Here at The Brothers Brick, we have some pretty strong opinions from time to time about news, trends, and events in the LEGO fan community. You can read our essays and editorials here.
I’ve seen some wonderful collaborations between talented LEGO builders and photo editors over the years, and though I certainly can’t claim to be either, I included a note in my description of the Aldrin Mars Cycler I posted yesterday saying that I wouldn’t mind if somebody felt like Photoshopping it onto a cool space photo. Continue reading →
Today is the seventh birthday of The Brothers Brick! Well, it was actually yesterday, but I was out having dinner with my wife — as I said last year, real life always comes before LEGO. ;-) It’s been another year of growth and change in the LEGO fan community, and as I think back over Continue reading →
With the mentioning of cheese slope mosaics, one name stands out, which is none other than Katie Walker (eilonwy77). She has just wrote a detailed and illustrated article showing techniques and ample examples of what can be accomplished in the field of mosaics with these tiny angled parts. Check it out on MosaicBricks.
As we say in our AFOL jargon glossary, purism is “a form of religious fundamentalism.” LEGO fandom includes a broad range of preferences for what’s “legal” and what’s not. In the spirit of broadening our horizons, we’re very pleased to bring you the first in a series of posts about LEGO minifig customization by master Continue reading →
Aaah, BrickCon. That magical time each fall when hundreds of LEGO fans descend upon the Exhibition Center in Seattle for a relaxing weekend of fun, friendship, and sleep. Wait. I’m kidding. Sleep never enters the equation. BrickCon has morphed quite a bit for me from my first event to now. I began attending BrickCon in Continue reading →
I have only built two hovertanks: one 6 years ago and one today. This post will summarize some of the changes in the way I build and hopefully offer a few useful tips for builders in the process of developing their style (with a focus on sci-fi creations). The Ladybird Hovertank (above) was one of Continue reading →
Creations for Charity took place in the past two months where LEGO fans sold their creations to raise money to donate LEGO to children in need. Here are a few words on the organization and the results of this year’s fundraiser. The beginning Creations for Charity began with the idea of giving LEGO to underprivileged Continue reading →
Aaron Amatnieks (akama1_lego) and I were spending a productive day in a LEGO chatroom yesterday when he showed me a tree he’d been working on. I absolutely loved the concept and went off to build one for myself. I’ve been thinking about gum trees a bit lately so had some ideas to try out showing Continue reading →
Like many LEGO builders, I spent the first decades of my life building in isolation, lucky to get suggestions or critique from a sibling or rare friend who also played with LEGO. But in the last 10 years — particularly the last 5 — the LEGO fan community has grown to include a critical mass Continue reading →
Having a consistent system for sorting and storing your LEGO collection makes your pieces much more accessible while building. Most LEGO builders eventually figure out a system that works for them. In fact, it’s something we discuss at length among ourselves, both at conventions and on the web. Most people seem to sort by element Continue reading →
Regular readers will likely have noticed a bit of a decrease in the frequency of our posts the last little while. That’s because summer has arrived — at least for the 86% of us who are here in the Northern Hemisphere — and that means less TV shows to distract, good natural lighting for pictures, Continue reading →
Josh, Caylin, and I attended our local LEGO Users Group meeting yesterday, and someone asked us why Brothers-Brick.com was so slow, and if there was anything he — as a programmer — could do to help. My answer was, “Buy more LEGO. No, seriously!” Readers ask us this question frequently enough that I thought it Continue reading →
In what I believe is a first (apologies if I’m neglecting credit) for The Brothers Brick I’ve decided to write a somewhat counterpoint editorial to Andrew’s latest editorial. Andrew argues, with merit, that demands for credit are excessive and potentially “stifling (of) others’ creativity”. While I don’t disagree with his major points I do feel Continue reading →
Merriam-Webster defines the act of plagiarism as: to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own : [to] use (another’s production) without crediting the source. Unfortunately, plagiarism is something we LEGO fans witness all too often online. “Hey, some kid on LEGO.com stole my photo and entered it in a Continue reading →
As I started building my second major creation (more on the first later), it became quite obvious to me that I was paying the price for over 10 years of nonexistent or half-ass sorting. It was almost impossible to build because I couldn’t find anything. So I got sucked into covering my entire living room Continue reading →
