A builder who goes by the name of DOGOD brick design has a dream. It’s a very specific one. It takes place back in his school days and he is studying at a fast-food restaurant. He listens to rock music and once his studies are done, his electric guitar is right there for when he wants to totally rock out! Apparently DOGOD is also a lion. That sounds like a few dreams I’ve had actually, minus the homework, but totally the rockin’ lion part. I approve of the pink and purple streaks in his mane.
Meet Bazooka Belatrix, she’s a new LEGO creation by JakTheMad. She lives in a dark alternate reality where people fire guns and there’s a camera on every street corner. Wait…nevermind. Anyway, her bright neo-punk outfit and hair contrast nicely against the rather noir environment. This may be the first instance that we know of where someone uses the new DOTS Watchband for something other than an article of jewelry. Even her projectiles utilize the silly 1×1 printed tiles found among the DOTS sets. Neat-o!
Emotion is one of those things that really brings us to life. It really brings LEGO characters to life too, take Oliver Becker’s scared man. The emotion he’s currently feeling, some combination of fear and surprise is communicated clearly through with some expert parts usage. Most noticeable is perhaps the bush as his hair, standing up in fright. Moving down the face you can maracas as his pupils centered in his eyes, bulging out of his face. The piece that really ties it all together is the 1×1 technic brick has is an open mouth. Dinosaur tail/neck pieces are used in both black and white as his outstretched limbs, and his open hands are well represented with hot dog buns for palms and skeleton arms for fingers. I hope he wasn’t holding on to anything before he jumped back in shock!
If you haven’t seen Treasure Planet, you must. It’s one of Disney’s most underrated films. And if you have watched it, you can probably pick this guy out from a mile away. John Silver is a partially cyborg version of the classic Long John Silver character from the famous Treasure Island stories, and this LEGO version by Jayfa is an excellent recreation. Using balloon elements to create a rum belly is top-notch parts usage. He also wouldn’t be the same without his little space-goo buddy, Morph.
We’ve featured Jayfa many times on TBB. If you’d like to see more of his exceptional work, check out our archives.
This Coronavirus thing has us a bit wigged-out at the moment. Large events are being canceled, entire countries are closing their borders and friends are now greeting each other with Spock’s Vulcan sign rather than a hug or handshake. While it’s still good policy to wash your hands often and stop touching your gosh damned face for once, LEGO builder Cezium might have the answer to our problems. (We hope.) He has rendered a brilliant cleaning fairy that can help stop the spread of germs. The cleaning bristles are tooth gears and the “germs” are half spike ball pieces found in some Bionicle and Hero Factory sets. The entire idea was inspired by this dish detergent. I’m feeling safer already.
What has Brothers Brick alumni Nannan Zhang been up to lately? Well, apparently he’s been watching this Youtube video and had been inspired to build a LEGO version of the NieR Automata opera singer boss Simone. Knowing nothing of the subject matter, I clicked on the video and was immediately intrigued. Simone is a machine so obsessed with beauty that she cannibalizes other androids and adorns herself with their corpses. (There’s probably a good joke in there somewhere about putting lotion in the basket but damned if I can figure it out!) She has two corpses hanging off her collar assembly and several more linked hand-in-hand around her waist. This effect, Nannan tells us, is achieved using a product from Crazy Bricks which is the only non-LEGO aftermarket feature on this model. The tattered dress is made up of several copies of Lord Vladek’s cape. A video game monster boss obsessed with beauty; now that is terrifying!
Have you ever had that dream where you’re a shirtless ginger merman riding a seahorse into Atlantean battle? You haven’t? Then I feel sorry for you because you have not lived. That is probably my second most recurring dream beside the one where I’m thrown out a casino for winning too much…and for also being a shirtless merman. Builder MS Industries surely knows what I’m talking about as they have recreated my dream in LEGO. I’m seeing some excellent use of Samurai swords in the seahorse’s fins and lime green flippers gives a bright little fish some great personality. Your inciteful interpretations of my dreams are most welcome in the comments.
Meet Amunna, Eero Okkonen’s latest elegant LEGO figure. I’m continually flabbergasted with the apparent ease with which he brings these characters to life. This time we have an Egyptian-inspired woman loaded with expert parts usage. Bo Peep’s cane to decorate the legs? Check. A surfboard and treasure map printed tile on the staff? Yep! And what about a little coral flare, treasure chest pouch, and colorful wing skirt? You got it! Dying to know what’s on her bust? It’s a printed radiator element that was only found with this print in one set: 7411 Tygurah’s Roar. (The open area above the curves is carefully hidden by her hair.) Throughout, an appealing color palette abounds, and from head to foot, this is one cool chick.
If you’re craving more, take a look at all of Eero’s builds that we’ve covered by visiting our archive!
LEGO Builder Andrew Evans has heated up something a little different for us to savor. She is Vaihdelia, the Solar-Powered Gentlelady and she’s adorned in what seems to be a corseted jacket made from solar panels. My artist’s sense of color is alight with Andrew’s use of black and gold. White makes an excellent tertiary color while just a few hints of orange, green and marigold really makes this figure pop. The sword guard is a carriage wheel and the piece is used again as part of her collar. The three-panel presentation illustrates how versatile this figure is. Her solar-powered parasol is comprised of parts from a Darth Vader buildable figure but can convert to a shield while in fight mode. I’m sure she’s a gentlelady for the most part but can be a hellion on two feet when she needs to be!
Suddenly I have Prince tunes going through my head and I don’t know why. It’s weird when that happens. Anyway, Marco De Bon built this delightfully purple mech he calls the FA-13 “Venus” and we’re all tickled pink about it. Or…purple, actually. Well, maybe a little pink. The translucent sparkly pink wings are actually doors that come from a rare Belleville set (good luck finding that!) and are used brilliantly here. The mech stands 8-inches (20cm) tall and is inspired by the insect-like mechs of the Aura Battler Dunbine anime series from the 80s.
Marco also constructed a stand for flying and action poses.
For folks like me, building people and other bipedal figures can be a bit difficult. I’d build them fine enough, but even the slightest shift in weight could result in a fragile creation toppling over, so often it’s just easier to build them with both feet planted firmly on steady ground. The end result is a little stiff but at least we’re not cleaning up a toppled LEGO mess. But Letranger Absurde has built plenty of human figures. Even his own humbler beginnings were admittedly a little rigid, but we are witnessing a great builder evolving into a greater one, as evidenced by this Red Sonja creation. Her proportions and fluidity of motion are suitable enough to grace a Frank Frazetta or Boris Vallejo fantasy illustration. The builder tells us that this is indeed his most difficult creation to date but the end result is absolutely worth the effort.
Here is another recent creation that illustrates how well this builder is evolving.
Lately, between The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker, the LEGO building community has seen a great wealth of fan creations based on all things Star Wars. This is not, in itself, a bad thing. I mean, Baby Yoda is indeed very cute. But it’s still nice when a builder will take things in a very unexpected direction. Let’s say you have a 75117 Kylo Ren set on hand. Sure, you could build it according to the directions and act out your favorite Dark Side moments. But Letranger Absurde decided to take those parts and present a very different Dark Side vision. The Blood Countess takes key parts from that set and turns them into a vision of malice that is, to me anyway, just a bit scarier.
The most obvious part is Kylo’s torso, inverted and used for the Countess’ abdomen. Less easy to identify are the shoulder guards now forming her bodice. Of the non-kit parts in use, I like the Ninjago influence in the hat for the belt buckle and spinner ring in the sash detailing. Beyond the Countess herself, check out the build on the heart (or other glob of flesh) in her hand. There’s a telephone receiver in there. Is the secret message of this build “reach out and touch someone?” Gosh, I hope not.