Tag Archives: cartoon

The Name’s McMissile…

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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

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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

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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.

Green Shells in the Garden

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The kiddie-based cuteness continues here at the Lego Car Blog. Recreating what their kids imagine when they’re riding on their toys outside, Cecilie Fritzvold‘s ‘Baby Mario Kart’ captures all the madness of Nintendo’s finest work, complete with shells, banana skins, item boxes, Lakitu’s cloud, and some very hungry plants. And with LEGO releasing their own officially-licensed Mario line, perhaps an official LEGO Mario Kart set is just a rainbow road away.

I’m Up in Space, Maaaaan!

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Finding time to build (or do anything) when you’re a new parent is tricky. Three years since he last uploaded a creation, Flickr’s Dvd has finally managed it, with the ‘help’ of his son, and in doing so allowed us to link to the greatest performance in Eurovision history. We might be biased. Anyway, TLCB’s blatant nationalism aside, even when it feels like trying you’re to reach the for moon, you can always build a rocket.

Outta My Way, Pencil Neck!

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Benny the Cab may not have been drawn like Jessica Rabbit, but he still got some glorious lines of dialogue!

The 1988 masterpiece ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ remains an icon of cinema, and is fondly remembered by Flickr’s Johan Hendrix, who today makes his TLCB debut having applied his LEGO bricks to the movie’s exceptional pencil-work.

Benny the Cab and Roger Rabbit are wonderfully recreated in brick form, and you can jump into a cartooned 1947 Los Angeles via the link above!

Agent Orange

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It’s been a while since we let TLCB Elves watch Transformers cartoons, but today a number are happily crowded round an ancient TV thanks to one of their number and this; Angus MacLane‘s OR-ANJ G1 Transformer.

A normal-looking orange coupe (apart from the roof-mounted rocket launcher, which – let’s face it – we’ve all wanted as an optional extra at times), Angus’ creation can niftily transform from car to rocket-wielding robot via a few swivels, and there’s more to see at his photostream, where a range of other brick-built robotic contraptions can also be found.

Flight 714 to Sydney

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The news that Putin’s… er, “chef” has been killed in a private plane “accident” is the top story of the moment, but private air travel seems fraught with peril even if you haven’t pissed off an under-endowed dictator, with a long list of celebrities lost to private air disasters over the years.

Of course it tends to be the rich and famous using private jets, a theme that French comic ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ explored way back in 1968 with ‘Flight 714 to Sydney’. Owned by a ‘millionaire who never laughs’, the fictional Carreidas 160 jet was hi-jacked by Tintin’s arch-nemesis Roberto Rastapopoulos in an effort to steal millions from the aircraft owner’s Swiss bank account. Also there was a volcanic eruption, telepathy, and aliens for some reason. 

Anyway, the plane ended up in the ocean, adding further weight to the cool-but-perilous argument, and Tintin flew commercial thereafter.

This lovely recreation of the aforementioned fictional jet – and the characters from the comic – comes from Stefan Johansson, who’s used some lovely techniques to capture the swoopy shape. An opening cabin door and detailed landing gear also feature, and there’s more to see at Stefan’s ‘Carreidas 160 – Flight 714 to Sydney’ album via the link above. It’s just probably best you don’t get on board…

Prime Position

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We’re breaking a few of our own rules today…

This creation is virtual. It features a cartoonish caricature. Oh, and a big bald meathead, who may or may not have LEGO arms.

But seeing as the movies from which it’s inspired are also pretty much virtual (no, physics does not do the things it appears to in the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise), feature cars that too are cartoonish caricatures, and that also include the aforementioned big, bald meathead, we’re going to let it pass. In the name of “Family…”, or something.

Built for the ‘Iron Builder’ contest, in which participants must use a usually-obscure LEGO piece (in this case a Spike Prime Colour Sensor), Ivan Martynov’s homage to the most profitable (and worst) movie franchise of all time includes several of the chosen part hidden throughout it, including the Dodge Charger’s supercharger, the floodlights, hidden within the cityscape, and most cunningly as a meathead torso.

There’s more to see at Ivan’s photostream, and you can ignore physics whilst muttering “Family…” for little-to-no-reason via the link in the text above!

Sub-Optimus Prime

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If the Michael Bay ‘Transformers’ movies were directed by the people that make ‘Bob the Builder’, the result might look a little something like this.

Replacing angry alien robots with, er… cute alien robots, Angus MacLane has optimised the adorability of the leader of the Autobots, and there’s more to see of his charming ‘Sub-Optimus Prime’ transforming truck on Flickr.

Click the link above for the cutest robot in disguise you’ll see today.

Prime Mover

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LEGO’s 1,500 piece, £150, fully transforming 10302 Transformers Optimus Prime set got TLCB Elves very excited when we revealed it here last year. In fact we thought they could only be more hyped if Megan Fox herself arrived at TLCB Towers, at which point a few of the staff would likely have matched their fanaticism. However previous bloggee Ralph Savelsberg has proved there is even more excitement to be had, with his fantastic Optimus Prime ‘Combat Deck’.

Based on the Transformers G1 toy, Ralph’s creation attaches to the official 10302 set brilliantly, before unfolding to reveal an array of equipment essential in the protection of Earth. The toy’s boom-mounted rotating missile thingumy, combat stations, and a spring-fired ‘Roller’ armoured 6×6 car are all accurately recreated in brick form, as are the stickers and livery, which Ralph has replicated superbly via some cunning brickwork.

There’s a whole lot more to see at Ralph’s ‘Lego Optimus Prime with Custom Combat Deck’ album on Flickr, and you can join a gaggle of ridiculously excited Elves there by clicking the link above.

Porco Rosso

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This ace looking aircraft is a Savoia S.21 racing floatplane, as featured in the Japanese animated movie ‘Porco Rosso’. Like most things from Japanese cartoons (fighting robots, ball-stored transforming creatures, giant lizards, and improbably-proportioned schoolgirls to name a few), the Savoia S.21 not real, but it is titled after (and vaguely inspired by) an actual 1910s Italian floatplane.

Flown by a cigarette smoking, wine drinking, moustachioed pig, the S.21 is used to hunt air pirates, who are like regular pirates, only in the air. Look, it doesn’t have to make any sense, the plane’s still cool, and there’s more to see of this Lego version courtesy of LEGO7 on Flickr via the link.

Bang! Zoom! Straight to the Moon!

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Bang! Zoom! Straight to the Moon! Yes, today we’re referencing a cartoon referencing a vintage sit-com to refer to a rocket that references a cartoon. No we don’t have to make sense. This marvellous whimsical Tintin-inspired rocket comes from Flickr’s Tobias Munzert, who has pictured it here landing on the lunar surface from the comic. Join Tobias (and Tintin) on Flickr via the link above.

Wear Your Mask

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If 2020 had a word (aside from ‘dumpsterfire’), it would be ‘mask’. Enacted to protect the vulnerable and elderly from an unknown and deadly disease, laws requiring the wearing of masks were widely adopted across the world, much to the anger of a small but very vocal minority of morons.

It’s also rather ironic that the ideology displaying said anger about being asked to wear a mask for protection seemed to have no qualms with carrying a gun… for protection. Sigh.

Anyway, with winter approaching and COVID on the rise again, we may have to get used to another round of mask wearing, which leads us neatly-and-in-no-way-tenuously on to these rather good creations by nickgreat.

Suggested by a reader, Nick’s models recreate the vehicles from the mid-’80s cartoon TV show ‘M.A.S.K’, in which the ‘Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand’ (because ‘M.A.S.C’ wasn’t as cool) fought ‘V.E.N.O.M’, the Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem, whilst wearing super-powered helmets (or masks. Ah… it all makes sense).

And if that isn’t the ideal marketing recipe for a range of plastic toys we don’t know what is.

With vehicles such as the ‘Rhino’, ‘Switchblade’, ‘Thunderhawk’ and ‘Jackhammer’ – that could transform into fighter jets, gun turrets, and hydroplanes – plus a protagonist named ‘Matt Trakker’, you’d be forgiven for thinking M.A.S.K might be the most American thing since excessive patriotism, but it was in fact French, and animated in Japan.

Nick has created seven of the transforming vehicles from the ’80s TV show superbly in mini-figure scale, three of which are pictured here, and you find the full array of ‘M.A.S.K’ models at his album on Bricksafe.

Put on your mask and take a look via the link above, or alternatively shout angrily about masks being part of a global conspiracy or something, depending upon your IQ.

Camp Jimny

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Speaking of ‘coolest vehicles on the planet‘ following today’s other post, here’s another. The Suzuki Jimny is one of the hottest vehicles to own right now, helped no doubt by the EU’s ‘CAFE’ CO2 regulations taking it off sale after just two years, during which time it had a sizeable waiting list. But buying a hateful G63 AMG is fine… go figure.

Anyway, these two polar bears have managed to get themselves a Suzuki Jimny (whose survival was surely the point of that non-sensical, counter-productive EU legislation), applying a few well-chosen mods to equip them with everything they need for a weekend camping.

There’s a folding table, cooler, camping stove, and much more besides to ensure a successful polar-bear-father-son camping trip.

Flickr’s LEGO 7 is the builder behind this wonderfully whimsical, delightfully detailed, and beautifully built creation, and there’s more to see of his superbly presented bear-based camping scene at his ‘Camping Time’ album. Click the link above to join the fun.