The Robot Apocalypse…

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…is coming, and it won’t be sentient Matrix or Terminator-style death machines that bring it. No, it’ll be the humble mechanised workers that will rise up against their human overlords, bored of fetching, carrying, and operating under Amazon’s working practices.

Cue Tyler (aka Legohaulic)‘s pair of DHL robots; the self-explanatory ‘Autonomous Forklift’ and the mysterious ‘Locus Bot’. Each is a brick-built replica of a soon-to-be-terrifying DHL warehouse robot, constructed for DHL conference attendees that are unaware of the pandora’s box they’re opening.

There’s more to see of both builds at Tyler’s photostream, and you can take a look via the link above whilst this TLCB Writer hoards canned foods in the basement of TLCB Towers.

Greater Endurance

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After spending some time with your Mom over Christmas, she said we needed ‘more endurance’. Well today’s post will rectify that (we assume this is what she meant), with no less than five glorious historic Group C / Endurance racers.

Each is the work of TLCB debutant SFH_Bricks, who has recreated an array of classic Le Mans racer winners wonderfully in Speed Champions scale, with some of the best decals (courtesy of Brickstickershop) that we’ve ever seen.

From the iconic Rothmans Porsche 956 (top), the wild V12-powered Jaguar XJR-9 LM, the Sauber C9 (above) that was so fast along the Mulsanne Straight that chicanes were added the following year, the Mazda 787B (below) – still the only car to win Le Mans without using a reciprocating engine, to the Peugeot 905 Evo (bottom) that took victory in ’92, each is a near perfect Speed Champions replica of its amazing real world counterpart.

Each model is presented beautifully and all are available to view at SFH’s ‘Le Mans Collection Series’ album on Flickr, where you can also find links to building instructions at the Rebrickable platform. Click the link above for even more endurance.

Big Reach

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Reach. It’s a word we hear a lot in the running of a world-famous top-quality Lego site. OK, a mildly-known bottom-of-the-barrel Lego site. But nevertheless, we still hear it a lot. Countless messages offering great value reach improvement services are deleted with alarming frequency.

Anyway, today we have great reach, courtesy of TLCB favourite and Lego-building legend Sariel, and this incredible fully remote controlled Liebherr LTC 1045-3.1 mobile crane.

Powered by fourteen motors and three SBricks, Sariel’s crane can extend its reach to well over a meter, with a further half-meter boom extension possible on top of that.

Four Power Functions motors drive the boom’s elevation, extension and winch, another three the cabin boom elevation, extension and tilt, one rotates the superstructure, another folds the mirrors, two more the outriggers, and finally three power the drive and steering.

Over five meters of wires are hidden inside to link the motors, LED lights, LEGO battery, and SBricks, with the total model weighing almost 5kgs and able to lift ¾ kg.

There’s much more of Sariel’s superbly presented creation to see at his Liebherr LTM 1045-3.1 album, you can read how Sariel turned his hobby into revenue via our ‘Become a Lego Professional‘ series, and you can watch this amazing model in action in the video below. Click the links to reach the full content.

YouTube Video

Cyber Wednesday

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Cyberpunk is just one of the many sub-genres of Lego building about which we know nothing. Sci-Fi? Nope. Steampunk? Nope. Sky-Fi? Nope. Cyberpunk? Hard nope. To be honest if it isn’t a car built after about 1955, we’re going to struggle. In fact we’re constantly amazed that this site functions at all. Still, these two cyberpunkesque vehicles do look deeply cool, even if we have no idea what they’re for or do. Flickr’s incredibly talented Tino Poutiainen owns the mind behind them, and you can get the answers that we don’t have at his photostream. Click the link above to make the jump.

And Now For Something Completely Different*

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That lump of rock orbiting 550,000 miles above us all has only been landed on by one nation, the USA. But what if the Soviet Union had made it there too? Well the two countries would have fought over it, obviously.

Cue Shannon Sproule’s ‘Battle for the Moon‘, a retro-futuristic lunar conflict in which wind-up mechanoids, barely one step above pots-and-pans-robots, ‘battle for the ultimate high ground’. There’s more to see on Flickr, and you can blast off to pick a side via the link above!

*Link. Naturally.

LEGO Technic H1 2023 | Set Previews

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This week marks the start of a brand a new year, and thus, as is customary, our sneaky Elves have unearthed all the brand new for 2023 LEGO Technic sets! So, following our reveal of the awesome looking 42154 Ford GT earlier in the week, here is every new addition to the LEGO Technic line-up due to reach stores in the first half of 2023…

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42147 Dump Truck

Kicking off the new 2023 Technic range is this, the 42147 Dump Truck. Consisting of 177 pieces and aimed at ages 7+, 42147 looks like a great way to introduce Technic to younger builders, with working ‘HOG’ steering, a tipping bucket, and a good level of visual detail that reasonably approximates any number of generic compact trucks common across Asia in particular. 42147 costs around £9, can also be built as a rather decent looking excavator, and is available to buy now.

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42148 Snow Groomer

Alternatively, with the same target age and just one difference in the piece count, your £9 for a Technic starter set could be spent on this; the 42148 Snow Groomer. 42148 also looks pretty good to us, and includes mechanical levers to operate the front blade and the rear smoothing, um… thingy. Like 42147 above, an alternative model can also be constructed (in this case the worst-looking snowmobile we’ve ever seen) and is available to buy now.

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42149 Monster Jam Dragon & 42150 Monster Jam Monster Mutt

It wouldn’t be a New Year Set Preview without a pair of pull-backs. Fortunately after some dismal efforts a few years ago, LEGO seem to have struck gold with the officially-licensed ‘Monster Jam’ series, which are perfect for pull-back tomfoolery. 2023 sees another two real-world monster trucks from the American arena spectacular immortalised in brick-form, one of which is giant dog. There’s a green dragon or something too, but if you don’t want the giant dog there’s something wrong with you. Each set costs around £18, and both are available to buy now. Buy the dog.

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42151 Bugatti Bolide

Continuing LEGO’s partnership with Bugatti, which has produced such sets as the huge Technic 42083 Bugatti Chiron, comes the 905-piece 42151 Bugatti Bolide. Nope, we hadn’t heard of it either. Apparently the Bolide is a $4million track-only hypercar limited to just 40 units, due for delivery some time in 2024. Unless you buy this one of course, which is available now for £45. That price still seems rather a lot for a set that has only working steering and a miniature V16 piston engine for its technical features, but hey – it’s got lots of stickers, some new panels, and lightsabers for rear lights.

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42152 Firefighter Aircraft

This is more like it. Looking a bit like a Canadair CL-215 water bomber (but distinct enough not to require licensing…), 42152 brings some decent technical functions to the Technic line-up in aircraft form. And it can dump blue bricks from its hold.

Retractible landing gear, a working tail rudder, propellors that spin when the model is pushed along the floor (with its landing gear retracted), and a lever to dump the ‘water’ all feature, as do a few new pieces not seen before – including some curved corner sloped panels that’ll you’ll soon be able to find listed on Bricklink at an enormous cost. Aimed at ages 10+, 42152 is a welcome addition to the Technic hangar and will reach stores later this quarter.

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42153 NASCAR Next-Gen Chevrolet Camaro

It’s time for some double branding with this; the 42153 NASCAR Next-Gen Chevrolet Camaro. Looking rather good (albeit in a very be-stickered way), the new 42153 set brings next-generation NASCAR to the LEGO Technic line-up. And by ‘next-generation’ we mean, ‘exactly the same as NASCAR has always been’. Cue angry comments from NASCAR fans.

Costing the same £45 as the 42151 Bugatti-we’d-never-heard-of above, but with some 230 fewer pieces, 42153 looks to be even poorer value, featuring only a working miniature V8 engine and ‘HOG’ steering. It does look nice though, and will reach stores in March 2023.

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42155 The Batman – Batcycle

2023’s final new addition is this, the 42155 The Batman – Batcycle, which we should write in all-caps but can’t bring ourselves to. We haven’t seen 2022’s ‘The Batman’ movie, having decided that ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy cannot be bettered, but apparently this features in it. It’s no Tumbler…

But it is quite a nice looking motorcycle we have to admit, and includes an H4 engine, working suspension (via new shock absorbers in black), steering, and a phat set of tyres on new black rims. Expect 641 pieces, a 9+ target age, and £50 price-tag when 42155 lands on shelves in March 2023.

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And there you have it, the complete line-up of new LEGO Technic sets for the first half of 2023. Which new Technic sets do you think are worth having? Us… we’ll take the Ford GT.

Supernova

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Whilst both part of the General Motors empire, America’s Chevy ‘Nova’ was rather different to the Vauxhall one we got… Still, we have the cool one today, courtesy of IBrickedItUp and this neat recreation of the third generation Chevrolet Nova SS in Speed Champions scale. Racing stripes and an unnecessary hood bulge add to the image (again, somewhat different to what we got…), and there’s more to see via the link!

Speed Champions 76917 ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) | Set Preview

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Our sneaky Elves have unearthed another new-for-2023 LEGO set, and the names just keep getting longer. This is the brand new Speed Champions 76917 ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34).

As featured in the Oscar-winning 2003 ‘The Fast and the Furious’ sequel… wait, no that’s not right… Ah yes, the awful 2003 ‘The Fast and the Furious’ sequel, Brian O’Conner’s modified Nissan Skyline GT-R was as integral to the plot as street racing culture, something about drugs, and saying ‘bruh’ in every line of dialogue.

LEGO’s officially-licensed Speed Champions set recreates Brian’s whip really rather well to our eyes, with a decent balance between brick-built detail and decals, utilising plenty of ‘SNOT’ techniques.

Aimed at ages 9+, the Speed Champions 76917 ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) set includes 319 pieces, a ‘Brian O’Conner’ mini-figure, and will reach stores in early 2023. Will that Supra be next?

Torcher

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This is the ‘Torcher’, a curiously branded steampunk tank arrangement about which we know nothing. However had we not have blogged this giant flamethrower tank thingy, the Elves would’ve have started a riot. Plus, let’s be honest, it is really cool. Previous bloggee Markus Ronge is the owner of this ‘Torcher Octan Heavy Snow Tank’, and you can find out what it’s for (and view some rather stunning imagery) at his Flickr album of the same name. Click the link above to torch some snow or something!

LEGO Technic 42154 Ford GT | Set Preview

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Just before Christmas we posted here stating that TLCB Elves had been locked back in their cages for the festive break. Well that wasn’t entirely true…

Most of our workers were indeed locked back up of course. However, a few ‘lucky’ Elves were ‘asked’ to join a crack team of ‘volunteers’, selected for their guile, cunning, and ability to fit through The LEGO Company’s air-conditioning ducts, and sent on a special mission.

Today we can share the result of the aforementioned adventure, and what a result it is. This is the brand new for 2023 LEGO Technic 42154 Ford GT.

Marketed within LEGO’s ‘adult’ range of 18+ sets (which has everything to do with product positioning rather than building complexity), 42154 brings one of the most iconic recent real-world supercars to the Technic range, and it looks terrific!

Constructed from 1,466 pieces, 42154 captures the real Ford GT brilliantly, with a slew of panels available in this beautiful dark blue for the first time. Interestingly this is because LEGO have chosen to release 42154 as a road car, as opposed to the endurance racer specification chosen for the 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE AF Corse set. No doubt that 42154 looks superb as a road car, but we think it might have been nice to have the two sets as rival racers.

Like the 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE set, the 42154 Ford GT is packed with Technic functionality, including a working mid-mounted V6 engine, all-wheel suspension, functioning steering, opening doors, and a deployable rear wing, with the aesthetics enhanced via authentic decals and a pair of excellent racing stripes.

The new Technic 42154 Ford GT set will reach stores early this year, and will probably cost a bit too much, but nevertheless it looks to be a glorious addition to LEGO’s superb officially-licensed Technic line-up.

Our Elves’ mission has revealed the 2023 Technic range will include a few other officially-licensed sets too; stay tuned for the reveal of the rest of the H1 Technic line-up shortly!

Eruptin’ Bronco

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We kick-off 2023 with this; the brand new Ford Bronco, the latest addition to the burgeoning factory hardcore off-road market. In four-door flavour, with removable door panels and a removable roof, there’s little cooler, especially with colours such as ‘Race Red’, ‘Cactus’, ‘Hot Pepper’ and – as pictured here – “Eruption Green’.

We’re not sure which eruptions are green, beyond the child in ‘The Exorcist‘ and this rather spectacular event, but that’s why we’re not in vehicle marketing.

This excellent Model Team / Creator style recreation of the 2022 Ford Bronco in ‘Eruption Green’ comes from Peter Blackert (aka Lego911) – a TLCB LEGO Professional no less – and includes those removable panels, a highly detailed interior, plus an opening hood, tailgate and doors (when they’re attached).

Built as a commissioned model there’s lots more to see at Peter’s photostream. Trigger an eruption via the link above!

2022 | Year in Review

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It’s 2023! Well, nearly. So let’s look back on the year that was 2022…

A (corrupt) World Cup, the death of a queen, three British Prime Ministers, Heard vs. Depp, Musk vs. Twitter, record inflation, rightful protests in Iran, a Russian invasion, and COVID still lingers, although somewhat less potently than when it first arrived on a bat from China or something. It hasn’t been a vintage year has it?

But there was some good news too, including the toughening of various environmental and climate laws worldwide, the hopeful end of the Ethiopian Civil War, and break-throughs in both cancer and Alzheimer’s treatment. But what about The Lego Car Blog?

Stats

Well it wasn’t a vintage year for TLCB either, with our Facebook page disappearing following a post supporting Ukraine, threats from Russia, and a fall in readers from the last two years’  return to the magic million.

We wondered if we were getting boring, and – whilst don’t doubt our inane gibberish probably is – a look at our numbers revealed we published 17% fewer posts in 2022 than in 2021. Ah. TLCB laziness…

Still, 380 posts isn’t to be sniffed at and – whilst we haven’t published every day – the best vehicular creations and LEGO news stories from around the world have appeared here every week, bringing visitors from very nearly every country on earth.

The United States of America once again topped our visitor list, with Germany, the UK, Netherlands and France completing the top five. At the other end of the scale are various countries with just one visitor, most of which are lovely exotic islands. There was also one visitor from Iran; if it’s you, a very special welcome to this humble site of brick-based nonsense.

202 publishable comments were written by readers during 2022 (only some of which were from angry Russians…), countless messages entered our inbox (only some of which were marketing spam), and the site received tens of thousands of referrals from social media (which considering we’re not on it, rather shows its power), with the top pages continuing to be our Review Library and The Rise and Fall of MOCpages, alongside the homepage of course.

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All of that has led to an increase in the revenue we see from the adverts that appear on this site. None of our staff (nor TLCB Elves, what with them being mythical) are paid, thus we can give away what this site earns to those who need it more than we do; thank you for taking the time to visit us – it really does make a difference.

What’s Next?

More inane gibberish on the subject of Lego vehicles most probably…

After a wonderful competition with our friends at BrickNerd during 2022, 380 posts published, and a site that spans Interviews, Reviews, and the publication of thousands of fan-made models, we’re happy to keep things a little more ‘underground’ in 2023. This means we won’t be chasing the magic million (achieved previously by posting more content), nor rejoining social media, such are its ills. Rather, if you still like what we do, we’ll keep doing that. Several posts a week, showcasing the best Lego vehicles from around the world, plus occasional LEGO news, reviews and interviews will keep us happy. We hope it keeps you happy too : )

Thank you for visiting us, please do let us know what you think of what we do via the comments or the Contact Form, and we’ll see you in 2023.

TLCB Team

Advantage

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We’re rounding out 2022 with exactly the sort of car that this crumbling ruin in the corner of the internet was created for; the mighty Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.

Built by previous bloggee Levihathan, this eye-catching Technic recreation of Aston Martin’s 2010s-2020s endurance racer captures the real deal brilliantly, with the aesthetics further enhanced by bespoke decals that add to the race-ready realism.

Inside, Levihathan’s V12 Vantage is just as impressive, with a working V12 piston engine underneath the opening hood, functioning steering and suspension, a detailed race interior, and a paddle-shift gearbox.

There’s much more of the build to see at Levihathan’s ‘Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3’ album, and you can make the jump to all the imagery via the link in the text above.

Flying to JFK

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America’s ‘Air Force One’ has been flying Presidents since 1945. Beginning as a converted C-54 Skymaster transport plane during the Second World War, the distinctive Raymond Loewy-designed livery we know today first appeared in 1962 with this; ‘SAM 26000’, one of three Boeing 707s used for presidential transport throughout the ’60s and ’70s.

This spectacular replica of SAM 26000 is the work of the appropriately-named BigPlanes of Flickr, who has recreated the presidential Boeing 707, as used by John F. Kennedy prior to his assassination in 1963, in jaw-dropping detail.

A complete mini-figure scale interior and cockpit are contained within the astonishingly life-like exterior, which includes working flaps and retractable landing gear, and forty spectacular images are available to view at BigPlanes’ ‘LEGO Air Force One 707 SAM 26000’ album on Flickr.

Click the link above to fly like JFK in 1962, or here to see BigPlanes’ recreation of the current Air Force One in operation today, which may or may not include some references to a considerably less impressive president.

Bend & ZNAP

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This is an ŁM-50 tracked front-end overhead loader, a Polish device characterised by two curved metal bars that allow the bucket to pass from the front to the rear of the machine over the head of the driver.

Which provides something of a conundrum when recreating it out of Danish plastic, because LEGO don’t make Technic bars in curved form. Or rather, they don’t any more…

Back in 1998 LEGO were in trouble. The perceived threat from electronic toys and rival construction brand K’nex sent the firm down some very dark alleyways, and the darkest of the lot* was Znap.

Essentially a K’nex rip-off, the Znap range lasted just two years across nineteen sets, and its most notable feature was that it had virtually nothing to do with LEGO bricks whatsoever.

It did however feature curved beams, beams that Flickr’s Maciej Szymański has somehow integrated into his superb fully-RC ŁM-50 front-end loader, enabling the bucket to slide over the model just like it does on the real thing.

A suite of third-party CaDa electrics power the movement of said bucket, plus the skid-steer tracks, but seeing as they’re about as genuine LEGO at Znap was, we’ll let it slide.

Excellent attention to detail and top quality presentation complete Maciej’s model, and there’s much more to see (including a video of the model in action) at his ‘ŁM-50’ album. Click the link above to bend and Znap!

*Except for Galidor of course.

**Today’s tenuous title link. You don’t get quality like this at The Brother’s Brick.