While this almost bunny-mecha looking contraption looks pretty cute, take a moment and do give it some thought. Why would a bunny minifigure need a mechanical bot such as this? The only reason I can think of is to get some damage done! With those huge feet, I’m sure a stomp or two would take any other enemy minifigure out flat. Just a reminder from IamKritch that all things cute are not what they seem, perhaps… Bring out the weapons, I say!
Who needs to hit the gym when you have abs made of ABS? This stud by timofey_tkachev has the perfect grin to show off his six-pack—or should that be six-brix? The use of the tan large-figure parts for the pecs, lats and calves are spot on.
I am not here to downplay the classic minifig’s ability to convey emotion, but it is a fact that its range of movement is much more limited than that of a Technic figure. Heikki Mattila uses this posability to great effect in his large scale vignette called “Thinking at night”. The technic figure is set in a convincingly contemplating and perfectly peaceful pose, while the setting is full of nice details like tyres, boxes and more. The backlit window makes for a convincing nighttime effect as well. I could not imagine a better happy place for a Technic figure than a workshop or garage.
Although often offering wise words to Simba, the wizened old Rafiki nevertheless delights in riddles and unorthodox tutelage. Channeling that spirit of unconventionality, builder SephiMoc FF7 uses quite an interesting assortment of LEGO pieces to bring life to this sage from Disney’s The Lion King. The eccentric mandrill is recognizable with his brightly colored face, which is framed with white fur made of feathered wings and various horn elements. Look closely and you’ll spot that Rafiki’s eyebrows are a handlebar, while the ball joints give this character plenty of poseability.
The bold choice of a purple background works splendidly, offsetting both the white face and the grey body, as well as complementing the orange logo nicely. There’s even a tiny Simba cub for Rafiki to gloriously hold aloft:
Some things in pop culture are so iconic as to be forever ingrained in the collective memory. Builder Martin Redfern brings us a dose of instantly recognizable brick-built nostalgia with the wall-climbing dynamic duo from the 60’s TV Series. While the “na na na na na na na… Batman!!!” themed earworm starts to play in your head, you can almost hear the Boy Wonder whine “Holy predictable moves, Batman! Could we start working on a flight contraption? Let’s call it the Bat Wing perhaps?”
Finnish builder Eero Okkonen is known for his excellent character builds, and his last one stunned us all with an eerily perfect Admiral Ackbar. The character he brings to life in his latest work is Mistral Nereis, the pirate gal from the baking-saturated anime adaptation of PSP SEGA game Shining Hearts.
The details included and techniques used to recreate not only the pose but also bring out the key features of this lovely character are stunning—for instance, the multi-layering and natural flow of her skirt. You can read all about how this build came together on Eero’s blog.
DOOM is still a thing, right?! A couple of years ago I built a Miniland scale diorama of this classic videogame (there’s even a video that will take you right back to 1993). Below is a building guide for the game’s hero, commonly known as “DOOM Guy” (click here for embiggened version). This version is equipped with a basic shotgun. If you wanna kit him out with other hardware, or build him some enemies to blast, I’d suggest using photos of the original DOOM diorama as inspiration.
Character builds are one of the hardest to accomplish with bricks and it’s likely the reason you don’t see Billund doing much of these aside from the Constraction series. Builder Roy of Floremheim
does a pretty cool Batman with the parts at his disposal and with clever use of elements. While you’ve got to love that 6-pack, my favourite use of parts are the reversed Minifiigure flippers representing the bat insignia.
When in need of whacky (and some times unsettling) creations, Fedde Barendrecht‘s photostream is always a good place to start, with fresh material being added on an almost daily basis. If you are interested in finding out more about Fedde’s work, I recommend reading the interview we did with him recently. His latest creation is a strange combination of the ancient demonic god Cthulu and the famous videogame character Pac Man. The result is a strange, funny-scary monster with some nice part usage and techniques, most notably the teeth inside the spherical Death Star piece.
As any child of the 1990s (or their parents) can tell you, Nickelodeon television shows were simply the best. And Aaahh!!! Real Monsters is right up at the top of the list of best cartoons from that decade. And judging by this terrific LEGO version of Krumm, it seems that Julius von Brunk agrees with me. Just look at Krumm’s signature armpit hairs (so stinky), his blue lips (terrifying), and his hand-held eyeballs (where will he roll them next?).
Here’s hoping Ickis and Oblina are right around the corner (or hiding under Julius’s bed).
For proponents of the art of LEGO character building like myself, LEGO’s new Brickheadz pattern is somewhat horrifying – from an aesthetic standpoint. But it looks like a lotta builders are jumping on the bandwagon and creating their own, so I guess these neckless, mouthless wonders are here to stay! Anyone who was around for the 2010 explosion of Angus MacLane’s (imho superior) Cubedudes probably knows how all this is going to play out. And while some builders have tried to counteract this movement with nicer templates, I decided to see how low I could go. And I think I may have succeeded…
I have to admit, when I first saw LEGO’s new BrickHeadz, I wasn’t so sure of it being a loveable theme. But once again the LEGO fan community has proven me wrong. How could you say no to these bright and colorful Winnie The Pooh characters by builder Bob Chai. He even extends this lovely build to include a themed base that spells out “POOH”. While the Pooh has a cute extended tummy, what tickles me is how Tigger is balancing on his signature tail bounce!
