Tag Archives: Lego ideas

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine precinct gets immortalized with its very own LEGO build

Posted on by

Chills… Literal Chills.

Meet the most lovable police force in the NYPD. This adorable build by LEGO creator Ben Fankhauser details the entire 99th precinct, complete with all the rooms and characters of the hit TV series, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The set, in great detail, features all of the show’s recurring characters, along with the bullpen, captain’s office, rec room, kitchen, and the printer room. The only missing room seems to be the infamous briefing/meeting room that formed a core part of the planning (and chaos) behind some of the squad’s missions… but that’s a trade-off I’m happily willing to make.

Designer: Ben Fankhauser

The beauty of Fankhauser’s build is just the sheer amount of detail gone into recreating every aspect of the precinct’s floor, along with a few secret details scattered along the way. “The set is packed full of Easter eggs,” says Fankhauser, detailing some of the dizzyingly specific references to the show itself. The break room has the training dummy, while Holt’s office has his pet corgi, Cheddar. You’ll find a portrait of Holt on Terry’s desk (right beside his yogurt), and those disgusting chocolate and cheese fountains on Hitchcock and Scully’s tables. Speaking of disgusting, Jake Peralta’s pet rat Algernon can be found somewhere too, as can Boyle’s ancestral sourdough starter.

The details extend to the characters found in the set too. You’ve obviously got the showrunners, Jake Peralta, Charles Boyle, Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz, Sgt. Terry Jeffords, Capt. Raymond Holt, Gina Linetti, Norm Scully, and Michael Hitchcock… but the set also includes a few crowd favorites like Holt’s partner Kevin Cozner, and arguably Jake’s soulmate, the elusive Doug Judy, the Pontiac Bandit!

The set comes in at a little over 1,500 pieces, with the bulk of this piece count coming from small 2×2 tiles used for the flooring. The smooth floor is perfect for anyone aiming to recreate the full bullpen, playing out scenes from the TV series.

Almost emblematic of the series itself, this LEGO build from Ben Fankhauzer was ‘cancelled’ by LEGO not once, but twice. It reached its 10,000 vote mark twice but was rejected by the LEGO internal team (probably for licensing reasons). Unfazed by defeat, Fankhauser is giving the LEGO MoC (My Own Creation) yet another shot at being turned into a box-set, and has already gathered a staggering 6,382 votes (including my own) and is looking to hit the 10,000 mark for a third, and hopefully last time. You can cast your vote for the build on the LEGO Ideas website here. Captain Holt would want this.

The post The Brooklyn Nine-Nine precinct gets immortalized with its very own LEGO build first appeared on Yanko Design.

These 1:1 scale LEGO Reptiles are the perfect blend of Creepy and Cool!

Posted on by

The word Herpetophile stands for someone who loves reptiles. Of course, if you already knew that, chances are you’re a fan of scaly vertebrates like lizards, snakes, turtles, and other members of the reptilia family. If the term herpetophile describes you, chances are you’ll love LEGO builder legotruman’s submission to the LEGO Ideas forum. legotruman’s reptile collection showcases with three animals – the Veiled Chameleon, the Leopard Gecko, and the Box Turtle. These reptiles are made entirely from LEGO pieces, celebrating the unique colors, textures, and patterns of these animals, and are built to 1:1 scale, making them perfect for any serious collector who shares a love for, well, unconventional pets!

Designer: legotruman

Indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula, the Arabian chameleon, scientifically referred to as Chamaeleo calyptratus, boasts captivating hues and is distinguished by its distinctive casque that extends from its head. Contrary to common misconceptions, the chameleon’s remarkable color changes are not for camouflage but rather serve as a visual display of its emotions, stress levels, and social standing. legotruman recreated the chameleon using a myriad of tiles, perching the animal delicately on a LEGO branch too. Points if you noticed the use of a brick from the LEGO Scooby Doo Mystery Machine for the chameleon’s eyes!

The adorable-looking Leopard Gecko, native to desert habitats, has garnered worldwide popularity as a beloved pet reptile. One of the frequently encountered morphs showcases a striking pattern of dark spots on a vibrant yellow or orange skin, reminiscent of leopards. Often dubbed as the pioneers of domesticated lizards, they are cherished for their endearing large eyes, charming smiles, and their iconic plump tails. Adult females can reach a length of up to 20 cm, while males can attain an impressive 28 cm in size. The lizard, made entirely out of LEGO bricks, gets perched on a slanted branch, allowing it to display the gecko’s elegant stance.

Highly favored as pets, the Box Turtles are known for their dome-shaped shells. Some showcase remarkable radiating patterns on their shells, adorned with vibrant shades of yellow and orange. Despite their tortoise-like appearance, it’s important to note that they belong to the terrapin family, similar to other aquatic turtles like the red-eared slider. Remarkably, box turtles can enjoy a lifespan of up to 40-50 years! To recreate their stunning shells, legotruman utilized black and orange slope Lego elements, quarter tiles for the leg scales pattern, and gold ring elements to craft their eyes.

The LEGO Reptiles are a submission to LEGO’s Ideas forum, where creators and enthusiasts can design their own LEGO sculptures and share them with the global community. The entries with the highest votes get considered by LEGO’s internal team to be turned into retail box-sets. legotruman’s LEGO Reptiles has collected 2240 votes as of writing this article, and is gradually on its way to hit the coveted 10,000 vote mark that qualifies it for an official LEGO review. Click here to vote for the entry!

The post These 1:1 scale LEGO Reptiles are the perfect blend of Creepy and Cool! first appeared on Yanko Design.

This LEGO version of the classic Sony Walkman WM-22 features an opening lid with removable cassettes!

Posted on by

Fashion is cyclical and it seems like cassettes may just be making their comeback. Audio manufacturer Fiio just debuted their latest retro CP13 cassette player at CES this year, and it shouldn’t be long before people are making mixtapes again. Just to prime us for that retro-resurgence, LEGO builder Srta.JirafaEnfadada designed a to-scale Sony Walkman made entirely out of LEGO bricks… and the best part, it actually fits LEGO cassettes in!

Designer: Srta.JirafaEnfadada

Before MP3 players and iPods pretty much changed the game, cassettes were the gold standard in music playback. Cars had cassette players, people owned boomboxes, and for a brief while, the Sony Walkman was one of the coolest products you could own. Designed to play cassettes on-the-go, the Walkman walked so the iPod could run. You could make your mixtape, pop it in, and listen to music either on the Walkman’s built-in speaker (if it had one), or on a pair of headphones or earphones for a private music experience.

This entry into the LEGO Ideas forum is based on the WM-22 Walkman, available in the iconic red colorway. It features the classic opening flap on the front that lets you put cassettes in and take them out between plays, with a transparent window that even lets you peer into the walkman’s insides to see which cassette’s loaded. Around the periphery are its play-pause and rewind/fast-forward buttons, and a simple rotary dial to adjust volume. The WM-22 didn’t sport a record button, which most costlier models had, allowing you to even capture audio directly to the cassette. However, it did have a 3.5mm jack, which can be found on this LEGO version too (right above the volume button), allowing you to hook a pair of headphones in. You’ve also got 4 different LEGO cassettes to choose from with the build, adding variety to your music library!

The Sony Walkman was submitted to the LEGO Ideas forum, an online dashboard where LEGO enthusiasts can share their own LEGO-based creations. The forum allows the LEGO community to vote for their favorite designs, with the top-voted ones getting turned into box-sets for us regular-folk to buy. The Sony Walkman sits at 2,068 votes as of writing this article, and if it hits the coveted 10,000 mark, it could potentially be made into a retail set! You can vote for the Sony Walkman or any of your other favorite designs on the LEGO Ideas website.

The post This LEGO version of the classic Sony Walkman WM-22 features an opening lid with removable cassettes! first appeared on Yanko Design.

Google Chrome’s T-Rex Offline Game gets immortalized in this adorable LEGO diorama

Posted on by

Back when Google was still a fun company (when Android had easter eggs, and when the company cracked April Fools jokes ever year), users who browsed the web on Google Chrome noticed a nifty hidden gem within the browser’s error message. When the browser couldn’t connect to the internet, it would display a “You are offline” message with a pixelated dinosaur standing amidst desert terrain. Press a key and it would trigger Chrome’s hidden game – an infinite side-scrolling adventure where you would have to get the dinosaur to dodge obstacles by either jumping over them or ducking under them. The game almost instantly became a crowd favorite, allowing people to keep themselves entertained even when offline.

LEGO builder Brick Dangerous decided to give this game the respect it truly deserves by turning it into a LEGO brick set. Comprising 449 pieces (although you could just as easily extend the diorama), the LEGO Ideas submission features the grey dinosaur against its familiar white background, accompanied by a cloud and two cacti.

Designer: Brick Dangerous

The build is pretty straightforward, with a lot of scope for adjustment or even upgrading to extend the scene sideways. It relies on 449 bricks in its current avatar, with no fixed orientation. You can choose to have the T-Rex on land or jumping in air. Want to make a nice stop-motion, that works too!

“This game is very fun, millions of people play it every time there are connection problems, something simple, but addictive,” says the designer, Brick Dangerous. “Luckily this T-Rex did not become extinct with the meteorite!”

This isn’t Brick Dangerous’ first rodeo on the LEGO Ideas forum. The designer has submitted multiple projects on the forum, and two of our favorites, the vintage telephone and the LEGO hourglass, even reached the coveted 10,000 vote mark. However, for reasons undisclosed, LEGO’s internal review team didn’t convert them into retail sets. This T-Rex build looks promising, though… it’s crossed the 1,500 mark and has another 570 days before its deadline ends. Head to the LEGO Ideas forum to vote for this dino before it goes extinct!

The post Google Chrome’s T-Rex Offline Game gets immortalized in this adorable LEGO diorama first appeared on Yanko Design.

This LEGO Ramen Bowl looks so realistic it’ll make you salivate

Posted on by

This might be taking the “microplastics in our food” theme a little too far, but damn does that ramen look good!

Made from ‘ingredients’ rather than bricks, Micdud’s LEGO Ramen Bowl is just about as realistic as LEGO could ever get. The bowl was designed as an entry into LEGO’s Ideas forum, where the brick-building company encourages users and fans to design their own LEGO creations and share them with the world. The most popular creations (which collect 10,000 votes from the global LEGO community) get turned into box-sets for us to buy, as we saw with the LEGO Polaroid that got turned into a box-set just last week. With 3,431 votes and counting, Micdud’s LEGO Ramen Bowl may just hit retail status too!

Designer: Micdud

“The model was designed, as a fully customizable construction, thanks to a wide selection of ingredients,” says LEGO builder Micdud. It all starts with the construction of the basics: a “bamboo” roll-out pad, a “ceramic” bowl with subtle details, chopsticks (hidden in a decorated “paper” wrapping) and a special chirirenge spoon.

The beauty of the LEGO Ramen bowl is that, unlike most LEGO creations, each bowl is unique given that you assemble it entirely based on your preferences. you start with a ladle-full of the dashi broth (available in three colors or flavor intensities) before adding the noodles, chashu bacon roll, egg (regular soft-boiled or marinated), and other toppings like panko-coated shrimp, squid, nori seaweed, cooked shrimp (which uses the brick separator piece), different mushroom varieties, Naruto Maki fish cakes, pak-choi cabbage, and finally corn and chives.

The vibrant colors of the LEGO bricks add a mouth-watering pop to the brick-based dish, making it look virtually edible. The bowl, chopsticks, and rollable bamboo mat look positively gorgeous too, and aside from a bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce, this could honestly pass off as a meal! Do beware around small children, though, since this bowl contains tiny parts that may be a choking hazard.

If you loved Micdud’s LEGO Ramen Bowl, head to the LEGO Ideas forum to cast a vote for it!

The post This LEGO Ramen Bowl looks so realistic it’ll make you salivate first appeared on Yanko Design.

Incredibly Detailed LEGO PlayStation One comes with Controllers, a CD, and even Memory Cards

Posted on by

The LEGO-based pixelated look goes well with the PS One, which ran 32-bit games when it launched in the 90s. We’ve come a long way since then, but LEGO Builder GoofySwan099 decided to do a grand throwback to the good old days with this LEGO version of Sony’s first-ever gaming console. It isn’t clear how many bricks this build uses, but it comes with all the bells and whistles, including memory card and controller inputs on the front, an opening CD tray, and RCA ports on the back. Accompanying the console itself is a controller, multiple memory cards, and even a LEGO compact disc that fits right into the machine!

Designer: GoofySwan099

Although a little rough around the edges, the LEGO PS One is a spitting replica of the original. It’s fairly operational with maneuverable parts, add-ons, and a matching color scheme complete with logos to remind you of the real deal. Lift the hood and you’ll see a rotating CD that comes out (don’t forget to blow on the CD as you put it in like they used to back in the old days), and along with memory cards that saved game progress, you’ve got two slots for controllers, enabling team and mano-a-mano gameplay.

“The console has working features such as a power button, open button, memory card ports, controller port, and reset button. The back of the console is also detailed, showing all of the ports to connect the console to a television,” says LEGO builder GoofySwan099.

There’s even venting on the sides, designed to push air backward and out of the console!

At 2487 votes, the LEGO PlayStation One is gradually climbing up the Ideas forum charts, where community members like you and me get to vote for our favorite fan-made pieces. If it reaches the 10,000 vote target, LEGO’s internal team will consider making this into a box set, following some amount of design refinement.

The post Incredibly Detailed LEGO PlayStation One comes with Controllers, a CD, and even Memory Cards first appeared on Yanko Design.

These LEGO Geodes and Minerals let you be a gem-collector without burning a hole in your wallet

Posted on by

Who knew that a humble interlocking brick from 1932 would become such a versatile ‘pixel’ of the human world nearly a hundred years later?? The LEGO Mineral Display turns plastic bricks into precious gemstones, relying on their inherent geometric nature to mimic the beauty of crystals forming under the extreme pressures of the earth’s crust. Designed in a variety of shapes and styles, these minerals, created by LEGO builder Dario Del Frate, turn you into a gem collector overnight, with the added benefit of allowing you to build the gems instead of mortgaging your house to buy them online! Sure, they aren’t authentic, but they’re intricate, and thanks to the use of transparent gems, gorgeously eye-catching!

Designer: Dario Del Frate

Del Frate designed these minerals back in 2020, sharing them on LEGO’s Ideas forum in August of the year. In a statistical rarity, his submission received 10,000 votes from the broad LEGO community but wasn’t approved by LEGO’s internal team. Del Frate, however, decided to refine his design and renew his effort, also building a display unit with the minerals, giving you a nifty place to store and exhibit them to your friends and guests.

LEGO Amethyst Geode

“The old & new specimens are now displayed in a lovely case, built with available dark and reddish brown elements, enriched with golden rivets. The case can be hung directly to a wall or simply put on a shelf,” Del Frate mentions. “The collection is composed of 6 pieces: Rhodochrosite, Amethyst Geode, Black Tourmaline with Aquamarine, Orange Quartz, Emerald, Pyrite.”

LEGO Rhodoschorite

It’s honestly baffling how versatile LEGO bricks can be, replicating the different kinds of gems rather incredibly well. The different geometries, transitions between amorphous and crystalline structures, and the wide variety of colors get captured in Del Frate’s collection beautifully. While he mentions that his previous LEGO entry had a few ‘illegal’ joining techniques, he’s refined all his designs to now be made in a legal fashion, with no wedging, gluing, breaking, or manipulating the bricks in any unintended ways.

LEGO Orange Quartz

LEGO Pyrite

LEGO Black Tourmaline with Aquamarine

LEGO Emerald

Del Frate’s latest submission sits at the 3,500 vote mark and is open for voting. If it crosses the coveted 10,000 vote threshold, he gets yet another shot at having the LEGO review team consider turning this into a box set that people like us can buy and assemble!

The post These LEGO Geodes and Minerals let you be a gem-collector without burning a hole in your wallet first appeared on Yanko Design.

LEGO Brings Adorable A-Frame Cabin to Life with Amazing Details

Posted on by

An architectural icon from the years 1950 to 1975, the A-Frame cabin still remains one of the most eye-catching and visually memorable home styles. Characterized by an A-shaped design, the frame eschews a ceiling, instead opting for tapering walls that create a unique space to inhabit, with the option of high ceilings or even multi-level living that feels dynamic yet rustic at the same time. This cabin designed in LEGO bricks by LEGO user Norton74, captures the trend of the A-Frame heyday. In ways it also challenges the very nature of the LEGO Brick, which was itself designed to make traditional cuboidal structures back when it was invented in the 1930s.

Designer: Norton74

The beauty of Norton74’s A-Frame cabin is just how remarkably real it is. Whether observed from the outside or even its immaculately detailed insides, every corner of this build has something new to reveal. The cabin itself sits on a stone brick plinth, with colorful larch trees in the background. It’s mildly decrepit, with crooked staircases and boarded-up doors, but that adds to its charm.

The inside of the cabin shows exactly how charmingly rustic and cozy it is. A multi-level design gives you a recreational area at the bottom (with a fireplace), and a bedroom on the top that features two single beds and even some cobwebs on the wall for that forest charm. To access the insides of the cabin, all you need to do is ‘open’ its slanting walls outwards. Hinges on the bottom of the walls make it easy to access the interiors during play-time, and close it back once you’re done.

The inside is just filled with all sorts of details, from tools to trinkets, and even a tiny kitchen of sorts with a dining table. Norton74’s rather mindfully used discolored wooden bricks (including even some with shingle detailing) to mimic the variety often found in wooden cabins – especially ones that have been repaired and restored.

There’s even a backstory to Norton74’s cabin design. “Two brothers, Dan and Ethan, burned out on modern working believed that stripping away modern comforts and living more simply in nature would lead to a more spiritually a creatively fulfilling life. They looked for a cabin in the woods and finally found out this old wooden A-Frame Cabin. They fixed it up, and now they live there happily,” he mentions.

Dan and Ethan aren’t the only occupants of the cabin. Aside from the spiders on the first floor, the cabin is also accompanied by chickens, rodents, a skunk, and even a bear lurking around in the back.

Norton74’s LEGO A-Frame Cabin started its journey as a submission on the LEGO Ideas forum, where it received overwhelming support from the LEGO fanbase. Earlier this year, LEGO turned Norton74’s submission into a retail box kit (you can buy the LEGO A-Frame Cabin right now), although the design went through multiple rounds of changes to make it smaller and simpler for younger users to build. If you ask me, I prefer Norton74’s MOC (My Own Creation) overwhelmingly. It’s charmingly crude, has a son-of-the-soil appeal to it, and certainly possesses much more character if you ask me!

The post LEGO Brings Adorable A-Frame Cabin to Life with Amazing Details first appeared on Yanko Design.

LEGO and Air Hockey Combine in This DIY Brick-Based Mini Table

Posted on by

Although there’s no air involved in this particular build, the LEGO Ideas Tabletop Air Hockey kit captures the joy of slinging a puck around from left to right, trying to score a goal while protecting your own post. Submitted to the LEGO Ideas forum, this fan-made build from ‘LordFamousTulip100’ sits on the global LEGO forum with nearly a 1000 votes.

Designer: LordFamousTulip100

With a highly sturdy reliable construction that can easily handle the occasional violence of Air Hockey, LordFamousTulip100’s build comprises a staggering 2,500 bricks. The playing surface is smooth, has all the markings, and is spacious enough to accommodate two players comfortably. It’s still compact enough that the entire apparatus can sit on a coffee table, occupying perhaps the same amount of space as a large board game.

“The model features two brick build mallets and two pucks, which the goal can comfortably fit and store when you are not playing,” says designer LordFamousTulip100. “The playing surface is made with the largest pieces possible to ensure a smooth game.”

The board also features a goal counter to keep score, and has exposed dotted bricks on either side that you can plug your mallets/strikers into when not in use. The lack of air-based lubrication may be the one thing really missing from this game, but it makes up for it with the ability to be customized/modified thanks to the open-source LEGO-based design!

The post LEGO and Air Hockey Combine in This DIY Brick-Based Mini Table first appeared on Yanko Design.

The Iconic Interstellar ‘Miller’s Planet Scene’ gets its own Adorable LEGO Brick Recreation

Posted on by

“Cooper! This is no time for caution.”

As the Ranger Ship descended on Miller’s Planet, hope suddenly turned to dismay and then to horror as Joseph Cooper and Dr. Brand realized that not only was the planet unviable for human life, their crew member was dead, they had wasted 23 years simply in the minutes they spent on the planet’s surface, and they were just mere moments away from a killer tidal wave approaching them from the horizon. The scene from blockbuster space-thriller Interstellar is noteworthy for causing a wide range of emotions and creating a visual tension only director Christopher Nolan can conjure. Now, LEGO builder Minibrick Productions is paying tribute to the Miller’s Planet scene with their tiny LEGO-based recreation that features the ranger aircraft, astronauts Cooper and Brand, and the shapeshifting robots TARS and CASE.

Designer: Minibrick Productions

Miller’s Planet is the first of the 3 planets explored by the group of astronauts looking for a viable alternative to earth. While crew-member Romilly stays back on the main ship, Cooper and Brand (played by Michael McConaughey and Anne Hathaway) travel to the planet, located close to a black hole. Little did they know that not only would this visit be futile, it would cost them decades because of the planet’s proximity to the black hole, causing a warp in space-time. Minibrick Productions’ rendition of this scene is as accurate as it gets, with all the characters and a rather realistic-looking Ranger spacecraft to match. McConaughey and Hathaway come outfitted in their space suits, while TARS and CASE, two monolithic-looking robots sport repositionable arms that allow them to walk like a human.

The Ranger craft itself is more than just aesthetic. Pop its hood off and there’s an entire cockpit where Cooper and Brand fit right in, along with a crawl-space where TARS or CASE can dock themselves. The rear hatch on the craft can open and close too, revealing the ramp through which the astronauts enter and exit the craft.

“This set would be mindless fun to a child who dreams of exploring space, as well as any collector who wishes to display one of the most iconic vehicles from science fiction,” says Minibrick Productions, the creator behind this LEGO scene. The LEGO Miller’s Planet scene from Interstellar comprises just 532 bricks, making it a relatively simple build for kids and enthusiasts alike. It currently sits in LEGO’s Ideas forum with over 4000 votes from the community. If it reaches the 10,000 mark, LEGO’s internal team will review it before turning it from a fan-made submission into a box-set that anyone can buy. Click here to vote for this build!

The post The Iconic Interstellar ‘Miller’s Planet Scene’ gets its own Adorable LEGO Brick Recreation first appeared on Yanko Design.