Brick-built Animals VS Molded Animals

[Pinnacle]

Sometimes, I use animals for decoration of my MOC’s. mainly on events, because the kids like it. In that case I’m content with the moulded animals.

But for building, I like the brick-build animals above all. That is to say, if it is a big set. Minimal as big as the Statue of Liberty. But greater would better…   

[Lion King]

I’m a huge fan of molded animals. I have been collecting molded animals from hermit crab to elephant, to Tyrannosaurus Rex.

I mean, today, molded animals are looking more realistic than the animals in the late 90s and early 2000s (before I entered Dark Age in 2005). I was overjoyed when I saw a classic T-rex mold in early 2000s, along with Pteranodon. And when I got Studios sets….it was a completely train wreck when I built Pteranodon out of bricks. As a kid, I remember thinking “That is weird…”. Also, I was happy to see Basilisk and Hungarian Horntail molds from the classic Harry Potter theme in 2002 and 2004 respectively. Today, there are brick-buildable Basilisk and Hungarian Horntail figures and they are just “meh” for me. 

I understand that there is some tight budget for small and larg

I understand there is tight budget for small and large animals, especially for dinosaurs and pterosaurs. The designers usually reuse parts and recolor them for new dinosaurian species instead of making more accurate, molded parts for them. For example, Indromimus Rex’s new arms were introduced last year and later, they are Remus for Grim the Baryonyx (check the Lego we Shop and you will see what I mean). 

I have been wondering - why designers don’t go with new leg parts with connector pins for elephants, similar to Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, instead of using an one-piece body (combination of body and legs) then? It should allow elephants be possible. But I love adult elephant, it just looks cool to me so I’m ok with it. 

I heard there away a rumor that there was supposed to be an orca in City’s 2018 Arctic subtheme but we ended up getting woolly mammoth figures. I wonder if we would see orcas one day… Same for buffalo. 

[williejm]

1 hour ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

I have been wondering - why designers don’t go with new leg parts with connector pins for elephants, similar to Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, instead of using an one-piece body (combination of body and legs) then? It should allow elephants be possible. But I love adult elephant, it just looks cool to me so I’m ok with it. 

I heard there away a rumor that there was supposed to be an orca in City’s 2018 Arctic subtheme but we ended up getting woolly mammoth figures. I wonder if we would see orcas one day… Same for buffalo. 

I know what you mean with the elephant (and mammoth), but a creature with separate legs would mean at least two new parts for body and legs, plus the head parts. In reality the most important part to be able to pose is the head and trunk, and I think the current one works well. My only suggestion would be an alternate ‘trunk end’ part that was more dynamic as an alternative.

Indeed the orca and the bison/buffalo are the ‘ones that got away’ in animal moulds, and I too want to see them show up for real.

[Lion King]

22 hours ago, williejm said:

I know what you mean with the elephant (and mammoth), but a creature with separate legs would mean at least two new parts for body and legs, plus the head parts. In reality the most important part to be able to pose is the head and trunk, and I think the current one works well. My only suggestion would be an alternate ‘trunk end’ part that was more dynamic as an alternative.

Indeed the orca and the bison/buffalo are the ‘ones that got away’ in animal moulds, and I too want to see them show up for real.

Agreed. Also, elephant’s body side looks a bit odd and flat - I think legs may give  some not-so-flat volume. But I’m ok with it anyways. 

Oh yes! I wish we should know why they originally planned to include orca and bison/buffalo in these sets in the past then suddenly they dropped for no reasons (other than budget).  One day… we will see them for real, hopefully.

[Sneakguest]

Only molded, I especially rage when star wars creatures are bruick build, think its unfair because all jurassic dinousars are molded. 

[Lyichir]

12 hours ago, Sneakguest said:

Only molded, I especially rage when star wars creatures are bruick build, think its unfair because all jurassic dinousars are molded. 

In fairness dinosaurs (even dubiously accurate ones like many in the Jurassic World series) are a lot more versatile than most Star Wars creatures that are really only are usable in Star Wars-themed MOCs, and often many of them are highly scene-specific (in terms of what movies they appear in or what planets they appear on). I think I've still got some molded Star Wars aliens collecting dust in my basement simply because even if I did MOC Star Wars (which I generally don't), there's really very few scenes in the series where a Kaadu would be appropriate. By contrast even though I also don't typically build Jurassic World or prehistoric-themed MOCs, there's few types of scenes that aren't improved/made more amusing by plunking a T-Rex there!

Also, there are a few Jurassic Park sets (namely the D2C park gate and the new Ford Explorer diorama) that have opted for brick-built dinosaurs, which makes sense since for a larger set brick-built creatures not only offer a superior building experience, but can have a more dynamic range of motion and can therefore pull off more varied poses than a molded creature with typically single-piece limbs could. Obviously this can be dependent on scale (since smaller details can be harder to pull off with normal building elements than larger ones, making smaller creatures benefit more from dedicated molds), but I'll bet a large and detailed Star Wars creature like a Rancor could probably be similarly impressive in brick-built form.

Edited April 1, 2022 by Lyichir

[MaximillianRebo]

I'm fine with small scaled animals being moulded e.g. dogs, cats, anything smaller than a human, but above that I prefer brick built. Sure it's not as 'accurate' but maybe I just like building things out of bricks (funny that). If there is a Rancor set coming out in the near future I hope it's brick built, same with a full size Bantha if we ever get one. I also love the brick built Star Wars microfighter animals, particular the dewback and bantha; sure they are smaller than scale so I imagine they are the 'baby' versions of these creatures. One further issue, having seen the prices for the latest wave of Jurassic World sets which contain moulded dinosaurs, and knowing how Star Wars prices have been going lately, I'm dreading how much a moulded Rancor would cost. I'm mostly into Lego for the build experience, and snapping a few limbs and a movable jaw into place for the money being asked isn't something I'm personally interested in.

Edited April 1, 2022 by MaximillianRebo

[Lion King]

13 hours ago, Sneakguest said:

Only molded, I especially rage when star wars creatures are bruick build, think its unfair because all jurassic dinousars are molded. 

I agree with you on Star Wars creatures. I’m not a huge fan of buildable creatures. I really love prehistoric creatures from Jurassic World and City themes. You know City theme used to have woolly mammoth and saber-toothed tiger molds in 2018. 

But it’s not just Star Wars. I’m not pleased with Harry Potter theme since there are no molds for Hungarian Horntail, Troll, Fluffy or Basilisk. Only small molded creatures like Fawkes and Thersal (soon there will be a foal Thersal). I still have old molded magical creatures (Fluffy, Basilik, Troll and Hungarian Horntail) from early/mid-2000 and they are awesome. 

[zoth33]

On 3/31/2022 at 10:05 PM, DBlegonerd7 said:

I agree with you on Star Wars creatures. I’m not a huge fan of buildable creatures. I really love prehistoric creatures from Jurassic World and City themes. You know City theme used to have woolly mammoth and saber-toothed tiger molds in 2018. 

But it’s not just Star Wars. I’m not pleased with Harry Potter theme since there are no molds for Hungarian Horntail, Troll, Fluffy or Basilisk. Only small molded creatures like Fawkes and Thersal (soon there will be a foal Thersal). I still have old molded magical creatures (Fluffy, Basilik, Troll and Hungarian Horntail) from early/mid-2000 and they are awesome. 

I think there is another dragon coming this year for HP although I might be mistaken.  I actually don't mind the troll from the set with the centaurs.  

[Lion King]

26 minutes ago, zoth33 said:

I think there is another dragon coming this year for HP although I might be mistaken.  I actually don't mind the troll from the set with the centaurs.  

Technically, that’s a giant, not troll. :)

I’m not aware of this dragon from HP theme this year but we will see. 

[zoth33]

Just now, DBlegonerd7 said:

Technically, that’s a giant, not troll. :)

Yeah.  The trolls we got from fantasy era are fine and the Goblin king and the troll from LOTR are good for actual molded trolls.  

[Lion King]

On 4/2/2022 at 9:54 PM, zoth33 said:

Yeah.  The trolls we got from fantasy era are fine and the Goblin king and the troll from LOTR are good for actual molded trolls.  

I don’t remember Goblin King from LOTR but yeah i agree with you about trolls! Speaking of LOTR, there were some creatures like Great Eagles that are made out of molds. 

 

[TeriXeri]

I don't mind brick built animals, but in some cases like the Horse, they are too iconic to leave out of a big Castle set.

[zoth33]

1 hour ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

I don’t remember Goblin King from LOTR but yeah i agree with you about trolls! Speaking of LOTR, there were some creatures like Great Eagles that are made out of molds. 

 

Goblin King was in the Hobbit sets I just lump it all under LOTR.  Yes the great eagles were nice and the wargs are good for large wolves.  There was also a nice spider Shelob.  All of the figs were great.  I wish they did a fell beast or a balrog but oh well.  

[The Island Chronicles]

I'm a mold lover! They're just easier to collect in my opinion. 

[Lion King]

1 hour ago, zoth33 said:

Goblin King was in the Hobbit sets I just lump it all under LOTR.  Yes the great eagles were nice and the wargs are good for large wolves.  There was also a nice spider Shelob.  All of the figs were great.  I wish they did a fell beast or a balrog but oh well.  

Oh I didn’t realize about Goblin King showing up in Hobbit (I never watched Hobbit movies before, I must admit it).

I sure hope LOTR makes a comeback with some great molded fantasy creatures. Creatures from Harry Potter theme are just…well, disappointing (except for Fawkes, Cornish Pixie, and Thersal). 

[AmperZand]

1 hour ago, zoth33 said:

Goblin King was in the Hobbit sets I just lump it all under LOTR.  Yes the great eagles were nice and the wargs are good for large wolves.  There was also a nice spider Shelob.  All of the figs were great.  I wish they did a fell beast or a balrog but oh well.  

One of the great travesties of the toy world: that LEGO never did a balrog or fell beast when it had the LOTR licence! 

Shelob was cool but brick-built, not moulded. I have it in my display collection.

[zoth33]

4 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

Oh I didn’t realize about Goblin King showing up in Hobbit (I never watched Hobbit movies before, I must admit it).

I sure hope LOTR makes a comeback with some great molded fantasy creatures. Creatures from Harry Potter theme are just…well, disappointing (except for Fawkes, Cornish Pixie, and Thersal). 

Yes I have several Thestrals they are nice and the one spider.  I also like that we got centaurs from this line wish we had them earlier.  There are some useful parts in the HP sets like the butter beer mugs for actual beer in your taverns, The basilisk mold looks good, the NInjago snakes in grey and translucent green, the pixies, and others.  

4 hours ago, AmperZand said:

One of the great travesties of the toy world: that LEGO never did a balrog or fell beast when it had the LOTR licence! 

Shelob was cool but brick-built, not moulded. I have it in my display collection.

Yes I have most of the Hobbit and LOTR sets I did not get Orthanc, the pirate ship, Dol Guldur, and the Lonely mt sets due to my budget at the time.  Really hoping to get something Balrog like in the future in some form like from that new Mythica theme that is rumored might have some nice fantasy creatures.  

[Lion King]

I don’t understand why Ninjago theme stick to brick-built dragons if it’s already over 10 years (let’s say, it’s an evergreen theme) and it’s still popular. If it’s that popular, I think they may make dragons out of molded body parts and then reuse / recolor them in Ninjago’s subthemes, such as Jungle Dragon, Water Dragon, Fire Dragon, etc…

Head, jaw, and wing molds are only TLG produces. Sure, making body parts for medium-size dragon is quite expensive but still…

Jurassic World theme is a good expample - Giganotosaurus has an Indrominus Rex’s head mold (recolored) from 2015 and its legs are not very new but only recolored. 

Personally, I hope we would see a nw molded dragon from fantasy theme one day. 

[MAB]

On 4/4/2022 at 9:52 PM, DBlegonerd7 said:

I don’t remember Goblin King from LOTR but yeah i agree with you about trolls! Speaking of LOTR, there were some creatures like Great Eagles that are made out of molds. 

 

The Eagles in LOTR/Hobbit are strictly a combination of molded and built just like Smaug as they conatin multiple parts (3 in this case). You have to attach the wings, giving flexibility in posing.

Although if anyone wanted a truly brick-built one then the creator set 31004 was about right scale and easy to adapt to allow a minifigure to sit on it. Or if you wanted a smaller one, there is 30185. Although I prefer the molded ones at that scale.

 

[Lyichir]

14 hours ago, DBlegonerd7 said:

I don’t understand why Ninjago theme stick to brick-built dragons if it’s already over 10 years (let’s say, it’s an evergreen theme) and it’s still popular. If it’s that popular, I think they may make dragons out of molded body parts and then reuse / recolor them in Ninjago’s subthemes, such as Jungle Dragon, Water Dragon, Fire Dragon, etc…

Head, jaw, and wing molds are only TLG produces. Sure, making body parts for medium-size dragon is quite expensive but still…

Jurassic World theme is a good expample - Giganotosaurus has an Indrominus Rex’s head mold (recolored) from 2015 and its legs are not very new but only recolored. 

Personally, I hope we would see a nw molded dragon from fantasy theme one day. 

I think part of the issue with making a couple molded body parts and reusing them (apart from losing a large portion of the core building experience of those kinds of sets) is that they'd get repetitive quite fast. One of the benefits of brick-built dragons is that even without new molds, it's exceptionally easy to vary the size, physique, details, and functionality of dragons so that each set with them feels wholly unique, rather than just feeling like a "reskin" of a previous dragon design. For example, the water dragon's lengthy physique and oscillating wing function would not be possible if it shared molds with the much smaller jungle dragon or last year's bipedal fire dragon.

[blackdeathgr]

Gief molded animals to the people! Sheep are appearing everywhere these days and it's a pity that we can't get boars, rams, more goats and properly molded medieval dragons.

[stagecoachfan]

I generally prefer moulded animals as they look a bit more "realistic" in general. 

As an additional thought, since humans are animals, it could be argued that minifigures are "moulded animals" since they use specialised parts!