From good to great: the blessing of the Bio-Cup 2024
The annual Bionicle building competition Bio-Cup is almost over. The semi-finals will be over in a few days and then it will be down to the final three competitors to battle it out for first place. If you don’t know about Bio-Cup, it’s the largest LEGO building competition with over 150 entries that are all whittled down to one winner in a tournament-style competition.
Each round has a unique theme and lasts for two weeks, with builders competing in groups of three or four to advance to the next round. With great prizes on the line, including sealed sets, custom resin masks, and cash, it’s no surprise that this competition brings out the very best in everyone. This year, I want to look at four builders who really stood out in this year’s competition and, I think, surprised a few people with their amazing builds.
Micellanabuilds
Many of you probably know Micellanabuilds , who for a while built mainly with System parts. However, in recent years he has focused on character creation, but again mainly with System parts. For this year's Bio-Cup he really showed his skills, taking first place in the preliminary round and making it all the way to Round 2 with some great builds.
We start by looking at his preliminary build, which came in first out of over 150 builds. This is the perfect mix of construction and System parts for a great character. Between the happy emotion conveyed by the face and the pose of the limbs, it creates a much loved character with a lot of life. This, combined with great NPU like frogs for a jaw and minifigure katanas for ears, took this build to the next level.
Looking at his first round build, it’s another great themed character with so many wonderful little details. It’s very clear where Bianca, the Springstress, gets her name from. The spring coiling around her boots, super curly hair made from flex tube, and the ribbed hose texture all help to sell her springiness. We can’t forget the real metal springs salvaged from LEGO elements, used around the waist and in the hair, all possibly from small spring-loaded rocket launchers. And the large springs around the shoulders come from a Technic pull-back motor.
Darknova3529
As far as I can tell, this was D arknova3529's first year competing in the Bio-Cup after building characters for about three years. Their preliminary build was ranked 44th, which is a great placement, but with 108 builds making it through the preliminary rounds, he's just above the middle of the pack. Rounds 1 and 2 are where Darknova really shined.
At first glance this build looks awesome: it’s a variation on the Piraka rap song with a big Piraka singing it. Not only is the scale impressive for a two week build, but it’s also motorized! You can see the build in action on their Flickr and it’s a sight to behold. Not only does the mouth move, but so does the entire head and the musical notes in the background. If that’s not the epitome of a sound based build, I don’t know what is
Continuing with the sound theme, Darknova created an old bard for round 2 that played a beautiful tune for us. This one isn’t motorized, but has so many other cool aspects. The face really stands out for me, using the Chima fur piece to create a nose shape and the little barbs to create some bushy eyebrows without actually having to create eyes. All the musical notes add that extra bit of life that the build needed to convey via a single photo.
LegoJoey
Joey is another builder that many of you will likely recognize, and this was also his first year competing in the Bio-Cup—and he did not disappoint!. As a master model builder at LEGOLAND, he has a lot of experience building, but again, mostly with system parts. He has occasionally dabbled in mech builds, but this year he dove head-first into construction building for the Bio-Cup. His preliminary build came in 5th place, which is a great result for a first time entry, and he continued to produce great builds all the way through Round 2.
His preliminary build is a fresh take on the theme, a mix of Xenomorph and a lobster of all things. The messy texture of Bionicle pieces works very well here to match the texture of real lobsters. The subtle color mixing, attention to textural coherence, and perfect blend of lobster anatomy and iconic Xenomorph parts all culminate in a showstopper build. (The rubber lemon is also the perfect addition to the build!)
For round 1, Joey built another model that combined two seemingly unrelated things. A beetle and a gravitron: another very unique take on a very challenging theme. I’m not sure what it was about this Bio-Cup, but we got not one, but two awesome models that are motorized. Yes, that’s right, the gravitron actually spins! You can see it in action on his Flickr . Additionally, this build also has great color and texture cohesion, and adorable little Bionicle guys.
Legonerdphotos
Legonerd , like the others, built mostly figures with System parts. This year, however, they decided to show up and show off in Bio-Cup. Of the four builders in this article, they are the only ones still in Round 3 at the time of publishing. In the preliminary rounds, Legonerd was in 47th place, but that only spurred them on to keep improving as the competition progressed.
World Eater is a safer take on the space theme for the preliminary round, but a very well executed one. The sense of scale created by the globe and micro satellite are perfect additions to bring this build to life. The movement displayed by the tail and tongue makes the creature look very hungry for its next meal.
