Tag Archives: Duplo

Roving Mad

There’s under a week to go of this year’s Febrovery, with dozens of lunar rovers of all shapes and sizes created so far. Which means dozens of creations about which TLCB Writers – whose comfort zone really doesn’t extend much beyond ‘double-overhead cam’ – know nothing. Still, we like spacey things, so here are three of our favourites so far…

Here in TLCB’s home nation we’re pretty sure that some of the vehicles on our roads are helmed by plant-life, so non-reactive are they to any stimulus around them. Here it’s invariably an ageing small hatchback (most often a Peugeot) with a pink ‘Powered by Fairydust’ sticker on the tailgate, but Austin Vail‘s botanically-driven lunar rover is something far more retro-futuristic! Inspired by the bubble-canopied concept cars of the 1950s and ’60s, Austin’s design is ideal transportation for the flowers within, and there’s more to see of his ‘FloraTron Mooncruiser’ on Flickr.

Like, space dudes, we’re totally surfing the Mercury Nebula! There’s a Duplo van in the centre of the Scott Wilhem‘s ‘S.U.R.F for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence’ rover, and a whole lot of ‘greebling’ on the outside. The smiling classic spaceman looks pretty stoked by his ride, and you can catch a cosmic wave at Scott’s photostream via the link above.

And lastly… Blacktron aren’t just about thieving things from the other ‘trons – they need downtime too. And thus here they are tending to some crystal snails. Flickr’s Frost (aka TFDesigns!) is the maker of the ‘Blacktron Surveyor’ and you can join the mini-figures of Blacktron chilling out with some galactic gastropods via the link.

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.

Training Day

We all wonder if we’re on the right track from time to time. But perhaps if we put the brakes on a little and slow down, the journey might become more important than the destination.

Even Lego building can be part of this societal boiler room. An endless train of perfectly constructed and beautifully presented creations rolls past our feeds, a procession in which The Lego Car Blog is of course part. The pressure to create something that gets clicks, likes, and positive critique is all too real, and the destination – that perfect Instagramable shot – can often eclipse the enjoyment to be had in creating it.

Railing against this orthodoxy, Linus Bohman has decided to switch it up. Whilst playing with his daughter and bucket of Duplo, he noticed her railway track pieces; large, curved, and seemingly designed for a single purpose. But what journey could they provide if they were used… differently?

With no destination in mind, Linus started working with his daughter’s Duplo tracks, seeing where they would take him. And where they took him was to one of the most original and inventive creations we’ve yet publicised.

LEGO’s vintage blue and grey railway tracks joined their larger Duplo brethren, creating a swooping almost organic neo-classic spacecraft unlike anything we’ve seen before. A single mini-figure pilot drives the ship from a cockpit hung within the centre, whilst a robot co-pilot hides under the opening cover behind.

We think you’ll agree that Linus’ reached a spectacular destination, but we suspect the journey was – for him – better still. If you share his train of thought you can see more of the ship that emerged from it by clicking here, and you can watch a fantastic philosophical brick-based video on its creation by clicking play below.

YouTube Video

Pimp My Duplo

The genius of LEGO is that every part can work with every other, across themes, times and even sub-brands. Cue regular bloggee Jonathan Elliott, who has demonstrated this compatibility by combining a LEGO Duplo car shell with far more intricate System pieces. The result is one heck of a rad’ toddler ride, and you can see more of his inspired Duplo/System mash-up on Flickr via the link above.

Duped

This delightful hover-courier (which looks rather like a floating coal scuttle) has us perplexed here at TLCB, being simultaneously Town and Duplo themed. Towplo? Whatever it is it’s ace, and there’s more to see courtesy of the excellently-named Dwarlin Forkbeard here.

The Duflo

This TLCB Writer doesn’t often post Duplo creations here at The Lego Car Blog because he’s big boy and he can use the small bricks. He’s even built a 7+ set almost all by himself, Dad just had to help a little bit.

However he is posting a Duplo build (kinda) today because a) it’s awesome, and b) it’s awesome. Flickr’s Edward Lawrence has combined a Duplo van body with standard LEGO system pieces (and the surfboard from the Creator 10252 Volkswagen Beetle set) to create the ‘Duflo’, and it is, as mentioned above, awesome.

There’s more to see of Edward’s ‘Duflo’ mashup at his photostream – click the link above to make the jump!

Brutal Birdie

Lego Fabuland Motorcycle

Here’s a Fabuland bird riding a rocket launcher-equipped motorcycle. Because, well.. it’s a Fabuland bird riding a rocket launcher-equipped motorcycle, and no further reasons are required.

It’s the work of Flickr’s Andreas Lenander, and if you’re wondering what the hell ‘Fabuland‘ is, click here.

That’s No Ordinary Rabbit!

Lego Duplo Tank

That’s the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on. That rabbit’s got a vicious streak a mile wide, it’s a killer! He’s got huge, sharp… he can leap about… Look at the bones!

This particular rabbit comes from Flickr’s Dvd who has given LEGO’s Duplo logo a bit of a reboot! Head over to his photostream via the link above and count to five, er, three, to see more.

 

Duplo in Space

Lego Duplo Rover

This year’s Febrovery is almost at an end, with rovers of all shapes, sizes and designs hitting the interweb over the last four weeks. Flickr’s Brian Grissom is sure to take home the ‘Nice Parts Usage’ Award (which we’ve just made up) with his effort, which has taken Duplo-building to another planet. There’s more to see of his ingenious Duplo Classic Space Police thingumy on Flickr – click here to see more.

Duplo as you’ve never seen it before…

'Diamondback' Off-Road Racer

There’s Duplo in this. Prizes* for those of you who can find it. If you wish to cheat, check out Brian Kescenovitz‘ MOCpage.

*Not really