Yearly Archives: 2019

London architecture at night

LEGO has produced a few brilliant sets representing London Architecture in its Creator Expert line, such as Big Ben and the Tower Bridge. Hyungmin Park has added to this, with renditions of Nelson’s Column and King’s Cross Station. Laid out smartly with the predesigned sets in the background and fan creation in the front, the spaces between are filled in with details of typical London scenes.

The Hogwarts Express popping out of the train station is an easy one to see, and in my mind is the first thing I think of when I hear “King’s Cross”.

My favourite Easter Eggs though, are the more subtle ones such as the Star Wars Royal Guard mixed in with the British Royal Guards, and the cat with the Mohawk, which has always reminded me of a feline British punk rocker.

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A perfect pair of Porsches

Legendary car builder George Panteleon tells us that one of the most iconic and beautiful generation of Porsche 911 is the 1973 Carrera RSR. I consulted the records of all things beautiful and iconic and that statement checks out. He started with the yellow one about a year ago but has not photographed it until recently. Later he wanted another with a more striking color scheme so he went with the white with blue and red racing stripes.

Each consists of 779 pieces and features a fully detailed interior and opening trunk, hood and doors.

George’s prowess with car building doesn’t end with this perfect pair of Porsches so be sure to check out his other automotive wonders on his photostream. If you are inclined to build a few dream cars of your own, his book How to Build Dream Cars with LEGO Bricks may help with that.

A look at The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part Blu-ray set [Review]

The LEGO Movie 2 was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray, so we thought we’d take a look at the special features and let you know what we think! To be clear, this review is not of the movie itself. If you’d like, you can read a separate article about The LEGO Movie 2‘s box office performance and what several of our contributors thought of it. If you haven’t watched it yet (seriously???) and you are trying to decide if you should, check out spoiler-free The LEGO Movie 2 review.

Steaming down the rails in style

Do you dream of steam? Glenn Holland not only dreams of of steam; he lives and breathes it, which is why he decided to build this sleek LEGO replica of a Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0. Glenn has been a fan of locomotive number 13 since he was a little boy, and his passion for this train is evident in the level of painstaking detail. It’s an attractive-looking engine, thanks in part to some extensive greebling, custom rods, and silver striping. You can almost hear that ear-pleasing “chug, chug, chug.”

As this angle suggests, it looks just as awesome leaving the station as it does arriving. The tender has received just as much attention as the locomotive, going so far as to include detailing underneath. If you’d like an in-depth look at Glenn’s model, you can read more about it in his own words on LEGO train fansite Brick Model Railroader.

Daisy and Donald Duck are built and dressed to impress

Disney’s Donald Duck recently celebrated his 85th birthday, and his companion Daisy is technically 82 (she was originally introduced in 1937 as Donna Duck). Koen Zwanenburg is just in time for the party with fantastic looking LEGO versions of the beloved pair. Thanks to a variety of curved and angled elements used, the sculpting of each character’s body looks spot-on. Their eyes are particularly expressive and well angled, especially Daisy’s partially closed eyelids. Meanwhile, Bionicle ball and socket joints used as legs look to be just the right size. Donald looks especially happy, with Daisy giving him a birthday kiss.

Hi diddly ho, droidorinos!

If you plan on taking robots into war, you need a formidable assault droid. Enter the bulky, badass HUF-2 built by Marco Marozzi, complete with a massive machine gun. The mechanical detailing of the droid is impressive, and the color scheme is perfect for a robotic predator. You have your industrial grays and silvers, but you also have splashes of gold and red to warn of what’s to come…almost like a poison dart frog. There’s even an “Easter egg” for fans of The Simpsons TV show.

See more details of Ned Flanders’ deadly droid

LEGO 77902 Captain Marvel and the Asis revealed as San Diego Comic-Con 2019 LEGO exclusive [News]

The LEGO Marvel exclusive set for San Diego Comic-Con 2019 has been revealed to be a 271-piece set which will be retailing at the convention for USD $45 and only available to those who win it at the Exclusives Portal Lottery. 77902 Captain Marvel and the Asis includes a minifigure of Captain Marvel, Maria Rambeau and Goose, the Flerken and a build of the Asis ship.

Click to see the full set images

LEGO 75936 Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage, the biggest LEGO dino ever [Review + Interview]

Last week, LEGO announced the biggest set yet in the Jurassic World license, 75936 Jurassic Park: T. rex Rampage. While most of the LEGO Jurassic World theme has centered around the new films starring Chris Pratt, this is the second time LEGO has revisited the 1993 Spielberg classic film, following 75932 Jurassic Park Velociraptor Chase last year. With 3,120 pieces, this new set banks on scale with a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex and Jurassic Park gate, which are much larger than minifigure scale. In addition to our usual review, we also had the chance to speak to LEGO Senior Designer Mark Stafford about the set. T. rex Rampage will retail for US $249.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £219.99 beginning June 19th for LEGO VIPs, with general availability beginning July 1st.

Click to read the full review

Kissed by a rose in a little shop of horrors

Some people think talking to plants helps them grow faster. To that, I say it’s all great until one of those plants turns into a man-eating flower bent on devouring you, green thumb and all. Unafraid of the consequences, Jayfa built this LEGO beauty of a ferocious flower. The curved stem and flower petals are cleverly formed using constraction (constructible action figure) elements, along with palm tree leaf pieces and a tan prickly bush. Fortunately, this looks like something you would find in a Castlevania game instead of your backyard, but you never know what the garden guru next door might be cooking up….

If you like fantastical creatures like this, you’ll also want to check out Jayfa’s colorful Rygas the Basilisk.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for June 16, 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 June.

This past week’s news was dominated by Star Wars and dinosaurs, from video game announcements to large collectible sets depicting major movie moments. Go back to a galaxy far, far away, hold on to your butts, and read on for more information!

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS:

LEGO reveals 75936 Jurassic Park T-Rex Rampage featuring the largest dinosaur ever in an official set — LEGO fans are finally getting an amazing brick-built T-Rex, and new minifigs from Jurassic Park.
LEGO 75936 Jurassic Park: T-Rex Rampage designer video — Watch Mark Stafford, the designer behind the newest exclusive LEGO set, sharing more details about the product and design process.
LEGO Star Wars 75244 Tantive IV [Review] – We reviewed the latest addition to the large scale Star Wars vehicle collection.
New Lego Star Wars video game: The Skywalker Saga revealed at E3 – The upcoming LEGO Star Wars game will cover the entire 9 movie Skywalker Saga.
LEGO reveals 12 new sets from Speed Champions, The LEGO Movie 2, and Technic – Keep your shopping list updated as more excellent LEGO sets are coming this summer and fall.

OTHER LEGO NEWS: There were quite a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:
Click to read even more LEGO news

AL-SPSS-N9 Spessar redefines striking darkness

A prolific name in the realm of LEGO mecha is Lu Sim. His mecha present functional articulation, compact cockpits and a ton of character. Each one holds its own in originality and portrays a definite omnipresence. Lu’s latest titled “AL-SPSS-N9 Spessar” is an excellent example. Supported by a predominantly black and dark bluish grey frame, the encasing armour has been completed in a brilliant use of trans-neon/trans orange elements.

See more of this great orange mech

A beautiful bonsai built from bulk-bought bricks

André Pinto‘s build took me by surprise. I said to myself, “That’s a nice LEGO bonsai tree photographed on a nice piece of antique furniture.” Part of that is true; it is a nice LEGO bonsai tree. But part of it is false, too, because a closer look revealed that the table and the rug were also made entirely from LEGO. André says that there are 5,000 pieces in the build, but 85% of them are the limited selection that comes from the Pick-a-Brick walls in LEGO retail stores. The large amounts of somewhat odd pieces comes together for a stunning build.

The sand green telescopes form a lovely border around the edge of the table, and the copious yellow click hinges provide a surprisingly realistic rug texture beneath. The white flowers still attached to the sprue drape elegantly from the branches of the tree. The details that deceived me, however, are the reflective surface of the table with small petals on it, and the finely crafted legs, with cross supports, beneath it. What a clever use of bulk parts!