About Lino

Lino is an artist, humorist, and occasional responsible adult. He is the co-founder of a challenge-based LEGO car club called LUGNuts which boasts over 1100 members worldwide. He proposed automotive building challenges every month for ten years (120 challenges!) which he and the other members built accordingly. LUGNuts has retired its challenges on its 10th anniversary but still remains a cornerstone for LEGO automotive builders. Between his artistic work and LEGO builds, Lino has been published in several books, including Beautiful LEGO, Beautiful LEGO: Dark, and Beautiful LEGO: Wild. He lives in Washington with his girlfriend and dogs.

Posts by Lino

TIE Striker in flight, afternoon delight

I saw this sweet LEGO TIE /sk X1 Striker by Auto’s Builds and somehow the chorus to a cheesy provocative tune popped into my head, hence the title. Now I’m making it your problem. But now that you’re hearing it too, you have to admit this Coruscant Air Guard checks all the right boxes: Star Wars, cool-ass spaceship, and striking design aesthetics. Auto tells us the TIE Striker is ideal for navigating Coruscant’s dense architecture and crowded skylanes. The Air Guard fitted their variant with precision weapons and under-wing guided missiles to minimize collateral damage. What’s the Earthly equivalent to this? An Apache helicopter maybe? I can’t speak for the Apache’s maneuverability within a city but seeing any of these gunships in your rear view means your days of doing that afternoon delight stuff are numbered.

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Come sail away on the Marlin Zeppelin of your dreams

The Marlin Zeppelin comes in as Piotr Przytuła’s last LEGO build of 2025, and with it, he looks to the future. You may recall this world within a jellyfish from last November, so if that and this new marlin are any indicator, 2026 should shape up to be a wondrous, dream-filled year for Piotr. The pink fins of this animal would look regal against any sky while transporting its cargo through dreamscapes. It conjures up the kind of imaginary world I’d love to live in for a while, even if unknown perils lie ahead. We’ll wait with baited breath to see what adventures he’ll take us on in the new year.

Super Retro Robo Force; King Oberon!

This new LEGO retro robot from Shannon Sproule fills me with joy as I remember childhood cartoons. He takes us to a time when, thanks to relaxed regulations, every cartoon was a 30 minute advertisement for some toy or another. Us kids in the 70’s and 80’s were brainwashed consumer minions and we liked it, by golly! Some deep diving into Diaclone stuff has Shannon in the mood to build some blocky mega robots in all their primary-colored glory. We’re here for it, Shannon! King Oberon here triggers some happy memories of imported Japanese cartoons like Battle of the Planets or G-Force: Guardians of Space fill the ol’ reptile brain. Who cares if the plots didn’t make any sense. So what if the titles were kinda clunky and ill-translated. So long as parents had jobs and there were birthdays and Christmas, we were getting some cool giant robot toys.

We ring out 2025 with LEGO phenom Paul Hetherington to catch a whiff of greatness- and maybe Old Spice [Interview]

Paul Hetherington seems on top of the world right now, so I reached out to see if he’d be game for an interview. He said, ”Hey, Lino, that would be amazing! It would be an honor to be interviewed by my favorite interviewer. Now that Barbara Walters is gone, we need more decisive journalism to clog up the internet.” With that said, let’s soften the lights and get our decisive journalism on. Sit back, relax- and you might want to mix yourself a good, strong Tiki drink for this one.

Our interview with Paul follows

A truly great starship comes along once every Blood Moon

Sometimes something is so good, you can’t believe it’s LEGO. That’s what’s going on with Blake Foster’s Blood Moon. He tells us it’s a no frills starfighter that blasts holes through enemy ships with its powerful cannons and just and lets the vacuum of space do the rest. For something with no frills, it sure has lots of character. While this ship doesn’t boast an immense size, it still took Blake five weeks to build. That’s a testament to the smooth studless design with just about no easy ninety degree angles in sight. That had to have been no easy feat!

This rear view doesn’t make its intricate design any simpler. There are some complex geometries here as well as some trigonometry (probably) and some other ‘ometries beyond my grasp. You owe it to yourself to peruse our Blake Foster archives to see some of those other complex ‘ometries in action.

31 ways to stay warm and cozy with LEGO and #BuildToGive

It’s nice to know that the LEGO community are such kind-hearted people. Take our friend Deborah Higdon, for example. This frosty-themed pair of mittens alone would have warranted a feature this time of year but she’ll build a unique pair every day in December. This one happens to be day sixteen. The kind-hearted part is this is for the Build to Give charity; build something with the heart theme, post to social media with the buildtogive hashtag and LEGO will give sets to children in hospitals, care homes and other disadvantaged situations. The holidays can be a rough time of the year for some folks and it’s nice to see Deborah and others become a part of something so special.

I couldn’t pick just one favorite so here is a very dimensional pair wrapped up in a bow.

And finally here’s another that’s sort of abstract, like a mitten snow angel pressed into the snow. You too can join in on the festivities. Simply build something with the heart theme and use the hashtag on all your socials. Like so: #buildtogive. Be sure to check in with Deborah every day this month to see what other warm and fuzzy sentiments she has in store and use the hashtag to see what other talented builders around the globe are doing with their entries.

Behold 24 days of Galidor! You’re welcome?

Back in 2002, Pluto Nash flopped hard in theaters and The Segway was supposed to change our lives as we knew it. LEGO also had a major misstep with the short-lived Galador line with most folks citing it as a departure from what the LEGO experience should be. This makes it all the more hilarious as Will Hafner has an advent calendar of sorts sure to squig you out big time. He promises 24 days of Galidor (or Glinchmas) and I’m here for it. Some entries of note so far include this meat-head-alien sure to have you questioning your life choices.

Next on the slab is the unsettling Spider-Man playing a violin. Or Man-Spider? Why is his spider half flesh-colored? Does this mean he’s only wearing a suit top? Does the spider web come out where you’d think it would? This creation proposes questions that are probably best left unanswered.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t upset your good sensibilities once more with this -um- reptilian abomination in a onesie. Is it just learning to crawl? Is it cold-blooded like a prosthetic leg? Does it want to eat your face? I’m going to wager that the answers to all three questions and more are a resounding yes. It’s still early in December yet. There’s plenty more days before Christmas to vomit in our mouths just a little, so be sure to check in with Will every day for more Galidor shenanigans!

Year of the Horse comes galloping along

We’re coming up on The Year of the Horse according to the Chinese New Year and LEGO builders around the globe are celebrating with their own equestrian creations. Sakiya Watanabe AKA N.A.B.E_mocs graces us with this majestic horse reared up on hind legs.

As if on a similar stride, DeRa gallops in with a fully posable horse; it even has the same coloration and similar build techniques. I like how it is delicately balanced on a stand only two studs wide. Both have me looking forward to a confidence-building 2026. And also Chinese New Year 2026 sets, which should be whinnying in soon.

Your lumbering chariot awaits, milord

For some, their mode of transportation might be a ’92 Nissan Stanza or even a city bus for those who can’t afford the elegance and luxury that only a ’92 Stanza can provide. But for those living in the LEGO fantasy realm created by Greenarj only a triceratops with twisty horns will do. Both human-ish merchant and beast of burden are expertly crafted and brimming with personality. Greenarj tells us that traveling across the vast steppes connecting Twin Capitals is an arduous task, rife with personal danger. In such rugged terrain, I imagine an armored dino would be the best mode of transportation and protection around. It would be a safe, dependable steed right up until a ’92 Stanza backfires, sending the beast careening at breakneck speed into unfathomable doom.

Building a community: An outsider’s guide to the history of NoVVember [Feature]

The team here at The Brothers Brick, like many of the builders we feature, live and breathe blocks and have been stewing in LEGO lore for so long that we’re more minifigure than man. But we recognize that not all of our readers are as fluent in the insider jargon and history of this hobby. With you in mind, I’ve prepared an outsider’s guide to help you understand an annual event with deep roots in these parts: NoVVember. This story showcases the importance of community, it speaks about a tragedy, and how we still honor age-old traditions.

You may have seen recent NoVVember entries such as this one but what does it all mean? And why the heck do y’all spell it that way, anyway? The double V in NoVVember stands for Vic Viper. This recent pair by Bradk918 perfectly demonstrates what a Vic Viper is; denoted by two wings or prongs that extend forward of a centralized cockpit and flares out at the rear of the craft and a central stabilizer fin. The style and term was taken from the Gradius video game series.

Creative examples from the community

Now that we’ve established the rather rigid rules that constitutes what a Vic Viper is, how does a builder go about being creative while still following the overall shape and guidelines? Last year, LEGO phenom Maxx Davidson prescribed the medicine-themed Sick Viper complete with syringes, pill pack wings and a central cockpit reminiscent of a two-color pill capsule. It’s good for whatever ails you.

Continue reading →

From a heavy cement mixer spawns a lighter-than-air airship

In the skilled hands of LEGO extraordinaire Vincent Gachod a rugged Tipper Drum combined with some odd science bits to create an insect-like airship. The end result is like a fanciful blue beetle. He most certainly has a knack for figuring out how to use parts the rest of us don’t know what to do with. Based on these parts, he also has a knack for picking up rare sets: the science bits can only be found in four rare sets while the cement mixer resides in only one.

Raging Raijin rises with thunderous applause

With a strike of lightning and an impressive thunder clap, Sakiya Watanabe (N.A.B.E_mocs) takes on Raijin, the Japanese God of Thunder in LEGO. With windblown hair and a dynamic pose, this creation has motion, even when sitting still; like I can almost see this beast-god blowing across the stormy sky as he beats the taiko drums that surround him.

Where would Raijin be without his windy counterpart Fujin? Well, thankfully Sakiya has already thought of that. You may recognize Fujin as we featured him back in August. Here they are posed together in all their Mongolian-fleet-destroying mythic demon glory. As fearsome and destructive as these two are when paired together, they also bring much needed rain and prosperity.