The Brothers Brick

With lots of friends on Flickr pursuing a broad variety of geeky pursuits other than LEGO, actual LEGO models that look like their real-world inspirations sometimes slip past. Peter Reid‘s series of turtle robots are certainly adorable, but putting one of them in a disassembled state on what appears to be a plastic sprue is positively mind-blowing. Even the tools are brick-built.

Thanks to Ed Diment for making sure we corrected this miss.

While we were distracted by images of the 2012 LEGO Avengers sets that Marvel released, our friends over at FBTB were busily covering all the news from Toy Fair 2012 in New York.

Leading the way, we finally have detailed photos of the LEGO Lord of the Rings sets (full coverage). I’m particularly excited by the new articulated horses.

Helm’s Deep looks like a great set for Castle builders and LOTR fans alike.

The LEGO Star Wars license was renewed for another 10 years, with lots of new sets this year. I’m liking the new Jabba’s Palace (full coverage).

The brand-new “Monster Fighters” theme harkens back to the LEGO Studios sets of a decade ago, with some interesting new figs (full coverage).

More photos to pore over in the FBTB photostream, and write-ups on FBTB.net.

There’s brilliant stained-glass work…and there’s stained glass that just goes beyond. And that’s what Colin (Cuahchic) has done. There are so many beautiful little details in this, but I just can’t stop looking at the stained glass motif. I could, I suppose, talk about the carved statue on the altar, or the stone fences, or that amazing floor.

But that would require not looking at the stained glass.

This impressive Blacktron spaceship by Vid Legradic hearkens back to the nostalgic themes of the early 90′s. It looks delightfully swooshable, and makes me want to create a huge space-battle against the Space Police, just like when I was a kid. Not to be overlooked, though, is the ship’s great design with a unique shape and the integration of that odd transparent panel.

Marvel has revealed the first pictures of some of the upcoming Lego Avengers sets. The sets and minifigs look good except for Iron Man, who must have been modeled after a bobblehead version :)

Via Brickset

I really like this picture by Joe and Will Merzlak (The Brothers Merz). And I almost forgot to blog it.

Cole Blaq has busted out his custom Friends figure to use in this amazing rendition of the Alakuneda Think Tank from Ghost in the Shell. He’s used grey rather than the more accurate tan to make better use of curved parts but I think it’s a fair compromise to make for something that looks this good.

This Gadget Mobile by Alex Jones (Orion Pax) is quite true to the cartoon vehicle I remember from my childhood. Not only does the van look accurate, it also transforms, just like the one in the show! I’m not going to lie, these customized Bellville and Technic figures creep me out a bit, but Gadget certainly looks like Gadget, and that’s what counts.

Matt De Lanoy built the Opee Sea Killer and Bongo Submarine 5 years ago but it’s not until now that he posted edited photos to do the model justice. You can see more pictures on Matt’s Flickr page.

Jon Hall is at it again, posting awesome sky-fi fighters. His latest airplane combines masterful sticker usage with a unique design.

Since the last time we highlighted one of Jon’s fighters, he’s posted a few other beauties, not least of which is the fierce-looking “Viper”:

Showing off what great uses Bionicle parts can have, even as core structural elements, flickr user Erth&fiya’s latest creation is a wonderfully textured spaceship. The addition of the classic windscreen forms a fantastic counterpoint to the pearl silver Bionicle pieces.

Some stories are meant to last through the ages. The tale of King Minos, the Labyrinth, Daedalus and Icarus is most definitely one of them. 74louloute has illustrated Daedalus’s determination to escape from his prison with his son beautifully. The details are divine–Theseus with the thread; the Grecian designs on the walls, the broken room of the Minotaur; the bit of sky, taunting the captives with what they can’t have.

For those of you not familiar with the tale (or just want a chance to hear it again), I highly recommend this version by Nick Kozis. Click on films, then Icarus.

While I’m fairly sure I blogged this model when it came out, I’ve decided to join a campaign by (so far) Eurobricks and Brickset in pushing it on LEGO Cuusoo. So if you’d like one of these in your home, go vote for it.

It seems I just can’t get away from bloggin Shannon Sproule’s (Shannon Ocean) models lately. But this one is the pick of the bunch. I cannot describe how much in-love I am with this image, the models in it, and the general idea.

We love a nice big sailing ship here at The Brothers Brick, so I was very happy to run across this beauty by Sean and Steph Mayo (Siercon and Coral). But then I did a double-take when I realized that it’s actually microscale.

The close-in shots reveal just how small this ship actually is, and how much detail Sean and Steph built into the model. The planking on the decks is especially brilliant.