Monthly Archives: June 2016

Ready, Set, Escargot!

This past weekend saw one of the world’s great annual LEGO conventions arrive, Brickworld Chicago. With it came dozens of new builds and spectacular collaborations to dazzle the public. One such dazzling display came from the builders of Eurobricks, a popular online LEGO forum, who built a spectacularly intense and hilarious snail race for the ages.

This award-winning collaboration was a truly large and world-spanning operation kept together with tight planning and a singular cohesive snail design made by team leader Mark Larson. His design, which was itself awarded the title of Best Creature at the convention, was used by nine other builders to construct more snails which were individualized with unique colors and themed castles–and then finally placed into an epic race.

See the rest of the layout after the break

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.

LEGO Ideas guidelines and terms of services updated, makes submission rules tighter [News]

An official post on the LEGO Ideas blog has provided updated guidelines for fan submissions, terms of services, and house rules. The two biggest changes are a 3,000 piece, single-box limit for all creations, as well as a new rule for third-party licences. Once LEGO accepts and produces an Ideas set based on another company’s property, no other Ideas submission from that property will be accepted.

While that may sound like bad news (like we won’t get an EVE to go along with 21303 WALL-E, it may not be. This may lead to LEGO adopting the licence to create new sets, just like it did with Minecraft and Ghostbusters.

The changes are listed below:

Once we produce a LEGO Ideas set based on a third-party property, we will not accept more Ideas submissions based on that property. This sharpens our guideline on follow-up products based on LEGO Ideas submissions. Once we approve a licensed project for production through LEGO Ideas, we’ll archive other projects based on the same property and not accept new submissions based on the that property.
Projects must fit in a single product box, so we’re setting a part count limit of 3,000 pcs.While we can’t count the pieces in your photos, if your model looks too big we’ll send it back and ask you to submit a smaller model at our own discretion.
Projects must focus on a single concept or third-party property. This essentially expands on the “no playthemes or series” rule and also rules out “mass customization” projects (e.g. custom mosaic or minifigure makers) as well as combining more than one third-party property into a single project. (e.g. a project containing both Porsche and Ferrari cars).
It’s now simpler to collaborate on projects. We’ve removed the requirement to email us declaring your collaboration. You must still receive explicit permission from someone else before including their original work in your project. All new collaborative projects must mention collaborators’ LEGO Ideas usernames in the description, and state that their original work is included with the member’s explicit permission.
New restrictions on project contents
- No iconic elements referencing third-party properties we find inappropriate for the LEGO brand
- No large or human-scale weapons or weapon replicas of any kind, including swords, knives, guns, sci-fi or fantasy blasters, etc.
- Projects may not propose LEGO Dimensions expansion packs
- You may only use logos that belong to third-parties in the context of your model, similar to LEGO logo guidelines. You may not display logos that do not belong to you in your artwork, since this can imply endorsement from the logo owner.
New guidelines to help improve project descriptions
- At minimum, please write your description to include a description of your model, why you built it, and why you believe it would make a great LEGO set.
- In some cases, moderators may make basic grammatical changes on your behalf so we can speed up the approval of your project. We will never change the nature of your project and we’ll notify you by email if we make any changes.
Terms of Service now preserves projects that gain a significant following. While we understand you may occasionally want to delete a project with only a handful of supporters, to either re-submit with improvements or clean up your project portfolio, once a project reaches 1,000 supporters it will not be removed.
Terms of Service revises language regarding assignment of rights. We’ve worked with our Legal department to clarify how you assign us rights when you submit a project, and reassure you that you may share and publish your submission to promote your project online, in media, your portfolio, and other places for non-commercial purposes.

Read the full announcement here.

LEGO street scene inspired by Edinburgh’s Royal Mile

This street scene by Maarten W was inspired by the architecture of the Old Town in Scotland’s capital city. The Royal Mile runs from Edinburgh Castle on its plug of volcanic rock, down the ridge, to Holyrood Palace. It’s one of the most famous streets in the world and Maarten has brilliantly captured its picturesque architecture.

There are some lovely LEGO techniques on show here. Check out the blend of bricks used on the left-hand and central buildings, creating an excellent sense of texture without looking scruffy. And the details in the arch above the church door are a fantastic little touch.

I’m an Edinburgh native myself, and I used to run a pub right behind the Tron Kirk (the inspiration for Maarten’s church here). As a result, I really appreciate how well this model captures the spirit and character of my home town. Great stuff.

Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet in LEGO

Tyler Halliwell is a guy who knows definitely knows his way around a bust! Renowned in the LEGO community for his amazing bust creations, Tyler’s latest character is Thanos together with the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos is a Marvel Character who appeared in both The Thanos Quest and The Infinity Gauntlet series of Marvel Comics back in the 1990s. As a Marvel ‘baddie’, Thanos’ character has been depicted in the brick build featuring an evil grin and penetrating stare. Tyler used Lifelites (micro LEDs suitable for use with LEGO) to add a little more bling to the Infinity Gems.

If you are a fan of busts…ahem…then check out some more that we have previously featured:

Miyazaki bust by TBB’s own Iain Heath
Julius Von Brick self-portrait bust
Sandman and Anubis busts both by Tyler Halliwell
Predator bust by Misterzumbi
Paleman and Faun from Pan’s Labyrinth by Tyler Halliwell
Captain America bust by Fredoichi

A stylish gas station: the classic Esso

With World War II behind, the Netherlands was rapidly rebuilding its infrastructure, and the vast highway system required many gas stations. But resources were scarce, so the Dutch turned to stylish minimalism to make best use of what they had. Willem Marinus Dudok, a Dutch architect, was commissioned by Esso Netherlands to design a gas station. He came up with a modernist building which was fairly simple yet elegant. We previously featured LEGO builder Andrea Lattanzio’s Esso van and many of the interior decorations, but now he’s worked hard to replicate the entire building, and has managed to incorporate each and every detail of the functional and inexpensive design. Check out the original building to compare with Andrea’s interpretation.

Make sure you check out the rest of the photographs because the amazingly detailed and beautiful interior is fantastic. The workbench, sliding doors, cracks on the wall, the lamp, the decoration, ventilation and pretty much everything is well crafted!

Continue reading →

LEGO Creator 10253 Big Ben [Review]

The clock tower of the British Houses of Parliament is an English icon known the world over. Oddly enough, the famously named Big Ben is actually the largest of the 5 bells housed within the tower, with the clock tower being properly called the Elizabeth Tower. However, over the last 157 years since the tower’s completion, it’s become globally known as Big Ben. And now it has inspired LEGO’s second largest architecture set ever, 10253 Big Ben, with 4,163 pieces. The set is currently available to LEGO VIP members, and will go on sale to everyone beginning July 1 for $249.99.

Click to read the full review

A return to ye olde outpost, on the road to riches and glory

1989’s 6276 Eldorado Fortress was one of the pinnacles of the late 80s Pirate theme, with the blue-clad Imperial Guards protecting a small Spanish-inspired dock. Taking his queue from set designer Daniel August Krentz‘s nostalgic old beauty, David Hensel pays homage to the classic with this magnificent redux.

This reminds me a bit of when I tried my own hand some years ago at reinterpreting another nostalgic classic Pirates set, 6267 Lagoon Lock-Up (sadly, I’ve yet to try again despite the fun in it).

In Memorium: Daniel August Krentz (1937-2016) [News]

The LEGO community lost a great man this past week. Daniel August Krentz (1937-2016) was a retired set designer for LEGO, and his contributions and impact to our community are vast and deep.

Daniel began building with LEGO in college, in the 1960s. Soon, his creations gained the attention of the right people and he found himself recruited as a designer, moving from Chicago, IL to Billund, Denmark. Daniel was the first Adult Fan of LEGO to be hired as a designer for LEGO. He began designing in the 1970s, continuing until 1999.

Even if you’ve never heard his name, you know his work. You’ve played with the sets Daniel designed, as his work likely helped form your LEGO childhood. While the list of sets he designed is extensive, below are a few of the more nostalgic sets he designed:

375 Classic Yellow Castle
6067 Guarded Inn
6074 Black Falcons Fortress
6078 Royal Drawbridge
6081 Kings Mountain Fortress
6267 Lagoon Lock Up
6276 Eldorado Fortress

Last year, Bricks Culture interviewed Daniel. The author, Are J. Heiseldal, has kindly posted the interview online for others to read. I encourage you to take the time to read the article and reflect on Daniel Krentz’s impact on our community.

Thank you, Daniel, for all of the wonderful memories.

The Vaygr fleet expands

Tim Schwalfenberg expands his Homeworld Vaygr fleet with this classy Vaygr missile frigate. It’s the second ship of Tim’s Vaygr fleet we’ve featured, after his excellent corvette, and Tim has more on the way to round out the armada. One of the best hallmarks of Homeworld-inspired spaceships is the clean color blocking, and Tim’s interpretation of the Vaygr fleet looks striking clad in white with red stripes. One of the best details is the missile launcher mounted on the side, a fantastic brick recreation of the original model’s detail.

Build your own miniature Songbird from BioShock Infinite [Instructions]

Following up a 1:1 scale Sky-Hook and an incredible minifig scale Songbird diorama, Imagine Rigney is back with another build from the universe of BioShock Infinite. This time around it’s an itty bitty Songbird that you can build from a handful of pieces, and there’s full instructions to make one yourself.

By the way, BioShock Infinite is a brilliant game and one of my all-time favourites. It’s relatively cheap now, so if you haven’t tried it yet, pick it up and give it a go.

Welcome to the Volcano Island

Olive Seon brings us this awesome backdrop to showcase the new LEGO City Volcano Explorers theme. The South Korean pro builders always turn LEGO’s official sets into the coolest dioramas with fantastic custom terrain, and the erupting volcano here is a magnificent sight to behold.

The best father in the galaxy: 75105 Millennium Falcon on sale for Father’s Day [News]

Want to get your father a gift that says “I love you, dad,” but you spent all your money on flowing black robes and red lightsaber crystals? Well, Amazon’s got you covered this Father’s Day with some sweet deals.

Pick up the Millennium Falcon from The Force Awakens for 20% off. Be sure to read our review of the set, too.

Also on sale is 76032 Quinjet City Chase, for 25% off.