Posts by Dave Schefcik (TBB News Contributor)

Double VIP points are back at the LEGO Store, plus a free minifigure frame for rest of October [News]

It is time to celebrate and do a little holiday shopping because double VIP points have returned to the LEGO Store. It has been a long time since the last blanket 2x VIP points event, with LEGO instead opting for double points on select sets the last few months. If you have been waiting for double points to make bigger purchases like the Hogwarts Castle or Betrayal at Cloud City, now is the time.

Along with double VIP points, LEGO is offering a free minifigure collector frame as a gift with any purchase more than $75. The promotion runs through the 31st or while supplies last. To see all the most recent sets released by LEGO, check our list of new October sets as well as all the new sets from the summer.

(As always, when you click through from The Brothers Brick, a portion of each sale goes to support the site, so thank you in advance!)

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.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for October 14, 2018 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the second week of October 2018.

TBB NEWS & FEATURES: The first Overwatch set has been revealed and we have a feature on cute little turtles in LEGO wheelchairs.

Exclusive limited edition LEGO Overwatch 75987 Omnic Bastion set announced – The first Overwatch set is available now in the Blizzard Gear Store for $25 USD.
UK-based LEGO-building business Bright Bricks bought for £8.5m – Read our interview with Ed Diment, one of the directors of Bright Bricks, to find out more about the deal.
Feature: LEGO Builders on the half shell: a history of helping turtles and tortoises – LEGO wheelchairs for injured turtles have been a thing since at least the 1980s.

TBB REVIEWS & INSTRUCTIONS: These Harry Potter figures are hard to find, and we have a review of them and some seasonal BrickHeadz just for you.

Review of LEGO 5005254 Harry Potter Bricktober 2018 Minifigure Exclusive – Do the Harry Potter figures live up to the hype?
Review of LEGO BrickHeadz 40274 Mr. and Mrs. Claus – Santa is coming to town with company in BrickHeadz form.
Instructions to build a retro Volkswagen T1 Camper –Hachiroku24 is at it again using newer pieces expertly to nail the look of this iconic vehicle.

OTHER NEWS: There were a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:
Check out the other LEGO news of the week

Your guide to the 12 new LEGO sets for October 2018, including Star Wars, BrickHeadz and more [News]

Fall has arrived, and along with it a small wave of twelve new LEGO sets. Star Wars gets the prime treatment with some holiday flair for good measure. This wave is smaller than the 58 new sets from late summer we posted about before, but we have your guide right here to each and every new set as we head into the pre-holiday season.

Along with the new sets, LEGO has a gift with purchase for Star Wars fans: an exclusive Han Solo Mudtrooper minifigure. To get him, you have to spend more than $35 on LEGO Star Wars sets. The promotion runs through the 14th or while supplies last.

See all of the October 2018 wave of LEGO sets available now

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 30, 2018 [News]

TBB NEWS & FEATURES: A new product line from LEGO combined with an old set seeing new life combines to make a pretty big week in LEGO news.

LEGO reveals new experimental product line LEGO Forma, hosted by Indiegogo – The first wave of sets produced under the LEGO Forma line will be kinetic sculptures of fish
LEGO opens vault to re-release 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine on Black Friday – Back from the grave, the wind turbine will retail at $199.99 USD starting November 23.
The LEGO House turns one year old and celebrates with fans from around the world – TBB brings you the inside scoop from the Lego House’s first birthday party.
Feature: How to build a Grumman E-1 Tracer early warning aircraft from LEGO: Part 3 – Ralph Savelsberg, one of TBB’s builders-in-residence, reveals the final model.
Instructions to build Jehuty from Zone of the Enders – Prominent video game-inspired LEGO builder Marius Herrmann from Germany is back with another remarkable brick bot.

TBB CONTESTS & COLLABORATIONS: We are running a collaboration and contest! Read these articles about how you can get involved.

Today is the last day to enter the TBB Microscale Magic contest – There are some great entries already, but we think our readers might have a few more excellent scenes up their sleeves.
Just one week left until BrickCon 2018 – Last year tickets sold out, so if you plan on going we recommend not delaying any longer.

OTHER NEWS: There were a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:
Check out the other LEGO news of the week

LEGO reveals new experimental product line LEGO Forma, hosted by Indiegogo [News]

LEGO has revealed a new experimental product line designed for adults called LEGO Forma. The first wave of small-batch sets produced under the LEGO Forma line will be kinetic sculptures of fish, created with a moving Technic core and wrapped with four “skins” made of foil to represent three types of Koi and one shark.

The core set, 81000 Koi Model, contains 294 pieces including the Technic base and a single life-like koi skin. The model measures 10 inches high (27.9 cm) and 11 inches long (12.7 cm). The initial wave of LEGO Forma sets are available for pre-order on Indiegogo as “backer perks” from now until November 6th or whenever product runs out. The base set sells for $45 USD and is only available in the United States and United Kingdom for the time being. If the project meets its funding goals, the sets will ship in early 2019.

Click to reveal more about LEGO Forma

LEGO opens vault to re-release 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine on Black Friday [News]

LEGO has announced it is going green with the re-release of an old fan-favorite set currently owned by very few: the 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine. The original set (numbered 4999) was released a decade ago as a limited production run for Vestas, a sustainable energy company, and never saw wider availability. That changes on Black Friday.

Following in the path of the last year’s re-released 10256 Taj Mahal, LEGO is “opening the vault” once again with a slightly updated rendition of the Creator Expert Vestas Wind Turbine. The set comes with 826 pieces (11 more than the first version), three minifigures, a dog, and Power Functions motor and lights, as well as the first spruce tree element made from plants available in a retail set.

The set is slightly more than three feet tall (one meter) and will retail at $199.99 USD from LEGO (coming in at $249.99 CA and £159.99 UK respectively). It will be available for purchase by everyone starting Friday, November 23 (also known as Black Friday).
Click to take a closer look at the Vestas Wind Turbine

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 23, 2018 [News]

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: Christmas is coming early with a few holiday themed sets as well as other news, sales and some instructions.

Review of LEGO Creator 10263 Winter Village Fire Station – With 1,166 pieces for $99.99 USD, is this newest set going to be a new holiday tradition?
LEGO Christmas Holiday BrickHeadz revealed – Mr. and Mrs. Claus are coming to town in BrickHeadz form a few months before the holiday.
LEGO Cube revealed, the first ever open-world, sandbox LEGO game for mobile – Designed for mobile platforms, the game is in partnership with Chinese company Tencent.
Citizen Brick Day 5.5 brings short-run prototypes and other rare minifigs – A couple times a year, Citizen Brick opens their vault, so let’s see what sales are inside.
Instructions to build your own LEGO Fortnite Glider and Loot Llama – The Action Brick shares the love for Fortnite with two easy-to-follow minifigure-scale building guides.

TBB CONTESTS & COLLABORATIONS: We are running a giveaway, collaboration and contest! Read these articles about how you can get involved.

Win tickets to the BrickCon 2018 Public Exhibition in Seattle – We are giving away tickets to the public exhibition where you can see some amazing LEGO creations on display.
There’s still time to build for TBB’s Ninjago City collaboration for BrickCon 2018 – With over 30 contributors signed up to participate, this collab will be massive!
Enter Brothers Bricks’ LEGO Harry Potter microscale competition – Show off your stuff and you could win the massive new 71043 Hogwarts Castle.

OTHER NEWS: There were a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:
Check out the other LEGO news of the week

Win tickets to the BrickCon 2018 Public Exhibition in Seattle [Giveaway]

BrickCon 2018 in Seattle is about two weeks away, and we are giving away tickets to the public exhibition! Come see the amazing LEGO creations that builders from all around the world have brought to BrickCon. (You may even see some of your favorite writers from The Brothers Brick roaming around in our bright green shirts or hanging around the massive Ninjago City we are building!)

The BrickCon 2018 Public Exhibition is open Saturday Oct. 6 and Sunday Oct. 7 from 10am to 4pm, located at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. You can get your tickets online now, but they will sell out soon.

The Brothers Brick is giving away three family packs of four tickets each, good for entry on either Saturday or Sunday at any time. The contest runs from today for a week until 11:59 pm on Wednesday, Sep. 26. Leave a comment below about what you are most excited to see at BrickCon 2018 to enter.

We’ll randomly select three entries Thursday morning and then notify the winners. Winners will be able to pick up their tickets at the will call window at the BrickCon Exhibition Hall beginning Saturday morning when the exhibition opens to the public.

The Brothers Brick is an official sponsor of BrickCon.

LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City and Winter Village Fire Station now on sale [News]

LEGO VIP members get early access to two sets today, the 75222 Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City and the 10263 Winter Village Fire Station.

Both sets will be available generally starting October 1, though since technically anyone can sign up for the LEGO VIP program, anyone could get them today as long as they are still in stock.

75222 Betrayal at Cloud City includes 2,812 pieces with 18 minifigs and retails for $349.99 in the US ($399.99 in Canada | £299.99 in the UK). Check out our review of the first set in the Master Builder Series.

10263 Winter Village Fire Station includes 1,166 pieces with 6 minifigs and baby and retails for $99.99 in the US ($129.99 in Canada | £84.99 in the UK). Check out more pictures of this year’s Winter Village set.

LEGO and Bricklink will sell fan-designed sets through new AFOL Designer Program [News]

Today LEGO launched a new initiative in cooperation with Bricklink called the AFOL Designer Program where fans can submit custom designs which will be then be produced and sold by Bricklink. (The term AFOL is an acronym that stands for “Adult Fan of LEGO.”) The creations will be judged by current LEGO designers, “crowdfunded” through pre-sales, then released as limited edition 60th Anniversary sets.

The one-time program will accept submissions through November 18, and the designs must be created in Bricklink’s new Studio 2.0 software. Up to 20 finalists will be selected for judging. The eventual release of the fan-designed sets is slated for April 2019, with 10 percent of the sales going to the designer.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 9, 2018 [News]

TBB NEWS: This week had incredibly varied topics of news, from new sets and ideas to sales and conventions.

10 fan projects have qualified for the second 2018 LEGO Ideas Review – Which of these fan creations could become an official LEGO set?
LEGO reveals 10263 Winter Village Fire Station as their next holiday set – The tallest ever building enters the LEGO holiday lineup complete with a fire truck.
LEGO unveils 41631 Fantastic Beasts BrickHeadz – Newt Scamander and Gellert Grindelwald appear in BrickHeadz form starting Oct. 1.
BrickCon 2018 LEGO convention in Seattle is now just one month away – Come meet The Brothers Brick at one of the best LEGO exhibitions on the west coast.
LEGO Friends, Elves, Star Wars and more on sale at Amazon – Many of these sets are 30% to 40% off retail.

TBB REVIEWS & FEATURES: Get to know TBB better by watching our video review and reading about one of our contributor’s build process.

Video review of LEGO Star Wars 75220 Sandcrawler – Check out our hands-on look at the newest set of wheels from Tatooine.
Feature: How to build a LEGO Grumman E-1 Tracer early warning aircraft – TBB contributor Ralph Savelsberg takes us through his build process in this new series.
Interview with Takamichi Irie, builder of LEGO House bugs and a motorized BB-8 – What inspires this builder to create such organic shapes with unconventional pieces?
Talented Italian LEGO builder Luca Di Lazzaro dies far too young – The LEGO fan community lost a great builder this week, so we compiled some of his best work in his memory.
Enter Brothers Bricks’ LEGO Harry Potter microscale competition – Show off your stuff and you could win the massive new 71043 Hogwarts Castle.

OTHER NEWS: There were quite a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:
Check out the other LEGO news of the week

LEGO reveals 10263 Winter Village Fire Station as their next holiday set [News]

Every year since 2009, LEGO has released an addition to their Winter Village theme. Following last year’s 10259 Winter Village Station, LEGO has revealed that the model for 2018 will be another type of station — a fire station! 10263 Winter Village Fire Station includes 1,166 pieces, six minifigures and a baby, a Dalmatian, red fire truck, frozen fountain and a Christmas tree.

The set will retail for $99.99 starting on October 1, with LEGO VIP availability beginning on September 13.
Click to take a closer look at the LEGO Winter Village Fire Station