Riding down a river on a barrel may not be the most efficient way to travel, but ABrickDreamer manages to make it look like a pretty fun ride in this vignette which reminds me of the iconic barrel ride from The Hobbit without the angry elves taking pot-shots. The builder made excellent use of multiple transparent power effects and other elements for the splashing water, and that waterwheel really packs in the details at such a small scale.
Robin Hood and Little John are taking a break from runnin’ through the forest as they hide from the schemin’ sheriff and his posse in this charming LEGO build by Isaiah Kepner. The thing that really makes the vignette fun, aside from the brick-built Little John and the sheriff’s minions, is the variety of textures that make the trees and foliage of Sherwood Forest come to life. It’s like one of those I Spy books you may have read as a kid: I spy a rifle, a broomstick, minifig hands, a whip, a halberd, a battle droid arm, and more. Are you able to track them all down?
I feel bad for Timmy, and I feel even worse for his LEGO Bionicle collection. Builder Magmafrost13 has taught this Constraction collector a lesson in gravity with this round 1 entry into the Bio-Cup competition. With all the excellent parts usage in this creation, it’s hard to pick a favorite. But the use of a pair of Kanohi masks to form Timmy’s surprised face and hair is truly inspired!
Have you ever wondered what’s behind the pick-a-brick bins at your favorite LEGO Store? Contrary to persistent rumors, there are no elves or advanced Mindstorms robots running the show back there. Builder Dominique Boeynaems takes us behind that Employees Only door to reveal a warehouse full of shelving, boxes, and a pallet truck that should be instantly familiar to anyone who has worked in retail. There’s always something charming about LEGO builds dedicated to the less glamorous aspects of city life and Domnique’s build certainly captures the satisfaction and grace that comes from a well-organized space. The shelves are especially delightful, tightly packed with a mix of colored tiles with a few recognizable micro builds like the Hogwarts Express, Disney Castle, and a botanicals bouquet. It’s nice to see the minifig employees finding joy as well in this adorably mundane vignette.
With Targaryens and their dragons once again fighting to control the Iron Throne (and Sunday night TV), what better time than to revisit the Breaker of Chains? Martin Studio recreates the Meereen Throne Room, where Daenerys ruled for 3 seasons before marching on Westeros. This was done as an entry into the Summer Joust “Stairway Tales” category. And what a grand staircase it is, filled with details to match the look of the location from Game of Thrones. While keeping to the original’s muted color palette, Martin brings out a little more contrast to great effect. I love how the dark red and orange show through the seams between white tiles on the stairway, recreating the mortar on the screen version. And the mix of outward-facing tiles, plates, and ingots recreate the engraved landing beneath the throne. The choice of minifig parts to recreate Missandei, Jorah, and the rest is spot on. It’s an exquisite remake of an iconic location, and just a great set of stairs.
Kids. They grow up so fast. One day they’re playing with LEGO and coloring books, the next they’re asking hard questions like, “Dad, why is our family different? Why do we wear these cardboard robot suits?” Builder duo Les Foutch‘s charming scene captures a moment between father and son that is both silly and heartwarming. Les Foutch were inspired by the cardboard robot from Collectible Minifigures Series 23, seen here bound inside the family album. The builders do an admirable job enlarging the retro robot costume for father and son, recreating details at two different scales. The child’s bedroom is wonderfully detailed with matching furniture and storage solutions that look like they could have come from Ikea, and shelves packed with everything a child could need, like Star Wars microbuild vehicles.
This scene was displayed by Les Foutch, members of Canadian QuéLUG, at last month’s Exposition Deux tonnes de briques. Looks like a magnifique show for all involved.
Evil though he is, Darth Vader is a bit of a badass. That’s sort of evident from the films, but it’s laid out in full, merciless glory in the Darth Vader: Imperial Machine comic series. Flickr builder h2brick is paying tribute to this run of comics in the best way they know — with some fab LEGO vignettes! We’ve got three to look at so far — there will be nine in total, which we’ll surely come back to. Might as well start at the beginning, right? In this one, half a Technic click hinge is used as the medical seat/bed legs, to great effect.
Have a look at numbers two and three after the jump!
This architectural scene by dicken liu would look right at home alongside the official LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings 10316 Rivendell, with arched airy towers in white, twisted trees, and a waterfall. Inside each of the two domed structures are giant green and blue gems worthy of the glory of Numenor. Several unique gold-colored elements are used as accents for the white towers, and the many steps carved into the rock in zig-zag patterns add to the mystery.
Being a Jedi seems swell and all, but all we ever see them do is fight, train, or fly around causing havoc. We never see them doing anything mundane, like the housework or taking the younglings to school. Josh (Sergeant Chipmunk)’s LEGO Jedi is partaking in that favourite pastime of the space-wizard: meditating. But instead of pondering the state of the cosmic Force, he should ponder the state of that floor! Those houseplants have gone completely out of control. You can’t take a step without tripping over one of the roots! Admittedly, the effect is incredibly cool when made out of LEGO bricks. But with this many trip-hazards in the Jedi Temple, OSHA would have a field day. Maybe best we keep the lightsabers hidden on their next visit…
As a super team, how do you make sure you’re in top fighting condition to take on anything from giant robots, to genetically engineered dinosaur people, to spineless alien gameshow hosts, to your teacher’s unborn twin? Lots and lots of practice. The X-Men’s Danger Room, here recreated in LEGO by Brickelangelo, is a mix of gymnasium and Star Trek holodeck that uses alien tech to create a full-sensory combat experience. Brickelangelo’s vignette supplements the official roster of X-Men minifigs with a few custom versions from (the big, as our mutant heroes train against Savage Land raptors and Tigertooth Sabertooth. The scene is packed with great details, like the rippling pixel effect as the slick tiled room transitions to holographic wilderness, the X-shaped door, and the signiture smoke poof as Nightcrawler teleports into position. Brickelangelo first shared his Danger Room a month ago but came back with improved photo staging to better appreciate the full model, which we much appreciate. With X-Men ’97 killing it on Disney Plus, Deadpool & Wolverine looking to crush summer box office, and LEGO’s return to the theme, Marvel’s mutants are having a moment. No doubt we’ll see more X-ceptional builds like Brickelangelo’s to add to our growing X-Men collection.
The forest awakens! When the forest is threatened, who speaks for the trees? If you’re lucky, maybe you get a lecture from a fuzzy orange Lorax, but if you’re in the primeval forests of Poland, you might have to contend with the wrath of pagan god Leshy. Builder Bard Jaskier‘s vignette depicts the Slavic force of nature in a style inspired by heavy metal art, with fearsome antlers, goat eyes, a mantle of flowers, and a body that blends bark and bone. As impressive as the central deity is, Jaskier packs the rest of the scene with detail and clever build techniques. Who would have guessed that palm fronds and bamboo could make such perfect dark forest pines? I’m always excited when LEGO fans take inspiration from a specific culture and use their models as a way to bring topics to a new audience, which Jaskier does here with Slavic folklore, just as he has with Polish history.
The Fallout TV show just dropped its first radioactive season, and like many fans of the beloved gaming franchise, I was quick to binge the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine. Better than fine, actually. The show is pretty great! On The Taste of Bricks, Philipp shows pays tribute to the premier episode with a LEGO vignette of Vault dweller Lucy’s first steps into the post-apocalypse. The anchor of this scene is the iconic Vault door with the number 33 in its distinctive font, which Philipp painstakingly recreates with a clever SNOT jigsawing of bright light orange slopes and tiles amongst dark grey. The sparse patch of wasteland completes the scene with weeds, bones and an empty bottle of Nuka Cola. Despite living in an ultra-violent world of mutants and marauders, Fallout’s Vault dwellers maintain a chipper American space-age outlook on life, which Phillip makes sure to include in his model. Not even the trauma of recent events can wipe that optimistic grin off Lucy’s minifig face.
Philipp is quite talented at capturing iconic TV and movie scenes on a small (16×16) footprint, including LEGO tributes to The Last of Us, the last video game series to get the prestige TV treatment. I’d bet my last bottlecap we’ll be seeing more Fallout moments from Philipp (and the rest of the LEGO building community) soon.