Wrap-up from LEGO’s booth at the 2019 New York Toy Fair [News]

As you’ve surely noticed from reading our site in the last few days, this weekend marked the 116th annual New York Toy Fair, North America’s largest toy trade show and the site of LEGO’s product reveals for the first half of 2019. As always, The Brothers Brick was on site to bring you in-person coverage of all the latest sets, which we’ve covered with hundreds of photos in our theme-specific articles (see the full list below). As Toy Fair is the gathering for more than 30,000 toy industry professionals, LEGO is eager to put its best foot forward, so let’s set aside the new sets for a moment and look at LEGO’s presence at the show, along with our experience there.

This was my third year attending the show to bring TBB hands-on coverage, and I followed the news from the show for years prior to that. One thing that never struck me until I attended was how different it is to most other venues where I interact with LEGO. Toy Fair New York is not a fan convention and it’s not a comic book or geek/nerd convention. It’s an industry trade show. Everyone in attendance — the people manning the booths, the people walking around, the people taking photos — is at work, and is there because it’s their job. Make no mistake — most people are having fun (how can you not have fun in seven football fields’ worth of toys?), but you won’t see cosplayers or even families, since children aren’t permitted. What you will see is every type of toy imaginable, from infant toys to RC cars to board games.  Continue reading →

LEGO Ideas Second 2018 Review Results reveal the name of the next LEGO Ideas set [News]

It’s been a long time since the last LEGO Ideas announcement, so here are LEGO Ideas Second 2018 Review Results! Ten brilliant fan projects competed to become the next official LEGO retail set, and only one idea was approved by the LEGO Ideas team…

Click here to find out the name of the next LEGO Ideas set!

The SS-20 “Saber” is a sinister Cold War relic

A little more than forty years ago, with the Cold War still in full swing, the Soviet Union introduced a new ballistic missile: the RSD-10 “Pioneer”. NATO code-named it the SS-20 “Saber”. It had a range of 500-5500 km and carried three nuclear warheads, each of which was roughly ten times as powerful as the bomb used against Hiroshima. It seemed purpose-built to threaten Western Europe. The missile’s short flight time, of roughly 15 minutes, left very little warning. Furthermore, it was mobile, which made it even harder to counter. A large six-axle MAZ-547 transporter erector launcher carried the missile, housed inside a large cannister, to dispersed launch sites.

My diorama shows the launcher at a snow-covered launch site, with the missile cannister raised upright for launch. On the model it is almost solid, so there is no actual missile inside, but you can just see the tips of the three warheads. Unlike most of my models, it is minifig-scaled (I picked 1/43) and built mostly without visible studs. I built it for a Cold War themed collaborative build for BrickFair Virginia, in the coming August.
Continue reading →

The little red Alfa that could

Back in the 1930s, Enzo Ferrari teamed up with automobile manufacturer Alfa Romeo to make history on the racetrack. Ferrari wasn’t in the business of making cars yet, but their famous prancing pony emblem was used on team Ferrari cars. One of the most famous team Ferrari Alfas was a 1934 P3, which won the 1935 German Grand Prix with Tazio Nuvolari behind the wheel. Thanks to Pixeljunkie, Team Ferrari’s P3 has been brought back to life in LEGO-form. There is some excellent visual storytelling here, with an intrepid female driver making a pit stop in the woods to admire local wildlife. Both the car and surrounding landscaping look beautiful.

Alfa Romeo P3

Like many of his other cars, Pixeljunkie places the Alfa in different scenarios. Here, we get a look under the hood at the expense of some engine trouble. Fortunately, the driver remembered to bring along her toolkit.

Alfa Romeo P3

I particularly enjoy this playful image, which shows the driver’s reflection in the car’s rear view mirror. With the engine fixed, she’s ready to hit the road again!

Alfa Romeo P3

The Alfa Romeo P3 is just one in a growing number of cars built by Pixeljunkie and featured on the Brothers Brick, including a Ford Model T, Mercedes Benz W196, and Type 37A Bugatti.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for February 17, 2019 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the third week of February 2019, which was marked by one of the biggest global events in the toy industry, the New York Toy Fair 2019.

There was a crazy amount of new LEGO set announcements this week, but did you catch them all? Read on to find out more about each and every one along with our close-up reports.

TBB LEGO SET ANNOUNCEMENTS: LEGO revealed a whole bunch of new sets, from Star Wars to Jurassic World and from The Flintstones to Toy Story 4. Which are you most excited about?

TBB NEW YORK TOY FAIR COVERAGE: We are coming to you live from the New York Toy Fair. Read all of our hands-on coverage about the LEGO sets coming to a store near you this spring.

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: After a very busy week of set announcements, we have our latest TBB news and reviews just for you!

OTHER NEWS: There were a ton of other LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:
Click here to read a staggering amount of other LEGO news from the week

U-Pull, We-Haul

If you find yourself stressed out about a big move, why not procrastinate in the best way possible and build a LEGO moving truck? Robson M’s “U-Pull” truck looks delightful with its rear doors open, perfect for loading all your minifigure belongings. The design and name of the truck are clearly inspired by those iconic U-Haul trucks often seen while driving along North American highways. The U-Haul company is famous for the region-specific artwork gracing the back sides of its trucks, and Robson M’s “U-Pull” follows suit with an African-themed Duplo motif.

Moving Truck - "U-Pull"

Robson’s vehicle looks great from both angles and fits nicely in front of Assembly Square.

Moving Truck - "U-Pull"

Swedish truck hitting Brazilian roads

It turns out building too much with LEGO has its cons. Look at Dennis Bosman, who cut his teeth on building some of the most jaw-dropping copies of heavy rigs and trucks! With his enormous experience, building yet another popular European truck might become repetitive. This is also when finding inspiration for the next build might prove challenging, but Dennis is full of surprises. How about an orange Swedish Scania LK141 roaming the roads of Latin America? Dennis wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t manage to deliver another brick-built masterpiece.

Scania LK141

Removing the cab reveals a fully-finished chassis, and it’s so easy to fall in love with all the tiny mechanical details. Individually, each of them (gas tanks, tubes, mudguards, etc.) look rather clean and simple. When blended together, the results look outstanding.

Scania LK141

New LEGO gear and merchandise revealed at the 2019 New York Toy Fair [News]

In addition to all the new LEGO sets revealed at the 2019 New York Toy Fair, the upcoming line-up of LEGO-themed gear and merchandise was also unveiled. Both LEGO and their official merchandising partner Santoki had a spread of new items from books to backpacks, with a significant concentration on LEGO Star Wars-themed products that will be released later this year.

Click to see more of the upcoming LEGO gear and merchandise showcased at the New York 2019 Toy Fair

The great Arctic wanderer

Do you ever wonder what a polar bear thinks as he or she travels hundreds of miles, alone, across the vast ice? Other than, “I can smell a seal about 14km away,” there has to be something they daydream about. Doesn’t this tiny LEGO version of the half-ton carnivore, built by Chi Hsin Wei (LEGO 7), look like he has a lot on his mind?

Lonely Polar Bear

My favorite parts are the tiles in clips for ears and the car hoods on his sides. This build is great, but it’s only one of many incredible creations by LEGO 7, our 2018 Builder of the Year. This talented artist builds just about everything!

Build your own bento

In Japanese cuisine, bento is a meal in box for take-out or eating at home. Leonid An has built a delicious looking LEGO bento, which includes sushi rolls, nigiri, vegetables, wasabi, and a hearty serving of white rice. Each dish is able to stand on its own, thanks in part to a diverse range of colors and building techniques. The pieces of nigiri use a mix of curved slopes and constraction figure elements to form slices of raw fish. Black tires and white tires are cleverly used to represent the seaweed and rice in the sushi rolls, and lime green Bionicle Krana Za masks are used to form the side of wasabi. Meanwhile, a pair of chopsticks at the base of the box signals it’s time to eat. Itadakimasu!

Bento

LEGO wins four Toy of the Year (TOTY) awards at the 2019 New York Toy Fair [News]

LEGO made waves this year by taking back to Billund a total of four out of 19 Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards presented at the 2019 New York Toy Fair. This is the highest number of awards that LEGO has won in a single year since the awards’ inception, celebrating four sets that no doubt represent the high level of talent that went into making them.

The Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards (also known as the “Oscars” of the toy industry) are presented annually to the top toys, games, and properties of the year. Administered by The Toy Association, the awards program supports the philanthropic work of The Toy Foundation, which delivers new toys to children in need.

We at The Brothers Brick wish a heartfelt congratulations to The LEGO Group and especially to the designers and creative team behind these sets including Justin Ramsden, Joel Baker, Robert Heim, Jaime Berard, Mark Stafford and Crystal Fontan as well as the folks in the minifigure team led by Matthew Ashton for their passionate work that led to these wins. No doubt we’ve missed many people who helped these sets come to fruition as product design is a team effort, so we congratulate all the unsung heroes behind the scenes as well.

Click to see which LEGO sets won the 2019 Toy Of The Year awards

LEGO Movie 2 sets in-person at the 2019 New York Toy Fair [News]

Live from the show floor at the 2019 New York Toy Fair, we have new close-up images of the upcoming LEGO Movie 2 sets revealed last week. The Rexcelsior will be available May 1st, while the other sets are scheduled for release a week earlier on April 22nd.

LEGO Movie 2 Rexcelsior

See our hands-on coverage of the new LEGO Movie 2 sets from the 2019 New York Toy Fair