Yearly Archives: 2020

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for November 28, 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 third week of November 2020.

The Colosseum set gets a closer look as we review this massive building. Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS: This week we saw the reveal of the LEGO Modular building, reviewed the Colosseum and harry Potter mosaic sets, cashed in on some Black Friday deals, checked out a list of new sets coming in 2021 and more!

TBB REVIEWS:

A stilted domicile

I don’t know why these backwoods folks have decided to build their houses on precariously tall struts. Are they seeking protection from floods or zombies (or floods of zombies?). LEGO builder Andrea Lattanzio just says they’re “weird guys” which makes me think this may more of a SovCit situation, but whatever the case it’s a truly magnificent creation packed to the gills with fun details. Lots of things are worth noting, but the two that stood out to me first are the Duplo bearskin on the cabin’s roof, and the dark tan Goblin King’s arm used as a rock at the foot of the cabin. Everywhere you look, you’re sure to find another great detail. And of course, we can’t forget about that little truck, which looks perfectly suited for this pair with its 80s two-tone paint job and loads of gear strapped all over.

Stilt Houses: how to live 30 feet in the air!

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Black Friday offers from LEGO specialist stores Citizen Brick and Brickmania [News]

While we’ve been sharing Black Friday offers from both Amazon and LEGO, do also check out offers from LEGO related small businesses that make this community a little more diverse in options around specialised themed sets and minifigures.

Click to see details of the specials

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He just wants to axe you a question

LEGO builder Matt Goldberg is no stranger to creative part usage. Scalesquire B. A. Konstrictor, here, is a good example of that. A Legends of Chima flywheel fairing and CHI Cragger lower jaw are just two of the details that caught our eye. If you look closely you can spot minifigure-scale microphones and ice skate accessories incorporated into that stylish silver armor.

Scalesquire B. A. Konstrictor

Matt’s builds sometimes raise more questions than they answer. In this case, does “B. A.” stand for “Bad Attitude“? One can only wonder.

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.

Princess Baba Yaga

We all love a story with a strong female lead, and the princess in Bart de Dobbelaer’s latest LEGO creation is no damsel in distress, and she is definitely not in need of a knight in shining armor to be her savior. She is in control of her own happy ending! Poor prince charming never saw this coming. The tower on legs reminds me of the old Baba Yaga story, and you know over here at The Brothers Brick we all love buildings on stilts (there seem to be a lot going around lately). The triangular base is a very nice touch to this creation. The brown color of the Bionicle parts used for the legs and the spiked vine further add to the uprooted look of the tower. Also for the category Nice Piece Usage I would like to nominate the vehicle base used as a balcony.

Beginner's Guide to Adventuring - Be sure she's into you

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LEGO reveals 10278 Police Station as next in the Modular Buildings Collection [News]

LEGO has announced its 16th Modular building in the highly popular lineup first introduced in 2007. The upcoming set will be a Police Station with an intricate architectural flair, sandwiched between a donut shop and a newsstand. The box art transitions to the new adult-themed dark background shades with an 18+ age guidance indicator, also a bump up from the 16+ age recommendation since the inception of the series, along with new Modular Buildings Collection branding.

The set comes with 2,923 pieces and 5 minifigures and will retail for $199.99 US | $269.99 CAD | €199 EU | $299.99 AU and will be available on January 1, 2021. This makes it the second-largest Modular building, following the special 10th-anniversary Assembly Square with 4,002 pieces.

Click to see the full details of the Police Station modular

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Happy Hothdays and Merry Sithmas!

It’s that wonderful time of year, when the shriek of TIE Fighters can be heard in the winter sky, turbolasers pound Christmas-green plasma into nearby starships, and Imperial forces swarm like snowflakes across enemy ground positions. Armored walkers inch closer to the rebel base, with each walker hoping to go home and cozy up by the fire. LEGO builder SeanBr1cks shows one particular AT-AT getting some of that holiday cheer after a long day of crushing insurrections.

A Cozy Hothmas

There are a lot of fun easter eggs in this build: the Millennium Falcon wrapped as a Christmas gift, the X-wing and TIE fighter dogfight around the tree, and the mounted Rebel snowspeeder over the mantle. Everything is full of the holiday spirit! Sean’s clever use of bricks doesn’t just show off his building skills. They tell a story, one that we’re all familiar with yet laced with Star Wars fun.

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 10276 Colosseum takes builders to Ancient Rome [Review]

Recently, LEGO has been licensing numerous franchises and brands, from auto manufacturers to movies and cartoons. However, none of those collaborations is strong enough to result in the biggest LEGO product ever released. The truth is, LEGO is at its best when “licensing” Italian history and culture. And it’s not surprising: there are so many perfect things created by Italians, and they look even better when rendered with danish bricks. After numerous Ferrari cars, the recent 10271 Fiat 500, and even 21026 Venice from Architecture theme, here comes the largest LEGO set released so far, 10276 Colosseum. Consisting of 9,036 pieces, it is almost 1,500 pieces bigger than the previous record-holder, Star Wars 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon. The new set is available starting today, for US $549.99 | CAN $649.99 | UK £449.99, which is, in the US, $250 less than the original 75192 Millennium Falcon price tag. Let’s build and take a closer look at one of the most famous Italian landmarks.

Click for the full review of the magnificent architecture

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Deals go live for LEGO Black Friday – Win 1 million VIP points and up to 20% discounts [News]

Black Friday begins this weekend from the 27 and runs right through to the 30th of November, celebrating Cyber Monday, for a total of 4 straight days. That does not mean you should take it nice and slow as delectable deals tend to run out pretty fast. Promotions this year include a chance to win 1,000,000 VIP Points and a couple of Gift-With-Purchases to consider and of course, discounts up to 20% on selected items.

Click to see the promotion details

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.

A bug that keeps changing with the times

It’s always fun when LEGO builders… well… build on each other. CB Phase 4,  Marin Stipkovic‘s latest entry for Mech Monday, is a new “final form” for the evolving Cobalt Bug concept created by Markus Rollbühler almost exactly a year ago. Times, they are a changin’. There are a lot of great details in this latest evolution to enjoy.  Those basketball netting engine cowlings are a lot of fun, as are the ski pole feet. The orange spike proboscis is smile-worthy, too.

Mech Monday #47: CB Phase 4

If you want even more juicy views of this mech, check out the 360 degree rotation Marin shared on Flickr. I can’t wait to see if we get a ultimate-final form version next year!

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.

One from the Lucasfilm archives

It’s hard to build a good Star Wars vehicle from LEGO, because so many of them are dinged up and weather-worn, and that doesn’t translate well to pristine, brightly-color bricks. But Finn Roberts has done that better here than I’ve seen in quite awhile. The brick-built weathering is wonderfully executed with patches of lighter colors where the paint has worn away. You can almost tell it used to have white lettering on the side, too. This model is based on a piece of unused concept art from The Force Awakens, and now I’m just sad this monstrous desert skiff never made it onscreen, because it’s an amazing design.

Trouble on Tatooine?

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 Art mosaic 31201 Harry Potter Hogwarts Crests [Review]

When we reviewed 31199 Marvel Studios Iron Man from the first wave of the new LEGO Art mosaic sets a few months ago, we talked about LEGO’s long history with mosaics, going all the way back to 1955. Despite being a considerably different build experience from the typical LEGO set, mosaics have enduring popularity, and LEGO is determined to keep up with that market, as the second wave of Art mosaic sets has already been revealed. Two new sets are launching January 1, 2021, from the Wizarding World and Disney franchises. Today we’re looking at the first of those sets, 31201 Harry Potter Hogwarts Crests, which will retail for US $119.99 | CAN $149.99 | UK £114.99 and includes 4,249 pieces. The set includes pieces to build the crests for any one of the four Hogwarts houses, and four copies of the set can be combined to build a giant Hogwarts School crest.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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