The Cambrian Period was the first geological period of the Paleozoic era, lasting from 541 million to 485.4 million years ago. This time in earth’s history witnessed an explosion in the appearance of multicellular organisms like those represented by these LEGO sea creatures built by Luis Peña. Each one is a prehistoric work of art worthy of display in a museum.
Have a closer look at these sea creature’s from earth’s distant past.
Game of Thrones is in its eighth and final season, and I’m simultaneously excited and saddened to see the series draw to a close. Omar Ovalle is also a big fan of the show, so much so, that he has been building Game of Thrones characters in the form of LEGO constraction (constructible action) figures. He has created some of the show’s key characters, such as Bran, John Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and Tyrion Lannister. In order to achieve each likeness, Omar customizes his characters using polymer clay with vinyl and the occasional bit of synthetic fur. The results are delightful, so much so that its enough to stave off my anxiety over what’s going to happen in tonight’s episode.
See more pictures of Game of Thrones characters, including the harbinger of winter.
It’s hard to believe twenty years have passed since the release of the first official LEGO Star Wars sets. Unofficially, children and adults alike have been building Star Wars-themed models since the first film hit theaters in 1977. While many of these custom builds have been lost to history, some photographs of Star Wars models made their way into LEGO Club magazines like the UK’s Bricks ‘n Pieces and North America’s LEGO Mania Magazine. One of the earliest models I was able to find was this AT-AT walker from The Empire Strikes Back (1980). That movie was only two years old in 1982, which is when twelve year old Philip Dodge had his model featured in the Summer 1982 issue of Bricks ‘n Pieces. While the photography might not have aged well, his AT-AT looks amazing for having been built during the 1980s.
Check out more LEGO Star Wars models from the pages of LEGO’s club magazines.
Following the court case against LEPIN in November 2018, the Chinese counterfeiters are back in the news again and, this time, the police are involved. On Tuesday, April 23rd police raided the Shenzhen plant belonging to the notorious manufacturer of imitation LEGO products. Shanghai police orchestrated the raid, which led to four arrests including the leader of LEPIN’s parent company, Meizhi. According to a post on the Shanghai police’s Weibo account, over 200 million RMB (nearly 30 million USD) of LEPIN products were confiscated. This included more than 630,000 finished sets, 200,000 boxes, 200,000 instruction leaflets and manuals, and over 90 production molds.
Learn more about the LEPIN raid, including pictures from this breaking story
When it comes to collecting vintage LEGO Space subthemes, Blacktron I has a strong following. LEGO’s first intergalactic villain faction has been reborn in the form of Spaceruner’s Lucky Wolf, clad in the classic Blacktron I colors of black, yellow, and trans red. One source of inspiration was set 6894 Invader, released in 1987. They have even gone so far as to create their own robot. By utilizing both vintage and modern parts, the end-result is a model that’s out of this world.
If you love Blacktron I, you might also enjoy this Blacktronesque laser mining vehicle we featured on April 16th.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama has become a BrickHeadz character, complete with a stately looking LEGO rendition of the Oval Office. Irish builder jarekwally built this display for a local LEGO event called Brick Obama, named after the Barack Obama Plaza shopping center where the event was held. Why is there a shopping center in Ireland named after Obama? As it turns out, the former president’s great-great-grandfather once lived in the Irish village of Moneygall. I learned something new!
Have a closer look at this brick-built Oval Office.
Do you have any 2×4 bricks in wild colors with unusual letters on their studs? If you do, you just might have a treasure from LEGO’s historic quest to improve the quality of its bricks back in the late 1950s-1960s. German LEGO fan Beryll Roehl (aka Fantastic Brick) enjoys collecting and artfully photographing such test bricks. We found Beryll’s pictures so impressive and intriguing that we reached out to her for an interview. Get ready for a fascinating and colorful journey into the wonderful world of test bricks!
TBB: Hi Beryll, and welcome to the Brothers Brick! Can you tell our readers little bit about yourself?
Beryll: Sure! I grew up in the late 1960s, so I come from the generation that built LEGO models with the few types of basic building blocks that were available. I currently live in small village in northern Germany with my three adult sons…and their LEGO bricks! Careerwise, I studied mathematics and art and currently work for a school in the special education sector.
TBB: Could you tell us why you collect test bricks and how you became interested in collecting them?
Read more about the intriguing world of collecting LEGO test bricks
In the Harry Potter films, Hogwarts looked massive and majestic. Although LEGO did a great job with the massive 71043 Hogwarts Castle set, builder Mathieu BL has built a microscale LEGO version of the castle that feels just as big as it should, despite its diminutive size. Part of this can be attributed to the surrounding terrain, which places the building within its proper context. The hills and cliff-sides have been carefully sculpted, utilizing a variety of colors and shapes to achieve a nice degree of realism. The sparkly water adds a touch of beauty, and it consists of loose trans clear and trans-medium blue elements mixed together to emulate the choppiness of the sea.
Turning the model around reveals a quidditch stadium behind the castle. A lot of time and care went into detailing this model. Mathieu spent over 1,200 hours designing and building Hogwarts, and nearly 75,000 pieces were used in its construction.
When photographed from certain angles, the little castle seems huge. Here, it looks absolutely stunning.
If you’d like even more LEGO Hogwarts in your life, be sure to check out our review of set 71043.
Some of us here at the Brothers Brick are big fans of car builds. Yet, every good car needs an equally good auto repair shop to continue running, and this LEGO scene built by Ben Pitchford fits the bill. It has all the tools to get your motor running and on the highway. You can even beef up your favorite ride with the monster of an engine peeking out from the right. Best of all, everything is framed within an immersive, self-contained image. Columns and beams extending forward make you feel like you’re a part of the crew, so much so that you can almost smell the gasoline.
Now that the second series of Disney Collectible Minifigures are available, LEGO fans are already using them in creative ways. For example, grubaluk took Chip and Dale and turned them into a selfie image on a smartphone. To finish the scene, the builder made adorable versions of Disney’s beloved chipmunks. Dale’s goofy charm is intact here, complete with his face turned away from the camera with a toothy grin. While the image is not exactly mirrored on the screen, Chip and Dale’s expressions certainly are. The overall scene captures the spirit of Disney’s little rascals while, at the same time, bringing them into the modern age.
Where were you when the LEGO Star Wars theme launched twenty years ago? For me, it began with the January 1999 LEGO Shop-at-Home catalog. The front cover promised “LEGO Star Wars action” on pages 6 and 7, and it did not disappoint! My eyes widened at the sight of LEGO versions of the X-Wing and TIE-Fighter. As soon as the sets hit store shelves, I gathered my allowance money and purchased the Landspeeder as my very first LEGO Star Wars set. Now as an adult, I find the story behind the beginnings of LEGO’s first licensed theme just as exciting.
The foundations for LEGO Star Wars arguably existed long before the launch. Space exploration was a big topic of interest in the 1960s and 70s, giving rise to hit space-themed TV shows like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. In 1977, Star Wars was released and became a blockbuster hit. During this period, LEGO too began embracing the space age and released the first Classic Space sets in 1979. Instead of lightsaber battles and dogfights, the initial emphasis of LEGO was on exploration. Conflict would eventually make its way into LEGO space sets with the introduction of the thieving Blacktron I faction in 1987. The relationship between these defined “good guys” and bad guys” was relatively tame, keeping in line with founder Ole Kirk Christiansen’s commitment to not make “war toys.”
Keep reading about the historic launch of LEGO Star Wars
Collaborative building projects can yield amazing results, such as this slick 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 overlooking a picturesque cliff. The bright red Mustang was built by ham_MOC, while the cliff was built by Jonathan S. If you didn’t know this was a collaboration, you might think everything was made by one person. That’s because the two builds pair nicely, complete with advanced coloring techniques like the Mustang’s two-tone exterior and the layering of colors on the cliff. It makes for a cohesive build that couples American muscle with the beauty of the American West.
The two builders built this colorful vignette for the LEGO Ideas contest, “Celebrate your favorite Ford Mustang in a beautiful scenery!”