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

Too many garden gnomes? Get the hose!

Experience says that most of the problems encountered in the backyard can be solved with a garden hose. Whether it be watering plants, flooding a rathole, separating two mating cats, or showing a sunbathing neighbor who is boss, a live garden hose can do it all. This LEGO creation built by Jonah Schultz seems to depict an infestation of garden gnomes. Thankfully, he has The Peacekeeper 3000 (as I call mine) in view so we know those pesky gnomes will be scattered soon. This entire scene was built using only 101 parts, too. All parts are well-used here, especially the hose parts. But then again, I’d say that as I often tout my Constitutional Right to bear a garden hose. All that strength, respect, and power; must be what God feels like when he holds a hose!

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Behold Armenelos The Golden

You’d think in a LEGO forum chock full of nerds there would be among us a few experts on Lord of the Rings. A perusal of our archives proves such an expert has not been forthcoming lately and instead, you get contributors like me striving to do a passable article on a subject matter we know very little about. It’s a sacrilege, I know, but it doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate this breathtaking scene presented by Josiah Durand. It’s called Armenlos The Golden. I see beautiful shapes, a stunning artistic composition, and amazing build techniques while the rest of youse likely see a beloved scene from Rings of Power. If you fancy yourself as an authority on Lord of the Rings, (Then why not apply to be a contributor here? You can always do that, you know!) then you’d most certainly want to take a deep dive into our archives.

All Xenomophic hell breaks loose on board The Betty

Here at The Brothers Brick, we love the Alien franchise. We really do! Most of us have been fans ever since 1979 when the first Xenomorph (ahem) burst onto the scene and we still can’t get enough of the chest-bursting, acid-spitting antagonist, by golly! We’ve seen great LEGO versions of Nostromo and even the horrifying Xenomorph. What you don’t see much of is The Betty from Alien Resurrection and Alien Resurrection 2 (because the first resurrection went so well for the aliens they pretty much had to do it again). Thankfully, Carlos Valero has us covered there. We can all sleep better now, preferably in a cryogenic years-long slumber, because what can go wrong with that? I mean, seriously, what can go wrong?

Whether it be the aforementioned Xenomorph or other unearthly critters not-from-around-here, you’ll find them all in our alien archives.

Rodan rounds out the kaiju ruckus!

If you’ve been paying attention recently you may have seen sightings of King Ghadorah, Mothra and the King of Monsters, Godzilla. Now VelociJACKtor’s Rodan rounds out the big LEGO kaiju battle in all his fiery-red glory. There’s something just so pleasing about a group of friends building amazing creations based on the same theme. Seeing and writing about these legendary monsters has been like watching a Creature Double Feature…twice! I’m flooded with fond memories of childhood, popcorn, and campy kaiju movies right after the Saturday morning cartoons. Thanks for the memories, friends!

If you love kaiju and other creepy creatures as much as I do, then check out our monsters archive for a wild ruckus indeed.

“This is the way” ; “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes”

Welp, we pretty much know what is going to be Disney’s hottest new action figure this spring, but a few LEGO builders like Dad’s Bricks (Joe) have gotten ahead of Hasbro and wasted no time in getting their versions out first. Now Mando doesn’t have to crane his neck so far down to keep an eye on his adorable little ward thanks to Grogu’s new IG-12 mech suit. It’s more of a hollowed-out droid, really. With the help of little Grogu at the controls, the former assassin droid is capable of saying “no” and “yes”- usually in quick succession. Judging by the builder’s name, he’s probably a dad and so can understand the pride and wonder Mando must feel for his (mild spoiler alert, here) adopted son. He probably has a stockpile of good dad jokes, too. If you know some good ones, please leave them in the comments.

Shack up for a long cold night

Is it just me or is there something kinda thrilling about staying indoors? This LEGO creation by Joe (jnj_bricks) has me wanting to pack a good book, some hot chocolate, and maybe a few board games to spend the night in this cozy cabin. Sure it’s a breathtaking winter wonderland outside but there’s blankets and a fireplace on the inside. Plus you really can’t dig into six hours of playing Eldritch Horror if you’re outside building a snowman now, can you? I mean, sure, you should probably admire the amazing build techniques and snowy textures on the outside but the inside of this stunning little cabin; that’s where the whiskey is at. Am I right or am I right?

Ghidorah joins the kaiju battle!

The Brothers Brick feed has been looking extra kaiju-y lately and we’re all thrilled about it. That’s because a group of friends got together to build the coolest LEGO kaiju ever. You may recall recent appearances from Mothra and Godzilla. Now Daniel Olvera joins the big kaiju battle with King Ghidorah! I just discovered HBO’s Turner Classic Movies hub so I’ve been rewatching all the great kaiju movies of my youth and loving every guy-in-a-rubber-suit-with-the-zipper-showing minute of it. Sure the monsters are fighting battles for reasons understood by no one, it’s a whole lot of schlock and you can totally see the strings on the flying rockets but that’s all part of the charm, really. Don’t tell Godzilla but I was kinda rooting for Ghidorah all along. If you love kaiju and other monsters as much as we do, then grab some popcorn and click the blue link to dig into our archives.

A Gillig CNG bus just for the heck of it

The last time I did something just for the heck of it I ended up getting banned for life from Sizzler. But when LEGO builder Isaac Wilder does something for the heck of it you get this sweet little Gillig CNG bus. Admittedly his approach to doing things for the heck of it is far more constructive than mine. Hah-constructive, get it? Anyway, I’m enjoying all the build techniques here and the photography and wet look turn a nice little build into something amazing indeed. It’s such a relatable thing because it reminds me of all the times I’ve waited for a bus in the rain. That’s all in the past now because, for reasons unrelated to the Sizzler incident, I’m also banned from city buses.

Midnight in the Garden of Lothlorien

My apologies go out to John Berendt as I came dangerously close to the title of his famous novel with my title. LEGO builder Ralf Langer tells us this latest creation is called Lothlorien Riverside, which makes it a Lord of the Rings sort of thing. But he also says it’s not of a specific landscape so you can forgive me if I imagine this as a setting for an atmospheric Southern Gothic tale of murder and deceit. It is a setting of breathtaking beauty juxtaposed against an unsettling eerieness. Ralf truly understands the reflective properties of LEGO as you can see in our Ralf Langer archives. Black works particularly well here but he has done this with other colors in the past. The angle of the photography is also an effect he thinks about a lot. Shot at a high angle the green algae on the water would seem more blocky. But at this angle, it’s perfection! mastery of brick and photography like this is why Ralf is consistently among our favorite builders.

This builder prefers to do his own Stuntz

This wacky LEGO cottage built by Thomas Jenkins takes inspiration from an unlikely source. The City Stuntz sets have been entirely passed over by me but in looking over the neat build techniques used in this whimsical cabin, I may have to rethink that short-sighted strategy. He’s used the motorcycle ramps to shape the roof. What a neat use that part! I prefer to leave stunts (or stuntz) to the pros. Why the first time I try skateboarding I’m liable to credit card my gooch or land a gnarly face plant and, at my age, I ain’t about to get in on all that drama. But if you’re braver than I am, then check out our totally dope Stuntz archives.

Your mando coverage of Mando on Mandalore

I’m pretty sure we’re contractually obligated to feature LEGO creations from The Mandalorian every once in a while. I think it staves off a Mythosaur rampage or something. Thankfully, the aptly-named KevFett2011 is consistently willing to oblige us. This time we’re taken to Madalore where our hero needs to atone for taking off his helmet too many times during all the mushy scenes. Seems from now on we ain’t seeing Din Djarin’s beautiful, beautiful face anymore unless you tune in to that other channel where he’s fighting mushroom people. I’m digging Kev’s rugged Mandalore trinitite-strewn terrain and the added third foot on R5-D4 is a nice touch. I never get tired of seeing Mando’s hot-rodded N-1, either. Do you love The Mandalorian as much as we do? Then click the little blue link for more Mando goodness. This is the way.