Monthly Archives: February 2020

Your guide to the 23 new LEGO sets for March 2020, including Dots, Fiat, Marvel and more [News]

A new month means new LEGO sets are now available, so here is your TBB New LEGO Set Guide for March 2020. There are 23 new items available (much less than the 153 sets from January but more than the 12 sets from February). New items include the entire new Dots lineup, Fiat 500, Marvel Black Window and Spiderman sets, a few minifigure accessory packs, an Easter seasonal set, and Mickey and Minnie key chains among others.

LEGO is also offering a unique gift-with-purchase to celebrate 40 years of LEGO trains: 40370 Steam Engine. The set will be available March 1st to 15th while supplies last with purchases more than US $99 | UK £99.

See the entire March 2020 wave of new LEGO sets now available

The vacation rental market can be a real beach

February is gone, and March is beginning; soon the college basketball mania will start, and spring breaks will be taken at schools across the USA. That means hordes of high school and college kids descending upon such popular vacation spots as Cancun, Acapulco, and Miami. Copious amounts of alcohol will likely be consumed, and a fun time will be claimed by many. Not all will enjoy their vacations, however, because some will be staying at a rental like this LEGO one built by alego alego. Yes, it is a beach house, but that is about all it has going for it. According to the fine print (who reads that, anyway?) the beach is near the nuclear plant (that explains the dog, perhaps), the hot tub is only hot when the weather is, and the electricity doesn’t work. Among other things. But hey, it makes for a great story when you get back! If you get back, that is.

"Always read the fine print" #25 Unique stays

The little girl is cleverly done with the Beast’s micro body, and I love the bushes used as palm trees ripped in the hurricane winds. All the little bits pushed through here and there for weeds in the cracks are perfect, and the syringe by the outhouse and the dog poop in the yard give it just the right vibes. Next time, read the fine print on your Airbnb!

Surrounded by a rainbow of sound

Each year, talented LEGO builder City Son reveals a new focal creation. This time he was inspired by something special to so many: music. Not just music, but the inherent emotional beauty of it. It’s something that many can relate to. Personally, ever since I was a child, my dad would play all kinds of different music and quiz me on the titles and artists until I had them memorized. As I grew, I learned to play a few different instruments, and when I hit high school, the saying, “music breathes the words we cannot speak,” was my mantra. Indeed, it got me through tough times, and I still cherish it every day. And it’s true; music does speak. It speaks a language so powerful that it’s universal across all ages and races, no matter their tastes or connection to it. This colorful piece embodies the emotion of music. The dimension, liveliness and expertly crafted instruments speak for themselves. But I am most impressed with the expression of pure bliss upon the face of the headphone-clad woman. It takes a truly brilliant builder to bring LEGO to life in this way, and he couldn’t have done it better.

Music! (2020)

If you’re on a music kick, take a look at our music archive. You can also check out City Son’s animal inspired creation from last year.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for February 29, 2020

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 last week of February 2020.

LEGO takes home multiple awards at Toy Fair 2020. Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS, FEATURES AND REVIEWS:: This week we saw some great Toy Fair announcements, the release of the new LEGO mobile game, the next gift with purchase and more.

TBB TOY FAIR 2020 NEWS

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

LEGO Card Shooter

LEGO’s newest Creator Expert vehicle revealed as the Italian classic Fiat 500 [News]

One of the best things that have happened to the LEGO Creator Expert theme over the previous decade is the introduction of large scale vehicle sets. It all started with a fantastic 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van set in 2011. Soon we got a taste of iconic British motorcars with 10242 MINI Cooper MK VII and even got behind the wheel of the charged version of 10265 Ford Mustang. Today, LEGO invites all car enthusiasts on a road trip down the Amalfi Coast with the newest addition to the Creator Expert garage, 10271 Fiat 500 set. The set consists of 960 pieces and will retail for the price of US $89.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £74.99; it will be available directly from LEGO Stores & LEGO.com from March 1, 2020.

Click here to learn all the details about the new Creator Expert set…

Fine dining at its toughest

The meat may be a bit difficult to chew, but this meal still gets top marks. Builder Pistash took extra care in preparing a dish that is entirely LEGO, down to the dinnerware itself. Fun techniques include swords for fork tines, pink afro hair for raspberries, and stacked bottles for the wine glass stem. And if you’re wondering about a couple of the less obvious elements, the napkin is made from the cloth “picnic blanket” found in 10242 Mini Cooper set, while the broccoli is a retro LEGO tree. Compliments to the chef!

Let me whet your appetite

At BrickCon last October, the Brothers Brick led a fan-collaborative “Brick Banquet” that turned out to be a big hit. You can see that original article along with other impressive food models in our food archives.

A cool rover for February

February is the least favorite month for many people, at least in the Northern Hemisphere; it’s often cold, still dreary, and all the magic of winter and Christmas is long forgotten. But not for me. It certainly helps that my birthday falls in this shortest of months, but there are many other positive features to recommend it. For example, it is the month to build LEGO rovers (Febrovery). I love rovers. And what better way to combine winter with rovers than a solid Ice Planet 2002-inspired rig like this one from the appropriately named Frost? It’s got giant wheels that are really erasers (perhaps it erases its own wheel marks from the snow?), the glorious trans-neon orange canopy, and the can’t miss blue-and-white color scheme. Some stickered pieces from the Galaxy Squad make some nice details, and I love white greebles. The coral highlights set it apart though, which is good because this is on Ice Planet 2003, not 2002.

Febrovery 2020 day 23

Brick-built adorableness

What says cute more than a LEGO hedgehog? Okay, maybe a real hedgehog, but dang this guy is a cutie! Created by excellent builder Eli Willsea, it’s a great use of that claw element for the spines. Eli says there are almost 200 of them, which comes as no surprise! The trademark curl of the body, little white tummy, and pink toes makes for a loveable build.

Hedgehog

Willsea (AKA Forlorn Empire) has been featured numerous times on The Brothers Brick. You can check out more of his builds here.

The sad tale of Sir Warick the Overconfident

Ahead of Brickvention this year, LEGO Certified Professional Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught, challenged his team of builders to build whatever they wanted. Team member Mark jumped at the opportunity and built this magnificent scene dominated by a giant dragon. And while the dragon is the first thing you’ll notice, this creation really presents the story of a knight, Sir Warick. Or at least the final chapter in his story. I promise you he’s there, just look at the end of the beautiful spout of fiery dragon breath.

Huge LEGO® brick Dragon

Click to feel the burn!

The pitfalls of realistic building

There’s a danger to building realistic LEGO creations in that there is a chance writers like us could pass it up. While seeking out inspiration for articles, my thought process went as follows, LEGO build; cool. Another LEGO build, our readers will like that one; cool. Someone selling their old Atari, maybe? Pffft, whatever, move on. LEGO creation; cool. Wait, go back. Was that? Holy shnikies, that’s LEGO! That reaction is courtesy of Joe Klang and every bit of this stellar Atari 2600 is genuine LEGO. The Atari logo is comprised of 1×2 curved slopes, the chrome jack is a harpoon piece and even the rubber bands are LEGO. Notoriously spotty quality control with brown works in Joe’s favor here as it replicates woodgrain nicely. Even the Pitfall box art with its 8-bit graphics are well played indeed!

Atari VCS 2600 recreated in LEGO

A mech that breaks the rules

When I see one of Marcoi Marozzi‘s mechs, I know I’m in for a bit of fun while I try and track down the unusual LEGO parts involved in the construction. In the Hyd.ra 5k Medium Mech I started looking for the piece used in the head, and found it to be Hero Factory shoulder armor. The rounder bits of plating are sourced from Star Wars big-fig parts. Even the feet are a deep cut, this time from the Throwbot line. But that arm gun threw me. There were parts in there I just didn’t recognize. Shockingly, Marcoi has moved from “just” using custom stickers to enhance their builds to using non-LEGO parts.

Hyd.ra 5K Medium Mech

The LEGO purist in me rebels at this. But it’s hard to argue that the results look pretty darn sweet. I guess every once in a while you just need to break the rules.

LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed mobile game is out today bringing more than 50 iconic LEGO characters to your smartphone [News]

Today, the LEGO Group and Gameloft are celebrating the release of the long-awaited LEGO® Legacy: Heroes Unboxed mobile game. Unveiled in May 2019, the game is finally being released on three major platforms and available today in App Store, Google Play, and Microsoft Store.

Click here to learn more about the new LEGO mobile game…