In addition to the great new sets for Friends, LEGO also revealed new additions to the Elves line at the New York Toy Fair today. Continuing with the Goblins and their devious king, three new sets were revealed today. These sets will be available June 1.
UPDATE (June 1): The summer wave of LEGO Elves sets is now available.
41187 Rosalyn’s Healing Hideout ($49.99, 460 pieces)
Early civilizations considered the Praying Mantis to have supernatural powers. I couldn’t tell you if this mantis by takamichi irie has any powers, but it does have samurai swords and LEGO claws to serve as its raptorial forelegs! I love how the builder has used minifig hands to represent the hairs on the mid and hind legs. Takamichi has done well to capture the shape of the mighty mantis at this scale.
Built by david zambito for the ABS Builder Challenge, this snapshot from The Hobbit is terrific. This great scene has great use of the seed piece for the lid of the treasure chest and for Smaug’s fingers reaching over piles of gold. The best part for me is the tantalizing tiled tessellations on the floor surrounded by the creatively cracked and broken floor.
There’s no closer BFFs than Grizz, Panda and Ice Bear in Cartoon Network’s show We Bare Bears. They live together, eat together, and even navigate the human world together. They also enjoy all the things that we do like social media, giant burritos and tiger jean jackets – all while traveling together in one “bear stack”. Brandon Griffith has recreated this cuddly column of creatures perfectly in LEGO:
Isn’t it adorable? Australian builder aldo k has done a phenomenal job sculpting this fuzzy grey nuisance. While the real thing might break your fence or punch you in the face, this adorable rendition makes great use of parts to create the perfect curves for a kangaroo. I particularly love the face: it has so much character! The ears bring it to life.
One of my earliest memories is of watching Sesame Street — Ernie in the bath tub singing along with his favourite buddy Rubber Duckie. Builder Koen has put together an adorable, wide-eyed LEGO duck that’s sure to put a smile on anyone’s face.
He’s also been kind enough to share instructions so you can build your own version to share your bathtime. TBB Disclaimer – model will almost certainly not float!
This week we were able to track down Fedde Barendrecht to his Australian hideaway in Brisbane. Fedde, who goes by the handle Karf Oohlu, works from home, uploads another crazy LEGO creation almost daily and dreams of world domination. Somehow lots of monkeys and frogs are involved. Let’s dive into his mind but keep your wits about you. Once he has us in his tentacled embrace he may not let go again.
The Brothers Brick: Hey Fedde! What can you tell us about yourself? How did you get into LEGO and what keeps you there?
Fedde: Hi, I’m an old fart, my name is Fedde Barendrecht, Dutch born, Australian raised, and now living in Brisbane Australia. I blame a certain AFOL, Aaron Andrews (aka Darkspawn)—it’s all his fault. The first time I’d visited his place, I saw all the castle MOCs he was working on. (These days, family life—kids—is burning up most of his spare time, and cost him his Lego room.) It got me interested, so I first got into Bionicle, thinking they seemed restrictive and so would feed the interest but not get out of hand. A few System sets eventually got bought, some more—things got out of hand.
Builder Samuel Ho celebrates the Year of the Rooster this Chinese New Year with a little table standee featuring none other that this year’s zodiac animal, the Rooster! The build features a few other key elements to highlight the celebration of a new year in many parts of Asia and around the world. Red is the color for the New Year symbolizing joy and fortune. The potted plants featured on both sides are mandarin oranges, which are also symbolic of good fortune and abundance. If you’ve not guessed it yet, the characters translate to “Chicken” in Traditional Chinese characters.
2017 is the year of the Rooster in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The Rooster is one of 12 animals represented in the Chinese Zodiac calendar, but what is less known is that besides the Zodiac’s 12 rotation cycle, there is also an elemental cycle of Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood — and this year is Fire.
Creator ZiO Chao brings us an exquisite LEGO version of the Fire Rooster. What’s unique about this brick-built rooster is the terrific shaping that gives volume to the bird, not only in its breast and wings, but also its feathered tail.
The last cycle of the Fire Rooster was 1957 and the next won’t be until 2077. The five elements, also known as Wu Xing, are used in many other practices such as geomancy (Feng Shui), astrology, and even traditional medicinal practices to describe synergy and affinity between the other phenomena.
The Brothers Brick would like to wish “Gong Xi Fa Cai!” to all our readers celebrating the Chinese New Year on Saturday. That’s the greeting you should wish upon everyone you meet during the festivities. It translates into wishing one a very prosperous Lunar New Year. 2017 is the Year of the Rooster in the 12-year Chinese Zodiac cycle. It is said those that are born this year have a sense of trustworthiness, with a strong attribute of timekeeping and responsibility at work. Builder DOGOD Brick Design perfectly captures the symbol of this animal, from it’s fleshy carnucle to the red combs on its head, giving the rooster a standoff-ish and proud look to usher in the new year!
Did you know that there are 25 species of hamster? Actually, there are 26 now that Felix Jaensch has built the LEGO hamster. This is an ideal pet for anyone who is short on time and space to dedicate to their animal buddy. This little creature appears to be waiting for something, perhaps a few more studs to store in its cheek pouches. Felix’s cute version must be a close cousin of the dwarf hamster with its grey and white colouring. Those little pink paws and matching nose seem to help capture some of the cute appeal of a hamster, given their close relationship to mice and rats ugh!
I feel that this hamster will get up to mischief unless Felix builds it an endlessly turning wheel and some hamster toys to play with.
Created three years ago for a competition and one of his first big creations, this coral reef was built when Orlando Hay was only 11! Looking good enough to go diving in, it’s constructed with a variety of interesting and novel piece choices. Moon tires make wonderful anemone, clear round 1×1 bricks make convincing bubbles, and various technic pins make the ocean floor look textured. This colorful underwater scene contains a plethora of piscine and invertebrate inhabitants as well as an eel, squid and a turtle all sitting on a carefully hidden LEGO moulded baseplate. No reef would be complete without shipwreck and treasure, but if you plan on going diving just watch out for that mine and the shark chewing a flipper!
