Posts by Chuck Hagenbuch

LEGO Winter Village Collection 40746 Santa’s Delivery Truck [Review]

To go along with the full Winter Village set this year, LEGO has released a companion set: LEGO 40746 Santa’s Delivery Truck contains 224 pieces and 1 minifigure, and will be available October 1st for US $19.99 | CAN $24.99 | UK £17.99. In the past, there have been gift-with-purchase sets that compliment the Winter Village in general, or go directly with the main set for the year – sometimes even two bonus sets, one in October and one in November. However, I don’t recall a complementary model like this that pairs directly with the Winter Village set and is separately available for purchase. Is it worth adding it to your list? Let’s take a look!

Read on for our full review!

LEGO Icons 10339 Santa’s Post Office – Santa would like a word [Review]

It’s turned to fall in the Northern Hemisphere, there’s a chill in the air and the leaves are turning depending on where you are, and it’s time for Halloween decor… just kidding, of course, it’s time for Christmas stuff already. There’s a Winter Village Multiverse developing between the human world and the North Pole/Santa/Elves world, and this year we get another addition to the the Santa side of the portal. LEGO Icons 10339 Santa’s Post Office contains 1,440 pieces and 5 minifigures and will be available October 4th for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99. LEGO Insiders will have early access starting October 1st. You might think, oh, of course, Santa probably gets more mail than anyone else in the world, there must be a huge facility to process it! Read on to learn the alleged truth about Santa’s mail.

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!

LEGO Ideas 21350 Jaws: You’re gonna build a pretty big boat [Review]

DA-DUM, DA-DUM, DA-DUM…  no two notes are more iconic, or stressful, and the creature that those notes invoke is as classic as they come. Jaws, the original summer blockbuster movie, has an outsized share of iconic elements, scenes, and lines, and with the 50th anniversary of the book this year and the movie next year, it’s perhaps no surprise that we’re getting a LEGO rendition of one of those classic scenes. LEGO Ideas 21350 Jaws contains 1,497 pieces and 3 minifigures, and will be available August 6th for US $149.99 | CAN $199.99 | UK £129.99. LEGO Insiders will have early access starting August 3rd. Let’s dive in… ehhhh maybe we’ll stay on the beach for this one.

Read on for our full review!

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31151 T. rex: An apex predator outpaces the rest [Review]

Dinosaurs and LEGO just go together. It could be molded creatures from Dino Hunters, Adventurers, or Jurassic Park. Or detailed brick build sculptures from…Jurassic Park. Or maybe massive creations of stacked 2x4s. Or, indeed, multiple decades of Creator sets! These prehistoric giants are a compelling subject for display and play in the brick. The summer Creator wave returns to the Tyrannosaurus Rex, considered one of the fiercest predators of its time, and perhaps ever (yes, the Allosaurus and Giganotosaurus may want a word, and Jurassic Park invents its own wordless villains, but T. rex still holds up as a top predator). LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31151 T. rex. contains 626 pieces and is available August 1st for North America, June 1st for the UK for US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99. Let’s see if it stacks (bricks) up!

Read on for our full review!

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31153 Modern House: Posh digs for the modern fig? [Review]

With a worldwide population of 4 billion minifigures and growing fast, housing access is a crucial issue in the LEGO world. Even non-licensed minifigures need a place to live, and have you seen the cost of homes these days? We need every theme contributing housing that possibly can. Fortunately, Creator sets have been building homes for close to two decades now. And in the summer 2024 collection, minifigures can select from 3 dwelling options thanks to LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31153 Modern House. Whether at the beach, in the city, or in the woods, here’s our review of this 939-piece, 2-minifigure set, which is available for pre-order now (will ship August 1st) from LEGO.com for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99.

Read on for our full review

LEGO Icons 10332 Medieval Town Square: The GOAT? No, the goat! [Review]

Today we get to dig in to a highly anticipated tribute to/reimagining of/reviving of the beloved 10193 Medieval Market Village. LEGO Icons 10332 Medieval Town Square contains 3,304 pieces and 8 minifigures and will be available from LEGO.com and LEGO retail stores for Insiders on March 1st, and to everyone March 4th, for US $229.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £199.99. It’s over twice the price of the original Medieval Market Village, but also over twice the pieces – and inflation happens, so: how does it do? Is the sequel worthy of joining the village? Let’s get our wattle and daub and find out!

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 our full review!

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31149 Flowers in Watering Can: Transformations and the conservation of studs [Review]

Traveling the yellow brick road from the savannah to the windowsill, we arrive at a home for some flowers and winged creatures. Today we take a look at LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31149 Flowers in Watering Can. This set caused us to sit back and reflect a bit on the nature of 3-in-1 sets and if more thought is going in to the secondary models than used to – and if so, is it working? Here’s our review of this 420-piece set, which is available now from LEGO.com for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99.

Read on for our full review

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31150 Wild Safari Animals [Review]

We continue our look at 2024’s Creator 3-in-1 sets with the largest one announced so far, LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31150 Wild Safari Animals. Realistic animal models are a Creator tradition, even going back to the precursor Designer Sets – that’s 20 years! Let’s tour this 780-piece set, which will be available January 1st and retail for US $64.99 | CAN $84.99 | UK £59.99. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the flamingo.

Read on for our full review

LEGO Icons 40681 Retro Food Truck Gift with Purchase: Bold bonus flavor? [Review]

Over the past decade or so of modular buildings, there has frequently been a gift with purchase available early in the year to accompany it, sometimes with a thematic link. The Detective’s Office launch was accompanied by the 40140 Flower Cart bonus polybag that included a hidden barrel of cookies to tie into that modular’s cookie-smuggling story. More recently LEGO 40586 Icons Moving Truck, which includes furniture to be delivered to LEGO Icons 10312 Jazz Club, came out a few months after that modular. This year, LEGO 10326 Natural History Museum broke tradition by coming out a month early, and now for the turn of the year, LEGO Icons 40681 Retro Food Truck contains 310 pieces and 2 minifigures and will be available with some purchases in the new year at LEGO.com and your local LEGO retail store. An obvious note: it’s really hard to give a thumbs up or down on a gift-with-purchase without knowing what you’ll need to spend to get it. So we’re taking a look at the build and will update the review with our recommendation once the threshold is announced.

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 our full review!

Train Engine Shed? Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time

If this handsome structure from builder legolux1973 looks familiar, you might recognize it from its young, wild, LEGO World City days as 10027 Train Engine Shed. Since then, though, it’s moved to the country and developed a quiet, studied sophistication clad in dark red. Only one engine bay is needed these days, but it’s grown to make space for modern locomotives and there’s a small office smartly tucked to the side. The black half-circle arched windows top off the banks of windows, and note the small 1x2x2 window with grille tucked in sideways above the bay doors. The scene is finished with lots of little details, including some fuel containers (Octan, of course!), a pallet jack with a pallet and boxes, a little portable tool cabinet, and lots of tasteful landscaping. We’ll raise a grease can to you, Train Engine Shed!

Legolux1973 LEGO Engine Shed 01

LEGO Ideas 21344 Orient Express revealed [News]

LEGO Ideas switches to a new track with the reveal of 21344 Orient Express. The Orient Express is a classic train that is a part of popular culture, most prominently in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express novel and its movie adaptations. The Orient Express first ran in 1883, and though the original incarnation ceased operation in 1977, you can still ride the Venice-Simplon Orient Express in very similar coaches today. The set rumbles in with a 4-6-0 steam locomotive, a 3-axle tender, a restaurant car, and a sleeping car with two classes of accommodations. Built from 2,540 pieces and including 8 minifigures, it will be available from LEGO.com and LEGO stores worldwide starting December 1st for US $299.99 | CAN $TBD | UK £259.99. 

Click here to see more of The Orient Express

LEGO Creator 40602 Winter Market Stall Gift with Purchase [Review]

LEGO often makes holiday sets that are available as gifts with purchase in November and December. This holiday season, that will include LEGO Creator 40602 Winter Market Stall. It looks like a toy seller’s stall at a holiday night market, and suggests you create your own additional stalls – or perhaps the night market is a destination for the trolley from 10308 Holiday Main Street, or going even further back, you could add it to the stalls from 10235 Winter Village Market! After initially posting this review, we’ve learned that the set will be available with a minimum purchase of (US $170 | CAN $220 | UK £150), nor when it will be available on the LEGO website. But when is, will it be worth stretching for another stocking stuffer? Let’s put on a pot of hot cocoa 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 our full review!