Tartar sauce… Steve Hillenburg, the creator of the long-running Nickelodeon show SpongeBob SquarePants, has passed away from complications of ALS. He was 57. It’s amazing to think this show has been on the air since 1999, and hard to think of a cartoon character as ingrained into 21st century popular culture as Mr SquarePants, who has appeared in everything from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade to LEGO sets to my favorite pair of yellow pyjamas. So long Steve, and thanks for all the fish.
This neat microscale creation by Lennart Cort absolutely nails its subject, literally reducing Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble to bricks and studs. Building at this scale requires that rare ability to see the archetypical aspects of its theme in individual elements, and who would have thought a 1×1 orange and a 1×1 brown brick would represent these Stone Age buddies so well. The foot-powered car similarly convinces in its use of cylinders for rock wheels. Here at TBB we are dazzled by so many amazing piece uses in the models we see, so it’s always good to be reminded that sometimes the base elements of the LEGO system are all that’s needed to have a yabba-dabba-doo time!
While the 2,300-piece LEGO Ideas Voltron takes the big stage with its recent reveal, we couldn’t help but also notice this tiny little BrickHeadz version by curtydc. With emphasis on the signature headpiece and the primary colors for the rest of the body parts, they make it instantly recognisable. The introduction of the Round 1×1 Quarter Tiles back in 2016 has given a smaller builds like these more detailing.
I still remember He-Man and the Masters of the Universe during the days when there were no on-demand streaming services and we actually had to plan and time ourselves to catch the next episode. Then there was the daily bombardment of commercials to mesmerise us with fantasy scenes that we would recreate if we could only get our hands on these tempting toys. Johan Alexanderson has masterfully recreated the Castle of Grayskull play-set together with tiny characters to represent the plastic figures — like a time machine to tease our nostalgic memories.
The model built features the same concept as the original design from Mattel back in the 80s. It has the capability to swing the castle open and closed to reveal play features at the rear.
Making their appearance as part of the now converted play-theme into LEGO bricks are the unforgettable Orko, Man-At-Arms, Skeletor, and many more in a tiny minimalistic build format. They may not be in their exact shapes with the limits of the bricks, but their colour schemes give them away immediately. Are you able to spot your favourites amongst them?
Predating Monk by a few decades, this gripping TV detective show featured a pair of chipmunks ready to solve any crime, no matter how or small. Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers was a staple of kids’ cartoons in the 90s, and now this dynamic duo has been brought to the brick by an equally talented pair of builders, with Chip built by Leonid An and Dale by Vlad Lisin.
Click to see more of Chip & Dale
In addition to the main trio of LEGO Powerpuff Girls revealed yesterday, the entire cast of minifigure characters from the popular cartoon series has now been revealed. Joining the lineup up of fan-favorites includes Princess Morbucks (with perhaps the biggest molded minifgure head of all time), Octi, Donny The Unicorn, and Mojo Jojo.
The LEGO Powerpuff Girls theme will consist of at least two sets available in August, including 41287 Bubbles Playground Showdown and 41288 Mojo Jojo Strikes. The Brothers Brick will bring you photos of the sets if available this weekend from the New York Toy Fair, so stay tuned.
Image via The Geekiary
Today LEGO announced that a Powerpuff Girls theme will be arriving in August, consisting of at least two sets. While LEGO hasn’t disclosed any set images yet, they have released images of the characters, which include Buttercup, Bubbles, and Blossom, the same three characters that featured in the Powerpuff Girls Dimensions sets last year.
With his philosophical proposal “Cogito ergo sum” (“I think, therefore I am”), French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist René Descartes may have had a clever way with words. But I think Popeye summed it up admirably with “I yam what I yam and tha’s all what I yam”. Like many of us here at TBB, Oliver Becker is old enough to remember this underdog with bulging forearms, a mean uppercut, and a love of canned spinach.
I love how he has managed to capture everything about this famous star of comic strip and screen; it’s almost as though he’s about to bust out with that classic line “I oughta busk you right in the mush”. As the star of his own comic strips and animated series, on both the small and big screens, Popeye became quickly ingrained in American culture, and today remains one of the most recognizable pop-culture icons in the world.
The good folks of KC Bricklab have come a long way since they started the Kansas City-based LEGO club five years ago. Their most recent exploit is an incredible journey through the half live-action, half-animated feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The 1988 Robert Zemeckis film is filled with hairy escapades, quick humor, and more than a bit of weirdness, and at 8 by 16 feet, KC Bricklab’s display brings it all to life.
The display was a collaborative effort by 19 members of KC Bricklab, and contains the zany mainstreet of Toontown, the huge Acme factory warehouse, and a bit of psychedelic forest among other scenes.
KC Bricklab began planning the build in December of 2016, and had it completed in time for display at Chicago’s Brickworld LEGO convention in June. Although the club meets monthly, most of the planning was done virtually, and the finished display for the convention was the first time the builders got to see the full layout assembled.
Click to see the rest of the images
If the rain clouds are still hovering overhead then it’s time to call the cavalry, otherwise known as Rainbow Dash. In the world of hit TV show My Little Pony this pugnacious pegasus maintains the weather and clears the skies of Ponyville. British builder Andrew Harvey used around 3700 LEGO bricks to capture Dash’s colourful likeness, even managing to give her a sense of movement in the process. This sculpture is cleverly made using a “studs out” technique for the head, body and wings – but those expressive eyes are my favourite part of this model.
There’s also a view of Rainbow Dash’s swishing tail as she makes her way back to Ponyville to kick away a few rain clouds. And if you’re in the vicinity of Manchester, England this weekend you can even marvel at this model in person at the Bricktastic LEGO show.
Remember those good old days when Scooby-Doo and the gang used to get chased by villianous museum curators dressed as ghosts? Well Tim Lydy sent the thrill of the chase up a notch at Brickworld Chicago last week with a kinetic creation depicting Scooby-Doo and the gang and running from three more recent characters from horror films.
First up to chase is Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th movie series, then we have Pennywise from Stephen King’s novel It and finally Freddy Kruger from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. The scary chasers are very well built and instantly recognisable. Each character has its own running style, especially Scooby-Doo himself who appears to be frantically “wind-milling”. You can view the video here.
Following up on some leaked news from a month ago, Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers have now officially announced that The LEGO Movie’s Unikitty is getting her own animated TV show. Joining Unikitty at her castle in Cloud Cuckoo Land are her little brother and best friend Puppycorn (we originally guessed his name would be Unipuppy), her trusty bodyguard Hawkodile, and the resident scientist Dr. Fox. The show will explore Unikitty’s adventures making sure everyone is happy while trying not to lose her temper.
No specific release date has been announced yet, and it is still unknown whether there will be official LEGO sets based on this show, as we saw with the Mixels, Ninjago and Star Wars shows. And sad news for LEGO Movie purists: Alison Brie will not be voicing the titular character. But stay positive! That job will fall to veteran voice actor Tara Strong, best known for her work as Raven on Teen Titans Go! and Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony.
Strong is no stranger to the LEGO universe, having voiced a plethora of characters in LEGO Dimensions including Harley Quinn and Gail from The LEGO Movie, as well as the upcoming but unreleased Raven and Bubbles characters.
From the press release, here is the complete description of the show:
As ruler of the kingdom, Unikitty has busy days full of royal responsibilities. Unikitty is most interested in making sure everyone is happy and ridding the kingdom of negativity, but don’t misunderstand her optimism – she is one kitty not to be crossed. While she may be full of boundless energy and creativity, Unikitty is a force to be reckoned with if anyone gets in the way of spreading her positive vibes, especially if anyone makes her little brother and best friend, Puppycorn, sad. Also living in the castle are Dr. Fox, the resident scientist, and Unikitty’s trusty bodyguard, Hawkodile. Through it all, Unikitty and her friends make sure that every day is the happiest and most creative ever.
The voice cast is led by Tara Strong (Teen Titans Go!) and Grey Griffin (Be Cool Scooby-Doo!) along with Kate Micucci (Be Cool Scooby-Doo!), Roger Craig Smith (Regular Show), Eric Bauza (The Adventures of Puss in Boots) and H. Michael Croner (Review).
The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Movie producers Dan Lin, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Roy Lee, Jill Wilfert executive produce with Sam Register (Teen Titans Go). Aaron Horvath (Teen Titans Go!) is supervising producer. Edward Skudder (Dick Figures) and Lynn Wang (Star vs. Forces of Evil) serve as producers.
