I don’t know how y’all like to stay cool in the heat of summer, but I like what BrickheXe has come up with in this lovely LEGO watering hole. The mosaic pattern on the floor made from cheese slopes on their sides perfectly complements the decorative wall behind the fountain. One of my favorite architectural details is the onion-shaped openings along the wall made with four perfectly matched slopes and arches. That palm tree is also a simple but very effective technic.
LEGO Botanical Collection sets have featured iconic flowers from around the world, and the vases included have also reflected some of their real-world counterparts’ popular styles using various unique building techniques. Paired with 10368 Chrysanthemum, the second set in the summer 2024 wave is the iconic plum blossom, which has a very similar Chinese-inspired vase and wooden base. These two flowers are part of four Asian flowers known in Chinese culture as the four gentlemen, one representing each season. The plum blossom represents winter. LEGO Botanical Collection 10369 Plum Blossom contains 327 pieces and will be available on August 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.
Read our full review of LEGO Icons Botanical Collection 10369 Plum Blossom
Since first launching in 2021 as part of the LEGO Icons theme, the LEGO Botanical Collection has consistently produced high-quality, realistic models of popular plants like 10311 Orchid and 10289 Bird of Paradise. While the plants themselves are the stars, the vases and pots have been pretty great too. This summer’s wave of sets is no exception, with the first two sets being the chrysanthemum and the plum blossom. These two flowers are part of four iconic Chinese flowers known as the four gentlemen, one representing each season. We’ll be taking a look at the spring flower first, represented by the chrysanthemum. LEGO Botanical Collection 10368 Chrysanthemum comprises 278 pieces and will be available on August 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.
Read our full review of LEGO Icons Botanical Collection 10368 Chrysanthemum
This three-building LEGO village scene by Daniël de Wit has lots of fun details. A fence made from long rubber hoses keeps a pair of LEGO animals in their pen. And some lovely stained-glass windows in the small church are born of transparent red and green elements and some studs-not-on-top technique. Vines can be seen growing up the side of that house in front, which seems to have caught the eye of a nearby goat. The slight angle of the church leads the eye to some sort of confrontation on the path… maybe this knight has been racking up a hefty tab at the local watering hole.
When building microscale, a certain eye is needed to find unusual uses of LEGO elements designed for a larger scale. Uncharted Fabrications demonstrates this with their masterful use of minifigure accessories in this ancient city nested among waterfalls and rocks. From the teapots used as gates to coffee mugs “holding” up the main angled roof to various bowls turned domed roofs, this build is packed with expert-level part usage. The rockwork which serves as a backdrop is also quite nice. Building with studs in multiple directions and a variety of curved elements, the terrain is almost as interesting as the city.
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 July 2024.
TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS What a fun week, from LEGO Masters to Jaws to another killer McLaren car, get caught up on the news and reviews of the last few weeks right here. And if you want even more excitement, be sure to check out our last Brick Report for more great LEGO coverage.
And in other LEGO News…
Microscale building is a great way to flex your creative part usage, and this lovely church by Jens Ohrndorf is no exception. The seed part in this model is a trunk lid from the Fabuland theme (the red roof of the main church) to match the red tower roof. Printed window frames from Harry Potter sets make great stained-glass windows, but one of my favorite details is the green minifigure hair pieces used for bushes.
LEGO Classic Space has had a few upgrades in recent years, and with the launch of the most-recent collectible minifig series, LEGO fans now have a whole new crew to build habitats for, like this trio from ABrickDreamer. They feature a few of the sub-theme characters and sometimes-rivals of the Classic Space minifigure. M-Tron features the red and black color scheme, Blacktron II appears in white and black with an alien planet background, and Ice Planet 2002 surveys some icy terrain. I really like the subtle inclusion of the striped background with stars inspired by the LEGO Ideas set 21340 Tales from the Space Age.
Everyone knows that fresh-squeezed juice is good for you, but I’m not sure if this LEGO appliance by James Zhan is a very smart choice. Who knows what kind of side effects you might endure by sampling a beverage extracted from an alien plant? Health benefits aside, there can be no doubt that this modern machine looks like it would fit right in beside a Kitchen Aid or a Cuisinart. The black motor at the back looks like it could turn any alien flora into a smoothie in no time.
Fans building LEGO bonsai trees is nothing new, but I do have to “hand” it to Thomas Jenkins for their genius use of several parts from the green Marvel Hulk figure, or “bigfig” as they are sometimes called. The smooth curves of the arm and the fist make great terrain for this miniature tree, but my favorite part is the lower jaw of a Star Wars dewback used in the lower-left corner. The gray tray is made from a variety of curved elements, and several attached to the build studs-down are another nice touch, with two little feet made from quarter circle tiles. Now I know what to do with all my Sandy bigfigs from Monkie Kid.
Riding down a river on a barrel may not be the most efficient way to travel, but ABrickDreamer manages to make it look like a pretty fun ride in this vignette which reminds me of the iconic barrel ride from The Hobbit without the angry elves taking pot-shots. The builder made excellent use of multiple transparent power effects and other elements for the splashing water, and that waterwheel really packs in the details at such a small scale.
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 third week of June 2024.
TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS Another light news weak as we head into the start of summer, with Star Wars, and Transformers reviews, and news announcements.
In other news, Pacific Northwest local LEGO fan Eric Law was featured on a news program talking about his Ukrainian LEGO landmark.