In my opinion, rats have earned an unfair reputation… maybe it started with the whole bubonic plague thing, or maybe it’s the fact that they have a tail that looks like a snake. Whatever the reason, I think that we can all agree that this rat by Felix Jaensch is anything but common. The subtle angle on the side of the face is a nice touch, and the underside of a round plate for ears, along with simple sloped parts for the hands and feet are simple but effective.
We’ll soon return you to your regularly scheduled Baby Yoda or Star Wars spaceship or whatever you folks are demanding more of but first I wanted to show you this cute near life-sized rat built by Keiichi Kamei. The rats that occasionally invade my backyard are a bit bigger than this but his stance, his little ears, his bare tail and even his hands are all pretty spot on. I’d be more agreeable to sharing some cheese with them if they weren’t so invasive in real life.
This is not quite instructions but you can sort of reverse engineer your own with the help of this photo. Neat, right? We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
LEGO has revealed two new sets to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year: 80104 Lion Dance and 80105 Chinese New Year Temple Fair. Both sets feature an incredible amount of new prints, recoloring of pieces and a significant amount of minifigures which all combine into a large festival setting. So today we have your first look at the sets and minifigures along with a video for each.
Honoring LEGO’s commitment to offer regional exclusives sets worldwide, the two new LEGO Chinese Traditional Festival models will launch in China and the Asia Pacific region starting December 26, 2019 with global availability beginning January 10, 2020.
Click to see all the details about the new Chinese Traditional Festivals sets
This terrifying vignette by Victor has a lot of phobias on display: arachnaphobia, ophidiophobia and even musophobia! It is titled “Nightmare” and that is quite an apt description. Waking up in a room of creepy critters is pretty high up there on my list of nightmarish scenarios.
The spiders, rats and snakes dominate this little model but it’s the room with its furniture and details that are really the stars of the show. All the furniture is expertly done and gives the room a modern feel. The black and white cabinet on the left with its doors of varying sizes, the white bedside table and the plant stand are particular stand outs. The lamp in the corner is also nicely crafted. The bed is a terrific little build with some creative parts use to make the rumpled blankets and give the illusion that the minifigs are tucked not-so-safely in their bed.
Then there are the little subtle details. The phone charger is a brilliant touch along with the above-bed light switches and glasses on the brown bedside table. They really make the room feel lived in. The use of Olaf’s buttons tile to make an electrical outlet is particularly inspired. The printed tiles used to make the rug have been used in quite a few Star Wars and Nexo Knight’s sets, and the repetition of it makes the perfect floor covering. The attention to detail even extends to the bedhead on the sitting minifigure.
Good luck trying not to think about this as you’re falling asleep tonight. In the immortal words of Elvira, “Unpleasant dreams!”
