans-clear/lime hoses, into those processing tanks on the side, and then getting fed into the rear-mounted engine to drive those giant treads, which just push the monster forward in search of more radiation. It’s a vicious cycle, but a guy’s gotta eat.
This ferocious feline comes from the talented builder, DanielBrickSon. The beast is named “Meara the Metalworks Tiger” and has fought through the first round of the Biocup competition, allowing its creator to proceed to the next stage. The hulking form of the tiger is made up of a great variety of Bionicle pieces, all applied to create beautiful shaping throughout the model. In order to portray the twisting spine of the build, DanielBrickSon has used Barraki crossbow pieces as their rubbery texture allows them to bend.
Rare armoured mask parts are used to form the tense shoulders and areas of the upper back legs. The model is reminiscent of Battle Cat from He-Man, if the cat went fully armoured. There’s also a 360 spin so that you can gaze upon all of the model’s glorious details.