We’ve marveled in the past at the strong LEGO work of Sakiya Watanabe. But this close up of a WIP they’re working on allows us some better insight into the parts that can create a biological texture like feathers. A cacophany of bars, clips, and claws, it all comes together to form quite the eagle head.
Not since the Mandalorian mounted a blurrg have we seen a lone gunslinger ride such an unusual steed across the plains. Terra Ender has been creating a different, amusing scene each day in October, and today’s build raises a few questions. Who is the cowboy peering down at the distant landscape below from his lofty perch? Does he have a fear of heights? And of course, where on earth (or beyond) did he get that awesome pink bifurcated-tailed lizard thing?
BigBrickStan is a new face in the online LEGO community, but already the builder is making waves with splashy builds like this LEGO sea serpent. The Chinese-style dragon uses a lush mix of plant elements as scales. I love the variety of orange wings and claws along the creature’s back, splayed irregularly for a more organic look. An array of points and curls in white make for effective roiling water at the dragon’s base. Most impressive is the head shaping, especially the toothy jaws made of Ninjago bone swords and unicorn horns.
Want to start a heated debate among people of a certain age? Ask them what the best first-generation Pokémon starter is. Some will choose Charmander; personally, I say Squirtle. But judging by his adorable LEGO model, Nick Jensen is more of a Bulbasaur kind of guy! This build is a deceptively small one; I have to keep looking at the parts used in that wonderfully crafted face to remind myself of its true size. The Pokéball base is a nice touch too. It’s so well done, that I would almost consider swapping my allegiance to the grass-type starter team… Almost. (Psst, Nick – do Squirtle next!)
Sometimes those bright red toadstools appear out of nowhere and you’re like, what otherworldly thing is this? Maybe LEGO creature builder extraordinaire Joss Ivanwood feels the same way when he discovers a toadstool. He’s been building a dragon a month for a long while now and September’s offering is called Draconis Amanita and is inspired by the fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria). He tells us he’s always been fascinated by the way so many mushrooms grow from fallen trees, giving them new life. So, he fathomed it would be a cool idea to make the whole dragon as a group of mushrooms growing out of the same log. I bet this dragon’s mycelium network is off the hook! It’s probably the root of all awesomeness! I’ll just let myself out and go spore some bad jokes somewhere else.
I was enthralled when I saw this new Fall Owl by LEGO extraordinaire Andreas Leander and now you can be too. I mean, look at those textures and details! What’s not to love? I’m particularly fond of the lavender flowers that comprise the textures of its face. The tree-shaped stand and the wings made of dinosaur horns are not without their charms. I had a lovely owl visit my yard about once a week for a while right up until I shined a light in its face. Then I never saw it again, unfortunately, and now I wonder if I was directly responsible for its relocation. Wherever you’ve moved to, Mr. (or Ms.) Owl, I hope you’re eating well.
Admittedly, I’ve never seen a Yigg before now, and can’t confirm that they exist outside of the LEGO hobby. But I do know an excellent Bionicle creation when I see one, and I trust Jarek Książczyk (jerac) when it comes to questions of cryptozoology. With an array of bright colors and a trisected mandible, the Yigg looks to be a mighty beast of the land… or sea… or maybe skies?
Jellyfish are weird, aren’t they? It’s just a floating nervous system with tentacles. No wonder they make such a good basis for alien creations – and Korean builder DEES has served up a doozy in that regard! Let’s start with that most jellyfish of attributes: the tentacles. Loads of parts are used to make them up here, from trans-clear round bricks and flowers to a whole boatload of ball joints. The latter serves to accentuate the organic shapes of this creature, so wonderfully done on the body with inverted boat slopes and wheel arch pieces in all manner of pinks and blues.
Dive in to see what else this jelly has in store for us…
The term “shrimp” doesn’t typically evoke an image of a fearsome creature, but what if you combined the obscure and dangerous Peacock Mantis Shrimp with a Dragon? Lego builder, and imaginative creator, Joss Ivanwood, who takes pride in designing and building “dragons, robots, monsters, and more,” has merged the otherworldly mantis shrimp with a dragon. The use of bright colors, combined with what can only be assumed is an expert-level application of LEGO Technic joints, transforms a fish’s nightmare into a vibrant and imaginative reality.
In the dark of night a fancy assassin finds its target in this LEGO build by Seth Peacock (Obsessionist)! This Bio-Cup bird brings together a wide array of unique parts, so let’s take a closer look. Right under the roofline, that decorative brickwork is made of Rhotuka Spinner launchers above a couple of pieces from Bionicle’s Rahkshi. The arch of the window is made from two different types of rubber band holders, while the windowsill is made from projectile launchers. Finally, Seth got a lovely feathery texture from using the Visorak foot to make up the bird’s tail. It’s a good thing that bird isn’t a crow, otherwise there might be a murder!
Long-time TBB readers will know that our unofficial mascot is a lemur. Why? Well, not only is A. Lemur our resident dogsbody, he’s also the cutest* member of the TBB team, and therefore best suited to the role. Don’t tell him, obviously – he’ll ask for a snack raise, and he already pretends to be the boss when Andrew isn’t looking. In all seriousness, we should count ourselves lucky; we could have ended up with something creepier, like Velocijacktor‘s aye-aye. Now these little primates can be pretty un-nerving in the flesh, at least if Google Images is anything to go by. But rendered in Bionicle pieces, and eyeing up that poor little beetle, suddenly it looks like an other-wordly horror. Yep, we can be content that we just have to contend with our lemu-hey! No! For the last time, the server cables are not for eating!
*relatively speaking, of course
There’s nothing better than being surprised by a LEGO builder, is there? We’ve featured Eero Okkonen many a time on this here blog, and you might be familiar with his fantastic character builds in our archives. Personally, I was so familiar with them that I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he also built this awesome “Reactorback Strider”! It was built for the on-going Bio-cup competition, and it’s quite unlike anything he (or anyone else, for that matter) has built before. To my eyes it has one foot in the Horizon video game series, with the other firmly in Dieselpunk or retro-futurism. In reality it seems it’ll soon have both of them in that brutalist-looking microscale town, though. I love the way it looks, but even more than that, I love seeing a builder push their boundaries!
