Yearly Archives: 2017

LEGO Ninjago 70623 Destiny’s Shadow [Review]

The LEGO Ninjago Movie and the new 2017 Ninjago sets that will accompany the film are set to release this September. To tide ourselves over until then, let’s take a look at Set 70623: Destiny’s Shadow which was released earlier this year.

The set retails for $29.99 and has 360 pieces. Considering the $0.10 per piece pricing many LEGO fans have come to expect, Destiny’s Shadow actually comes in below the expected price range. Additionally, the set currently has a 4.8 out of 5 stars review on Amazon (courtesy of five, yes five, total reviewers who either bought the set for their son or their grandson). Not bad!

Read the full review of 70623 Destiny’s Shadow after the jump

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Paradise Lost

Where other builders might only use a single shade of green, we’ve come to count on the fact that Sergeant Chipmunk uses at least three, and to great effect. Chipmunk’s most recent creation cleverly utilizes several unusual and vibrant LEGO colors to create a tropical paradise. I particularly love the combination of dark green and azure on the ship sails. In addition to the use of color, this pirate scene also has a great sense of movement and action. Look closely and you’ll see that one of the sailors lost his hat (and quite possibly, his life).

To the edge of the universe and back. Endure and survive.

While it’s always going to be hard to top the massive 20,000-brick diorama of The Last of Us by Tim Schwalfenberg that we featured earlier this year, the post-apocalyptic video game is so full of atmosphere that I’m glad to see other LEGO builders tackle the haunting game. Christophe captures the protagonists as they approach a dilapidated building. Foliage cascades from an upper floor, with broken glass hanging from windows. My favorite detail is the air conditioning unit on the second floor.

I do wonder what kind of interior Christophe has included in his build, because one of the only shots other than the one above is of Ellie’s guitar sitting silent in an empty room.

Tiny legends: Freddy Mercury and Brian May, BrickHeadz style

Thanks to this LEGO tribute to the legendary rock group Queen by Krzysztof J, I’m singing softly to myself, affirming my role as a champion and contemplating Galileo. Tiny Freddy is resplendent in his iconic yellow jacket, rocking that mic like no other, hand raised. The suave hairstyle is genius, much like the inspiring persona. And Brian? That hair. Positioning all of those 1×1 round plates must have been mind-numbing, but the end result is spectacular. His guitar is perfect. It’s a little detail, but man: those bases are lovely. I would love to see LEGO’s BrickHeadz line use those!

Do kings have bad heir days if they’re always wearing a crown?

Castle is an evergreen theme: always there, always lovely, always relevant. This beautiful castle gate caught my eye with its bright colors and clean build. The highlight of this build from Milan Skeiz are the minifigures (including the archers), which have custom crocheted coats! He’s made quite an elegant attempt at a boat build; I would have never guessed he’d never built a LEGO boat before. His take on the sail and mast is unique; I’d love to see one in real life like that!

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Massive LEGO Who Framed Roger Rabbit display built with over 250k pieces

The good folks of KC Bricklab have come a long way since they started the Kansas City-based LEGO club five years ago. Their most recent exploit is an incredible journey through the half live-action, half-animated feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The 1988 Robert Zemeckis film is filled with hairy escapades, quick humor, and more than a bit of weirdness, and at 8 by 16 feet, KC Bricklab’s display brings it all to life.

The display was a collaborative effort by 19 members of KC Bricklab, and contains the zany mainstreet of Toontown, the huge Acme factory warehouse, and a bit of psychedelic forest among other scenes.

KC Bricklab began planning the build in December of 2016, and had it completed in time for display at Chicago’s Brickworld LEGO convention in June. Although the club meets monthly, most of the planning was done virtually, and the finished display for the convention was the first time the builders got to see the full layout assembled.

Click to see the rest of the images

Zeus, God of thunder and the sky

Perennial TBB favorite Moko has given us a great blessing: Greek god Zeus in BIONICLE. Somehow I suspect the real Zeus would be jealous as this model is more fabulous than he is. There are a lot of things to comment on here, so let’s dive in.

The shields are perfectly sized and shaped to give Zeus the buff body that everyone, human or otherwise, seems to favor. The use of the gold mask as the shoulder gives great shaping – and check out those biceps! Appropriately, he is haloed by blades, adding to his intimidating stance. I particularly love his hair. That’s not a color you see often, if at all, and it makes this model stand out.

Amazon.com LEGO sales & deals for Prime Day 2017 [News]

Every year, Amazon.com has run a Prime Day promotion for Amazon Prime members, and this year there are quite a few LEGO deals.

75154 TIE Striker from Rogue One is 43% off at $39.99. As we indicated when we reviewed the LEGO TIE Striker, this is definitely a great price for 543 pieces.

As a side note for our readers in Canada and the UK, you can now join our readers in the US by supporting TBB when you click through from Brothers-Brick.com to make purchases on Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk. Just follow any Amazon link on the site before you make your purchases, and a portion of the proceeds (without any additional cost to you) will go to help run TBB’s servers, provide more product reviews, sponsor events like BrickCon and BrickCan, and award prizes and giveaways to builders all over the world.

See more Amazon Prime Day LEGO deals after the jump

Here comes the bride, four studs wide

Newlywed LEGO fans have been putting LEGO toppers on their wedding cakes for ages, but to date these have been either minifigs or miniland scale figures. But now Ben Fong has switched things up with this adorable BrickHeadz style bride and groom. The builder does not mention who’s nuptials these were built for, but they also come with a matching brick-built jewelry box complete with miniature LEGO engagement ring. I particularly like the groom’s slightly comical expression, and the use of those increasingly ubiquitous balloon pieces for the bride’s veil.

Tips for Kids – Transformers: Cool Projects for Your LEGO Bricks [Review]

Joachim Klang and Alex Jones are a duo of builders well known within the LEGO community, and their creations have appeared on The Brothers Brick numerous times. Now they’ve got a new book to share some of their techniques: Tips for Kids – Transformers: Cool Projects for Your LEGO® Bricks. Over the past few months, we’ve already highlighted a few of the builds that the pair created for the book, but now we are able to review the book itself.

Title: Tips for Kids: Transformers: Cool Projects for your Lego Bricks
Publisher: Heel Verlag Gmbh (July 10, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 3958434959
ISBN-13: 978-3958434950
RRP: $19.95

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Vivid pink is the fastest colour there is

Mecha are a very popular subject among LEGO builders, but even after all these years, there are still very unique ones that pop up every now and then, most often due to new exotic pieces being released. Such is the case with this sleek racing mecha called the Running Flamingo, built by Bob DeQuatre, utilizing the relatively new balloon building pieces as armour plating.

The build is an interesting balance of elegance and bulk, which the builder weaves into a cohesive whole. All the technical details are so realistic (as far as science fiction goes) that I can almost hear the pistons sliding and gears turning.

A truly golden example of forced perspective

When I visited, I never got to see the top half of the Golden Gate Bridge due to the ever-present San Francisco fog. But now I feel like I don’t need to because Zio Chao has created an excellent “photograph” of the beautiful bridge. The builder uses forced perspective to his advantage to create a striking 2D image that really looks three dimensional. And let’s not overlook the little sailboat in the corner, which only adds to the effect as it sails into the bay.

What really makes the illusion work is that only one of the supports on each gate is connected, while the other one just floats a bit further back. This gives the effect that the road is actually going through the supports and not across them.