Tag Archives: Eero Okkonen

Finnish builder Eero Okkonen belongs in the pantheon of great builders. His innovative models mix System, Bionicle, and Constraction parts in mind-bending ways to create expressive characters, whether from beloved books and games or fully sprung from Eero’s imagination. Eero’s work has been showcased in the LEGO House Masterpiece Gallery, and he’s been a regular contributor to New Elementary, putting new parts through their paces and giving an AFOL perspective on new sets. Eero has been documenting his builds on the Cyclopic Bricks blog since 2012, allowing his journey as a builder to inspire countless others.

Alias: Pate-Keetongu

Rolling up on a raid with your best goblin buddies

You know that feeling when you and your homies all pull up somewhere in matching drip and you feel like you could take on the world? That’s the vibe I’m getting from Eero Okkonen‘s trio of goblin buddies. They look absolutely rad, and full of character. Van-Gug in the middle is definitely the broody leader of the group – they organised this meet-up in the first place. On the left, that is – for want of a better word – the group clown, Bragg. There’s an opportunity to do something wild? They’re in on it. And they’re egged on by the behatted Kargas on the right. Yeah, they might be a little shy, but they still crack the funniest jokes out of nowhere. And you’d best believe they’ve all got each other’s backs with those big swords.

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LEGO Avacyn has flying, vigilance, and protection from brick separators

Back when I played Magic, the Gathering, I was more of a green or black player, but I lost more than a few games to angel-themed white decks with their ability to cancel incoming damage. For his latest character creation, Eero Okkonen translates Magic’s seraphic hero Avacyn from the plane of Innistrad into brick form, and the results are divine. The wings are substantial but somehow look light, balanced on the angel’s back. Avacyn’s bust is cleverly shaped from a pair of bigfig arms. The lance head with macaroni tubes is perfect. Showing that even a master is always learning, Eero shares that the angled pattern around the hip area was created using the grid-breaking techniques shared on New Elementary last month in this essential article.

Craving more Magic characters? alex_mocs creates another white hero with this haunting Elesh Norn model.

Micro Miyazaki: Teto and Porco Rosso in LEGO

While there might not be any official LEGO sets based on Studio Ghibli films (yet?), the fantastical worlds of Hayao Miyazaki continue to inspire builders witch creations big and small. Today we’re presenting a couple of builds on the small side, like something Arriety might build. First up is a tiny Teto, the fox-squirrel from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, built from around 20 elements from mini character maestro Qin. The mix of parts is ingenious, especially a pair of minidoll belt bags for the face and head.

Next up is a tiny flying ace from a builder known for his larger character builds, Eero Okkonen. This pipsqueak Porco Rosso with a tan binocular nose fits nicely into the cockpit of the Savoia S-21. Eero offers a detailed look at the plane and writes about why Porco Rosso is his favorite film over at Cyclopic Bricks.

Which Miyazaki film is your favorite? Why not have a look at our Miyazaki archive for inspiration!

Incredible Lord of the Rings sculpture really moves!

Eero Okkonen is back with a fantastic new LEGO creation! This time he’s brought us a version of one the most heroic scenes in the Lord of the Rings film series; King Théoden’s charge at the Pelennor Fields. Both Théoden, and his steed Snowmane, are fully kitted out for battle. Snowmane’s bridle features golden dragon hilt details and his fluffy widdle ears are made from the wings of the collectable chicken man. Théoden is carrying a regal shield with heavy gold-inlay, as befits his station. Eero actually repurposed the first build of his we here at The Brothers Brick ever covered; the mighty viking warrior Ragnfast! But that isn’t this build’s only secret. That train controller means this sculpture is powered, so let’s take a look at Théoden riding at full tilt!

Click here to see this sculpture brought to life

The Zero Suit Samus of Eero’s DREAMZzz

Legendary LEGO character builder Eero Okkonen has a new side hustle reviewing sets for New Elementary where he puts new parts through the paces in a companion MOC. Hot on the bright light orange heels of his Simba-based Keetongu, Eero celebrates shades of blue with an amazing Zero Suit Samus from Metroid: Other M. The seed parts this time come from a pair of DREAMZzz sets, specifically the 3×3 maxi macaroni tubes in blue found in 71480 Logan the Mighty Panda.

Eero’s goal was to integrate the tubes into larger shapes, and he definitely succeeded, with a curvy torso that makes you forget you’re looking at LEGO. Samus’ fingers also come from Mighty Panda; the reversed trigger finger looks exceptionally cool. Eero is not a fan of building guns, but for Samus’ sidearm, he makes an exception, beautifully integrating Power Miner armor into the barrel. As we’ve come to expect from Eero’s models, the color blocking is second to none (I love the tiniest hint of blue in the eyes). Longtime fans of Eero’s work might remember his earlier takes on Zero Suit Samus using Bionicle parts, first in 2013 and later in 2015, as well as Samus in her iconic Power Suit. While still impressive in their own way, it’s amazing to see what a decade of practice and a wider palette of bricks makes possible for an artist and Masterpiece Gallery alumn like Eero.

This LEGO Keetongu is seriously crushing it

The LEGO Bionicle theme has been the inspiration for many great custom creations over the years, like this beefy build by Eero Okkonen which, while spectacular by itself, was built with another purpose in mind… to use as many of the new elements from the LEGO 43247 Young Simba the Lion King set in bright yellow/orange as possible. With so much brightness it may be hard to know where to look first, but my eye was drawn to the large macaroni curves used for the eyebrow of this Cyclops mech.

Fairy and toad are friends

Prolific builder Eero Okkonen is the Geppetto of the LEGO community, crafting detailed characters with such personality that they seem ready to come alive. His latest model of a blue fairy isn’t inspired by Pinocchio, however, but by a fairy tale from Eero’s native Finland, Pessi and Illusia. Eero employs his usual panache for NPU (nice parts usage), with the highlight perhaps the Queen’s Dragon heads used as Illusia’s skirt. As lovely as the fairy is, it’s Pessi the adorable toad who steals the show here, with those perfect saucer eyes and sporting a wonderful wicker basket of interwoven flex tubes. The scene is rounded out by delectable cloudberries on stems that incorporate foam leaves, appropriately enough, from the Belville Flower Fairy Party.

Beautiful build of a terrible lizard with horrible hands

The first fossil remains of Deinocheirus were a pair of massive forelimbs with long fingers which earned it its name, literally “horrible hand.” These mysterious claws and the surrounding speculation captured the imagination of LEGO character artisan Eero Okkonen as a child. It wasn’t until the 2010s that scientists were able to find enough remains to piece together the rest of the duck-billed omnivore. It’s this version of the dinosaur that Eero recreated in LEGO for round 3 of the Bio-Cup. The model expertly blends Constraction and System parts for organic shaping. The colors, especially in the head, are splendid – a far cry from the dull shades of 20th century dinosaur depictions. I especially admire the dorsal ridge along the back, mixing tail pieces, 2×2 round bricks, and cables. Eero rounds out the build with some great pre-historic flora and, keeping on trend, an adorable crab built around an Atlantean headpiece.

Pushing the boundaries in the Bio-cup

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!

Stalking in a winter wonderland

“They’ve heard rumours of strange folk from the east and the west, new words and new gods and bright steel. They hope to be left in peace in their cold northern home but the watchfires have already been lit on the hills.” So begins builder Eero Okkonen‘s description of this amazing LEGO diorama, and those words are already way cooler than anything I managed to write about it. And speaking of cool, the build looks downright freezing. Good thing our lone warrior is properly dressed for the ordeal, with heavy mittens, a fur hat, and a thick beard made out of plant stalks. The star of the show, however, might be all that drifting snow, including probably the best use of a windscreen outside of a cockpit I’ve ever seen. Brrr!

A new Red Baron

This red baroness may not prowl the skies, but with that rapier, I know that this LEGO model by Eero Okkonen means business! Eero is an accomplished builder of figures and other structures, and you can check out our past articles on his work here. This baroness duels in style in her cape borrowed from the Chirrut Îmwe constraction figure, while her trans-red skirts were only available in the 2022 set 80035 Monkie Kid’s Galactic Explorer. The Baroness shows off her station with a wealth of golden trinkets on her outfit, but I’d like to draw special attention to the buckles on her cape which – using only two parts – clamp onto the fabric. Would you dare challenge her?

Powerful princess of the Saphire Sword

Fantasy-flavored minifigs might be all the buzz right now thanks to LEGO’s new D&D partnership, but prolific Finnish builder (and TBB regular) Eero Okkonen is here to take the crown with his latest swords and sorcery inspired brick-built character. Eero makes clever use of the latest plant elements, like the lavender breastplates sourced from a new mold in LEGO Friends 42620 Olly and Paisley’s Family Houses. One of my favorite elements of the creation is how perfectly the opalescent sword pieces work as both hair and skirt. There are so many details to admire, like the Prince of Persia dagger of time as a brooch, Gungan shields on the belt, and alien cocoon thighs. Like most of his characters, this one is highly-poseable, so be sure to dive into Eero’s Flickr page for a full gallery and build insights.

Looking for more of his great character creations? We’ve got plenty of Eero Okkonen’s LEGO builds in our archives.