If it has a LEGO logo… it can NPU!

Many an AFOL started with humble beginnings. LEGO Duplo is a theme intended for the littlest of LEGO fans, the future of the hobby. But if you dig out that old Duplo part bin, you may find yourself with a great deal of Nifty Parts Usage (NPU) potential!

The Duplo parts catalog is pretty vast, ranging from animals to aliens, food to furniture, and anything in between! And, of course, it’s primarily within the same system as any LEGO piece, although you gotta get creative here and there. Standard bricks can sit atop most Duplo bricks, as they are twice the size of your standard brick of the same stud count. Neat, eh?

And because Duplo pieces are within system, naturally a bunch of builders have gone crazy, using them for all sorts of creations. Let’s get into it Duplo NPU!

Fuel To The Fire

Eero Okkonen is known for his large humanoid creations, and for being an overall parts genius. Morak, shown below, has a tail cannon made with a Duplo fuel container! I guess it’ll never run out of gas, eh? Notice the legs as well; he ingeniously made use of some unusual windscreens, originally designed for Alpha Team: Mission Deep Freeze.

Morak is a revamp of this bionicle spider fella

This Fig Is The BOMB!

Careful, Hothead has an explosive personality. Mischief used a Duplo bomb element for a unique head design. If you look closely at the arms, you might notice a Galidor limb, and his chest uses a Dots bracelet as a bandolier. Bet this guy’s fun at parties! (Editor’s Note: BrickNerd LLC does not endorse the use of explosives or incendiary devices at parties, or otherwise...)

Go Fish!

You’ll find this creation 20,000 bricks under the sea! The Subnautic™ Research Drone uses a Duplo submarine element as… well, a submarine. The blend of Duplo, Galidor, Technic and System shows some real mastery behind this creation, not to mention the Ninjago movie stickers slapped on! There’s also some great movement in the scene, with the undersea creatures franticly fleeing the dreaded collection vacuum. I’m glad I’m not a fish, poor guy had no chance! He’ll probably end up in some dentist’s office.

Hop To It!

Simon Liu, one of our fellow BrickNerds, will eventually make a mech for every LEGO animal, Duplo included! In spite of being piloted by the cuddly rabbits, there’s nothing cute about the weapons they’re brandishing. If I stumbled upon these battle bunnies, I’d hope I was carrying some spare carrots!

Doubling Down on Duplo

And what’s a MOC-Roundup without a slideshow, right?!? Joe Chan has been busy integrating Duplo figs and parts in a multitude of mechs and robots. Like some of the previous examples, it’s not just Duplo, but also Bionicle, Technic, System, and who knows what else. It all adds up to fun, no matter the theme. Although, personally, I think that squirrel looks like he’s up to no good.

So the next time you stumble across some Duplo pieces, don’t just use them for filler. Try to use them in a system build and who knows what NPU you might discover!

Have you ever used a Duplo element in a build? Let us know in the comments below!

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