The annual Doctor Who Christmas Special seems to have become a new part of the holiday tradition for millions of families around the world. Which is a good thing as I think we were all getting tired of endlessly watching Jimmy Stewart discover his contribution to the world in black and white. So this festive foe by Jimmy Fortel makes perfect sense…
If your eggnog tastes a little bit like pee this Christmas, then it’s possible you’ve been visited by a bad elf, such as the one portrayed here by TBB regular Letranger Absurde. But as naughty as this little fellow may appear, he’s a festive treat of NPU (Nice Part Usage) for LEGO fans: from the Jabba tail hat, and bucket handle belt buckle, down to the wing-end brick boot tops …and those eyebrows!
Confused about the true meaning of Christmas? Wondering if it’s all become too over-commercialized? Well these aren’t new thoughts, and you’re not alone. Fifty years ago this year, the Charlie Brown Christmas TV special first aired, featuring a seasonally depressed Charlie trying to make sense of it all – and picking a sad little tree that perfectly reflected his state of mind, recreated for us in LEGO here by Chris Maddison.
Charlie Brown eventually learns the true meaning of the holiday. And in his own way, he even helped make Christmas a little better for all of us… Aluminum trees had become popular in the US at that time, but were portrayed so negatively in the TV special that within two years they were no longer being produced.
Celebrating that most famous of Christmas songs, deborah higden created this set of LEGO book ends (complete with brick-built books) that converts into a gorgeous diorama depicting the various gifts that my true love sent to me over the Twelve Days of Christmas – from French hens, to five gold rings (for five Elven lords?), plus other items in various states of disrepair (very relevant in this age of Internet-based shopping!). You can enjoy closeup photos of every one in the full album.
Coinciding perfectly with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the latest issue of Blocks will arrive in stores this Thursday 17th December. To celebrate, Blocks has assembled the best builders in the galaxy to construct seven iconic Star Wars scenes, takes a look at the Star Wars Battle Figures, and compares Darth Vaders new and old in a showdown of galactic proportions! All topped off by an exclusive interview with Michael Price, the mind behind the LEGO Star Wars series Droid Tales.
In this issue you can also find out how LEGO is being used with prosthetic limbs to improve the lives of child amputees, how Britain’s most outspoken toy retailer is preparing for the Christmas season, how to bring your minifigures to life, and why not every LEGO set is a solid investment. Animation expert Steve Guinness also wraps up his Italian Job project, while David Kresse shows you how to motorize your Technic MOCs.
You probably don’t need to be a particularly die-hard Star Wars fan to recognize this LEGO creation by Ethan Marak as being GONK, a cute shambling droid that appeared in the original 1977 Star Wars movie A New Hope. And while the planet is going crazy over the shiny new spherical droid BB-8 from The Force Awakens, some of you no doubt still hold a place in your heart for GONK. Which is why you’ll be happy to know that GONK appears in the new movie! (oh crap, erm… spoiler alert?)
Don’t believe me? Well now you have a choice: Take a peek at the not-very-spoilery photographic evidence, or spend the entire movie trying to spot it yourself!
Iron Builder contestant Jimmy Fortel continues to make clever use of the contest’s minifig sword seed part, this time in a desparate attempt to cripple his Kiwi opponent through supernatural means! Although I doubt his chances, as folks in New Zealand have a certain tolerance for needles.
While some hand gestures (including the one below) are notorious for having radically different interpretations in different cultures, it’s clear that when Hong Kong builder Alanboar Cheung crafted this brick-built anniversary gift for his wife, he was inspired by the sign language allophone I-L-Y.
These sublime bas-relief LEGO sculptures are the work of mysterious new builder Bricks Noir. The skill and ingenuity behind these is so remarkable that we here at TBB are pretty sure this is an established builder working under a pseudonym. (…and we have our theories as to who!)
Don’t be fooled by the apparent simplicity of these pieces – the sophistication behind the builds is considerable. For example, take a closer look at the brickwork in the familiar “mudflap girl” above. Not only does the builder capture the outlines of the figures very effectively at such very small scale, with curved bricks facing in all directions, but he/she also manages to keep everything attached together and even secured to the background! I can’t wait to see what this builder does next, or how long it takes for imitators to emerge.
Click below the fold to see another great sculpture by this builder!
While LEGO always offers a great selection of seasonal goodies (such as the Star Wars advent calendar and Winter toy shop) there are some choice holiday items to be had from other sources too, such as Chris McVeigh‘s extensive line of holiday ornament kits. New in Chris’s line-up for this Hanukwanzmas are these super-cute miniaturized versions of his popular arcade machines:
In addition to ornaments that we’ve featured here in previous years, Chris has also introduced some other new items for 2015, including a gingerbread tree (completing his gingerbread trio) and the new and improved Trident XL, shown below. As always, Chris offers online building guides for all of his products, in case you prefer to roll your own.
The highly anticipated new Star Wars movie opens in just two weeks – as if anyone actually needs reminding of that any more. So what better excuse to whip you all into a frenzy, dear readers, than by having a Star Wars themed TBB cover photo all month! And this previously featured AT-AT habitat by markus19840420 seemed like the perfect choice:
Wanna have your creation used as a TBB cover photo? Then submit it today! And you can keep up with the Brothers Brick by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter. And for occasional extra goodies, you can also follow us on Flickr or subscribe to us on YouTube.
Some people might accuse me of posting too many selfishly nostalgic LEGO creations. Like that time last month, remember that? Ah man, those were some good times. Good times. Anyway, time to repeat the sin with this rather splendid mining scale recreation of a favorite toy from my childhood, the Raider Command from Matchbox’s 1978 line of futuristic Adventure 2000 vehicles.
Due to a limited selection of parts in olive green, French builder Eric Druon actually had to recreate this in tan (and then apply a little harmless Photoshop magic). I was lucky enough to own a few of these beauties back in the day. And I am embarrassed to say that – thanks to the power of eBay – I have been able to enjoy them all over again, albeit “mint in box”!
