I can scarcely believe it but the classic Bond spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was released 20 years ago today! To that end, I present to you my latest shagadelic LEGO creations: The out-of-his-era gentleman spy, and his equally time-shifted nemesis Dr Evil. I think I’ve managed to capture Austin’s mojo, but apologies to our evil readers for the lack of any sharks with frikkin “laser” beams. Oh, behave!
LEGO builder Tan Kok Mun brings together a Fett family reunion with two creations in markedly different styles. First up: Boba in Brickheadz form. Everyone’s favourite bounty hunter is looking good here. The detailing around the helmet and the eye frames is excellent, and we’ve got all the accessories for an accurate finished look, including a cape and jetpack.
Next up: Papa Fett. Jango is created with parts from the LEGO Constraction big-fig series, which (although sometimes criticised as not being “real LEGO”) work really well here. The redesigned torso makes Jango look more buff, and I especially like the detailing of the jetpack…
Bonus points if you spotted the use of DUPLO bricks in the base of the Jango model — it’s certainly one way of saving bricks!
It’s perhaps surprising we don’t see more LEGO building inspired by Cubist art. Bricks would appear to lend themselves perfectly to the style. This unique series of character models by Korean builder Amida Na are an unusual take on building which relies on perspective and point-of-view, creating an interesting intersection between confusion and beauty. This isn’t the first time Amida has messed with our heads: The “folded space” of his previous cubist train set was also the inspiration behind these new creations.
The build of Goku left me trying to process whether it was front facing or back facing – when it doesn’t really matter! In fact, the effect is strange. You immediately know what you are looking at, but are bewildered because it looks so odd. Then you are attracted deeper into understanding the model’s construction. The style is likely to evoke a different reaction in each viewer — but it rewards contemplation, seeming to yield up new details.
Amida describes the technique as eliminating the least important dimension, as many objects are distinguishable from their silhouette alone, especially character builds. What remains is a two-dimensional form, folded into itself to give it a sense of depth. The process of folding gives an aesthetic value of extruded facets, and from a practical standpoint it’s a good way of having the builds stand upright. Captain America is immediately recognizable, but also totally different from any other Cap’ model you’ve seen before.
If you haven’t seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 yet, this adorable LEGO Baby Groot by Markus Rollbühler should help get you hyped up for it. The use of ball joints as the eyes was a smart choice, making this version almost as cute as the original. And don’t miss the spot-on recreation of Rocket’s explosive device — very nicely done.
Elliott and E.T.’s flight over the forest has been described as the most magical moment in cinema history — probably why it was featured on the film’s advertising poster and became Spielberg’s company logo. You may recognize the building style here as Chris Adams has been building a series of 80s movie posters in LEGO. We already featured his brilliant Ghostbusters and Jaws 3D posters, now he brings us E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. The piece stands 16″ tall by 14″ wide and 5″ deep (40 x 34 x 14 cm), and consists of about 2300 bricks. My favorite features are the perfectly executed silhouette in front of the moon, and how Chris has captured the sparkle between Elliott and E.T.’s fingers — brilliant!
Sometimes things can be so cute they become ugly. And it works the other way too — “The Ugliest Thing Ever” by Unijob Lindo looks so wrong in all the ways it can, that I can’t take my eyes off of it. The uninterested expression on its face and the balance between edges and curves is just so imperfectly perfect. I should point out the ingenious use of the street sweeper brushes as eyebrows and the retro castle cloak piece as the tongue.
The builder’s photostream is worth taking a look if you like this little monster, as Unijob has many more crazy and whacky creations posted there. One of my favourites would have to be this Moai statue with Super Mario’s hat and moustache.
LEGO’s BrickHeadz sets seem to have triggered an avalanche of increasingly clever custom versions of late, and it’s all we can do just to keep up with these adorably super-deformed critters. Meanwhile in a parallel dimension, the significantly uglier REJECTZ line continues to grow… The male superheroes from my first collection desperately needed girlfriends, so I decided to give Disney Princesses the REJECTZ treatment. Sorry.
…so pretttttty.
Whether he’s hurling barrels at Jumpman, riding a rhino through the jungle, or power-sliding around a tight corner in his go-kart, Donkey Kong is one impressive ape. And vincentkiew‘s LEGO Kong has all the charm and style of the iconic gorilla. Just look at those opposable digits! There’s also some tremendous Nice Parts Usage (NPU) in the necktie, mouth, and banana peels.
Can you picture this mech wandering across a post-apocalyptic wasteland scavenging for parts and power? Bregma Nicle has built a scavenger mech called Bad Diesel who packs plenty of attitude and more than a little intimidation into his bulky frame. I love the breathing apparatus and his ridiculously oversized weapon system. There are a host of scavenged parts that help to emphasise his hunter-gatherer nature, for example the “lobster sighting device” on the weapon or the round light tiles from the racing buggy sets as goggles.
You can see more of his scavenged equipment on show with his weapons system dismounted and on display. Bad Diesel has plenty of pose-ability despite those thunderous thighs and heavy armour.
Disney’s Frozen left us with a couple of heavy earworms still playing in the very background of our minds, but CK HO doesn’t let our favourite winter characters go. Recreated in the style of BrickHeadz, Elsa and Anna (featuring Olaf and Swen) do not look as excited as the versions by YOS Lego we featured previously, but this time they include not only bananas, but also some croissants.
This brilliant little LEGO recreation of Snoopy and Woodstock was apparently a commissioned model. I really hope _BrickBro_ didn’t get paid peanuts for it. This is a deceptively simple build, and I predict it took a long time to get it this perfect. The use of old-style minifig capes for Snoopy’s ears is inspired, and the version of Woodstock captures the scruffy bird’s character in a handful of tiny yellow pieces. This would make a lovely desk ornament for any Charles Schultz fan.
You can’t get much more adorable than this little blocky representation of Disney’s most famous elephant. David Liu says that he built this because Dumbo is his wife’s favourite character. And I am glad he did, because that has always been one of my faves as well.
David has done an amazing job portraying Dumbo at a relatively compact scale. But the little display stand really takes the overall build to the next level. With some very efficient parts usage David created an instantly recognizable scene, in particular the use of the black 1×1 clip plates as the three crows is super clever.