Tag Archives: Set revamp

How about a slice of 1994 nostalgia with extra cheese?

Fresh out of the oven, we have this nostalgia-laden creation by Kevin Wanner, revamping the classic LEGO set 6350: Pizza To Go. The added textures to the white walls of the kitchen feels like something from modern set design, as does the use of dark green in the color palette for the roof. The giant palm and expanded outdoor eating area are both welcome additions here. And I adore the choice to place this vignette on a circular cutout of street and sidewalk, as opposed to your typical, boxy baseplates. But by far, my favorite touch in this restoration is the adept use of the set’s original “Pizzeria” sticker, with part of it remaining as the shop’s sign, and the top slice circling the table’s umbrella. What an excellent idea!

Pizzeria Revamp

I am Maktooti, the bionic man!

This is what happens in the Multiverse of Madness! Over ten years ago, the story of Bionicle was as convoluted as some of the Marvel comics – full of overlapping story threads and alternate dimension-hopping shenanigans. At one point, it is revealed that there exists a version of the Bionicle universe where Makuta – the franchise’s big bad – isn’t big bad, but big good. Matt Goldberg built this alternate version of Makuta, with a bright colour scheme and elegance that oozes raw not-evil power.

Makuta of the Melding

Matt combines elements of LEGO’s original Makuta set and a build by Yannick Godts that was inducted into official Bionicle canon. As both of those were over ten years ago, and recent innovations in building made it possible for this character to be refined. For instance, LEGO introduced most of the current “constraction” pieces after Bionicle’s ending, and Matt uses them to great effect. He also includes regular LEGO elements in gold which match golden armour pieces from Legend of Chima buildable figures. Despite Bionicle having an aesthetic of greebly details, the clean look gives this Makuta a slick yet ancient look. And this is why many Bionicle builders love revamping old sets and characters.

*title is in reference to an actual Bionicle commercial from 2003

Johnny Thunder takes on the highest peak

I’m a 90’s kid. Early 2000s LEGO shaped my childhood, with Bionicle, Racers, Harry Potter, and Star Wars. However, one theme was grounded enough to offer a haven from all the crazy. Orient Expedition was the short-lived sequel/reboot to the popular Adventurers theme from the late 1990s. The theme follows Johnny Thunder and his team of explorers in seeking the lost treasure of Marco Polo. Similarly, Lord Sam Sinister also sought the treasure, but chose to try and steal it instead finding it on his own. GunnBuilding reimagines the 7417 Temple of Mount Everest playset, where the heroes and villains have a showdown on top of the world’s tallest peak.

7417: Temple of Mount Everest

Click to see more of this homage to Orient Expedition

Spiky is a sore loser

I have not been uploading much in terms of LEGO on the internet for the past few months. This was partly because I have not been building much, but also because I did not really photograph or edit much of what I did build. This situation is a bit different from the previous builds in that I got a (in my opinion) neat idea that I knew I could build quickly and wanted to share with the community as soon as I could. The result was Spiky‘s “racing” mech, inspired by the LEGO Racers 2 video game. Some may call LEGO Xalax Racers one of the worst themes of all time (and its place in LEGO history during the company’s worst financial years may be more than just a coincidence), but I loved it. Although I see it through rose-tinted glasses, I believe the theme had redeeming qualities in its unique figures and in tying closely into LEGO Racers 2.

Spiky is a sore loser

-Click to see another photo of the mech and read a little about the building process!>

Tarakava, terror of the shores

The earliest LEGO Bionicle sets were drastically different from much later sets in the series, along with the constraction (constructible action) figures of today. The classic Rahi set Tarakava that inspired this revamp by [Jack Frost] uses barely any ball joints or specialized weapon elements from the Bionicle theme. Despite this, I feel it embodies the spirit of Bionicle more than the theme’s later releases. This build is part of a series of Rahi set re-imaginings, of which we recently featured Muaka and a Colony Drone.

Tarakava

I love how the builder kept all the iconic pieces of the original set (or rather half of the set, as there were two creatures in the original), such as the dark turquoise Kanohi mask and claw weapon used to form the creature’s huge fangs. Then there are the older-style Technic panels on the face, which keep the model as silly-looking as the set from 2001. The repetitive use of other teal elements also adds a lot of spiny character to this amphibious predator.