If this LEGO model doesn’t bring you a little joy then there’s something wrong with you. Oliver Becker says he was trying to capture the feeling of happiness, and his creation certainly brought a smile to my face. The expression on the face of this character is priceless, but also very well built. The tongue and googly eyes are fun, but it’s the glasses and ears which steal the show — spanners as spectacle-legs, heading back to hot-dog-bun ears! Now that’s impressive parts creativity.
We assume everyone is feeling the love for Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2. However, if you’re dead inside and remain unconvinced then just take a look at this life-size LEGO rendition of Baby Groot — it’ll melt your heart and dance its way into your dreams. Stephen Juby has done an excellent job of capturing Baby Groot’s supercute expression, and the red jumpsuit is really nicely done, particularly the zipper. The plain baseplate is a bit of a distraction in the image, but when the main model is this cool we’re not going to worry too much.
Hyrulean creatures and tufts of grass will prove no match for Julius von Brunk’s cleverly-built LEGO version of Young Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Thee construction of the Deku Shield and Link’s facial expression are particularly good. A cute and instantly recognisable model.
This odd looking chap sitting at the piano, smoking a cigarette and tinkling the keys may not be known to everyone as a character from the film Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque) [tr. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life]. The film tells the story of French singer Serge Gainsbourg, from growing up in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris, through his successful songwriting years in the 1960s. Pedro Vezini has masterfully built Gainsbourg’s grotesque alter ego with his large nose, long thin fingers, and an affection for cigarettes and drinking – a character who personifies all of the singer’s worst habits.
The Transformers was a US animated television series which originally aired in the 1980s, but has been transforming throughout the years into different generations of TV series and film franchises. The original US series was based on Hasbro’s Transformers toy line and involved giant mecha that can transform into vehicles (although Hasbro’s own toy line was based upon other toys made by Japanese manufacturer Takara) with the opposing teams of Autobots and Decepticons at war with each other. Alex Jones has built a fantastic collection of LEGO Autobots including Optimus Prime at the centre next to Jetfire the jet, Bumblebee in his yellow VW Beetle state on the left and Windcharger the red sports car on the right. How many of these Transformers can you name and remember playing with as a child?
Alex has just co-authored a book with another builder whose work we have featured on TBB, Joachim Klang. Tips for Kids: Transformers: Cool Projects for your Lego Bricks is due out at the end of July 2017 and will help budding builders transform their bricks into Autobots and Decepticons. We also recently highlighted Alex and Joachim’s incredible LEGO diorama of Optimus Prime in position in a tranquil street which gives a taste of the book’s theme.
Recovering from an exhausting round of Iron Builder may require some special treatment, but Eero Okkonen is doing just fine. His latest female character Cielan, a Goddess of weather, reminds me of his memorable Four Seasons series, but features some really bold building solutions. For instance, a massive chain of rainbow colors on Cielan’s back is made from over a dozen Bionicle Vahki crests.
Homer Simpson’s hard at “work” in Chris Adams perfect vignette of Sector 7G of the Springfield nuclear powerplant. The vibrant colors of the cartoon have been brought to life with LEGOs brilliant pastel colors – it looks just like the real thing. Simple yet sophisticated, the little touches like the box of donuts and the fire extinguisher all help to complete the scene. The control panel with its levers, dials and even a telephone looks great and I love how Chris has used the yellow and black bricked platform to mimic the lines on the security doors.
When I first laid eyes on this, my brain refused to comprehend the crossover theme! Builder BrickinNick certainly accomplished his mission to put me in a daze. At first glance, I could see Chewbacca and Han Solo, but then something told me it was also Groot and his buddy Rocket Racoon. So is it a Groobacca and a Han Raccoon duo or a Chroot and a Rocket Solo team? You take your pick! I’m still bewildered and amazed.
This desktop sized vignette by Obedient Machine pays homage to the memorable movie The Iron Giant. It features the heroic extraterrestrial robot mounted on a pedestal and bearing a microscopic figure of the story’s protagonist Hogarth. Represented by only 4 tiny elements, Hogarth remains unmistakable to anyone who’s seen the film. Despite being a seemingly simple creation, this model apparently went through three iterations in LEGO Digital Designer, proving that even small creations can take time and effort to perfect.
Now that the mathematical cartoon show Adventure Time is up to 260-something episodes, I must admit I’ve fallen waaaay behind, so I was pleased that this splendid collection of AT vignettes by Tim Lydy were based on stuff I actually remember watching! Here we see Finn battling a brick-built version of The Lich over a great rendition of the Well of Power. Meanwhile Jake eats a sandwich, naturally, BECAUSE HE’S A DOG. Tim makes great use of the LEGO Dimensions Finn and Jake minifigs in these scenes, and the inclusion of a certain gastropodic Easter egg in each one also makes me very happy.
Brickheadz style LEGO characters are all the rage at the moment, and Paul Lee just raised the game with this chunky version of Mr T from The A-Team. If you have a problem, and no-one else can help, maybe you can look at this model and it’ll cheer you up no end. All the elements you’d expect are here: mohawk, dungarees, red vest and socks, beard, and of course a mile or so of gold chain. But it’s the bulging biceps which make the model for me — brilliant.
Unless you’ve been living in a Dolovite mining colony on the Outer Rim for the past five years, you’ll be aware that today – May 4th – is Star Wars Day! To mark this most made-up of holidays, I decided to go for the throat with my latest batch of REJECTZ, the adorably ugly characters that aren’t Brickheads and that you hate to hate but have to hate because no-one messes with Star Wars except George Lucas.
Check out the Flickr album for more photos and a little Star Wars Day themed LEGO humor.
