Posts by Daniel

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for August 30, 2025 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders worldwide, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the 3rd week of August 2025.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS Longtime fans of Jack Sparrow and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise have a lot to get excited about with the announcement of the new LEGO Icons set presenting the Black Pearl, or as LEGO calls it, Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Ship, the all black cursed ship with the tattered sails which was featured in several of the movies. Another favorite franchise also revealed a new set coming later this year, the adorable Mogwai Gizmo, from the 80s film Gremlins. For even more news and reviews, be sure to check out last week’s Brick Report, where we reviewed the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory set, and wrapped up Vingnweek coverage.

[NEWS] Gremlins’ beloved mogwai is back in bricks! LEGO Ideas 21361 Gizmo revealed for October 1 — This buildable Gizmo has one clear advantage over the original: you don’t have to worry about getting it wet.
[REVIEW] LEGO Nike 43021 Nike Dunk Trickshot and 43010 Nike Slam Dunk – Double Dribble — LEGO x Nike’s sophomore sets are a curious mix of play and display. We found Trickshot to be a winner, but Slam Dunk is a skunk.
[REVIEW] LEGO Icons 10365 Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Ship – A shiny Black Pearl — While the price tag is steep, LEGO’s latest pirate ship is a real jewel.
[NEWS] The LEGO Group shares earnings report for first half of 2025 – double-digit growth, doubling down on strategic investment — The LEGO Group continues to thrive despite the potential impact of tariffs.
[NEWS] Set sail again for the Caribbean with LEGO Icons 10365 Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Ship — Jack Sparrow’s iconic ship gets a hefty upgrade, and a hefty price to match.

TBB FEATURES & INTERVIEWS Many of us here at The Brothers Brick have been working on builds to contribute to our Steampunk-themed worlds fair collaborative display which we are sponsoring for BrickCon 2025, the longest running LEGO fan convention in the country! We hope to see some of our readers participate in the display as well as at the public convention days… be sure to stop by if you are planning to attend, or even better, bring a model of your own to add to the display. If you are a registered attendee, and have a steampunk-themed build, just select TBB Royal Exhibition 1898 when you register your MOC (My Own Creation) and we’ll see you there. For more information, check out our announcement post.

[FEATURE] Happy Plant Madness takes cuteness to strange new places — One of the cutest display sets in my collection, the Happy Plants set has inspired all manner of humorous and innovative builds.
[FEATURE] Celebrate Silksong with these LEGO Hollow Knight tributes – With Silksong launching next week, we gather up some of our favorite Hollow Knight LEGO builds from the first Team Cherry game.
[FEATURE] Get ready to showdown with these LEGO samurai, ninja, and cyber-ronin — Ninjas, Samurai, Ronin, these fierce warriors are both bold and stealthy, ancient and modern, honorable and ruthless.
[FEATURE] Last call for contributions to the Royal Exhibition 1898 – our LEGO steampunk collaboration at BrickCon 2025 — If you are planning to attend the BrickCon 2025 private convention, we’d love to have you participate in our Steampunk World’s Fair collaborative display. Or just drop by and say hi!

OTHER NEWS

Pick a Brick: Standard bricks service halted in North America [New Elementary] – The removal of the De Minimis exemption means LEGO is no longer shipping Pick-a-Brick orders to North America that had been fulfilled from European warehouses.
This Week in Bricks [YouTube] – ABrickDreamer provides a weekly video survey of amazing builds and stories from the AFOL community. Always worth watching!
tinybrick.world – Dan Ko’s new website with Free LEGO Instructions – Dan Ko, a prolific MOC builder and BrickNerd contributor, is a wizard with miniature character builds and NPU. Now he has created a website to share free instructions with Bricklink parts lists. Visit our Dan Ko archives to see some of his wonderful wee builds.

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.

A sleek, sustainable, and modern LEGO city of the future

This modern city by Oliver Barrell demonstrates what is possible when you build a city in harmony with nature. Wind turbines and solar power the city, while green spaces and clear, clean water provide an essential connection to the site.

The choice of only a few colors for the buildings, and the use of clever parts like the flexible wristband wrapped around the tower in the middle help this building stand out. Not to mention the light rail line passing directly into the mountain on the left. I would certainly love to live in a place like this.

What mysteries lie behind the door – LEGO homage to Suzume

The anime film Suzume, written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, premiered in 2022, in the midst of the pandemic, and was a wonderful escape that won critical acclaim. So it is certainly not surprising that it has inspired LEGO builders around the world, like Jean-Philippe Leroux, who has recreated the image from the promotional poster in stunning detail. The weathered white door set in a broken brick wall serves as the central focus, while the round building with rib-like frames curving upward in the background perfectly captures the source material.

Last call for contributions to the Royal Exhibition 1898 – our LEGO steampunk collaboration at BrickCon 2025 [Feature]

BrickCon 2025 is fast approaching! Not only is BrickCon the longest-running LEGO fan exhibit in the world, it’s also your chance to meet and build with members of The Brothers Brick. As sponsors of the event, The Brothers Brick is organizing a collaborative display themed around a Steampunk World’s Fair. It’s a chance for builders like you to showcase invention, innovation, and technologies of an alternate tomorrow in bricks. Monowheel vehicles, airships, pavilion booths, Victorian architecture, walking platforms, or even just your Sigfig dressed to the Victorian nines — the only limit is your imagination. As always, we’ll be awarding trophies and prizes at the convention.

If you’ll be attending the event and would like to participate:

Join the conversation on our Discord.
Select the theme “TBB Royal Exposition 1898” when you register your MOCs.
See you on September 6th!

Your model could be featured alongside our own Kimberly Giffen‘s conservatory.

For more information about the collab and how to participate, check out our announcement post.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for August 23, 2025 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders worldwide, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the 3rd week of August 2025.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS Is it just me, or did the announcement of the new LEGO Ideas Willy Wonka set come out of nowhere this week? Not only did we get a news announcement, but the next day, a full review of this set, which seems to combine the original Gene Wilder movie with the Johnny Depp reboot from 2005 for inspiration. We also learned about the latest LEGO Batman game, which is set to release next year and covers a wide range of source material surrounding the Dark Knight. If you’re looking for more LEGO news and reviews, be sure to check out last week’s Brick Report.

[REVIEW] LEGO Ideas 21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory: Candy is dandy but plastic’s fantastic — Unwrap your golden ticket with our in-depth review of the latest LEGO Ideas set.
[NEWS] Adapting a sweet idea into LEGO 21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory took more than pure imagination — You can almost hear the Oompa Loompas singing as they dance through the chocolate factory.
[NEWS] Traveler’s Tales LEGO Batman returns, goes hard — The latest LEGO Batman game journeys through the Christopher Nolan trilogy, as well as many other origin stories in this new video game due out next year.

One of the builds to be included in our TBB Collab at BrickCon 2025.

TBB FEATURES & INTERVIEWS

Announcing TBB’s Steampunk collaborative display at BrickCon 2025 [NEWS] Just a reminder of TBB’s Steampunk collaborative display at BrickCon 2025, Royal Exhibition 1898 — If you are planning to attend BrickCon 2025 in Bellevue, Wa, and you have a steampunk build, you can join in on the display just by sellecting the TBB collab when you register your MOC.
[FEATURE] Nature reclaims all as Vignette Week comes to a close — Our coverage of Vignette week comes to a close with the appropriate theme of nature reclaiming evidence of mankind’s existence.
[FEATURE] Creating a new castle faction with the Minifigure Factory — Our guest contributor Brennen checked out the new Minifig Factory service from LEGO to craft a poultry knight.
[FEATURE] Marvel at this Legion of Extraordinary Superhero Minfigs — Capturing that X-factor can be a challenge, but this week’s Minifig Monday builds did just that with Mutants from the X-Men universe.
[FEATURE] We’re head over heels for Vignweek’s day 5 upside down builds — Building on the theme upside down, creators of these entries for Vignette week were certainly topsy-turvy with creative interpretations.

A precarious castle high above the sea

When building microscale LEGO creations, you have to look at common parts a little differently to discover new and interesting uses, like this castle by Geneva Durand perched high above the sea on a rocky cliff. They use a small, rounded element with a hollow stud on one side as the perfect base for turrets mounted to the sides of the tall gray walls. Another part that caught my attention was the white minifigure forks inserted tine-down between grill elements. And several tooth parts attched sideways make perfect arched windows.

A night at the museum is about to get interesting

Despite what many movies would have us believe, working the night shift as a museum guard is probably a pretty quiet job most of the time… unless you work in this museum scene by Mark, who has crafted a fun story about a group of burglars who have infiltrated the dinosaur wing with less than wholesome plans while a trio of guards enter the scene on patrol. I like the use of a molded T-Rex head on the back wall, and the wall dioramas are lit to reveal displays. I do have one question, though, and that is just why are there so many cats roaming the museum at night? Maybe they are supposed to distract the guards. Were you able to spot all 3 burglars?

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for August 16, 2025 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders worldwide, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the 2nd week of August 2025.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS This last week may have been light on news, but it was big on features, with the first part of our daily roundups for Vignette week, with colorful builds daily based on a single word prompt. Also, to celebrate just how awesome everyone is, we reminded our readers that the colorful and inclusive set LEGO 40516 Everyone is Awesome is still available for purchase on LEGO.com, four years after its release. Just imagine for a moment just how bland life would be if LEGO elements were only available in limited colors… This iconic set celebrates the magic of accepting everyone as they are. For even more news and reviews, be sure to check out last week’s Brick Report.

[NEWS] Everyone is Awesome set still available, still essential — The best source for multiple minifigs in a rainbow of colors, this set is an awesome pic, even after 4 years.
[EDITORIAL] LEGO reveals two new NIKE sets, further blurring the line between play and advertising — Creative branding, or cash grab? The latest sets from LEGO + Nike team-up.

TBB FEATURES & INTERVIEWS Over the past few days, we have been showcasing some of our favorite builds created for Vignweek, and we’re only halfway through. Already, the one-word prompts, such as momochromatic and nautical, have inspired some truly eye-catching builds, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week reveals.

[FEATURE] Beyond the spider-verse – these creepy fantasy minifigs and creature builds will catch you in their web — The more legs the merrier with these creepy, crawly creations inspired by arachnids.
[FEATURE] Huzzah, LEGO Castle fans! Your Summer Joust 2025 winners have been crowned — One of the busiest LEGO-building contests of the summer has just announced the winning entries.
[FEATURE] Returning to Medina Al Musawrah – the massive Middle Eastern city collab from LEGO legends — A truly stunning collaborative build of a city filled with delightful details.
[FEATURE] Digging up some awesome LEGO vignettes as Vignweek 2025 kicks off — Uncover our favorite archeological builds from the first day of Vignette week.
[FEATURE] Vignweek Day 2: Color us impressed with these monochrome creations — If you thought monochromatic minifig habitats were cool, check out these scenes built using only one visible color.
[FEATURE] Fishing up some amazing nautical LEGO scenes from Vignweek Day 3 –Dive deep into the latest round of LEGO vignettes built around the prompt: Nautical.
[FEATURE] Life is a LEGO highway as Vignweek Day 4 goes road tripping — The intrepid vignweek builders hit the road with vignettes themed around travel.

Read all the rest of the LEGO news from around the web

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for August 9, 2025 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders worldwide, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the 1st week of August 2025.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS While the week was a bit light on news and reviews, we did feature a review of the One Piece minifigures available now, and the latest LEGO Ideas set, Italian Riviera, which was announced in late July, is available now for LEGO insiders to satisfy your LEGO modular cravings until later this year. You can keep the review magic alive with last week’s Brick Report.

[REVIEW] Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate fig look-see! A custom minifig creator reviews the new One Piece Minifigs — Our TBB Guest Reviewer breaks down a collection of One Piece minifigures from the new wave of sets announced earlier this year.

TBB FEATURES & INTERVIEWS Hey TBB readers… if you plan to attend BrickCon Seattle this September, and you want to join us in our Steampunk Collaborative display, be sure to check out our announcement post. We’re putting together a steampunk world’s fair, we’re calling Royal Exposition 1898. We posted some standards in the announcement post, along with a link to the Discord server for more information.

[FEATURE] Learn how to master Brick-Built Water with this free LEGO ebook from Exe Sandbox — This free water-building guide is full of great ideas for your next custom LEGO creation.
[FEATURE] Now this is Pod Racing! The most wizard LEGO Pod Racers in the galaxy — It may not be Boonta Eve yet, but any time of year is a good time for podracing.
[FEATURE] Minifig Monday: These golden K-Pop Demon Hunter LEGO creations are sweet as soda pop — The hit Netflix movie K-Pop Demon Hunters was full of colorful characters, many of which have been re-created in LEGO and featured in a unique look.

Read all the rest of the LEGO news from around the web

A stylish LEGO helicopter with a sci-fi twist

Sand green is a really fun color to build spaceships and military vehicles with. There are so many interesting parts in that color, and Tobias Whelan [Intense Potato] has made very good use of them. The cone on the underside of the cockpit is just one example. The open main compartment is equipped with a mounted machine gun, and twin side-mounted engines give this beast a boost.

Along the rear of the copter, two long angled fins provide unusual landing gear, and the tail fins feature another great part use, the small surfboard.

Learn how to master Brick-Bult Water with this free LEGO ebook from Exe Sandbox [Feature]

When it comes to water-building, there are plenty of examples from official LEGO sets that can be adapted for your custom models, but sometimes you want to push your LEGO creations beyond basic designs. Tong Xin Jun (Exe Sandbox) has created an extensive guide full of tips and tricks for creating LEGO water from bricks and is offering it as a free ebook: Brick-Built Water. The builder graciously offered to let us host a copy of the ebook so that others can learn from this essential resource.

For a preview of the free ebook, click here

Middle-earth meets Cyberpunk 2077 in this LEGO mashup

The location of Minas Tirith in the epic fantasy adventure The Lord of the Rings is certainly one of the most iconic cities in Middle-earth, so it makes perfect sense to me that Grant Decker would choose to combine it with Night City from Cyberpunk 2077 as a source of inspiration for this build in the cyberpunk mashup category for a LEGO building contest. A cyborg version of Gandalf rides a silver and white speeder bike, standing in for Shadowfax, while a multi-layered holographic highway divides the city into two sections, just like the massive stone blade that gave the steward Denethor such a fantastic end.