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

A retro robot to protect your city

Maybe it’s just the booze talking but the 70s and 80s were the best time to be a kid. I mean, you’ve got Star Wars, Micronauts, Shogun Warriors, and of course LEGO coming out with some freaking awesome themes like Castle and Classic Space. Shannon Sproule knows what I’m talking about. This fabulously retro Metorogādo: City Protector Robo combines the awesomeness of Shogun Warriors, the playability of Micronauts, and maybe even some of the awe of Star Wars. This hits all the nostalgic childhood sweet spots for me. And of course, it’s all LEGO…or mostly LEGO—those shoulder fins are some other brand of brick.

Shannon says it was a miracle to find both a left and a right fin in the loose brick bargain bin. And that’s another cool thing about being a kid; while we likely preferred LEGO, we didn’t care too much if some sweet off-brand parts snuck into our collections now and then. It’s the adults who fret over such things. With childhood wonder intact, (booze references notwithstanding) be sure to check out why Shannon consistently hits all our sweet spots.

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An even taller Tallneck

Fans of Horizon: Forbidden West and/or fans of mechanical giraffes with disks for heads were thrilled to learn that LEGO has launched an official LEGO Horizon Tallneck set. Clearly, Nicola Stocchi falls into one or both categories, as he has built a UCS Tallneck. (I fall into only one category but more on that later.) What does this whole UCS business mean, exactly? Well, UCS stands for Ultimate Collectors Series. When someone slaps that moniker onto anything they have built this means you’re bound to get something bigger and much more detailed than your usual fare. This model lives up to its name as it was rendered using a whopping 7391 pieces! It stands 94 centimeters or nearly three feet high.

As I have never heard of the Horizon: Forbidden West game until we featured the article on the Tallneck set, I have learned that I fall into the category of people who love mechanical giraffes with disks for heads. This thing is amazing, even if you’re clueless about the source material. A quick Google search proves these are peaceful machines that serve as great communication towers. The 5G must be amazing around these things! My personal 5G coverage is great because I am vaccinated. While you’re mulling over that logic, tune your 5G to our archives and check out some other wild and weird creatures from the Horizon Zero Dawn francise.

Theodore Q. Spacepants cares about the environment and stuff

This past month we featured a lot of LEGO space rovers because of Febrovery or something. Well, it’s now March but we’re still having plenty of fun with it. Take this awesome rover by Tommy Frost for example. With a couple of VIDIYO Boomboxes, four knobby tires, and some weird plant life, we’re whisked away to another planet, one that Theodore Q. Spacepants is happy to be a part of. You see, Theodore cares deeply about environmental issues and volunteers for the B. Good Foundation’s Spaceplant Conservation Project. he says it wasn’t really a job because he didn’t get paid but, like most things we volunteer for, it was a whole pant-load of fun. That’s pretty much how I describe my time spent here volunteering for The Brothers Brick, a pant-load of fun. Check out why we think Mr. Frost is also a pant-load of fun.

Even weirdo space-demons have play dates

If there’s one thing LEGO builder Bart De Dobbelaer has taught us is…um…he’s probably a weirdo space-demon. I mean, seriously! Check out this offering, for example. He captions it with “Can Timmy come out and play?” Then goes on to say that “even demons have play dates”. That is all. We’re left to fend for ourselves as to the how and why this is all happening. I mean, I’m sure there’s a good lesson in here somewhere about great textures, and the use of lighting in your LEGO creations. But I’m pretty certain by now that Bart has tentacles and at least one proboscis if not several. Check out what I mean with all his alien weirdness in our archives.

The real casualties of a real war

This new LEGO creation by a historian who goes by the name of Benjamin acts as a stark reminder that there are currently real-world actions with real-world consequences. Here we see a Ukrainian civilian discovering possibly a loved one among a heap of rubble. Benjamin provides a passage in German that, while you are free to translate it yourself, the gist is that this is not a war of tanks and soldiers but rather of mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters, as well as kindergartens, schools, town halls, shopping malls, universities, factories, and homes. When we feature things like this we predictably get a slew of comments on social media that state something to the effect of; keep your world view out of LEGO. Or I come to this site to not see this kind of thing so stop doing it. The truth is that something as big and consequential as one country invading another cannot go unnoticed and cannot go unheard, even among us adults who enjoy building with LEGO. At the very least it has us worrying about our Ukrainian and Russian friends, family, and colleagues, but the impact of these actions span far wider than that.

Keeping silent or purposefully misinformed about such things is how wars like this get started in the first place. It’s how they can go on indefinitely. This is why we at The Brothers Brick will stand with our brethren of builders and feature articles such as this one. While we haven’t shied away from real-world problems before, this is the first you’ve seen depicting the conflict in Ukraine. I can assure you that this will likely be the first of many because alas real-world actions like this are too important to go unheard.

This rover has some sweet rims, bro!

Get ready to lapse into a diabetic coma because this new LEGO rover by Robert Heim has a sweet secret. The tires are made with six tasty sweet cupcakes found in the DOTS Creative Party Kit. With a beatbox from the VIDIYO line used as the cockpit, Robert is having a creative party indeed.

This alternate view shows the guns aimed and ready to shoot sweet sugary goodness directly into your piehole. That reminds me, I could use a snack! While I raid the cupboard for some confectionary treats, click the little blue link to see the other awesome and sometimes unusual rovers featured this Febrovery.

The mean, green roving machine

You can tell that LEGO builder Dan Ko had a great time when designing this intriguing rover. February, or shall we say Febrovery, has been a great month for rovers and we’re not even done yet. This one features a pilot that is a bright green ducky that can only be had in 2019’s Series 19 Collectible Minifigure Shower Guy. Shower Guy, huh? Clearly he’s doing it right as none of my showers have ever been as fun as he seems to make it. I believe it is because my shampoo is not tear-free, in fact it promotes tears. Anyway, let’s wipe away our tears and see why Dan Ko is having the best life ever!

Here we are now, entertain us

Leave it to me to move into an area a decade after its peak. Had I have moved to the Seattle area sooner, I could have witnessed firsthand the Grunge wave that killed hair metal. Bummer. LEGO builder Julius von Brunk is surely a fan of Grunge as evidenced by his latest build featuring bobble-headed rock gods from Nirvana. On the left, we have the tall bassist Krist Novoselic. On drums, we have the shirtless and ever-prolific Dave Grohl and finally, we have the legendary frontman Kurt Cobain with his left-handed Fender guitar. Julius tells us that when LEGO came out with the Fender Stratocaster set they held a contest in which the winner could win a real guitar. He didn’t have the entire band finished by the contest deadline but had entered Kurt Cobain’s figure. Julius goes on to say that, despite not having the cigarette featured, his entry was rejected due to using “inappropriate materials”. We’re not sure if this means the use of illegal build techniques or LEGO’s overall dissatisfaction with the Grunge scene. Well, you’re a winner in our eyes, Julius! Here’s the proof.

I smell a dirty rat

To see a rat rod in real life is quite a unique experience not soon forgotten. People can be left confused, upset, bewildered, awestruck, and amazed in one fell swoop. It is clear that LEGO builder Sérgio Batista understands the rat rod asthetic perfectly. This sick roadster is rusty, chopped, slammed, gutted, and you’ll probably need a tetanus shot just to look at it. I’m smitten, but then again I like ’em a little dirty. Rat rods, that is. I was talking about rat rods. Anyway, check out two other rat rod articles, both penned by me. (Hmmmm, no one else here is into rat rods?) While you’re at it, have a gander at more vehicles constructed by others.

Set sail on the high seas with 38 guns ablazin’!

With thirty-eight cannons at the ready, this LEGO HMS Argonaut built by Fehron Argonaut looks like it can handle just about anything. This builder clearly knows their way around tall ships. I’m loving the sails, the flags, even the complex rigging is a sight to behold. I sort of wish the builder had more to say about this amazing creation other than “38 gun frigate”. It really deserves a backstory. There was apparently an HMS Argonaut in real history, a few of them in fact, but none quite like this. We’ll just have to imagine for ourselves the adventures that await this handsome vessel. My limited research states that this may also be the first time we have featured this builder but with LEGO skills this good, we’ll surely be on the lookout for more. In the meantime, be sure to check out some other tall ships from various builders.

Truckers not currently blocking the US/Canadian border

Boy, the state of the world is in a boil, isn’t it? It’s been so bad lately that it has turned some Canandians impolite. It seems you have to travel all the way to outer space to find people not getting their knickers in a bunch. Take these two industrious LEGO fellows built by Pascal for example. They are most certainly getting s done and seem pretty happy to do it. Wait a minute, on second thought they both look rather upset. What are they so grumpy about? I thought truckdriving was the happiest job in the world next to security guards and funeral directors! Perhaps they’re mad about having to wear helmets and face visors in the cold, unrelenting, unforgiving vaccuum of outerspace? Whatever their reasoning is, I’m sure we can turn their frowns upside-down with more awesome space stuff!

Bubble trouble in the desert

This LEGO Desert Tiger tank built by Andreas Lenander is chock full of great personality. It’s a creation that proposes more questions than answers. Like what is is doing there? What purpose does it have? And what is with that pink-helmeted driver? And most importantly, would they hang out with me? Because whatever trouble that driver is getting into, I most assuredly want to be a part of it! Those tracks are brilliant and even the ground and spires are brick-built using clever techniques. What’s not to love, really? There’s plenty more to love when you click the little blue link to see what else Andreas has done.

About Lino

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