Yearly Archives: 2015

The best LEGO sets reviewed on TBB in 2015 [News]

The end of the year is only a few days away, which means it’s time for a few end-of-year best-of lists. In 2015 LEGO released almost 800 sets ranging from small polybags to the massive 2996 part SHIELD helicarrier. We’ve done our best to review the more interesting ones. This is our top ten most popular set reviews of 2015.

Exclusive review of LEGO Ideas Wall•E set designed by Angus MacLane
When Wall•E hit the big screen in 2008, it stole the hearts of cinema-goers. If movie critics had hearts, theirs would have been stolen too. Angus MacLane was Directing Animator for the movie and his LEGO version of the little robot is one of the LEGO Ideas sets released in 2015.

We had one of these sets before it hit the stores. Andrew’s exclusive review can be summed-up in just a few words: It’s awesome. You loved it as well, as it’s our most popular review.

Click through to see the rest of the list!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Fan spends a year building 7,500-piece Millennium Falcon from the Force Awakens

I half joked in my post about improving Rey’s speeder that my next project would be to mod my 5,000-piece UCS Millennium Falcon set into the version seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Hannes Tscharner planned a bit more ahead of me, and has spent the last year planning, designing, gathering the LEGO parts, and building his own Millennium Falcon from Episode VII.

At 7,500 pieces, Marshal’s Millennium Falcon uses fully 50% more parts than the 5,195-piece official 10179 UCS Millennium Falcon (the second-largest LEGO set ever sold by part count, and arguably physically the largest set ever). This LEGO Millennium Falcon measures 82 x 54 x 18 cm, or nearly three feet long.

Hit the jump to see more photos of this amazing Star Wars model!

Tank beats everything

Nick G‘s model of the Russian T-90MS main battle tank looks armed and ready to blow the LEGO battlefield to bits. All the subtle shapes and lines in Nick’s replica are true to the real tank; a challenge to accomplish at his chosen scale. On top of that, the builder mentions it features a working suspension system.

I’m more impressed with his variant of the same build with added ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor). Smart use of gold ingots in light gray to show the separation of ERA panels.

The zombies are coming

Quick! Grab your peashooters and tall-nuts because this zombie is getting ready to invade your backyard! Well, after he finishes chomping the scrumptious brain already in his possession, that is. Grubaluk built this iconic zombie from the Plants vs. Zombies games and the details are darn near perfect. Check out that stylish business attire, exposed left knee-bone, and a face only a mother could love. Grubaluk even included the finely manicured, lawn-striped grass from the game in his base.

The Red Baron flies again

Grantmasters is pushing the boundaries of microscale with this lovely set of Great War aeroplanes. My favorite part of microscale is how much can be evoked with just a handful of pieces, and here the Sopwith Camel and Fokker DR1 are instantly recognizable. The forced-perspective with the clouds and mountains in the background is easily overlooked, but also subtly adds a lot to the scene.

CE-LE-BRATE! CE-LE-BRATE!

The annual Doctor Who Christmas Special seems to have become a new part of the holiday tradition for millions of families around the world. Which is a good thing as I think we were all getting tired of endlessly watching Jimmy Stewart discover his contribution to the world in black and white. So this festive foe by Jimmy Fortel makes perfect sense…

Naughty but nice part usage

If your eggnog tastes a little bit like pee this Christmas, then it’s possible you’ve been visited by a bad elf, such as the one portrayed here by TBB regular Letranger Absurde. But as naughty as this little fellow may appear, he’s a festive treat of NPU (Nice Part Usage) for LEGO fans: from the Jabba tail hat, and bucket handle belt buckle, down to the wing-end brick boot tops …and those eyebrows!

That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown

Confused about the true meaning of Christmas? Wondering if it’s all become too over-commercialized? Well these aren’t new thoughts, and you’re not alone. Fifty years ago this year, the Charlie Brown Christmas TV special first aired, featuring a seasonally depressed Charlie trying to make sense of it all – and picking a sad little tree that perfectly reflected his state of mind, recreated for us in LEGO here by Chris Maddison.

Charlie Brown eventually learns the true meaning of the holiday. And in his own way, he even helped make Christmas a little better for all of us… Aluminum trees had become popular in the US at that time, but were portrayed so negatively in the TV special that within two years they were no longer being produced.

And a partridge in a pear tree

Celebrating that most famous of Christmas songs, deborah higden created this set of LEGO book ends (complete with brick-built books) that converts into a gorgeous diorama depicting the various gifts that my true love sent to me over the Twelve Days of Christmas – from French hens, to five gold rings (for five Elven lords?), plus other items in various states of disrepair (very relevant in this age of Internet-based shopping!). You can enjoy closeup photos of every one in the full album.

LEGO Nutcrackers for your holiday chestnuts

I’m sure many of you have your chestnuts roasting by the open fire. Those of us NOT in Florida or the northeast might even have jack frost nipping at our noses. The Cascade Mountains have certainly made up for last winter with nearly 12 feet of snow in the last 25 days.

Julius von Brunk gives us these festive, whimsical nutcrackers to join in all of our festivities. Like real nutcrackers, these open and close their jaws by means of a lever. You too can have these as part of your traditions, as he’s been kind enough to provide a tutorial on Instructables.

Tragic end for a snowman

It’s a tough world right now for a snowman. Is anyone forecast for snow tomorrow? Rocky Mountains, put your hand down. We’re talking about everyone else, who are going to experience the great joy of a warm, sunny Christmas morning. As a former Florida resident, I’m so, so sorry.

Also, please someone tell Dorothy that tornado season might not be over.

I could never quite get behind a Florida Christmas, and this snowman very clearly couldn’t either. Fortunately, Earl Ware was on hand to capture the snowman’s fate.

Someone might want to tell Olaf.

Ninjago 70605 Misfortune’s Keep [Review]

Ninjago’s new theme for 2016, called Skybound, takes us to the air in an epic duel between sky pirates and our intrepid heroes, the ninjas. We’ve already reviewed 70603 Zeppelin Raid, and now thanks to LEGO we are able to get our hands on the literal flagship for the theme, 70605 Misfortune’s Keep. The set includes 754 pieces, and we expect it to retail for around $80 when it debuts in the coming weeks. Included are the main airship, a smaller flier for both factions, and six minifigs and a monkey.

Read the full review after the jump!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!