Merry Glinchmas: A New Galidor Christmas Tradition
/A few of our eagle-eyed readers have noticed that for the past few days, BrickNerd has been celebrating month-long collaborative themes like FebRovery, April Tools, SHIPtember, Orctober, and NoVVember. But aside from the Winter Village, what is there to build in December?
During the holidays, many fellow AFOLs, TFOLs, and kids alike enjoy building their LEGO Advent Calendars. These calendars are typically themed after Star Wars, Super Heroes, Harry Potter, City and Friends, although occasionally we’ve gotten some wonderful others, namely Castle and Clikits! But with so many available LEGO themes, what theme needed an advent calendar the most?
GALIDOR, of course! Imagine the possibilities…er, wait, maybe you don’t have to? Turns out I made my own! It’s as cursed as you’ve come to expect from me…
So let’s celebrate a belated new building theme for December, Glinchmas! Yes, “glinching”—that wonderful term from Galidor when you dislocate parts or limbs of one model or character and attach them to another. Honestly, glinching is the gift that just keeps giving, so what better to make it the focus of the gift-giving season!? Let’s get on to our advent calendar…
Day 1
I had to start out with a banger—something to draw you in. And so, I built an Illithid. Commonly known as a Mind Flayer, Illithids exist in the world of DND and consume the brains of any lesser lifeform… which just so happens to include every other sentient race. Nick Bluetooth better watch out, or he’ll quickly find himself without a brain!
Day 2
This funky fella was based on the main character from the platformer Hollow Knight. You play as The Knight, an insect-like character tasked with eliminating a supernatural disease plaguing the in-game universe. My variation of The Knight has an extra set of arms, making them look even more like a bug!
Day 3
As I was sifting through my Galidor collection, I grabbed a handful of these fuzzy looking joints and inspiration dawned on me. A YETI?!?! It was time to make an Arctic sasquatch! For his head, hands and feet, I used some icy Bionicle elements.
Day 4
It was time to make use of Jens’ robotic elements which stylistically match a handful of Kanohi Masks. A few Alpha team sets had some funky Galidor-adjacent limb elements, and those fit nicely with some Nexo Knight drill elements in place of hands.
Day 5
I spent the afternoon catching up with a buddy of mine and told him about my Glinchmas project. Later that evening, we messed around with my bin of Belville figures and realized they had the same shirt and skin color as Nick Bluetooth Deluxe. So naturally, I had to combine the two. Seems familiar…
Day 6
I was cold when I woke up, so I figured Toa Tahu might warm me up! I was inspired by one of my favorite Galidor MOCs of all time which also blends a Bionicle/Technic character with a Galidor torso. It was built by Mitch Henry who effortlessly blends multiple themes into some truly unique builds.
Day 7
I play waaaay too much DotA 2, and within the game there are some funky plant things covered in eyes. Add some legs to the bottom, and you get something like this.
He sees you when you're sleeping
And he knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake…
Day 8
While ‘sorting’ through my funky bulk, I grabbed my bag of skulls, as one does. As it turns out, a pile of skulls looks like popcorn! My Mind Flayer must have gotten hungry and ate all my minifigures! No brains in sight!
Day 9
Anyone else have a shelf covered in discarded WIPs? I had this head lying about since 2020 or so before I really got into Galidor. He needed a body so I turned this into a Technofae. I used a similar head on my centipede from a few years back.
Day 10
My Yeti needed a friend! Or maybe an enemy? Anyhow, this guy was a lot of fun to do, and the head idea came from another of Mitch’s builds, this magnificent moose mount!
Day 11
It was time to make my Technofae a friend! I found a decent way to block additional limb sockets that I wasn’t using by adding a bead from a LEGO pen. While difficult to find, pen beads are quite fun to work with if you get the chance.
Day 12
Ever wondered what an alien e-sports commentator would look like? This fella just so happens to be one! I used a Chima constraction head and a Dino Attack T-Rex body to complete the look. Curiously, Euripides’ legs match the T-Rex body so much so you’d think they came in the same set!
Day 13
How are we already halfway through this Advent!? We should celebrate Glinchmas every month! Like the day that came before it, I knew I needed to stick with Chima for a little longer. A crocodile minifigure head looks slightly like a parrot, and of course a parrot without a pirate is lame. But you know what’s better than an ordinary, run of the mill pirate? A SPACE PIRATE!
Day 14
Inspired by Mothra, this alien insectoid watches over all from a higher dimension. I used a Bionicle mask for the face, but some Ben 10 wings really made the whole thing come together nicely.
Day 15
What’s one kaiju without an enemy? During the build I watched the 2014 Godzilla, and the MUTO titan roughly inspired this behemoth.
Day 16
I played Pokémon GO after work, and one of the gyms I battled had a Starmie. A chrome blue dome makes a cool gem and some metallic blue elements matched the vibe nicely.
Day 17
I asked for some additional Glinchmas ideas in a few LEGO Discord servers, and someone told me to make a centaur and someone else suggested a spider. What if I combined the two and made a spider centaur? A Gorzan head on top made it even stranger…
Day 18
Something had to create both the Techofae and the repair bot, right? That’s where this dude came from. Arms covered in mechanical apparatuses and a bunch of mysterious chemicals let this monstrosity create fellow abominations. His head uses Tager’s head turned backward with some round plates stuck into the holes on the sides.
Day 19
At least one Glinchmas build needed to be entirely Galidor, right? This primordial worm looks like something straight out of the Cambrian era! I wouldn’t want to find this hiding in my stockings by the fire, waiting for a chance to nibble on my fingers…
Day 20
LEGO Avatar has some really goofy minifigures, but the creatures include some really cool elements, like the Ikran head. Add some tentacles and you get an unsavory character.
Day 21
At this point in the project, I was starting to hit builder’s block. I had a pile of dinosaurs next to my building desk, as I figured they would be fun to Glinch with, as the joints are the same. A Carnotaurus just so happens to have nearly the same skin color as Nick. I did what had to be done…
Day 22
For this one, I went through Djokson’s feed as he has lots of funky builds that often inspire me to make something truly bizarre. Halfway down his Instagram, I saw a boxing robot! He needed a fellow robo-boxer to beat up. ‘In the red corner, the four-armed freak, the big bad bug breaker, Arachno-smach!’
Day 23
What does Santa give to naughty AFOLs? Cursed presents, of course! I initially planned to make a present mimic, but a present with a bunch of arms is much creepier. Make sure to plug your chimney at night, or this might find it’s way under the tree…
Day 24
And on the final day, it was time to make a Glinchmas Tree! I used a bunch of Euripides limbs & heads to make most of the foliage, topping it off with a dragon tail. Glinchmas trees have eyes pointing down, ensuring those who open their presents early meet a quick and decisive end. Shaking presents and guessing is encouraged but no peeking.
We Wish You a Merry Glinchmas
Now you can see why this project wasn’t included in our normal holiday coverage, but it could totally be “Nightmare Before Christmas”-inspired! This was how I spent most of my December, adding some extra chaos to an already busy month. Daily builds for a whole month can be a pain, but it’s totally worth it if you can afford the time. I might have to do this again next year…
Merry (late) Glinchmas!
What is a Glinchmas tradition that we should start? Let us know in the comments below.
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