BrickHeadz competition winners
Posted by Huw,
At last we can reveal the winners of our BrickHeadz competition!
It was a very difficult competition to judge: we had around one thousand imaginative and creative entries featuring characters from films, TV, video games, history, music, cartoons and much more. To make it harder there were two categories, physical builds and digital entries.
The judges considered the familiarity of the characters, likeness, originality, parts usage and presentation of the entries and whittled them down to two shortlists of 12. Then, the ten judges, including Marcos Bessa, senior designer of BrickHeadz at LEGO, picked their favourites from the lists.
So, without further ado, here are the results...
Digital entries
First: Dick Dastardly and Mutley by Lewis Smith
The Hanna-Barbera cartoon Wacky Races was essential viewing for anyone, including me, growing up in the 1970s. Lewis Smith's renditions of the show's dastardly antagonist and his mutt are instantly recognisable and adorable. Dastardly's moustache, eyebrows and racing goggles are particularly well modelled!
A very worthy winner!
Joint first: Johnny Thunder and Dr Kilroy by mc_survival_man
It was great to see several entries based upon characters of LEGO's own creation and this pair, consisting of Johnny Thunder and Doctor Kilroy from the late-1990s Adventurers sets, proved particularly popular with the judges. In fact, it received exactly the same score as that above so is in joint first place. The entry was posted on Instagram and looked so real at first glance that I had to ask mc_survival_man whether it was digital or physical!
The models capture the likeness of the original characters very well. I particularly like the Doc's sideburns and glasses, the latter of which are, I think, the only unavailable parts used, other than the tan 2x4 printed tile on the base.
Another worthy winner!
Third: Gizmo and Stripe by LEGO 7
These Mogwai look deceptively cute and cuddly just like their screen counterparts! LEGO 7 has nailed the ears and faces and ably demonstrates pushing the boundaries of the core BrickHeadz design to suit the characters being modelled.
Physical entries
First: Link and Mario by Mr. Brickman
These two heroes from Nintendo games incorporate some great parts usage. Both feature great 'above the head' features: nicely sculpted hair for Link and a signature hat for Mario. Mario's mustache is simply built but looks perfect.
Another very worthy winner!
Second: Freddie Mercury and Brian May by Krzysztof J
This one is my particular favourite, and I don't even like Queen! Krzysztof has bent the BrickHeadz rules a bit to get the arms so Freddie is able to hold his signature microphone stick and Brian his guitar but that's perfectly fine.
However, the stand-out feature is Brian's 1980s perm which once again shows that what's on top of a BrickHeadz head is key to creating an eye-catching model.
Third: Predator and Alien by Mr. Brickman
Mr Brickman was on a roll for this competition and picks up third place, as well as first, with this pair of beasts from 1980s science-fiction films.
He's managed to model the distinctive curves of the Alien's head and maintain its bio-mechanical look, all within the confines of the BrickHeadz rules.
The Predator mignt not be as well known at H. R. Giger's creation but it looks suitably menacing in BrickHeadz form!
So, congratulations to the winners, thank you to everyone who entered and to the judges for taking the time to consider so many entries, which you can view on Flickr and Instagram.
I'll be in touch with the winners to arrange to get some LEGO shipped to you.
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61 comments on this article
None of my first choices, but congrats to the winners.
Freddy Mercury and Brian May over Prince and Michael Jackson?
Not fan of BH line, but I have to admit that there are really very nice representations. I do love F Mercury and B May, Gremlins are splendid, not to talk about figures I loved when I was a kid, “Satanas et Diabolo“ in French, for Dick and Mutley. Grats to builders, I even find many of them more beautiful and attractive than official ones. GG!
Aw. I didn’t win. Oh well.
That Predator and Alien entry is freakin amazing, should’ve been first IMO
To be honest I don't really like the BrickHeadz, but I must admit Dastardly and Muttley, Queen and Alien vs Predator are awesome. I especially like the mustaches on Dastardly and the drool on Alien.
IMO the biggest strength of the Mario and Link Brickheadz is that they look so incredibly fantastic while also sticking *very* closely to the standard Brickheadz format. The others may have more detail, but they step a bit further outside of the official Brickheadz designs. I still fully believe the others are worthy of winning, I just have a soft spot for the more simplistic designs.
Also, props to the Wacky Races brickheads! I used to get up at 5:00 in the morning just to watch Wacky Races and Speed Racer, haha.
They're certainly all deserved to win, so congrats to everyone!
Wow, my personal favorites out of there has to be the Predator and Alien. The use of the fence piece as the fishnet is probably the most creative out of all of these. And while I like the Predator franchise more than Alien, I really want to try to recreate the xenomorph BrickHead. Congratulations to all the winners! There were a lot of good submissions for this contest.
Congrats to all the winners! It was indeed a challenge to judge, but the winners are well-deserved.
Muy amazing! I'm not into Brickheads but would consider buying some of these, especially the Predator and Alien, although all of these models look great - and far superior to anything I could throw together.
Those are fantastic!!! I really like the Mario and Zelda and the Gremlins.
Welp I tried XD. If I hadn't overlooked that the characters we being judged on familiarity I would've had a better chance. Anyway good job to the winners you guys made some cool stuff.
Happy to see that my personal favourites were selected: Gizmo and Stripe by LEGO 7.
Very Good. Before anyone else asks can I ask if the real winners would think about selling some kind of instructions or physical parts packs on ebay / bricklink etc. And the digital winners to declare all not "yet" available parts and or substitutes then the same applies 98% part packs ? Thankyou. P.s. There are loads of great non winners too. Same Idea really. Someone will want to replicate.
Should get these people designing the real series as these entries are far better then the actual models in my opinion.
Glad to have been part of the judges for this contest. It's great to see two of my favourites from each of the categories at least made the top three and one from my runner up list.
Congrats all!
Not a big fan of the Brickheadz series but these are pretty nifty. Amazing work to make Brian May's hair and the AVP set is awfully cool.
Predator and Alien look awesome! :)
These are all amazing!!
Well done to all the winners
Congratulations to the winners!
What were the prizes? Do you have a list of the runner-ups?
Wow. Very impressive. Congrats!
the Alien And Predator is my favourite!
Wow, i love that Johny thunder and doctor Kilroy, I certainly wish lego was selling them!
I am not a fan of the Brickheadz series at all, but these are extremely well done. Congratulations to the winners and all those creative folk who entered.
Also, great contest Brickset!
Loving the Predator and Alien, but great designs all. Congrats.
Congratulation to all entrants and especially the winners, any chance that we could see the shortlists? , I'm curious.
I love all the designs, but I just have to say the clears being used for the drool puddle on the Alien were really great.
First rate work by everyone involved... maybe Lego needs to open up a secondary Ideas channel solely for BrickHeadz? :P
Johnny Thunder and Dr. Kilroy are the first brickheadz I have ever wanted. Very well done!
I haven't bought any BrickHeadz, but I would buy half of these. Well done.
Congrats to all the winners! Would love to see the compleate shortlist?
I think BrickHeadz look totally strang, but I'd snap up Link and Mario for sure!
Damn I'd love to get the instructions for the Link and Mario, they're top notch. Very deserving winner.
Fantastic quality. Bravo to all the winners. PLEASE can you SHARE build instructions??
These are fantastic! I'd love to see more LEGO original characters like Johnny Thunder and Kilroy in the real sets.
The physical ones I find especially impressive. Congrats to the winners!
Sassafrassarassum rickrastery.
Brian May and Freddie Mercury (YES!!)
Wow, I can't believe I actually won! Thanks so much to the judges for choosing me amongst all the fantastic entries. I'd be very interested to see what other designs were on the favourites lists of all the judges so they can get some acknowledgement too. Mario and Link are one of my favourite physical builds, so particular congratulations to Mr. Brickman.
Congratulations to all the winners. I have enjoyed scrolling through the pics on Flickr and am blown away by the talent and imagination of everyone who entered.
Enormous congratulations to the winners as well as every single person who has the correct part of the brain that allows you to be creative to design, build and enter (e.g: NOT me!).
I loved looking at the entries and voted on quite a few, but there were so many that I found it hard to find a favourite. Of the winners, I definitely love the Nintendo characters the most.
I'm going to stick my neck out here and say I agree with pretty much every placing here for the top 3s - the only edit I might make being to swap the position of Link and Mario with Freddie and Brian - otherwise perfect! Dastardly and Mutley would easily be centrepieces on my work or home desk if they were easier to source parts for, or the Alien & Predator. Massive applause on creativity all round.
Note that I grew up in the 90s and Hanna Barbera cartoons like Wacky Races and Scooby Doo were still very much essential viewing! I even regularly saw reruns of Thunderbirds & Captain Scarlet but I can't remember catching sight of any TB-related Brickheadz - I could've missed one though as there were so many entries!
The Alien's drool is pure genius!
I'm not into BrickHeadz, but the creativity shown by all the entrants above is truly impressive.
congrats to the winners. but i have to say that im a bit surpised that non of the entries, which are not related to any known figures, like "salt and pepper" won.
Congrats to all the winners.
That drool of alien is a real killer.
Congrats to ALL the winners. Brilliant works!
Love that Predator vs. Alien. Would buy that kit for sure.
As The Self-Professed World's Biggest Wacky Races Fan, Dick Dastardly and Muttley are outstanding.
All well done.
Personal favorite is definitely Freddie Mercury and Brian May, followed closely by Predator and Alien, so awesome!
I really like Johnny Thunder & Dr Kilroy, I would probable get them if the were officially released!
I have a feeling that all of these won because of nostalgia
AFOL’s showing their age again. Would have been nice to have an age category winner to make things a bit more relevant.
All absolutely brilliant - well done builders! I have a soft spot for Wacky Races though :-)
@Eggyslav I don't agree your Johnny Thunder is objectively better. There are similarities between the two, but mc_survival_man used more interesting building techniques in the body and had a better hat (that also happens to be the correct way around). I also think that across the board his Dr Kilroy is more interesting than your Sam Sinister. In future, bear in mind that hats usually go around people's heads, not just on top, or they'd fall off!
My two favorites are the Predator & Alien and Johny Thunder and the Doc. Brilliant use of parts.
Well done everyone who took part especially the winners, I'm not a brickheadz fan but would probably buy the gremlins and dastardly and muttley
This is why I don't like participating in contests in the lego community. These are some bogus results. Someone who wins first place shouldn't also come in third. And the alien and predator are way better than the Mario and Link. Judges never seem to be able to put their biases aside and vote for which is actually the best MOC. Very disappointed that one person took two different places.
^Remind me never to volunteer to judge a LEGO contest.
I never found time to look at all the entries but I can certainly see why the winners attracted so much attention. Even without having ever seen an episode of Wacky Racers I love Dastardly and Mutley (who also looks a lot like Earl from the comic strip Mutts). The others are just as brilliant, and push the Brickheadz format in many different directions while still keeping the basic premise of the theme. (For those upset that popular subjects dominated, it's worth remembering that much of the fun of a stylized theme like this is seeing something very unexpected being successfully reinterpreted in the chosen style. It's much easier to appreciate this when you know the original subject well!)
Add me to the list of people wishing we could get some instructions--or even just a parts list--for these delightful creations!
hey @sklamb this is friendly reminder, never judge a Lego contest.
Now I know didn't win but I'd be fine to share the LDD files (and maybe blueprint some instructions) for most of mine (though as we were allowed and with LDD and it can be a hassle to check ,loads of them would need substitutions of colour.)
Just incredible, all the entries ! Congrats to the winners.
Very impressive, I love them!