Tag Archives: Sports

A different kind of alley in LEGO city.

Bowling is one of the great underappreciated sports – if I can’t drink a coke and eat a basket of cheese sticks between my turns, it’s not a sport I want to play. That’s why I love this tribute to the game by Andrew Tate. The blend of earth tones and bright blues captures a mid-20th Century feel, during what was probably bowling’s heyday. And, speaking of cheese, Andrew has made incredible use of cheese wedges throughout. Obviously, the designs built into the wall and floor are strike-worthy. But stacking the slopes on the shelves for a quick and clever rental shoe display is perfection.

Atom Bowl

But every alley needs an iconic retro logo to go with it. Check out what Andrew came up with to advertise his lanes. I can smell the rental shoes already!

Atom Bowl

In the running for the Bio-Cup, literally

Some people record themselves while exercising so they can check their form. But LEGO builder and TBB-regular Eero Okkonen thinks it’s better to mind meld with your cyber avatar before heading out for a jog instead. In a bit of Bio-Cup mastery, these figures each display such astounding comprehension of the human form. The large-size avatar features beautiful angles, and not only those achieved by the use of the flexible tubing. For instance, the articulation in the feet is a work of art, differentiating the flex of each shoe to accurately match a runner’s gait. But the normal-size runner is no slouch, employing an interesting technique to sculpt and pose the arms at right angles.

Power Song

When LEGO and basketball mix, it’s nothing but net!

You can keep your LEGO minifigures, because I’m an absolute sucker for brick-built people. And Cecilie Fritzvold provides two teams-worth with this homage to b-ball. In this first shot, we see a player going up for a dunk, with his outstretched arm palming the ball as he ascends upward over the defender. Bar and clip connections, angled parts, and ball joints are all employed to bring this scene to life. I can almost hear the labored mid-air shout followed by an inevitable crash of that outstretched hand as it grabs the rim.

And 1

But this is only one side of the court made by Cecilie. At the other hoop, we have a spirited game of 3-on-3. I love the unique takes on athletic wear and jerseys on all the players, each one sporting their own style. I also appreciate the intentional positioning of the players: the guy in black and yellow setting a pick, while the player in red calling for the ball down on the post. And all of this great action takes place in front of a gorgeous bit of wall art, spelling out “HOOPS” with an appropriately-themed double-O. Even the court is LEGO, utilizing an interesting technique to form the top of the key. Forgive me, but I can’t wrap up this post without calling this build an obligatory “slam dunk!”

3 on 3

“I came in like a cuuu-rling stone!”

I love this fun scene from Ids de Jong. It depicts the beloved classic space minifigures enjoying a game of curling. While the curling stones are cleverly made using a Dots decorative piece, Benny has taken to launching himself down the… Whatever a curling playing field is called. A rink, I guess? Anyway, it’s much to the amusement of the onlookers, with the exception of the brown spaceman. He’s the only one who seems to have noticed the baby on the rink. What drama! For a relatively simple build, the careful posing of the figures and choice of facial expressions really breathe life into this scene.

Curling Practice

Celebrating Paralympian Gold

Sporting the Netherlands’ colors in honor of their gold and bronze medals this August, this Miniland-style figure wonderfully captures the motion of a record-setting athlete. Clever building techniques allow builder James Zhan to construct the jersey and shorts into the figure’s body. Nice parts usage in the elements for the hair partner with the positioning of the arms to help sell the feeling that the figure is falling. The figure’s prostheses are posed for the furthest distance while their entire body is suspended with a clear stand.

Womens Long Jump T64

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“There is nothing, absolutely nothing, quite so worthwhile as simply messing about on bicycles”

Cyclist Tom Kunich said it best. As an avid biker myself, I love a sturdy frame that can hit the trails without giving me a beating. Let’s go for a ride on the Liteville 601 by builder 1corn.

Liteville 601

This build is mostly Technic pieces, which provided 1corn with plenty of rigidity in the frame, essential for a good mountain bike. It looks like the builder was dedicated to making this function with all the different orientations used to model the frame. You just have to appreciate its pragmatism.

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A cozy ski chalet with a working lift [Video]

Jason Allemann typically builds kinetic sculptures without minifigures in mind. But this time, he’s decided to come at it from the little guys’ perspective! The most recent addition to the JK Brickworks collection is a cute little LEGO ski chalet. Now it’s time to hit the slopes, so come with us as we take a tour!

Ski Hill and Chalet

In general, it has lots of character and fun details, but the most prominent feature is, of course, the lift. When the skier is placed at the bottom, the mechanism effortlessly carries the figure to the top of the slope. It’s a slick mechanism, and the only thing that would make it better would be if the skier came back around on his own to be picked up again.

Click to see more of this build and watch the whole video.

The legendary big three – the ’96 Chicago Bulls

If you were growing up as a kid in the 90’s, without a doubt you had to be a fan of the Chicago Bulls, at least I felt that way during the time. Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, and Scottie Pippen weren’t just great basketball players, they were icons of the sport and the era. Takamichi Irie brings back some of the vibes of those days through his figural LEGO builds of the dream team.

The BULLs

Irie shapes the bodies of the big three completely out of bricks, with musculature utilizing sloped pieces. Smooth pieces such as tiling, slopes, and 2×2 round bottom plates also help in rendering the legs and arms of the figures while articulation is provided by 1×1 modified plates with clips. The Nike swoosh on a couple of the players’ shoes are portrayed by claw pieces. The heads of the players are given some definition with 1×1 tiles and cheese slope pieces. While the bodies are blocky, human figures are extraordinarily difficult to render using bricks, especially at this scale. I believe Irie’s combination and configuration of elements really produced the closest one can get to recreating these figures in LEGO at such a size. Looking at the build as a whole, I remember the glory days of the Bulls’ past, but I am also reminded that I need to check out the Netflix docuseries on the Chi-town bulls – The Last Dance, which may have inspired these awesome models

Champion of the velodrome

Fixed gears, no brakes, and eye-watering speeds – what more could an adrenaline junkie want? If you’ve never watched the sport of track cycling, I’d highly recommend visiting a velodrome (or at least watching it on TV during the Olympics this summer). It’s not just biking in circles. These insane athletes zip around the bowl-shaped track, vying for position like gravity-defying daredevils. Being aerodynamic is key, as demonstrated by this LEGO kinetic sculpture, built by George Panteleon.

Track Cycling (Motorized)

Though the mechanism is simple, it’s so satisfying to see the rider’s legs “pedal” the bike. My favorite elements of this build (other than the fact that it actually moves) are the paint-roller handlebars and the shoulder armor turned helmet!

We’ve also featured several of George’s vehicles, a giant watch, and some outstanding character sculptures!

Chicago’s hockey legend is padded up in LEGO

Here come the Hawks, the mighty Blackhawks! I am not a sports guy, but I respect athletes who have brought a semblance of glory to their hometowns. Especially when I have lived in that town for over a decade, and exceptional athletes become the local heroes. Teacher and LEGO artist Dave Kaleta has built a large sculpture of a Chicago Blackhawks player Jonathan Toews. Being a Chicago native, Kaleta chose the Blackhawks team captain as the subject to commemorate the new hockey season. This build not only serves as cultural imagery for hockey fans and Chicagoans but as just a realistic and detailed representation of a talented sportsman. In addition to the dynamic posing of the skating Toews, this massive sculpture is packed to the brim with interesting building techniques.

Jonathan Toews (2020)

One can examine the photo for at length to see how he has assembled the details like the numbers and the Blackhawks logo. Since I don’t have much to say about hockey, I can talk about the build itself!

Read about the details and a little bit of LEGO-related hockey trivia I could conjure up!

Holey moly this is one cool sports shop!

Welcome to a sporting goods store that sells itself before you even walk in! The look is inspired by a real store in Japan, but in LEGO it can’t be more gorgeous. What’s even better is that this render, created by Aukbricks, is actually completely buildable, with all the parts existing in their appropriate colors.

Sporting Goods Store

But if the outside isn’t beautiful enough, the inside is incredible. The zoom-worthy photos will make you fall in love even more. Every detail is perfectly placed, and essentially covers every bit of minifigure sports equipment LEGO has ever made. Even the brick-built equipment is perfect, from the treadmill to the ping-pong table. And I’m a big fan of the frogs used to create a rock wall on the third floor.

Sporting Goods Store

If you love this you should also check out Aukbricks’ Friends kitchen and family house. And for something totally different, she even made a giant minifigure!

Snow’s up, dude!

“Dashing through the snow, on a rocket powered board. O’er the slopes he’ll go, with his elven horde. Jingle build! Jingle build! Jingle all the way! LEGO 7‘s clever Santa makes us shout ‘Hooray!'”

With the singing out of the way, I love this unconventional portrayal of old Saint Nick. Santa’s pose captures the spirit of snowboarding, right down to the jumper plate representing his mouth shouting “woo!” His white beard flowing in the wind conveys a sense of speed.

Santa Snowboard Test

See more of this radical Saint Nicholas