Yearly Archives: 2020

LEGO Technic reveals new 42123 McLaren Senna GTR with 830 pieces [News]

The LEGO Group and McLaren Automotive continue their collaboration with yet another building set, 42123 McLaren Senna GTR. The new LEGO Technic model is an 830-piece replica of GTR modification of the world-famous hypercar in the blue and silver livery. The set will hit store shelves on January 1, 2021, with a price of US $49.99 | CAN $69.99 | UK £44.99 | EU €49.99 | AU $89.99.

Judging by the size of the model, the new 42123 McLaren Senna GTR is in the same category with 42109 App-Controlled Top Gear Rally Car . However, since the McLaren has no motors or smart hubs, functionally, it is similar to the last year’s best-seller 42093 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1.

Don’t miss the other new sets for 2021:

See more of the McLaren Senna GTR below.

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Does this mech make my butt look big?

Intricate details are a hallmark of Marco Marozzi LEGO mech builds. This often leads to a feeling that the builds are super-huge in scale, even though they’re usually miracles of compact design. The MT3 Heavy Mech gives us a clue, though, with the quickly recognizable inclusion of a Star Wars 41st Elite Corps Trooper minifigure as the pilot. There are also hints if you happen to know how big those hockey masks are.  Or maybe you spotted those minifigure hands for fingers.

MT3 Heavy Mech

From the rear, you can see more of the custom sticker work that set Marco’s builds apart from the crowd. There are also some alternate-brand part selections here and there. LEGO purists may complain about that, but you can’t argue that the results are really stunning.

MT3 Heavy Mech

This isn’t the first mech of Marco’s that we’ve spotlighted, and it’s unlikely to be the last. My hope is that others are inspired by these tiny(?) beauties, and we’ll see even more Mechs on the horizon.

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Here’s a boat for you, a beauty too!

It has been nearly a year since LEGO Masters: USA announced their teams and it’s nice to check in from time to time on how some of the contestants are doing. Aaron Newman clearly has seafaring vessels on the brain with this stunning research vessel. He tells us that it’s over 20″ (50cm) long, and features three levels of accessible interior details. He goes into greater detail about this build on his blog. We’ve been smitten with his work before. Give it a looksy.

Research Vessel

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A tiny slice of paradise

The Walnut Villa is the latest modern microscale home by Sarah Beyer. Only comprised of a few brick, tile, and plate pieces, this LEGO villa showcases the strength in simplicity. On the facade, the minimalistic colonnade harmonizes with the alternating profile grill bricks. Small textural details contrast with the smooth streamline surfaces like the micro green wall and the poolside masonry bricks transformed tiles. When you look through the panoramic windows, you can spot a single white pillar standing inside the home. It’s remarkable how Sarah captures the same grandeur of her minifigure scale homes in this microscale vignette. Surrounded by brilliant greenery and bamboo-palm trees, the Walnut Villa looks like a dwelling in paradise.

Walnut Villa MOC. House and pool. Microscale architecture.

Browse through our archives to see more architectural builds by Sarah.

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The LEGO harvester to rule all harvesters

Holy guacamole, Batman, this machinery puts Scarecrow’s to shame! Corn cobs everywhere are shaking in their husks!

Well, this giant LEGO harvester built by Michał “Eric Trax” Skorupka actually has nothing to do with the infamous Gotham criminal, but it sure is impressive. With all the details of the real-life Krone BigX 770, the specs are incredible. With its perfect body-shaping and lack of dirt, it may even look better than the real thing. But it’s not just how it looks on the outside.

Even if you know absolutely nothing about farming equipment, you can appreciate the effort that went into making it move. Inside every expert-level LEGO Technic vehicle is a complex system of motors and gearing that is sure to leave you wondering how they designed it. And this behemoth even puts some of them to shame. It houses 9 motors (one servo, one XL, one L, and six M motors) and is controlled by three Sbricks. It even has lights! Simply put, it’s ridiculously cool.

If you’d like to see more like this, take a look at a couple more of Eric Trax’s other farming equipment builds.

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From the ashes of a Fiat 500 comes an Auburn 851

I believe “totally stoked” is the correct medical term used to describe some of us when LEGO came out with the 10271 Fiat 500 set. It’s an iconic little car, which would have been exciting enough but heart palpitations reached critical max when it was realized the set would be primarily comprised of a rare light-yellow color. This meant builders could come up with our own lemony-bright creations in due time. Australian automotive engineer Peter Blackert loves a challenge. (You have no idea!) An Instagram follower asked him to do this and he answered the call of duty using only parts from a Fiat 500 set (or two) to build this 1935 Auburn 851 Boattail Speedster. The doors open and I particularly love that the convertible top works using the same canvas part from the set.

Auburn 851 Boat-tail Speedster (1935) - Rebrick of FIAT 10271

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It’s right behind us, isn’t it?

A step into the portal should have been the beginning of an adventure on another world. Instead, it was the expedition into a nightmare. Or at least that’s what builder Bart de Dobbelaer would have you believe with his newest LEGO model.

Beginner's Guide to Adventuring - Always Mind Your Surroundings

Not only are these intrepid explorers unaware of the monstrosity behind them, but they’re also in the dark about the fabulous building job on Bart’s creation! This landscape is truly unearthly, with black spiky plants pushing their way out of the ground and forgotten stone arches pointing to dangers left and right. The monster itself is a clever use of ancient Bionicle pieces. I like the wheels around the eye sockets as a gruesome bone-like skeletal superstructure. Very frightening. Very cool.

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A towering special delivery

One of the best things about the LEGO fandom is how we can all build off of each other. (Inadvertent LEGO pun is inadvertent, but worth keeping.) This mighty tower by SweStar, for example, was inspired by the techniques developed by Luke Watkins Hutchinson. But there’s more to this build than just the underlying structure. Check out those great vines and those equally impressive spindly trees. Although there are minimal other landscape details, you can’t help but be pulled into the scene. What’s up with the approaching skeletal rider? Friend? Foe? Part-time USPS worker? It’s up to the viewer to decide.

Tower

If you’re looking for more cool towers, I suggest a quick stroll through our archives!

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LEGO GWP 40410 Charles Dickens Tribute: A Christmas Carol [Review]

Two years ago, LEGO released a set based on an interesting new concept to celebrate great minds who had an influence on our childhoods. Titled Creative Personalities (40291), it focused on the famed children’s author Hans Christian Andersen. It’s taken LEGO awhile to return to this theme, but this holiday season they’re releasing the second in the series, Charles Dickens Tribute (40410). Based on Dickens’ beloved short story A Christmas Carol, the 332-piece set will be free with purchases over US $150 | CAN $150 | UK £150 from LEGO.com and in LEGO stores. It will be available first to VIP members Nov. 20-21, and then available as part of the company’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales from Nov. 27-30. Let’s take a closer look.

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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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 reveals new Super Mario sets for 2021, bringing Tanooki, Wiggler, and more [News]

Today LEGO has taken the wraps off the second wave of its Super Mario sets, revealing five new sets and 10 new Series 2 blind bags that bring a host of new characters and locations to the build-it-yourself augmented reality game. Slated to hit store shelves starting January 1, 2021, the sets will still require the purchase of the original 71360 Adventures with Mario Starter Course US $59.99 | CAN $69.99 | UK £49.99, but bring new functionality to the game system with a variety of play features.

The Master Your Adventure Maker Set adds a yellow starter pipe that enables a time-challenge mode of play, where you’ll need to rush your Mario through the course as quickly as possible. Two new Power-Up suits for Mario are also coming to the mix: Penguin Mario, which will enable sliding, and Tanooki Mario for spinning. The new wave also introduces a new biome (in addition to the water (blue), fire (red), sand (yellow), and grass (green) from wave 1. The new poisonous Soda Jungle biome will be purple.

Don’t miss the other new sets for 2021:

Check out all the new Super Mario sets below.

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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.

Nurse and protect at all costs

Who could forget all of the valiant efforts of IG-11 during season one of Disney’s streaming series The Mandalorian? With this LEGO model, SPARKART! reminds us all of IG-11’s commitment to his programming: to nurse and protect everyone’s favorite child.

We’ve got a brick-built speeder, brick-built IG droid, and even a brick-built child in this vignette. The builder utilizes some small and pretty common elements such as slopes, wing pieces, bricks, 1×1 cones, and cylinders to create a pretty sleek white and grey imperial speeder. The limited color scheme for the speeder and droid allow the sand green and tan colored elements utilized for the child portion of the build to really pop against the rest of the model. Overall this is a great build capturing an intense moment in the series.

To nurse and protect.

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Say Ciao to this charming Italian villa

Koala Yummies is no stranger to The Brothers Brick and their latest creation definitely deserves a mention. If this were a modular I’d buy it in a heartbeat. There are quite a few features that set this creation apart so let’s dive into it!

The roof design on both of the buildings is amazing. For the taller building, 1×1 round bricks are used to represent roof shingles while on the shorter building curved double slopes were used. The window treatments are different but equally stunning with the white building utilizing boomerangs to adorn the windows and on the tan buildings we have arches combined with curved wedges. Tying it all together, both buildings use the ingot bar and masonry brick have been used to add texture to the walls. There are also a lot of half circle and quarter round tiles used to represent broken pavement. Last but not least, I love a building with plants trailing the facade, in real life and in LEGO life. And this one looks lush with all those plant parts added to it.

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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.