Tag Archives: NPU

Iron Forge 2026 Round 2 builders break some eggs!

The Iron Forge contest challenges builders to make mocs (and puns!) showcasing a specific LEGO element to demonstrate skill and entertain judges alike. We spotlighted builds from the first round here. With Round 2 complete, here is a selection of the amazing creations built using the eggshell/crown element.

Twenty builders participated in Round 2, eight of whom advanced to Round 3. We’ll start with them.

Grant Davis unearths this happy Count in a delightful build packed with one eggshell… two eggshell… three eggshells… twenty eggshells, ah ah ah! Using them as teeth is bitingly clever.

Xiheng Xu creates a perfect Forgge entry that is also a tribute to one of Xiheng’s favorite creators, Eli Willlsea.

See creations from all 20 builders after the break

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This gaggle of greebles gives me a great grin

If the word is new to you, “greebles” are all those little details that give texture to a model. Whether it’s LEGO, or some big budget movie’s production design, they’re the details that make the fantastic feel real. Even though we don’t really see them in the real world all too often. And this Neo-Classic Space masterpiece by Scott Wilhelm has got enough greebles for a dozen spaceships. While the blue portions of the ship maintain a traditional smooth surface, Scott has made sure the gray portion is absolutely exploding with clips and bars and odd pieces at strange angles. The combined effect of which is a craft that feels like the most technologically advanced ship in the fleet.

Take a seat! The 2026 Iron Forge heats up

If you follow TBB regularly, you’ve no doubt encountered many articles spotlighting the Iron Builder competition, like our interview last month with the participants in the most recent battle. You might be wondering, how does one get to challenge Iron Builder? One path is to prove your skills in the Iron Forge, a January tradition now in its 7th year. As with the Iron Builder contests, a seed part is chosen that must be used in multiple builds. Only for the Forge, builders only have one week per part before a new seed element is chosen. There is no prize for winning beyond the chance to compete against an Iron Builder, but several Iron Forge champions went on to become LEGO set designers, including Maxx Davidson and last year’s winner Dominique Boeynaems. Glory aside, it’s an amazing showcase of creativity and inspired parts use.

The first round, open to all, just concluded, which featured the minifig chair as the seed part. Here are the to-scoring creations from the 20 builders advancing to the next round.

Grant Davis integrates the seed part in multiple ways into this elegant cafe scene. The obvious spot is for the diner stools that flip the chairs on their back, but chairs are also used for the espresso machine and door panel. The biggest flex of all, however, is the sign which uses LEGO rubber bands and string to form the lettering and lines.

See the top-scoring builds from the other 18 advancing builders below

Making mecha the Mischief way

The aptly-named builder mischiefmecha has a knack for creating playful bots from surprising pieces. After a brief building hiatus, Mischief is back with a pair of fresh mechs with personality and NPU to spare. First up is Gahlok Stiil, looking good in light bright blue plating and grey greebles. Galidor limbs blend with car hoods to make a Transformers-adjacent bot who’s ready for action.

Next comes TOUNG, a bot with a dumpy body who looks like a very good boy with that lolling tongue and three wagging tails. Mischief deploys brilliant parts usage again, especially with those Bionicle masks as knees.

NPU’s better down where it’s wetter, take it from this Tidepool Princess

From jellyfish to deep sea monsters, underwater settings have long been a favorite subject for NPU flexes. LEGO’s recent Tropical Aquarium boasts one of the most colorful and eclectic mix of parts ever found in an official set, but this Tidepool Princess from nu_montag says “Hold my Beerracuda.” Some of the amazingly diverse elements on display – a DUPLO skirt, a Bionicle Barraki headpiece, and, most impressively, a gaggle of legs from a McDonald’s Galidor Happy Meal toy.

More Galidor and Bionicle elements are visible on the back side of the moc. These weird and organic-looking elements feel alien and out of place in today’s LEGO lineup of parts, so it’s always a treat to see them integrated into modern builds.

Eero Okkonen shows how its done with this golden Huntr/x tribute to K-Pop Demon Hunters

Over the past sixteen years, Eero Okkonen has created hundreds of incredible brick-built characters that utilize the full range of LEGO elements in bold and surprising ways. (If you’re not following Eero’s review+moc features on New Elementary, you’re missing out!) The Finnish superstar’s latest is a tribute to 2025’s breakout music and movie sensation, K-Pop Demon Hunters, as Rumi, Mira, and Zoey all get the Eero treatment. The ladies of Huntr/x have never looked better!

The trio of figures are built from a combined ~1,600 pieces. The characters also mark the first time that Eero is bringing his signature style of poseable character to the LEGO Ideas platform (you can vote for it here). As a constraint to improve the chances of a successful Ideas review, Eero limits the build almost entirely to elements currently in production.

As usual with the builder’s characters, the models look great from every angle and are highly poseable. Remarkably, Eero sticks to all “legal” connection techniques, with the possible exception of the eyes, which use minifig hands – a trick found in many of his character designs.

Click to see each character in close-up with building insights

Effigy of Dismay, a master class in parts usage

This latest creation from Panuvara is absolutely overflowing with details and part usage that makes it a treat to look at both from a distance and closer up. From afar, this build appears as an expertly shaped figure with an almost haunting skeletal form, and the intentionality to sparingly use what appears to be only 4-5 different colors in this build makes each portion of the build feel significant and unique. Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice all of the unconventional parts usage throughout this build. We’ve located Bionicle masks, skeletal horses (and a full non-skeletal horse!), a Scout Trooper helmet, an orchid blossom (of the Demogorgon variety), and plenty of other great details. What else can you find hidden in this stunning build?

A legendary bird for a legendary builder

Nathan Don, aka Woomy, is a moc legend who created many unforgettable characters in LEGO in recent years and inspired countless other builders before joining the Billund mothership as a set designer. When alex_mocs wound up in the position of creating a Secret Santa build for Nathan, it must have felt both an honor and intimidating. What to build for the builder who can build anything? The resulting gift, a bird called Shirakaze (meaning “white wind”), is a brilliant tribute to Nathan’s past works and a showcase of Alex’s talents. For inspiration, Alex looked primarily at Nathan’s Boreal Vixen, Avian Bonsai, and The Wizard’s Emissary, synthesizing colors, elements, and themes from each. The feathering techniques used on the head are especially impressive, with elements recessed into the skull to hide connections and create a beautiful crest. The dark red foliage is an elegant toch that helps the bright bird pop even more. It’s a gorgeous gift from one legend to another.

A Vic Viper in aeroskimmer form

When I first glanced at this Vic Viper from pyrefyre I thought it was a great micro-scale build…but there is a minifig hiding behind that transparent-black windscreen. Then came the rush of part recognition. Amidst the sharp angles of slopes, tiles and wedge plates, I saw the ball joints as the base of the struts connecting the engines. This design could stand in any scale, but it is particularly enjoyable holding its minifig.

From a heavy cement mixer spawns a lighter-than-air airship

In the skilled hands of LEGO extraordinaire Vincent Gachod a rugged Tipper Drum combined with some odd science bits to create an insect-like airship. The end result is like a fanciful blue beetle. He most certainly has a knack for figuring out how to use parts the rest of us don’t know what to do with. Based on these parts, he also has a knack for picking up rare sets: the science bits can only be found in four rare sets while the cement mixer resides in only one.

An alabaster fortress on the brick sea

Alex (bryckland) leaves no part wasted as this fortress protects the coast. Built for the French Feodalis roleplay campaign, every part selection by Alex is a joy. From a door handle to a ballista, from mushrooms to window bars, every piece has been placed with intention. And don’t miss the color selection either from top to bottom. The fortress’s dome gives a beautiful flair of faded copper, while the base shows its wear against the battering waves.

Alex also uses an approach for a classic castle feature that I had not seen before. Using the newer Brick 1×3 Half Arch back-to-back, Alex tops the fortress with great crenelation (word of the day!).

How did the jaguar get its spots? For this incredible LEGO model, from tires and more

Automaker Jaguar’s mottos are “delete ordinary” and “copy nothing,” and those mottos could just as well apply to builder Sakiya Watanabe, who, over just one year of building characters and creatures, has constantly pushed boundaries with LEGO parts use. Take a close look at the builder’s latest model and you’ll find surprises throughout. The face is dense with clever solutions, like a turkey nose, fabric tongue, and minifig arms. The rock base hides a Scout Trooper helmet, Power Miners monster mold, and what I think is a DUPLO baby hippo.

But the most exciting technique is the Jaguar’s spots, created by inverting tires and using minifig hair or brick configurations inside to create organic shapes. Perhaps there’s a bit of homage with Sakiya’s jaguar to DeRa’s incredible tiger, current on display in the Masterpiece Gallery in Billund.

Click to learn more about how the model was created