It’s been a while since we last let TLCB Elves watch a ‘Transformers’ movie, but today they are doing just that, with previous bloggee SFH_Bricks to thank for another dose of Megan Fox. SFH’s one-hundredth creation captures the flame-painted Peterbilt 379-based ‘robot in disguise’ wonderfully, and you can check out all of the top quality images of Optimus Prime on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look, whilst we join the Elves watching Megan Fo… um, we mean ‘Transformers’.
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.
Say what you like about the Transformers movie franchise – that the plot is nonsense, that everything blows up, that any female protagonists are over-sexualised to the point of absurdity, that there’s constant unchecked military glorification – but they do know how to pick their cars. Well, General Motors do, seeing as they paid millions for their products to be so blatantly featured.
Still, rather than a shiny new GM offering, Bumblebee instead transformed out of the decaying hulk of a ’77 Camaro in the 2007 blockbuster. He was even more attainable in the G1 cartoons, being hidden inside a Volkswagen Beetle. And we like that. A giant alien robot that’s, well… down to earth.
Not so today though, as the mute Autobot has decided to transform from a W16-engined, track-only hypercar costing $4 million. Flickr’s Dyen’s Creations is his maker, repurposing the pieces from his 42151 Bugatti Bolide set to create his Bumblebee B-Model.
There’s more of the Autobot alternate to see at Dyen’s ‘LEGO 42151 – BUMBLEBEE TRANSFORMER’ album, and you can take a look at the least accessible giant alien robot via the link above.
It’s been a while since we last posted a Lego creation. This may have been because we’ve been at the pub, but as there’s a longstanding narrative running through this website to do with mythical Elves finding blog-worthy Lego creations, let’s go with them not finding anything. Yeh, that.
We do genuinely only publicise creations that we believe warrant it though, and today we have the first of many now we’re back from the pub TLCB Elves have found some.
This one comes from TLCB debutant Levente Lévai, whose own interpretation of Transformers’ Optimus Prime transforms from truck to robot and back again with such incredible complexity it makes our heads hurt. Although that could be the lingering aftermath of the pub.
There’s loads more to see of Levente’s spectacular transforming Autobot on Flickr, where there are dozens of images depicting the extraordinary metamorphosis. Click the link above to roll out.
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.
This is the ‘Classic Space Baby Mobile Rocket Transport Mech’, or C.S.B.M.R.T.M. for short, a triple rocket transportation and launch system that can transform into a giant space-baby mech. Because shut up, that’s why.
Angus MacLane is the owner / father responsible for this mildly terrifying Classic Space roving automaton, and there’s more of his otherworldly insanity to see at his photostream. Pack some giant space diapers and head to lunar daycare via the link in the text above.
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.
This is the brand new LEGO Creator 10302 Transformers Optimus Prime set, and The Lego Car Blog Elves are wildly excited.
Constructed from just over 1,500 pieces and measuring 35cm tall in robot mode, 10302 will arrive in stores in June of this year aimed at ages 18+ (which is just a LEGO marketing ploy to make it more acceptable for adults (or rather, more acceptable to their partners) to spend £150 on a toy…)
And yes, we did say ‘robot mode’, because as with every good Transformers toy, 10302 can transform between a vehicle and a robot, in which guise it has nineteen points of articulation.
10302 also features a few of Optimus Prime’s accessories, including his Ion Blaster, Autobot Matrix of Leadership, Energon axe, and Energon cube. Although we have absolutely no idea what any of those things are or do.
The Creator 10302 Transformers Optimus Prime set becomes the latest product within LEGO’s expanding licensed movie vehicle line-up, following the Aston Martin DB5 ‘007 Goldfinger‘, 42111 Fast & Furious Dom’s Dodge Charger, 21108 Ghostbusters Ecto-1, and the fantastic 10300 Back to the Future Time Machine amongst others.
It also probably fights it out with the aforementioned Dodge Charger for being the coolest vehicle from the worst movie, but we won’t hold that against it.
The new LEGO Creator 10302 Transformers Optimus Prime set is expected to cost around $170/£150, and if you’re as big a fan of explosions, giant space robots, explosions, Megan Fox, and explosions as TLCB Elves are, you can get your hands on it from June this year.
Brilliant though the Porsche 911 is, it can be criticised for looking, well… almost exactly the same for the last six decades.
What lies underneath the repetitive exterior however, has evolved hugely over the years, with turbo-charging, all-wheel-drive, and soon even electrification packaged inside the iconic body shape.
And that’s sort of the point of the 911 we suppose; a myriad of different engines, drivetrains, and technologies united by a common exterior.
And that’s never been truer than with today’s creation; this epic G1 Transformers ‘Jazz’, a ginormous funky robot hidden completely within the official Creator Expert 10295 Porsche 911 set by the sheer force of Adrian Drake’s considerable building talent.
Using the 10295 set as a base, Adrian’s ‘Jazz’ Transformer unfurls out of it via a brain-busting manoeuvre of folds and hinges, all of which is unfathomable to the minds here at TLCB.
You can see if you can figure it out at Adrian’s photostream, where there’s more of his amazing creation to view; click these words to watch a Porsche 911 become a robot.
Alex Jones (aka Orion Pax)’s Transformers just keep coming! This has made the Elves very happy of course, as they now get to watch Transformers cartoons.
Following his previous appearances here at The Lego Car Blog in December and October of last year, Alex has constructed another swathe of transforming Autobot and Deception vehicles, from cranes and dump trucks to fighter jets and pick-ups. Each looks brilliant in both robot and vehicle modes, and can switch between the two by engineering so clever it makes our heads hurt.
We’re also re-featuring Alex’s amazing Optimus Prime build, as he’s now uploaded an image of the model in ‘roller base’ form, with more vehicles hidden inside!
You can see more of the awesome Optimus Prime build at Alex’s photostream, where you can also find the rest of his incredible Transformers back-catalogue. Click the link above to see more than meets the eye.
The Elves are in a very buoyant mood today! Flickr’s Alex Jones (aka Orion Pax) has been uploading Transformers builds and such a prodigious rate that we’ve been handing out meal tokens like Smarties. And we’ve also been handing out Smarties.
These are a sample of some of his latest Autobot and Decepticon creations, following the first tranche we published here a month or so ago. Each is beautifully built and presented, transforms through some sort of magic, and can be seen – alongside a raft of other equally awesome Transformers builds not shown here – at Alex’s photostream.
It’s a happy day for the Elves here at TLCB Towers as a number of them found these brilliant Transformers Autobots by Flickr’s Alex Jones (aka Orion Pax). Normally this would have led to an Elf fight, but in a rare moment of Elven cooperation they approached us with their finds collectively, in the hope that Transformers cartoons would be played. Their peaceful approach has been rewarded, with the discovering Elves duly awarded a meal token each and all Elves here at the Towers now contentedly watching Transformers cartoons. You can thank Alex for the harmony via the link above, where you can find his excellent transforming Ironhide, Cosmos, Powerglide, Mirage, Hoist, Jazz, Blaster, and Bumblebee Autobots.
Before Michael Bay, Megan Fox and General Motors sponsorship, Bumblebee wasn’t a Camaro. He was in fact a humble Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle, a car that regular bloggee Ralph Savelsberg aka Mad Physicist recreated beautifully some years ago. Using – we assume – magic, Ralph has now turned his original (and perfect) Beetle design into a fully transforming Bumblebee autobot. Take a look at the scarcely-believable image below and then join us in amazement at Ralph’s photostream by clicking here.
Chibiformers. Another weird internet-based trend of which we know absolutely nothing. Still, despite our ineptitude when it comes to any nerdy fad, we do rather like these two neat ‘Chibi’ Transformers from TLCB debutant Hoyin Lau. Each model cleverly transforms between truck and robot mode, and there’s more to see of each build in both modes at Hoyin’s photostream via the link in the text above.
*Yes, we’re still at the musical puns for blog post titles. This one was a bit of a stretch…
It’s been a while since we let the Elves watch a Transformers movie. This is partly because they’ve not found much in the way of Transformers-related builds, but mostly because after the abomination of ‘Transformers 4 – Age of Extinction’ we just couldn’t stomach any more Michael Bay directed nonsense.
Today though, we’ve relented, because one of their number returned with this cache of superb fully Transformable Autobots courtesy of Alex Jones aka Orion Pax.
Each creation is an ingenious work of art, and you can now build them for yourself, as Alex has released a new book containing step-by-step building instructions! There’s more to see via the link above, where you can also find a link to Amazon where Alex’s book is available to buy.