Yearly Archives: 2020

In case of a lack of bullets, just use birds instead!

This just has to be one of the ‘silliest’ scene’s from Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade and General Tilney managed to capture it quite perfectly in LEGO. The best thing about this photo is that everything is made from LEGO bricks, even the sky! Partway through the film, Indiana Jones and his father Henry are trying to escape from enemy airplanes. There is a lot of bombing involved and at one point, they get cornered on a beach full of birds. Father Henry charges the flock of seagulls while flapping his umbrella. This startles the seagulls and they take off into the airplane which causes it to crash. Henry mumbles a Charlemagne quote, which might actually not be a Charlemagne quote and the scene ends. That is some classic Indiana Jones right there!

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The lovechild of Star Wars ship designs

When certain design elements dictate the look of the gritty Star Wars universe, it is best to stay within those constraints when designing new and different ships. That doesn’t mean make them same-y and boring, but rather different and unique enough to make sense. LEGO builder Librarian-Bot has struck the perfect balance (literally!) with a hybrid of the Millennium Falcon, the Ghost, and the Resistance Bomber. The Raging Comet flies with a unique wedge shape that combines the bulky nature of the freighters mentioned above. Despite a top-heavy structure, this ship balances on its tip by a stand or a singular landing gear. To achieve this feat, Librarian-Bot built this freighter with an airy but detailed interior to reduce the weight.

Many details also add to the characteristics of a starship from a galaxy far, far away. Starting from the top, there is an oversized sensor dish and on either side, familiar circular docking rings. In the front, a cockpit with an iconic conical shape, and lots of intricate angles and greebling between it all. These are a great homage to the Millennium Falcon, which set the standard for Star Wars ship designs. Four engines in the rear are different from what you would expect, but they do not look out of place. The entry hatch further down includes a foldable boarding ramp that some might find excessively long, its superfluous nature just screams “Star Wars!” Red highlights break up the monochrome greys, and a black and yellow checkerboard pattern give the impression of the Raging Comet being a fast smuggler ship.

Back to school, in some way or another, we hope

Is 2020 going to be the year that every kid stays back a grade? I sure hope not! I’m seeing an alarming number of adult students making a mess of their educations this year, with distance learning not being their strong suit. Hopefully, the kiddos are faring better than their parents. In the meantime, Instagram user brickdesigned presents some neat LEGO back-to-school elements. Various desks, lockers, a chalkboard, and those noisy metal benches from chemistry class are surely hitting me in the nostalgic feels. This is usually the time, in the late days of summer, that kids are gearing to go back to school. So whether you’re going to a physical place or learning from home, your old uncle Lino wants you to please make the best of it and be safe out there. Got it, you little whippersnappers? Good! I’m glad we could have this talk. Now get the heck off my lawn!

Johnny Thunder is always a good way to go!

Having a Johnny Thunder figure in your creation always is a big plus! Valerius Maximus however made a lovely LEGO temple to go along with his Johnny Thunder and Pippin Reed figures. There are also two chameleons hiding in the creation, as well as a few odd parts using camouflage to blend in with the surrounding. Can you spot the army helmet? Valerius Maximus also used not just the flower stem with 3 leaves but also the sprue part, which I always greatly appreciate.

Create your own mosaic masterpiece with Lego Art Remix [Review & Interview]

Recently TBB’s Chris Doyle shared with us his journey of creating a custom LEGO Art mosaic. One of the tools Chris used, LEGO Art Remix, was an essential step towards getting to the finished product. We took some time to talk to Creator Deb Banerji about the project. With his background in Computer Science, Deb coded the foundation of the LEGO Art Remix tool in about 5 hours, though he’s spent a bit more time refining it since then. I’ve had some hands-on time with it from the first release and to its current final form, and it’s only gotten better. The latest results output close to a finished mosaic design that you can immediately start building within minutes if you had the parts on hand.

Click to read the review and interview with Deb

LEGO and IKEA reveal the BYGGLEK product line after two years of collaboration [News]

Today LEGO and IKEA revealed the BYGGLEK product line, more than two years after we first brought word of the collaboration between the two Scandinavian companies. The new product line promises to alleviate the organization of after-play with LEGO elements and provide a storage solution. Four products offering various size storage boxes are being introduced. LEGO says the heart of the collaboration is developing a system where kids are able to experience a quicker way to engage in continued play with LEGO bricks after a pause or break in play. The goal, LEGO says, is that this results in a storage solution that can cater to an intertwining concept of play and storage at the same time. With IKEA’s vast portfolio in furniture and home products, the BYGGLEK blends in with also being a unique decorative piece of storage, matching themes of IKEA products that are already on shelves today.

Click to see more of the BYGGLEK system in use

LEGO Star Wars 75294 Bespin Duel now available [News]

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of its release, and LEGO is honoring the occasion with 75294 Bespin Duel available exclusively from the LEGO Shop and Target ($39.99 USD | $49.99 CAD from the LEGO Shop and $39.99 USD from Target). The set includes 295 pieces, with minifigures of Luke Skywalker and his dear dad Darth Vader, and will be available on August 27th, 2020.

Two years ago, LEGO’s first “Master Builder” set 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City included a scaled-down version of this same scene, but this version is more detailed and includes a stand with a commemorative plaque.

Unfortunately, this LEGO Star Wars set will only be available in the US and Canada. The set was originally designed as the exclusive set for Star Wars Celebration, originally scheduled for August 27th-30th. With the cancellation of nearly all in-person events in North America due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this set is being made available online, but only in the United States and Canada.

Once upon a time 4.77MHz is all you needed to get things done

Getting everything done was possible on an IBM PC XT running at 4.77 MHz not too long ago. Yes, you read that right, all gaming needs, word-processing needs, and multiplayer games meant your sibling or friend sitting right beside you banging on that other side of the keyboard and functioning at the amazing single-digit MHz. This digital render by mrmotinjo is a time machine back to the ’80s.

While you continue to admire the rest of the peripheral devices like speakers and joysticks take a closer look at the elegant desk, which is also built with digital bricks. And believe me when I say those 2×2 tiles are a lot more reliable and lasting than what we used to call our storage devices – floppy disks. Now all I need to find is that turbo button that will get my machine screaming up to 8MHz.

The fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy

We all know the Millennium Falcon is the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy. We’ve all heard the whole song and dance about it making the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. But what we don’t get to see much in LEGO is the iconic ship blasting through hyperspace. Rui Miguel Anacleto has made it happen in all its stunning glory. The blue afterburner trails are a particularly good touch. I can go into detail about all the neat techniques used here or, better yet, you can build your own by following along with Rui’s instructions. It’s a better use of your time than watching some giant head yell on TV.

Part wild cat, part bird of prey, this sculpture is stunning

Some LEGO creations look more like what you traditionally think of as art than others. Large scale sculptures are a good example of this, and Ekow Nimako’s are my favourite LEGO sculptures, and his latest piece is no exception. Part hawk, part Lynx, this Griffyx cub is all beauty.

While this isn’t the first time The Brothers Brick has shared one of Ekow’s creations, this is the first one that I’ve had the pleasure of writing about. And like Lino before me, I’m having a hard time picking my jaw up off the floor and finding the right words. LEGO sculptures are so often made up of the easier-to-acquire-in-mass-quantities bricks, most notably the most basic of all LEGO elements, the 2×4 brick. But Ekow’s palette includes a much more vast array of shapes and sizes of LEGO pieces. In what I can only imagine is a ridiculously thoughtful process, he’s able to craft the best, most organic-looking brick-built shapes I’ve ever seen.

Take the Griffyx. Just by looking at it, you can feel the way it’s stretching its neck as if it just woke up and it’s loosening up its muscles. You can see the flick of its tail, as it whips back and forth. The fur looks soft to the touch and the wings – expertly engineered out of smaller chima wings – look primed and ready to take flight. I don’t get those same strong sensations from other brick-built sculptures, only Ekow’s. Will my editors allow me to go as far as to say he’s the greatest LEGO sculpture of our time? Nothing against all the other brilliant brick artists out there, but Ekow is just rewriting the game.

Super Mario has a huge headache he’s not telling us about

The LEGO Nintendo/ Mario craze has started thanks to the recent releases to plunder our wallets dry. Full disclosure, the person writing this article has never (ever) had the chance to play Super Mario during his younger years, but surely knows of how famous he is thanks to popular culture permeating all forms of media. First things first, this is a superb representation of Mario mid-flight by Lee Chi Wing (city son) that I’m familiar with, especially with the level of flexibility engineered into a brick-built character.

Click to see Mario in action

When science and (LEGO) art collide.

In this rather solemn LEGO mosaic by Jaap Bijl titled “Einstein’s One Great Mistake”; a more serious topic is explored – Albert Einstein and his role in the Manhattan Project. If we’re going to get artsy here, I would even say that the color palette and aesthetic of this build are reminiscent of Picasso’s “Blue Period.”

The 4×4 petaled flower element is back in multiples, this time in an ominous arrangement forming a mushroom cloud – the shape generally synonymous with nuclear explosions. The rest of the scene in the right panel is formed with various sized plates and tiles in dark hues with white 1×1 round bricks and cones creating the stem of the cloud. A portrait of Einstein is presented in the left panel; his face is carved out of various bricks, slopes, and tiles, for the most part utilizing the SNOT (studs not on top) technique. Einstein’s notoriously unruly and spiky hair is rendered by a synergy of the white 4×4 petaled flower pieces and white dinosaur tails. In terms of composition, although this work could be called a mosaic, it differs significantly from the new LEGO Art mosaics which are comprised mostly out of 1×1 studs. For me, Einstein’s hair and the mushroom cloud both being heavily composed of the petaled flower elements represents a kind of mirroring effect, but I could be looking too deep into this. Either way, I think it could be said that this build is genuinely thought-provoking.