Once you get above 300,000 ft in the atmosphere, there’s nothing around to cloud your vision. Thus, the views from this micro LEGO city by Redverse must be outstanding. With micro building, the choice of parts makes all the difference. I particularly like the use of paint rollers to suspend the outer ring, and the bush with foil connector used on the front-and-center tower. I wonder what the stars look like from that highest height?
High-visibility equipment and overalls are as much a staple of building sites as spades, diggers and portacabins. They don’t come much more high-visibility than this fabulous excavator-walker-flamingo hybrid from Redverse. Inspired by artwork (and indeed a sub-theme, of sorts, called Tropicon) conceived by Yannick Godts, it makes great use of some of the more unusual colours in the LEGO palate. However, the local health and safety authorities likely won’t be completely happy. Sure, it’s all very high-vis, and our construction worker does have head and face protection, but no safety harness at that height? And working in swimwear? We’re not on holiday here, you know!
Redverse tells us that this is just a “regular barn owl” construction that’s been lying around not doing much until the picture was taken. It speaks to the quality of this particular builder that this is considered a throwaway piece! The upturned pyramid is an inspired choice for the beak. The wings use a relatively rare tan cockpit part which has only appeared in one set from back in 2001. In car nerd circles, finding a rare car in a barn is known as a “barn find”, so being a barn owl, this build fits right in!
For LEGO creations straight from the mind of a weird ten-year old boy, (I know, because I was one once) then look no further than Redverse. Apparently, my ten-year-old self is not the only one to have sketched out something like this. Chainsaw Man is a popular manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. This build, against that bold background, depicts the volume one cover. The story features Denji, an impoverished young man, who makes a contract that fuses his body with that of a dog-like devil named Pochita, granting him the ability to transform parts of his body into chainsaws. I mean, what kid hasn’t wanted to do that? Wikipedia goes on to say that Denji eventually joins the Public Safety Devil Hunters, a government agency focused on fighting against devils whenever they become a threat to the world. You see? My parents were wrong; job opportunities abound when you have chainsaws for hands and a face! Now if only I knew how to cash in on my deranged juvenile ideas.
Everyone remembers Bionicle, right? It was one of the themes that is credited with saving the LEGO company from ruin at the turn of the century. Six builders have recently decided to pay tribute to the Bohrok-Kal by reimagining these fearsome creatures. Redverse is one of those builders, and has combined the Bionicle villains with a much more obscure theme from around the same time: Spybotics. This theme was a subset of Mindstorms, and each came with a large cockpit piece which doubled as the programmable brick. 3807 Snaptrax S45 forms the inspiration for this creature, with the red cockpit being an obvious inclusion. The mirroring of the cockpit shape with the trans-red covers on the guns is a nice touch.
The tracks on the legs are also an homage to the 2002 set, but they aren’t just there to look cool! As well as its intimidating walking stance, this mech can transform into a slightly less aggressive form.
Bionicle was a LEGO theme from the early 2000s that mostly escaped my attention. But, if the entire line had been done in the style of Redverse’s Kane-Ra re-imagining, I might have taken a little more notice. In Bionicle lore, the Kane-Ra were buffalo-like biomechanical creatures with two front legs and a single tank-tread in place of any back feet. The biomechanical aspect of the creature is still obvious in the details of Redverse’s update. But the more naturally shaped body and details like four legs with hooves (cleverly made from Technic figure helmet visors) immediately call to mind an organic member of the Bovidae family.
But Redverse hasn’t completely abandoned what made the Rahi unique. The rear legs of this new Kane-Ra can transform into a set of tank treads to speed it across the Mata Nui landscape, just like its predecessor. It’s a marriage of function and style that has me wishing for Bionicle to make an official return.
LEGO fans will often borrow from each other’s work, but builder Redverse has taken that to a whole new level with this tribute to fellow builder Patrick Biggs. As a Secret Santa gift to Patrick, Redverse has created P.B. Vader, an avatar for Patrick dressed in a stylish suit and trench coat ensemble, with a matching Darth Vader helmet. To drive home the relation to Patrick, P.B. Vader is holding a microscale version of one of Patrick’s own creations, The Branching Elk.
Some LEGO fans are exceptionally good at thinking outside of the box. Redverse shows us they are one of those persons. Or are they thinking inside the box? Well, Redverse created a hermit crab inhabiting a LEGO Pick-a-Brick cup, and it doesn’t get much cuter than that. The PAB cup is instantly recognisable to diehard LEGO fans. Integrating it in your build is a really clever way to make sure you stand out. Using only red bricks for the body makes the two little black eyes pop. This build looks quite simple and that is what makes it elegant, elegant and cute. Let’s not forget about cute!
