Tag Archives: cartoon

Santa’s Day Off

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.

Golden Girl

The world is full of people with strange outlooks. These include those who think melon is an acceptable starter, enthusiasm for the Tesla Cybertruck, and people who put Christmas lights up in October. But right up there with the climate-change denying flat-earthers in the weird stakes are fans of ‘Girls und Panzer’, a Japanese anime in which high school girls compete against one another in World War 2 tanks.

Cue this golden Italian CV-33 tank commanded by a Japanese school girl named after a fish. It’s the work of Flickr’s lavishlump, here making their TLCB debut, and both tank and school girl are brilliantly built, particularly given the limitations of LEGO’s gold piece portfolio.

There’s more to see of lavishlump’s ‘Anchovy & CV-33 Tankette’ at their album of the same name, and you can head to a playing field in Japan for the weirdest school sports day via the link above.

Onward Guinevere!

The Elves is Disney movies do not look like those here at TLCB Towers. Probably because Disney don’t want their young audience members to scream/cry/vomit. Cue 2020’s ‘Onward’, in which two ‘Elf’ brothers undertake an epic adventure in an old van, which recent bloggee Tim Inman has recreated beautifully in brick form.

Complete with rusty sills, a detailed interior behind a sliding door, and a fabulous brick-built pegasus mural, Tim’s Model Team ‘Guinevere’ is one of our favourite creations of the year so far. There’s much more to see at Tim’s photostream and you can join two Elves on the road trip of a lifetime via the link above, whilst we look at ours and ponder our choices.

Big Catch

An estimated 100 million sharks are killed by humans every single year. That’s three sharks a second. Three quarters of these are due to the shark fin trade for the Chinese market (who seem to be the world leaders in animal cruelty), where the fins are cut off the live shark and the rest discarded back into the ocean. And if that sounds horrible, it’s because it is.

The remainder are mostly accidental catches from fishing, but fishing can of course be done right. Cue NikiFilik‘s lovely cartoon-esque fishing boat vignette, with one of the most gorgeous brick-built hulls we’ve seen in ages – just look at that line of studs! Niki’s boat has caught one shark, and if it’s all being eaten we’re totally cool with that.

Fish responsibly at Niki’s photostream via the link above, or click here to learn more about how we can protect or oceans.

Te-Ke

The wonderful thing about the world is that it’s very big and its peoples like all sorts of different things. Which means that even the most niche of interests will exist somewhere.

Cue ‘Girls und Panzer’, a Japanese anime series in which high-school girls compete against one-another in World War II tanks. Because… um, well, the world is very big and its peoples like all sorts of different things.

Today’s creation captures a Type 97 ‘Te-ke’ tank from the anime series, having been faithfully recreated by Flickr’s Zat, and you can join in the tank-based school sports day at their photostream via the link.

Onward Guinevere!

It’s normally the inside of an old van that has all the illegal stuff…

This is ‘Guinevere’, the pegasus-painted van of the elven protagonists in Pixar’s ‘Onward’, and it’s got more illegal moves than Max Verstappen.

Held together by a combination of immense skill and hope (we suspect there’s a reason this model is only photographed from one side!), 1saac W.‘s remarkable creation pushes the limits of brick-based building.

Take a closer look at 1ssac’s photostream, just don’t try to pick it up.

Using Tongue

Lightning McQueen has deployed his tongue to get over the finish line first in Bousker‘s scene from the movie ‘Cars’, which captures the trio of racing protagonists wonderfully. Will McQueen’s tongue win him the cup? Take a look via the link above.

Mario Kart World

There’s a new Mario Kart on the horizon, and even though its pixels are yet to be played by anyone outside of Nintendo, Flickr’s Clement has managed to recreate a trio of characters from the available gameplay footage. And if a cow on a scooter doesn’t get you excited, nothing will! Smash that crate, drop a banana skin, and fire a green shell via the link above!

Quicky’s T

It’s nearly Easter, when – as is tradition – we remember the Easter Bunny who brought chocolate eggs to all of mankind. Or something. Yay consumerism. Anyway, in celebration here’s an all-year chocolate-bringing rabbit in the form of Nesquik’s mascot, which LEGO mini-figured in 2001 for some reason.

The face (and ears?) of Nesquik since 1973, ‘Quicky’ has fronted a variety of chocolate-based products over the last fifty-two years, including a breakfast cereal launched in 1999 that – thanks to the nerve of the brand’s marketeers trolling their own customers – looked exactly like rabbit droppings.

Cue today’s brick-built bunny, at the wheel of a wheelie-ing Ford T-Bucket hot rod, courtesy of regular blogger _Tiler. A nonsensical comic strip accompanies the build and you join Quicky on his mission to sell his own poop to the world’s children via the link above!

The Other Donald

The news is currently filled with the economic shenanigans of a certain orange President, including the sudden announcement that – from next week – the cost of all cars not made in the U.S (as well as lots that are) will rise significantly. Because said elderly Twitter addict doesn’t understand that it’s not the seller that pays a tariff, but the buyer…

Thus in today’s post we’re featuring a Donald that’s the antithesis of his POTUS namesake, being witty, wry, warm and charming. And probably more economically competent. Feathered cartoon humanoid Donald Duck is at the wheel of his 313 Belchfire Runabaout, wonderfully recreated in 6-wide Fabuland form by previous bloggee Sven J.

A removable roof and flip-out rumble seat both feature, and best of all Sven has released free building instructions for the design. So in contrast to Trump’s latest executive order, here’s a car you don’t have to pay extra for.

There’s more to see at both Flickr and the Eurobricks forum, and you can get quacking via the links above.

LEGO Super Mario 72037 Mario & Standard Kart | Set Preview

LEGO’s expansive new Formula 1 range is now on sale, bringing every single Formula 1 team into the line-up. Which is cool and all, but Formula 1 will never be as entertaining as an Italian plumber racing to free a Princess from the clutches of a giant tortoise. Or something. We’re a bit hazy on the plot to be honest, but who cares when you can fire shells and drop banana skins in front of your foes!

Yes Mariokart is now skidding into the LEGO line-up, with the brand new LEGO Super Mario 72037 Mario & Standard Kart set!

Aimed at ages 18+ and constructed from nearly two-thousand pieces, 72037 brings the aforementioned Italian protagonist to bedroom floors and – more likely given the price – shelves everywhere, and includes a posable Mario figure in his Standard Kart, mounted on a stand that “enables fans to display the kart at dynamic angles, as if Mario is speeding through a high-stakes race or drifting in true Mario Kart fashion”.

We note that none of those two-thousand pieces are to create a green shell or a banana skin, which feels a bit miserly, but those printed eyes and Mario’s new moustache piece almost make up for it.

On sale from 15th April 2025, the new LEGO Super Mario 72037 Mario & Standard Kart can be had for €169.99 / $169.99 / £139.99 (just bring your own banana skin), or if you fancy something for less than half the price but with equally amazing nasal topiary, there’s always Nigel Mansell…

Red Pig

The best imaginations are based on reality. This odd looking machine is a ‘Savoia S-21’ as depicted in the Japanese animated movie ‘Porco Rosso’. It is however, based on a real Italian 1920s air racer, that if anything looked even stranger than its cartoon counterpart. Eero Okkonen is the creator of this appealing brick-built interpretation, complete with the cape-wearing titular protagonist, and there’s more to see at his photostream.

The Name’s McMissile…

Disney Pixar’s ‘Cars 2’ featured a rather familiar looking character. Merging James Bond, Q-branch’s Aston Martin DB5, and a Michael Caine voice-over, Finn McMissile was as British a spy car as it was possible to conceive.

Cue newcomer Danny_Boy4, who has taken LEGO’s officially-licensed 10262 Aston Martin DB5 ‘Goldfinger’ set and redeployed its pieces to create the ‘Cars 2’ character inspired by the real Aston Martin the set replicated.

A thorough redesign moves the bodywork away from the DB5 source to match Pixar’s interpretation of it, and adds ‘Cars’ trademark windshield-eyes and (ingeniously) the hidden side-mounted guns that for this TLCB Writer ruined the whole ‘Cars’ premise. Boo Pixar.

There’s more to see of Danny’s top-tier 10262 B-Model recreation of Finn McMissile at the Eurobricks forum, and you can click the link above join the mission.

King Rat

Here’s a rat king riding a train. Because shut up, that’s why. There’s a Duplo train base under there somewhere, and you can check it out at Kristof‘s photostream.

LEGO Icons 10338 Transformers Bumblebee | Set Preview

TLCB Elves have lost their tiny little minds today, because everyone’s favourite Transformer will soon be available as an official LEGO set; this is the brand new LEGO Icons 10338 Transformers Bumblebee!

Constructed from 950 pieces and matching the scale of the previously revealed Creator 10302 Optimus Prime set, 10338 adopts the new ‘Icons’ marketing, meaning a black box and an 18+ target age, which has nothing to do with build complexity and everything to do with the acceptability for dads to purchase one.

That said, the model is reasonably complicated, being able to – according to the box – ‘convert’ (if only there was another word for when something changes into something else…) from car to robot via some clever hinges, section rotations, and limb extensions.

Said car is not the Chevrolet Camaro from the Michael Bay-era Bumblebee however, and nor is it a Volkswagen Beetle as per the G1 cartoon, although it does have a loose passing resemblance. Instead it’s a slightly sad-looking caricature of something trying to be vaguely ’50s (a Nissan Figaro sprung to our minds), presumably for licensing reasons, although of course LEGO do have a license with both Chevrolet and Volkswagen, which feels like a missed opportunity.

Still, a giant transforming car-robot is always welcome, and you can get your hands on the new 10338 Transformers Bumblebee set from July 1st for around $90 / £90. And, thanks to the black box, even if you’re a 40-something dad.