We’ve seen a wide variety of Vic Viper themes recently: Ice Planet, Fire Fighter, Mazinger. But this Viper that reminds me of my parents’ 1970s living room décor is maybe the most surprising one of all. F@bz used at least 60 decorative spiral bricks to create a ship that feels like a handcrafted piece of carpentry. The motif is further accentuated by the arch pieces used for the wings and the pearl gold elements that feel like brass fittings. It’s a ship that would make Nick Offerman proud.
Happy holidays to all of our fellow LEGO builders! As is tradition, we at The Brothers Brick will be opening our advent calendars as we count down to Christmas. We’ll also be sharing commentary on each one, which we hope will provide insight and hilarity to your holiday season!
In 2021, we’re seeing the return of Harry Potter, Star Wars, City and Friends as advent calendar sets. Marvel is being introduced as a newcomer to the regular lineup of advent calendars, and boy was it fun to open those. Check out our daily advent build review below, starting with Day 1.
Ever since the Monkie Kid theme first launched, there have been many amazing sets, featuring huge mechs and mech-like figures, bright and colorful fully over-the-top vehicles and accessories, and a whole host of villains and minions. But aside from a few small buildings, and a headquarters on a cargo boat, there has not been much in the way of shops or restaurants to populate the world the characters live in. All that is about to change with LEGO 80036: The City of Lanterns. A stacked city scene consisting of eight individual buildings attached to a two-level structure complete with an elevated train. I am super excited about this set, and can’t wait to break it all down for you.
The City of Lanterns comes with 2,197 pieces and will be available on January 1st, for US $149.99 | CAN $179.99 | UK £114.99
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.
We here at The Brothers Brick love creative part usage. We love mosaics. And we really love when the two come together. We had an opportunity to talk with Deepak Shenoy (Deepshen6) about the creative process behind their recent series of geometric LEGO wonders. Eye-bending and intricate, these designs really satisfy.
While this may not be Santa’s primary residence at the North Pole, we can pretend that this cute cabin by Andrea Lattanzio is Santa’s holiday home. Since Santa only works during the month of December, does he have the rest of the year off? Does he go on holidays? He must go vacationing all over the world since he has so much time. I’d think he has a cabin close by in the Canadian or Siberian wilderness somewhere to to escape his elf-infested home for a bit of peace and quiet. I sure hope he doesn’t need to get away from his wife, and that his marriage to Mrs. Claus is still doing well…
We’ve written about Andrea’s A-frame cabin before, but we forgot to mention who owns the property. Now I’m curious to see Santa’s beach house in a more tropical region of the world. Or maybe I’m just wrong and Santa doesn’t have the rest of the year off, maybe he rents an apartment in a big city and works a boring financial job…
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The Northern Lights (aurora borealis) are one of nature’s most beautiful miracles. Recreating it in LEGO is difficult, but I can’t think of a more marvelous idea than dragon wings. Yep, Malin Kylinger has used multiple sets of marbled dragon wings to recreate this lovely phenomena. The rest of her night sky is beautiful too, with raised diamond tiles used for stars. The scene is made complete with an adorable elf cottage, a fire, reindeer, and a decorated Christmas tree.
It’s that time of year where we start to see lots of great Christmas builds. Check out some past wintery creations we’ve featured, and stay tuned for more!
Ninjago is known for two main things (outside of Ninjas, anyway) – giant mechs and sweet, sweet dragons. The Seabound theme introduces another majestic beast into the mix with LEGO Ninjago 71754 Water Dragon. This 737 piece set is available now from the LEGO Shop Online for US $69.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £59.99. In addition to the dragon there’s also a mini-sub, five minifigures, and a display pedestal. Sounds like a good mix, but is it really? We picked up a copy to find out – come along as we take our own deep dive!
Builder @brickybrick82 has created a perfectly creepy addition to LEGO’s burgeoning Botanical Collection: A flowering Dionaea muscipula or as it’s more commonly known, a Venus Flytrap. It’s a beautiful model with tons of NPU (nice parts usage). The tentacle like dinosaur tails make great leaves and the green clam shells as the hungry mouths are perfect. I was particularly impressed with the flower petals made from the darling of mid-nineties LEGO space sets – the 3 x 5 Solar / Deltoid with Clip. This menacing flora would be right at home in the Addams Family house, nestled in next to Thing’s box.
Building a colony on another world won’t be easy. It’ll require tons of resources that you better hope are available on the planet and that you can build close enough to them. Builder Bob DeQuatre is certainly aware of the issues that go along with settling new worlds. As a precious and necessary resource, water is certainly worth a hike to retrieve. This nuclear-powered, armored water tank, dubbed the Dionysus, was designed by the Mars Corporation to quickly transport water from remote extraction sites to the main outpost. Massive wheels and an armored body ensure that every drop makes it back safely. All while looking absolutely gorgeous with that white and red color scheme and interesting angles around that elevated cabin.
Today LEGO has revealed that the latest set in the long-running Skyline series of Architecture sets will be 21057 Singapore. The 827-piece microscale model will feature some of the city-state’s most prominent landmarks, including the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel, which also got its own standalone Architecture set back in 2013. Other locations in the skyline include the Lau Pa Sat market, One Raffles Place and OCBC skyscrapers, the posh Fullerton Hotel, the historic Boat Quay, and the distinctive and beautiful Gardens by the Bay nature park full of towering artificial trees covered in lush vegetation. The set will retail for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99 and will be available starting Jan. 1.
Alas, this small hamlet has been invaded by a variety of monsters! A sinister banshee haunts the field while a werewolf creeps around the village. However, a Witcher has just arrived on the outskirts of town. Will he be able to help villagers fight against these foul creatures? This fantastic build comes from Ciamosław Ciamek and has a vibrant style in its colour scheme. The thick coverage of leaves on the trees suggests that the town is located on the edge of a dense forest. There is a great build for the field as it uses textured pieces to create grooves in the dirt.
Luckily, it seems as though the travelling Witcher is experienced in fighting monsters as the head of a demonic-looking creature swings from his saddle. The diorama also has one character taking part in kissing a frog while onlookers stare at her. These intricate details assist in conveying that the town is teeming with compelling stories and intriguing characters.
My first thought when looking at this build was that LEGO already makes an E.T. that would scale perfectly. But it turns out that using the official E.T. pieces wasn’t in the cards for builder Dan Ko, as this is his first creation for an Iron Builder competition. The seed element is the toy winder key in dark orange, which explains why it’s subbing in for the titular alien in this box art recreation. It’s an out-of-this-world repurposing of the part. And we have to award bonus points for the video game controller acting as Elliot’s hair.
