Yearly Archives: 2019

A heavy assault mech for all your heavy assault shenanigans

Have you ever wondered what those S.W.A.T. team hand signals mean as they gather outside your house? I believe a fist hoisted straight up and down in the air means “hurry up” while a hand covering the mouth means “gas”. The rest was sort of lost in a fiery frantic blur but no matter the hand signals, a S.W.A.T. team outside means you’re pretty much screwed. While going out in a blaze of glory does have its appeal, you might instead want to employ the help of of this Heavy Assault Mech built by Mishima to tilt the odds in your favor. Trust me, a light assault mech or even a moderate assault mech will not help in this situation. You will need some seriously huge guns–so huge you wonder how it’s still standing upright.

A shoulder-mounted Gatling gun and a missile launcher rounds out the arsenal, the latter making excellent use of the “nexagon” part. While doing time in the Big House you might want to check out this builder’s other nifty mechs and bots or follow his Youtube channel for an instructional video on how to build this one. In the meantime, all this mechanized firepower ought to hold you over right up until they send in the attack dogs. Good luck!

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.

LEGO Harry Potter attends the Yule Ball with 75948 Hogwarts Clock Tower [Review]

When LEGO revived the Harry Potter theme last year after a seven-year hiatus, one set was notably missing: a minifigure-scale Hogwarts Castle. Of course, we did get the stupendous microscale 71043 Hogwarts Castle, but we’d come to expect a regular set labeled “Hogwarts Castle” as LEGO had done at least four times previously. However, this time LEGO had something much more grand up its sleeves. Afterall, there’s no way to have a proper Hogwarts Castle at minifigure scale without it breaking both your bank and your back. Beginning with the excellent 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall and continuing with 75953 Hogwarts Whomping Willow, LEGO is releasing a sweeping minifigure-scale Hogwarts bit by bit, with each segment modularly fitting to the next. 75948 Hogwarts Clock Tower is the third in the series. With 922 pieces, it retails for US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £84.99. It is available starting July 1 in North America, though it has already been available in Europe.

The revived Harry Potter theme has been playing a mad-dash game of catch-up to whip through the movies–because yes, the sets are based on the movies, not the books–in order to get a new generation of LEGO Harry Potter fans up to speed with all their favorite moments. Last year’s Great Hall was based on The Philosopher’s Stone, the first movie, while the Whomping Willow followed with a scene from The Chamber of Secrets. In building the modular Hogwarts LEGO has skipped right past the third movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban. Hogwarts Clock Tower is set during the Yule Ball in The Goblet of Fire, when two rival wizarding schools are visiting Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. Continue reading →

Babydozer on the path of destruction

Accomplished LEGO artist Ted Andes has presented us with a cute riddle: What’s under twenty pieces, adorable and could potentially demolish your house? Baby’s First Bulldozer. This is a prime example of minimal part use for the win. Also known as the Pamper Pusher, this little guy was built as a part of a collaborative effort for Brickworld Chicago. I always enjoy seeing simple two- or three-piece combinations that just work. The tread system made of the microfighter wheel base, a 1×3 thin Technic lift arm, and a stretched tyre, is absolutely one of those.

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood where Christopher Robin builds

“Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs…” Well, not in this case. Here we get Winnie The Pooh and Tigger, created in LEGO bricks by BrickinNick. These renditions of the Disney versions of A. A. Milne’s classic characters are immediately recognisable and great fun. Pooh looks a little less rotund than usual, but he’s probably about to sort that out by guzzling an entire pot of honey. The model manages to catch Tigger mid-bounce, which is no mean feat. There’s a real sense of energy and movement in the pose, and Tigger’s colour scheme and facial expression are spot-on.

A sweet dream in LEGO

I love LEGO creations that fool the eye. When I first saw Sweet dream in the old garage by AdNorrel, I thought I was looking at a well composed photo of a real-life moment. I was scrolling through images of LEGO creations at the time, so I knew that couldn’t be right. So I took a closer look.

“Oh,” I thought, “that’s a LEGO minifigure in the center. So the garage is probably brick built. Yep. Looks like they put the build in front of their garden outside to get the background….no. Wait.”
“….”
“….wow.”

There are a lot of details partially hidden in the shadows of the garage. The tiling on the wall expertly mimics the slightly warped wood of an older building. Trophies and statuettes hint at past racing glories, blending in with the more functional aspects of the garage. Custom printing on many of the signs adds tantalizing hints of the larger world this creation inhabits. There are indications that a lot more is happening just out of sight, too, as there’s a crane to the right and the front end of a car to the left. Continue reading →

A Pegasus is more than a work horse

Impeccable maestro of the LEGO sci-fi/space genera Blake Foster seems to not be able to sit still after completing his massive four-year project, the Ugly Duckling. This time, while sticking to his tried, true and tested style, he has created the Pegasus Class Anti-Frigate Attack Fighter. His somewhat iconic, solid dark bluish grey greebling creates the feeling of a substantially sound craft. The white with red pinstripe enclosed paneling is stark in contrast yet strikingly vibrant.

Click to read more about the Pegasus

LEGO to buy LEGOLAND theme park operator Merlin Entertainments in $7.6 billion deal [News]

The parent company of The LEGO Group, Kirkbi A/S, has reached a deal to purchase Merlin Entertainments for 6 billion pounds, or more than 7.6 billion USD. Merlin Entertainments operates eight LEGOLAND theme parks from California to Dubai, dozens of LEGOLAND Discovery Centers, as well as other famous attractions such as Madam Toussad’s and the London Eye, all of which will now come under control of LEGO owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the grandson of LEGO’s founder.

Yesterday it was reported by Reuters that Kirkbi, the company under which the Kristiansen family organize their holdings, is joining with two other investment groups, Blackstone Group LP and Canadian pension fund CPPIB, to purchase a 50 percent stake in Merlin. LEGO sold the majority stake in its theme parks to Merlin in 2005 during its financial crisis in an effort to focus more on the core brick product. Now as the largest toy manufacturer in the world with the financial crisis firmly behind them, the company is looking to diversify its holdings once more and the LEGOLAND brand was the natural place to start. Along with the 30 percent stake that Kirkbi retained in Merlin, the new deal will grant a controlling interest in the theme parks that bear their most famous product’s name.

A build 17 years in the making

Since 2002, Spencer_R has been wanting to build the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. One key thing held them back; they were stymied by the lack of the perfect part. (A feeling that is familar to many LEGO builders, I’m sure.) Flash forward to 2017 and the release of the 1×1 plate with a printed square pattern, part of the 70620 Ninjago City set. Then flash forward another year or two, as Spencer needed a whopping 1040 of them to complete the build. The end result is 1/650th scale version that is both a labor of love and a treat for the eyes.

Beyond the highly accurate recreation of the shape of the tower, Spencer has also faithfully reproduced many other details. At the base of the tower the park contains redwood trees made from flower stems, a fence of 1×2 grilled tiles, and a 1×1 round plate standing in for the fountain. There’s even a cafe pavilion overlooking the park grounds.

Be sure to check out the full album on flickr for even more close up details, build commentary, and a great overview of the history and features of the real building.

The Brothers Brick Readers’ Survey 2019 – last chance to tell us what you think and to win a LEGO Lunar Lander set [News]

Complete our 5 minute survey and you could win a 10266 Apollo Lunar Lander LEGO set! This weekend is your last chance to tell us what you think.

Thank you to the thousands of you who have already given us your feedback. We genuinely appreciate your input — it will help us build a better TBB. Click here to take the survey.

The survey is open until Sunday 30th June.

The survey may only be completed once per participant. The free Lunar Lander set will be awarded to a survey respondent picked at random after the survey closes. The prizewinner must be over the age of 18. An email address is required to enter the prize draw. The email address will only be used to contact the prizewinner to arrange delivery. All email addresses will be deleted once delivery is arranged. In the event of the initial prizewinner not responding to contact within 3 days, a new prizewinner will be picked at random. TBB reserves the right to substitute some form of voucher of similar value in the event of shipping proving ridiculously expensive.

Build your own “Roger Roger” droid from Star Wars [Instructions]

The earworm that stuck with me when I walked away from the screening of The Phantom Menace is the “Roger Roger” acknowledgment phrase by the battle droids. You can now build your very own with if you have the right parts on hand, and while you’re at it, builder hachiroku24 has made sure you can articulate them so you can build an army to go with your Star Wars diorama.

See how to build your very own army of Trade Federation battle droids

Which one of youse ordered the shark fin soup?

Beware shark fin soup enthusiasts. It’s not so much my thing but in China shark fin soup is considered a delicacy served at traditional weddings and banquets.The practice has been condemned by the Humane Society International as millions of sharks are killed each year for their fins and it sort of upsets the order and sustainability of other things in the ocean. Enter James Zhan and his toothy Nightmare Amalgam-Z. This creature can walk up on land, politely tap you on the shoulder with this Bionicle part while you’re dining, then maybe proceed to chomp on your face. You don’t want that, do you? We all gotta eat, I know, but driving a certain species to near extinction isn’t cool. So let’s be cool, otherwise you get this guy and we’ve already established what he does. So are we cool? Good!