For some reason this reminds me of Pickle Rick from Rick and Morty, but I’ve gotta hand it to Kevin H. for a great usage of one large LEGO part that stands out. The yellow kayak now transformed into a mad banana going postal for some unknown reasons. I’d like to think bananas tend to have their rotten days as well. Perhaps a slip of the mind, or maybe it’s just not very a-peeling to think about not being able to live to a ripe old age.
Chinese New Year is fast upon us, and this year’s celebrated zodiac animal is the rat. What if another rodent got in on the game, though? Last week’s proposal was the Year of the Guinea Pig. This week, CK Ho suggests the Year of the Hamster. Specifically, this adorable duo represents characters from the hit children’s manga and TV show, Hamtaro. The little red pouches they’re holding likely represent the red packets given out to children during the holiday. That and the kumquat trees are especially festive.
I’ve never watched the show but enjoy the sculpting of each character. Sausages used as eyebrows allow them to clearly emote, with one looking happy while the other seems a bit nervous. What’s there to worry about when both of you have packets?
For more LEGO Chinese New Year fun, be sure to check out our reviews of the Chinese New Year Temple Fair and Lion Dance sets.
Donald Duck, Pluto, and Goofy — famous and much-loved, and yet somehow always relegated to the second-division of Disney characters behind Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Sure, the Disney Empire is The-House-The-Mouse-Built, but personally I’ll take Donald’s edgier attitude over Mickey’s slightly bland wholesomeness any day of the week. As for Goofy, he’s a classic clown, good for causing chaos and taking a painful pratfall — he’s always been one of my favourite of the Disney gang. Along with Pluto, Mickey’s pet dog, these are the latest Disney-themed releases in the BrickHeadz line of blocky figures. This new pair of sets will allow Disney fans to put together a wider BrickHeadz family of their favourite characters alongside the previously released Mickey & Minnie.
Goofy and Pluto will be available on 1st February and will be priced at US $14.99 | CAN $19.99 | UK £13.49 while the single build Donald Duck will be going for US $9.99 | CAN $12.99 | UK £9.99
What did we think of this latest addition to the BrickHeadz range? Check out our full review…
Click to read the review and follow the building process
Today we get a reveal of the upcoming Disney Themed BrickHeadz featuring Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy. These new characters will be a welcome addition to the existing family together with the Mickey and Minnie Mouse sets.
Click to have a closer look at the two new BrickHeadz sets
These days it’s pretty impossible to escape exposure to a Disney product. They own the lion’s share of today’s biggest themes and properties. (Was that an oblique Lion King joke? You bet it was.) But, before they owned Marvel…and Star Wars…and everything else, Disney created their own in-house characters, too. Like Mickey Mouse. You’ve heard of him, right? Cool. But how about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit?
…Yeah, that one stumped me too. It turns out Oswald starred in 27 animated shorts back in 1927 or so. He made a return in 2010’s Epic Mickey video game. Still managed to fly under my radar, though. Luckily, Bruce Lowell didn’t overlook Oswald. And, as a result, we get an amazing LEGO recreation of this possibly-not-quite-iconic character. The expert use of rounded tiles recreates the distinctive facial styling. Even if you don’t know the character, you know this guy has to be part of the Mickey Mouse Club.
Bruce was inspired by Paul Lee’s 2010 Mickey Mouse build. Paul was inspired in that build by Bruce’s sphere technique. What goes around comes around! (Get it? Round? Like a sphere? Oh, nevermind…)
Let’s face it, you can’t get that jaunty, upbeat tune out of your head now. I know it, you know it and builder Minicoop4 knows it. The best thing to do is just ride it out and maybe re-watch Star Wars. These five Jizz-wailers (tee-hee!) are so good at playing that one tune that it’s the only request they ever get. Trust me, I’d love to keep sputtering out the lowbrow jokes real thick here but any innuendos I may have had in mind were already exhausted by the world’s most important news source so you’ll get no more jokes from me.
Some neat facts about the song though; it commonly goes by the Cantina Band Song but it’s actually called “Mad About Me”. The band of Bith aliens is called Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes, but if you want it played at your wedding, you’d have to credit composer John Williams. If you want to audition for the band, be sure to have a black turtleneck and a snappy pair of gray slacks. It also helps if you have cleavage showing. Forehead cleavage, that is. OK, maybe I had one dumb joke left!
For folks like me, building people and other bipedal figures can be a bit difficult. I’d build them fine enough, but even the slightest shift in weight could result in a fragile creation toppling over, so often it’s just easier to build them with both feet planted firmly on steady ground. The end result is a little stiff but at least we’re not cleaning up a toppled LEGO mess. But Letranger Absurde has built plenty of human figures. Even his own humbler beginnings were admittedly a little rigid, but we are witnessing a great builder evolving into a greater one, as evidenced by this Red Sonja creation. Her proportions and fluidity of motion are suitable enough to grace a Frank Frazetta or Boris Vallejo fantasy illustration. The builder tells us that this is indeed his most difficult creation to date but the end result is absolutely worth the effort.
Here is another recent creation that illustrates how well this builder is evolving.
Baby Yoda continues to infatuate the people of the internet, LEGO fans included. We still don’t know if it actually is a baby Yoda or a baby Yaddle, perhaps it’s just a Yiddle for now. And while we’ve shared a few already, we here at the Brothers Brick can’t get enough Baby Yoda creations. Wilson Du is the latest builder to fascinate us with his version. Recreated for the most part with pieces from the current buildable Yoda set 75255 (US $99.99 | CAN $139.99 | UK £89.99), though with substantially improved eyes, this model was his first creation in 25 years! And more than just being a beautiful sculpture, this little buddy has posable hands to hold a piping hot soup or reach out with the Force. I’m most impressed with how well the chin and mouth have been constructed here, with an expression that’s just begging for chicky nuggies and choco milk.
Alex “Orion Pax” Jones is a very focussed builder. All his LEGO building time lately has been spent on creating as-accurate-as-they-can-be digital Transformers Generation 1 characters. There’s so much to love about these as they instantly transport us back to a time when morning cartoons were not streamed and you had to wake up early to tune in to what now are amazing pop culture classics.
Click to see more Generation 1 Transformers
Let’s look at it this way: Stormtroopers always miss their shots and Jedi constantly use their Force push capabilities to render those poor troopers in weak plastic white armour lifeless. Letranger Absurde shows off this exact scenario taking place in (almost) real-time with an unarmed Stormtrooper. That red light saber, says a lot, doesn’t it? Hint: EVIL! The character build is stunningly simple yet gives off a maximum punch with the pose giving off a dynamic in-motion feel.
Santa Claus rewards good behavior with gifts, but what about the children who have been a bit naughty this year? Forget the lumps of coal in your stocking; you might just receive a visit from the half goat, half demon named Krampus. Sounds like a pleasant experience, right? Letranger Absurde has drawn upon holiday horrors to a LEGO version of the character from the campy 2015 film, Krampus. While Krampus is decked out in a festive “jolly red suit,” the rest of him is pure nightmare fuel. Krampus sits hunched over with lengthy horns protruding, all while his face is creepily hidden behind the veil of the robe. Think about how you treat people this year, or you might find yourself trapped in an eternal snow globe of terror.
Give Eero Okkonen a challenge and he delivers. In a New Elementary competition, builders were tasked with using the latest marine-life parts to create something interesting. He definitely didn’t disappoint with this lovely character. She’s a fan for another of his figures, a speederbike rider. The coral creatures adorn multiple areas of her costume, but the best parts usage might be the clever placement of shark surfboards to create a skirt!
Eero also recently created an entirely different character with a hockey stick beard. And perhaps one of my favorites is his version of the extraordinary Captain Nemo.