Hurler

Just when you think you've heard of every sport possible, from underwater hockey to bog snorkeling, out of nowhere comes some BrickHead that makes you question everything you know. This particular BrickHead by jarekwally is a hurler from the Limerick team. You heard me right, a hurler! Hurling is apparently an outdoor team sport of Gaelic and Irish origin that revolves around hitting a small ball with a bat into the opponent's goal. Huh, sounds a lot like a combination of soccer and baseball, maybe I should give it a try someday.

Dirty Job

No one likes to clean up poo but someone has to do it.  Dung Beetles are actually quite fascinating little creatures, despite being scatophages (dung eaters) and also dung dwellers.  The Scarab well know from Egyptian mythology is a dung beetle.  The nocturnal North African Scarabaeus satyrus species of dung beetle is the only non human animal that uses the Milky Way to celestially navigate.  Takamichi Irie captures the likeness of nature's janitor at work rolling an excellently modeled ball of dung.  The tennis rackets for the flies wings are excellent parts usage as is the photography of with the reflection on the beetles carapace and the fly just out of focus.   The beetle itself is well executed as well, capturing the shape, and the details of the spiky nature of the dung beetle's legs.

 

Ursula

My wife loves The Little Mermaid, in fact it’s one of her all time favorite movies. She also loves Disney villains (and really, who doesn’t) and Ursula is one of the greatest of all time. So as soon as I spotted this marvelous version of the sea witch by retinence I knew she was going to be on the blog. 

Plumbing Safety

Plumbing safety is no laughing matter. Every year hundreds of people are injured while improperly using the tools of the trade, and it's no joke. Not to mention the costs of repairs should a small flood happen. I know from first hand experience that a simple toilet overflow at the hands of a 9 year old can blossom into a $20k restoration project (true story). Take this apparatus for instance, a katana fixed to a plunger, can you imagine the damage that could be inflicted should this fall into the wrong....

Sorry, I'm being told this is from a video game, Fortnite or something. Never mind, move along.

Dinner For Two

Inspired by the recent part study of the new wand piece (and it's sprue!) over at New Elementary builder MinifigNick decided to experiment, and this is the result: A charming dinner setting in a very interesting dining room. And while he had all those new Harry Potter parts laying around he decided to incorporate a few, can you spot them?

Space Carrot

When I learned that LEGO was going to be made of plants, I didn't realize that a full carrot was on the menu! Zed_43 has created a very organic spaceship (hehe, get it?) and a cute little scene that can make everyone smile (except all the LEGO purist out there who don't want us to play with our food). But the icing on top is the impressive use of a real carrot as the core of the spaceship! All this talking of carrots and icing is really making me hungry, I think I'm going to have a piece of carrot cake. 

Defender Of Hyrule

I like the upgrades to this Link mech by Julius von Brunk. We last saw mecha Link way back in 2013. Well here it is about five years later (in peak Voltron hype) and the defender of Hyrule is back with some very nice upgrades. Zelda is in good hands.

Cloud Strife

I missed the boat on Final Fantasy VII when it first came out (I was a Nintendo kid), but it's widely acclaimed as a classic RPG, and still fondly remembered to this day. One thing that hasn't aged as well is the blocky 3D models, but I think it gives it a certain charm, which Moko has brilliantly recreated in bricks. Those polygons look sharp!

DT-92 Dropship

This looks like a shot out of a movie, so I'm instantly fascinated of course. Ben Smith's dropship and APC look totally ready for action on whatever distant planet they're about to descend upon. I like to think it's some sort of rescue mission, where a hostile alien encounter is about to happen. But it's just as rad if they drop in, drive around for a bit, stop for some donuts then call for dust off.

Newt's Case

So you watched the stores, tracked the delivery trucks, bribed the clerks and fought the kids at Walmart and managed to score some of the new LEGO Harry Potter Collectible Minifigures or the new sets, so now what? Well, if you're builder LEGO 7 you build a replica of Newt's case to carry Newt, Tina, Jacob and Queenie, and it's absolutely magical.

SPACE SHIPS

I'll be honest, I haven't completely wrapped my head around this latest offering from Ochre Jelly, mostly because I have practically no knowledge of Voltron, old or new. Iain describes this series as a "LEGO love note to the amazing animated Netflix show VOLTRON : LEGENDARY DEFENDER." and having not seen it, the characters mean nothing to me. But they are superbly built with the detail, flair and panache that I've come to expect from Iain, and they make me curious about the show. Click through for the whole series.

Very Small Space

What is space? When you say the word most people travel about 60 miles up in their mind and see stars and satellites. But space is just space, be it between planets, between houses or between cells. Builder Dwalin Forkbeard shows us what exploration looks like on the nano level with Invader T3 Phage. And I've been fighting a virus since last Friday, hmmmm.

Man With The Golden Gun

No, not the Bond villain, this is a different villain, namely Frau Irene Engel from Wolfenstein. Come to think of it, she's also not a man, ignore that title, it makes no sense. Nick Brick built this ornate beauty, using only official LEGO pearl gold elements. This is a build restriction that would challenge even the best builders, but Nick pulls it off beautifully. 

Tink

She's an absolute icon, and synonymous with all things Disney. She started every TV show and ends the fireworks show at Disneyland. She is if course Tinkerbell. This rendition by reticence is instantly recognizable and absolutely magical. Fun fact: the first lady to make the flight as Tinkerbell was the legendary Tiny Kline, a 70 year old circus performer. The best part is how she ended every flight, by slamming into a mattress held by two dudes.

Queen Of Hearts

Any time I hear "Queen of hearts" two things happen: I think of the character from Disney's animated classic Alice in Wonderland (not the Burton film, she was just weird) and that terrible song (which will now be stuck in my head the rest of the damn day). I would really like to shift those things to this imposing but beautiful lady by builder LegoWyrm, I'd much rather think of her. Of course we'll have to wait and see (fingers crossed). But for now, the terrible song continues in my skull...

Amazing Summer

I don't like sand, it's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. But there's something about this summer scene by dvdliu that's really inviting, and I think I can make an exception. It makes me want to kick off my shoes and bathe myself in the wonderful summer sunshine, maybe even take a little dip in the water. At least I can enjoy this last bit of summer before work takes over. 

Ninjas On Parade

I don't watch many parades, even the ones at Disneyland, but when I do I'm hoping to see things like this fantastic Ninjago float by builder LegoFjotten. With a little animation and some smoke effects, can you imagine the children's faces when this thing rolled down the parade route?

Fun fact: when I was about 10 years old my brother and I got to ride a float in our little town's annual Flower Festival. Every year, a bunch of locals will fashion crude floats around old junker cars, slather them with glue and fasten millions of flowers to them. Another fun fact: said glue will also fasten children to said float, resulting in ruined pants, emergency response crews and many tears.

Glorious Horus

Maybe it's because I loved myths and legends as a child, or perhaps because this figure is freakin' awesome, but I can't help but be mesmerized by this rendition of the infamous Horus by LEGO 7. The god of the sky and protector of the pharaoh is truly done justice here and I can just imagine him swooping into battle against his evil uncle Seth on his quest to unite Egypt. If there's one thing that I've learned from ancient myths and legends (not to mention Star Wars), it's that there's nothing more glorious and dangerous than a family dispute. Am I right?

Mmmm, Burger

I love cheeseburgers, it's one of my favorite foods. I could be within walking distance of a multitude of restaurants, perhaps even Michelin star rated ones, but I'd be just as happy at In-N-Out. And now of course I'm going to have to have a burger for lunch because of this awesome MOC by nobu_tary. It's also the first use of the new Unikitty base I've seen and it's brilliant.

Cash Money

If there's one thing that AFOLs are keenly aware of it's that LEGO is not cheap. And most of us are pretty OK with that, understanding that quality is worth paying for, and that the bricks hold their value. What better way to symbolize this than to build big piles of money like theworldinbricks.