Yearly Archives: 2023

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for December 3rd, 2023 [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 final week of November, 2023.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS Hope you’ve had a productive week! We’ve been busy, too! Since last week’s Brick Report we’ve heard about a slew of new sets, reviewed a couple of them, and played around with some new Gifts With Purchase! Also, our annual Advent series recap has begun!

[NEWS] LEGO offers a trio of highly-anticipated sets to kick off December — New month, new LEGO sets!
[REVIEW] LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog 76995: Shadow’s Escape — Daniel helps determine whether this diabolical hedgehog nemesis is worth chasing.
[REVIEW] LEGO 40603 Wintertime Carriage Ride and 40604 Christmas Décor Set — Read what Norm thinks of the December GWPs
[NEWS] LEGO kicks off Black Friday with release of 76269 Avengers Tower — The Holiday shopping season got off to a heroic start on Black Friday!
[FEATURE] 2023 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 1 — Follow along every day as we explore the City, Friends, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Marvel advent calendars released this year!

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2023 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 2 [Feature]

Do you hear that, readers? That’s the sound of Christmas getting ever closer! And what better way to count down toward Christmas than with day 2 of TBB’s LEGO advent calendar roundup? Why not join us as we open up the City, Friends, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Marvel calendars on offer this year?

As ever, our intrepid TBB team is on hand with witty comments, insightful observations, and bad jokes for each day’s builds. And of course, you can add your own thoughts in the comments section each day! So without further ado, let’s crack open the build for day 2…

Click here to see today’s builds!

NERF makes slaughtering your enemies fun! Wait, that came out all wrong.

It’s no surprise that on a website dedicated to LEGO, we’re all about fun toys. Take, for example, this new NERF Raider CS-35 built by Joey Klusnik. It checks all the boxes that make it cool; bright colors, thick silhouette and the promise of a raucous good time. It’s not really war if the tactical assault strike in the living room against your little brother and his goofball friends involves spongy, relatively safe projectiles, right? We had so much fun with our NERF guns right up until mom ordered us to shut the hell up for once and take it outside for christsakes. We did, and in the aftermath of the Great Bowling Ball-Trampoline Disaster of 1986, it was decided unanimously that staying indoors and playing with our NERF guns was safer. Sometimes kids just know better.

2023 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 1 [Feature]

Do you hear that, readers? That’s the sound of Christmas getting ever closer! And what better way to count down toward Christmas than with day 1 of TBB’s LEGO advent calendar roundup? Why not join us as we open up the City, Friends, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Marvel calendars on offer this year?

Click here to see today’s builds!

LEGO offers a trio of highly-anticipated sets to kick off December [News]

Amid all the Black Friday hoopla, the beginning of December nearly managed to sneak away into obscurity in the shadow of Avenger’s Tower. And yet, we have a set of new adult-themed sets hitting store shelves today: LEGO Ideas 21344 The Orient Express Train, LEGO Icons 10326 Natural History Museum, and LEGO Icons 10329 Tiny Plants. And while all the Black Friday and Insiders Weekend deals/GWPs have now dried up, a pair of new GWPs we recently reviewed are now available on the site: US | CAN | UK.

Take a look at the December releases below!

A festive Muppet mosaic made of LEGO

If you’re a 90’s kid like me, then The Muppet Christmas Carol was a likely staple of the holidays during your childhood. And builder Josh Parkinson has channeled all the energy of that 1992 classic into this beautiful wintertime LEGO mosaic of Kermit the Frog. I love the shifting shades of green, red, and brown on the main figure, creating pockets of shadow and depth using quarter tiles. And the feather pieces used in Kermit’s scarf are a great touch of texture. But the best part usage in the build has got to be the inventive lighting of the streetlamp, putting a 4×4 dish from the Starry Night set to work.

Be sure to check out the rest of Josh’s tributes to the Muppets and more in our archives.

LEGO 40603 Wintertime Carriage Ride and 40604 Christmas Décor Set [Review]

It’s the holiday season, and the mall is total chaos. But your kids need to find those latest Friends and Ninjago sets under the tree. Well, LEGO has a holiday present for you because they’re offering up two holiday themed gifts with purchase to make the shopping worth it. 40603 Wintertime Carriage Ride and 40604 Christmas Décor Set will be available this December with qualifying purchases. Let’s unwrap things a little early and have a sneak peak at these sets.

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.

Don’t open until Christmas? Nah, click right now.

This LEGO tower evokes mad scientists, crazy experiments, and, er, video games

One of the great things about art (and yes, LEGO building is an art form!) is that people can draw on their own experiences and environments to find new meaning in a creation. Illia Zubashev came up with an in-depth backstory to this teetering tower. Apparently it’s the abode of a maverick scientist and inventor, which should come as no surprise – I mean, just look at it! As interesting as the description is, though, I didn’t register any of that when I first saw this. What popped into my head was the video game Sable. It’s completely unrelated, but it just has the same sort of vibe. So sorry I didn’t heed your fascinating description, Illia. At least I can appreciate what a good build this is!

LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog 76995: Shadow’s Escape [REVIEW]

While many people recognize Sonic from video games, and even from a fairly awful movie or two, there are lots of great characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, including Shadow, who, according to Wikipedia, is an artificial creation, and an occasional antihero of the franchise. The set features a glass holding cell where Shadow is created/captured, a small duck in a rhino-shaped vehicle, and a chopper. LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog 76995: Shadow’s Escape includes 196 parts and will be available on December 1st for US $19.99 | CAN $24.99 | UK £18.99

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 on for our full review

Honey, I Shrunk the Grayskull

When I was 4 years-old, my Castle Grayskull playset felt gigantic in my hands, but when I found it packed away in the garage in my teens, I was surprised by how small it felt. Grantmasters has triggered that memory with a miniscule Grayskull so small that the in-scale Battle Cat and Panthor are mostly just a collection of minifigure hands. But the hands aren’t the only creatively used minifigure parts. A ring of minifigure legs make up the top of the tallest tower, and the castle’s namesake skull is making use of some arms. It’s some NPU that totally has the power.

Vanadinite Vic Viper is a victory for void-voyaging vessels

Ah, the Vic Viper. A spaceship design that has seen so many LEGO iterations, and yet every single year we get new and fresh ones for Novvember. Aside from inspiring a slightly forced alliterative title, there’s a lot to love about Tommy Frost‘s take on the subject. For one, it’s a super clean design. Those curves and tiles coupled with the new trans-black windscreen are silky smooth – there’s not a stud to be seen. And there’s juuust enough greebling to keep the “sci” in sci-fi. Vic Vipers are inherently swooshable, but this one looks especially so.

Scrying on your LEGO competition in the Brickscalibur contest

You can tell it’s once again Brickscalibur season when Markus Rollbühler is showing off his enviable LEGO trophy-building skills. Until January 15th, builders will be submitting their best Castle-adjacent creations for a chance at a prize. This devilish warlock seen mid-scrying spell is the trophy for the Medieval Micro category, and it’s an astounding creation! Markus’s ability to make the plastic bricks appear to be flowing cloth is superb, as are all the accoutrements to the spellcaster like the candlesticks and pile of papers. But enough talk – I need to get building if I’m going to have a shot at taking this home! Check out the Brickscalibur website for all the categories and rules if you’re interested.