Louis of Nutwood shows us sometimes simple techniques can be the most effective. A sprinkling of 1×1 round plates around this microscale ship does a fantastic job of illustrating the wake of the craft as it cuts through the water in search of adventure. A micro portion of rum for all on board!
Kit Nugent takes us to the top of a mountain with this Iron Builder creation. Kit used the seed part of a horse saddle to build both a ski lift and a snowboard. The way all the parts of this build hang together over the forced perspective mountains gives the scene real sense of motion and gravity.
LEGO’s Collectible Minifigures have long been a source of new and unique gear for minifigures to wear, thanks in large part to the preponderance of “mascot” style costumes. Numerous animals, fruits and vegetables, and even LEGO bricks have all served as the basis for elaborate minifigures. With Series 23, LEGO is doubling down on that idea with a line that seems to be all costumed characters. There’s not a single regular citizen or historical figure among them. No athletes or doctors or judges. No aliens, zookeepers or gamers or dog show trainers. Nope, LEGO’s 71034 Collectible Minifigures Series 23 is an entire line of characters dressed in costume and ready to celebrate with you this September 1 for US $4.99 | CAN $4.99 | UK £3.49.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
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Steven Howard wasn’t sure this build would work. Inspired to use wing pieces as the beard for a dwarf king, Steven started with the head and rolled the dice that he’d have enough parts to finish. The final build is a 20.5-inch-tall hulk that weighs more than 10 pounds! Plenty of Technic components make up the dwarf’s inner frame to keep him sturdy, and Steven even made use of magnets in the back of the model to make the core easily accessible for moving the model around.
This December, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is going to celebrate the holidays with a yuletide special on Disney+, written and directed by James Gunn. Naturally, LEGO has seized on the opportunity to release one of its annual advent calendars themed entirely around the Guardians. 76231 Guardians of the Galaxy Advent Calendar is a 268-piece set available September 1st for US $44.99 | CAN $59.99 | UK £29.99.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
When a program on your PC stops responding, there’s only one hero who can save the day: The Task Manager. Ivan Martynov has personified the Task Manager in battle against a monstrous glitch in this fantastic Bio-Cup entry. The scene works especially well thanks to a terrific trio of pop-up browser windows, which the bug is crawling through. The full build is an action-packed reminder to save your work often.
Eli Willsea brings us a double dose of fun by combining two LEGO themes into one. This mash-up of Adventures and Island Extreme Stunts brings the best of both worlds into a radical ancient skatepark, with plenty of obstacles like ramps, stairs, and even a quarter pipe. I like to think that Dr. Kilroy is trying to deduce the perfect sequence of tricks to open a secret passage.
The insect-themed Captain Flywing tries to evade the terrifying tongue of Mr. Tad the Toad in a comic cover-worthy LEGO build by Nikita Nikolsky. The dramatic perspective achieved in this shot is due not just to the angle of the photograph, but the size certain elements were built at. Captain Flywing’s head and left hand are built to a larger scale than his right hand or his legs. But when viewed from the proper angle, it creates the illusion of a perfectly proportioned crime fighter in a dynamic action shot.
The Story of Ferdinand is a classic children’s book that tells the story of a bull who’d rather smell flowers than fight matadors. But Maddison Stapleton brings us a twist on Ferdinand that makes us wonder if he’s had enough of those pesky flowers. This bulldozer is equipped to quickly and decisively unearth the roots of any plant he comes across. But Maddison has crafted quite a gentle face on this mean machine. Maybe, like his bovine counterpart, he’d rather sniff than shovel afterall.
A few years back, the lightcycle battle from TRON: Legacy got an official LEGO set. But if that was the 8-bit version, builder Koen Zwanenburg has given it the 16-bit upgrade. Inspired to start with the 4×4 macaroni tile as the sides of the wheels, Koen built the rest of the model to scale with that, resulting in a much larger representation of the film’s iconic vehicles. Koen smartly kept exposed studs visible on the riders for a textural contrast, so that they don’t completely blend in with the similarly colored bikes.
This purple pest-catcher by LEGO builder Dan Ko is an excellent example of repurposing pieces for unexpected uses. This wolfen beast’s snout is crafted from a purple minifigure motorcycle, and his tufts of fur are leaves. The result is a ferocious-looking beast that’s happy to keep the city streets free of vermin, who are clever little brick-built creatures themselves.
Builder lokiloki29 has crafted a tribute to home cooks throughout history with this scene of a blacksmith letting his pork dinner go up in smoke. Who doesn’t know the struggle of enduring a too charred meal because some household chore distracted you for too long? The build is filled with delightful details, from the cobblestone floor made from wheels to the forced perspective castle in the distance. And it all comes together for a grade-a piece of storytelling worthy of a chef’s kiss.
