If you need a little more nostalgia in your life, you can get some teeny-tiny doses from these LEGO builds by Rick Brickham! Rick has taken on the challenge of miniaturizing a number of classic LEGO sets from years past. Not only are these great representations of the larger sets, they are examples of great building techniques in their own right. Let’s take a look at each build individually!
Click here for some close-ups!
The pirate adventure series One Piece is overflowing with larger-than-life characters, but Edward Newgate, aka Captain Whitebeard, aka “The Strongest Man Alive,” takes excess to new heights. To recreate this honorable ally to the Straw Hats in LEGO, builder lavishlump had to go big. Believe it or not, this model of the 666cm tall pirate emperor is to scale with the custom minifig of the captain’s number one, Marco the Phoenix. Lavishlump employs tiles to great effect to capture the captain’s chiseled physique, and the slight gap between plates in his head perfectly aproximates Whitebeard’s perpetually squinting eyes. The classic Islander horn piece makes for a dynamite mustache. But my favorite detail has got to be the use of a pearl gold handbag to connect the blade and shaft of Whitebeard’s massive naginata weapon.
With hundreds of colorful characters, dozens of whimsical pirate ships, and fantastic ports of call, One Piece and LEGO go together like skulls and crossbones. I hope to see many more LEGO tributes to Luffy and crew’s adventures on the Grand Line.
LEGO ships come in various shapes and sizes and are captained by different factions. Builder Andreas Lenander transports us to a scene where the Black Falcons are embarking on an adventure. The builder shows off with the construction and placement of the sails, as I’m sure those things weigh quite a bit. Undoubtedly this portion of the build presented a challenging task as well as a unique approach to a frequently visited part of a ship build. Brick-built sails are not unique, but the approach here diverges from the often-seen use of borrowed capes and other fabrics and provides depth and volume to the overall build. Although the sails are great, a closer look at each shipmate intrigues me as I try to determine where the hairpiece was borrowed. I see a couple of familiar options- Ariel? Leia? Finally, the water caught my attention. Although the approach is simple, it almost seems obvious now. I don’t know if this builder utilized a groundbreaking approach to depicting water via LEGO bricks, but I sure enjoyed seeing it for the first time here.
The LEGO Pirates theme might not have the range of sets that we’ve seen in City, Space, and Castle, but for many AFOLs, the Pirates flame still burns as bright as Captain Redbeard’s chin whiskers. For several years now, builder Marcin Dski (Sleepless Night) has been expanding on an original series of dockside modular buildings that bring to life the Golden Age of Piracy in stunning detail, and their latest addition is this majestic chapel. The façade features some attractive use of gold elements for detail work, but my favorite section has to be the powder dome, ribbed with flex tubes and cupola. Sleepless Night’s modular pirate journey started with a re-imagining of their favorite classic set, Lagoon Lock-Up. From there, they added Captain Redbeard’s mansion and a custom house, and now this lovely chapel to tempt freebooters with its golden façade. Here at TBB we are excited to see what other historic additions Sleepless Nights adds to this bootyful tableau.
Captain Redbeard sails again on this LEGO model by Okay Yaramanoglu! This whole build is a love letter to the classic Pirates set Red Beard Runner from 1996, with everything from the masts and crane to the fast-flying escort and hyper-cannons mirroring the details of the original set. The pair of rowboats used as “air” intakes is an inspired decision, and Yaramanoglu has added some great greebling around the deck using various small and textured parts. That said, those sailors on the prow are starting to turn blue. Maybe someone should get them a spare oxygen tank?
Ahoy LEGO Pirates fans! If this terrific scene of peril an’ plunder rings familiar, it should, especially if ye’ve been hitting the bricks since at least 2009… Still not seeing it? Take off your cosplay patch and feast both eyes on Ben Spector’s loving redesign of 6240: Kraken Attackin’ built for the Eurobricks “Space Pirates – Back to the Caribbean Galaxy!” competition. Every bit of character from the original is represented here, with added spicy space-y flavour – from the crate full of loot about to be lost to the deep, to the colourful plumage on the pirate’s flighted familiar, handsomely reimagined and lending a little air support here as a faithful mount. (A weather eye will have already spotted the repurposed scooter chassis element. No lubberly LEGO builder here!)
Ben really didn’t miss a detail from the original, all of them amped up and expertly crafted as you’d expect from both a contest entry and a modern LEGO set redux from a skilled builder.
If this cracking creation fills your sails, cast yer’ deadlights on the Brothers Brick archives by clicking the links below, for more ship-shape Pirate and Space-themed builds.
Seeking their fortunes across the stars, this renegade band of LEGO rapscallions aren’t just smugglers. They’re full-on space pirates, at least according to builder Librarian-Bot. Inspired by the 1993 set 6268 Renegade Runner, this creation was inspired by the “Space Pirates – Back to the Caribbean Galaxy” competition happening over at Eurobricks. The ship’s sail has been transformed into a large beveled wing, still striped in black and white. A large rocket engine has been added to the schooner’s aft section, and the large cannon mounted below the ship looks devastating!
Check out the engines and figs!
While I’m used to working with something that has a few more teeth, I always appreciate a great LEGO container. And Larsvader definitely provides with this excellent treasure chest. The black wrought iron hardware is well-made, with 1×1 round tiles dotting the creation all over to replicate the case’s many rivets. And the use of black flame decorations to form the keyhole is a brilliant bit of part usage. It’s almost as impressive as the great mass of LEGO coins that Lars has accumulated to fill up this trunk. It makes quite the treasure for LEGO Pirates fans from the 90’s.
The idea of space pirates is nothing new. After all, even in space you’re not safe from marauding villains. But what if we delve into LEGO’s take on pirates, and add some space to that? Step forward, Gregory Coquelz! One of the more unique sub-themes of LEGO pirates was the Islanders from the mid-1990s, which is where Gregory’s spacey inspiration comes from. And although you might expect one of the ships to be turned into a spaceship, it’s in fact King Kahuka’s mask which gets the starship treatment! It’s a really fun and well-executed idea. The red cockpit bubbles for the eye-holes are especially neat.
Seeing this LEGO creation by EMazingbrix reminded me of the adage that you can’t take it with you. I mean, life can certainly hand you some very delicious lemons but it all has to go somewhere after you’ve crossed the rainbow bridge. Take this pirate captain, for example; he was so darned close to his treasure! I’m no medical expert but I also get the hunch he’s very much expired, thus leaving that luscious booty out in front of God and everybody for someone else to pillage and plunder. Plus, EMazing (can I call you Emazing?) has used twelve frogs in accordance with a build challenge over at Iron Forge, which makes it extra hoppin’. If you’ll excuse me, I need to fetch a youngster in TBB’s IT department to help me set up a TikTok account so I can see all this hoppin’ booty I’ve heard so much about.
As a whole, the LEGO community’s original works of 2023 were absolutely astounding! Over those 52 weeks, we covered so many beautiful works of art, trying to highlight the very best created by builders all over the world. And with our shortlist in hand, we’re ready to identify our favorite of the bunch. The days of 2023 were marked with massive collaborative work, giant themes and creations that brought us together after pandemic isolation over the prior two years. And in that vein, we selected the excellent collaboration between Joshua Morris, Rod Fiford, Gavin Rich, and Handoko Setyawan. The Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2023 is Cerulean Straits.
More coverage of our newly-crowned winners below!
Made as a part of a collaboration with Colorado LUGs (LEGO User Groups) CoWLUG and DENLUG, this Imperial fortress by Evan Crouch is just one piece of a massive LEGO Pirates layout. The cliffside citadel has a beautifully-textured outer wall, and is capped with quite the military unit. The large cannon, shown mid-discharge, is an excellent touch! And the motorized windmill is well done, sporting a roof similar to the LEGO Ideas Medieval Blacksmith. But my favorite part has got to be the perfect coastline at the base of the cliffs. Trimmed in lime green vegetation, the two tones of tan are a great remnant of the waves coming in off the coast. Add to it some of the white-capped waves off the shore, and the setting feels almost alive, even in this still photo.
