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

In theaters and on demand now: A LEGO Brickumentary [News]

After much anticipation and waiting by LEGO fans, Daniel Junge and Kief Davidson’s film A LEGO Brickumentary finally hits select movie theaters in the US today. And for those of us not fortunate enough to live near one of those theaters, it’s also available on iTunes and on demand now!

We had the opportunity to see the documentary last year at the Seattle Film Festival, and you can read our own review. On the whole we loved it – apparently more than some movie critics who have recently described it as a 90-minute ad for the LEGO company. In its defense, the film was not paid for by LEGO, and spends more time outside the hallowed halls of Billund than it does inside them. We think any true LEGO fan will enjoy the breadth of topics it covers, the playful and heartwarming presentation, and excellent brick animation by our friends over at BrickNerd Studios.

And if you look pay attention, you may even spot a few of us in the film ;-)

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

This is the house that Alanboar built

This week Hong Kong hosted its gigantic annual fan convention Ani-Com, an event that makes San Diego Comic Con look like a book club meeting at a Starbucks. Local builder Alanboar Cheung was a finalist in the show’s LEGO building contest, with this delightful and very stylish “Dream House”:

This thing is packed to overflowing with awesome details – the closeups are definitely worth a look.

This event always produces some stellar MOCs, but information is a bit hard to come by. We’ll show you more of them as they come across our radars.

Dance ’til you drop

Fresh from his win in our Bricknado contest and rapidly becoming on of my favorite brick sculptors, simplybrickingit has put together this wonderfully engaging and kinetic pair of Jive dancers. Such is the interaction between these two figures that – according to the builder – they cannot stand up alone, but counterbalance one another when connected at the hand.

BrickNerd returns to our screens with Episode 301

TBB friend Tommy Williamson, aka the BrickNerd, has just posted a new episode of his YouTube show about all things LEGO. And we’re really excited to see him back after such a long break! In this episode Tommy reveals his new studio, digs into a dino-themed BrickLoot box (with a special surprise), checks out Chroble’s minifig display shelves, and reviews the LEGO Helicarrier.

Regular TBB readers may remember we did our own Helicarrier review a while back, featuring a “flight test” that was (sadly) completely fake. Well Tommy not only called us out for being such cowards, but he even decided to one-up us and do a real flight test! Watch his video to see the result.

Horrified by this slur on our good name and reputation, The Brothers Brick have responded with an official rebuttal of Tommy’s completely valid and very reasonable accusations. Because we’re jerks.

“It’s ok, I’ve got a Jaaaag...”

Some say he wears gloves on his feet instead of socks. And that he once teepee’d Cher’s house. All we know is that he’s called Tim Inman, and that he is a bit of a petrol head. With his latest build, Tim has totally nailed the distinctive lines of the ultra-rare, ultra-classic 1957 Jaguar XK-SS. Why the Mini Cooper was a LEGO set and this Jaaaag wasn’t, we’ll never know. LEGO cars don’t get much more “swooshable” than this (or is it “vroomable”?).

Announcing the BRICKNADO² contest winners!

By now, viewers on the “Feast Coast” are already chomping through the premiere of SyFy’s new action mystery sci-fi horror romantic comedy thriller cameo-tastic travesty SHARKNADO 3. And while those of you further West warm up your chainsaws, it’s time for us to spill the ~~beans~~ guts and reveal the winners of the Brothers Brick BRICKNADO² building contest.

1st PLACE
“Under New Management” by mediumsnowman

2nd PLACE
“Easy Rider” by simplybrickingit

3rd PLACE
“Incoming!” by Mr. Brickman

We also have two honorable mentions: The Mick Fanning Premature Memorial award for biggest nod to a completely different shark movie goes to Томас Чижаускас for “Lincoln Hero”, and Sean Martin for “Hoff man, Hoff shark!”. Shame on you. Well done!

So congratulations and spoils to the winners. And buckets of chum for the losers. You were all great sports Andrew Avila, The Capitan, Chelsea Collings, jwarner1718, DaDudeDownDaStreet, Liwnik, DarthDee, Krzysztof Pusz, W. Navarre, Laurie Swicegood, Daniel Fortine, and Obby and Steve Guiness. Thanks to everybody for playing! And finally thanks to Arthur Gugick for the use of his inspirational White House model in our contest poster.

Well there it is, our dumbest idea since the last one. And now it is over.

Let us never speak of this again…

That’s the bottom line – ‘cos Stone Cold said so!

While it may look like some kind of extreme ballet, or very unusual form of back therapy, wrestling fans may recognize this move – expertly recreated in LEGO by simplybrickingit – as the suplex. But can you tell which of the 50+ variants it is? Or what happens next? (…without looking at the script?)

This is the house that Moose built

Something probably not well known to people outside the AFOL community, is the extent LEGO fans regularly go in using their unique obsession to benefit the less fortunate. Whether it’s by selling off their one-of-a-kind creations, auctioning memorabilia at conventions, or staging 24-hour live broadcasts, AFOLs pull all kinds of ingenious stunts on behalf of their favorite charities.

Case in point: Builder Paul Vermeesch created this gorgeous 2′ x 2′ microscale model of a building on the Mooseheart campus for Moose International, to be raffled off at their annual convention.

But rather than simply building the model at home and sending it to them, Paul actually designed it digitally then brought a sack of 5000 bricks to the conference and spent 2 days building it on-site, with the help of some attendant kids. (Hmmm, building with kids – now that’s dedication!)

I dream of half-genie

It’s rare to see articulated joints used in a character build in a way that doesn’t mar the appearance of the model. And rarer still to see those joints used to actually showcase the model in some interesting poses. But Anton Sundström knocks it out of the park with this adorable recreation of Shantae, the half-genie action heroine from the Nintendo game of the same name.

Anton has totally nailed the costume, thanks to liberal use of curved slopes and clever use of bananas, life preservers, the One Ring and even a sausage to make the mouth posable. And since Shantae’s main weapon is her pony tail, that too is fully articulated. Brilliant!

A study in yellow

As the Minions prequel slap-stravaganza makes it’s way through movie theaters this week, LEGO versions are starting to pop up, and here are two of my favorites. It’s always interesting to see different builders’ interpretations of the same subject matter – proving that there’s no one ‘right’ way to build anything:

While both models lean towards the “studs hidden” end of the scale, James Zhan‘s Stuart sticks to a more traditional studs-up technique, while umamen‘s Carl goes studs-out and heavy on the cheese slopes. Yet both models nail it with lots of detail and plenty of character. Cumbaya!

A feast for the eyes

This authentic-looking LEGO sushi bar is the work of Malaysian builder Denil Oh. The attention to detail in every corner of this scene is amazing – and extends right up to the walls! I also like the subtle use of custom stickering to give the cuts of fish an appetizing sheen. Check out tons more delicious close-up images over on Flickr.

[Via Pockyland]

BRICKNADO² contest ends soon!

Don’t be fooled by all this Pluto flyby nonsense – NASA is just trying to distract you from the fact that our BRICKNADO² building contest ends in one week! Hell yes, that’s just one week to craft your glorious LEGO tribute to the third (and hopefully silliest) installment of the Sharknado movie series.

Need inspiration? Then check out the Sharknado 3 trailer. Or pore over the entries from last year’s contest. Better still, pore over our prizes, each of which features at least one LEGO shark:

1st place: 60014 Coast Guard Patrol
2nd place: 60093 Deep Sea Helicopter
3rd place: 60092 Deep Sea Submarine

And that’s not all… Each winner will also receive a trophy in the form of a Sharnado pop vinyl:

You know what do to. So get to it. Don’t let NASA win this one…