Here’s a supercute version of animation’s First Couple, put together in LEGO bricks by Zio Chao. They’re a little smaller than the official LEGO set versions of Mickey and Minnie, but Minnie’s dress makes good use of the printed wedges from that set. The rest of Minnie’s outfit is a masterclass in shaping — don’t miss those puffball shoulders! The faces are just as well built, expressive and immediately recognisable, despite being packed into a tight design. There’s also a clever use of the relatively new Ninjago dice spinner as the wrapper for the bouquet. (Although if Minnie takes a closer look I’m not sure she’ll be impressed with Mickey’s choice of wrapping paper — that spinner design is bedecked with skulls!)
Tag Archives: Characters
Virtual YouTubers in real LEGO
These adorable creations by Mike Dung are kind of meta. They’re plastic avatars of the virtual YouTube avatars from the Hololive 0th Generation. If (like me) you’re not up on the whole VTuber thing, don’t worry. You can still enjoy the charismatic builds and expressive faces of these characters. My favorite detail is how the same curved slope element is used in a variety of ways – from a flowing skirt to a lock of hair. I’m also fond of all the ways cheese slopes were incorporated, that’s another favorite element of mine.
Mike has been building great anime builds for years, but they’re not the only one. Check out our archives for more!
More than twice the power of traditional Grayskull
The original Masters of the Universe figures stood about 5 and ½ inches tall. Robert Lundmark’s take on four of the series’ major characters measures more than twice as high. Standing at 32 cm (a little more than a foot), these brick-built versions of Man-At-Arms, He-Man and Battle Cat, Skeletor, and Beast Man would take the power of Grayskull to new heights if they found themselves transferred to Eternia. Robert’s done an amazing job at capturing these warriors in LEGO form. Every detail from Battle Cat’s armor to Skeletor’s havoc staff is instantly recognizable. Plus, the use of the Bionicle shin guard on Man-At-Arms’ neck armor is so close to the actual thing that it made me do a double-take.
Bold colors and some fresh beats
Virva Staccato is ready to tear the house down! Inspired by the drum kit from LEGO Friends set 41449 Andrea’s Family House, this exceptional drummer can only be the work of uber-talented artist, Eero Okkonen. The funky color scheme gives the character a ton of flair and attitude, but it’s the parts usage that gives it the wow factor. Details from the house, like the window shutters on her top and 1x2x2 trans opalescent window panes for the glasses. I’m also a big fan of the pigtails from tires and Hero Factory robot legs for earings.
This has to be one of my all-time favorites, but it’s hard to choose from all of Eero’s other great LEGO characters we featured! Stick around and check out a few more!
The most adorable LEGO Loki you’ll see this week
Now imagine for a moment: you are a world-famous artist and LEGO builder with thousands of subscribers among your social feeds. You combine plastic bricks, memes, movies, and celebrities like no one other, building the reality the way only you can. You know exactly what fans want, and you can give them that and even more. When building a tribute to Loki, how hard could it be to include Mobius on ski jet? But for some reason, TBB alumnus Iain Heath decided not to include Owen Wilson’s latest character altogether. I totally get it: the brick-built alligator Loki deserves its own official LEGO set, but what’s wrong with some fun on a jet ski..?
All poking fun at our friend Iain aside, we love this lineup of LEGO Lokis. Despite the relatively small scale, he’s managed to capture the personality of each of the characters perfectly.
I am Maktooti, the bionic man!
This is what happens in the Multiverse of Madness! Over ten years ago, the story of Bionicle was as convoluted as some of the Marvel comics – full of overlapping story threads and alternate dimension-hopping shenanigans. At one point, it is revealed that there exists a version of the Bionicle universe where Makuta – the franchise’s big bad – isn’t big bad, but big good. Matt Goldberg built this alternate version of Makuta, with a bright colour scheme and elegance that oozes raw not-evil power.
Matt combines elements of LEGO’s original Makuta set and a build by Yannick Godts that was inducted into official Bionicle canon. As both of those were over ten years ago, and recent innovations in building made it possible for this character to be refined. For instance, LEGO introduced most of the current “constraction” pieces after Bionicle’s ending, and Matt uses them to great effect. He also includes regular LEGO elements in gold which match golden armour pieces from Legend of Chima buildable figures. Despite Bionicle having an aesthetic of greebly details, the clean look gives this Makuta a slick yet ancient look. And this is why many Bionicle builders love revamping old sets and characters.
*title is in reference to an actual Bionicle commercial from 2003
Lombax and the Bot
Watching my brothers during the summer months usually meant playing video games for hours on end until about an hour before our parents got home. In our flurry of cleaning before the front door opened, we always looked forward to the next day, the next level, the next boss. One of our absolute favorites was Ratchet & Clank, and I’m sure we weren’t alone on that. Though many of us can’t yet enjoy the newest edition in the series on the PlayStation 5, we can at least appreciate these fantastic models of the titular characters by Peter Zieske. Built at a great scale with wonderful color-blocking and parts usage, the construction enables expressive articulation and posing which make this duo a great addition to any gaming shrine or entertainment center.
The alternate option to attach Clank to Ratchet’s back is also a crucial detail for that extra level of immersion in the characters. Great job on capturing these guys, Peter.
A duel for the ages
This epic showdown of martial prowess comes to us from Markus Rollbühler, and it’s chock full of drama, action, and enough clever parts usages to keep your eyes busy for a long while. There are so many to love, but don’t miss the minifigure armor for the torso on the left character, or the big figure arms used as legs on the right character, or even little things like the rounded end of Harry Potter wands for knobs on the dresser in the background.
In fact, we love this build so much we’ve made it our social media cover image this month! Be sure to check out how your image could be featured for a full month.
Run, Rincewind, run! (LEGO Discworld build)
Discworld fans will love this creative LEGO build from Eero Okkonen of the character Rincewind. A lot of LEGO builds are lauded for their smooth stud-free look, but Okkonen achieves a wonderful combination of both, giving the character an appropriately haggard appearance. The pieces used to create Rincewind’s facial hair, eyebrows, and sideburns are unique choices that work really well together, and I love how he uses Space Arms for the hands.
Aloysius Animo, at your service
Fans of Ben 10 may recognize this Earth-68 version of the conflicted Doctor Animo, a genius in mutagenic effects and subsequently frequent bad guy. This build by The Underscored Double is an awesome representation of the character. The modeling and color-blocking hit on key points of his design, like the tech strapped to his chest or the exposed brain, antennae, and goggles. The claws are also a perfect match with the lime green accents. In addition to this villain, we’re also given a great version of an alien on Ben’s Omnitrix, the Stinkfly. The ghostly green color palette, as well as the translucent green head, compliment the wealth of interesting Bionicle and Galidor pieces used by the builder to mold this complicated character.
If you enjoy builds like this, check out some more characters. If you’d like to see more by this builder, you can find them on Flickr or Instagram (@theunderscoreddouble).
You’ve got a (LEGO) build in me
“Reach for the sky”, Star Wars helmets; Woody and Buzz can take it from here. Pixar fans will love these fun Toy Story builds from Rokan Cheung. Woody’s hat is a good blend of different shadows of brown, with Studs Not On Top approach. The eyebrows are a good choice, adding some life to the build, and the pink cheeks bring it all together.
Again, Rokan is killing it with the eyebrows. Using a whip for Buzz’s dimple (or beard? sound off in the comments!) is also great. The purple and green really sell this as our intrepid Space Ranger. I’d love to see Rokan continue the line with the rest of the Toy Story crew.
Matthias of Redwall is ready for battle
LEGO builder Matt Goldberg presents us with this impressive build of Matthias from the Redwall books, written by Brian Jacques. The model is an entry in the Bio Cup competition and portrays the protagonist of the first Redwall novel. Matt has captured the rodent-like features, even the bulbous eyes, of the young mouse. Rounded plates at the face and knees assist in creating the anthropomorphic form of the body. Ready to hear enemies nearby, the large ears of the model are created using the reverse side of armour pieces. It’s nice to see some Knights’ Kingdom pieces make an appearance such as the sword and the pauldron armour at the shoulders. Let’s hope there’s a grand feast awaiting the young hero at Redwall Abbey.












