Posts by Chris Burden

We stand with Ukraine

In this time of strife pressing on the chest of the world, making it hard for all of us to breathe, there are people fighting for their lives and their land. Digital LEGO builder Chris Yu has joined countless others in showing support for the people of Ukraine as they fight off Putin’s mindless assault. The Brothers Brick staff stand with Chris in this testament of support. Simple color-blocking within the parts building this blue and yellow fist of power illustrates the strength of the Ukrainian people.

i stand with ukraine

Major events like this make waves, and those waves wend their way through creative communities where expression of opinion and emotion reign. People inspired by the events of the world, like Chris Yu and others, make wonderful art worth sharing, not only for its message but also for the artistry in its execution. Our hearts go out to the Ukrainian and Russian families affected by this unfolding tragedy. We see your strength. May peace come swiftly to the hearts and minds of you all so that you may begin to move on with your lives as you wish.

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LEGO Harry Potter 76396 & 76397 Hogwarts Moments: Divination and Defense Classes [Review]

Last year we got four new Harry Potter books to add to our shelves celebrating the subjects taught at Hogwarts School. In addition to the initial Transfiguration and Potions classes, we were also given the Charms and Herbology lessons. These clever little sets expanded on previous Disney storybook playsets that provided younger LEGO fans with portable scenes and characters, and the translation to the Wizarding World has been fantastic. Back at again this year, LEGO is giving us two more lessons Tetris-ed in between custom printed covers. The first new lesson is 76396 Hogwarts Moment: Divination Class which has 297 pieces and comes with Professor Trelawney, Harry Potter, and Parvati Patil minifigures for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99. The next is 76396 Hogwarts Moment: Defence Against the Dark Arts Class with 257 pieces and Professor Moody, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom minifigures for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99. Both are available on the LEGO Shop starting March 1st.

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 the full review of these magical sets

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LEGO Harry Potter 76399 Hogwarts Magical Trunk [Review]

Now, this is something we haven’t seen before. At least in this form. Though it isn’t classified in the Hogwarts Momemnts line, this delightful little playset fits in well with the motif. The scaling is a bit off (it’d be more of a pencil case in comparison) but, what can you do? If I were 8 years old and in love with the Harry Potter franchise, I’d definitely lug this and the others around from daycare to my grandma’s house just to play. Don’t worry, though 76398 Hogwarts Magical Trunk may be 8+, there are a ton of great grabs in there for the pluses. Adults and kids can find one of the coolest sticker sheets ever laden with Harry Potter art, not to mention all the extra pieces, giving you tons of ways to customize your trunk and show your House pride. Oh, and I almost forgot about the plethora of minifigure heads and hairs to customize your own Hogwarts students. This 603-piece-set is available March 1st for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99.

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LEGO Harry Potter 76398 Hogwarts Hospital Wing [Review]

Last year, LEGO celebrated the 20 year anniversary of its Harry Potter line and as such, we were gifted with a plethora of sets themed mostly around the first and second movies. In addition to a brick-built Fluffy and new Basilisk design partnered with a castle reboot, we also got massive still life Icons and Moments from classes throughout the series presented as compact little book-style playsets. While the latter made for a good balance between display and play, the former gave us a reboot of the modular Hogwarts castle. Or at least it seems that way given the repetition of the Great Hall and Astronomy Towers in the Chamber of Secrets sets. The addition of the new 76398 Hogwarts Hospital Wing further suggests a reboot as it features a new version of the iconic clock tower above the beds in the infirmary. This 510 piece set comes with four exclusive minifigures and will be available March 1st for US $49.99 | CAN $64.99 | UK £44.99.

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 the full review

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Sowing seeds for the season

As February rounds to an end, many of us gardeners in the northern hemisphere are looking fondly at the melting snow in our yards. Builder brickdesigned reminds us of the future fruits of our green thumbs’ labor with these Farmers Market-themed builds. These clever, quaint designs are delicate reproductions of the crates and canopies common amongst weekly markets. Each has its own distinct character with creative coloration, prints, and usefully minifigure accessories. The produce stand is full of fruits and veggies held in their own clever little bins. The angle on that canopy is deceptively simple, just like the crates.

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Chad Rhino vs Flaccus Legionnaires

History lessons and LEGO make better partners than the passive fan may realize. Builder Hunter Erickson, for instance, connects to bygone eras with brick-built displays of notable moments in the past. Throughout his work, Hunter has used LEGO to cover some of the more interesting moments from recorded history. All the while, he has utilized some great techniques to achieve realistic scenery, machinery, and animals. Here we have a wonderful example of color blocking from the darker base to the light brush and muted colors of the grass. The scene’s realism even goes as far as to create a shadow over the soldiers due to the dense canopy of the spindly tree they all huddle under. The rhinoceros is actually a design from Builder Stefan that we covered way back in 2010. Hunter certainly resurrected the design for good reason.

The Flaccus Expedition, 50 A.D.

In this build, Hunter captures a potential moment from the Flaccus Expedition of 50 A.D. through the Sahara desert and most likely coming to an end around Lake Chad. The Legionnaires venturing into Africa with Septimius Flaccus had most likely only ever encountered or seen the creatures around them in gladiator battles. Being this close to something like this Rhinoceros had to be more terrifying then than it would be today. At least for some local-yokel Romans.

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Rugged rover vibes abound

We’re halfway through FebRovery and the models keep coming. Stand-outs can be hard to find but LEGO builder Julius Kanand has provided us with a near-future gem worth gushing about. A collection of old and new parts, the builder certainly had fun figuring out the finer details in this model. The suspension, which looks a lot like a Coilover suspension in each arm, is full of functioning parts, including the spring suspensions used near the central body. This is a pretty smart way to usefully integrate the suspension so that the body stays relatively still as the arms move up and down to respond to the terrain. Those big, classic wheels provide plenty of clearance under the body along a retro-future vibe to match the Classic Space planet logo used in the tailpiece. There is a ton of nice parts usage in this build, including the skateboard communications array, along with the storable helper bot that the green spacemen must be unloading here.

Rover 2

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Broken to reddish brown bits

Usually the little bricks we all love are solid and sturdy. LEGO builder hotdog_waffles, or Dano, thought he would remind us that isn’t true for bricks of every color. Fun fact, a classic 2×2 Brick can withstand over 4,000 Newtons of force. For those non-physicists out there, that’s like a horse putting all of its weight on one of your toes. Not a good day. But if that 2×2 brick (or practically any other) is made of this specific brown, that integrity goes down the drain. Most builders are quite familiar with the Curse of Reddish Brown and the pieces’ tendency to break. And they won’t just break, they shatter under the most common of circumstances. So since teal and red got their turn as buildable bricks, Dano thought it apt to give reddish brown a turn using all of their broken pieces. After all, this is most likely how it would turn out if LEGO had done this in the past.

There are plenty of ways to integrate these broken pieces into your own builds. Whether they’re “legal” or not depends on your opinion, really. Mostly, they’re great for texture or effects like this. Honestly, going with the buildable brick was probably the best way to highlight the tragic story of reddish brown pieces. One day, perhaps, it will not forsake us so. In fact, LEGO has acknowledged the reddish brown issue publicly and says they’ve fixed it. So maybe one day we’ll get a whole series of buildable bricks!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Lightyear’s cool new toy

Pixar and Disney may have put the toys down to tell us the story of the real Buzz Lightyear, but when builders like Peter Zieske see a ship in a teaser trailer, it becomes a call to arms. We may not know much about the film yet, but it has certainly created a…buzz amongst fans. While we wait to see how it fits into the Pixar Theory, we can have our fun. Peter based the Star Command XL-15 on the few images of the sleek starship seen in the Lightyear trailers. Toy or person, Buzz always gets the coolest ships.

Star Command XL-15

To more images and beyond!

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LEGO Star Wars Helmets: 75343 Dark Trooper, 75328 The Mandalorian, & 75327 Luke Skywalker (Red Five) [Review]

The Helmets Series has been a massive success since its introduction, capturing iconic characters across Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. While the troopers and TIE pilot may excite some, Boba Fett and Darth Vader proved to be the great lures for dual fans of LEGO and Star Wars, especially those who grew up with the original trilogy. After all, the set’s 18+ rating was definitely targeted at the more…tenured fans. Given how many helmets have permeated the slew of related works though, the designers have a wealth of inspiration for their next models. Much like the fans, the designers must have felt like something was missing. We got plenty of “bad guys” but where were the “hero” helmets? Well, two out of three new helmets recently announced by LEGO may debatably balance things out:
75343 Dark Trooper | 693 pcs | US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99
75328 The Mandalorian | 584 pcs | US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99
75327 Luke Skywalker (Red Five) | 675 pcs | US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99

Be sure to check out our reviews of previous reviews of the Star Wars Helmets collection:

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Good...doggie...beast

Looking like an extra from a reboot of AAAHH!!! Real Monsters, the Skulkhound isn’t something you’d want to find rummaging through your rubbish. Builder Djokson is quite a practiced character artist with a great eye for design and parts usage. This creepy little doggo is a perfect example of both. The sharp, spindly legs provide just enough support for the arching, unnaturally thin spine of this Chupacabra-esque cutie. Clever color-blocking with DOTs bracelets of different thickness give the beast a cartoonish coat that almost distracts from its jagged smile.

The Skulkhound

It may have a face only its creator could love but look at it a little longer. You know it’s cute, just in a “good boy, don’t eat my soul, here’s your graveyard kibble” kind of way. If creepy isn’t your thing, I wouldn’t recommend checking out too many of Djokson’s other creatures. Some are much less cuddly than others but they’re all full of life.

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BMO busts a move

From those that joined Finn and Jake for Adventure Time back in the day to those that are just discovering the magic memories of the distant lands of Ooo, the characters will always hold a special place in our hearts. Builder H.Y. Leung perfectly captured the look of the duo’s iconic companion, BMO. This little, imaginative robot blends contemplative, emotional moments with the reckless abandon of a child. This model captures BMO’s character design almost exactly, built at a scale that allows the proper proportions for practically every element.

BMO goes Skateboarding

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The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.