The recent release of LEGO’s revamped Galaxy Explorer has put a lot of builders in a Neo Classic Space frame of mind. This creation from Titolian combines that classic color scheme with a healthy dose of angles and curves. The result is an insectoid-style craft that leaves us itching to own one ourselves. If you dig this, make sure to check out more of Titolian’s clever characters and spectacular spacecraft in our archives.
Yearly Archives: 2022
LEGO Ideas 21335 Motorized Lighthouse – a beacon of brick-built class... and cost [Review]
During the COVID lockdown, thousands of people all over the globe found themselves with a significant amount of extra free time and the ability to create wonderful builds. The LEGO Ideas page was overwhelmed with submissions, with an unprecedented number of builds being approved for production. Many of these have been officially licensed products like the Fender Stratocaster, Home Alone, and Sonic the Hedgehog.
While licensed LEGO sets can be very cool, it is always nice to see the LEGO Ideas team approve projects that are wholly original and appeal to a wider range of people. Often these sets don’t have the extra cost associated with licensing, but sometimes they do – as is the case for the newest addition: LEGO Ideas 21335 Motorized Lighthouse. This 2065 piece set will be available September 1st and retail for US $299.99 | CAN $379.99 | UK £259.99. Join us as we take a closer look and see if that high price tag is worth it.
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.
This dragon is ready for a hot knight out
The Black Falcon faction has their hands full trying to combat Yzur, the Fireheart in this scene by seb71. The color scheme on this mythical beastie is en fuego! The blocking of red, dark red, black, yellow, and gold feels organic without being monotonous. And the sculpting on the limbs and tail is downright perfect, making the build feel complete. Even the dragon’s fire breath is a wonderful blocky construction, much to the chagrin of our mounted knight. I particularly like the sculpting of Yzur’s face, with excellent use of the Brickheadz eye piece. Even without the cryptozoological wonder, the background stands up on its own. Check out that delicate wispy pine behind our crimson menace!
The car that is business up front, party in the back
I wish the car-truck still existed in the US. These were the El Caminos and Rancheros from the fifties to the eighties. They, like the mullet, are a timeless classic that could only be operated if the radio was tuned to classic rock and the driver wore either no shirt or one without sleeves. A six-pack of Schlitz was sometimes included. Australia, as it turns out, kept that beautiful dream alive right up until 2017 with the Holden Ute. Here we see a stunning LEGO example built by Chris Elliott. It’s the 1971 Turbo Coupe Utility, making it precisely as old as I am. Frankly, I’m not sure if my paint job and luster have held up as well as this beautiful machine. While my chrome is also not as shiny, my ability to air-guitar to Iron Maiden is still legendary, so that’s something.
Not to make this all about me but if you really want to go back in time, check out an old offering of the 1971 Ute from yours, truly. Chris tells us his version received the “Staff Favorite” award at Brickfair Virginia 2022. Bravo! Here it is posed next to it’s major award.
It was a brick like any other...
Theres something about Film Noir that captures the heart of any cinephile and Casey McCoy brings us a Film Noir inspired scene in his latest LEGO build. I love the composition of this scene, effortlessly capturing the 30’s/40’s era. The attention to detail as you explore the construction is a real treat, from the window and blind build and on to the Art Deco radio, carpet (which is a master build in itself!) and Dado rail, which itself hidden behind set dressing that looks like its always been a part of the Private Eyes office.
What’s of particular interest in this is that Casey hasn’t snapped his latest creation in black and white but instead taken full advantage of a limited greyscale colour palette to present this tale of a dame, a seedy detective and a brick. Now excuse me whilst I dip my fedora and fold up the collar of my raincoat…
The Fall of Gondolin and the diving board like balcony
For their latest LEGO creation Josiah Durand drew inspiration from ‘The Fall of Gondolin’ by J.R.R.Tolkien. Since I am not familiar with the source material, there is little I can say about this creation being true to the story. I can, however, say that it definitely deserves a mention on TBB. The castle is white with some tan details, but the dark grey rock formation it’s build on gives a great contrast in colour. The top of the castle is light grey and it ends with a flat rooftop – a detail we hardly ever see when it comes to LEGO castles. This flat roof is adorned with a diving board like balcony. Which to me always predicts a stand off between two nemeses that ends in one of the two falling off the balcony towards certain death. As we see in Josiah’s creation, that might just happen.
Two friendly neighbourhood giants started a forest band
We’ve featured The Birchwood Baron by Steven Erickson before on TBB. Not long after that Steven surprised us with The Red Oak Regent. Now we finally have a LEGO creation that features both these gentle forest giants. Steven’s creation is proof that minifigures do matter. With that I am not implying that a build without minifigures is not that interesting. I am implying that it pays off to carefully put your minifigures together. It is easily noticeable when the minifigures in a creation are just an afterthought. Steven mixes minifigure parts from a broad selection of themes and they are not just castle. We can spot some Disney parts, but also pirates, Lone Ranger BAM and CMF. Speaking of CMF, have you seen our elaborate LEGO CMF series 23 review?
First name: Krog, last name: Torturer, middle names: Zaak, the
This friendly-looking chap built by Ivan Martynov is called Krog Zaak the Torturer. With a name like that, there was little chance he’d end up in a nice, safe line of work. Even if the Torturer is just a title, I don’t think you’d want him running the Krog Zaak Daycare or being an accountant. He looks the part as well, very T-800-esque – that is, he could crush you underfoot with those clever springy legs. The head in particular looks very menacing with the yellow popping nicely against the grey machinery. I wonder if he gives good hugs.
Raccoon paladins are just as fierce as they are cute
Let’s follow this LEGO raccoon paladin by Miscellanabuilds into a world of fantasy and high adventure! The build comes to life from a roleplaying game campaign where this paladin is Miscellanabuilds’s character. Meet Procyous Loftyre, a Paladin of the World hailing from the Magic Woods. Dressed in green with a satchel and weapon, this paladin is ready for adventures across the land to help as many people as they can. Entwined flex-tubes make up the satchel’s strap, giving it a great woven and organic appearance. Speaking of great organic looks, the shapes of the raccoon paladin are lovely. The soft features of the fur balance the hard look of the paladin’s eyebrows. There’s no question this paladin is someone you want in your adventuring party.
TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for August 27, 2022 [News]
In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the fourth week of August 2022.
TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS Christmas came early this week, with reviews of 2 recently revealed advent calendars. Halloween came early too, with the latest series of Collectible Minifigs all wearing costumes. Looking for more news? Be sure you check out our last Brick Report to read about TBB’s Brickcon 2022 Collaborative display announcement.
- [REVIEW] LEGO 75340 Star Wars Advent Calendar for 2022 – Where life is a snowy, sandy beach — SPOILER ALERT! We reviewed this year’s collection of mini-builds from a galaxy far, far away.
- [REVIEW] LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71034 Series 23 – “Oops, All Costumes” — Sure to be one of the most interesting collection for feeling unusual parts in the bag, the latest collection is all about elaborate costumes for your Minifigs.
- [REVIEW] LEGO Marvel Superheroes 76231 Guardians of the Galaxy Advent Calendar – Oh Christmas Groot, Oh Christmas Groot — SPOILER ALERT! We went on a far-out space trip with the first ever Guardians of the Galaxy advent calendars. I. Am. Groot.
- Universal, Lego Group Construct Five-Year Exclusive Film Partnership To Create New Movie Franchises – [Deadline.com] — LEGO and Universal team up to make a pile of new movies all about the little plastic bricks we know and love.
- LEGO STAR WARS SUMMER VACATION IS HERE! – [Starwars.com] — Disney+ is now streaming the latest animated LEGO Star Wars movie featuring fun in the sun, and of course, sand.
- Hogwarts Express™ – Collectors’ Edition – [Lego.com] — Get ready to make your hard-earned money disappear in the blink of an eye with the new massive LEGO Hogwarts Express train scene.
- Motorised Lighthouse officially revealed! – [Brickset.com] — The new LEGO Ideas set is a stunning motorized lighthouse that just might wreck your budget.
“Ernie, two double-deckers at twelve o’clock!”
We’ve seen a few versions of the Knight Bus from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in LEGO sets. However they all fail to replicate one of its most memorable tricks – distorting itself to squeeze between two London buses. Having done my fair share of rush hour cycling in London, I can confirm that this is no mean feat, and to be fair it’s quite hard to replicate in LEGO form. But that hasn’t stopped LEGO Instagrammer Gilderoy Blockhart from having a crack at it! There aren’t many LEGO pieces in purple (in fact a lot of them have come from Knight Bus sets), so this can’t have been easy. He’s even captured it mid-squeeze, going from six studs wide to a mere two at the front. And all this while still being able to fit Harry Potter himself – and some lights – in at the back! That really is magic.
A Star Wars scene but built in the style of a classic LEGO theme
Based on a scene from Rouge One: A Star Wars Story, Robert4168 has created this unique display which adopts the look of the LEGO Adventurers theme. Instead of the heroes obtaining the Death Star plans from a data library, here they appear to be climbing bookshelves in order to reach the treasure at the top. But alas, they are pursued and one of the heroes has fallen! A curved plant stem represents a guard for an elegant cutlass on the wall, with more of the piece forming an artistic trim at the upper section of the build. This is truly an unexpected combination of themes and it would be great to see more themes mashed together like this.