I’ve always loved seeing new Treebeard MOCs, because he’s rarely ever built the same way twice. The variety of scales and building techniques we’ve seen used to create one of my favorite Tolkien characters makes it all the more interesting, and this Treebeard build from Ben Arkley is one of the most impressive yet. The sheer scale of this build is the first thing that sticks out, especially when you notice how tiny Merry and Pippin are in contrast.
Click to see more of this colossal Treebeard
It may take a long time to say anything worth saying in Old Entish, but you can describe this LEGO Ent by brickbuiltjosh in just one word: impressive. Treebeard (aka Fangorn) of The Lord of the Rings carries Merry and Pippin on his shoulders, probably a few stanzas deep into a really long song about leaves or something. His bark-like skin is captured in a wonderfully organic way, full of whips, curved elements, and dinosaur tails. His hands are handlebars, allowing for his fingers to spread. Each piece is arranged into an asymmetric whole that just works. Treebeard’s pose conveys a ponderous sense of weight and motion. According to the designer, large ball joints form the knees, hips, and shoulders, while his elbows are brick-built double hinges.
Treebeard is probably one of my favourite characters in the Lord of the Rings. Shaun Sheepa has created this superb LEGO version to cart the hobbits Merry and Pippin around. It’s one of the best versions I’ve seen! The knurled root feet are great, and the face is particularly good. The nose is made from a droid arm, the moustache from a couple of curved wedge pieces, and the eyes from some 1×1 stud with bar pieces. They combine to really sell this as a realistic walking, talking tree! Or at least as realistic as that can be…
Without a doubt, the Two Towers is definitely my favorite Lord of the Rings movie. I have fond memories of going to a small town theater with my friend to watch it soon after it had come out. The contrasting story arcs kept my attention in a state of absorbant wonder though I honestly remember the scenes with Treebeard the most. There were plenty of accompanying Lego sets for the movies but in their wake, fans have created intense models of their own to celebrate their favorite scenes. Craig Jansen was clearly inspired by the Last March of the Ents while building this massive model of Treebeard, Merry, and Pippin heading to Isengard.
Just check out the parts Craig used in this model! The first thing I noticed were the eyes. Treebeard’s eyes, almost glowing in the dark of Fangorn forest, have a distinct presence in the film. Craig did really well with them here. I thought those are printed eye studs but upon closer examination, I realized they were black technic bushings with yellow flextubes cut to fit inside. Simple but brilliant, I must say. They give the model Treebeard’s striking glare.