About Edwinder

Ed’s interest for LEGO was rekindled not long ago and it seems there’s no way out of the rabbit hole. His love for LEGO goes beyond the bricks and into being curious about every aspect about the company, its strategy, the community and the eco-system that brings the brick to life. His AFOL counterparts describe him as inquisitive, opinionated and vengeful. His response is you should not believe everything you read on the internet.

Posts by Edwinder

A Fire Rooster to usher in the Chinese New Year

2017 is the year of the Rooster in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The Rooster is one of 12 animals represented in the Chinese Zodiac calendar, but what is less known is that besides the Zodiac’s 12 rotation cycle, there is also an elemental cycle of Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood — and this year is Fire.

Creator ZiO Chao brings us an exquisite LEGO version of the Fire Rooster. What’s unique about this brick-built rooster is the terrific shaping that gives volume to the bird, not only in its breast and wings, but also its feathered tail.

The last cycle of the Fire Rooster was 1957 and the next won’t be until 2077. The five elements, also known as Wu Xing, are used in many other practices such as geomancy (Feng Shui), astrology, and even traditional medicinal practices to describe synergy and affinity between the other phenomena.

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The future of law enforcement, LEGO style

At first glance, this mech resembles the baddie Enforcement Droid from Robocop. Take another look, though, because this mech transforms into a cruiser-shaped vehicle mode. Robocop isn’t going to stand a chance if you ask me. Builder Havoc shapes both alternate modes with bulk and strength giving it a weighty armoured feel, especially considering almost the entire model except the canopy is a single color.

What is thy bidding, my master?

Kneeling is a sign of reverence, submission and obedience. Darth Vader assumes this pose before the Emperor more than once during the original Star Wars trilogy, and this poignant action helps to emphasize his emotional conflict, between the master that guided him most of his life (but who he eventually destroys), and the offspring that he has known for a much shorter time. In recreating this moment in LEGO, builder SPARKART! takes the unusual approach of using a Vader minifig headpiece atop an entirely brick-built figure. He even offers a glimpse at the parts and techniques necessary to copy this distinctive statuette yourself.

Macross — A tale of war in space, love triangles and the power of music

There was a time in the 80s when the tale of huge transformable jet-mechas, intertwined with love stories which transcended galaxies, was almost real to some of us. Robotech (for those of us in the western part of the world) or Macross (in its original incarnation from Japan) is a series of science fiction mecha anime that’s rated highly enough to still be in many lists of the top 50 anime series of all time.

As a fan of the series, builder Stick Kim takes us back in time by capturing a particular scene where our hero saves the girl while piloting his mech. This fantastic miniature LEGO version of the VF-1S Valkyrie is piloted by Hikaru Ichijyo (Rick Hunter) and cradled in his palms is Lynn MinMay — a beauty who sings, and is his love interest and a key character throughout the series.

An evil ringmaster with a unique method of construction

At first glance, this facial sculpture triggers conflicting emotions, from one of beauty in the build, to a striking hint of fear. Builder timofey_tkachev has quite the knack of looking at the world through a very different set of eyes. I could almost see these driipping LEGO hands, also built by Timofey, belonging to what I shall dub as “The Evil Ringmaster”.

Take an extra moment to appreciate the subtle skill behind this creation. What is so unique about this build, if you have yet to notice, is that it contains not a single brick or plate – parts that are commonly used in almost any build. It’s all put together with other odd bits and pieces, and yet, this masterpiece emerges.

Gong Xi Fa Cai! (恭喜发财!) – Wishing you a prosperous Lunar New Year

The Brothers Brick would like to wish “Gong Xi Fa Cai!” to all our readers celebrating the Chinese New Year on Saturday. That’s the greeting you should wish upon everyone you meet during the festivities. It translates into wishing one a very prosperous Lunar New Year. 2017 is the Year of the Rooster in the 12-year Chinese Zodiac cycle. It is said those that are born this year have a sense of trustworthiness, with a strong attribute of timekeeping and responsibility at work. Builder DOGOD Brick Design perfectly captures the symbol of this animal, from it’s fleshy carnucle to the red combs on its head, giving the rooster a standoff-ish and proud look to usher in the new year!

Autobots, transform and roll out!

As a fan of the Transformers: Generation 1, these Chibi versions of Grimlock, Optimus Prime and Jazz stand out for not only their detail, but for their ability actually transform into their alternate forms. It took builder Sam Cheng about a week each to construct each one of these amazing builds.

Being on the LEGO scene for only 3 years, Sam visualises each creation in his head and tests it out with various forms and shapes, continuously adapting. Using Technic and Mixel joints gives him a lot of flexibility, as he finds them small enough to hide within the builds.

He admits the hardest part of his builds is actually the transformation feature. For instance, Grimlock’s head is pretty heavy so Sam had to compensate by redesigning the legs (which eventually transform into the tailpiece) to provide support in robot mode. It’s a blend of getting the right looks and engineering.

My favourite parts are the golden rings and silver ingots used as finishing touches to the torso and cheeks respectively – the shiny bits give it that extra feel of being a mechanical robot. Hop over to his Grimlock album on Flickr, you will not be disappointed.

A Lamborghini by any other name would still look as good

The simplicity in the curves of a Lamborghini is never understated. And this pair of City-scale LEGO vehicles stand out for that reason. Beautifully captured in all its glory by Mark Gotidoc and showcasing the essentials, this is what LEGO building is all about; being able to take the simplest of shapes and overcome the limitations of the brick to transform them into their real world equivalents.

It’s the tiny features that count – the icing on the cake are those scissor doors and exhaust pipes, that leave no mistake as to what this little beast can do in less than 2.9 seconds. And if you really have to ask… 0 to 60 mph is what it does in that span of time.

What we least expect is what nightmares are made of...

There’s something strangely familiar and yet haunting in this simple creation by Chris Maddison. Maybe it’s the loneliness of being in space or on a far-away planet that evokes the terror of the unknown. What horror lies ahead that seems partially organic and yet at the same time part machine that preys on an unknowing space explorer? Chris pulls off a frightful yet calming scene inspired by an artist who dreams up of things that preys on what we fear the most.

Imperial forces speeder bike reimagined for a snow battle

If there’s one vehicle that I’d like to secretly own from the Star Wars universe, this would be it! The famous speeder bike from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi has been re-imagined in LEGO as a Winter version featured in white, and looks like it could have easily been used in the snow filled scenes from the battle of Hoth. The details that Ian Ying put into this machine make you wonder if this could exist in the real world. The build is clean and full of sleek lines. I just love the silver ribbed hoses as exhaust pipes.

The bike is built to the scale of the official 75114 First Order Stormtrooper figure, which fits on it very well! All I need to know is where do I put my order in to get me one of these in my garage?

Taking LEGO airports to new heights with a full-scale hangar

Fans of LEGO City will always feel something is amiss with the small airports LEGO releases as sets, thanks to the absence of full-sized hangars. That seems to have inspired James Zhan to take his LEGO City airport to new heights by constructing a minifig-scaled, full jet plane-sized hangar. Despite the sheer size, what’s truly impressive are the mundane yet often overlooked details in the construction of the folding doors that are tucked in when wide open with a simple yet almost grand motif at the top.

The icing on the cake and my favourite aspect of the build is the curved skylight structure that holds up well against a full windowed, panelled wall at the back of the hangar.

Now if we only we could get both Chi Hsinwei’s airport gates and James’s hangar together, we’d be a lot closer to an amazing, large-scaled, operational, full-service Airport! Anyone up for a runway?

The Batman playset you wished LEGO would make

Designer BenFifteenTheChicken puts together the playset that every Batman fan not only needs but deserves. At first glance, the setting of this LEGO creation looks similar to the 76001 The Bat vs. Bane™: Tumbler Chase, but the huge difference is not just that the models have the right bat-colored theme, but also that the builder has upgraded and redesigned each vehicle so that they have the proper look of the machines featured on the big screen.

My favourite bit is actually the miniature Bat-Pod built with minimal elements, but with maximum impact — with a secret feature! It actually is part of the Tumbler, secretly hidden and tucked within the front wheel layout!