Posts by Daniel

A worthy watery tribute to a great LEGO theme

While LEGO Star Wars may have brought me back to buying LEGO sets regularly, the Atlantis theme from 2010-2011 was one of the first themes where I bought every set that came out. It was a perfect mix of submarines and sci-fi. By the look of this awesome homage to one of the most memorable sets in the theme, by Edge of Bricks is as big a fan as I am.

This reboot of LEGO Atlantis 8061 Gateway of the Squid is a substantial upgrade of the original but retains all of the classic elements, including a cage made of squid bones (which is cool, even if squids don’t have any bones). The base is packed with great undersea flora and fauna, including a garden of green hot dog elements and glow-in-the-dark crowns as anemones.

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TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for April 12, 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 April 2025.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS This week saw the announcement of a new twist on the Marvel collectible display front with scaled-down bust models of two iconic Marvel characters, Iron Man and Spiderman (also of the iron variety). These smaller versions of popular characters seem to be a sign of LEGO learning from past mistakes like the oversized and overpriced Black Panther bust. If this Brick Report leaves you with an itch for more news and reviews, be sure to check out last week’s Brick Report.

[NEWS] LEGO announces new Marvel Mini Bust line with Iron Man and Iron Spider sets — More affordable character bust sets that won’t break your display shelves.
[FEATURE] Gayle Spiller’s enchanting LEGO box dioramas — This beautiful collection of nature-inspired dioramas is inside the box.
[FEATURE] Dark Side? Light Side? Take a walk on the Wild Side of Star Wars — Our coverage of custom minifigures this week celebrates a galaxy of diversity.
[FEATURE] This Week in LEGO Bricks: The Catbus/Dark Knight Returns –ABrickDreamer’s weekly video roundup of AFOL stories. Studio Ghibli and Batman feature.

OTHER NEWS

Newest LEGO factory opens in Vietnam – Environmental sustainability and long-term supply improvements to the region are touted by the LEGO Group in the announcement.
From Production to Play: How the LEGO Group builds and delivers LEGO® products around the world – [LEGO] — The LEGO Group outlines their global business and distribution model.
LEGO drops diversity terms from its annual sustainability report – [The Guardian] — In a sign of the unbalanced influence of certain individuals, LEGO has removed diversity-focused language from their annual sustainability report.
Exclusive LEGO Vietnam factory set sparks global collector interest – [Tuoitre News] — LEGO continues to grow its worldwide manufacturing and distribution channels by opening a new factory in Southern Vietnam, and announces a new set to commemorate it.

I’ve got a good feeling about this LEGO starfighter

Personally, I don’t really understand the Jedi interceptor compared to the larger Jedi starfighters, which seemed to be faster and more maneuverable. But I can not deny that Matt has captured Obi-Wan’s iconic fighter from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith perfectly in LEGO. From the diminutive cockpit to the flip-out wings, which use a clever attachment to allow the wings to open and close. The ship also sits on an angled stand that blends in to the background very well.

If you are thinking that something is missing, think again, as Matt has also recolored the model for Anakin’s interceptor as seen in the long shot opening sequence. This view also gives you a look at the back of the creation.

Tachikoma meets Classic space in this amazing LEGO mashup

Intrepid wildlife photographer Cool Dogs 2.0 captures the elusive classic space Tachikoma on patrol with a red spaceman. This plucky think-tank makes great use of the relatively new inverted clip both for the hands and as wheels on its four legs. I’ve been re-watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex lately, and the white background reminds me of the short clips after the credits of each episode that feature a team of Tachikomas having adventures together.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for April 5, 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 April 2025.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS As far as news goes, this week was a bit unconventional, with our April Fool’s Day articles generating a great mix of reactions from the community. We’ve also been cranking out many new features recently to show off a wide variety of content, like custom minifigures and theme-building events like Febrovery and Marchikoma. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy putting them together. If you want even more news and reviews from TBB to read over your morning coffee or bagel, be sure to check out Last week’s Brick Report

[FEATURE] Celebrate the release of A Minecraft Movie by embracing Creative Mode with imaginative LEGO creations — Our roundup of Minecraft inspired builds in tribute to the new movie now in theaters.
[FEATURE] This Week in LEGO Bricks: Building with character! — Our showcase of great LEGO builds of the week by A Brick Dreamer features many amazing character builds.
[REVIEW] LEGO Icons GWP 40761 The Lord of the Rings: Sméagol & Déagol — Despite the dire ending of this pastoral scene, this GWP will make a fine addition to your collection, right, Precious?
[FEATURE] Marchikoma 2025 – celebrating the latest and greatest LEGO “think tank” mechs — Our roundup of awesome fuchikoma mash-ups from one of the monthly building challenges popular in the LEGO community.
[APRIL FOOL’S!] The next LEGO geographic mosaic set revealed: 42025 Map of Greenland — Celebrate the 51st state with this “colorful” mosaic… too soon?
[APRIL FOOL’S!] LEGO debuts Creator 1-of-3 line with upscaled Classic Space Minifig spread over three sets — Did we fool you with this clever new theme announcement? I still wish this was a real product (the spaceman, not the 3 separate sets).
[NEWS] New LEGO sets for April 2025 coming soon! — April sets available now… did you poick up your Shire in time to get the GWP?
[FEATURE] These magical minifigs have us under their spell — Get ready for a roundup of magic users in many shapes and sizes.

Nothing says springtime like puffy white clouds [Building Techniques]

This rock-covered hill with billowing clouds by Caleb Saw is giving me serious Howl’s Moving Castle vibes, or really, almost any Studio Ghibli film. The soft focus on the background would help hide the many connections used to assemble the cumulus clouds if Caleb hadn’t done such a masterful job of doing that themselves. Can you spot the many unique elements used? There must be at least 10 different radar dishes, domes, and curved slopes used, not to mention some balloon parts.

This microscale LEGO Notre Dame is much easier to display than the oifficial set

Whenever a new large LEGO Architecture set comes out, it is only a matter of time until someone builds a microscale version. This miniature version of the Notre Dame cathedral by -Brixe is truly a masterpiece worthy of display, capturing iconic details while at the same time conveying the scale and majesty of this famous landmark. The builder uses many newer bar elements and versatile “espresso handles” (a round plate with a bar sticking out the side) to represent the repetitive structures along the side and curving front of the cathedral.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for March 29, 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 4th week of March 2025.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS This week marks a return to Middle Earth with the announcement of the latest set from the theme and our review. While not as ominous and imposing as Barad-dûr, or as majestic as Rivendell, the Shire is certainly one of the most memorable locations, featured in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and the location features prominently in the opening part of both stories. This week heralds the return of another feature to The Brothers Brick, the custom minifig! We also brought you another chapter on creative tree-building techniques using the green antler element. Still looking to scratch the LEGO news and reviews recap itch? check out last week’s Brick Report for more.

[FEATURE] Building trees with minifig antlers, Pt. 2: Branching out with Forestmen — Jake shows off his green thumb with more great tree-building tips using the green antler part.
[FEATURE] This Week in LEGO Bricks: Galactic Empire state of mind — Our weekly look back on LEGO creations curated by A Brick Dreamer.
[REVIEW] LEGO Icons 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire – A Long Expected Party — Celebrate Bilbo Baggins’ 111th birthday in style with the newest set from Middle Earth.
[NEWS] LEGO takes us back to the start of Frodo’s journey with LEGO Icons 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire — Bag End joins the ranks of sets celebrating iconic scenes and characters from The Lord of the Rings.
[FEATURE] Android freedom fighters lead the charge in a new weekly feature — Jake brings us a roundup of some awesome custom minifig creations.
[FEATURE] Bringing the magnificent mechs of Lancer to the tabletop in LEGO — An amazing collection of mechs from the popular tabletop game.

Click through to read more LEGO news from around the world

The world’s smallest LEGO castle? [Building Techniques]

I’ve seen some small castles in my time, heck, I’ve even built some, but this island castle by Nikita Filatov has got to be one of the smallest. The minifigure binoculars are great as tiny towers, but my favorite part is the rounded white tile balanced on the back of an ingot. But the great techniques don’t stop there. The water base is made with studs-not-on-top connections which adds a bit of visual weight to this microscale build.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for March 22, 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 March 2025

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS While there may not have been much news this week, what we got was HUGE… with the announcement that LEGO is launching a new partnership with Pokemon, having wrested the license from Mega. The fan community has gone wild with speculation of what LEGO will come up with, and we’ll have to wait until 2026 to find out.

[REVIEW] LEGO Ideas 21356 River Steamboat – A brick-built voyage — Bre sets out on a river cruise with a review of the largest LEGO Ideas set ever released.
[NEWS] LEGO announces Pokémon partnership, sets coming in 2026 — LEGO fans will have a new theme to obsess over in 2026… Gotta catch ’em all!
[Feature] – Trains and Graffiti tags — We interview Portuguese builder Sérgio Batista about his LEGO models and a new technique for adding beauty to urban grit.
[Feature] – Belated Happy Miku Day! — On March 9th, builders celebrated the Vocaloid diva with diverse builds inspired by music. Jake rounds up the creations.

OTHER NEWS

Second 2024 LEGO Ideas Review results announced – [LEGO Ideas Blog] — The final round of projects to be approved from 2024 were recently announced.
Lego thief arrested after $10,000 heist at toy store in University Place – [KOMO News] — Seattle-area LEGO thief gets justice more painful than stepping on a brick.
Lego FanExpo coming to the Central Coast – [KSBW News] — Residents of the greater Santa Barbara area can soon enjoy the arrival of the BrickUniverse 2025 traveling exhibit.

Calming tea to go from this adorable shop

When you look at this cute corner shop with a cherry tree in full blossom by JakobKaiserMOCs the attention to detail stands out, from the scattering of pink flower elements as fallen blossoms to the balcony on the second floor with a small bird perched on the railing. I think my favorite detail is the roof pattern, made using baseplates from the Dungeons and Dragons collectible minifigure series.

Jakob built this model live on camera, which you can go back and watch to learn about the techniques or find zen.

A classic typewriter, perfect for your next microscale manuscript

If you are anything like me, you have an entire drawer full of dark gray LEGO ball plates, which were first introduced in the Mixels theme. well, it looks like NikiFilik does too, and they found the perfect use for them as tiny typewriter keys. But the inspiring parts usage doesn’t stop there. Minifigure helmets are used as ribbon spools, and the little vents capture the look perfectly.