Tag Archives: Frogs

Have a butcher’s delight at this neat little vignette

Frog’s legs are a popular delicacy in France and other parts of the world, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in a butcher’s shop. There are certainly some to be found in Thomas Gion‘s LEGO meat seller though! This vignette perfectly captures the essence of your friendly neighbourhood butcher’s shop. The star of the show is undoubtedly the clever use of the frogs though. They look great used as hanging chickens (or turkeys, if we are to be seasonal) and minced meat coming out of a grinder. In fact, with the bacon and drumsticks at the front, this is making me hungry. Does anyone fancy a trip to France?

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“It’s not easy bein’ mean…”

Sandro Quattrini gives us a glimpse of what might have happened had Doc Hopper won his battle with Kermit the Frog. This amphibious warrior has had his legs replaced with cybernetic parts, and he’s no doubt looking for revenge against the man who deep-fried those appendages. Sandro’s robotic leg design makes great use of two different sized LEGO skis, and they look like they’d deliver powerful hopping action. The mohawk made from flags adds a decorative bit of warrior-flair. But my favorite detail is the actual LEGO frog delivering the perfect bit of shaping to the nose of this powerful polliwog.

Ancient Egyptian amphibian with hands for feet

Builder W Navarre has taken inspiration from the latest LEGO Architecture set and travelled to Egypt for his latest Iron Builder salvo. The centrepiece is a rather jolly-looking frog, cleverly using the bright green hand piece for the eye stalks. It also sees apples repurposed as big toes on the front legs. This little amphibian does go some way to deceive regarding the scale of the build though! The rest of the build gives slightly more clues, and is worth investigating in its own right as there are some great techniques on display. Much of the background is brick-built in microscale and blurred to add some forced perspective, even the water of the river Nile below. The best bit might just be the hieroglyphs on the frog’s plinth though! A mish-mash of parts, together with some gaps naturally created by the geometry of LEGO pieces, gives them a terrifically authentic weathered feel. Another of the seed part hands even makes an appearance, although it is well hidden – can you spot it?

Frogs with sausage toes on their feet

Have you ever seen a march of different races of cold-blooded LEGO creatures from the jungles of the land of Lustria? Well, thanks to Michal, now you have. The highlight of this creation has to be the priest sitting on its throne. Have you seen those cute chubby cheeks and that extruding belly button! That isn’t the only creatively used LEGO piece in this creation. It is nice to see the old fashioned dragon arms used even though it is quite old. For the feet hot dogs were used to represent the long frog toes. The foot folk uses a nice combination of Ninjago and Chima figures with grass for used as the tail. If you look closely enough at the chopped-down tree you’ll notice that Jaskier went through the trouble to give the centre of the stomp a different colour than the bark of the tree.

New life arises from the ashes

It has been almost seven years since the last line was released but diehard fans of Bionicle do their part to keep the Great Spirit alive. For this inspiring model, builder Patrick Biggs looked back twenty-one years to when this new line helped bring life to the struggling LEGO Group. Originally a convention trophy concept, this model resembles an incense burner with smoke rising through the Toa of Fire’s resting mask. The wistful, rising smoke soon branches out into a delicate, birch-like bonsai tree with bright, lush foliage. A pink frog hangs out on the lowest branch both as a nod to the 10281 Bonsai Tree (which came with over a hundred of them) and to the fandom’s obsession with LEGO frogs (thanks to the influence of LEGO designer Nick Vás). The delicate trunk of this towering tree magically spirals upward towards the sky, becoming denser and branching outward just as LEGO continues to grow and thrive.

Frogs on candlestick pond

There really aren’t enough candlesticks in the world. Well, LEGO candles, anyway. They’re so useful! Take this wonderful build by Eli Willsea, for example. It uses over 50 of them to create the look of bulrushes. Excellent execution! But that’s not the only excellent parts usage here. I love how he used those 1×2 hinge plates to create adorable frog eyes and the center of the waterlily. Those flies and that incredible tongue are awesome too!

If you like these techniques, check out more builds by Eli (AKA Forlorn Empire). Also, if frogs are your thing, we even have a collection of builds that feature frogs!

Lantern-lit roots over rock

Bonsais have been a hit this year thanks to the introduction of the Botanical Collection 10281 Bonsai Tree. Builder Ashton Douglas took some time to design his own version as a gift. Two bonsai sets and some extra elements came together to create a delightful custom model for Ashton’s friend to display. Though the base and pot are elements from the Bonsai set, rock work, trunk, and interesting foliage make this a beautifully unique build. There’s a wistfulness to the build with the way the pink frog seems to be staring at the lamp hanging from the branches.

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Snowy Mountain Frogs

This time of year always brings out a plethora of adorable builds. From massive to microscale, there’s always something to enjoy. This delightful, tiny display by Builder Hawaii Toad is modeled to look like a music box with a small golden crank on the side. The holiday theme runs throughout, from the color-blocked bricks in the base to the snow-capped peaks looking over the sleepy village. As a train emerges from a tunnel, clearing snow from the tracks as it goes, a tiny version of Santa’s sleigh flies overhead. While the scene is quite picturesque, my favorite part is the use of frogs…er..toads? Whichever is appropriate in the builder’s mind, those adorable little pieces have had quite the year in pop culture. It’s nice to see them included in the holiday.

A celebration of the humble LEGO frog

When I first joined the online LEGO community about 20 years ago, I had to choose an avatar to represent myself online. I decided to draw the LEGO frog in MS Paint and use it as my avatar. The frog piece was released in the year 2000. Over the years some LEGO parts get redesigned. It is however my honest opinion that there is no way to improve the iconic little frog. For its time it is very detailed and still very cute. Four amazing builders decided to celebrate the piece and I could not pass it up the chance to take a closer look at them.

Roanoke Handybuck’s frog is currently visiting the Swamp with a lovely dock featuring some paint brushes and a beautiful architectural sculpture using red parrots.

Read on to see the rest of the models

This frog prince isn’t waiting for a kiss…

Simon Liu has a history of building mech-style creations with unconventional operators. When he saw the Frog Mario upgrade from LEGO’s Super Mario Bros. line, he knew pretty immediately that he wanted to use the hat in such a creation. But instead of a sci-fi type mech, the creative process took him in the direction of a fairy tale frog prince in shining armor.

The final result is both adorable and imposing. This regal frog is ready to leap into battle with armor that looks custom made for his amphibian anatomy, thanks in large part to the ample use of Overwatch Reinhardt shoulder pieces.

Hopefully it provides enough protection that he won’t croak in battle.

This frog is a (paper) cut above the rest

When it comes to mixed-media LEGO creations, we can all take a page from takamichi irie.
The papercraft body of this amphibian draws the eye, while the friendly smile and cherry-based toes showcase just what plastic can do. Inspired by a calendar page, this model brings joy to even the most dreary day.

The underside shows off more of the traditional “LEGO construction” in play. Clever use of minifigure posing stands attach the rear legs at an unusual angle, and rounded 1×2 modified plate gives the front legs articulation, too.

If you find this frog as adorable as I do, you’ll want to check out some of Takamichi’s other paper-LEGO hybrids, a crab and a bull. Or maybe explore the full range of his creations we’ve featured previously.

That one frog from the poster!

One of the most famous frogs in the world is the red-eyed tree frog. This gloriously rainbow-colored amphibian has graced many a poster. In fact, I had the one with them stacked on top of each other hanging on my own wall growing up. What I didn’t realize at the time was that those cute little ones definitely aren’t babies… Anyway, Joffre Zheng continues the admiration with this roughly-lifesize LEGO sculpture. Simple but adorable. Fun fact: their vibrant colors are mostly for attracting mates, but also safety. They try to keep the colorful parts of their body hidden while they rest on leaves. Then when a predator comes, they open their eyes and flash those legs to startle the would-be killer.

Another fun fact: the scientific name for this rainforest creature is Agalychnis callidryas, and the species part of that name derives from Greek words meaning “beautiful tree nymph”. Fitting, right?

You can check out more cool animal builds in our archives, as well as more creations by Joffre.

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