Yearly Archives: 2018

Winston from Overwatch is one gorilla you don’t want to mess with

As if a raging gorilla wasn’t imposing enough, this one wears body armor, has a jump jet, and shoots lightning from a massive Tesla cannon. You don’t have to be a fan of the squad shooter Overwatch to appreciate this impressive model of the hero Winston by LEGO 7. One of my favorite details, aside from the organic sculpting of Winston’s body armor, is the eyes, which look like yellow lightsaber blades inserted into the center of a headlight brick and covered with clear tiles. And that nose made from a binocular is just perfect.

There’s one more detail that is easy to miss. Take a look at that base, made from tinted window panels, which catch just enough light to look like polished steel.

For more great Overwatch content, check out our recent coverage of the new sets based on the game, as well as our full reviews of LEGO Overwatch 75974 Bastion, LEGO Overwatch 75953 D.Va and Reinhardt, and LEGO Overwatch 75987 Omnic Bastion.

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2018 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 20

Welcome to Day 20 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2018 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick 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 so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. Will Day 20 be the best day yet?

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

Incredible LEGO Star Wars Death Star trench run hides a full interior packed with hilarious scenes

There have been some pretty spectacular LEGO versions of Star Wars’ iconic trench run over the years, setting the bar pretty high for anyone taking on the theme. Pro building group Olive Seon have risen to the challenge, deploying intricate details worthy of the original Industrial Light and Magic model. Its nifty laser towers and exploded Y-wing fighter demonstrating some serious building talent, and a hefty upgrade from their first version, which we covered back in 2015.

The surprises don’t end here: rotate the diorama to reveal a complete Death Star interior. Each of the space station’s rooms acting as individual vignettes, from a scene showing Obi Wan’s deactivation of the tractor beam to a battalion of stormtroopers caught mid-explosion. There is plenty of humour here too: ever wanted to see the battle station’s locker room? Well now you can. My favourite feature though is the hilariously over-sized BrickHeadz Stormtrooper herding his droids.

Check out more of the interior below

LEGO Speed Champions 75893 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and 1970 Dodge Charger R-T [Review]

The 2019 LEGO Speed Champions line includes a diverse range of new and classic cars, many of them packaged as pairs in single sets. We recently reviewed 75894 1967 Mini Cooper S Rally and 2018 MINI John Cooper Works Buggy, which depicts two specific historical vehicles. Although 75893 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and 1970 Dodge Charger R-T doesn’t appear to depict specific race-winners, it certainly rivals the Mini Cooper set for sheer length of the set’s name! The set includes 478 pieces with three minifigs, and retails for $29.99 in the US (£34.99 in the UK and $39.99 in Canada).

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Speed Champions 75893 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and 1970 Dodge Charger R-T…

Itty-bitty servants of Darkness

Although JRR Tolkien primarily created his Middle-Earth fantasy world as a place for his invented languages to exist, his populating of that world with an array of fantastical creatures was a key element in the enduring appeal of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings. Aaron Newman brings us fantastic microscale LEGO models depicting the movie versions of 3 of Tolkien’s most famous “big beasts” — the Balrog, the Nazgul’s Fell Beast, and an armoured Mumakil.

The Balrog looks great, with it’s flaming whip and broad wingspan. I particularly like how Aaron has captured the creature’s distinctive face in a tight selection of pieces. The Mumakil is brilliant, poised to stomp and tusk-sweep its way through a swathe of eensy-weensy Rohirrim. But the highlight of the show has to be Nazgul on his Fell Beast. A clever parts selection has managed to produce a sinuous and reptilian effect, perfectly capturing how the movie trilogy Fell Beasts seemed to slither through the air. Now we need appropriately scaled microscale backdrops for all 3 models — come on Aaron, get to work.

The shrine of nature will make you see the light

There is something about the jungle that just fills me with all sorts of unexplainable pleasant feelings. While I understand that the humid hell filled with insects that is a real-life jungle would evoke a different kind of emotion, that does not mean we can’t enjoy an insect-free jungle shrine from our armchairs, like this one built in LEGO by Jonas Kramm. This is more than just a pretty build though, Jonas has created this “Shrine of Nature” to explore the unusual use for minecraft animal head pieces as described in his article on the New Elementary blog.

The focus of the build is the central pattern built out of multiple Minecraft wolf heads in two staggered rows, with a lit up translucent green background, giving a mysterious tone to the creation. The exotic and unique plant and animal life in the scene are great too, using all sorts of exotic pieces in unique ways.

2018 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 19

Welcome to Day 19 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2018 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick team.

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

LEGO Architecture: 21044 Paris [Review]

Thomas Jefferson once said, “a walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life.” For those unable to stroll through the famous French city, LEGO set 21044 Paris allows you to bring a piece of the Parisian skyline home. It consists of six famous landmarks, three of which have previously received their own Architecture series sets (Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre). They are now joined by the Champs-Elysées, Tour Montparnasse, and Grand Palais. Set 21044 consists of 694 pieces and is slated for release on January 1, 2019. It is priced at €49.99 in the EU, but LEGO has declined our inquiry to confirm its US price.

Click to read the full review

Defend the fortress from the dragons, with full hardness

A thick stone wall is all well and good, but how does that help when what you’re up against has huge fangs, breathes fire, and can fly? Michael K. addresses this dilemma in this large-scale castle siege diorama titled expressively, “With Full Hardness”.

The scene is quite moody, using mainly dark colours, focusing on dark green. Even darker than the colour pallet is the theme, a vicious battle that the builder depicts quite explicitly, sparing no blood in the shape of translucent red parts. The best part of the build has to be the dragons, all posed and placed so they convey as much sense of motion and story as they can.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown

Light is everything in this atmospheric creation by Henjin Quilones. Young Queen Ylspeth has gathered her council to her palace to seek advice. The photograph centres in on the young monarch’s concentrated face, leaving her advisors suggestively out of focus.

Using a glowing orange laptop screen to create a sense of torchlight emanating from the left of the room, and a desk lamp to imitate glaring sunlight to the right, gives the model a genuine sense of place. It also metaphorically frames the difficult choices the Queen must make: the two statues behind her, one holding a sword the other a key, reinforcing the motif.

Mission: give gifts. Target: all the children in the world.

Christmas is nearing quickly and if your shopping seems hectic, think about how hard it must be for Santa Claus to deliver millions of gifts to children worldwide. The dilema may be less difficult if we take Santa’s mech suit into account, as built in LEGO by Mishima Productions. If you ever went through the calculations (people do that, right?) of what the speed of Santa’s vehicle is, you will see that this mech should be more than capable of it.

The build captures the generous man’s iconic image perfectly from the front and a whole different story in the back. A metal container opens up to reveal quite industrial looking gifts safely sealed inside. The only thing that really sets the Santa Claus Mech aside from the real deal in the front view is his lowered hat expressing a little bit of a fighter’s stance. The builder has also provided instructions for the build, which you can see in a video format on his YouTube channel.

2018 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 18

Welcome to Day 18 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2018 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick team.

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!