Monthly Archives: September 2011

Announcing LEGO 10223 Kingdoms Joust [NEWS]

As we speak, this new set is being unveiled at BrickCon in Seattle, and probably the Great Western Train Show in the UK. While most of the Brothers Brick are at BrickCon enjoying seeing this in person, the honor falls to me to share the set with our readers.

10223_prod

Before I saw the photos, I found myself wondering how a joust set could possibly command a price of $119 US. Now that I’ve seen them, I understand, this is more than a joust, it’s an entire medieval scene. There are little bits of buildings, some wall, and a nicely detailed royal viewing gallery (with some nice furniture and figures, shown below). There’s also a nice array of figs, and what looks like an update to the Black Falcons.

10223_back_021
Frog legs anyone?

Here’s the official LEGO word on the set:

10223 Kingdoms Joust
Ages 12+. 1,575 pieces.
US $119.99 CA $149.99 DE 119.99 € UK 99.99 £ DK 1099.00 DKK AU 199.99 AUD
Watch the Knights battle it out at the Royal Joust!
It’s the most exciting event on the LEGO Kingdoms calendar! Join the King and Queen at the Royal Joust as the knights on horseback battle it out for the hand of the beautiful Princess. This detailed set recreates all the majesty of a medieval pageant, from the large, 6-roomed castle with linked wall extensions, 2 knights’ weapons tents, royal viewing box, jousting fence and of course 2 magnificent jousting horses. Combine 2 Kingdoms Joust sets for a scene that is truly fit for a King! Includes 9 minifigures: king, queen, princess, lion knight, falcon knight, young squire, nobleman and 2 soldiers.
• Includes 9 minifigures: king, queen, princess,, lion knight, falcon knight, young squire, nobleman and 2 soldiers!
• Knight minifigures include armor decoration, helmet, jousting pole, shield and 2 extra weapons!
• Features castle with 6 detailed rooms with lots of accessorie and 2 knight’s tents with weapon holders!
• Open back for easy access to linked wall extensions!
• Also features royal viewing box with flags and coat of arms!
• Includes 2 knight’s horses with detailed decoration, weapon holder and armored headgear!
• Explore the castle rooms!
• Battle it out for the hand of the princess!
• Combine 2 Kingdoms Joust sets for a scene fit for King!
• Castle measures 20″ (51 cm) wide and 12″ (30 cm) tall!

Available for sale directly through LEGO® beginning
January 2012 via shop.LEGO.com, LEGO® Stores or via phone

I think that it’s now safe to say that I’ll be lining up to get one in January.

BrickCon 2011 – Day 1

We’ve had a wonderfully busy first day at BrickCon 2011, starting this morning with the usual setup that happens on Thursday (and into Friday). After a round of coffee, we started pulling all our LEGO models out and putting them on tables, but were quickly distracted by the OneLug team as they began erecting their 7-foot LEGO Orthanc before our very eyes.

Orthanc setup progress

Over lunch, Josh and I recruited Chris Malloy (again, welcome!).

With most setup out of the way — pending the arrival of more LEGO creations by other builders — we hung out for the rest of the day, catching up with old friends and making new ones. Even though the public exhibition isn’t until Saturday, my favorite day of BrickCon every year is Thursday because it’s the most relaxed. That said, BrickCon has over 500 registered attendees this year, so I’m preemptively disappointed I won’t be able to hang out with everybody. But it’s exciting to know that we’ll have that many builders contributing their amazing creations to the con!

We probably won’t have time to post day-by-day wrap-ups after tonight, but you can follow @AndrewBecraft — I bet you didn’t know I tweeted! — and I’ll be uploading photos from my phone over the course of each day. Of course, you can follow everybody’s additions to the BrickCon pool, too.

For everybody arriving tomorrow, safe travels, and see you all soon!

Put your hands together for the newest member of the family! [News]

We would like to announce the newest member of our blogging team. Chris Malloy has agreed to join The Brothers Brick and we are very excited to see his favorite creations and to hear his opinions.

Chris is a prominent builder, well-versed in multiple themes, and has been a member of the LEGO fan community for many years. He has a very good eye for a well-built creation and has been an innovator in the photography of Lego builds. And to top all that, he is a great guy. He is well-respected on numerous fan sites and is an excellent friend. I am truly excited to have him on the team.

Please join us in welcoming our newest Brother!

LEGO Gears of War Lancer Assault Rifle with firing action and motorized saw blade

This life-sized LEGO Gears of War Lancer Assault Rifle by PLUM B already has the looks to fit a C.O.G. soldier, but it also features a clip-fed firing mechanism that shoots rubber bands — perfect for taking out the paper Locust horde. If that’s not enough, the saw blade on the front of the gun is motorized for slice-and-dice action. See it all in the video below:

LEGO Gears of War Lancer rifle

Racked and ready to go

Ah, such fond memories. Playin’ pool, with the crack of the balls, the silent concentration with the angles, and the furious cursing when the ball doesn’t go were you wanted or intended. The howling frustration when you lose and your buddy gloats about their win.

Anyway, I digress.

Bruce Lowell‘s posted fifteen fabulously colored and numbered balls, along with a lovely LEGO pool stick. The little chalk-square is a lovely touch. Can’t forget the chalk.

LEGO Lord of the Rings Tower of Orthanc breaks seven feet tall

The builders of the nascent OneLUG have come together to build the Lord of the Ring’s Last March of the Ents in epic proportions. More accurately, they’ve built the battle in minifig scale, resulting in a display eight feet in diameter, and over seven feet tall.


LEGO Last March of the Ents by OneLUG

The battle rages between an army of more than one hundred Orcs, and a force of over twenty-five Ents. The group started design and building in February of 2011, and have finished it in time to unveil it at Brickcon, this weekend in Seattle. They estimate that there are more than 22,000 bricks in the display, which weighs over 145 pounds. The tower itself is built almost entirely with studs not on top techniques, in order to capture the sculptural details of the movie version.


Flaming Ent

I’ve always enjoyed this scene in the movie, and it’s great to see it done justice here. They’ve included all of my favorite details, like the Ent partially consumed in fire, and caught the deluge from the burst damn in action.

Continue reading →

Lego victorian house decays into over 100,000 pieces

Mike Doyle finished his third masterpiece titled Victorian on Mud Heap, depicting yet another decaying Victorian house in a gigantic 5.5′ x 6′ x 3′ creation made entirely out of Lego. There are several ways to enjoy this work such as viewing the detail pictures on MOCpages, reading the builder’s interpretation of his work on Flickr, or learning more about Mike through an earlier interview.

Lego: Victorian on Mud Heap

‘The Brothers Brick’ and ‘From Bricks to Bothans’ to host joint session at BrickCon

The Brothers Brick and From Bricks to Bothans will be co-hosting a panel and Question/Answer time regarding Lego Blogging.

Andrew (TBB) and Ace (FBTB) are on the official panel, but other staff from both sites will be there as well.

This will take place at 2 o’clock, Sunday afternoon, in the Orcas room (aka Classroom A). This will only be open to attendees, not people who come in during public hours.

Also be aware that things will probably be a little quieter around here through the weekend. I know most of us always mean to post in the evenings but fan conventions are tiring affairs. I seldom feel like opening the laptop when I get back to the hotel.

Lastly, if you are attending BrickCon and see one of us walking about, feel free to introduce yourself. We love to meet our readers. See you at the Con!

Full-size LEGO Ford Explorer

A team of 22 model builders from Enfield recently built a full-scale Ford Explorer for the opening of the new Legoland in Florida. It took them approximately 2500 hours and used around 380,000 bricks! The Explorer will be on display in front of one of the new park’s attractions, the Ford Driving School.

Check out the time-lapse video:

Der Goliath: Dr. von Shrappnell’s heavy armoured giant monowheel

Though we’ve mainly featured the Discworld creations by Amacher Sylvain (captainsmog), he’s also quite the accomplished steampunk builder, as he demonstrates with this behemoth of a monowheel.

Der Goliath: side view

While we’re at it, don’t miss his awesome and atmospheric rock concert scene:

Stage: large view

So-called Arthur king and his silly English knnnnnnigits

The easy way to write this post would be to make references to a classic 1975 film directed by Mr. Gilliam and Mr. Jones. It would be in poor taste to write, for example, of how the subject of the below creation ignored the protests of his people (“Help! Help! I’m bein’ repressed!”) and how the feeble are disrespected and sent to an early grave.

It would be in further poor taste toss insults of elderberries and make demands for shrubbery. One that’s not too large.

So to avoid such unsavory comments, I will merely leave you with Mr. Tom Williamson‘s visual representation in poor taste of the above:

In all seriousness, these are pretty fabulous. If you’d like to see these in person, I have it on good authority that these will be live at BrickCon this year!

Positively Smashing!

Building a realistic looking car out of LEGO is an impressive feat. Building a realistic looking crashed car out of LEGO is something else altogether. The little details on this scene by zgrredek are just spectacular. Check out the crumpled hood, smashed roof, and bent bumper, just don’t ask me why the driver appears to be holding a green ball.

crash 03

Thanks to Adam Grabowski for the tip!