Happy holidays to all of our fellow LEGO builders! As is tradition, we at The Brothers Brick will be opening our advent calendars as we count down to Christmas. We’ll also be sharing commentary on each one, which will be both insightful and hilarious!
This year we have new Harry Potter, Star Wars, City and Friends advent calendars to open. We will be sharing images of the new calendars every day through Christmas, and hope that you’ll join us! Let’s see what there is to open on Day 12.
Roaming around in desolation, a well-armed mech makes its way. This detailed mech model built by Carter, showcases how LEGO is the perfect medium for mech building.
Firstly the parts usage exhibited in this build is fantastic, my favorites being the brown minifigure backpacks used as ammo storage and the roller skate pieces rendering shoulder artillery. Out of some common black elements including the whip piece, 1×2 grill, and 1×4 wing piece – just to name a few, Carter fashions a distinguished arm-gun. A piece of shoulder armor usually found in buildable figure sets, is utilized as a cockpit of sorts. While the mech build is certainly the centerpiece of this model, the ground it walks on is also interestingly put together – comprised of a mosaic of 1×2 brown slopes. Overall this build is definitely and inspiration for imaginations everywhere.
Did you know there is an urban legend about the position of a horse’s legs on a statue? If the horse is rearing, both front legs in the air, the rider died from battle. If one front leg is up that means the rider was wounded in battle. If the horse has all four hooves on the ground, the rider died outside battle. If that legend is true than we might assume that the rider of alex_mocs creation was wounded in battle. His statue to remember his bravery however didn’t stand the test of time. The rider is completely gone (if there ever was a rider). The horse itself is quite okay except for the pestilence growing across it’s back. This creation shows that there can be beauty in decay. I love all the different shapes of the mushrooms and making them white adds a nice contrast to the black horse.
In the mid-fifties Volkswagen imported their microbus into the US and Americans were immediately smitten. The forward-cab shape offered practicality, utilitarianism, and unbridled fun in one fell swoop, and Ford, Dodge, and GMC quickly took notice. Clearly, this phenomenon has not been lost on LEGO builder Chris Vesque as he presents a series of five 60’s era Ford Econolines (teardrop headlights) and Dodge A-100’s (round headlights). He starts us off with a stock Ford Econoline pickup. This configuration offers a full 7 1/2 feet of loading capacity.
I can assure you the next four get wilder from here so… Continue reading
Happy holidays to all of our fellow LEGO builders! As is tradition, we at The Brothers Brick will be opening our advent calendars as we count down to Christmas. We’ll also be sharing commentary on each one, which will be both insightful and hilarious!
This year we have new Harry Potter, Star Wars, City and Friends advent calendars to open. We will be sharing images of the new calendars every day through Christmas, and hope that you’ll join us! Let’s see what there is to open on Day 11.
I never had a dirtbike as a kid or as an adult. I’m too prone to cracking my noggin, I guess. George Panteleon shows us what life is like for the less accident-prone among us with this amazing and detailed LEGO Yamaha XT550. George tells us this model was constructed with 460 parts and it is 31cm long and 18cm high. I would feel safer with this LEGO version over the real thing but only just slightly. With my luck, I’d still find a way to bust my fool head while building this. Somehow LEGO accidents are plentiful in this household. You should see the broken nail I’ve endured while building this.
I have to admit that I am not familiar with the source material for this mysterious being, if there even is source material. Therefore, I can only appreciate this LEGO creation by Anthony Wilson for what it is: a beautiful creation made out of LEGO. The main model of the skeleton looks like it is actually quite sturdy and articulate, and the black cape suits the dark feel of the subject of this creation. Although the entire skeleton appears to be symmetrical, the head isn’t, which gives it character. The rainbow-colored shrubbery adds a very nice contrast to the dark side of the creation. This surely is a beautiful portrayal of life and death.
With last year’s 10270 Bookshop, LEGO returned to a more traditional style of architecture than the 1950’s style of the previous couple of years. With this year’s 10278 Police Station, LEGO continues a classic look that would not feel out of place on the streets of New York or London. The new Modular set includes 2,923 pieces with five minifigures, and will be available starting January 1st, 2021 ($199.99 US | $269.99 CAD | UK pricing TBD).
The theme of the set is not without controversy and some strong reactions from within the LEGO fan community. We’ll address this later in the review, but ask our readers up front to be respectful of differing opinions in the comments.
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.
Read our hands on review of 10278 Police Station
Happy holidays to all of our fellow LEGO builders! As is tradition, we at The Brothers Brick will be opening our advent calendars as we count down to Christmas. We’ll also be sharing commentary on each one, which will be both insightful and hilarious!
This year we have new Harry Potter, Star Wars, City and Friends advent calendars to open. We will be sharing images of the new calendars every day through Christmas, and hope that you’ll join us! Let’s see what there is to open on Day 10.
Those LEGO builders who love teal have a new ally in the fight against those who seek to wipe it off the face of the LEGO color palette. This well-armed and armored tank by Ivan Martynov, which has so many guns, even the treads are packing heat. The rolling arsenal features an unusual shape, with those long treads out front… and judging by the tally of old ladies silhouetted on the side, has no respect for the elderly either.
Japanese tiger beetles are one of the coolest bugs on the planet. Not only is this epic predator shrouded in a rainbow, but it also sprints the equivalent of a human ultramarathon every day. It’s one of the fastest-running critters out there. I certainly wouldn’t want to mess with those mandibles either. Takamichi Irie is known for his exceptional LEGO beetles, and this is one of his best. The body shape and mosaic-like exoskeleton really make it stand out and come to life.
Takamichi’s unique style involves the use of loads of minifigure hands. You have to wonder how he gets them. Does he have a hundred poor minifigs without hands, or does he get them in bulk? Maybe our past interview with him will shed a little light on his work.
Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle is back with another heroic attempt at a mosaic in the LEGO Art style. What’s his reasoning this time?
Thanks to the LEGO Art sets, I’ve been on a real mosaic building kick lately. My last two (Wonder Woman and Kinga Forrester) were collaborative builds, but for my next effort I wanted to do one that was just by me. For a subject I decided on Christopher Reeve’s unforgettable role as Superman. Why? Because this is the sort of superhero the world really needs these days. The total build is around 5,400 parts (5,376 1×1 plates/tiles in the 48×112 stud image).
Once again I made use of the LEGO Art Remix web site to generate several different sets of instructions. My first attempt was…well, let’s be charitable and just say “it didn’t quite work out as planned.” But once I settled on a better alternate image things went together pretty quickly. (It took the same time to build as it takes to watch Superman, Superman II, Superman II: The Donner Cut, and Superman III. I was worried it might stretch into Superman IV territory, but not quite.).
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