This LEGO flip-walking vehicle looks like it has its own mind, but it’s really just powered by gravity and a tiny engine. Custom LEGO builder JK Brickworks guides us through the building in a video on YouTube that was actually inspired by old-fashioned Bear Mobill toys made by Bandai in 1987. It looks like the original toy was supposed to be a sort of sci-fi military vehicle, but JK Brickworks gives it a flashy new look.
The hypnotic tilting motion is triggered by a forward carriage in the center. It weighs the machine just enough at the end of its track, causing the building to turn on two legs and reset the entire process. As shown in JK Brickworks’ video, the toy’s unique rocking motion lets it climb up small steps and even go up a small incline.
If you want a more in-depth look at how to build this strangely satisfying flippy machine, check out the nearly two-hour-long recorded livestream of JK Brickworks that puts it together piece by piece. It appears that JK Brickworks also has plans to create in-depth construction guides, as he notes that “instructions will be forthcoming” in the description of his design crash video.
Sure, the machine does not serve any purpose and has an unnecessarily uncomfortable way of moving, but it is interesting that such a vehicle exists at all. As pointed out by some users on Reddit, the only toy that comes close to this level of intrigue is probably the 1983 He-Man dragon walker, which swings sideways to take a single step forward.