Yearly Archives: 2016

Incredibly accurate minifig-scale LEGO Star Wars X-Wing even lights up

The ever-popular LEGO Star Wars line continues to pump out models of everyone’s favorite Star Wars spaceships, and after 17 years most ships have seen multiple iterations. The iconic X-Wing has seen over a half-dozen iterations, including the two versions from Episode VII. And fans have always sought to one-up the official models — sometimes to spectacular success, such as Mike Psiaki’s beautiful version in 2011. However, there’s always room for new builders to try their hand at this venerable starfighter. Enter Maciej Szymański with this stunningly accurate model that even includes working lights. I think my favorite details on this model are the hockey masks used as a the flashback suppressors on the wing-mounted lasers, and the carefully curled hose for the pilot’s life support.

Click to see more of Maciej’s X-Wing

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.

A rebellion built on hope

There have been a ton of incredible Star Wars-themed LEGO creations coming out of the IDS Moc Olympics and Paul Trach‘s Yavin IV Rebel Workshop is one of them! This little scene looks good enough to be a potential movie set from the upcoming Rouge One film. I’m not sure what these rebels are up to, but they certainly look busy. The overall muted color palette works quite nicely and the stone walls have a perfect combination of texture, clean lines, and angles.

An existential crisis

Peter Reid‘s loveable space robot Keko, also known as the K3 Series Mechanoid, has been forced to come to grips with a terrifying discovery. He was once a LEGO sprue! Seriously, this build is pure genius with its clean design and elegant simplicity. My favorite bit of all is the tiled LEGO flooring that seems to curve away into nothingness and for some reason has a very 80s feel to it reminding me of the old arcade game Marble Madness.

A LEGO factory built of LEGO bricks, building LEGO bricks

Where do LEGO bricks come from? Why, from the LEGO factory, of course. And in a bit of LEGO-ception, here’s a LEGO factory built of LEGO by BrickJonas. This model looks as if it just came off a designer’s drawing table in Billund, complete with a full interior, removable roofs and modularity. I wonder if this factory produces bricks to build a LEGO factory?

I’ve got 3 cheese in my bag, good Sheriff!

This enchanting little scene of a medieval market and town gate is packed full of great little details and vibrant colors. I love how builder Bricktease has captured the feel of a bustling crowd on a bright morning, and I can’t help but be reminded of one of my favorite bluffing games, Sheriff of Nottingham, in which the Sheriff sits at the market gate and inspects merchants’ bags for illicit goods. “Honest, good Sheriff, I’m only bringing in chickens! No contraband here!”

Neo-Classic Blacktron from Cole Blaq? Why yes please!

We’ve featured our share of mashups here at The Brothers Brick, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a convergence of Neo-Classic Space with Blacktron livery. Cole Blaq nails the NCS aesthetic with this “High Jack” fighter, featuring the expected blue and gray color-blocking and great parts choices for greebles. But in place of the yellow-black-yellow striping, Cole has included a complex, brick-built version of the Blacktron logo. What does it mean? Is this an NCS ship captured and pressed into service by the Blacktron villains? Why not just paint the whole thing black? It’s all rather mysterious…

You can read more about the build over on cole-blaq.com.

Enjoying amazing street food in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of my top five favorite cities in the world, and my strongest memory of traveling there is definitely the food — not just excellent Cantonese cuisine but also some of the best Indian food I’ve ever had. CK Tsang has built a massive, Miniland-scale version of several dai pai dong, traditional open food stalls in Hong Kong, evoking delightful memories for those of us lucky to have visited the city. Whether you’re in the mood for noodles, congee, or milk tea, it’s a safe bet you can find it at a dai pai dong.

Check out CK’s album on Flickr for more photos.

Win 1 of 4 signed copies of LEGO Star Wars Build Your Own Adventure [News]

Proving that we can only go so long without giving away something Star Wars-related (with a break in August to give away the new Ghostbusters Ecto-1), this month we’re delighted to be giving away four copies of the new LEGO Star Wars Build Your Own Adventure. This is a particularly special giveaway, since TBB’s own Rod Gillies created all the models in the book, and will be signing each of the books you can win! To enter, click here.

We’ll also send each winner a snazzy TBB T-shirt and other cool swag, but thanks in particular to Rod and our friends at DK for the books!

The book will be available on August 2nd, and we’ll do our best to set aside our love of Rod to bring you a balanced review soon.

TBB cover photo: August 2016

Summer is a time for fun and games! But when the weather won’t cooperate (as sometimes happens up here in Seattle) then the fun has to move indoors – whether that involves playing video games, or building LEGO scenes from video games as Gabe Umland has done here with this recreation of Super Mario 3D World:

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today.

Keep up with the Brothers Brick by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter or Pinterest. And for occasional extra goodies, follow us on Flickr or subscribe to us on YouTube.

Antique wooden LEGO Pluto pull-along recreated with LEGO bricks

Back when LEGO was still making wooden toys, the company produced a wooden pull-along toy styled like Mickey Mouse’s pal Pluto. LEGO historians these days have argued that this was LEGO’s very first licensed product, ultimately leading to LEGO Star Wars, SpongeBob, Ghostbusters, and many more. Today, that wooden toy is vanishingly rare. BrickJournal Editor-in-Chief Joe Meno has built this adorable version of that vintage toy using modern LEGO bricks.

Like his wooden predecessor, LEGO Pluto’s legs move when you pull him around by the string attached to his collar. Check out this video to see more of LEGO Pluto’s play features.

On your marks, get set...

…go! With the 2016 Olympics just around the corner, this LEGO sculpture inspired by legendary sprinter Usain Bolt is perfectly timed. It was created by Joe Perez, and you can read more about this build in an upcoming issue of Bricks Culture magazine. The anatomy of the figure is convincing, and a sense of motion is perfectly conveyed perfectly in this piece. The color scheme also evokes the style of ancient Greek pottery that often portrayed competitors in action at the classical version of these games.

Execute a counter strike with the LEGO PP-19 Bizon

Some people, understandably so, may not like the use of LEGO bricks to construct weaponry. Others, like myself and YouTube LEGO builder Bricks n’ Guns find it an interesting subject for a build and an extension of fandoms; in this case, it’s LEGO and gaming. Bricks n’ Guns built an incredibly life-like replica of the Russian submachine gun PP-19 Bizon as it appears in the first person shooter game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The realism doesn’t stop at its appearance; watch him demonstrate the working trigger, sliding charging handle, removable cylindrical magazine, and folding wire stock in this short video.