LEGO artist Mike Nieves has been creating Pokémon models for a few years now, but he seems to have outdone himself with this Gyrados. Using some unorthadox (at least, outside of the LEGO modding community) and a slew of standard and Bionicle pieces, Nieves captures all the serpentine curves of this dragon Pokémon. It’s even got a terrifying tongue made out of a red pennant piece — genius! Truly, Nieves is a LEGO Pokémon master. See the rest of Nieves’ Pokémon after the break.

The legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli rolled out their latest film, The Secret World of Arrietty last week, and it has already been given the LEGO treatment. The model, made by Iain Heath, shows the titular diminutive Arrietty in the palm of a LEGO hand, and is utterly stunning in its detail. The curve of the palm, the posing of Arrietty, even the leaf she’s standing on is remarkably well done. Just a quick reminder that the LEGO community builds more than just Lord of the Rings models!

Fresh from the New York Toy Fair come the first images of the forthcoming Lord of the Rings LEGO sets! Thankfully, the excellent From Bricks to Bothans blog was on hand to grab some images, giving us our first look at this new LEGO system. There will be plenty of new figs, custom pieces, and an all new articulated horse fig which is capable of rearing back oh so dramatically. Across the board these sets look like a lot of fun, and will surely make the modders quite happy. See pictures, after the break.

This weekend, Marvel unveiled the minifigs and a few sets from the upcoming The Avengers LEGO sets. Though no doubt a relationship built on a literal interpretation of “Avengers, assemble,” the sets have some pretty bold designs and interesting unique pieces. My only real complaint is that some of the sets look a little over-simplified (unlike the leaked LOTR sets, which look crazy complex) and Iron Man looks like a bobblehead. The enormous Hulk, and an eyebrow-cocking Black Widow might make up for it, though. See the sets, after the break.

Proving that if it cane be done, it can be done with LEGOs, YouTube user sumthinelse5790 presents this amazing robotic arm made entirely from LEGO pieces. Though its strength is limited, it has a full range of motion designed to mimic that of a human being. This emphasis on lifelike motion is important, as its creator designed it as a prosthetic arm — assuredly as an experiment than an exercise in practicality. Though impressive in its own right, the complexity of the LEGO robotic arm is a gentle reminder of how amazing the human body really is. See the video, after the break.

It’s not surprising that popular series like Lord of the Rings and Star Trek are often chosen as subjects by the LEGO modding community, but Alex Jones went a different direction by deciding to create a series of Inspector Gadget LEGO models. While his custom Gadget, Penny, and Brain figs are impressive, the centerpiece of his work is without question the Gadgetmobile. Ingeniously, Jones worked out a way to make the vehicle “transform” as it does in the show — albeit with a bit more work. Now someone just needs to build an enormous The Claw and we’ll be set! See more pictures, after the break.

We’ve been waiting with bated breath for the forthcoming LEGO Lord of the Rings sets for quite some time now, but it looks as if they’ve already been spotted in the wild. Apparently this image above was taken in the VIP area of LEGO’s booth at the Nuremberg Toy Fair and (allegedly) posted to this Slovenian forum. But are they the real deal?

And let’s be honest: That makes it awesome. What’s amazing to me is not only how many custom weapons are used, or how many custom minifigs are completely destroyed in showers of Play-Doh blood, but how fluidly the characters move. LEGO stop motion animation sure has come a long way.

Alex Jones recreated Hill Valley, the iconic town from Back to the Future, in LEGO, because this is what LEGO is for. Jones has been working on the build for quite some time, and cited endless hours of watching Back to the Future to be part of the build process in order to get everything correct. Not exactly the worst fact-checking scenario. He created each building separately, then lumped them into the whole scene, which measures in at 140 by 140 studs. More pictures after the jump.

Yes, it seems like those official LEGO Lord of the Rings sets are creeping closer and closer toward a reality. The latest announcement from the popular European construction toy features the Minifig population of Middle-Earth, with everyone’s favorite hobbits, wizards, dwarves, nazgul, elves, orcs, uruk-hai, and humans. Oh, and somebody else, but I just can’t remember his name. Creepy little dude, grey skin, you know the guy (gollum! gollum!). Oh, excuse this (gollum!) horrific wet hacking cough I’ve developed. Anyway, I’m sure his name will come back to me eventually.