Awesome Lego

The Galactic Senate scenes in the Star Wars prequels weren’t always the most captivating, but the Senate chamber was an impressive set piece. A team of LEGO builders created this incredible Minifig-scale replica of the chamber. Christoph, Tobias, Hendrik, René, and Markus built the main structure, while attendees of a LEGO conference each made a pod.

The LEGO How We Create deck was created by builders, designers, and other LEGO team members to help inspire creative thought. It includes 78 cards featuring images of LEGO bricks, quotes, and building prompts. The deck is divided into five categories – Motivation, Inspiration, Memories & Mentors, Challenges & Obstacles, and LEGO Core Values.

GazR’s Extreme Brick Machines created this unusual LEGO Technic vehicle that gets around on eight tank-like continuous tracks. It’s driven by eight large Powered Up motors and has articulated outer tracks that help it to climb stairs and maneuver on uneven, rocky terrain.

Simon from ClayClaim has made some incredible polymer clay sculptures based on video games. This time, he upgraded from a static diorama to a motion scene. He used clay and paper to craft a backdrop based on Sonic the Hedgehog’s Green Hill Zone, then attached a LEGO Technic motor and added a wheeled Sonic to run through the level.

Hypno Motion makes stop-motion animation. In this short clip, they took some brick-built LEGO chicken legs, battered them up in 1×1 bricks,  and fried them in a pot. Of course, you can’t have fried chicken without a side dish, so they also cooked up some french fries. Their Hidden Patterns Inside video series is a fascinating watch, too.

Since they’re made from plastic, LEGO bricks probably don’t stand a chance against a 150-ton hydraulic press, right? They’re stronger than you might think. Lauri from the Hydraulic Press Channel shows exactly how much force the ABS plastic building blocks can endure when assembled. Distributing the pressure across a larger surface area certainly helps.

Some of our favorite LEGO bricks are the ones that shoot darts. Jason from JK Brickworks came up with a fun use for these spring-loaded shooters – a chain gun that fires dozens of darts with the turn of a crank or a motor. From what we can tell, the only limit to how many rounds it can fire is the number of shooter bricks in the chain. Build instructions here.

A little while back, JK Brickworks built a circular LEGO machine that knocks over dominoes and stands them back up. In this video, he experiments with the concept a bit more based on reader comments. In addition to changing their face colors, he tweaks the machine’s speed, adds a second carriage, and swaps in a colorful rainbow of dominoes.

LEGO brings the iconic supersonic jet, the Concorde, to life with a fantastic 2083-piece kit. The brick-built model looks like the real airplane, with a tilting nose and tail landing gear. Under its roof, you’ll find a micro-scale cabin, complete with seating. The finished plane measures 42″ long with a 17″ wingspan. Comes with a display stand and an information plaque.

LEGO builder ScottMakesMOCs spent an unfathomable amount of time creating this Mario Kart roller coaster. The intricate build includes Kart-inspired cars, Bowser’s castle, an airship, and lots of characters and details from the Nintendo game. He’s recently built an expansion to the theme park, and Beyond the Brick has a great interview video.

LEGO is the dominant player in the brick-building game. But they weren’t the first to make snap-together plastic toy bricks. Historian Phil Edwards looks back at Kiddicraft, a company that was making something similar 10 years before LEGO. Then LEGO solved a problem that gave them a major advantage.

At first, we thought these color-coordinated LEGO habitats had been slathered with paint. But artist Dana Knudson built each entirely from same-color LEGO bricks. He had to remove some printing, otherwise, it’s 100% LEGO plastic. Beyond the Brick stopped by Dana’s display at Atlanta Brick Con for an up-close look at every scene.

Do you collect LEGO minifigures? This display case from sfDisplay makes it easy to show off and protect your collection. The case is handmade from beech hardwood and has six shelves that can hold up to 180 standard minifigs. It has locking brass latches, a black felt background, and a UV-protective acrylic viewing window. Measures 37.5″ W x 19.75″ H x 2.5″ D.

A well-balanced top on a low-friction surface can spin for a long time. Brick Machines wanted to see if he could make a top spin indefinitely like the one in Inception by creating a motorized machine to get it up to speed. It took several iterations, but the final design and top combination turned in some very impressive spin times.

Engineering geeks will get a kick out of this video from the Brick Experiment Channel. Using LEGO Technic components, they demonstrated various mechanical principles, including a Schmidt coupling, a Scotch yoke, and a Chebyshev lambda linkage. Even if you don’t know what any of that means, it’s fun to watch.

Keep your loose LEGO blocks and other small toys or accessories inside these giant LEGO bricks. The plastic storage bins come in stackable 4-stud and 8-stud variants in vibrant primary colors as well as grey, white, and black. LEGO also sells a premium series of drawers made from natural oak wood.