Heroes of Fur and Feather Grand Prize Winner – Ben Grayson’s adventures of Priscilla Bramblewhisk [Feature]

Over the past four weeks, fifty brave builders joined us for our inaugural role-play competition: Heroes of Fur and Feather. In three challenges, each player created LEGO scenes and lore that advanced the story of their animal hero. There were so many inspiring builds and epic plot twists, but at the end of the journey, one builder consistently won us over with his amazing character, beautifully staged scenes, chilling creature designs, and cozy storytelling. And that builder is Ben Grayson! For completing the quest of winning over our panel of judges, Ben wins a copy of Blathers’ Museum Collection. Thanks to everyone else who participated. Now, we’re proud to present Ben’s series of builds in full.

Pour a cup of cozy tea and tuck in for Ben Grayson’s winning adventure

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LEGO Star Wars 75433 Jango Fett’s Starship: Slave I 2: Electric Boogaloo [Review]

Firespray-class starships appear to be like proverbial London buses. You wait 20 years for a specific one, and then two turn up within three months of each other! LEGO finally re-visited Jango Fett’s Slave I in style earlier this year, with the mammoth 2,970-piece 75414. But if that set’s $330 price tag is putting you off, good news! From August 1, you’ll be able to pick up 75433 Jango Fett’s Starship for a more modest US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £59.99 (and you may be able to find it on eBay or Amazon, too). This one’s only got 707 pieces, but it does feature an extra minifigure for a total of three. Read on to see if you should pick up one, both, or neither…

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Continue reading →

LEGO luggage: All packed and ready for the early 90’s

What were you doing in the early 90s? If you said marveling over the collapse of the Soviet Union to the tune of Smells Like Teen Spirit, you’d be correct. Also, if you happened to have been a LEGO maniac at the time, M-Tron probably rocked your world with all it’s magnetic red and black glory. Chris Yu packs up and takes us back to a simpler time with his newest edition to his line of Classic Space-theme luggage. As usual, Chris’s luggage doubles as a secret base and this one is brimming with vehicular goodies. The M-Tron logo is ace!

He makes it clear that this is bag 7 and even renders our research easy by providing an image of all his space-base luggage since 2017.

Be sure to click the video to see this fabulous luggage become the best piece of M-Tron gear this side of the Information Superhighway!

Celebrating a LEGO anniversary in style with a 26,000 piece Revenge of the Sith diorama

Now normally, when we feature LEGO creations on the Brothers Brick, we like to lead with some nice clear photos that really show a build off. But sometimes we have to make an exception, such as when the scene is set as fantastically as in Kyle Collard (LordofVador)’s colossal Mustafer diorama! This of course depicts Anakin and Obi-Wan’s duel at the climax of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The moody lighting and bright blue lightsaber blades instantly evoke that epic scene on Mustafar.

But it doesn’t look half bad in daylight either! This was a heck of an effort by Kyle: over 26,000 pieces and close to 300 hours of building and re-building. It has real meaning, too. Kyle tells us that this same scene was the subject of one of his first MOCs, some 14 (!) years ago. So this build doubles as a showcase for his growth as a builder, and a celebration.

And every celebration needs a present, right? You might have sussed out from the above photo that this diorama made it a convention (which is an achievement in its own right, taking something this big on the road!). And it’s at Brick Rodeo that this build received the Best Star Wars Scene award. Congratulations, Kyle, and happy LEGO anniversary!

LEGO Architecture 21063 Neuschwanstein Castle – Bavarian Cream of the Crop [Review]

Neuschwanstein Castle is a real-life fairytale landmark that inspired Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle and was just added to the list of UNESCO heritage sites. On August 1, you can bring it home with LEGO Architecture 21063 Neuschwanstein Castle. We received an early copy of this beautiful set and are excited to bring you our review from guest writer Ids de Jong.

LEGO Architecture 21063 Neuschwanstein Castle
3,455 Pieces
Available August 1
Buy for US $279.99 | CAN $349.99 | UK £239.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Our in-depth review follows…

Ciao! LEGO Ideas travels to the Mediterranean with 21359 Italian Riviera [News]

The Ligurian coast of Italy is a popular tourist destination on account of its sunshine and picturesque seaside views. You may know it as the Italian Riviera. LEGO certainly does, thanks to fan designer Alex Sahli, whose LEGO Ideas submission is today unveiled as the next set to be released in the line of fan-designed sets. The original concept reached the 10,000 supporters milestone in December 2023, and has now morphed into 21359 Italian Riviera. Now consisting of 3,215 pieces, this one will retail for US $299.99 | CAN $349.99 | UK £249.99. LEGO Insiders will get first dibs on it from this August 7th, while general release starts on August 10th. There’s also a gift with purchase coming between the 7th and 13th for Insiders purchasing this set, although at the time of writing we don’t have any more information on that. More as we get it!

Take a closer look at this bellissimo LEGO set after the jump!

Geralt of Rivia takes to the sewers to hunt Zeugl in this Witcher LEGO tribute

Before The Witcher became a global phenonmenon thanks to the GOTY winning third game and a hit Netflix series, the adventures of Geralt of Rivia were the pride of Polish fantasy fans with elaborate worldbuilding infused by the folktales of Eastern Europe. Polish builder Mihał Ch brings the famous monster hunter to LEGO for an immersive battle scene in which the Witcher takes on a Zeugl in the sewers beneath Vizima. Mihał’s creature design is wonderfully loathsome with its wide maw of teeth and crasping arms. My favorite technique is the copious ichor splattered throughout the scene as both discolored brickwork and goopy pools.

Mihał created this fantastic diorama for the “Where No One Dares to Go” category of the Summer Joust competition and to honor the 10th anniversary of The Witcher 3 from Polish game studio CD Projekt RED. It’s not his first time exploring Geralt’s world in LEGO. Here is Mihał’s take on the game’s core characters:

CHAPPiE is consciousness. CHAPPiE is alive. CHAPPiE is LEGO!

Hong Kong-based studio Three Zero creates incredibly detailed designer action figures for a premium price, like a deluxe version of CHAPPiE that would have set you back $230 if you’d ordered in time. Too rich for your blood? Then consider making your own from LEGO, like Wang Juan, a builder who only just debuted on socials. Wang’s character builds are incredibly detailed and articulated. For Chappie, the builder works mostly with System parts to recreate the Three Zero version of the character.

Wang’s account includes a mix of incredible character models – mostly renders – inspired by games and street art. We’ve reached out to the builder to learn more. For now, as a fan of Neill Blomkamp’s gritty South African mash up of Short Circuit and Robocop, let’s help Chappie live again.

LEGO Star Wars 75414 The Force Burner Snowspeeder – Bringing chaos and cool to a galaxy far, far away [Review]

Brickbot_Studio is back again, and today we’re looking at one of the most chaotic ships I’ve ever seen in a Star Wars set. LEGO Star Wars 75414 The Force Burner Snowspeeder is a wild ride from start to finish, packed with vibrant colors, strangely delightful design choices, and a trio of absolutely fantastic minifigures. Whether you’re here for the builds, the figs, or the lightsaber nunchucks (yes, you read that right), this one definitely leaves an impression.

LEGO Star Wars 75414 The Force Burner Snowspeeder
349 Pieces
Available August 1
Buy for US $54.99 | CAN $64.99 | UK £44.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Let’s dive into this weird and wonderful speeder set.

SNOT Mosaics are nothing to sneeze at

Mosaics are an amazing entry point into LEGO creativity, but the sky’s the limit for how you can create beautiful patterns with bricks. Every week, dozens of new designs are shared as part of #MosaicsOnMonday. A few weeks back, I was struck by this design from the event’s co-host Dana (virginia_bricks) which uses SNOT bricks to add more depth and negative space.

Dana credits Onibabalego for leading her to the technique, and no wonder. The French builder has pioneered mesmerizing mosaics from SNOT bricks and unconventional pieces. Her kaleidoscopic builds are truly inspiring.

There’s a joy and a magic in finding surprising ways that LEGO elements can jigsaw together into tight patterns. What I love about onibabalego’s mosaics is how they incorporate gaps of negative space into the design. And the colors!

Building The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim’s open world in LEGO with BDD Builds [Interview]

Some LEGO fans gravitate to greebled fleets of spaceships, others to cunningly engineered trains and trucks, but it’s epic castle creations that will forever have my heart. Brett, who builds under the moniker BDD Builds, has been creating massive medieval scenes to share online and at conventions for several years now. After Brett revealed his most ambitious work to date, a recreation of Fort Dawnguard from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, we reached out to learn more about the builder’s epic LEGO journey.

Our interview with BDD Builds and pics of Skyrim’s Fort Dawnguard follow

What in tarnation? Timofey Tkachev is back with a rootin’ tootin’ varmint shootin’ Yosemite Sam in LEGO

Back in the halcyon pre-COVID days, Timofey Tkachev was one of TBB’s most featured builders. With a catalog of works that includes massive spacecraft, modulars, props, cartoon characters, and mind-bending artistic sculptures, Timofey defies categorization. Back in 2023, Timofey’s prolific run seemed to come to an end as the builder stopped posting for a couple of years. Now he’s back with a rootin’ tootin’ take on Yosemite Sam the third Looney Tunes tribute from the builder. It’s a spot-on likeness of the trigger-happy toon, making good use of orange tiles in that magnificent moustache. The canted cacti are quite impressive too.

In honor of Timofey’s return, we’re reposting our interview with Timofey from 2017, which you can read below.

Continue to our interview with Timofey from 2017