Tag Archives: Creatures

Creepy crawly or fuzzy & fluffly (yes, that’s possible in LEGO), we love our LEGO animals. Check them out here, and fall in love yourself.

Don’t look a gift varactyl in the mouth.

When you think of Star Wars, I bet your mind goes first to the Millennium Falcon and X-Wings. But that franchise has brought us just as many beloved weird creatures as it has spaceships. I mean, who doesn’t love a tauntaun? Or a rancor? And my house is full of plush porgs. But one Star Wars creature that doesn’t seem to get enough love is the varactyl, a reptavian creature from the planet Utapau. Koen Zwanenburg is attempting to make up for that with this excellent rendition of Boga, the varactyl mount that helped Obi-Wan chase down General Grievous in Episode III.

Koen began the build inspired by the NINJAGO Jungle Dragon set, and kept modifying until the results looked enough like Obi-Wan’s helpful steed. Personally, I’d never have guessed this model started as anything other than an attempt at a varactyl. The stance is a perfect match for the movie character, and the use of blue and green plant plates does a fantastic job of replicating Boga’s feathered back. In fact, the only varactyl detail that this build lacks is the lizard’s trademark cry. And, really, it’s better for it.

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Block out the monsters with music

This eerie scene by Djorkson, is one thought-provoking build. The menacing apparition, looming over a humanoid monkey, possibly represents the inner turmoil of the swaggering primate. The piercing red eyes and pointed claws of the creature provide the build with a threatening aura. The tongue of the creature appears to be an old Rahkshi worm piece. Stalked by the monster, the monkey blocks it out with large headphones made from wheel rims. The addition of the musical note pieces, from the Trolls sets, is also a nice touch emphasizing music playing from the headphones. One of the most inventive techniques of the build has to be the upside-down bread bun used to represent the monkey’s mouth. Let’s hope the chilled-out primate can ignore out the stalking darkness.

Smooth as a baby’s... bottlenose?

I’m always impressed when a builder manages to make LEGO models completely smooth. Going stud-less can be hard, and even harder when dealing with organic shapes. This bottlenose dolphin built by Ken Ito (暁工房) may show just a few studs, but the body shaping is superb! The arch of the back end and tail are particularly well-executed.

It seems as though this builder has a knack and a penchant for these kinds of creations. Marine life is just a snippet of what he can do. Stick around to see more like this!

Efforts continue in cataloging the mechanical tree of life

The fantastic mechanical creatures of Mitsuru Nikaido have long fascinated me. As I was emerging from the dark ages of my LEGO obsession, the robotic structures of Mitsuru’s models opened my eyes to just what was possible within the LEGO system. While each creature is a dead ringer for their biological inspirations, they also stand separately from them. Their form and selective color-blocking create eye-catching robotic designs. Mitsuru mostly sticks to a light or dark bluish grey contrasting with white and a pop of bright light orange. This simple palette gives a builder plenty of parts to play with though and Mitsuru certainly takes advantage of his options. Let’s take a moment to check out his latest models of a Water bear and a Snail.

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So, head or no head?

Guys only want one thing and it’s disgusting. However, in the world of praying mantises, that doesn’t always work out. It’s the lady who gets the head — literally. Expert builder Djokson sets the table for a romantic candlelit dinner, with fancy tablecloth and a glass of wine. Lady mantis appears to have been stood up by her suitor, until her meal is served on a big platter.

While this is a fun scene, we have to talk about NPU when we write about Djokson’s many ingenious creations. For example, Lady mantis wears pieces of cloth that can only be from either Scala or Belville — two old LEGO themes full of large dolls. It’s just hard for me to pinpoint which cloth piece is from which. However, the eye sockets of each mantis are the shoes of said dolls, with the good old minifigure arms wedged inside them. Other pieces include the rubbery Krana and Kraata from Bionicle, which Djokson uses in the head and stomach respectively. I also enjoy the use of the fantastical key element from LEGO Elves, which gives the elbows a spindly look.

I guess you could say Djokson’s builds make me… lose my head.

And up from the ground came some bubblin’....well, I’m not sure exactly.

It’s a science fiction trope most of us are familiar with – the rumblings under the ground subside for just a moment. Then, suddenly, there’s an eruption and not only do you have have to deal with a an outflow of lava, but also the emergence of some truly terrifying underworld creatures. Bart De Dobbelaer captures just such an event in this stunning creation, aptly named Emergence. The beasts include some unusual part choices, including one of my absolute favorites elements – the X-Pod container. But obviously they’re just part of the scene. The spewing lava is captured by a wealth of transparent orange elements, including Dimensions base discs. The techno-organic vent provides a great contrast to the mayhem elsewhere, while still adding a great deal of mechanical texture. And then Bart had to go and add lighting effects. Because if you’re going to build at this scale, you might as well go all in.

If you want some great contrasting color to this build, check out another of Bart’s creations: Trace Initiated. Or maybe just peruse some great Sci-Fi builds from creators from around the globe.

This cat will leave more than just a scratch

This ferocious feline comes from the talented builder, DanielBrickSon. The beast is named “Meara the Metalworks Tiger” and has fought through the first round of the Biocup competition, allowing its creator to proceed to the next stage. The hulking form of the tiger is made up of a great variety of Bionicle pieces, all applied to create beautiful shaping throughout the model. In order to portray the twisting spine of the build, DanielBrickSon has used Barraki crossbow pieces as their rubbery texture allows them to bend.

Rare armoured mask parts are used to form the tense shoulders and areas of the upper back legs. The model is reminiscent of Battle Cat from He-Man, if the cat went fully armoured. There’s also a 360 spin so that you can gaze upon all of the model’s glorious details.

LEGO can’t really hurt me, right?

Is it a kaiju? A demon? Something from another planet? Whatever the answer, the Protoweapon XV1 – “Nightcrawler” – by Andrew Steele is certainly a threat to us all. With a form that’s an unholy fusion of mech and organic, this spikey beast is coming for us, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Personally, I hope I get done in by the clawed hands and not the yellowing clown grin.

Click here to see the monster up close.

“Come, my friends. The Ents are going to war.”

Without a doubt, the Two Towers is definitely my favorite Lord of the Rings movie. I have fond memories of going to a small town theater with my friend to watch it soon after it had come out. The contrasting story arcs kept my attention in a state of absorbant wonder though I honestly remember the scenes with Treebeard the most. There were plenty of accompanying Lego sets for the movies but in their wake, fans have created intense models of their own to celebrate their favorite scenes. Craig Jansen was clearly inspired by the Last March of the Ents while building this massive model of Treebeard, Merry, and Pippin heading to Isengard.

Just check out the parts Craig used in this model! The first thing I noticed were the eyes. Treebeard’s eyes, almost glowing in the dark of Fangorn forest, have a distinct presence in the film. Craig did really well with them here. I thought those are printed eye studs but upon closer examination, I realized they were black technic bushings with yellow flextubes cut to fit inside. Simple but brilliant, I must say. They give the model Treebeard’s striking glare.

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Everyone has their own demons

I do not need to tell you guys that LEGO is a lovely medium to express your emotions. We quite often see creations being made to celebrate special times in a person’s life. Bart de Dobbelaer however shows us LEGO can also be used to express the harder times in life. In this creation, a single white figure is battling their inner demons. The demons look really quite bizarre and scary. The Hidden Side eyes gets used for the demons eyes. This isn’t a far stretch but it is very fitting and creepy looking. Not using white on the demons but going with yellowish-green further adds to the contrast between the demon and the white figure. At first, I thought the mutant T-Rex head or jaw was used for the jaw of the monster but upon further inspection, this is not the case. The jaw doesn’t open horizontally but vertically which for some reason freaks me the hell out. Thank god our hero is equipped with a big weapon to fight this three-headed monster.

This boisterous beast shows off some spiky details

This beast looks ready to pounce! Joss Woodyard has created a cheeky-looking creature that sports an interesting colour scheme. Throughout the design, dark red is contrasted with azure blue providing the model with an eye-catching appearance. Spiky armour parts make up the mane and the protruding jaw has only been used in one Ninjago set so far. Exo force arms form its stomach and also hold unicorn drills, adding to the model’s prickly aesthetic. It is easy to imagine this creature in a fantasy setting, bouncing around and causing mayhem.

On the wild side with LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31121 Crocodile [Review]

Recently LEGO revealed the latest wave of Creator 3-in-1 sets. Right from the get-go this series looks to be pretty awesome, and now it’s time to see if they live up to the pictures! Per tradition, the line is showcasing at least one animal-focused kit, LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31121 Crocodile. The set contains 454 pieces and features not only instructions to build a crocodile, but also those for a snake or frog as well. It will be available June 1st in Europe, and August 1st in North America with a pricing of US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99. Come along as we sneak a closer peek at this toothy critter.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to explore the full review!