Posts by Daniel

Miniature LEGO castle on the water

I’ve been a fan of microscale LEGO master Jeff Friesen for many years and have created more than a few microscale builds inspired by his work. I recently made a series of castle builds on a 10×10 base, each using a limited color palette. This is one of my favorites from that series, using bright yellow/orange elements for the roofs. The series of waterfalls gives the castle a bit of character and is also heavily influenced by Jeff’s many waterway-filled builds. One of my favorite modified bricks to use in castle builds is the 1×2 brick with a vertical gap, which makes great tower windows.

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How to make a cozy breakfast nook in LEGO [Building Techniques]

Modern LEGO houses are a great opportunity to decorate with furniture made with unexpected parts to get that sleek and simple style. Sarah Beyer is a connoisseur of creating delightful modern furniture and decor, like this cozy sitting area with a white vase made from a Technic pin, the stools topped with round inverted tiles, and the lamp made by facing two gear elements together with an offset.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for February 8, 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 first week of February 2025.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS This week brings us reviews from the LEGO Architecture, Art, and Ideas themes and a new set announcement for Ninjago. Plus, we are on the lookout for talented writers from around the world to join our international team of LEGO enthusiasts.

[REVIEW] LEGO Ideas 21355 The Evolution of STEM – Quirky, yet charming — An interesting tribute to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
[REVIEW] LEGO 10362 French Café – a slice of Paris — Jake takes a look at a tasty slice of Paris.
[REVIEW] LEGO Art 31215 Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers – And it was all yellow — Jake unpacked the latest Art set, stopping to smell the sunflowers along the way.
[REVIEW] LEGO Architecture 21062 Trevi Fountain: No half (stud) measures — Theo returned to Rome to see how the remake stacks up to the original.
[NEWS] Ninjago City rises again with newest towering modular: 71837 Ninjago City Workshops — The latest Ninjago City modular has major Pacific Rim vibes.
[NEWS] New LEGO sets for February 2025 now available for purchase — Check out all the new LEGO setws now available.
[NEWS] The Brothers Brick is looking for new Contributors to join our team — Join our team of dedicated volunteers at The Brothers Brick.
[NEWS] Mattel celebrates International LEGO day by announcing LEGO competitor Brick Shop — Will this new business venture from Mattel hit or miss?

Watch out for this strange LEGO dragon

Whenever LEGO comes out with new products like the Vidiyo clear rounded box or the bracelets found in some DOTS sets, builders take up the challenge of integrating them into their creations, like this azure dragon by Matt Goldberg which features a flexible bracelet band for the long neck of this upright-walking dragon with lots of the leaf elements from the DreamZzz theme used on the tail and the head. The creature also has some well-sculpted feet which look great for running.

This LEGO Redwall villian is one evil rat

For a bunch of helpful woodland creatures living a peaceful life at Redwall Abbey, life is usually simple and carefree. Until Cluny The Scourge shows up with an army of rats, weasels, and other nefarious vermin. This LEGO model by moptoptrev does a great job of capturing the terrifying visage of a monstrous rat sporting a long, whip-like tail with a blade on the end. Armed with sharp teeth, sharper claws, and a long sword, this pirate of a rat strikes fear in the hearts of all good woodland folk.

A minimalist LEGO camper packs some nostalgia

True minifigure scale in a detailed LEGO vehicle can be hard to pull off, but this Volkswagon camper by Nick Kleinfelder comes close. At just 6 studs wide, with some clever use of brackets to shape the wheel wells and studs not on top side panels, this camper packs a lot of unusual building techniques into a small package. One of my favorite parts used is the black roller skate element for the door handle.

For some insight into how this compact camper came together, check out this view of the interior construction!

A tasty LEGO cyberpunk city block

Cyberpunk has long been an inspiration to LEGO builders worldwide, and there is an emerging trend in collaborative displays at LEGO conventions that takes cyberpunk LEGO to new levels. New Hashima, a collaborative standard in creating staggering cyberpunk cities where builders like Toltomeja create buildings designed to stack together to create cityscapes much larger than an individual builder can accomplish on their own. In this colorful two-block unit, Toltomeja combines hexagonal apartments with a variety of food vendors. But it’s best not to ask where the meat comes from.

If you want to see more featured builds from other New Hashima enthusiasts check out this curated collection.

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31169 Typewriter with Flowers [Review]

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 sets are great for builders with less experience as they provide instructions for multiple models using the same limited number of parts. They are also usually a good source for new or re-colored parts. The latest wave of sets coming out on January 1st is a good example, introducing several new parts in a few colors, and unlike some of the previous waves that were mostly the same color range, each of the sets in this wave features different colors. LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31169 Typewriter with Flowers includes 363 pieces and will be available on January 1st for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Check out our full TBB review below!

TBB’s Best and worst LEGO sets of 2024 [Feature]

Here at The Brothers Brick, we review many sets each year, and with over 500 official LEGO sets released in 2024 across every theme, there were certainly a lot of great sets that caught our eye, as well as a few that left us scratching our collective heads wondering what they were thinking. As we reach the end of another year of LEGO it’s time to look back over some of the best, and some of the worst (in our opinion) sets from LEGO to release in 2024. Be sure to let us know in the comments if you have any other nominations for best or worst LEGO sets from this last year.

Read on for our take on the year’s winners and losers

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for December 22, 2024 [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 December 2024.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS With the new year right around the corner, we’ve covered many themes over the last few weeks and several gift-with-purchase sets. Star Wars, Marvel, modular, Jurassic Park, and Creator, to name just a few. So take a break from our advent calendar coverage and catch up with news and reviews you might have missed.

[REVIEW] LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31165 Wild Animals Panda Family — Orcas, Penguins, and Pandas, oh my.
[REVIEW] LEGO Icons 10355 Blacktron Renegade: Bringing back the baddies — Classic space theme Blacktron gets a refreshing new tribute set, bringing a much-loved sub-theme to the 21st century.
[REVIEW] LEGO Icons 10355 Blacktron Renegade revealed as the next retro set reimagining — New space set reboot announced.
[REVIEW] LEGO Star Wars 75405 Home One Starcruiser: Home One home run? — The iconic Mon Calamari cruiser joins the line-up of microscale spaceships from a galaxy far, far away.
[REVIEW] LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71048 Series 27 – More for the fans — This batch of collectible minifigure is full of fun characters.
[REVIEW] LEGO Star Wars 75404 Acclamator-Class Assault Ship: a classy ship of great acclaim — The predecesor to the Venerator class gets the microscale treatment.
[REVIEW] LEGO Star Wars 75402 ARC-170 Starfighter: the comeback story arc — One of the coolest ships from the final prequel trilogy gets a fresh new set.
[FEATURE] What’s your favorite LEGO moment of 2024? — A look back on some of our favorite LEGO memories from 2024.
[REVIEW] LEGO Technic 42202 Ducati Panigale V4 S Motorcycle – More of the same? — Rev your engines for this new Technic motorcycle.
[REVIEW] LEGO Marvel 76314 Captain America: Civil War Action Battle – Which side wins? — Revisit the famous airport battle with this new set.
[REVIEW] LEGO Marvel 76313 MARVEL Logo & Minifigures – A LEGO logo of a different kind — More than just a branding plug…
[REVIEW] LEGO Icons 10350 Tudor Corner modular building – a return to the Classic Castle Guarded Inn — Our review includes exclusive insights from the set designers.

Click through to read more LEGO news from around the world

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31165 Wild Animals Panda Family [Review]

Recently, LEGO set designers have taken the Creator 3-in-1 line of animal sets to the next level. Sets like LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31129 Majestic Tiger, LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31154 Forest Animals: Red Fox, and LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31150 Wild Safari Animals have given wildlife fans a lot to be excited about. With 4 new sets coming in January, this trend is showing no signs of stopping. The most impressive of the latest wave features a panda bear and cub snacking on bamboo, with a penguin and chick and a pair of orcas as the alternate models. LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31165 Wild Animals Panda Family contains 626 pieces and will be available on January 1st for US $39.99 | CAN $49.99 | UK £34.99. You may also be able to find the set after release from 3rd party sites like Amazon and eBay.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Read on for our full review

Here’s one LEGO hedgehog who takes it slow

Small LEGO scenes like this make me smile. With just a few parts and a simple story, Eli Willsea crafts a fun and colorful vignette of a hedgehog taking a walk after a light rain. The chopstick element makes perfect spines, yellow rainboots are instantly recognizable, and he even has a frog friend along for the ride.