Posts by Jake Forbes (TBB Managing Editor)

LEGO Batman 76304 Batman Forever Batmobile – Bricks love the car [Review]

Since Batman’s LEGO debut in 2006,we’ve had Batmobiles inspired by the classic ’60s TV show, the Animated Series, LEGO Batman, Burton’s Batman, Nolan’s Batman, and the most recent The Batman. This August, the Dark Knight’s Schumacher era gets its due with LEGO Batman 76304 Batman Forever Batmobile, just in time for the film’s 30th anniversary, and we had the opportunity to build it early. Capturing the car’s ostentatious lines in LEGO was no small challenge, but set designer Mark Stafford makes it work, but not without some compromises.

Releasing on August 1, LEGO 76304 Batman Forever Batmobile contains 909 pieces and can be pre-ordered now for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99.

Read on to experience the power, the pleasure, the pain of the latest LEGO Batmobile

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There’s nothing fishy about this fantastic undersea LEGO palace (except for the fish)

Jakab Kovács doesn’t color inside the lines when it comes to castles. Sure, he built a traditional tribute to the Black Falcon fortress that was hosted at LEGO House, but he’s also made a purple castle, cloud castle, and, for his latest project, an undersea castle.

Jakab eschews the typical Atlantis or mermaid tropes, finding a look that draws on an almost Czech Baroque style with its pointed domes. I love the subtle angle of the castle wings, the orange and yellow accent colors, the undersea garden plots and their fences, and the minifig faction with the wispy bodies and white hair. I wonder what a full series set in this world would look like? Are there manta ray mounts and pet eels? Do these folk trade with surface dwellers? I’d happily spend more time in this undersea haven, but alas, it’s time to come up for air.

LEGO Designer Carter Baldwin gives the Exo-Force drones a military sci-fi upgrade

Before joining LEGO as a set designer, TBB alum Carter Baldwin was an influential AFOL in the military sci-fi theme who fused elements of Aliens, anime, Mechwarrior and the occasional LEGO throwback theme. Recently Carter has been revisiting the Exo-Force theme with a serious upgrade to the line’s iconic robots.

Introducing the Constructobots….

The Sentries…

See all of Carter’s Exo-Force upgrades and lore

Sleeps With LEGO dreams of telling stories with friends and LEGO sigfigs, one stitch at a time [Interview]

LEGO may have started as a toy – one that fostered creativity and problem solving – but today LEGO fills so many roles in people’s lives. It’s a medium of artistic expression, a forum for collaboration, a key to peace and self-confidence during trying times, and of course, it’s to collect and display. But for many, one of LEGO’s greatest gifts is providing a foundation for community. When Andrew founded The Brothers Brick 20 years ago, it was an extension of the brickshelf community in an era when MySpace was the dominant social platform and LEGO news for adults was rare. These days, it’s much easier to connect with other AFOLs on Instagram, Discord, TikTok (even good old Flickr), but as the number of LEGO creators grows, it can be hard, if not impossible, to follow all the amazing ways people are using LEGO to create and share, especially if your biases and algorithms are trained to serve up space ships and dark fantasy.

I first discovered Barbara, better known as @sleepswithlego or just “Sleeps,” after seeing minifigs wearing crocheted coats across a range of accounts. Following the trail back to Sleeps, I fell into a rabbit hole of creativity and friendship as elaborate and joyful as any massive convention constructions and had to know more. Thankfully, Sleeps awoke long enough to talk with us about her unique LEGO community.

Our interview with Sleeps With LEGO follows

Summer Faction Festival invites you to show your true space colors [News]

LEGO has blessed classic space fans in recent years with minifig spacemen in new colors, callbacks to old factions, and a couple of re-imagined sets. What we haven’t had in ages is an actual new LEGO faction in the tradition of the 80s and 90s, when every year or two would bring in a new spin on Space. Over on the Eurobricks forums, Bob De Quatre is hosting a contest that lets anyone create a new faction based on a constrained color palette. It seems like an amazing way for veteran Classic Space builders as well as new voices in the community to celebrate LEGO’s space legacy with a creative spin. Large builds, small builds, and even just minifig-focused creations have a category, so why dust off those oxygen tanks and fire up your ray guns and sign up over at the Eurobrick forums.

Perhaps you’ll find your groove like Angus MacLane did with the totally chill Browntron faction (which pre-dates the Summer Faction Festival but fits the rules)

Contest rules after the break

“Top 5 LEGO record stores in the modular style, go.”

Dana (virginia_bricks) is best known as the co-host of #MosaicsOnMondays on Instagram, but for this build, she breaks free from the frame with a charming record shop modular. Built as a corner unit for her LUG’s collaboration at the upcoming Brickfair Virginia, the building captures American Main Street charm with an exposed brick apartment over a brightly painted storefront. The shop could just as easily be a beloved institution going back decades or a part of a modern downtown revival. My favorite details are the awning, which cleverly evokes a keyboard, and the subtle facade texture under the window. And of course, any old brick building becomes infinitely more cozy with dense flowering vines climbing up the side!

The music shop windows look even more inviting at night with custom lighting setting it aglow.

This Week in LEGO Bricks: Shuffling cards and crabs [Feature]

With so many incredible creations and builder stories being shared every day, there’s no way we can cover it all here at Brothers Brick, which is why we’re grateful to ABrickDreamer for capturing the best of the week in one convenient video. As a big fan of Scott Wilhelm‘s space creations, my favorite link of the week has to be the Beyond the Brick feature of Scott’s builds at Brickworld Chicago. Which is your favorite build this week?

Heroes of Fur and Feather Challenge 3: Heart and Darkness [Contest]

Every year at Delving Day, aspiring heroes travel from the peaceful Valley to Dungeon Crossing. Everyone is taught from a young age that Delving Day proves that all animals are equal. After all, everyone has the same chance of success. Most heroes emerge victorious with rollicking tales to share of their adventures. Sure, a few delvers never return, but it’s a small price to pay for lasting peace. But what if Delving Day isn’t about preserving equality at all, but about protecting those animals who are more equal than others? The truth is coming to light for Olly, Liri, and Kitara, the three heroes created by guest collaborators Jacob Manahan, beyondb0nes, and Red Impala. Brennan (@brickbot_studio) joins the mix with the villain (or anti-hero?) Caelus Velmorne.

Ready to delve into Dungeon Crossing? Let’s go!

LEGO Transformers enters its villain era with fan-favorite Soundwave, complete with sound functions, Ravage, and Laserbeak [News]

When LEGO revealed a fully-transformable Optimus Prime based on the Gen 1 toy, we were blown away by the accuracy, build quality, and play features. (If you haven’t picked up this essential build, Optimus Prime is still available for a few more months.) LEGO’s second Transformer build, Bumblebee, was more of a mixed bag with an awkward robot mode and weird scale. On August 1, a third Cybertron exile is headed to stores – the fan-favorite Decepticon Soundwave – and based on the pictures and details shared by LEGO, this set looks like it could be the best Transformers set yet. LEGO Icons 10358 Transformers: Soundwave contains 1,505 pieces and includes companions Laserbeak and Ravage, who can transform into cassettes and be stored inside their master until it’s time to eject. And as a rare treat, pressing “play” triggers sound effects. You can pre-order Soundwave now for US $189.99 | CAN $229.99 | UK £159.99 or pick up in stores on August 1, 2025.

REad on to see why Soundwave superior, Autobots inferior

LEGO Adventurers meet Jules Verne imagination at the Crystal Palace exhibition

Johnny Thunder and friends must have picked up quite a few souvenirs in their expeditions to distant lands and lost worlds. But, except for that one time Baron Von Baron turned his mansion into a theme park drop ride, LEGO never showed what the Adventurers got up to when they returned home. Bart Marable provides the answer with the breathtaking Crystal Palace Exhibition, an homage to LEGO Adventurers, Jules Verne, and the grand 19th century exhibitions of scientific wonders.

The enormous structure of white girders and glass is modeled after London’s Crystal Palace which stood in Hyde Park from 1851 to 1936. It also evokes 21353 The Botanical Garden at a much larger scale.

The historical Crystal Palace had nothing on Bart’s fantastical version. Have a look at these LEGO exhibits, brought to life with mechanical functions:

Come with me and you’ll see a world of scientific wonders

A crowning Grand Guignol LEGO build from a master of the macabre

The 2025 Bio-Cup is in full swing, and even as we’re blown away by the creativity on display, there are some builders whose presence is felt by omission. Builders like VB, who created unforgettable models in years past but who has been quiet the past two cycles. Fortunately, VB emerges with an original creation that could easily be the crowning achievement of a Bio-Cup that showcases the builder’s skill at finding beauty in the macabre. Titled after a Black Sabbath song, “Sabbra Cadabra” is reiniscent of VB’s earlier build “Music of the Deep” in its use of dragon wings and nested maws, but it brings a grand guignol energy all its own. VB cites Hans Arnold as an inspiration, the artist known for macabre illustrations of trolls and devils (and the cover of ABBA’s greatest hits). The model is a wonderful return from VB. The show must go on.

Vivi explores Alexandria in the latest Final Fantasy LEGO JRPG tribute from Brick Ninja

July 7 marked the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy IX, and to celebrate, Kevin Wanner (Brick Ninja) recreates the game’s opening in Alexandria out of LEGO. After the sci-fi-infused Final Fantasies VII and VIII, the ninth installment returns to the franchise’s medieval roots and classic character designs, like the black mage Vivi, who Kevin adapts with ease into minifig form. It’s such a charming, immersive scene that feels like it’s lifted straight from a video game, with barely a stud in sight. There’s so much to love, from the dense wolverine-claw grass, to the oval tiled walls, to the curved wall slats on the rightmost building.

Of course, Kevin is no stranger to Final Fantasy-inspired builds. We’ve featured several of his FF7 tributes in the past, but there have been enough recent builds that we’ve missed, that this is the perfect time to play catch up, starting with this spot-on recreation of the expanded cast as minifigures.

Kevin’s Final Fantasy LEGO tributes continue…