It seems that we’ve seen a veritable dragon’s hoard of Dungeons and Dragons-themed builds lately, thanks in large part to the challenge on LEGO Ideas celebrating the 50th anniversary of the game. And I guess it’s time I toss one of my own onto the pile: this ferocious chest mimic. It’s mouth is brimming with treasure, including a necklace, ring, gold ingot, and lots of coins (2×2 round tile) and gems (1×2 transparent brick). These goodies are on display thanks to a false bottom built into the mimic’s mouth, upon which it’s tongue rests. If I had to pick a specific design piece that I was most proud of here, I would say it’s the use of exposed studs along the lid to emulate rivets in the dark gray metal. When faced with the challenge of using brackets to form the arch of the lid, I decided to lean into it and use the design byproduct to my advantage.

It’s funny to think that this build started out as a generic treasure chest construction, complete with lighting to highlight the gems inside. And while those lights haven’t made it to this final version, the original frame remains largely intact. However, from this initial version through the handful of shows where the chest mimic has been on display, the model has broken on me three times. That’s not just into pieces, but countless fractured LEGO plates! I guess that’s the cost of working with so much reddish brown and not being overly careful when packing. The first major break was when prepping for the picture below. I dropped the chest’s lid on the concrete of my back patio and was forced to delay the photo shoot until the next night while I made repairs.