About Iain

Iain Heath is an avid builder specializing in the "Bricks of Character" style, which he helped define. He has been using LEGO to parody popular culture since 2007, when he created the now infamous Stephen Hawking model. He is a SeaLUG member and regular theme coordinator at BrickCon. For five years he also ran a blog called The Living Brick, that showcased the best character-based LEGO creations from around the world. You can find his irreverent body of work on Flickr.

Posts by Iain

TBB cover photo: March 2016

Our latest social media cover photo is this “Solar Rover” built for the recent FebRovery contest by Stuttgart-based builder Kevin Wollert. The dark tan background and use of transparent red elements gives this intricate little rover a Classic Space feel. Although the inclusion of tracks actually makes a lot more sense than all the wheeled vehicles that used to dominate LEGO’s own Space themes!

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then acquaint yourself with the submission guidelines and submit your LANDSCAPE ORIENTED photo today.

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Mission a-corn-plished: Bob Belcher’s burger joint recreated in LEGO

We love a good pun here at The Brothers Brick. And it’s clear that the creators of the hit cartoon Bob’s Burgers feel the same – a fact that Chris Goddard did not overlook when he built this spot-on recreation of the street from the show’s opening titles. For the ever-changing store next to the titular diner, Chris went with “Butt Stuff Underwear Outlet”. But he could just as easily have gone for “Magnum G.I. Colonoscopies”, “A Fridge Too Far Used Appliances” or any of the hundred different store names snuck into the sequence by the animators over the show’s five year history.

Tis the season

Between such varied projects as his Discworld and Mad Max characters, Finnish builder Eero Okkonen has been working on a series of LEGO sculptures depicting the four seasons personified as female spirits. Eero capitalizes on his signature technique that blends System and Bionicle pieces, including some great use of leaf parts as well. My favorite has to be the representation of Spring, with her windblown hair and a dress that utilizes balloon parts from a certain LEGO Friends set (parts I always thought would be useless, but which builders continue to make great use of).

76052 LEGO Batman Classic TV Series Batcave [Review]

When we announced details of LEGO’s enormous new 76052 Classic Batcave set last month it almost melted our Facebook page. There hasn’t been this kind of buzz about a new set since the release of the equally enormous 76042 SHIELD Helicarrier last year. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so I donned my cape, hopped in the Bro-mobile, rappelled up the outside of a mall, and KAPOW-ed my way through the local LEGO store to secure a copy of this decidedly spendy $270 set.

Click to read the full review

New LEGO Star Wars sets unveiled at Toy Fair New York 2016 [News]

Thanks to our man on the ground, Dan Rubin, we have the juicy details about a ton of new sets revealed by LEGO at the 2016 Toy Fair being held in New York today. In addition to the complete details about 75098 Assault on Hoth posted earlier today, we’ll be bringing you information on new sets in various LEGO themes over the course of the weekend. But let’s get started with the theme you all really wanna see: STAR WARS!

As well as the new battle packs and microfighters that we reviewed in detail last month, there are new sets spanning the original trilogy, prequel trilogy and Rebels animated series. We also got a close-up look at a couple of sets from the brand new Disney XD animated series LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, which follows the exploits of a bunch of scavengers called the Freemakers, and is set in an era between Empire and Jedi.

75145 Eclipse Fighter (363 pieces at $29.99)

Click through to see more Star Wars sets!

HispaBrick issue 24 now available [News]

Another issue of online LEGO fan magazine HispaBrick is now available for download. In this edition, the Arvo brothers present their stunning ALIEN building project book. There are interviews with epic diorama builder Michał Kazmierczak and Kevin Hinkle, Community Manager for LEGO’s Community Engagement division. Set reviews include the Brick Bank and Imperial Star Destroyer. Building guides covering such diverse topics as trees, modular landscaping, and WeBo robotics. There’s also a peek inside the new LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Osaka, and a whole lot more. So download it today!

Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release

New York based musician and LEGO builder Andy Grobengieser recently began creating miniature versions of iconic music synthesizer keyboards, starting with the classic Mini Moog, and his latest collection showcases four models that any synth geek should immediately recognize: the Korg MS-20, Roland Jupiter-8, Yamaha DX7, and Nord Stage.

The MS-20 holds particularly fond memories for me as it was one of the first synths I ever owned. It first went into production in 1978, but like many vintage synths it remains popular and is still used by electronic musicians to this day (although good luck finding one at a reasonable price!). It’s crazy patch bay was inspired by the Moog Modular, which Andy has also lovingly recreated in LEGO:

Most of these instruments herald from a “golden age” of synthesizers, and each had it’s own unique sound. Of course, no two synth enthusiasts would ever completely agree on which models had the greatest influence on the sound of 70s and 80s music. But I felt that Andy’s collection was missing one significant entry, a device that brought the term “sampling” into everyday use, and was central to work of cutting-edge artists like Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. I present to you… the Fairlight CMI!

Thriller, Killer

TBB regular Letranger Absurde continues to refine his unique style and churn out one great character build after another. This week he graced us with not one, but two, new examples: the erstwhile King of Pop, and a lady assassin who seems to be taking her work a bit too seriously. Both feature stellar poses, great proportioning, and a delightful use of Mixel eyes. It’s almost enough to make this aged character builder wanna hang up his bricks! I tip my hat to you, sir…

TBB cover photo: February 2016

We’re very enthusiastic about all things robotic here at The ~~Mechas Mech~~ Brothers Brick, so a mecha-themed monthly cover photo was inevitable. While a lot of the LEGO mech tech that we cover here is on the large side, this month’s moody mecha TBB cover photo by Italian builder Devid VII proves that sometimes it’s not always size that counts!

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then acquaint yourself with the submission guidelines and submit your *LANDSCAPE ORIENTED* photo today.

Taiwanese LEGO fan uses 15000 bricks to build 4½ foot long SHIELD Helicarrier

The most anticipated LEGO set of 2015 was the enormous Avengers SHIELD Helicarrier. As we highlighted in our extensive video review, there was a lot to like about that set, except for the relative scales of the carrier, the microfigs, and the quinjets. And while some builders have explored more ambitious LEGO Helicarrier designs within the confines of a computer screen, no-one has dared tackle the challenge of building a more properly scaled and movie-accurate version of the Avengers’ flying fortress using actual LEGO bricks …until now!

Working with nothing more than reference photos from the 2012 Avengers movie, Taiwanese builder ZiO Chao and a his friends Dada, Kimura, Kuan-Wei, Stephanie, Tiger and Will from the Formosa LEGO club spent a month and a half (and many sleepless nights) constructing this enormous and fully detailed model of the iconic Helicarrier. At 140cm x 80cm it’s twice the size of the official LEGO set, and contains five times as many pieces. At last, those “swooshable” little quinjets now actually have room to move around!

Regarding the build process, which he photographed in great detail, ZiO told The Brothers Brick: “Before I started to build it, the most annoying thing was collecting parts and classifying them. Then we used Technic beams to sketch out the skeleton of the carrier, which needed to be strong enough to hold everything together. Technic beams were also a great solution for the supporting yellow columns, the front of the carrier, and the four turbine engines.”

Click here to keep reading

Being disintegrated makes me very angry, very angry indeed!

Over the years we’ve featured many LEGO versions of Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam and Marvin the Martian. But this is the first time we’ve seen Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century in brick form. Thanks to the talents of Tyler Clites we see him pictured here during his first screen appearance in 1953, battling for control of “Planet X” against Marvin:

This game is a steal

Although describing indie video game The Swindle as both maddening and brilliant, Belgian builder Gregory Coquelz was so inspired by the satisfaction of completing this steampunk cybercrime caper, that he recreated this scene from the game featuring one of its larcenous characters: