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.

This prehistoric Polacanthus is dino-mite!

Dinosaurs are the name of the game today at TBB, so let’s take a trip to Western Europe and turn our clocks back to the Cretaceous period, because we’re going on a prehistoric safari to find Polacanthus! Polacanthus is Greek for “many thorns.” Vlad Lisin’s version of the herbivorous dinosaur lives up to its name because it looks quite sharp indeed. A mix of LEGO system and constraction elements are used to achieve a wonderfully organic looking dino. Polancanthus’ head is particularly stunning, thanks in part to a realistic-looking mouth achieved through the use of a battle droid torso and Ninjago snake skull helmet. This behemoth looks prepared to graze through some serious vegetation.

As you explore prehistoric past, don’t miss the fearsome Carnotaurus by Nathan Haseth.

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Ogel will mind control you to like this dragonfish!

With Ogel’s mind-controlled army growing by the day, Alpha Team’s chances are looking more and more slim. To make matters worse, Rockmonster 2000 has sided with Ogel to provide him with a mutant dragonfish! Armed with harpoons and an awesomely dated early 2000s slick design, there is nothing that can stop their evil plan to take over the world!

The build is actually an entry for a Bionicle building competition–as if there were not enough early 2000s style in this creation already–which you can see if you look closely at the parts used. The current round of the competition asks for contestants to build a Bionicle creation capturing a particular theme, and Rockmonster 2000 has done an incredible job with his, since there’s no mistaking the Alpha Team in this one. There are various Bionicle parts, like a kanohi mask, and constraction elements like large claws used across it, sprinkled with just enough System bricks to flow perfectly. Alpha Team is a very nostalgic theme for me personally, but I think we can all agree that this creation is great even without its gloriously ridiculous background!

Chinese dragon is ahead of all others

The key to many LEGO creations is the model’s “face” — be it the head on a mecha, the front grille of a truck, or the pointy end of a starfighter — often when you crack that part of the build, the rest flows into place. And sometimes, if you get the face right, you don’t need anything else at all, as with this wonderful Chinese Dragon by Pol Mac. The dragon’s head is excellent, with smart parts use offering excellent shaping. Don’t miss the intimidating frown from two pearl gold bananas, the use of Chima armour to create the pug-nosed snout, and the spot-on curved jaw created from red flame parts. Yes, sometimes it’s great to see large-scale creatures rendered in their entirety, but sometimes the full model is simply not required.

Like a fish outta water

Mammals aren’t the only creatures that want to explore environments that are clearly designed to kill them, and this bold fish adventurer is going where no fish has gone before, with the help of a shiny brass mech suit. Built by Andrew Lee, this clawed fish suit is basically an exercise in using the available inventory of pearl gold elements, which is a pretty limited offering, pulling from Hero Factory, the few basic elements that are available, and a variety of minifigure accessories.

My, what big eyes you have Grandma

Built around BrickHeadz style figures, this lovely sketch of Red Riding Hood by Cindy Su features an adorably ferocious wolf and a strikingly vibrant granddaughter. The little scene is mostly a setup for the characters, who have some great techniques, and thankfully Cindy has some pictures of the characters on their own, too.

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Don’t be sheepish [Video]

Sheep by Maxime Marion is a cute brickfilm about being true to yourself instead of following the flock. It is also a joyous celebration of the 1×1 round eye tile and its siblings the eyelash tile and the stink eye tile. Maxime creates a wide variety of emotions and expressions using various combinations of these three simple pieces.

I would argue that these eye tiles are some of the most important parts added to the LEGO palette in the last decade. Just as the introduction of the minifigure led to a major shift in the scale of vehicles and buildings, the introduction of the eye tile has led to a huge increase in character-focused creations, both in official sets and in fan creations. I hope more brickfilmers follow Maxime’s award-winning example and start incorporating brick-built characters into their films. Watch Sheep below.

A lurching demon from the beyond

This shambling horror is brought to you courtesy of Leonid An, who sculpted the creature’s bony ridges from quite an odd collection of parts. Called Preta the Demon, stacked jawbones make his spiny shins, which somehow seems fitting. Meanwhile, an exposed kraata stands in for the unnerving brain in the middle of the demon’s split skull. Here’s hoping you don’t stumble upon this bit of LEGO in the darkness.

Aweem away, aweem away, aweem away...

The lion may be the king of the jungle, but these two lovable scamps certainly hold a special place in the hearts of many Disney fans. Lennart C‘s brick-built versions of Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King are simply adorable. Working within the confines of a tiny scale, Lennart nicely captured these characters’ body proportions and colors, making them instantly recognizable.

Get primal, go bananas, gone ballistic!

It may seem like Vincent Kiew took a page right out of the Planet of the Apes from the big screen for this creation, and it’s a good page to pick from, starring a primal ape heavily armed and ready to go bananas. Those scary-looking cartridges in the ammo carrier feature a nice use of red lever bases, while the ears look perfect with the 1×1 tooth tiles.

Where earth and sky meet

The dragon is a common fantasy trope, but they’re hard to tire of because they come in so many wonderful varieties. This dragon, by Henjin_Quilones, is named Kijani the Earth Dragon. With a sand green color scheme similar to the Ninjago Green Ninja Mech Dragon, this beast has a totally different look. It even uses that set’s sculpted snout piece, but moves the eyes forward a bit, giving it a cute, stubby face befitting a dragon used to nosing about the earth.

Henjin says the dragon is fully articulated, from the toes to the wings. The double base is also a great effect here, with a big of earthy terrain and a more polished-looking smooth black rectangle beneath.

“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar

A contrarian caterpillar makes for a fine bit of building, as seen in this lovely setting by Markus Rollbühler. Alice in Wonderland is a common subject for LEGO creations, no doubt because its whimsical caricatures allow builders to flex their muscles a bit and try out lots of fascinating new techniques. The two techniques I’m most drawn to in Markus’ version are in the flowering plant at the center, with yawning leaves made of upturned dragon heads, and a bright light orange flower made of hand mixers and shoulders.

I’ll take what’s behind door number two please

Doors are always full of unknowns, and far too often it’s a gateway into another world. Every door that you open up for the first time is a surprise, a world that you’ve never seen before. Everywhere you go, doors are meant to be opened, with the exception of this one — it’s meant to stay closed for a very good reason. While what’s behind this door by why.not? is curious enough to tease our imaginations, I’m actually more intrigued by the mysterious technique used to create the door arch at the top. It’s a puzzle worth solving more than what’s behind the door.