Tag Archives: Characters

We love builds with character! Creating characters from LEGO elements, whether traditional System bricks or using elements from Bionicle and Constraction themes, is an amazing way to showcase your building skills. Brining out emotion and personality in bricks is an art!

A show that’s as fun to watch as it is to build

You’re trapped in your home, and you and your roommates have no choice but to watch bad movies.

Sound familiar? No, it’s not just a good guess as to what many of our readers might be doing at this particular moment in time. It’s the plot of Mystery Science Theater 3000 – the story of a man shot into space and forced to watch cheesy movies with his robot companions. It’s one of my (TBB contributor Chris Doyle) favorite shows to binge-watch. Oh, and to build in LEGO. I’ve previously shared a build of the first subjects of this movie-watching experiment, Joel, Tom Servo, and Crow T. Robot. Thanks to being trapped at home myself, I’ve had time to build the other two sets of castaways.

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The classic side-eye

We have all known that person at some point. The one who says something and all you can do is silently give them that judging gaze. Sometimes they’re even a friend. And you love them, but man are they weird. This build by Gregory Coquelz, inspired by the writings of author China Miéville, perfectly captures that moment. Maybe it’s the slurping in the middle of a very serious Dungeons and Dragons quest. Whatever thought bubbles you give the scene, the characters and their outfits tell a great story.

You can see more of Gregory’s work by visiting our archives.

Boo! Scared you

Emotion is one of those things that really brings us to life. It really brings LEGO characters to life too, take Oliver Becker’s scared man. The emotion he’s currently feeling, some combination of fear and surprise is communicated clearly through with some expert parts usage. Most noticeable is perhaps the bush as his hair, standing up in fright. Moving down the face you can maracas as his pupils centered in his eyes, bulging out of his face. The piece that really ties it all together is the 1×1 technic brick has is an open mouth. Dinosaur tail/neck pieces are used in both black and white as his outstretched limbs, and his open hands are well represented with hot dog buns for palms and skeleton arms for fingers. I hope he wasn’t holding on to anything before he jumped back in shock!

The very model of insanity

When considering the possible end of civilisation, it’s important to consider worst-case scenarios. However, I have to admit I’m baffled so many people appear to have decided the very worst thing that might happen in the coming weeks is that they run out of toilet paper. Gregory Coquelz appears to share my bemusement as he’s put together a LEGO version of an intrepid prepper — securing enough toilet rolls to see them through the coming sh__-storm (see what we did there?). Our heroic shopper has certainly stuffed his trolley to bursting point with the precious resource, although personally I might have grabbed at least a little food as well. Of course, the stockpiling of LEGO to get through any quarantine period would be a different matter entirely — an eminently sensible idea if you ask me.

Get ready for a maximum meltdown

As a teacher, I am blessed with the company of large groups of children, happily building with LEGO. But all is not always quiet on the western front. One misplaced brick can cause a meltdown of epic proportions. If you’ve ever been a witness to one of these tantrums, then Eli Willsea‘s latest LEGO build will seem very familiar and might trigger a meltdown of your own! Built for MOC Wars 2020 on Flickr, this scene is perfectly suited for the “I’m melting” category in which it is entered.

I love a model with a story, especially one you can get with one look at the image. This tells a whole story in one frame like any good comic. The construction (or destruction as it were) of the little girl character is masterful. The expression on the face and the arms outstretched in rage tell you everything you need to know about her current mental state. Her angry eyebrows made with guns and with minifigure claws standing in for a furrowed brow is a terrific use of parts. The streaming tears and the simple arch shape for a mouth add to the emotion of the character. The melted body and dress have a great organic feeling to them expressed in curves and round tiles.

The scene is completed with a picket fence, a nicely rendered fire hydrant and a sideways built sidewalk complete with sewer drain that looks about to swallow the girl up as she slowly melts onto the pavement.

New LEGO Star Wars busts revealed: 75276 Stormtrooper and 75277 Boba Fett [News]

LEGO continues to pursue the adult market with its range of Star Wars sets, and today we’re getting a look at two more unique display pieces, 75276 Stormtrooper and 75277 Boba Fett. The pair of busts was revealed by retailer Toysanta earlier today, and each features upscale box art in a style that’s new to the LEGO Star Wars lineup, with the character’s name displayed prominently across the top. Both sets celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, which was released in 1980, and feature the anniversary logo on the box.

There’s no word yet on when to expect these to hit stores or their official pricing, though Toysanta’s prices seem to indicate they’ll retail for around $70-$80 USD. Of course, this isn’t the first time LEGO has produced character busts from Star Wars. Recently the company has launched two similar (though smaller) sets, each available in a limited market. The 75227 Darth Vader Bust was available only to Target Red Card holders, while 77901 Sith Trooper Bust was only given away to randomly selected attendees at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. We don’t know yet what the availability for these sets will be, but we hope that LEGO does the right thing and makes them widely available. Going way back, the much larger 10018 Darth Maul bust from 2001 was among the first LEGO Star Wars sets targeted at adult fans.

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Carrey on my wayward son

The 1990s are a golden age of under-appreciated comic book movies. Sure, just about everyone loves the 1992 Batman flick, but what about Mystery Men? Or Darkman? Or, better still, 1994’s The Mask? Based on the Dark Horse comics of the same name, Jim Carrey starred as a wisecracking, fourth-wall-breaking, indestructible anti-hero. Sort of the Deadpool before Deadpool. Pistash has recreated one The Mask’s most meme-able images in LEGO, and it’s just as expressive as the movie version. (Or its animated inspiration.)

Some standout bits of construction include the use of a zebra-print tile for a handkerchief, and what I think are FreeStyle wheel pins for pupils. And there lots of curved slopes in magenta for the tongue. But I bet you noticed that bit for yourself.

Let’s end with a bit of oddball trivia I discovered while researching this post. I mentioned the Mask’s similarities to Deadpool earlier, right? Well, in 1988 Jim Carrey had a role in The Dead Pool. Eerie foreshadowing or just a stupid coincidence? You make the call.

Built like an Egyptian goddess

Meet Amunna, Eero Okkonen’s latest elegant LEGO figure. I’m continually flabbergasted with the apparent ease with which he brings these characters to life. This time we have an Egyptian-inspired woman loaded with expert parts usage. Bo Peep’s cane to decorate the legs? Check. A surfboard and treasure map printed tile on the staff? Yep! And what about a little coral flare, treasure chest pouch, and colorful wing skirt? You got it! Dying to know what’s on her bust? It’s a printed radiator element that was only found with this print in one set: 7411 Tygurah’s Roar. (The open area above the curves is carefully hidden by her hair.) Throughout, an appealing color palette abounds, and from head to foot, this is one cool chick.

If you’re craving more, take a look at all of Eero’s builds that we’ve covered by visiting our archive!

Two young friends, exploring the world together

I deeply admire those who can take a LEGO build and create a story using beautiful photography. That’s exactly what Orient R Minesky has done with this pair of adventurous school girls. The builds themselves are well done, but their interaction with non-LEGO items brings them to life. The collection includes several great shots, and we wanted to share a few of our favorites. Here they’re spending a beautiful day taking pictures in the park.

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Get fabulous with these brick-built Fabuland characters!

Builder Koen Van Der Biest is a master of the brick built figure. His subjects are many and include a range of well-known video game and cartoon characters. This time he goes meta-LEGO with this collection of charming Fabuland characters. I’m a huge fan of Fabuland and these recreations are spot on from Walter Walrus’ anchor to the cat’s cute bow. The faces are nicely rendered and perfectly capture the original characters’ personalities.

I, for one, would love to see LEGO bring this theme back. Maybe revamped with a collaboration with Nintendo for some future Animal Crossing sets? I would be first in line!

The Coffee and Cigarettes Generation

Back in 1993, Jim Jarmusch directed a short black and white film, Coffee and Cigarettes: Somewhere in California. In it, musicians Iggy Pop and Tom Waits meet at a coffee shop. Then they talk about stuff. It’s worth a watch. There’s just something inherently cool about seeing these two icons having a conversation. What’s even cooler, though, is seeing that conversation recreated in LEGO. Builder Timofey Tkachev has somehow managed to convert Iggy and Tom into perfect brick-built likenesses.

There’s a lot to love about this build. There are dozens of great techniques in play, from the use of 2×2 macaroni tile in the ears to the expert combination of wedge plates in Iggy’s jacket. The relaxed poses are full of complex angles and joins, and Tom’s hair…unf. Just so good.

And the background is just as impressive. Check out the use of transparent tile in the coffee urn, the 90 degree elbows in the coffee cup rims. There’s even a tiny “LEGO News” newspaper 2×2 tile used as small print on the cigarette pack.

Like the film itself, this is a build that rewards the viewer the closer they’re willing to look. I don’t know if I’m inspired or just intimidated.

Suddenly, a wild Pikachu appears!

In this expressive character model, Build Better Bricks builds a better LEGO Pikachu. What makes this figure so delightful is the expression and pose that capture Pikachu’s character perfectly. Arms connected with ball joints keeps the pose active along with the offset ears and his iconic lightning bolt tail. The face with its compound curves and tiled details is so full of life that one can almost hear his cute, squeaky voice. Or perhaps you hear the dulcet tones of Ryan Reynolds. In any case, he’ll make you want to pick up the nearest PokeBall and capture him for your own. Pikachu, I choose YOU!