Tag Archives: Robots

Drumming up a dynamic LEGO musician mid-session

Steve ‘Rubblemaker‘ Marsh is well-known for his unconventionally-shaped spaceships. But he has more strings to his bow than just spacecraft! That’s proven by this snap of a robot drummer mid-jam. It’s deceptively large: red wheels, 4 studs wide in diameter, make up many of the smaller toms. But the drummer’s dextrous limbs are where the real complexity lies. According to Steve, achieving this dynamic pose required “independent movement in its neck, fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, waist, hips, knees and ankles”. So you know, just about every joint there is. Well, it was certainly worth the effort!

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From liminal LEGO spaces to fruity robot friends

In this house, we are big Pan Noda fans. And speaking of houses – normally, that’s precisely the kind of thing we’d be featuring from one of the best liminal LEGO space creators. But of late, Pan has been experimenting with other types of MOC, and we’re equally enthralled. We’ve got a couple of yellow mechs to feast our eyes on here, the first being the Banana-Automaton. There’s some clever parts use going on here: a yellow life-ring atop the head, chain-link treads to add some heft (and nice texture) to its limbs.

Those treads appear in its bigger sibling, too. This is the Pinea-Automaton, which looks designed to carry a pilot. Despite their differences, the common design language makes it clear that these are from the same family of automata. A scout and a heavy, perhaps? Presumably those blade weapons aren’t for preparing a fruit salad…

“Sorry about the mess. I’ve really let the place go since you killed me.”

Combining AI and LEGO is a sure path to controversy, but there’s one version of this toxic combo I’ll always support – brick-built versions of Portal’s GLaDOS. Coosey Goosey gives the video game villain GOAT her due with this incredible recreation of Chell and GLaDOS’ reunion in Portal 2. The builder takes advantage of newer elements for a wonderful mix of curves and cyber-greebles.

Coosey Goosey frames this fated reunion with a wonderful slice of the overgrown Aperture facility. Visible from behind, a Companion Cube lies nestled in the debris.

As happy as it makes me to see GLaDOS still alive in brick form, I do wish I could battle wits with her again in a new game. Then again, why mess with perfection?

A LEGO Rozzum always completes its tasks

The Wild Robot is one of the most charming and lush animated films in recent memory and the protagonist, Roz, is up there with Wall-E and the Iron Giant as one of the all-time great screen robots. Builder Brickswick capturing the big-hearted Roz with tiny bricks. A ball turret, typically used for Star Wars lasers, makes a pacifist turn as Roz’s round body. The sticker damage comes courtesy of a Spider-Man: Homecoming set, capturing Roz after a year of roughing it. That’s how you build a wild robot.

Solarpunk BOTanist spreads saplings and smiles

Between OpenAI and Tesla bots, I’m not feeling so rosy about the automated future promised by Silicon Valley these days. I’d much prefer autonomous machines of the Wild Robot variety, decoupled from capitalism and just out to help. Like this LEGO fella from Maxx Davidson! Inspired by the art of Victoria Orolfo, this BOTanist is programmed to help its precious plant cargo find the perfect place to take root. Maxx’s robot design is a spot-on tribute to his inspiration but it’s the little patch of terrain that hints at a bigger story. Maybe this little bot could help WALL-E with repairing a neglected future Earth.

Ever wondered what happens to all your junk when you’re not looking?

We all have ‘The Drawer’. You know the one – the place where everything from keyrings and screwdrivers to LEGO bricks and old batteries go to be forgotten about. Well, Maxx Davidson hasn’t forgotten them… Or rather, he hasn’t been allowed to forget them. His odds and sods have assembled themselves into a robot! There’s quite the collection of brick-built bits here, including a bobbin of thread and an air freshener. A bit more out there – but still technically LEGO – is the Bionicle Barraki key ring. Let this be your reminder to clean out your junk drawer!

Devastatingly good G2 Constructicons merge for the thrill

As an 80s kid ~~brainwashed~~ enriched by cartoons and Toys R Us commercials, of course I went through a Transformers obsession, and there was no toy I craved more than Devastator. The OG Combiner, he was like evil Voltron. LegoGuy31 is also a fan of Megatron’s metal muscle, having created an impressive LEGO Devastator sporting his G2 yellow colors. This scale strikes a perfect balance between detail and play functions without requiring a massive investment in parts.

LegoGuy31’s model can unmerge into the full crew of Scavenger, Scrapper, Longhaul, Hook, Mixmaster, and Bonecrusher. While the Constructicons of my childhood will always be fluorescent green, there’s no denying that they look great in yellow, especially in vehicle form. LegoGuy31 shared a video showing how each part combines to form Devastator.

If you miss Devastator in classic G1 colors, legendary builder Alex Jones has you covered with perhaps the greatest LEGO x Transformers project ever assembled.

Robot dogs are man(agement)’s best friend

They say that the dog is man’s best friend, right? So here’s a question, prompted by Devid VII‘s excellent LEGO hardsuit-and-robot combo. Do robot dogs still count as being your best friend? Surely there’s no reason why not. Even if it’s your colleague? Well, that might depend on its purpose. With a hardsuit such as this it’s fairly obvious: it makes lifting stuff easier, travelling faster, and gives a bit of extra protection. But what is this dog here for? Quality control? Worse still, could it be this guy’s manager? Don’t get me wrong, I have a good relationship with my superiors. But I’m not sure I’d be taking them for walks or playing fetch with them…

FrogNation lands at BrickCon 2024

I write this from my hotel room, having just packed up all my LEGO builds at BrickCon 2024 this past weekend. Of the many highlights this year was the headlining presence of longtime attendee and TBB alum Simon Liu. As per usual, a contingent of plastic frogs tend to follow Simon wherever he travels. And this year, an army of his robotic hoppers arrived in this beautiful carrier on the convention floor. There were so many that a miniature version of this robo-amphibian jumped right into my crate as I was packing up my creations (as also happened to may other BrickCon attendees). Thank you very much, Simon!

A pair of experts in LEGO bot-jitsu

It’s not every day we get to see a pair of pugilist automatons like in the “RoboDojo” by LEGO builder Rubblemaker. As Light Gray lands a powerful flywheel kick, we can see the sparks shoot out of Dark Gray’s noggin. Each bot looks wonderfully posable, capable of all kinds of bashes and blocks. But my favorite bit has got to be the pair of gold wheels in the back wall. It feels like such an appropriate fusion between martial arts decor and machinery.

Always the optimist, Apex Legends’ Pathfinder is psyched to exist in LEGO form

Featuring a sweet Dick Tracy-style noir outfit, Pathfinder from Apex Legends comes to life in LEGO thanks to the work of Eric Tsai. There’s quite a bit of expert character craft here, especially in the recreation of this MRVN unit’s signature abilities: a sweet grappling hook on the left arm and a zipline gun on the right. I adore how the bot’s myopic noggin is put together, as well as the smiley face on his chest replaced with a mustachioed 1×1 tile.

A triple transformer that’s too tiny to transform? Try again...

In his review of 10338 Transformers Bumblebee, Kyle mentioned that the yellow Autobot’s large size was likely down to the transformation requirement in LEGO form. Clearly, Grantmasters read this and took it as a challenge. He, too, has created a LEGO Transformer. And this one is tiny! It depicts Blitzwing, a Decepticon with as many personalities as he has transformations (three). He is depicted the way he appeared in the animated series rather than in the 2018 Bumblebee film, which results in a snazzy purple-and-tan colour scheme.

But is he too tiny to transform? No! Now he can’t do all three transformations – even for a builder of Grant’s skill, that’s almost attempting the impossible. But still, being able to transition Blitzwing between his jet and robot forms is seriously impressive at this small scale!