Yearly Archives: 2017

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for December 10, 2017 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the second week of December 2017.

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: Batman, Star Wars, Marvel… yes this was a good week, plus LEGO wins a major fight in China!

Second wave of LEGO Batman Movie collectible minifigures revealed – Super Friends unite! The next wave of figures include some must-haves for any collector.
Review of LEGO Star Wars 75188 Resistance Bomber from The Last Jedi – Just in time for the movie to come out, this set includes 778 pieces with 5 minifigs and sells for $109.99.
Marvel Super Heroes Black Panther sets now available for pre-order – The first two sets to be released for the upcoming Marvel blockbuster, Black Panther are available for pre-order at both Amazon and Walmart, rhino and rollercoaster pieces included.
LEGO wins Chinese copyright case against imitators – LEGO has dealt a major blow to counterfeiters in China by winning a court case against two LEGO counterfeiters.
LEGO addresses 2018 Friends character redesigns (Guest Post by Bricking Around) – LEGO is expanding the diversity within the 2018 Friends line. See what changes are in store.

TBB 2017 IN REVIEW POSTS & INSTRUCTIONS: What is the top LEGO set of the year? We have your definitive answer, as well as a few instructions to enhance your Lego city.

Click for more news!

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Santa is ripped and ready to deliver

Saint Nick needs to be in peak physical condition at this time of year. Sebastian Bachórzewski‘s compact LEGO scene shows some of the efforts the big man goes to in order to be ready for the 24th. I particularly like the way the treadmill has been put together, and Santa’s clothing lying in his locker is a nice touch. However, I’m not sure pizza is a good shout — something higher in protein, perhaps with fewer carbs, might be a better nutritional choice.

A perfectly proportioned presentation

Surely there’s a strong positive correlation between the number of intricate and charming medieval LEGO creations one comes across and how many times one smiles in a given day. Or at least I think there’s something to that. This wonderful scene by “kofi” certainly brought a smile to my face.

This build is quite interesting as it doesn’t overly emphasize any one structure or area in an extreme fashion. While the lovely windmill (that moves by the way) and other small structure certainly draw the eye in, as a whole it’s a very balanced build with lots going on. The subtle gradient on the ground down to the right really draws the eye in too.

The more I look at this build, the more I can’t help but think that I wish photographing LEGO builds in 360 was more of a thing. Wouldn’t it be neat to get a look at this build from all sides? Maybe take a closer look from the top looking down? Ah what the future holds.

Well-made LEGO trees really get my gears going

There’s two things LEGO Castle fans love to build: Trees and walls. Showing us interesting ways to do both is this microscale hideout by Dr. Zarkow. The wooden walls around the main structures are simple enough — just brown bars inserted into the hollow studs of flower pieces with some rubber bands for effect. The custom tree builds are the standout, providing a great reason why we need gears in every colour, and the two buildings are great little medieval builds. The base and the subtle twist of the chimney on the one building are nice touches too.

2017 LEGO Advent Calendars: Day 9

Welcome to Day 9 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO City, LEGO Star Wars, and LEGO Friends 2017 advent calendars along with commentary from our team.

If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump and posted in the evening every day, so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. What kind of design will we find in Day 9?

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

UNSC HRUNTING Mark III “Cyclops” exoskeleton from Halo Wars

The “Cyclops” mech appears in the Halo Wars real-time strategy games, reproduced in excellent LEGO form by ZiO Chao. While it may appear rather tiny in the game, seeing it at minifig-scale helps emphasize what a big stompy thing it really is. With an overall dark gray or olive-drab color scheme like most UNSC vehicles, I particularly like the pop of color from the yellow cockpit canopy. ZiO’s build features custom-printed tiles for the UNSC logo and other details, and it’s fully poseable. Armed with a massive cannon on its arm, the Covenant better beware!

LEGO wins Chinese copyright case against imitators [News]

LEGO has dealt a major blow to counterfeiters in China by winning a court case against two companies that produce imitation LEGO products. This is the first case that LEGO has filed and won in China claiming unfair competition, following a ruling last month proclaiming LEGO to be a well known recognized trademark in the region.

The suit was filed against two Chinese companies including the company Bela Bricks that were producing sets nearly identical to those from LEGO’s Friends line as well as other top-selling products. According to the ruling from the China Shantou Intermediate People’s Court, the two companies must stop copying LEGO’s designs, packaging, and instruction books due to copyright infringement. Continue reading →

LEGO Star Wars 75188 Resistance Bomber from The Last Jedi [Review]

With Star Wars: The Last Jedi in movie theaters in just a few days, we’re focusing again on the LEGO Star Wars sets released ahead of the film’s release. 75188 Resistance Bomber joins a substantial line of LEGO Star Wars sets from The Last Jedi, including 75187 BB-8 and 75204 Sandspeeder we reviewed previously. 75188 Resistance Bomber includes 778 pieces with 5 minifigs and retails for $109.99.

Read our full review of 75188 Resistance Bomber

Market District – Ring of Kafrene from Star Wars Rogue One

I have always loved the look and feel of the lower levels on Star Wars planets like Coruscant, and while this scene by {eeza} isn’t exactly that — it’s based on the Ring of Kafrene mining outpost featured in Rogue One — it still has that underworld, black market slums feel I so adore. The lighting is very well done, giving off an appropriate colored glow from each of the shady shops.

My favorite part of the scene has to be the droid parts booth, complete with the assorted droid parts for sale. However, don’t miss the leftmost green stall next to Cassian Andor, which appears to be selling Gorgs to snack on.

2017 LEGO Advent Calendars: Day 8

Welcome to Day 8 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO City, LEGO Star Wars, and LEGO Friends 2017 advent calendars along with commentary from our team.

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

There is no problem that cannot be fixed by a combat mech

Dealing with the “situation” from an earlier build by Devid VII, the astronauts get their combat mech ready for action. There are so many tools, canisters and other industrial elements everywhere that I feel comfortable trusting them with anything.

While the detailed floors, clutter and minifig action are great, the star of the show is obviously the mech with its beautiful angles and an orange face. I love you, mechy…

Build a tiny minifigure scooter for your LEGO city scene [Instructions]

One of my favourite parts that were introduced back in 2014 was the red scooter that resembled a classic Vespa. This tiny brick scooter by Nieun reminds me so very much of it. This 23-element build looks like something you could whip up with ease from a decent sized brick collection to add to your city scene. It’s really well-designed for such a small scale yet has a great number of details put into it.

Click to see the build steps