Category Archives: Town

Meandering the Medina

Sometimes it’s all about the shot. Photographed by Erik Frobom and built by Michael Willhoit this fantastic image captures a delightfully overloaded classic truck under an archway in ‘Medina Al Musawrah’, an enormous multi-maker collaborative display constructed for the Brickfair VA show.

A huge array of vehicles and buildings comprise the complete build, including the beautiful scene below, and you can take wander through the streets of ‘Al Musawrah’ at Michael’s Flickr album via the link above.

All Aboard!

If aliens wanted to snoop about unnoticed, we’re pretty sure they could do so with no problem whatsoever on public transport. Because despite the wealth of interesting sights on display, every single person on the train, bus, or tram will be staring solely at the 4-inch glass screen in their hand. Cue Jonah Schultz‘s marvellous railway platform scene, which includes an unusual visitor going completely unseen in a crowd of commuting mini-figures. Take a closer look at Jonah’s photostream via the link above… unless you’re reading this on public transport, in which case save it for later, put your phone down, and take a look around you. Who knows what you’ll see.

The Toyota War

Fought in 1986-’87, the ‘Toyota War’ was the last phase of the nine-year-long Chadian-Libyan War, which ended in defeat for Libya and Colonel Gaddafi (who started it by invading Chad) and the return of Chad’s seized territory.

It’s also possibly the only war named after the make of the pick-up trucks that primary fought it, with Toyota’s Land Cruiser 70-Series used prolifically on both sides, and – in Chadian hands – fitted with their French ally’s anti-tank missile launchers.

Of course countless wars since have been fought from the back of Toyotas, with the company’s trucks being the first choice of militias, terrorist groups, and legitimate armies, plus the UN and NGOs who try to piece broken communities back together again afterwards. In fact Toyota take this depressing usage so seriously in some markets they removed the ‘TOYOTA’ lettering from the back of their pick-ups to avoid the link with the conflicts in which they were so heavily used.

These two excellent 70-Series Land Cruisers from any one of the wars in which they so often feature come from TLCB debutant ORRANGE., who has photographed his models against a suitably deserty backdrop which we’re so familiar with seeing on the news.

A closer look is available at ORRANGE.’s photostream and you can head to a sad and usually pointless conflict somewhere in Africa or the Middle East via the link in the text above.

Surprise Party

It’s time for a heart-warming vignette. It’s 1950s America, and the three well-dressed fellows have arranged a surprise birthday party for their compatriot, driving him to the secret location in the back of their pick-up truck. They’ve even thoughtfully covered his eyes so his surprise isn’t spoiled! We’re sure he’s going to enjoy it and you can join the fun courtesy of Roman Shemis of Flickr, where there’ll definitely be balloons and cake.

Jack of All Trades

The Mercedes-Benz Unimog is not, technically, a truck. It is in fact a universal tractor, with literally dozens of different applications. Which probably explains why dozens of different Unimogs have appeared here to date. Today we can add one more, a 1980s Unimog U1400 Agrar courtesy of Sseven Bricks of Flickr. A front PTO allows any number of tools to be added in front of the cab, whilst a big cage behind it means any number can be added at the back too. There’s more of Sseven’s model to see on Flickr and you can take a closer look via the link above.

Picking Cherries

Cherry pickers seem to rarely pick actual cherries. Fixing telephone wires, street lamps, and lopping trees sure, but cherries no.

Cue Ralph Savelsberg and this excellent mini-figure scale Mercedes-Benz Unimog, complete with a rear mounted hoist able to elevate and rotate to pick the juiciest cherries. Or fix a rural community’s broadband after a storm. But whatever.

There’s more to see at Ralph’s Flickr album and you can take a look via the link above whilst this TLCB Writer heads to the fridge in search of fruit…

The Great Exhibition

Held in an enormous temporary structure in London’s Hyde Park, the ‘Great Exhibition ‘ of 1851 was a triumphal showcase of the British Empire. Sponsored by the world’s first soft drinks company, featuring the world’s first public flushing toilets (which cost a penny to use, hence the phrase ‘spend a penny’), and with the world’s largest diamond at its centre, the equivalent of one in three of Britain’s entire population visited the exhibition during its five-month run.

Exhibits ranged from art, jewellery, and ornaments from across the Empire, to the world’s first fax machine, the world’s first voting machine, prototype Colt revolvers, and a weather forecasting machine powered by leeches. Because 1851.

Cue this astonishing creation by bartsbrickworks of Flickr, who has reimagined the Great Exhibition (and the remarkable Crystal Palace that housed it) in a LEGO Adventurers / steampunkish universe. There might not be leeches, but a steampunk submarine, space rocket, and time machine are amongst the varied exhibits on display to an enthralled crowd of mini-figures, with much of the model motorised to bring the contraptions to life.

There’s so much more of this incredible build to see at Bart’s ‘The Crystal Palace’ album, and you can purchase your ticket to an amazing exhibition of wonder and whimsy via the link above.

Saturn Streamliner

This has the ring of genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car monorail to it. Gettit? Because of the ri… OK, we’ve done better. Just be thankful we didn’t lead with a ‘Your Mom’ joke*. Anyway this marvellous contraption is a ‘Saturn Streamliner’, a suspended railway passenger train operating from an alternate timeline. Flickr’s Nannan Zhang owns the mind behind it and you can buy your ticket at the link above.

*The Saturn Streamliner is able to service an entire city. Just like your Mom. / The Saturn Streamliner has gone through more rings than your Mom has. / Large, heavy, but a quality ride… etc.

Nightrain*

This – according to its talented maker AlienCat! – is ‘New Hashima District 8’s Shipping Yard 81’, where immense hover trains depart the, um… station(?) pulling their wares of spacey goods. OK, we’re well out of our depth here, but it’s a) a phenomenal build, and b) it’s allowed us to tenuously link to peak Guns ‘n Roses. There’s more of Aliencat!’s ‘District 8’ to see on Flickr, and you ride the Nightrain (never to return) via the link above.

*Today’s wild title song. Of course.

T-Time

It’s T-Time here at The Lego Car Blog, because we have two fabulous Ford Model-T hot rods to share. Each is the work of regular bloggee _Tiler, and include a pull-back motor concealed within for added floor-based fun. There’s more to see at _Tiler’s photostream, and you can pull-back and let-go via the link above!

And Now For Something Completely Different…

Um… well this is… Ok, it’s a… well there’s a school bus, and a Metroliner, and a truck atop a V10 boat engine, and, um…  Perhaps it’s just best if you visit Renuad Petit Lego‘s Flickr album. There’s no explanation there either, but it’s probably better that way.

Oh Deere, Oh Deere, Oh Deere…

Yes, we know it’s been days since we last published anything, but our Elves found nothing that met our Submission Guidelines. Today though, thanks to a reader, if you’re a Lego tractor fan, we have three!

They’re all variants of the Johne Deere 8R Series, outfitted with two tracks, four tracks, and four wheels. Each comes from previous bloggee Reddish Blue, and not only are they superbly built and presented, they feature some neat working functions too, including a mechanically raising rear hitch and a working power-take-off driven by the tracks or wheels, depending on the configuration.

There’s more to see at Reddish Blue’s photostream, and you can go farming via the link.

Float On*

We’re not sure what happens in the future that requires everyone to float about, but it’s a common trope amongst sci-fi builders. Cue TLCB debutant Brickleas, whose ‘Cyberpunk Island’ captures our seemingly inevitable floating future wonderfully in brick. A hover van, hover bike, and robot mechanic all feature, and you can float on via the link above.

*Today’s floaty title song.

Vintage Vegetable Vignette

This site is, admittedly, usually full of vehicles with stripes, spoilers, and V8s. But we’re actually rural bumpkins at heart, so we’re also rather fond of vehicles and scenes like this one.

Constructed by Andrew Tate (no, not that one), this lovely vintage vignette captures truck trading from decades gone by, and you can take a look at a quieter time rebuilt in brick via the link above.

Training Day

Yes we’re a car blog. When we’re not making Your Mom jokes or referencing Putin’s tiny todger. But we’re a train blog today, courtesy of this fantastic K-Class steam locomotive crossing a truss bridge at the Brickvention 2025 show. Photographed (and built as part of a collaboration) by Flickr’s narrow_gauge, there’s more to see via the link above.

And what’s better than one enormous train-based diorama? That’s right – two! Which is the nerdiest sentence we’ve ever written. But no matter, because TLCB Master MOCer mahjqa joins the railway shenanigans here at TLCB with one of the most brilliantly engineered creations we’ve seen yet.

Also constructed for a Lego event, mahjqa’s Friends railway (the LEGO theme, not the TV show) includes a remote control crane so gloriously playable we could watch it all day. And fortunately mahjqa filmed a whole day’s worth of it in operation, so we can do just that.

Join us watching it load and unload in delightful smoothness on loop via the video below, plus you can check out the discussion thread on Eurobricks here.