Yearly Archives: 2019

Moving mountains with the new LEGO Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator [Review]

While assembling the latest and the biggest LEGO Technic set ever, I came up with countless versions of the introductory paragraph for this review. However, once I turned this thing on and spend some time operating it, it became clear that none of my paragraphs work better than raw facts about the set which speak for themselves. So, here is LEGO Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator, the biggest LEGO Technic set ever with 4,108 pieces, among which are 7 Powered Up motors and 2 smart-hub. The finished model weighs around 6 kg / 13.2 lbs (including the weight of 12 AA cells). This is a fully motorized copy that can be controlled via a smartphone or a tablet and it is all as good as it sounds. With impressive numbers comes an impressive price tag; the set is available for US $449.99 | CAN $549.99 | UK £399.99. And here comes the most important question: is the set worth the money? Let’s build it, test it and find out.

Click here to read the review…

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.

TBB cover photo for October 2019: Entering Aquila

This month’s cover image across TBB’s social media comes to us from W. Navarre, who together with three other builders crafted a series of exquisite scenes from the 1985 film Ladyhawke. We covered all four scenes this summer, but we were so drawn to this beautiful portrait of the middle eastern city of Aquila that we just had to pick it. Everywhere you look the buildings employ ingenious patterns of bricks, making this feel like a vibrant, wealthy merchant town.

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month or more? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today. Photos that do not meet the submission guidelines will not be considered, and will be removed from the group. Extra consideration will be given to images that have seasonal relevance and work well in a wide landscape orientation.

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

LEGO Star Wars 75252 UCS Imperial Star Destroyer and 10267 Winter Village Gingerbread House available now [News]

The LEGO Star Wars 75252 UCS Imperial Star Destroyer and 10267 Winter Village Gingerbread House are now available from the LEGO Shop online as of the 1st of October. The LEGO Star Wars Battle of Endor Micro Build will be available as a free gift with purchase on sales over $75 on Triple Force Friday (4th -6th October) together with Double VIP Points for Star Wars purchases.

Click to see full details

Street machine stole my heart

There are some LEGO builds that floor me due to immense size and insane detail, and then some that get me due to a tiny space filled with exceptional part use. LEGO craftsman Joffre Bricks’ new motorcycle, Blue Heart, is absolutely the latter. Being stumped by parts isn’t really a thing that happens all that often for me but this beautiful ride had me going on a mission. The fuel tank here made of a Hero Factory jumper body top was a great challenge to track down and identify. Its employment here is just superb. Joffre’s use of blasters as the rear exposed subframe is also a nice touch. Blue Heart’s shaping makes me wonder what the builder’s motorcycle muse was… the Lotus C-01, or maybe the Ducati Panigale V4 R?

For a radically different view, though equally impressive, of Joffre’s building prowess, check out this little gift.

Now this is something to howl about!

I have a confession to make. I was that kid in high school who wore wolf t-shirts. You know, the one with the wolves howling at the moon, or the one with the wolf looking right out at you? I had wolf posters on my walls, and I even sponsored a wolf in a nature preserve for a while. Was I cool? Heck no. Did I like wolves? Heck yes. I also played with LEGO bricks during high school, so, yeah, I was not part of the “in” crowd. But my lifelong love of wolves has continued, though I no longer wear wolf t-shirts, and my love of little plastic bricks continues also. Which brings me to this build by Simon NH. It combines the two loves of my childhood, and in a beautiful way, to boot.

I love the wings used for the cheek fur of the wolf’s face, and the different spiky bits around the underside capture a fluffy feel well. The stunning color transition from dark grey on the top, down through light grey, dark tan, tan, and ending in white, is magnificent and makes the whole thing seem organic in a way that transcends the medium. The base, too, is exceptional, with a frozen river with a glass panel ice sheet, plenty of snow, and a delightful spiky evergreen made with different colors of flower stems. What I love about Simon’s builds is the way he manages to blend the LEGO palette like an impressionistic watercolor and the different textures of bricks like masterful impasto. It is not just LEGO, it is art. All it lacks is a moon for the wolf to howl at, and a screen print for me to put on a t-shirt to be cool again. Wolf shirts are cool again, right?

And don’t miss Simon’s incredible LEGO grizzly bear in the same style that we featured yesterday!

Muscle cars look best in Bright N’ Obnoxious colors

I have a guilty pleasure: I like watching TV shows such as Fast N’ Loud or Bitchin’ Rides, in which cars that are typically American and rusty are transformed into mean street machines (usually along with plenty of scripted drama). I’ve been using my LEGO bricks to build classic American cars for years. Inspired by these shows, I finally built a classic car garage last year to accompany my car collection. While the cars I already had were pretty cool, I couldn’t help but feel there was something lacking: they simply weren’t all that Fast N’ Loud nor particularly Bitchin’.

That had to be rectified. I started leafing through one of my classic car books, picked two American muscle cars and built them in bright and obnoxious colors. The cars in question are a 1971 Buick GSX, in “Limemist Green” and a 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 in “Grabber Orange.”

There are subtleties to the real cars’ shapes that are hard to capture on this relatively small scale, but I got pretty close using sloped elements angled in different directions. When combined with the slightly larger tires I use on my cars, the wheel covers LEGO introduced for their Speed Champions sets mimic the rims. Black accents, such as the side striping and hood stripes, contrast nicely with the bright body colors. Front and rear spoilers finish the distinctive look. I didn’t go down the custom car route with these builds; most of the features on these cars were factory options. However, they will certainly brighten up my garage showroom. I’ll be taking them and the garage to the Great Western Brick Show in the UK this coming weekend.

Star Wars Separatist Brick Destroyer Ultimate Collector Series

While fans scream out upon seeing yet another UCS Millennium Falcon (whether it’s in joy or angst is a different discussion altogether), flying right under the radar is the Separatist Brick Destroyer, or SBD, in LEGO Ultimate Series Collector scale. I must say this design by L-DI-EGO is one of the best re-imaginings of the humble LEGO brick separator. The intense greebling makes it all more realistic and I think it definitely needs to be considered for an upcoming Star Wars movie. After all, the Slave 1 reminds me of a household iron, I don’t see why this can’t be part of the lineup.

Check out the menacing details and raw power of the underside, uh, I mean dark side!

LEGO partners with BBC’s Top Gear for new Technic set [News]

Today, LEGO has joined with BBC Studios to create a new set based on the hit TV show Top Gear, according to a new report by industry magazine License Global. The current iteration of the long-running show will be entering its 28th season next year, continuing to bring its peculiar blend of automotive news and creative hijinks to audiences around the world. The new set will be a LEGO Technic model and will presumably be a vehicle of some sort, and we’ll be sure to bring our readers an update once more is known about the set. For now, let us know in the comments what you think of this new license.

New parts, bold style, deep space

There seems to be some LEGO builders who, when they sit down to build LEGO models, they really pump them out..and in fine form too. Inthert’s recent experimentation with new parts has brought out some great technique and this follow-up ship to his previous creation, 6-H Cargo Hopper, holds its own. Named the TRE-O, it has an almost Microscale feel, which may be partially due to the impression the solid white leaves. There are so many tasty combinations in this little vessel, so let’s just talk about a few. The curved top 1×2 brick dominates the front arms, which slide beautifully into a wheel arches. Twin 1×4 curved slopes adorn each fin further up, giving it another nudge toward its microscale feel. Another fun detail is the new 2×2 plate with thin rotation stem acting as the base of an antenna mount.

The new pneumatic liftarm with connections for hose has instantly proven itself as a perfect engine or thruster, and this shot shows it off really well. Though the back to back 3×3 slope wedges (introduced in the Overwatch range) look great, the shaping of the rear portions of th three fins sets the stern off for me.

Cry havoc and let slip the dogs...er...squid...of war?

There’s nothing pretty about war, but Dane Erland finds a way to bring some strong visual interest to the concept. Based on a creepily organic inspiration, the Abyssal moves forward in a manner far removed from a standard tank. Instead of treads, six clusters of tentacles sprout from the undercarriage. Each is made of pneumatic hose aligned with 8-Tooth Technic gears, and finished off with an array of claws. The tan body has some nice curves and angles, and it bristles with a wide array of brick-built sensors and weapons.

Is this a peek into the next stage of warfare? Maybe I’ll just stay indoors for the foreseeable future.

Fishing with a greebly grizzly

Salmon swimming upstream brings all the bears to the yard…er river. It also inspired Simon NH‘s latest LEGO build, depicting a brown grizzly fishing for dinner. What makes this bear unique is the diverse range of parts and colors used to sculpt its body and represent how things in nature are more complex than meets the eye. Simon’s bear features ears comprised of a minifigure hood on the left and female hair on the right, while a minifigure shooter and snowshoes form its iconic muzzle. The scene is also set with some fantastic landscaping, from the rippling waterfall to the rocky terrain with splashes of greenery. It’s truly a GRRiffic build!

If you’d like to see Simon’s build in person and happen to be passing through Denmark, it will be on display in the Masterpiece Gallery at the LEGO House.