10 Best Custom LEGO Sets, Ranked
Tired of only being able to build what LEGO lets you? Wanna brick it to the man? Color outside the parallel lines, as it were? Sounds like you’re in the market for a custom LEGO set. But where does one acquire such fabulous inventions? Through these many websites and companies, of course!
10. Friendly Green Dino (Totally Not Yoshi)
This Friendly Green Dino is many things (whimsical, adorable, affordable) but Nintendo’s Yoshi it is not (for what I assume are copyright reasons). But that’s alright! We all know what’s really going on here. This “No-shi” is going on Brickable.com for only $20! Granted, this is simply the design of the friendly green dino and not the genuine article itself. For that, you’ll have to source your own bricks. But there are sites for that too. Mygobricks.com is one of them. You can order custom bricks for MOC’s (My Own Creations) there. But as a customer LEGO set aficionado, you probably already knew that.
9. All Terrain Scout Transport
The All Terrain Scout Transport, or AT-ST for short, is a classic Star Wars construction and a symbol of the land power of the evil Empire. Pity these things don’t have arms to support themselves. One Ewok with a tripwire and this thing is done. Thankfully, no Ewoks will be coming to destroy this custom LEGO set, unless you throw Ewok minifigures at it yourself. This beautifully designed piece even comes with a terrain-covered stand and official Brick Wars plaque, for added officiality (yes I did just make that word up).
8. Town Hall
Inspired by an existing (totally dope) town hall in Poland called the Nowy Sacz, this Town Hall steals the original’s architectural thunder in all the right ways. Clocking in at 14705 parts, this Town Hall is no joke of a build. It’s absolutely massive, capable of sitting on a coffee table and totally blocking the view of the TV from the couch. Why would you want to watch TV when you could look at this thing all day anyway?
7. Nautilus
This Nautilus set, unlike the gloriously freaky cephalopod on which it is based, isn’t all that complicated. It’s got only 173 pieces, and it’s built from the Adidas shoe LEGO set (I didn’t even know LEGO made an Adidas shoe set). So, what’s the selling point? LOOK AT IT. IT’S SO COOL. This little cutie’s design can be all yours for merely THREE DOLLARS. That’s as much as a gallon of gas on a particularly cheap today. Where would you drive to anyway? You’ve got this lil’ guy to have staring contests with all day at home.
6. Minas Tirith
You’re telling me that I get to build Minas Tirith, The White City, formerly known as the Tower of the Sun for only $20? YES PLEASE. Why is this set so so so worth the money? Because it’s constructed entirely out of the LEGO Taj Mahal set, meaning that you only have to source one existing LEGO set to build it. This 3498 set is sure to be a challenge, but the finished product? Majestic as the seven-walled capital city of Gondor itself.
5. Sisyphus Kinetic Sculpture
This LEGO set makes me love humanity. So clever. So infinitely clever. The kinetic sculpture of the tragic figure of Greek myth, doomed to push a rock up and down the hills of Hell, is to die for. The Sisyphus Kinetic Sculpture is, as the title suggests, a mobile creation. The creation’s motorized design lets you watch the poor Greek push his boulder to no avail. I don’t know about Sisyphus, but I must imagine myself happy with this thing in my house.
4. First Order Resurgent Destroyer
Tired of your old LEGO Star Destroyer sporting an ’80s design? Dying to modernize in the modern era? The First Order Resurgent Destroyer is for you! It’s a custom design of the star destroyers used in the newest Star Wars trilogy. Clocking in at 2461 parts, it’s a reasonably complex build resulting in an iconic product.
3.The Fell Beast
BROOOOOO. This Lego iteration of a Fell Beast is the best Lord of the Rings LEGO set my eyes have ever seen. Clocking in at 931 parts, it’s a time consuming build, but the final product? The perfect addition to any Lord of the Rings LEGO collection. This beast’s limbs, wings, neck, and tail are fully moveable, and it even has a saddle on which a Nazgul can ride! And the claws? According to the creator, they’re strong enough to pick up a horse! A minfigure horse!
2. Crane LTM 1250-5.1
The Crane LTM 1250-5.1 is a fully remote controllable model of the real-life Liebherr LTM 1250-5.1. It’s essentially a custom LEGO Technic set. 424 steps on 209 pages make for a complex build, but the architect of the design themself says that it’s far easier than the previous design of the same set. Plus, this one has crab steering, meaning that all the wheels of this thing can turn sideways so it can roll like a crab. Can a real LEGO Technic set do as a crab does? I think not. This thing could move to Bikini Bottom and start a restaurant business.
1. Modular Cathedral
In the Middle Ages, Cathedral designers didn’t expect their architectural constructions to be completed in their lifetimes, or even in the lifetimes of their children who took up the hammer and chisel in their stead. Cathedrals took generations to build, and this Modular Cathedral custom set is no exception. The blueprints of this set took the original architect over a year to make. That’s like 300 years of LEGO time. It’s made up of 22,000 LEGO bricks and is just as complicated inside as it is out. It’s got a full interior with benches, sacristy, confessionals and stained glass windows. It’s not cheap, but with a build as complex as this, you could charge admission to see the finished product and make your money back.
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