Yearly Archives: 2020

Mischief Managed

LEGO released the new Harry Potter Collectible Minifigures recently and Dishbrick placed the Weasley twins in the perfect setting: Brewing potions for their own practical joke shop. I like the use of the 5 point crystal and the power blast to show that the potions in the cauldrons are either exploding or steaming hot. Also the use of the back of the hidden side ghost faces as a bottled substance is very nice. But the best thing about this creation is the clever use of the lantern for the bunsun burner set up.

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LEGO Halo fan spends 5 years designing & building 7-foot UNSC heavy frigate from 25,000 bricks [Exclusive]

For the past several years, my friend Steve Witt has been collecting the necessary LEGO bricks and fiddling with his design to produce a 7-foot-long (2.1 meter) recreation of a Paris-class UNSC heavy frigate from the Halo video game universe that he’s dubbed the Katara. After following his work-in-progress photos on Facebook and Flickr for five years, I’m very pleased to share this closer look at the finished ship, exclusive to The Brothers Brick.

We’ll take a closer look at the details and share some of the build’s history in a moment, but let’s pause and take in just how massive a LEGO ship 7 feet long really is, with this photo of the builder working on it.

See detailed photos and learn more about this massive Halo ship

LEGO Ideas second 2020 Results breaks record with 35 fan submissions qualifying for productisation review [News]

LEGO just announced a new record of 35 submissions by fan creation submissions to be considered for the second 2020 review, the highest ever amount since the inception of the programme for a single review period. The first review earlier this year had 26 submissions, making it a total of 61 sets now in the pipeline of options for LEGO to decide what creations would be made into official LEGO sets.

Click to see the qualifying projects

A splash of colour to light up the dark ages

LEGO castle creations are often a brilliant display of how to build with gray bricks. And though I love big gray castles as much as the next LEGO fan (I’m even hoarding all kinds of gray bricks to build my own massive castle one day), I can also appreciate castle creations with a generous splash of colour, like Tobias Goldschalt has with his jester scene.

The trees are a brilliant adaptation of the one in front of the Bookshop modular building, and remind us in the real world that autumn I around the corner. If the bright colours aren’t enough, the jester is prancing along the road with his entourage in tow, bringing cheer to the local peasantry. Dancing to the sound of a drum and guitar, as he moves on to his next location along with his wagon full of props.

Free registration for LEGO House Fan Day event to be held on 24 September [News]

Following the success of the online LEGO House tour, LEGO House is back with a full day of live sessions. Called the LEGO House Fan Day, the event will will be held on the 24th of September and open to the fan community all over the world to join for free. Registration is required and sessions are held from 1pm 4pm CEST (Billund time)

Click for more details on the sessions

Weirdness under the cover of night

At first glance, this LEGO piece by Shannon Sproule yields more questions than answers. Why is the sky red? Who are those people? Why are they huddled together like that? And what is up with that statue? The ominous title certainly doesn’t help; Meeting by the statue, slurp, slurp, slurp. But then I read the only tag Shannon left; Miskatonic, and it all became clear. Of course. This all makes perfect sense now. You see, Shannon speaks my language, but then again, I already knew that about him. We are students of Miskatonic, sons of Innsmouth, whatever you want to call us. If you’re still confused by all that, then clearly, you have not been indoctrinated into the writings of one H. P. Lovecraft, and maybe you’re better off. Move on, go look at some Star Wars spaceships or something and let Shannon and I have our knowing conspiratorial glances. I’ll meet you by the statue, Shannon.

The Heimdall is a lesson in color-blocking

Sometimes a LEGO creation comes along that needs a double or even a triple take to really appreciate it. Such is the case with this Heimdall built by Lech Kulina. At first glance, does it take inspiration from a whale? A stingray? A bird? Maybe all three. One thing for sure is this ship is built with a whopping 7441 pieces and took Lech five months to design. He tells us the project is inspired by the imaginative art of Michal Kus, likely this piece. The biggest takeaway from Michal’s work is his use of color-blocking. This is a technique that uses colors that are opposites on the color wheel and pairs them together to make interesting and complementary color combinations. Often this is associated with fashion, but LEGO builders also utilize this technique with equal flair.

Click here to take a closer look

Colorful and delightful LEGO merchandise from Chronicle Books [News]

In February at Toy Fair New York we covered selected LEGO branded merchandise at the event. Some of the products are now available, including colouful jigsaw puzzles and journals made by Chronicle Books. Here’s a quick guide and availability on Amazon for sale or preorder.

Click to see the products in detail

Blast through the blockade with the Crimson Raptor!

If you’re a galactic outlaw in need of the ultimate blockade buster, look no further than Darth Bjorn’s Crimson Raptor.

Racing out of the Outer Rim, this modified YT-1144 Corellian transport is an incredible build. Darth Bjorn nailed the Star Wars cargo ship look while putting heavy amounts of his flair to it. In particular, I admire the communication equipment placed on the hull as a cluster of antennae instead of a single radar dish.

The interior of the Crimson Raptor is just as impressive. The main corridor connects the cargo bay to the highly-detailed engine room and other locations, all on a scale that is fully playable with LEGO figures. That right there might be my favorite aspect of this creation: it’s not just a shelf model. I could pick this up an swoosh it around the room without fear of it falling apart.

Skids up on the Colonial Viper Mk VII

Here at The Brothers Brick, we give a lot of love to Star Wars LEGO creations and sets. But when the likes of David Duperron comes around with a new Battlestar Galactica creation, we surely take notice. David is a master at building highly detailed UCS (Ultimate Collector’s Series) ships as evidenced by this Colonial Viper Mk VII. The Mk VII contains an additional laser cannon at the dorsal fin, a darker color palette, and is sleeker than the Mk II. Be sure to check out David’s Mk II for comparison. In this version System and Technic bricks are integrated seamlessly to give the Viper its signature shape.

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Benny’s wheelbike, wheelbike, WHEELBIKE!

Monowheels are a frequently used vehicle for steampunk characters, spacemen, and 4-armed cyborgs everywhere. And here comes one by martin.with.bricks in the Classic space theme, cruising over the crater covered landscape in style. The wheel has some serious tread, built using the ingot piece, and if you look behind the bike, you’ll see the clever use of profile bricks perfectly spaced to show the tread marks in the sand. The pilot seat is an excellent reflection of the classic space aesthetic.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 5, 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 first week of September 5, 2020.

We make beautiful music in our review of the new LEGO Ideas Grand Piano set. Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS: This week was huge for news and reviews! We saw the reveal of the massive Harry Potter Diagon Alley set, the Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina set, a collaboration between LEGO and Addidias, took a look at all the sets released in September and more!

Your guide to the new LEGO sets now available for September 2020: Advent Calendars, Star Wars, Harry Potter & more – We list all the new sets available for September from the LEGO Store.
Get all your wizard supplies in the stores of the new LEGO Harry Potter 75978 Diagon Alley set – Get all your wizard supplies in the stores of the new LEGO Harry Potter 75978 Diagon Alley set
LEGO drops a teaser video of upcoming Adidas collaboration – LEGO and Adidas reveal a collaboration around the cultural phenomenon back from the 80s and 90s ZX silhouettes.
First look at the 3,000-piece LEGO Star Wars 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina – Take a first look at the upcoming LEGO Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina set, a massive 3,187-piece set with more than 20 minifigures, including several fan-favorites that are all-new to LEGO!
LEGO teases a colourful collaboration with Levi’s – It looks like your next pair of jeans from Levi’s might be compatible with your collections of plastic bricks!
Watching Adam Savage sort his LEGO collection is your ASMR dose of the day – The LEGO fan community is always elated to see a famous face enjoying the same hobbies they participate in. We see Adam Savage from Tested.com sort out his modest collection.

Click to read the rest of the week’s news