Yearly Archives: 2019

Happy little trees

You know about Bob Ross, right? If not, the short version is that he was an amazing painter, best known for his peaceful and calm teaching method. Quite often, he would fill his canvasses with “happy little trees,” conjuring entire forests with just a few elegant brush-strokes. Builder Emil Lidé (Full Plate) has a similar talent, creating trees with a flair and minimalist style that evokes nature with just a tiny selection of LEGO elements.

Not satisfied with just one tree, Emil has created seven distinct varieties for us to enjoy.

Microtrees

All seven are great, but there are a couple of standouts that I wanted to take a closer look at. (All seven are detailed in the builder’s Tree Techniques album on Flickr.)

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Supreme Leader Kylo Ren’s new headgear

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hit theatres just a few days ago and LEGO fans have already started to produce some amazing creations. One that stands out is Petros Nicolaou’s rendition of Kylo Ren’s helmet. While I was a fan of how it was destroyed in The Last Jedi, I love how it was reforged in a Kintsugi kind of way in The Rise of Skywalker.

The repaired helm adds an extra level of beauty and badassery. And as cool as it looks on film, it looks just as cool represented in LEGO. The shaping of Kylo Ren’s unbroken helmet would itself require some skillful parts selection to achieve all the right angles and shaping. Add in the veins of red keeping it all together, and any builder would have an extra difficult challenge of them. It seems Petros was up to the challenge though. Take a closer and see that all the pieces seem to fit together.

An elegant weapon for a more civilized age

Yeah, with a title like that I bet you thought you were going to see a review of even more Mandalorian-related LEGO creations. Fooled you! This time the “weapon” refers to a selection of Batman’s gadgets, and the “civilized age” is the golden age of radio. And what a radio it is. Builder Andreas Lenander took those accessories and reimagined them as the knobs and feet of a classic set. You have to also enjoy the use of the 1×2 grill tiles to recreate the look of the speaker. The dark tan and orange accent colors are what really tie the build together, though.

Vintage radio - New Elementary parts fest

Andreas built this as part of a New Elementary parts fest – check out their Flickr album for more great part usage!

LEGO Star Wars 75273 Poe Dameron’s X-wing Fighter from The Rise of Skywalker [Review]

Poe Dameron seems to go through X-wing starfighters more quickly than Carrie Bradshaw goes through Manolo Blahniks. His latest is a cute little number (75273) in orange and white with azure accents, which you can pick up for yourself for a mere $89.99 USD | $119.99 CAD | £89.99 GBP. Poe Dameron’s X-wing Fighter includes 761 pieces with three minifigs (plus Artoo) and will be available January 1st, 2020.

We’ll do our best to avoid any major SPOILERS, and we ask our commenters to do the same for another week or two, until more people reading this will have had the opportunity to see Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.

Notes on terminology: For simplicity throughout this article, we’ll often reference the Resistance X-wing’s model number and compare and contrast it with the original X-wing from the Classic Trilogy. The model number for the original X-wings flown by the Rebel Alliance was T-65. The updated New Republic / Resistance X-wing’s model number is T-70. Similarly, the wings that give the X-wing its name are technically called S-foils (as in “Lock S-foils in attack position!”). To avoid repetition, we’ll occasionally call them wings.

Read our full review of LEGO Star Wars 75273 Poe Dameron’s X-wing Fighter from The Rise of Skywalker

2019 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 23

Welcome to Day 23 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the four mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 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. What holiday glee will come from Day 23?

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

Santa’s ’40 Ford Coupe is the alternative to traditional science.

It’s been proven by…um…science or something that Santa travels the world via a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer named Dasher, Dancer and…um…Vomit and Nixon, maybe? I don’t know, it’s been awhile since my last science class so I’m a little rusty on the names and how it all works. But that doesn’t stop builders like Isaac W. from defying traditional science and going with alternate forms of transportation such as this chopped ’40 Ford Coupe. As a diehard car dude, I am all about this sleek, top-fueled alternate ride!

Santa's chopped '40 Ford Coupe

Now I’m aware that the ’40 Ford Coupe has fairly ample trunk space but I have a thirst for toys as big as the Colorado Rockies. How does Santa accommodate the likes of me? As stated earlier, it has been awhile since science class but I know enough about science to realize it’s going to take a lot more than a coupe trunk to get toys to all the good children of the world. Thankfully, Isaac already has that solution figured out with this matching trailer. Isn’t science grand?

Santa's chopped '40 Ford Coupe

Not just another brick in the wall

Walls can be drab. I don’t know if you have ever had to stare at a wall, but I spent my fair share of time as a kid in time-out, sitting in a chair in the corner, examining the minutiae of the paint texture of the wall. Since then, I have stared at many walls, from cinder block to stylish shiplap, in doctors’ waiting rooms, my old calculus classroom, and many other places. They all look more or less the same. And the same thing can often be said of LEGO castle walls. Seen one castle, seen ’em all. But Marcel V. provides a break from the monotony by spicing up the grey with nice texture, but even more importantly, fun accessories. Because you know what makes a wall worth looking at? Family pictures, or a clock, or a piece of art hanging there.

Sofia's Journey - The Gate Of Branheim

The art of Marcel’s build is in the clever piece usages. There are paintbrushes and minifigure hands in the roof frame on the small tower. Unikitty tails give a delightful decorative detail on the battlements, and pistols provide support beneath. I also enjoy the wheelbarrow from a catapult and the vulture made from orc ears. All of these fun features make this wall lovely to look at, not drab. Add to that the fact that it is shown under construction, well, that just makes it better and more interesting. I’ve already stared at it for a while, and will continue doing so with pleasure.

Like the build? We covered an earlier part of Marcel’s brick adventure here.

Roofs? Where we’re going, we don’t need roofs [Video]

Iconic cars need no makeovers, but one way to make a car even more special is to make it topless. This is exactly what Alexey Tikhvinsky did to the famous 10187 Volkswagen Beetle set from 2008. More than a decade ago, a bulky model in a rare dark-blue color became an outstanding example of car model-making, which later resulted in a lineup of LEGO Creator Expect cars. Tan/brown pieces give the car some strong retro vibes. Although most of its body has a great resemblance to the original model, there is a fully functional chassis hidden underneath. Equipped with an independent suspension and a functioning gearbox, this Beetle has to offer much more than meets the eye.

Volkswagen Typ 1

The car is driven with three new Powered Up motors (just like the recent LEGO Technic 42099 4×4 X-treme Off-Roader set). The new powerful motors are perfect for such a heavy body. Bonus points are for a functioning gearbox. Thanks to the two sets of gears the car can be turned into a crawler, capable of conquering some of the steepest terrains outdoors. The winch in the front of the car is also functioning and can easily pull the car’s weight.

Volkswagen Typ 1

It would be unfair to leave our readers without a video of the model in action. As usual, the nearest skate park turns out to be one of the most suitable filming locations.

We got lucky with LEGO Brick Headz’ new 40436 Lucky Cat [Review]

The Maneki-Neko, or “Beckoning Cat” is a symbol of good fortune, originally from Japan, but commonly referred to as a Chinese Lucky Cat due to its frequent appearance in shop, business, and restaurant entrances in China, and in Chinatowns across the world. With Chinese New Year approaching at the end of January, LEGO is introducing a Lucky Cat to its Brick Headz range. Read on to see what we thought when we got our paws on a set…

LEGO Brick Headz 40436 Lucky Cat has 134 parts and will be available from 1st January 2020 US $9.99 | CAN $12.99 | UK £9.99

Click to read our review of this fortunate feline

2019 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 22

Welcome to Day 22 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the four mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 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 we get something new for Day 22?

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

LEGO Masters reality show announces teams, including some familiar faces [News]

LEGO Masters has announced it’s cast of contestants for the upcoming brick building reality TV show. Many of the cast have had creations featured on The Brothers Brick previously, and we are excited to see what everyone else creates on the show. LEGO Masters premieres on Wednesday, February 5th in North America on FOX.

We are especially excited to announce that one of our own contributors Flynn DeMarco and his husband have been cast on the show. Many people may recognize his Treasure of Snake Queen diorama. We are excited to hear about some behind-the-scenes details from him once the show airs. Tyler Clites is also regularly featured on The Brothers Brick for his outstanding models.

Click to see all the LEGO Masters contestants and their bios

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for December 20, 2019 [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 third week of December 2019.


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