Tag Archives: Muppets

Pigs! In! Briiiiiiiiiicks!

Perhaps it’s the mysterious Algorithm™ at work, but my social feeds lately have been on something of a Muppets revival, and I am so here for it. If you feel the same, I defy you to look at Jon-Paul Hansen, AKA j-p-30‘s, LEGO depiction of the Pigs in Space skit without saying the tagline. The set is very well recreated, with – among others – letter tiles used to represent some of the buttons and controls. The crew of Captain Link Hogthrob, First Mate Piggy and Dr Julius Strangepork look as good as their names sound ridiculous.

LEGO MOC Pigs in Space and Swinetrek

And if the interior wasn’t enough, j-p-30 has gone the whole hog (geddit? OK, I can hear Statler and Waldorf telling me to leave) and modelled the exterior of the USS Swinetrek too! If I’m not mistaken, this does make use of some light bluish grey paint on the big cone pieces, but the end result is a dead ringer for the show model.

LEGO MOC Pigs in Space and Swinetrek

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this builder tackle Jim Henson’s lovable characters, either – have a look in our archives to see some of the others.

A festive Muppet mosaic made of LEGO

If you’re a 90’s kid like me, then The Muppet Christmas Carol was a likely staple of the holidays during your childhood. And builder Josh Parkinson has channeled all the energy of that 1992 classic into this beautiful wintertime LEGO mosaic of Kermit the Frog. I love the shifting shades of green, red, and brown on the main figure, creating pockets of shadow and depth using quarter tiles. And the feather pieces used in Kermit’s scarf are a great touch of texture. But the best part usage in the build has got to be the inventive lighting of the streetlamp, putting a 4×4 dish from the Starry Night set to work.

Be sure to check out the rest of Josh’s tributes to the Muppets and more in our archives.

What’s the best Christmas film to be rendered in LEGO?

December is a little over a week away, which means we will soon have the annual debate over what the second-best Christmas movie is. Wait, second-best? You heard me! You can keep your Home Alones, your Nutcracker adaptations and your Die Hards (if you’re that way inclined). As Eli Willsea clearly knows, The Muppet Christmas Carol is the undisputed festive film champion! It’s wholesome, it has some great songs, it’s not too cheesy (Muppet cast notwithstanding), and it inspires creative use of LEGO watering cans. What’s not to love?

"It's not easy being a green watering can"

Here’s some LEGO Muppets, but the question is, what is a mahna-mahna?

You know those LEGO builds that you see and get a song stuck in your head? Well, this one from j-p-30 will either look like a fever dream, or will have you going “mahna-mahna” periodically all day. It’s the instantly recognisable Snowths with Mahna-Mahna himself (yes, that is his name, canonically) front and centre. You know, as usual. The characters all have the mad genius of Jim Henson’s puppets in evidence and look very lifelike. The use of leaves in both sets of characters is perfect for their fuzzy features, and the clam for Mahna-Mahna’s big mouth is inspired!

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j-p-30’s flair for LEGO muppets doesn’t stop there. The use of a sharpie does help with some of the character’s distinctive features, such as Kermit’s eyes. How good is his slightly miffed “:3” expression here though? It’s a perfect representation of the way the puppets would deform under the puppeteers’ hand.

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It’s time to knight the knights

LEGO builder gGh0st has crafted a medieval market full of Muppet mayhem. All 12 of the Muppet Collectible Minifigures have traveled into the past for a chaotic romp in the Middle Ages. It might take some time to spot them all, but as your eyes search the scene, you’ll have the joy of taking in all the wonderful build work on the various castles and taverns and such – from the ingots used as bricks, to the drum kit made from food in the market. But maybe avert your eyes when you get to that guillotine…it’s like a kind of torture to have to watch that show.

The Muppets in the Middle Ages

This Muppets haunted mansion carries the spooky on into November

Halloween has now come and gone, but Josh Parkinson and his Muppet-filled LEGO mansion aren’t done scaring up some fun! And what could be more fun than that wicked color scheme? The dark red and green with black trim evokes the eerie feel of a haunted house, while still staying true to the vivid character of Henson’s creations. The front lawn is wonderfully unkempt, with loads of leafy stalks scattered about. And I adore the gnarled black tree on the side next to the gravestones. It seems to have a character all its own with so many sharp barbs and angles. And I can’t get enough of all the brilliant textures here, from the slats on the walls to the checkerboard shingles and the ornate railings. Josh has them all working together in a harmonious patchwork that gives the structure age. My only question is, where did our other Muppet friends get to?

The Muppet Movie Monster Mashup Mansion - Exterior views

The other side of the model answers that question, offering us five fright-filled minifigure habitats. Each room showcases a costumed Muppet in an appropriately-themed room of this mansion. It’s hard to pick a favorite room here, with so many excellent techniques employed and creative choices in minifig costumery. Is it the mummified Swedish Chef? Or maybe Count Gonzo? No, I think I have to go with my gut: Dr. Bunsen-stein all the way!

The inside of the Muppets Movie Monster Mashup Mansion (habitat stack)

A keetchee-a buoild zeet vill meke-a yuou sey ‘Bork Bork Bork!’

We recently covered an impressive Muppet Labs build by martin.with.bricks. And now it’s time to light the lights on the Swedish Chef’s kitchen. Poor Camilla is about to get turned into a serving of “Chickie in the Basket” unless something in that kitchen eats the Chef first. Martin’s perfectly captured the set from the original The Muppet Show, with lots of round tiles replicating the unique wall paper, and all the shelving and kitchenware that the Chef used to cause his culinary mayhem.

Muppets - Swedish Chef

All that glitters is cottage cheese

For centuries, scientists have labored in vain trying to turn lead into gold. Builder martin.with.bricks remembers the next best thing – Just turn gold into cottage cheese instead! And thanks to Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his lab assistant Beaker, today we can do just that. In this lovely tribute, Martin has recreated the classic Muppet Labs, complete with a variety of equipment, technical readouts, and a big set of windows to open in case of fire. (Like that ever happens in Muppet Labs…) I like how just the shape of some of the LEGO elements is enough to transform them into science-ready glassware. Those “minifigure action pose” 1×1 modified plates in the foreground feel right at home, as does that 1×1 with center bar in the background. It’s a set up for comedy gold cottage cheese all right.

Muppet Labs - Where the future is being made today!

If you don’t remember this particular experiment, we have you covered thanks to a handy YouTube link. It’s also worth a look!

Check out this great entry from our archives if you prefer your Muppet scientists brick-built!

LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71033 The Muppets [Review]

When The Muppet Show debuted in 1976, it was an unconventional piece of television, to say the least. And it was also a near-instant hit. The weekly struggle of Kermit the Frog trying to put on a variety show with the help of a human guest star (and a plethora of bears, pigs, dogs, weirdos, and monsters) would go on to become the biggest TV program in the world. The show came to an end in 1981, with the Muppet gang arguably at the height of their popularity, and the Muppets would continue to delight audiences in TV specials and on movie screens for decades to come. Nowadays, new Muppet content is sparser than it used to be. But you can’t keep a good frog down. LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71033 The Muppets brings Kermit and 11 of his closest friends back together for a most sensational, inspirational, celebrational good time. These blind-bag figures will be available starting May 1, 2022, and will retail for US $4.99 | CAN $4.99 | UK £3.49

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Without further ado, it’s time to meet the Muppets.

LEGO Muppet Collectible Minifigures revealed [News]

The long-awaited and actively discussed Muppets Collectible Minifigure series is finally unveiled online on LEGO’s official social feeds. Consisting of 12 characters, the series will hit shelves on May 1.

As usual, watch out for our review of the new minifigures here on The Brothers Brick. For now, LEGO has only shared first promo images, with high-quality product images to follow.

Check out more info and pictures of the new figures below, and don’t miss these other upcoming LEGO sets for Spring and Summer 2022:

Check out all the minifigures!

Animal: a hurricane of rhythm

Using only 101 parts, Mark van der Maarel has produced his version of everyone’s favorite drummer, and it absolutely rocks! I don’t know if I’ve seen someone evoke Muppet fur with so few LEGO pieces before. And his part usage skills go well beyond the feather plumes. The sausages as fingers, the elastic bands on Animal’s wrists, even the choice of the bulbous eye pieces are spot-on. Contrasting that with the clean lines of a black T-shirt, it definitely evokes the controlled chaos that is Animal playing his drums.

Animal

The Muppet Show or bust

For me, The Muppet Show was the perfect in-between show for those in-between years. It wasn’t quite a cartoon, and it wasn’t quite as boring as those serious shows the grownups watched. It came on in the evening, so you felt just a little bit grownup watching it without going into Murder, She Wrote territory. A LEGO builder who goes by the name j-p-30 his us right in the between childhood and adulthood feels with these three clever busts of some of our favorite Muppet friends. We have poor Beaker, whose scientific experiments tend to end in fiery calamity. Gonzo was the weird bendy-nosed Muppet Show pianist, and the less said about Animal’s outrageous antics, the better. All together, you’ve got the makings of a trio that could make us giggle even if Trapper John M.D. was totally your jam. Well done, Mr. j-p-30!

[MOC] Muppet Show Favourites