Yearly Archives: 2016

Raptor (n) – a bird such as an eagle or hawk; an aerial predator

Joshua Brooks‘ latest lego creation is a near-future VTOL military aircraft — the AH8-Raptor — which he describes as a hybrid of an Apache attack helicopter and an A-10 Warthog. Regardless of its pedigree, it certainly looks the part as it releases its ordnance against jungle insurgents.

This thing’s chunky realism and spinning turbofans wouldn’t have looked out of place in James Cameron’s Avatar. And I mean that in a good way — whilst I thought the plot and dialog were risible, the movie’s production design was amazing. For an added bonus, Joshua has also built a hangar scene depicting his fearsome war machine getting rigged for more trouble…

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“M I see K E why M O you S E!”

Koen‘s LEGO version of the little mouse that started it all is phenomenal. Just look at that face! So expressive. This adorable Mickey stands 21 centimeters tall and is made from 313 LEGO pieces. Koen was inspired to build Mickey after he noticed that the new inverted dish with handle looks a lot like the classic Disney mouse ears. My favorite details are the sausage eyebrows and gloved hands.

HispaBrick Magazine 026 out now [News]

Lluís Gibert and the rest of the editors at HispaBrick Magazine have just released the English edition of Issue 026, available as a free download from HispaBrickMagazine.com.

This issue includes interviews with Chris McVeigh and Sean Kenney, plus an in-depth look at steampunk LEGO. The team also reviews the new Beatles Yellow Submarine and Caterham Seven.

Head on over to HispaBrickMagazine.com and check it out.

The Big O gets an appropriately massive LEGO rendition

While I may not be familiar with the anime series “The Big O” in particular, I am familiar with the “super robot” genre of giant metallic robots getting up to stuff. Usually punching though.

Two Rabbits has brought the eponymous robot, Big O, to life with a rather large build. Compared to minifigs, it’s not scaled up to be able to knock over a City skyscraper by accident, but it’s still big.

Forest hideout deserves revealing

Brother Steven appears to enjoy a getaway in the woods. At least that’s the message I take from his latest LEGO scene, a forest hideaway lodge. The rock base is lovely, and the light gray bricks make a nice change from the usual darker shades used for stonework. The waterfall is well done and the lodge itself looks suitably rustic. The only bit I’m not sure about is the square-trunked trees, but even though I might have employed round bricks, it’s not a deal-breaker when everything else is so nicely worked.

And don’t miss the lodge’s interior and the hidden tunnel entrance when the model is viewed from the rear. This is a wonderful piece of LEGO building — I could look at it all day.

Heartlake High gets ready to rumble with mecha minidolls

Rather like Marmite, Minidolls have had a habit of dividing opinion into ‘Love them’ or ‘Hate them’ since their introduction in 2012. I have to admit that I am normally firmly in the ‘Hate them’ camp as I much prefer the good old minifigure with its odd proportions and classic LEGO head. Well opinions can change, as along came Eric Teo with his troop of minidoll mecha.

He describes these as female rangers in hardsuits and they certainly seem to have attitude with their chunky, brightly coloured suits and sporting some Exo-Force-esque hairstyles. Each character wears a similar suit but with decorative differences and armed with their weapon of choice. There is not a hair bow nor butterfly accessory in sight!

It’s worth taking a closer look at these femme fatale rangers.

See more of these LEGO Friends mecha

Creations for Charity 2016 final sale

The 2016 Creations for Charity fundraiser ends on November 30th. Now is the last chance this year to buy a custom creation donated by LEGO fans to raise money for giving LEGO sets to underprivileged children. There’s still handfuls of excellent items on sale that are truly one-of-a-kind works. Check out what’s for sale and don’t forget to tune in to the 24-hour live stream happening from 11/25 – 11/26.

Great balls of LEGO Mario firepower

These Fire Mario and Magikoopa sculptures by John Tooker show Fire Mario using his fireballs to fight Magikoopa (Kamek) on his way to face Bowser. Amazingly, these are John’s first LEGO sculptures and are definitely not small in scale. Mario stands about 18 inches tall and is made of approximately 2600 bricks, while Magikoopa was created using about 1300 bricks.

Mario’s face is well crafted and easily recognisable despite the use of simple bricks and plates rather than more complex parts. Sculptures designed on a larger scale can be pricey and heavy, so a lot of LEGO builders tend to stick to simpler 2×2 and 2×4 bricks for the bulk of their building.

More power to the flower

Gabe Umland‘s latest creation is a beautiful LEGO flower shop. The technique used for the clapperboard walls is interesting — 1×1 bricks built sideways and slightly skewed to create a slope effect. It looks great here in sand green, particularly against the brown of the building’s frame and the porch. In fact, one of the things that makes this model appeal is the overall color balance of the image — with the tan of the roof reflected by the little delivery truck. Often LEGO creations can be a riot of color, but sometimes it’s nice to see something a little more restrained. You wouldn’t describe the color scheme here as dull or flat, but it’s certainly classy.

The build was apparently inspired by an actual flower shop Gabe’s grandfather owned. That explains some of the painstaking attention to detail. Don’t miss the interior and all the ways Gabe has used different plant pieces to create the wide variety of flora on sale…

More LEGO Black Friday & Small Business Saturday 2016 sales & deals [News]

If you’d prefer to support smaller LEGO-focused businesses rather than just gorging on massive LEGO discounts on Amazon.com, there are plenty of other ways you can begin your holiday LEGO shopping.

Our friends at Brickmania have been hard at work designing and releasing a bunch of really cool custom kits, including Dan Siskind’s excellent new Mark V tank from World War I (micro-review: I’ve built it and I love it!). All World War I kits are on sale throughout the month of November, and shipping is free now through the end of Monday the 28th.

The mischievous elves at Citizen Brick have just released a number of cool minifig sets, which all make it quite easy to reach the $75 threshold and score this cool tin of Xmas swag.

See more custom LEGO sales & deals

Massive LEGO sales & deals for Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2016 [News]

Amazon.com and the LEGO Shop have a number of “Brick Friday” and Cyber Monday deals from now through the 28th. Starting at midnight Eastern at the LEGO Shop online, shipping is free regardless of order size, and orders over $99 USD / £60 qualify for a free 40223 Snowglobe.

A number of exclusive and hard-to-find sets are 20% off from the LEGO Shop as well — we’ll update this post with the specific sets once we see what’s actually available on the 25th. And scroll down for links to the LEGO Shop sales & deals for our UK and Canadian readers.

Meanwhile, Amazon.com is already having a huge LEGO sale, with sets as much as 44% off.

LEGO Star Wars sets on sale at Amazon

The fantastic LEGO Star Wars set 75150 Vader’s TIE Advanced vs. A-Wing Starfighter (read our review) is 37% or $33.20 off, at only $56.79.

See more LEGO Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales & deals

Happy Turkey Day!

The Brothers Brick would like to wish our American readership a very happy Thanksgiving! And like LEGO builder SPARKART!, we hope that all of you will be honoring that most sacred of Thanksgiving traditions, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Turkey Day marathon. Tune in now! It’s what the Pilgrims would have wanted.