Tag Archives: mini-figure

Not a Car

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This is our 47th ‘Not a Car’ post. By which we mean it’s the 47th post titled ‘Not a Car’ – there are thousands more posts in the archives that do not, in fact, feature cars. Because we’re crap at sticking to our brief.

Which means this is also another post where we flounder about way out of our depth, but despite our ineptitude with anything that isn’t a car, even we can see this is a spectacular build, coming from Damien Labrousse and based on a brilliant piece of concept art.

Titled ‘Shark Fighter’, Damien’s concept aircraft features some phenomenal build techniques and photo editing, and there’s more to see of his fantastic creation at his photostream, including a link to the art that inspired it. It might not be a car, but it’s one the the most intriguing vehicle designs of the year so far.

Le Mans ’71

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It might be Ferrari and Toyota at the top of endurance racing right now, but there’s one manufacturer that has dominated Le Mans more than any other; Porsche.

Winning the Le Mans 24 Hours on nineteen occasions, the first of Porsche’s victories came in 1970 thanks to this; the magnificent 917K.

Powered by a wild flat-12, the 917 debuted in 1969, where it was… rubbish. Dodgy aerodynamics (which were still largely experimental at the time) made the car terrifying to drive at high speed, but Porsche refined the car, chopping the tail off and later fitting it with two stabilising fins and a magnesium chassis.

The result was the most dominant one-two in Le Mans history, when in 1971 both 917Ks finished some thirty laps ahead of the third place Ferrari.

This spectacular Speed Champions recreation of the ’71 race winning car, complete with its iconic Martini Racing livery, comes from previous bloggee SFH_Bricks of Flickr, who has captured the 917K absolutely beautifully in brick form.

Building instructions are available and there are more stunning images to view at SFH’s photostream. Click the link above to take a look, and wait thirty laps for the Ferrari to catch up.

Battle of the Atlantic

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This TLCB Writer can think of little more terrifying in the Second World War than being part of an Atlantic Convoy, traversing the frigid waters all the while knowing that death lurked beneath at any moment. Little more that is, other than being on the aforementioned submerged death itself.

Nazi Germany built around 1,100 U-Boats during World War 2, of which almost 800 – or 2/3 of the fleet – were sunk.

This superb diorama of one of those 1,100 ships, depicted here breaking the waves of a choppy Atlantic, is the work of Ralph Savelsberg, who has captured not just the U-Boat but also the ocean in which it operates in spectacular realism.

Built as part of a display for the Brickfair Virginia show, there’s more to see of Ralph’s beautifully presented model at his ‘U-Boot Diorama’ album, and you can head out onto the waters of World War 2 via the link above.

Desert Adventure Dragway

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The year is 1999, ‘The Matrix’ is an international phenomenon, Y2K is terrifying the computer illiterate, ‘Star Wars’ has been rebooted (for the first time), and Santana’s ‘Smooth‘ is doing its best to counteract ‘I’m Blue (Da ba Dee)‘ and ‘Flat Beat‘. It was also the year that LEGO – terrified that children only wanted to play computer games rather than with bricks – launched… a computer game.

Available on Playstation, N64, PC, and Gameboy, ‘LEGO Racers’ took the much-loved kart-racing formula pioneered by Mario Kart, and Legofied it. Weapons crates became floating bricks, karts could be rebuilt and customised, and tracks ventured throughout the LEGO universe, visiting such themes as Pirates, Ice Planet, and Adventurers.

It’s the latter we have here today, courtesy of TLCB debutant Liwnik, and his fabulous ‘Desert Adventure Dragway’ diorama. An enormous build, Liwnik’s recreation of the Racers track includes floating brick power-ups, tunnels, weapons, and of course the appropriately rubbish Racers Karts (it was the late ’90s).

A huge gallery of imagery is available to view via Bricksafe, plus you can also check out Liwnik’s photostream on Flickr. Head back to 1999 to fire a cannon ball at an island chief via the links above, and you can click here to either relive your childhood, or experience someone else’s!

Cosmically Cool

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Mankind’s future is in the stars. No, TLCB Team aren’t suddenly into astrology, but rather hold a belief that now that the world’s richest men are building space rockets, it’s only a matter of time before space travel becomes democratised.

Which means that space will then inevitably be conquered by influencers, requesting Likes and Subscribes to fund whatever space-based lifestyle it is they want you to think is worth following.

Cue OA KD‘s ‘Space Vanlife’, in which an invariably top-knotted douchebag and his hot-pants wearing girlfriend will evangelise about the benefits of an all-natural diet and 5am yoga via the medium of a pseudo-intellectual trope embossed on a picture of a sunset. Only in space.

Appropriately OA KD has pictured his marvellous Neo-Classic Spacevan on Mercury. Or its top-knotted owner is surfing in mercury. We’re not sure. Either way you can Like and Subscribe via the link to Space Vanlife above.

Today’s second dude-in-space creation revisits our old friend Benny from The LEGO Movie, who has equipped himself with one heck of a jetpack courtesy of Flickr’s Rubblemaker. Join him on an extreme journey through the cosmos via the link to Rubblemaker’s photostream above, and get ready for the first influencer in space any day now.

My Other Piece of Construction Equipment…

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LEGO’s brand new 60420 Construction Excavator set is undoubtedly their best City-themed excavator to date. Launched today and aimed at ages 8+, the set features over 600 pieces, with a huge posable boom arm, 360° slowing superstructure, and a pair of brick-built Technic tracks. It also wears Technic price-tag though, costing a very un-City-like $55 / £50.

Fortunately however, previous bloggee Marek Markiewicz (aka M_longer) has doubled 60420’s value-for-money by turning it into a 2-in-1 set, having somehow designed and published a superb bulldozer alternate complete with building instructions on the day of the set’s release.

There’s a working blade and rear ripper, plus a removable cab, and you can find all the images as well as the link the building instructions for Marek’s brilliant bulldozer B-Model via both Flickr and Bricksafe. Take a look via the links above to double your 60420’s potential.

Barrelling Along

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Flickr’s David Roberts has appeared here numerous times over the years with his strangely-shaped spaceships, including those based upon a giant block of cheese, a chess board, and a cat’s anus amongst others.

Today he’s taken inspiration (probably) from the barreleye deep-sea fish, whose eyes look upwards through the transparent dome of its own head, to create this barrel-shaped primary-coloured interceptor.

Neither he nor us know what it’s intercepting, but you just got to look at a properly weird fish, so you’re welcome. Head to David’s photostream by clicking here to cast your eye over it.

8-Stud Huayra

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LEGO are yet to release a Speed Champions Pagani Huayra, but if they do it’ll have to be quite a set to beat this one.

Constructed by Flickr’s Fabrice Larcheveque, this 8-wide homage to the wild Italian hypercar captures the real car brilliantly, including a detailed engine and interior, and with building instructions available you can recreate it for yourself too.

Head to Fabrice’s Flickr album to take a look.

(Neo-Classic) Spaceship!

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Skibidi Toilet, The Brothers Brick secret handshake, the evangelical christian movement’s support of Donald Trump, and sci-fi are just some of the many things that TLCB Team don’t understand.

We do understand the skill required for building techniques as clever as those in evidence here though, with ingenious angles, a hybrid of Technic and System, and a beautifully retro colour palette. There’s more to see of previous bloggee Rubblemaker‘s neo-classic spaceship at his photostream via the link above, or alternatively you can Google ‘Skibidi Toilet’ to see if you can understand it…

Sloop John B

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We come on the sloop John BMy grandfather and meAround Nassau town we did roamDrinking all nightGot into a fightWell, I feel so broke upI want to go home

So hoist up the John B’s sailSee how the main sail setsCall for the captain ashoreLet me go homeLet me go homeI wanna go home, yeah, yeahWell, I feel so broke upI wanna go home

The Beach boys putting it a hundred times better than we ever could. This fantastic pirate sloop comes from Sebeus I, deploying LEGO’s vintage pre-fab hull pieces alongside some beautiful sails and rigging. See more of it here.

Space Race

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It’s sometime in the next century, and Formula 1 is still the world’s foremost race series in the hands of Liberty Media. There are now 43 races each season (not counting the sprints), with half of those taking place in the skies above America!

Nineteen of the world’s best pilots (plus Lance Stroll, who’s still looking for his first win) are competing to become World Champion, and previous bloggee David Roberts can exclusively showcase two of the machines that have been piloted to glory so far.

‘Orange 6‘ is one of the fastest atmo-and-space racers yet, being both highly manoeuvrable and fitted with an underside cannon able to spike viewing figures with remarkable effectiveness whenever Liberty need a little extra pizzaz.

It needs it too, what with ‘Green 21‘ being otherwise dominant in the hands of multiple-World Champion Max Velocity.

Will No.6 manage to blast past Max? Will Liberty Media find space to squeeze in another US Grand Prix? And will Stroll finally get that maiden win in return for his father’s billions? Click the links above to tune in!

Elaborate Hattery

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With every new generation of car, the manufacturer will – without fail – claim it’s lower and wider than before, in order to “project an assertive dynamic stance” or some other bollocks. They can’t keep getting lower and wider indefinitely of course, otherwise at some point everything will be a Can-Am racer.

However despite this vehicular marketing nonsense, there is probably some truth in it, as back in the early days of the motor car designs were rather more… upright.

A narrow track, a chassis on top of the wheels, and space in the cabin for elaborate hats meant cars from the 1920s were wobbly, tottery affairs. Although with a top speed of about 30mph and tyres as wide as those on a bicycle, this probably mattered not. Plus you could keep on your elaborate hat.

Flickr’s _Tyler (aka Calin) reimagines a time of more vertical motoring (and headwear) with this beautifully presented creation, and there’s more to see of his vintage ‘Oldtimer’ at his photostream; click the link above take a look.

Landspeeding

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It was Stargate Day yesterday or something, and – what with TLCB always having a finger on the pulse of the social zeitgeist – here’s an appropriately spacey build in celebration of Captain Pickard’s adventures.

Built by Flickr’s Wynd, this alien-piloted retro-liveried Landspeeder is every bit as good as TLCB is bad at sci-fi, and you can boldly go to a galaxy far far away via the link above.

Speed Champions H2 2024 | Set Previews

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It’s that time of year again, when a crack team of Elven ‘volunteers’ are implanted into the LEGO Company’s HQ to uncover their latest sets. The return of the survivors heralds the arrival of three brand new Speed Champions sets for H2 2024, bringing even more real world cars to bedroom floors this summer! Read on to find out which cars are set to join to the 2024 Speed Champions line-up!

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76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT

Well, ‘Real world’ cars… except for this one.

Playstation’s ‘Gran Turismo’ series has deployed concepts alongside production cars for some years. Despite having the freedom to design literally anything, these ‘Vision GT’ cars all look rather similar, and the Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT (clearly taking inspiration from a certain moronically-named Ferrari) follows the same route, being both wildly conceptual, and also insipidly paint-by-numbers.

It’s not exactly our first choice for a new Lamborghini Speed Champions set then, and the resultant 230-piece 76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT does little to change that. A funky colour and a new mini-figure torso aren’t enough to swing the balance; our £21/$27 will be spent on a rather better Speed Champions Lamborghini…Lego 76923 Lamborghini Lambo V12 Vision GT

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76924 Mercedes-AMG G63 & SL63

Are you a wealthy Londoner with no imagination? Now you can build your vanity-plated black Mercedes-AMG G 63 in LEGO form! The new-for-2024 76924 Mercedes-AMG G 63 & Mercedes-AMG SL 63 set recreates London’s default 4×4 choice brilliantly, and throws in a neat SL 63 too.

Two appropriately douchebaggy mini-figures, limited well-deployed decals, and some wonderfully accurate detailing on the G 63 in particular ensure 76924 is an excellent addition to the Speed Champions line. Expect to pay around £45/$50 for the dual-model 808-piece set when it arrives in stores in June, and half of Chelsea to own a copy immediately. 

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76925 Aston Martin F1 Safety Car & AMR23

The final addition to the 2024 Speed Champions line-up brings two more Aston Martins to the range, each of which played a starring role in the 2023 Formula 1 season.

The new 76925 Aston Martin F1 Safety Car & AMR23 set recreates F1-legend Fernando Alonso’s podium-placing AMR23 racing car (and that of his decidedly unlegendary, non-podium placing team mate), complete with authentic decals, replica Pirelli tyres, and a rather inexact colour.

The Aston Martin F1 Safety Car – often necessitated by Alonso’s aforementioned incompetent team mate – joins it, with a light bar, accurate be-sticked interior control panel, and the same loose approximation of the real car’s hue.

Aimed at ages 9+, expect 564 pieces, two mini-figures, and a £45/$50 price-tag when 76925 arrives in stores next month.

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Three new sets, five new cars, and even more choice in LEGO’s fantastic Speed Champions range. All three sets will be available from June 1st 2024, and you can check out the sets that were added to the Speed Champions range at the start of the year by clicking here.

One Word; Thundercougarfalconbird

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Flickr’s Tim Goddard can stop people questioning your sexual orientation with just one word. Buy your Thundercougarfalconbird via the link above.