Yearly Archives: 2016

LEGO Hercules travels to the South Pole [Interview]

It is not an everyday occurrence for me to get an email from the South Pole. Several months ago, however, I was contacted by Ethan Rudnitsky, who was spending the winter at the US Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica, and who asked me for instructions to build a model of an LC-130 Hercules. This is the aircraft used to fly people to and from the station and Ethan wanted to put the model on display in the station. TBB used the opportunity to find out more about LEGO fans at the South Pole in an interview and agreed to supply the instructions, stickers, and the parts to build the Hercules.

Ethan and I had yet to work out how to get the model there. Enter Martin Rongen, a physicist and LEGO fan, like myself, who contacted me from Germany having seen my LC-130 prototype. He was due to travel to the Pole around Christmas (summer in Antarctica) and wondered whether I was willing to share instructions so that he could take the LEGO model with him. How about that? Problem solved! We could ship the whole lot to Germany.

Click here to read the full interview

Top 10 most popular LEGO creations on TBB in 2016 [News]

The TBB editorial team recently announced our shortlist for LEGO Creation of the Year, but what do you our readers think? Over the course of the year, you let your mouse clicks do the talking, and it’s clear that you felt the same way about many of the best LEGO creations we highlighted. Based on clicks, likes, shares, and other stats, here are the top 10 most popular LEGO creations featured on The Brothers Brick in 2016, as voted by you!

10. LEGO Technic Porsche 919, the 2015 Le Mans winner

Manuel Nascimento honored the winner of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans race with this gorgeous Porsche 919 built from LEGO Technic pieces. Manuel’s Porsche sports custom stickers, and has numerous working features.

LEGO Technic - Porsche 919 - Le Mans 2015 v.

See the rest of the best after the jump!

Top 10 LEGO set reviews on TBB in 2016 [News]

The Brothers Brick works tirelessly to bring you LEGO set reviews so that you can decide if a set is right for you! We’ve reviewed over 70 sets this year in our mission to bring you LEGO news… So, which ones were the best? We went through each and every review we’ve brought you this year, and looked at what you liked the most — these are the LEGO set reviews read the most by you, our readers from all over the world.

Let’s look back at 2016 as we bring you our top 10 LEGO set reviews.

Click through to see the full Top 10 list

Top 10 LEGO news posts on TBB in 2016 [News]

As 2016 comes to an end, we wanted to take a moment and look at some of the most popular news posts this year. What theme made the most appearances on our list? Who took the number one spot? Where does 10255 Assembly Square fall on our list? Read on to find out!

LEGO 10255 Assembly Square

Click through to read the rest of our countdown!

Brothers Brick LEGO Builder of the Year 2016 [News]

Every day Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO models from around the world. Just like our global readership, there are LEGO builders across the world creating fabulous things with plastic bricks. However, every year there are a handful of builders who take things to new levels, prove themselves masters of various building styles, and wow us with their LEGO skills.

This year, Brothers Brick is delighted to call out Grant Masters as our LEGO Builder of the Year 2016.

Brothers Brick LEGO Builder of the Year 2016

Grant’s LEGO creations range from the minuscule to the mid-size, varied across themes and styles — from characters to architecture, with interesting parts choices and excellent building techniques throughout. His models featured no less than 13 times on the pages of Brothers Brick in 2016, and as Andrew (TBB’s founder and editor-in-chief) pointed out, the creations of Grant’s we didn’t feature could just as easily have been blogged. He’s had a sterling output of work in the past twelve months, and here are some of the highlights.

Grant has used fantastic microscale technique to take us from domestic backyard scenes…

Weekend Chores

To the surface of the Moon…

One Small Step

Click to see more of Grant’s incredible models

Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2016 [News]

Getting to a shortlist of the best LEGO creations of 2016 was hard enough, but narrowing it down to a single best model was a nightmare. However, after much deliberation, the Brothers Brick is delighted to highlight Paul Hetherington‘s Batman scene as our LEGO Creation of the Year for 2016…

LEGO Creation Of The Year 2016
LEGO Batman vs Joker Gotham Theater Showdown

This stunning model features a beautiful Art Deco-style building, fantastic action, fun motorised elements, an incredible background city skyline, and to top it all, a fabulous brick-built Batman logo. Check out Paul’s video showcasing his creation…

See more of this incredible creation after the jump

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for December 31, 2016 [News]

The Brothers Brick publishes so many interesting stories, that we’re giving you the best of LEGO news and reviews, as well as links to other interesting content. This is our Weekly Brick Report for the final seven days of 2016. (Woo-hoo! We made it!)

LEGO Ideas 21308 Adventure Time [Review]

REVIEWS: TBB had its hands full with new sets from Adventure Time, the LEGO Batman Movie, and Star Wars: Rogue One.


Indiana Jones (Advent Calendar)

TBB NEWS: We posted some cool instructions, our tribute to Carrie Fisher, and our create-a-calendar winners this week. Also, the LEGO Death Star set is still up for grabs!


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OTHER NEWS: There was a massive amount of LEGO news from other places around the web this week. Here are a few items we noticed and thought you might enjoy.

Continue reading

2017 LEGO Speed Champions sets revealed, with 1966 Ford GT40, Bugatti Chiron, and more [News]

2017 still has many LEGO sets left to reveal, and today’s news brings us the next wave of LEGO Speed Champions, sure to whet the appetite of any good petrolhead (or gearhead, if you need to be all American about it).

LEGO teased racing fans with a press release a few weeks ago highlighting the upcoming 75881 Ford GT 2016 & Ford 1966 GT40, which celebrate 50 years of victory at Le Mans. Now we finally have a proper high-resolution photo of this set. Personally, my only disappointment is that there isn’t a GT40 in lovely blue and orange Gulf Gasoline livery.

75881 Ford GT 2016 & Ford 1966 GT40

See more 2017 LEGO Speed Champions sets after the jump

LEGO Star Wars 75155 Rebel U-wing Fighter from Rogue One [Spoiler Review]

Following our reviews of 75152 Imperial Assault Hovertank (SPOILER: NOT A HOVERTANK!) and 75153 AT-ST Walker, we’re continuing our reviews of the Rogue One LEGO sets released in October, now that the movie is out two months after the LEGO sets hit stores. 75155 Rebel U-wing Fighter includes 659 pieces with 5 minifigs, and retails for $79.99.

75155 Rebel U-Wing

Now that the movie has been out for a couple of weeks, our reviews will reference character details and plot points, so come back again after you’ve seen the movie if you don’t want any spoilers.

See the full review. WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!

LEGO fan spends 6 years perfecting Klingon Bird of Prey

Back in 2010, German builder Kevin J. Walter designed an impressive LEGO Klingon Bird of Prey using virtual bricks. Now, just in time for the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, Kevin’s six year mission to recreate that design using 25,000 real LEGO bricks is finally complete, and the result is phenomenal!

Klingon Bird of Prey

Kevin’s design is simply stunning. I love everything about this build, from the spot-on color palette to the intricate shaping and detailing in the wings. Even the exposed studs feel right for this Klingon vessel. Of course, there is also some great part’s usage in here too. Can you spot the guns belonging to Toy Story’s Army Men and Bilbo Baggin’s front door?

Klingon Bird of Prey

Klingon Bird of Prey Klingon Bird of Prey

Click here to see more images of this ship

A snow fort, but made out of wood

Who doesn’t love a good wooden castle? Now, this fort by Jsnyder002 is not a new concept, but that doesn’t detract from the execution. The snow effects are realistic and the thatched roofing is just spot on. The most eye-catching part of the build must be the splash of water in the corner with a well-crafted dock. We recently featured a samurai’s house and woodland cottage by the same builder that were, like this one, built for the Colossal Castle Contest XIV.

Bálkr Fort

Cruising for a bruising

Stumbling across a pair of 48×48 baseplates in his collection, Joshua Brooks realized a bay for his Viceroy-class battlecruiser the IFS ILLIES (221) would look awesome. The ILLIES looks quite at home in this brilliantly detailed landing bay, getting re-armed by the loading crane. Under the watchful eye of the control tower, the ILLIES looms over the general hustle and bustle of the hanger floor. The multi-storeyed building, parked cars, small space-craft, and truck making a turn on the road give you a sense of the gigantic scale of the vessel.

Landing Bay D3, IFNB Discoera, Alphanta

Armed to the teeth with an assortment of cannons, lasers, and turrets, this ship looks like a sleek and precision-engineered instrument of brute force. And with its own mini docking bay and fleet of small fighters, it seems ready to take on any hostile targets.

IFS ILLIES hanger bay, SHIPtember 2016

Check out Joshua’s previously featured Shallow Water Assault Patrol Enforce and AH8-Raptor.