Yearly Archives: 2018

Your guide to 112 new LEGO sets now available for 2019, including City, Technic, Star Wars, Overwatch and more [News]

2019 has arrived and the floodgates of LEGO have opened with 112 new sets available today. Fans of Star Wars, Technic, Ninjago, City, Overwatch, Architecture and even Captain Marvel have a lot to choose from. It can be a lot to process, so we have your guide right here detailing each and every new set.

Some regions have seen these sets on shelves already. but now they are all available online. There are a few sets that really stand out to us, but you can see the complete list of all 112 sets (plus a dozen new key chains) after the jump.

See the entire January 2019 wave of LEGO sets now available

Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2018 [News]

Developing a shortlist of the finest LEGO creations of 2018 was difficult enough, but narrowing it down to a single “best creation” proved even harder! However, after much debate amongst the team, the Brothers Brick is delighted to announce the Jakku Star Destroyer collaborative build by Eli Willsea and Grant Davis as our LEGO Creation of the Year for 2018.

Best LEGO model of 2018

Click to see the winning creation

Brothers Brick LEGO Builder of the Year 2018 [News]

Each day the team here at The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO models from the global community of LEGO builders. Their creations inspire, excite, and amuse us every day. But each year there are a handful of builders who take things to new heights — displaying their skills across a range of building styles, and amazing us with their parts usage and building techniques.

The Brothers Brick is delighted to name Chi Hsin Wei (AKA LEGO 7) as our LEGO Builder of the Year 2018.

Best LEGO builder of 2018

LEGO 7 has had an incredible year, in both quantity and quality of LEGO creations. Across a range of styles and subjects, he’s showcased excellent building skills. We’ve loved seeing the different models he’s built during 2018, and we hope you’ll enjoy this retrospective look at his last twelve months…

Click to see some of LEGO 7’s models from 2018

Revisiting a classic castle on New Year’s Eve

Ringing in the New Year is all about reflecting on the past and looking toward the future. John Tooker has accomplished both with his modern take on the classic LEGOLAND yellow castle (set 375), originally released in 1978. John’s model is not an exact replica, as it features some different windows and does not swing open like the original set. However, it possesses the basic form and enough key features to make it immediately recognizable. The castle looks wonderful in tan, which was not officially available back in 1978. However, it’s an appropriate choice, given that the LEGO Group’s official name for the color is “brick yellow.” John also makes good use of darker colors with landscaping, including olive green vines climbing the castle wall. The period-correct castle minifigures and brick-built horse look right at home in their new abode!

LEGOLAND Castle Revisited

LEGO Chinese Spring Festival Special Edition 80101 Chinese New Years Eve Dinner [Review]

To aid LEGO’s ambitious goal of breaking into the enormous Chinese market of potential customers, LEGO is kicking off 2019 with a series of three exclusive sets celebrating the Chinese New Year. All three are only available in the Asia Pacific region. Today we’re looking at the first of these sets, 80101 Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner. It contains 616 pieces and retails for CNY 699 (about $100 USD) in China, with similar prices in other Asian markets.

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Have yourself a very merry Potter

Christmas may have come and gone, but Jonas Kramm is still celebrating with this elaborate scene calls “Christmas at Hogwarts.” I love the composition of this build, which is filled with plenty of excellent architectural details and brick-built furniture. Jonas drew partial inspiration from The Book of Unwritten Tales 2, a modern point-and-click adventure game. This is where he found the idea for the curved balustrade and fireplace depicting stacks of books. Some of my favorite details include the bat-a-rang used in a candelabra, gifts tied with LEGO rubber bands and Belville bows, and the dark orange easy chair. The tree also looks nice, with enough decorations to make it stand out but not distract one’s eye from the rest of the image. I’m sure Harry would approve!

Christmas at Hogwarts

What lies inside the tower of a corner townhouse

I really love this simplistic yet almost mysterious corner townhouse built by Nybohov Creation Ltd. The tower takes a different shade that does not match the rest of the building facade, yet seems pleasantly in place. I tend to let my imagination run wild and think of mysterious permanent residents who have the free will to leave but choose not to. Perhaps it’s those street lamps that remind me of scary exorcist movies. From a building technique standpoint, the dark orange roof stands out using staggered 1×2 slopes, contrasting nicely with the sand blue tones of the structure. Keeping things simple sometimes gets you the best outcome.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for December 30, 2018 [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 last week of December (and the last one for the entire year of 2018)!

Best LEGO models of 2018

TBB NEWS: 2018 is coming to a close, and we are taking a look at the most amazing creations of the year, plus big changes you hopefully won’t notice as we try to preserve some LEGO history.


TBB TOP TEN LISTS: What are the most popular LEGO creations, reviews, instructions, news and sets of 2018? We have your top ten lists to fulfill the wishes of all the list-likers out there.


TBB REVIEWS: From cars to cubes to clams, we have reviews of a few new sets for your reading enjoyment.


TBB FEATURES & INSTRUCTIONS: How has LEGO holiday advertising changed through the years? We have that and more instructions for you as we wrap up the holidays.

LEGO Sea Accessories Xtra 40341 [Review]

LEGO has recently re-introduced accessories packs. Discontinued way back in 1999, the return of these little parts packs has been quite a delight. In 2018, LEGO released the first five accessory packs and three Xtra-themed playmats, but today we’re looking at the newest, 40341 Sea Accessories. It will be available January 1 and like the other packs, it retails for $3.99. Since the packs include only accessories with no minifigures, we decided to call in the Mono Brothers team to help us model these while we dive through the parts.

Dive right in to see the elements unveiled

Top 10 LEGO news articles of 2018 on The Brothers Brick [News]

As 2018 comes to an end, we can’t help but look back and reflect on what an amazing news year it has been for the LEGO community. From old themes coming back to some of the largest LEGO sets ever released, The Brothers Brick has brought you credible LEGO news from all over. So let’s look back at the year and see what made the biggest splash as we analyze the top 10 LEGO news articles of 2018.

Click to reveal the Top 10 most read LEGO news stories of 2018

Discounts for pre-order of LEGO Blizzard Overwatch sets available on Amazon [News]

Amazon is offering a great deal on the yet to be released Overwatch sets. 4 of the 6 sets are on discounts and will be released on 1st Jan. Grab them while you can! You can still order the other 2 sets (D.Va & Reinhardt and Bastion)  from LEGO directly at the retail price.

75970 Tracer vs. Widowmaker | 129 pieces | Tracer & Widowmaker minifigs | Retails at $14.99 | Pre-order for $11.99

75971 Hanzo vs. Genji | 197 pieces | Hanzo & Genji minifigs | Retails at $19.99 | Pre-order for $15.99 

75972 Dorado Showdown | 419 pieces | McCree, Reaper, & Soldier: 76 minifigs | Retails at $29.99 | Pre-order for $23.99

75975 Watchpoint: Gibraltar | 730 pieces | Winston, Mercy, Pharah, & Reaper minifigs | Retail at  $89.99 | Pre-Order at $71.99

 

 

He’s back, and he’s not happy

While I was never a fan of the later games in the series, I grew up playing the original side-scrolling Duke Nukem and its sequel. The maniacal, cigar-wielding hero full of over-the-top bravado come shining through in this LEGO take by Green Axles, and the addition of the background artwork settles it perfectly into the Duke’s world. The combo of brick-built face and constraction-figure muscled chest blend flawlessly. The Duke Murshy poster name is an inside joke, but make no mistake that this is, in fact, the Duke you know and love.

Duke Marshy