Santa’s Day Off

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When Santa’s not making and delivering presents, looking after reindeer, or monitoring children’s behaviour, we’re pretty sure he enjoys some downtime in a biker gang. The beard. The extravagant outfit. The drinking. He’s a perfect fit.

Flickr’s Yuan He clearly thinks so too, having built this characterful mechanised vignette featuring a motorbike-riding Santa, a sleigh trailer in tow, and a very relaxed looking Rudolph.

Yuan has attached a motor to bring Santa’s Day Off to life, and you can see the creation in action via the link to their photostream in the text above.

Peace on Earth

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This Christmas will mark the fourth since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour Ukraine. There have been at least 400,000 casualties since then, with Russia continuing to target residential areas (breaking international humanitarian law) and civilian energy infrastructure (also breaking international humanitarian law).

This means millions of Ukrainians are currently without heating in freezing winter conditions. Children. The elderly. Babies.

But there is hope, with various charities risking their own lives to bring heating and supplies to civilians suffering and freezing near the front line. You can find one such charity below, where you can donate to help provide wood-burning stoves that may keep a baby from freezing to death this Christmas.

Dnipro Hope Mission

The excellent models featured in today’s post come from Flickr’s Konstantin, being a Russian 2S43 ‘Malva’ self-propelled gun and 2S40 ‘Floks’ self-propelled mortar respectively. There’s more of these (and lots of other Russian military equipment) to see at their photostream, and you can head to a warehouse near the front line in the East of Ukraine via the link above.

Merry Liftmas

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This is a Sennebogen 608 telehandler, which is used to lift things and people to and from high places. And its maker Ralph Savelsberg has absolutely missed a Christmas trick by not building a Christmas tree for it to place a star atop. Still, despite the festive omission it is a brilliant build, and includes interchangeable attachments on the extending and elevating boom, deployable stabiliser legs, and some excellent replica decals. You can reach for more images at Ralph’s photostream, where you can take a look at it not placing a star atop a Christmas tree via the link above.

Wipeout!*

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It’s nearly 2026 and we still don’t have anti-gravity vehicles. Engineers; get with the programme already. Fortunately Sony’s ‘Wipeout’ has filled the void for three decades, providing wild anti-gravity racing to electronic beats.

Cue today’s build, this superb recreation of AG-Systems’ ‘Wipeout’ racer from the iconic video game, complete with a mini-figure scale cockpit and a fantastic replica livery.

Newcomer Andre Lackman (aka djdrey909) is its maker, and you can see further of images of his AG-Systems’ racer (and a few of its competitors) on Flickr, plus you can read more about the design and build process as well as access building instructions so you can go anti-gravity racing for yourself at Andre’s excellent website.

*Today’s title song. Of course.

Old Red

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Some cars are so cool that they transcend their real world existence to become something greater. Far greater. This one of those cars.

Owned by previous LEGO designer Craig Callum, whose hand was behind several of the new vehicle sets that have been revealed on these pages over the years, this battered and rusty Ford Model-A Coupe hot rod ‘Old Red’ has become an official Hot Wheels toy, which means that for hundreds, maybe thousands of kids, it’ll be the single best car in all the world.

Of course we’re not ‘The Hot Wheels Car Blog’, and thus today we’re featuring a recreation of Craig’s magnificent hot rod in Lego form, courtesy of regular bloggee _Tiler who has recreated ‘Old Red’ beautifully, complete with Craig at the wheel. There’s more to see at _Tiler’s photostream via the link above, and you can read more about the original car (and than man that owns it) by clicking this bonus link.

Friday Farming

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We’re off to the farm now, courtesy of Konstantin of Flickr and these splendid agricultural machines. The first (above) is an MTZ ‘Belarus’ tractor made in, um… Belarus, whilst below is a very modern looking tracked combine harvester pouring grain into a very un-modern ZIL 130 truck. All are brilliantly detailed for the scale and you can bring in the harvest via the link above.

Wait For It…

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These days, everything is turbocharged. Which normally means a tiny engine, often with three-cylinders, fitted under the hood of a homogenous crossover. Sigh. But turbos used to be cool. Albeit laggy.

This is the BMW 2002 Turbo, one of the first turbocharged production cars, and powered by a 2.0 litre engine fitted with a 0.55 bar twin-scroll KK&K turbocharger that boosted power to almost 170bhp. Well, it did once the turbo-lag was over, usually a few seconds after you asked for it.

Launched in 1973, the 2002 Turbo’s arrival coincided exactly with the oil crisis, which meant it wasn’t exactly a success. The technology it pioneered however, is now fitted to almost every new non-electrified car on sale, and with the lag left in the past.

This excellent brick-built homage to the 2002 Turbo comes from brickphisto of Flickr, who has recreated it beautifully in 8-wide form. The doors, trunk, and hood all open, under the last of which is a replica of the M10-turbo engine that powered it, and there’s more of the model to see at brickphisto’s photostream. Put your foot down and wait a few seconds via the link above.

Big Green Bogie

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We’re on a bit of an Eastern European streak here at TLCB which continues with this, gyenesvi’s fantastic Zil 131 6×6, which replicates a monstrous real-world trial truck.

The 6×6 drivetrain is propelled by three Powered-Up motors plus a fourth to steer, with the wheels also turning a V6 engine under the hood. More impressive is the immense suspension, which is a combination of live-axle at the front and a tandem bogie at the rear, each with spring-loaded linkages. The result is some seriously impressive ground clearance, as displayed in the wonderful on-location shots, and you can recreate it for yourself too as gyenesvi has produced building instructions for the design.

There’s more of the Zil to see at both the Eurobricks forum and at Bricksafe, and you can pick a big green bogie via the links above.

Christmas Star

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It’s nearly Christmas, and so TLCB is entering the season of tenuously-titled festive posts. Cue this excellent FSC Star 21 tipper truck, which probably isn’t quite as important as the star that appeared two-thousand years ago over Bethlehem, but we still like it.

Created by Flickr’s Jakeof_ it captures the 1960s Polish truck superbly, including a working tipper with an opening tailgate too, and you can follow the Star to our infant saviour in a Bethlehem stable a building site in Poland via the link above.

A Little Nysa

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The vehicular oddity continues here at The Lego Car Blog. Unless you’re Polish, in which case today’s creation probably isn’t odd it all. It’s a 1960s Nysa N61, powered by a 2.1 litre 50bhp engine, a three-speed gearbox, and with a 0-60mph time of never. This lovely mini-figure scale recreation of the Nysa comes from previous bloggee K P, with a train front window, a ‘roller shutter’ cargo door, and best of all it appears to be carrying our favourite Danish bricks. Take a look at K P’s album via the link above.

The Lego Cow Blog

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This is, obviously, not a car. But for much of the world, it really is. And unlike a clapped-out hatchback, when it’s too old perform reliably it can become a delicious dinner. Flickr’s Andreas Lenander is the builder behind this fantastic rural transportation scene, and you can join the road to the market via the link above.

Get Your Uniknicks

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We love weird old vehicles here at The Lego Car Blog. Whilst other automotive sites are enthralled by the latest Lamborghini, we’re more interested in obscure British saloons, communist-era economy cars, and Japanese boxes. Or this.

‘This’ is a Werner Uniknick UK52/60, a 1970s German forestry tractor based on the already awesome Mercedes-Benz Unimog, but cut in half and then re-attached with an articulated pivot in the middle.

This tremendous Technic recreation of our new favourite thing comes from previous bloggee and TLCB Master MOCer Nico71, who constructed it for the recent BuWizz Gathering 2025 in Slovenia.

Powered by a BuWizz bluetooth battery and four Power Functions motors, Nico’s Uniknick features remote control four-wheel-drive via portal hubs, articulated steering via twin linear actuators linked to the steering wheel, and a motorised winch, plus centrally-oscillating suspension, a working and removable four-cylinder engine, and opening doors and hood.

It’s a build as impressive as the real-world vehicle it replicates, and you can recreate it for yourself as Nico has produced building instructions too. There’s much more to see at the Eurobricks forum (including links to instructions) and you can articulate your way there via the link above.

YouTube Video

LEGO Technic H1 2026 | Set Previews

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It’s just a few weeks ’til Christmas
And all through LEGO’s HQ
Our Elves have been stealing
Next year’s sets to preview!

Yes it’s time to preview the 2026 LEGO Technic sets, and we have nine brand new vehicles to bring to you! Plus one already previewed that really annoyed us. So is the rest of the H1 2026 Technic range any better? Let’s find out…

42218 John Deere 1470H Wheeled Harvester

The 2026 Technic range kicks off with this, the 42218 John Deere 1470H Wheeled Harvester. With just over a hundred pieces 42218 is about as small as Technic sets get, and yet it looks to be rather a good one. Pivoted ‘steering’, mechanical worm-gear boom elevation, and a simple grab mechanism feature, as does John Deere licensing that probably wasn’t really necessary at this scale but is nice nonetheless. Aimed at ages 7+ 42218 will cost pocket-money when it arrives next year and we rather like it.

42225 Yellow Motorbike

A refreshingly simple title from LEGO for a refreshingly simple set, this is the new 42225 Yellow Motorbike. Constructed from 151 pieces, 42225 features steering, a working chain-driven inline-triple piston engine, and zero licensing or stickers. It’s like mid-’00s Technic never went away. A decent pocket-money starter set.

42219 Monster Jam Grave Digger Fire and Ice & 42220 Monster Jam Sparkle Smash

It’s time for the obligatory Pull-Backs, and LEGO have certainly found a sweet-spot with the Monster Jam series. We’d have thought they would have run out of Monster Jam trucks by now but no, two more join the line-up for ’26. And one’s pink!

Aimed at ages 7+ 42219 Monster Jam Grave Digger Fire and Ice & 42220 Monster Jam Sparkle Smash bring around 150 pieces each, an array of colourful stickerage, and – in the case of the sparkly pink unicorn – may well be bought by a few adults for the pink and purple parts alone.

42221 NASA Artemis SLS Heavy Lift Rocket

LEGO Technic Space is back! After the surprise Space range of 2024, LEGO have decided to bring a real-world rocket to the Technic line-up. This is the brand new 42221 NASA Artemis SLS Heavy Lift Rocket.

Constructed from 632 pieces the new 9+ model offers a very unusual feature set (which makes sense as rockets don’t really have any moving parts to replicate). Hidden within its base, 42221 includes a tightly packed set of gears and a crank handle that allows the NASA Artemis to blast-off via the mother of all corkscrews, with the booster rockets separating as it does so.

Original and rather ingenious, expect 42221 to cost around $60/£50 when it’s cleared for launch in 2026.

42222 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport

There have been a myriad of officially licensed Bugatti LEGO sets over the years, echoing the myriad of special edition real-world Bugattis. This is the latest, the 771-piece 42222 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport Hypercar with functioning steering, a working W16 piston engine, opening doors and hood, a few choice stickers, and a continuation of the tie-in with the ‘Asphalt Legends’ video game that we still don’t understand.

Aimed at ages 9+ and arriving in stores next year for around $65/£60, 42222 makes the previously revealed 793-piece 42223 1966 Ford GT40 MkII Race Car‘s ’18+’ marketing look even more cynical…

42224 Porsche 911 GT3 R REXY AO Racing

Now we’re moving up a gear. This is the brand new 42224 Porsche 911 GT3 R REXY AO Racing Race Car. Dual-licensed by both Porsche and REXY AO Racing, 42224 recreates one of GT3’s most strikingly liveried racers in Technic form, and brings a whole lotta green to the 2026 line-up. And stickers. A lot of stickers.

42224 is a racing car though, so they’re rather appropriate here, and the model includes a suite of working functions to ensure it’s not simply a display piece. All-wheel suspension, working steering, a flat-6 engine (with the correct firing order), opening doors and front truck, plus functioning mechanically-operated ‘air’ jacks feature, as do a few new parts including transparent oval headlights.

With 1,313 pieces and an age of 11+, expect a price-tag around $140/£130 when 42224 races into stores in 2026.

42226 BMW M4 GT3 EVO

Next to join the 2026 Technic range is another GT3 racer, although whilst this one keeps the 11+ age of the 42224 Porsche 911 GT3 above, it drops the parts-count and scale back to that of the 42222 Bugatti. There must be some trickier building techniques at play…

The new 42226 BMW M4 GT3 EVO doesn’t seem to offer any more complexity than the other mid-size sets joining the 2026 Technic range though, with just shy of 750 pieces, working steering, opening doors, and a piston engine. It also looks every bit as hideous as its real-world counterpart, despite the stickers doing their best.

A few parts appear in new colours, the model ties-in with the ‘Asphalt Legends’ video game as per the Bugatti, and you’ll be able to get your hands on 42226 for around $65/£60 when it arrives in stores next year.

42227 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

Wait, wasn’t this yellow? There was indeed a yellow Technic Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, but the new 42227 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon adds 10% more parts to its 2022 predecessor and 100% more turquoise. It also adds a working engine, whilst retaining its predecessor’s working steering, pendular suspension, and – perhaps our favourite detail of a Technic model ever – a rubber duck (Google it).

With many parts making their debut in turquoise we suspect 42227 will be rather sought after when it lands in 2026, and it’s probably our pick of the line-up too. Expect to pay £55/$60 and to see this on the dashboard of many a real Wrangler Rubicon – alongside a rubber duck – by this time next year.

Medium Rare with Peppercorn Please

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Building inspiration can come from a million places. And in the case of today’s creation it came from the violent wielding of a tenderising hammer by its maker.

The ‘Blacktron Tenderiser’ is the work Flickr’s Rubblemaker who was inspired by his own use of the bludgeoning instrument. We want to question how a tenderising hammer works in the vacuum of space, and why you’d want to use one in the first place, but considering the builder’s proficiency with said tool we’re happy to remain ignorant and uninjured.

Take a closer look via Rubblemaker’s photostream at the link above.

Yule Logs

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It’s the first day of Advent, which means we can begin tenuously-titled posts vaguely linking to Christmas! Our first is a double too, as we have two magnificent similarly-scaled brick-built logging trucks.

The first is a Kenworth W900L 62″ Aerocab Flat-Top Sleeper, and it comes from Ben of Flickr who has captured truck, trailer, and log load brilliantly, with more of the model to see at Ben’s photostream at the link above.

Today’s second logging truck is this splendid P9 from the now-defunct Canadian specialist truck builder Pacific. Constructed by Flickr’s MountainGoat32 (weirdly there must be a lot more ‘Mountain Goat’s on Flickr than there are ‘Ben’s), this fantastic creation features posable steering, ingenious rubber-band pendular suspension, and a trailer that can be pivoted onto the rear of the truck, as per the real Pacific rig.

There’s much more of Goat’s Pacific P9 to see (including a few images revealing the clever techniques within it) at his Flickr album of the same name, and you can grab some yule logs via the link above.