About Chris Doyle

Chris has been involved in many parts of the LEGO community for over twenty years, and has been building most of his life. A love of transparent bricks and pop culture combine in most of his creations, which tend to be pretty large scale. His website, Reasonably Clever, featured one of the longest running brick-based webcomics, as well as one of the first LEGO-themed avatar creators. His photographs and creations have appeared in several books.

Posts by Chris Doyle

An (eight) arms race – Marvel 76198 Spider-Man & Doctor Octopus Mech Battle [Review]

The latest wave of LEGO superhero sets will be released soon, and we’ve been sharing an early look at them. The final set, Marvel 76198-Spider-Man & Doctor Octopus Mech Battle, will be available April 26th from the LEGO Shop Online for US $19.99 | CAN $24.99 | UK £17.99. Doc Ock and Spidey have battled many times in the past, and it’s usually a sight to see. Does this latest mechanical knuckle-buster live up to that grand tradition? Come along as we take a close look!

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.

Click to read the full hands-on review

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Holy Headgear, Batman! – LEGO DC 76182 Batman Cowl [Review]

LEGO continues to tempt adult collectors with sets that are more about a displayable model than the more traditional brick-based play experience. Of note are mini-statues featuring helmets from Star Wars and Marvel properties, a theme that has seen some recent expansions. There are even more on the way, including Marvel villains Venom and Carnage. But DC Comics properties have been strangely absent from the mix…until now. 76182 Batman Cowl was revealed last month and will be available on April 26th and can be pre-ordered now from the LEGO Shop Online for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99. This 410-piece set features the caped crusader’s signature headgear, but is it something you’d want to display? Come along as we take a close look at just what this set has to offer, both to the Bat-Fan and the wider LEGO audience.

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.

Click to read the full hands-on review

LEGO Marvel 76187 Venom: when you have an ugly face but a great smile [Review]

LEGO has been expanding their line of collectible helmet models into super-heroic realms. We recently shared an early look at Marvel 76199 Carnage, and today we’ll delve into the eerily similar Marvel 76187 Venom. This 565 piece set will be available April 26th from the LEGO Shop Online for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99. Like Venom himself, there are good things and bad things about this set. But will the final verdict be “hero” or “villain”? Read on and see!

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.

Click to read the full hands-on review

No, it hasn’t lost a wheel. LEGO DC 76188 – Batman Classic TV Series Batmobile [Review]

Holy classic car, Batman! LEGO returns to the 60’s in style with an updated take on the the Adam West era Batmobile. Part of the next wave of super-hero related sets, the 345 piece DC 76188 Batman Classic TV Series Batmobile will be available April 26th from the LEGO Shop Online for US $29.99 | CAN $34.99 | UK £34.99. How does this new version stack up against the previous LEGO incarnations? Does the Cesar Romero Joker minifigure have his signature mustache? Does Batman have a realistic bat-paunch? Read on and see!

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.

Click to read the full hands-on review

A picture perfect LEGO camera

When it comes to recreating real-world objects out of LEGO, cameras are a popular subject. Ben Tritschler has created a great example that would feel at home at any high-end photography shop. There are plenty of clever part choices here including red rubber-band accents and a spider as a knob. But the thing that really “sells” this illusion for me is the string attaching the lens cap to the camera body.

This build also looks incredible from the back. Ben used a lot of printed elements from the 71374 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) set to add plenty of realistic details.

Ben’s first version of this camera was self-limited to 101 parts as part of the RogueOlympics. If you’re interested in some great minimal-part-count creations, you should check out some of the other featured builds from that competition.

What’s black and white and red all over? – LEGO Marvel 76199 Carnage [Review]

Building on the success of their Star Wars helmets, LEGO has been producing more mini-busts based on other pop culture licenses. In 2020 an Iron Man helmet joined the ranks, and in 2021 we’re getting even more comic-book related heads. First out of the gate is Marvel 76199 Carnage, a Target retailer exclusive that can also be obtained directly from LEGO for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99 starting April 11th in the US and Canada, and in the UK on May 1st. This 546 piece set depicts the Spider-Man arch-foe with plenty of creepy detail, but does it have larger appeal beyond a villainous dust catcher? Read on and see!

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.

Click to read the full hands-on review

This is one cool CAT

There’s something extra cool about LEGO creations that could easily double for high-end action figures. Omar R Ovalle knows just how to deliver that sort of build, as seen here in CAT. Part of their “Space Monkey and the Astronuts” theme, this is one heavy duty worker. There are a lot of clever tricks in play here, but one you might not expect is the use of black electrical tape to bypass sourcing some hard to find LEGO elements. Personally, that just feels like a smart extension of custom sticker use, which is also used here to great effect.

Omar cites Marco Marozzi as a source of inspiration for this creation. You can certainly see the influence when you look at some of Marco’s featured builds. How about you? Inspired? What sort of mech do you want to build today?

A long walk to the nearest gas station

Master of eerie landscapes Bart De Dobbelaer returns with Marooned of CZ-57. As usual there are tons of great building techniques and details to enjoy, but the standout feature this time has to be the golden lake made from Ninjago dragon wings. Or maybe it’s those curves in the the ruins. Or the dark orange plant life. No, wait, it’s the gold and green insectoid life forms. Yes, definitely the bugs. Unless you’re counting that great life-pod build. Oh, well…I guess it’s all pretty nifty.

If you like this build, check our archives for more great environments from Bart. And then continue on to do more exploring with great creations from other Space enthusiasts. You didn’t have anything else pressing to do today, right?

This robot is just Galador-able

LEGO’s long lost Galidor theme wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s no denying that those unusual parts can lead to some expressive creations. Matt Goldberg gives us a stellar example with Gage – “An AI of boundless curiosity, sparked by an inexplicable lightning incident.” Gage isn’t only a Galador remix, though. There are elements here from other classic LEGO themes. Check out the Aquazone pincers for hands, and that Bionicle mask for the back of Gage’s head. Throw in some “new” parts like those transparent pink 1×1 round tiles for eyes and a minifigure ice skate for a nose, and you’re ready to party!

Matt has made more photos of Gage available in a Flickr album, showing off Gage’s range of motion and emotion. And when you’re done checking those images out, you can peruse more quality robots from other builders in our archives!

These Irises were made for walkin’, and that’s just what they’ll do.

The walking iris is an interesting plant. When it reproduces, new plantlets form at the top of the flower stalks. This added weight causes the stalks to bend to the ground, where the new plants take root. Repeat that a few times, and you have a flower that “walks” around the garden. This exceptional botanical recreation by James Zhan captures the unique beauty of this plant, and adds in a swanky LEGO base to boot.

Seen close up, you can appreciate the building techniques that have gone into the flowers. There’s some very clever part usage including minifigure ski poles and crowns, as well as a 1×1 plate used as a tiny mosaic to give the petals a splash of color. I also like the varied joints in the greenery, allowing for some very organic curves.

Flowers have always been a popular theme for custom LEGO creations, and we’ve seen some great sets coming directly from LEGO recently, too. What sort of botanical build do you want to try?

A breath of fresh air. Sorry. I meant fire. A breath of fire.

Transparent LEGO elements are the best LEGO elements. Fight me. Or better yet, fight this amazing flaming dragon by Markus Rollbühler . Using only 64 bricks, this is one build that’s hot hot hot. The flame elements in the wings are easy to recognize, but there are also some more uncommon parts in there, too. Look close and you can spot a saw blade in the base, snakes, more snakes, and a minifigure flame headpiece.

This is an entry into the third round of this year’s RogueOlympics, a contest that challenges builders to stay under a 101 part count. We’ve seen a lot of really clever creations coming out of this competition, so check our archives for even more featured builds!

Good to the last drop

In the beginning, there were just troubling shades of grey. But then there was an industrial accident of some sort. And then OSHA came along. And then the company had some heavy fines levied against it as they refused to install adequate safety railings. At least, I think that’s the story this scene by Mark van der Maarel is telling us. There’s probably more to it. But whatever happened, LEGO minifigures were never quite the same ever again. There are lots of fun details here, but my favorite has to be the X-Pod lid that forms the base of the yellow pool. That splash is pretty sweet, too.

This creation uses only 51 elements, easily qualifying it for the 101-max requirement of the RogueOlympics. There have been a lot of great builds coming out of that contest, so be sure to check out our archives for even more quality minimal-part creations!