Builder Lisqr may have an addiction even more hazardous than the hit Pokémon Go mobile game… He’s got an itch to build ‘em all. Today’s he’s got the handsome looking Charizard which is a draconic, bipedal Pokémon. The build is pretty much spot on in terms of color scheme and signature tail perpetually in flames. Quick, grab your LEGO Pokeball and capture it!
As the craze for building custom Brickheadz continues to work its way inexorably through every corner of popular culture, a few gems are popping up. Here Johnnie “Brick” Xavier has recreated young dancer Maddie Ziegler as she appeared in the 2014 music video for Sia’s breakout hit Chandelier.
The unconventional style of the Australian singer required an unconventional video, and this visceral performance by then the 11-year old Zielger delivered: 1.5 billion views later it is now one of YouTube’s most watched videos. While sticking to the Brickheadz pattern, Johnnie’s LEGO rendition is immediately recognizable, helped by the addition of a prop and pose lifted perfectly from the video itself. All that’s missing is a Brickheadz version of Sia herself – her back turned toward us, naturally.
Petr Guz reconsiders his life of an adult fan of LEGO in the most creative way — through a brilliant diorama full of philosophical context. Describing his work, the builder focuses attention on three peculiar pictures on the walls behind his self-portrait. Each picture depicts his life as it could have looked if he hadn’t picked up LEGO as a hobby years ago. Of course, Petr clarifies his life now isn’t deprived of sports, traveling or programming, yet it’s so hard for him to imagine it complete without his favorite pastime.
My favorite part of the build is a couple of creations lying around. A micro-castle on the top of the drawer is Petr’s citadel from last September, while a huge white moth on the table to the right of the figure was featured here just a couple of weeks ago.
Out with the Brickheadz and in with the BB-8’s? Apparently everything can be BB-8-ified, from other Star Wars characters, to DC or Marvel superheroes, and even the Sanrio franchise! I’m impressed by the way Handoko Setyawan has taken a simple spherical shape, and with clever interchange of colors and perhaps a distinguishing feature or two, transformed it into a range of familiar characters.
Two of my favourite spherical charms are those spikes of Darth Maul and Hello Kitty’s ribbon bow. Check out his Flickr album for a closer look at the rest of this ball-tastic invasion! And if you think you’re up to creating your own BB-8 inspired build, Handoko’s even provided an instruction guide to help you build one.
Today we have not one, but two versions of the cartoon character Droopy created by American animator Frederick Bean “Tex” Avery. Droopy was created in 1943 during the Golden Age of American Animation, and was known for being a rather lethargic, slow character with a monotone voice and deadpan humour. The first LEGO version of this character is by Jimmy Fortel. With those hanging jowls, drooping eyelids, and characteristic paunch, there’s no doubt about the name of this dog.
74louloute has not just stopped at Droopy, but included LEGO versions of the Wolf and the Red Hot Riding Hood. This second build is a smaller-scale version of Droopy, with good use of the droopy eye 2×2 tile and some nice shaping around the muzzle. I had to smile at Wolf’s classic ‘eye on stalks’ pose when he spots Red Hot Riding Hood — those red helmets are certainly protecting her assets!
There’s nothing great about morning commutes, but they might a bit more tolerable if you have access to the Floo Network, like Ron Weasley’s father, Arthur. He uses it daily to commute to the Ministry, and this fantastic LEGO vignette of Arthur stepping out of the Network by Eero Okkonen is perfect.
The green flames licking Arthur’s legs are actually Duplo grass elements, a piece we’ve been seeing a lot of lately, as it’s the mandatory element in the latest round of Iron Builder. Yesterday we featured a lovely sitting room using the element, and we’ve previously seen it as a flying carpet, a hut’s roof, a cyborg dinosaur, and a very clever medical device.
These cute incarnations of famous fast food characters by Eric Mok in LEGO Brickheadz fashion are a tasty treat. Ronald Mcdonald’s hairdo is spot-on, as are his clothes, right down to his collars. Eric has managed to sneak in the signature arches on Birdie’s outfit, and Hamburglar’s tie even spots a burger-like printed element. And as if the figures weren’t enough, the base stands are shaped like mouth-watering cheeseburgers.
If I was in McDonalds marketing, I’d be trying to figure out how to mass-produce these for a Happy Meal giveaway promo.
Taiwanese builder Mike Dung has a singular talent for recreating the elaborate costumes of female characters from the rich world of Far Eastern animation and videogames. But the addition of a background in his latest work is an additional treat. Despite her innocent appearance, Yuyuko is actually the final boss monster in the game Perfect Cherry Blossom from the Touhou Project series. When she casts a spell, a colorful fan appears behind her, which Mike decided to recreate as a mosaic utilizing the rich palette of LEGO hues at his disposal.
It’s not exactly the Ant-Man we know from the movies or comics, but Daniel Huang still captures the essence of this superhero. With the perfect shiny red and grey color scheme and parts to pull off a great build with enough articulation to give it great flexibility for poses. I actually like how his Imperial army issued boots have their tongues sticking out to give them that Converse look.
The torso is made from a combination of technic parts and ball joints combined with Bionicle armor plates from the Star Wars action figure series. The red shoulders blend in nicely and seem inspired by the mech from the new 76077 Iron Man Detroit Steel Strikes set.
The recent live BBC interview with Robert Kelly, a political science expert in Korean politics, took an unexpected turn when his study door burst open to allow a front row view of his 4-year old daughter dancing into the room, followed swiftly by 8-month old James scooting through in his baby walker. The clip went viral as the professor tried not to crawl under his desk with the adorable clash of roles; dad vs expert interviewee. We all know that a clip or photograph is not truly viral until someone has captured the moment in LEGO. Well thanks to Sergio, Robert Kelly can now make his LEGO claim to fame.
My little LEGO model of scientist Stephen Hawking just turned 10 years old, which led me to reflect upon the history of this peculiar creation and the path that my life took as a result of creating it. And to mark the occasion, last week I took this LEGO version of the Professor on a special trip to follow in his namesake’s footsteps!
Ten years ago I was just beginning to experiment with building my own creations (or “MOCs” as we LEGO fans like to call them). I had a limited bricks, limited experience, limited skill, and no real direction. Then Stephen Hawking announced his plans to experience zero gravity aboard the infamous Vomet Comet airplane, which inspired me to model him as a “miniland” scale LEGO figure.
I was pleased with the result, and having it featured here on The Brothers Brick was a pleasant surprise. But an even bigger surprise came when the creation was picked up by pop culture websites and went “viral”.
It was at that moment that I had my LEGO epiphany… Firstly, that characters seemed like an under-exploited genre of LEGO building, one that seemed like a more interesting challenge to me than say vehicles or buildings. Secondly, that there was a much larger audience – beyond the core fan community – for LEGO creations based on pop culture.
Chess fans from the 80’s will instantly recognise this battle between two brilliant masterminds at the Chess Championships held in Moscow. The match between Garry Kasparov and defending champion Anatoly Karpov in 1985 was the only championship match to be abandoned without a result to date. Builder Leonid An brilliantly captures the deep thought process and tense atmosphere of this famous match. The small touches that bring it to life include the use of red capes to represent the two flags of the countrymen.
