We have arrived at Iron Builder Round 6!
The weapons used by the two duelists (Jonah & Loïc) this time are ‘1994’. From the moment it was announced, I was very excited to see how the two would cleverly use this functional part.

Jonah launched the attack first, and I saw the power of four-wheel drive. Next, Loïc responded with a clever tractor design.
I must admit, Jonah's idea of using 1994 as a crab's mouth was clever, but Loïc also used it to create a hippo's nose, eyes, and legs. That was a truly impressive move.
Jonah's subsequent creation left me a bit concerned, as Loïc's Garden Hose was indeed ingenious. However, Jonah's wave design shifted the momentum.

I can only say that both competitors were evenly matched. Yet, I had to make a difficult choice.
In the end, I must acknowledge that Loïc had the edge. Congratulations to him! And to Jonah as well.

With a seed part this difficult to use, our contestants surely enjoyed a round as chilling as the reverse of a rotation joint…

Parts Usage:
With the most prominent feature of the joint being the side slits, it doesn’t surprise much that it was used a lot by both builders, most effectively on Loïc’s water pistol handle and his tractor’s grille and on the water bottles on Jonah’s side. Unfortunately, it went down to rather random greebling on later builds, as in the Spaceship, factory and on the train. The round underside isn’t the most unique shape in the system, but still allowed for arctic and robotic wheels, while Loïc went further with hippo nostrils and an alien’s camera. Jonah loved the ratchet part of the piece: The crab’s teeth scream “Use me as epaulettes or a brush!”, but the little hippo’s eyelashes are subtle yet amazing. That leaves us with the most interesting aspect of the joint, the dome shaped upper section. Filled with a technic hole, Jonah saw waves in them (which are breathtaking) while Loïc pushed a microphone through it twice, on his hippo and water pistol, which looks immensely satisfying on both. To be honest, the “Cupcake” feels very forced and “The Night Watch”’s embrasures are a neat idea that could be achieved in countless other ways that aren’t limited to a two-dimensional shadowy silhouette. To end on the highlights: Jonah’s dual use on small water bottles is ingenious and hiding some of the part by putting them into a shopping cart is SO clever. Loïc on the other hand wowed me by exposing the whole part completely in two different ways on his tractor, plus the late innovative spring-mounted robot wheels. Though a very tough decision, he won me over in the end by incorporating the joint in many different ways in the same builds, especially in his “Garden Hose” and, again, the tractor, where every seed part contributes perfectly to well textured and believable builds.

Build Quality:
This category was easier to judge, as Jonah’s build quality proves undoubtedly FLAWLESS. But I’ll surely take the time to gush over both contestants’ incredible skills. Medium Azure is not an easy color to use, but we were blessed with incredible color schemes: Clean and modern on the arctic rover, nicely balanced on a warm nougat beach as a crab and retro-charming as a hippo, decisively colorful in a happy bathroom, giving a plastic feel in vibrant garden utensil colors (I would’ve liked to see it without the lime though, just because it’s the same color scheme as Eli’s similarly themed “Iron Bubble Blaster” from a few rounds ago), played out traditionally “At World’s end”, bravely futuristic on a spaceship, paired with fancy pink tones for the alien vacation mood, garnished with yellowish green on an unbelievably stylish train behind dark green pillars or toyish through masses of red, our eyes were pleased with fresh builds throughout the round. Between cartoonish and realistic, structural and organic, small and large, characters and vehicles, Jonah and Loïc amazed me with the whole spectrum, producing well thought-out, tonally consistent and efficiently detailed MOC’s. The presentation is equally strong, showing in full little scenes, neat side builds, well-fitting clutter and photoshop magic on both sides. Things I adore are the spaceship’s paneling under the cockpit that mirrors the seed part’s greebling, the very expressive Loïc that holds said spaceship just a build later, the alien tourist’s cute camera, a thin but mighty line of medium azure on the robot’s chest and the ornaments on the side of the Viking vignette.
However, Jonah absolutely owns this category with his surgical precision, never stepping into the traps of being kitschy, sterile or ordinary; the framing of the crab between a stretched chain and the curvy water line, the careful bits of colorful and inspired utensils in his bathroom or the complex motion of the wave mechanism. A small, well-equipped but not overloaded rover rolling over bits of snow, braving a snowstorm that feels cozily distant. Various people waiting for the train, familiar faces brought by chance and united by the moment. Jonah’s eye for the poetic beauty of the simple sets him apart.

Performance:
As I mentioned already, both builders proved to be very versatile at a consistently high building quality. This makes it extra hard to pick a winner in this category, but I have to hand it to Jonah for his effortless designs, often making fun of Loïc’s builds. Placing a mighty hippo in a bathtub or chibi Loïc into a pile of bricks is the kind of meta game I really enjoy. It seems like Jonah could build whatever he liked to, but still incorporating the seed part in interesting ways. The great function for “At World’s End” and the clever use of his other seeds in the train station are a bonus.
So, if it’s up to me: “Final stop, Hall of Fame!”"

A tough round as always! I just love the scenery built up around each of the builds, from the barn wall to the crab's ocean waves.

Favorite build: The Alien on Vacation — so smooth, really fun bright colors, just the right amount of details, and what a face!

Most inspired use of the part: The Night Watch — I'm blown away that you were able to truly define the character of a build by a part we can't even really see.

Favorite detail: the knotted wood inlay on At World's End.

Best obscure part usage: flex cable in A Tour of the Farm.

Most innovative connection: wheel holder clips in Spaceship. And kudos to both of you for somehow avoiding showing the seed part's natural pair 47455 a single time :)