Posts by Jake Forbes (TBB Managing Editor)

Gotta cast them spells, Pokémon!

Mainline Pokémon games are iconic RPGs with all of the stats, XP, and leveling up you expect from the genre, so fusing Pocket Monsters with D&D is a perfect fit! That’s just what builders Dan Ko and Gino Loshe teamed up to prove with this character collaboration called Dungeons & Pocket Monsters. Dan was responsible for giving Pikachu and Bulbasaur their mage makeovers, while Gino tackled Squirtle and Charmander. Created for the Brickscalibur competition “Elemental Emergency” category, each character wields a different flavor of magic matching their Pokémon type. Even more impressive, each sports a different type of wizard cap! Join them as they travel across the land seeking the power that’s inside.

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Modular Market Street gets a marvelous Art Nouveau makeover

10190 Market Street is the black sheep of LEGO modulars. Part of the pre-Ideas “Factory” line, the set lacked the innovative techniques and attention to detail of its predecessor, Cafe Corner, and subsequent modulars, but it’s a significant part of LEGO’s evolving relationship with fan creations. Marcin Dski revisits the 18-year-old set with an update that reflects the colors and intent of the original while bringing in the advanced techniques of newer modulars like 10350 Tudor Corner. Marcin leans on Art Nouveau as an architectural influence, using arches and SNOT techniques for the round entrances. The market gets an impressive upgrade with added glass paneling replacing the original open air. Even the minifigs mix sees a glow up, including a fellow with a peg leg and hook who might have wandered in from one of Marcin’s other modulars.

Speaking of LEGO’s unique relationship with fan builds, in 2026 Marcin joins the esteemed list of creators joining the Bricklink Creator program with Adventure in Transylvania. Congratulations on an amazing 2024!

Sir Kermilot and his merry band of weirdos

It’s time to get things started. It’s time to start the quest! But will Sir Kermilot and crew even make it through the theme song before getting lost, distracted, or blowing themselves up? Gerrit Gottschalk brilliantly remixes LEGO Muppet minifigures into their fantasy alter egos for the Brickscalibur “Adventuring Party” category. Every choice and accessory is perfect, from troubadour Fozzie to ~~Black Falconer~~ chicken-er Gonzo to barbarian Animal. But my favorite of the bunch is definitely beleaguered dogsbody Beaker.

Animal Crossing happy holiday habitat paradise

Last time we checked up on Katja (Palixa and the Bricks), she was taking assorted fruits on a sunny summer holiday. Now Katja’s back with holiday scenes of the winter variety with a sextet of LEGO habitats starring the neighbors of Animal Crossing. Every scene is a delight, but I think Maple’s cluttered kitchen takes the cake (or cookie) as the cozies habitat of them all. Nice work on those Snowboys, Julian!

An anime bust for the occult obsessed

The just-wrapped first season of Dan Da Dan, the bonkers series mashing up ghosts and aliens, is showing up on many lists as one of the best anime series of the year. Builder Chris Yu pays tribute to the buzzy series in LEGO with a bust of co-protagonist Okarun in his possessed form. The normally timid makes a pact with the spirit Turbo Granny in a quest to retrieve… the family jewels. Like I said, it’s bonkers. Chris’ bust captures the character’s split personality with bespectacled eyes peeking out above a demonic jawline. There’s lovely brick shaping, especially with the streaked hair and collar swept back to emphasize speed.

A golden build for those who still idolize Galidor

You know what they say — idle hands lead to LEGO idols. I’ve never heard of Pul’ Ohob before, but according to Mattia Careddu, if you offer this divine being an ounce of gold every day for a year, they will reward you with five years of abundance. Mattia’s idol and offerings are full of weird and wonderfully used parts, the centerpiece being the torso of Galidor alien Euripides. (Not the first Galidor-centric build from Mattia this year!) The cornecopia introduces a building technique rarely seen in LEGO: braiding! Pul ‘Ohob’s offer sounds like a pretty sweet deal, but my gold holdings are low. Does Pul’ Ohob take crypto?

Mattia has been anything but idle in 2024. Here’s a round-up of this year’s creations. No wonder Care Creations made our 2024 builder of the year shortlist!

Introducing: This Week in LEGO Bricks [Feature]

In 2025 The Brothers Brick will be celebrating 20 years of daily LEGO posts. A lot has changed over those years – from the variety of sets we cover, to the techniques employed by builders, to the people share their love for the hobby. One thing remains very much the same there at TBB, and that’s our mission to showcase the amazing creativity within the LEGO community as inclusive as possible. That’s a mission shared by one of our favorite builders and content creators to emerge in recent years: aBrickDreamer. Every week on “This Week in Bricks,” aBrickDreamer rounds up the most interesting creations, articles, and events in the community. The video format offers a new way to expand on our shared mission, and we think aBrickDreamer’s insightful and generous takes are a perfect compliment to the site’s mission. So starting this week, we’re excited to share This Week in LEGO Bricks here on the site so you have a new way to keep up with the best that the hobby has to offer!

A Christmas morning to remember

Santa’s not getting any bigger. It’s the chimneys that are getting smaller, honestly! A Christmas crisis is averted in this LEGO scene by Jérôme Barchietto as the local fire crew turns up just in time to extract jolly ol’ Saint Nick from a tight squeeze. Hope the family at 10267 Gingerbread Lane left out extra cookies for Santa. He’s had a rough night!

Happy Holidays from us all at The Brothers Brick!

Yo, ho, ho, ho, me hearties!

If ye be dreamin’ of a white Christmas, legend has it that there’s an uncharted isle where snow falls but once a year. Ye don’t believe me? Well, Jo Marte captured the whole jolly affair in LEGO! Featuring crows nests, skull-shaped caves, and shipwrecks, the scene bears all the trappings of classic Pirate, only things are looking a lot merrier for this motley crew of scallywags.

Swap yer grog for eggnog and cozy up by the fire as we await the arrival of White Beard’s booty. Here comes the jolly devil himself on his dolphin-pulled skiff. “On Flipper! On Skipper!” the festive freebooter calls.

Ye best be staying silent about what you’ve seen. Dead men tell no tales. “Now swim away, swim away, swim away all!” Until next year.

Keep building LEGO toys, who knows where you’ll wind up

Few builders in the LEGO community are as prolific and full of surprises as Australian artist Shannon Sproule, whose work we’ve admired since the site’s early years. During the fall of this year, Shannon focused on building “Z-Bots” – retro robots in bright colors inspired by the toy line of the early ’90s, many of which were donated to the Creations for Charity auction. For his latest build, Shannon sticks with the retro robots while bringing in a Zoids-inspired wind-up look for a new type of toy he calls the Strydor.

Click to see more of Shannon’s playful robot walkers

2024 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 24 [Feature]

We’ve made it to the end. Christmas Eve is here and with it, the final doors of our six advent calendars. LEGO tends to hold a special treat for the final day. Still no sign of Red One… Maybe Moana can ask her friend The Rock to help track him down. Or we could just open the doors and see what we find! We have six calendars to get through: Friends, Disney, City, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Spider-Man. Which has been your favorite this year?

As ever, our intrepid TBB team is on hand with witty comments, insightful observations, and bad jokes for each day’s builds. And of course, you can add your own thoughts in the comments section each day! So without further ado, let’s crack open the build for day 24…

Click here to see today’s builds!

LEGO test chamber shows that Portal love is still alive

It’s been over a decade since Portal 2 reunited Chell and GLaDOS for one last round of physics-based puzzles and razor-sharp comedy, but the game still holds a special place in our hearts. Thanks to builders adotnamedstud and _standaartwoudt_, Aperture Labs is open again for testing, this time in LEGO! The scene has it all: A button! Switches! Gravity! Science! Potato! Minifig Chell is joined by familiar friends GLaDOS (in a potato) and Companion Cube, while new sidekick Wheatly keeps an eye on things from above. The Aperture logo made from tiles is a wonderful touch. Seeing this scene makes me want to dig out the game to play through it again. In case you missed the LEGO Dimensions wave of gaming sets, the Companion Cube tiles and Chell minifig were a real thing!