Behold: fifty incredible Lego creations your little brother wants to walk all over while you're in the bathroom.
Ohio State University Stadium |
Dr. Paul Janssen, a professor at Ohio State University, built this gorgeous replica of the Buckeyes’ Ohio Stadium in 1,000 hours over four years. The thing weighs between 250 and 500 pounds. Unfortunately, even when considering this sculpture as well as the fact that Michigan football is terrible right now, the Wolverines are still the overall superior team.
Alien Chest Buster |
Hispalug forum user Arvo built this replica of one of H.R. Giger’s designs from the movie Alien in about a month and a half. I can only remember enough from high school Spanish to translate that part of his post. Good job, buddy. I like the little blood puddle touch on the ground there.
Escher’s Impossible Staircase |
Andrew Lipsom built this Lego version of M.C. Escher’s Relativity lithograph, commonly described as the impossible staircase. The sheer amount of brain power it must have taken to build this into a physical reality is terrifying.
The Brick Testament |
422 Bible stories with 4,603 diaroma/illustrations. The Brick Testament (bricktestament.com) is the brainchild of Reverend Brendan Powell Smith, who may or may not be a real reverend but is definitely not a real redhead. The stories are quite faithful to the source material and will give you the straight dope on what the Bible says about identifying head diseases, tattoos (forbidden), and stoning your children (permissible if they are extra disobedient).
Volvo
This life-sized Lego Volvo is a sensible choice for a family sedan, save for the blacked out windows all around. Built for Legoland in California, this replica of the Volvo XC90 SUV was constructed by LEGO’s own Master Builders. If you haven’t been to Legoland, let me save you some money and heartache: you won’t actually fit in or on anything.
T-800 LEGO Bust |
Marin Latta built this intimidating bust of the T-800 Terminator as a remake of his original 2006 model. It comes complete with glowing LED eyes and Judgment Day detail (check out the little Lego skeleton pieces inside the base).
Conan O’Brien |
This is only the latest sculpture from Nathan Sawaya, probably the world’s most well-known Lego artist. Kudos to the man for being able to capture the Conan attitude in brick, as well as that exact shade of orange.
V8 Engine |
This Lego V8 engine is fun to look at, but would you believe the thing actually works? Though it’s not going to power your Mustang, it does indeed run after four months of work.
Aircraft Carrier |
Ed Diment built this painstaking model of the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier out of seventy trillion Lego bricks. It is officially the largest Lego ship in the world, measuring up at 23 feet long. That's a 1:40 scale reproduction with 40:1 odds of droppin' your drawer
Brickley |
Brickley, the sea monster popping out of the water at Downtown Disney in Orlando, is thirty feet long and made of 170,000 Lego bricks. He lives in the water right outside of the Lego Store, a retail chain I have spent more money at than I care to admit. If you live in NYC, you can also see Brickley poking out of the ceiling at the Rockefeller Center Lego Store.
Boba Fett Suit |
Star Wars fan Simon McDonald wore this set of Mandalorian Armor to MegaCon last year. The Boba Fett replica suit is made entirely out of Legos, except for the blue jumpsuit underneath, the Velcro fasteners, and that wicked side fanny pack. He even has a gun built into his forearm that fires Lego Technic darts.
Mona Lisa |
Pro Lego artist Eric Harshbarger built this 40 square foot mosaic of the famous Mona Lisa painting using more than 30,000 bricks. Aside from the bright blue frame, it looks strikingly like the real thing.
Three Story Victorian With Tree |
This is the second in Mike Doyle's series of abandoned houses, which look like they're straight out of a Vincent Price Edgar Allen Poe adaptation. I still am not entirely convinced that this isn't just a black and white pic of some decrepit Detroit real estate.
All-Terrain Ice Cream Transport |
When--not if--George Lucas makes significant changes to the Original Trilogy for the Blu-ray and 3D releases, I hope he turns all of the AT-ATs into these magical ice cream camels. I already have plans to use my Snowspeeder tow line to abscond with all of the Colonel Crunch (don't ever, EVER mistake him for Captain Crunch) bars.
Edward Hopper's Nighthawks |
Lego interpretations of artwork are always entertaining, but usually not as cool as this. Maybe I'm being sensitive because the original is one of the most famous installations in my second home, Chicago, but I am super impressed at how these little minifigs are able to capture that timelesly cool attitude.
Full-Sized Advent Calendar |
This massive structure is compelling enough on its own, but peek into each individual room and you'll find a detailed setting for each of the days leading up to Christmas. On December 22nd, the elves are busy wrapping up presents. On December 17th, some medieval characters break out of Santa's VR studio. All in a typical December at the North Pole.
Han Solo in Carbonite |
Just one more from the man behind "The Art of the Brick." One of his earlier works but still one of his best, Sawaya's life-sized Han Solo Frozen in Carbonite piece captures that classic cinematic moment perfectly. It's been years now, but I'm hoping he follows it up with a sculpture of Han being unfrozen.
Han Solo in Carbonite |
Just one more from the man behind "The Art of the Brick." One of his earlier works but still one of his best, Sawaya's life-sized Han Solo Frozen in Carbonite piece captures that classic cinematic moment perfectly. It's been years now, but I'm hoping he follows it up with a sculpture of Han being unfrozen.
Nazi Death Camp |
This can be the one exception to the title of this article. Rather than call it awesome, let's say this lego interpretation of a Nazi death camp is highly interesting in conception and smartly executed. We can also agree on the fact that we still need more Holocaust education, as one Flickr commenter suggested that the Nazis might not have been kind enough to provide showers to the Jews.
Custom DC Minifigs |
These customized DC minifigs deserve to be shown for their incredible good looks as well as for the fact that creator Julian Fong auctioned them off for charity. I am really mentioning them to make the point that since Lego already has the Batman license, they should just go ahead and do Lego Justice League, because these figures look awesome and everyone would buy them and you could make like ten million video games that sold ten billion copies each.
Homage to HP Lovecraft |
Mr. Xenomurphy's love letter to Lovecraft features the rebirth of an Old One, which as I understand it always involves giant, amoral tentacles. Xenomurphy even wrote a little story to go along with his Eisenstuck Mansion, in which an unwary partygoer calls up the terrible god by reading a passage from Nameless Cults.
Prince |
I don't care what anyone says, Prince is a genius. So is the dude who built this Prince set, featuring his "The Artist Formerly Known As..." symbol and the greatest minifig hair I have ever seen. Wherever did you find those flowing tresses?
The Matrix |
This awesome recreation of Neo’s final battle with Agent Smith in Matrix Revolutions is the work of Lee Jones, who created the rain effect with a custom brush in Photoshop. Looks good, dude, even if The Matrix should’ve stopped with the first movie.
Lego Knitting Machine
Made by Tom Johnson, this knitting machine goes in super slow motion but it actually does knit. If I start now, I can get that XXL Christmas sweater done in 25 years.
The Gorton’s Fisherman
One fish stick is never enough, which must have been the thinking behind Gorton’s Seafood commissioning not one but EIGHT sculptures of the Gorton’s fisherman.This is why I refuse to go in the ocean.
This is…Spinal Tap? |
There is not too much information on this somewhat disturbing LEGO creation I came across one evening. I am not sure what’s more bizarre—that fact that she/he bending over is smiling while getting punctured by a massive needle or the three heads inside of the needle.
The Doll |
As if I needed another reason to be afraid of dolls. That aside, it is a very nice representation of the doll from Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.
Winking Sarah Palin |
Many have impersonated Sarah Palin, but none like Ochre Jelly’s “marionette scale” Sarah Palin LEGO representation. A puppet for the right? Hey, Ochre said it, not me!
Lie Detector |
Michael Gasperi has created a LEGO lie detector—it functions on the basic premise that people who lie sweat more. Warning to fatties: do not submit to this lie detector test after trying to make McDonalds breakfast by 10:30.
Giant Menorah |
Leave it to Hawaiian Jews to build a menorah that makes a statement. This colorful, large menorah is made entirely of LEGOs and actually lights up with actual fire.
Containment |
Now this is the kind of kit I wish I had as a kid. Creators Nathan Zhang and Tyler Clites’ sci-fi diorama shows one man operating a biosphere processing facility (don’t ask me about science) closed off from the alien world. Watch the thing in motion.
Full-Sized Lego House |
Top Gear’s James May (and 1000 kind volunteers) built a full-sized, fully detailed house out of Legos. He even slept over in it as part of the filing for James May’s Toy Stories. My guess is that this Lego bed proved to be even less comfortable than it looks.
Stephen Hawking |
Brickshelf user Ochre Jelly constructed this tribute to Cambridge Professor Stephen Hawking. It’s simple but easily recognizable. Though I’ll admit the face isn’t super-flattering (it’s the little “o” mouth that does it in, no?), Lego is a medium with pretty severe limitations. I think it’s a sweet tribute that Hawking, who has an awesome sense of humor, would enjoy.
Serenity |
This Lego reproduction of the Serenity ship from Joss Whedon’s cult favorite, sadly short-lived tv series Firefly is dauntingly true to the original. Artist Chris Doyle used photos of the real ship (yes, it is REAL) as well as freeze-frame viewings of the Serenity DVD to get everything just right.
Howl’s Moving Castle |
This thoroughly awesome Lego version of Howl’s Moving Castle from the animated film of the same name is the brainchild of Flickr user Imagine Rigney. Not sure if that’s his or her real name, but wouldn’t that be just splendid?
Angry Birds |
They may be a bit big for the slingshot, but I’ve got a soft spot for Tsang Yiu Keung’s Angry Birds Lego designs. I’d probably be a lot better at the game if I could fling these things, anyway.
Pharaoh |
Egypt is a scary place to be right now, and with rioters destroying ancient artifacts, this Lego pharaoah might be the most historically accurate piece of Egypt left on Earth. At sixteen feet tall and a whole ton (the largest Lego statue on record at the tim) this boy god-king floated down the Thames to promote the British Legoland's King of the Pharaohs attraction.
Stilzkin Bridge Launcher |
Check this out: it's a tough-ass vehicle on tank treads that can, get this, provide its own bridge. Yes, when it gets to an uncrossable chasm, it merely extends the built-in bridge from the top of the vehicle, then drives over itself to get to its destination. This is like when Garfield picks himself up by his own tail. Simply incredible.
Stormtrooper Memorial |
Flickr user Shobrick captured this solemn Stormtrooper memorial scene through some kind of mixture of diorama and photography only people more creative than I can discern. I love the dying embers in the foreground and the AT-ST walker standing all ghostly in the back.
Futurama's New New York |
Pepa Quin (aka Matt De Lanoy) took over two years to build this replica of Futurama's New New York, starting with the good ol' Planet Express. Fans of the show will also recognize the Robot Arms apartment building, Madison Cube Garden, and the Head Museum. Pepa's minifigs are also awesomely well-done, getting my hopes up for an official Futurama set that will never ever happen.
Godzilla |
Now that they're on Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Lego is going to need to think of some new video game properties. I can think of none better than Lego Godzilla, and I challenge you to try.
Star Wars x Space Invaders
From above, this piece looks like your standard Space Invaders mock-up. Look again, dude: those are Star Wars minifigs marching on. Very clever, sir. Artist Chris McVeigh will even build you your own copy--just hit him up and ask about pricing.
Jesus |
A Swedish Protestant church built this six foot tall statue of the Christian savior, harnessing the awesome power of 40 volunteers over a period of 18 months. It might not get you into Heaven, but it should at least get you into Purgatory.
Lego Luigi |
There are plenty of Lego Marios out there, but this is the first I've seen of the Other Brother done up in bricks. The same guy also made a great-looking Lego Yoshi.
Abston Church of Christ |
This may be the weirdest and sweetest thing I've ever seen. Built in honor of her cat Precious's memory, the Abston Church of Christ by Amy Hughes has its own website complete with a sermon written from the perspective of a minifig. Do yourself a favor and go to amyhughes.org to see for yourself.
Wearable Master Chief Helmet |
Ben Caulkins built this wearable Master Chief helmet out of nothing but Legos, save for the visor (it's part of a repurposed motorcycle helmet). He reports that it's very hot inside, but wearing it has gotten easier now that he's padded the inside with pieces from a Target mattress topper.
Dissected Frog |
Lego builder Dave Kaleta uses his gift to craft, among other models, menorahs, Tesla ray guns, and scorpions. His most striking build, though, is this dissected frog. Built for the Lego Anatomy competition of the MOC Olympics, it has the dubious honor of being the only plastic model to physically sicken me.
Stegosaurus |
Henry Lim's nearly life-sized Stegosaurus sculpture looks like it takes up an entire room of his house, which is totally worth it. He made the 14 foot-long dinosaur over the course of seven months.
Bugatti Veyron |
I can't afford the Lego Technic pieces to make this Veyron, let alone the real thing, but I am content to simply admire its good looks. This model actually has a working seven-speed gearbox and retracting spoiler. As far as I understand it, the real Veyrons have this because they can go so fast half of the car lifts up in the air without the spoiler, but then again, I have at one point in my life gone to a service station and paid someone to put air in my tires because I didn't know how and was afraid of exploding them.
