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 moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips

This LEGO Fatboy Mech by Marco Marozzi is decidedly rather rotund in the hip and leg area. I believe the medical term the kids used to throw around the schoolyard for this is “fatty-fatty-boombalatty”. But is this mech’s propensity toward tipping the scales a product of overeating or a glandular disorder? The stickers on this chubby chap clue us in that it may have an affinity for Red Bull and, while it is not overly fattening in itself, its high caffeine content could lead to high blood pressure and diabetes. Nasty stuff, that Red Bull but I would say such a thing as I am well north of forty. The crazy kids are into it though and by the time they get old enough to mix it with vodka you have already lost hope for them ever listening to good music. Kids these days! Am I right? Get off my lawn! Anyway, this is a rather cool mech, I admit. Cool mechs seem to be Marco’s thing.

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One man’s garbage is another man’s also garbage

If you were to say we post garbage here at The Brother’s Brick you might have a couple of people agree with you. However, this time at least, we are posting garbage with this clever LEGO garbage collector built by R 194. This one has all the intrigue and charm of other garbage collectors you may have met except this one is a robot. Or possibly a person in a mech suit. I don’t know, I didn’t really think this premise through. Still, it’s the coolest thing I’ve seen in my admittedly isolated day. It would seem we are quite fascinated by such a dirty subject. What do you think?

LEGO 42107 Ducati Panigale V4 R motorcycle [Review]

You may have seen our news announcement awhile back featuring the 42107 Technic Ducati Panigale V4 R motorcycle set. The set comes with 646 pieces and marks LEGO’s first license with Ducati Motor Holding. This is also the first motorcycle model in LEGO Technic history to include a gearbox. The 42107 LEGO Technic Ducati Panigale V4 R is rated for fans aged 10+ and will retail for $69.99 USD | 54.99 GBP | 99.99 CAD. The press release states the set has already been available since June 1st but LEGO.com cites it as “coming soon”. They call it a superbike but is the set really super? We’ve had a chance to review this set so read on to see what we think.

Click to read our full review.

Gliding in the ocean depths, not a care in the world

In a LEGO world of massive castles, spaceships, and battle mechs, sometimes I appreciate the littler oddball things. My case in point; this manta ray by DanielBrickSon. It makes me wonder what it would be like to be a manta ray just gliding in the ocean depths without a care in the world. It’s a pleasant thought, really. Daniel calls it Mantax, which my limited research cites it as being the German name for the Pokemon Mantine. It also shares the name with this old Bionicle figure. Whatever it’s called and whatever the inspiration, I think it’s pretty neat.

The better to eat you with!

We all remember the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, right? There’s a part where Little Red says to her wolf grandmother “my, what big eyes you have”. To which she retorts “the better to eat you with”. Wait, that didn’t turn out right. Anyway, the point is old people are scary! PaleoBricks mixes Bionicle with “regular” LEGO to build the wolf in grandma clothing quite nicely. The shawl is a great touch as well as the…um…grandma hat. Grandmas still wear those, right? The wolf’s expression looks like he really does want to eat you…with his eyes. It has been a while since I’ve read the story but I’m sure it also involved doilies and a dish of Werther’s Originals. And a ticking clock, a VCR, and one of those creepy pictures of Jesus that moves when you walk. Old people! Am I right?

Odd Noises in Empty Rooms

Strange creatures have been infiltrating our LEGO posts here at The Brothers Brick lately and I couldn’t be more pleased. My case in point; this cleverly built sea serpent by Ivan Martynov. Call me weird but its many eyes and multiple shrimp-like appendages already tick boxes of things I’d totally be into. Add to this the fact that it was inspired by the ghosts of weirdo monster artist Trevor Henderson and you have yourselves one happy Brothers Brick writer. The depth indicator and other details around the border offer the illusion that this creature was captured on camera. Plugging the coordinates found in the lower-left into Google places this encounter at a precise location in the Atlantic north of Puerto Rico. I don’t know about you but I am smitten. We’ve been smitten by Ivan’s work a few times before.

Fabuland with a modern twist

It’s neat when LEGO builders team up with others to build something truly unique. Lasse Vestergård worked together with his mom to built two Fabuland layouts. This one uses only bricks that existed in the ’80s and nicely represents the whimsy and primary color palette that the theme encompassed during its ten-year run.

This one, however, uses modern pieces and offers a more updated earth-toned palette.

A close-up shot of the paddleboat showcases some of the large kid-friendly pieces Fabuland was famous for, particularly the whimsical arched windows and the one-piece hulls for both the paddleboat and the little rowboat.

Its modern counterpart ups the piece count considerably but gives more depth and texture to the water. Plants and flowers are well detailed but the same Fabuland characters retain their original sweetness. Which do you like better?

You might want to have that looked at

Whether it be Candida, Athlete’s Foot, or…Jock Itch fungus can live and breed on our skin. This LEGO Infested Legionary built by Mitch Phillips has it so bad, he has mushrooms growing on his skin. Mitch tells us that when his comrades were asked about his strange behavior, they all claimed he was a fun guy. This humanoid fungus among us is indeed a creature of Mitch’s imagination. However, as if itchy nether bits weren’t problematic enough, this creation has an unsettling real-life inspiration; zombie ants. I am not kidding. Zombie ants. Their minds are controlled by fungal parasites that command its ant host to do its bidding. And speaking of mind control, I’d like you to check out another entity that Mitch built who also does the bidding of others.

Elder Beast mode engaged

In other news today The Elder Beast has escaped from a cosmic sea. LEGO builder Cody Avery has illustrated the unspeakable abomination from the cosmic depths and describes it as “…an entity of great strength. Its maw a mass of tendrils like that of an octopus.” He goes on to say; “Remnants of its imprisonment remain.” 2020 has proven to be a tumultuous year and The Elder Beast is added to a long list of cosmic anomalies that has already hit the fan. This is problematic as sources in the know tell us The Elder Beast was not scheduled to be unleashed until mid-July. The astral monstrosity is here to either put a damper on your weekend plans or devour your soul, depending on which news sources you follow.

Gelada? Does that come in Rocky Road flavor?

Don’t ask how I know this but when dealing with a gelada it is best to not make eye contact, don’t bare your teeth and for the love of God, don’t ever look at his butt. Nevermind the series of unfortunate events that may or may not have occurred to make me privy to this information, just heed my warning and don’t ask questions. With that said, I’d like you to take an indirect glance at this awesome LEGO gelada built by Andrew Steele. With some clever parts usage, this model possesses the correct stance and facial gestures of a real gelada about to attack. (Not that I would know.) This build is so clever you may want to smile, but I would advise against it. In fact, you ought to just move on and check out the other toothy beasts Andrew has built.

Safer still, you might like to peruse our animal archives. I’m sure they’re not all dangerous and someone had to have built an adorable puppy at some point.

Came in like a lion, went out...also like a lion

There’s plenty to love about this LEGO lion built by Djokson. His black color and tan mane are both visually striking and a refreshing change from the usual animal fare. This gives him an otherworldly quality that I’m quite fond of. As if that wasn’t endearing enough, this is a dedication to a creation that Patrick Biggs built seven years ago. A group of friends has also dedicated a bunch of builds for Patrick’s birthday. I can see why so many other builders would gravitate to him. He seems to be a swell guy. We’ve featured Patrick plenty of times before and while we’re at it, Djokson is no slouch either.

We’re gonna need one helluva scratching post!

Leave it to Joss Woodyard (Jayfa) to build something so alien yet we can still recognise it as a feline. That is a testament to this builder’s excellent choice of color, shaping, and pose-ability. The pneumatic T-bar as his nose and the Hero Factory armor as the mane are stellar parts usage. This is one cat I’d not want to meet in a dark alley or even a well-lit alley for that matter.

This satiated pose makes me feel slightly better but still.

I advise you to give this cat some catnip and tuck into Jayfa’s archive to see the other times we were totally wooed by his stuff.