About Chris

Chris Malloy (porschecm2) has been a LEGO fan nearly all his life, having started with System bricks at age 3. He is the co-author of Ultimate LEGO Star Wars, and his creations have been featured in several books and The LEGO Movie. He also helped develop the first LEGO Minecraft set, 21102 Minecraft Micro World: The Forest, which has gone on to inspire a whole theme of sets. He's been active in the online community since 2002, and regularly attends LEGO fan conventions such as BrickCon and BrickCan. He enjoys building in a wide range of themes, but keeps returning to Castle, Space, and Pirates. Check out his LEGO creations and photography here.

Posts by Chris

LEGO Marvel Spider-Man 76178 Daily Bugle revealed with 25 minifigures, including Blade, Punisher & Daredevil [News]

Today LEGO has taken the wraps off the biggest Spider-Man set to date, 76178 Daily Bugle. This massive 3,772-piece set features the headquarters of Spider-Man nemesis (and Peter Parker’s boss) J. Jonah Jameson’s newspaper, the Daily Bugle. The high-rise features a full interior with offices and lots of superhero action, but the set’s real draw is likely to be the minifigures, with a small army included. Altogether, there are 25 minifigures included, including several new superheroes that haven’t appeared in minifigure form before, such as Blade, Punisher, Daredevil, Black Cat, and Firestar. The Daily Bugle will be available for LEGO VIP members starting May 26, with a general release on June 1. It will retail for US $299.99 | CAN $399.99 | UK £274.99.

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LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31120 Medieval Castle (plus a working trebuchet) [Review]

Every LEGO theme has a specific goal. Ninjago and Star Wars promise action and cool vehicles and characters. Creator Expert brings complex builds and classy display models. Technic offers working functions and interesting machinery. The Creator line’s niche is in providing an old-school build experience, for people who want sets with a load of potential but not a lot of exclusive or specialized elements. And in that vein, 31120 Medieval Castle is a rousing success. Sitting at the top of the new lineup of Creator sets available June 1, this 3-in-1 set comes with instructions and parts for three unique medieval-themed models (one at a time), including a large castle, and yes, a trebuchet. The set has 1,500 pieces, making it the largest Creator set to date, not counting bulk brick buckets that don’t include instructions. It will retail for US $99.99 | CAN $TBD | UK £TBD. It will be available June 1 in Europe and elsewhere, while North America will have to wait until August 1.

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.

Read the full review

A box that unwraps itself

Sometimes I see a LEGO Technic model that makes me scratch my head and wonder how the builder came up with the idea, let alone actually made it work. This unfolding box by YouTuber munimuni Bekkan is definitely one of those times. This clever little box is motorized so that it can unfold to lay completely flat, and then close back up. I’m not sure what you’d use this for, but I know there’s got to be something awesome. I do know that I could have used something like this last time I moved…

Check out the full video of it in action below.

LEGO reveals 2,048-piece 10292 Friends: The Apartments as part of the Creator Expert lineup [News]

As the follow-up to the tremendously popular 2019 LEGO Ideas 21319 Central Perk set based on the 90s television show Friends, LEGO is today revealing an even larger tie-in set, 10292 Friends: The Apartments. Like the set based on the coffee-shop hangout, The Apartments is designed as a television studio and is filled with references to iconic episodes and moments from the series. The set includes both Rachel and Monica’s apartment and Joey and Chandler’s apartment, along with a small segment of hallway connecting them. Seven minifigures are included, with Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross, Joey, and Janice. The set is part of the Creator Expert series, and will retail for US $149.99 | CAN $199.99 | UK £134.99. It will be available to LEGO VIP members starting May 19, with general availability June 1.

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The Rebels don’t stand a chance

May the Fourth may be over, but we saw so many great Star Wars models from LEGO fans that we’re still catching up. Case in point, this awesome Imperial base by Jan, the Creator and Pablo Brickasso. Jan created the base, and unlike a lot of bases we see, this one looks completely accurately scaled to minifigures, with a large landing pad, hangar bay, cargo area, and even some base defenses. The AT-ST is courtesy of Pablo, and it looks like a great minifigure-scale rendition. Meanwhile, the slick TIE Fighter follows instructions from Jerac.

I find your lack of LEGO disturbing

LEGO artist Ekow Nimako is celebrating May the Fourth with this amazing sculpture of the original Sith lord, Darth Vader. This massive helmet is just about life-size and as is typical for Ekow, incorporates a huge variety of LEGO elements ranging from Technic panels to slopes and even the big quarter saucer panels from the 90s. Ekow says this is only the first part of a larger build he’s working on.

See more of Ekow Nimako’s LEGO models on TBB, and listen to our interview with Ekow about race, inclusion and LEGO.

First look at new LEGO Disney BrickHeadz sets 40476 & 40477 with Scrooge McDuck, Daisy Duck and more [News]

LEGO has uploaded images of two new Disney BrickHeadz sets, 40477 Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey & Louie, and 40476 Daisy Duck. The new sets will be part of the ongoing Mickey Mouse & Friends subtheme, following last year’s BrickHeadz of Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. There’s no word yet on the details such as release day, part count, or pricing, though it’s likely the standalone Daisy Duck will retail for $9.99, while the Scrooge & nephews set will be $19.99. Many sets are slated for a June 1 release, so it’s likely these will be among them.

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New LEGO Creator Expert & Architecture sets coming: 10289 Bird of Paradise & 21056 Taj Mahal [News]

Today we are revealing two new adult-focused sets from LEGO in the Creator Expert and Architecture themes, 10289 Bird of Paradise and 21056 Taj Mahal. The Bird of Paradise set will be part of the ongoing Botanical Collection following 10280 Flower Bouquet and 10281 Bonsai Tree. Meanwhile, the Taj Mahal will revisit the famous Indian monument in a smaller scale than the former Creator Expert version, 10256 Taj Mahal. In an unusual move, LEGO has not planned a press release for these sets, but we have the sets in hand for upcoming reviews, so be sure to watch for our full, hands-on reviews of these sets very soon. 10289 Bird of Paradise has 1,173 pieces and will retail for US $99.99 | CAN $139.99 | UK £89.99, while 21056 Taj Mahal features 2,022 pieces and will come in at US $119.99 | CAN $169.99 | UK £89.99. Both sets will be available starting June 1 in Europe and the rest of the world, but won’t be available until August 1 in the Americas.

Click to see more of these sets

LEGO Star Wars Day May the 4th 2021 promotions now live [News]

Next Tuesday is May the 4th, which has come to be known as Star Wars day, and LEGO is kicking off the promotions this weekend, with the promotions now live. The two highlights of the sale are the new UCS-style R2-D2, which is available starting now, and the microscale Tatooine Homestead which is available now through May 5 (while supplies last) as a gift with purchases of Star Wars LEGO over $85. VIPs will also earn double points on all Star Wars purchases. If you’re planning to purchase anything this weekend, consider clicking through from the links in this article to help support TBB.

Click to see more LEGO Star Wars sets in the promotion

Can’t tell up from down

This slick little racer by Isaac Snyder is disguising a secret; flip it over and it’ll keep right on going. I’ve seen some RC cars in the toy aisle that have similar features, but I don’t recall seeing a LEGO racer that does it before. The front wheels are actually pairs of 6×6 radar dishes from a Monkie Kid set, which add a flash of teal to really make the bright color scheme sing. The best part? The whole model clocks in at just 101 pieces.

LEGO Disney Mickey and Friends theme revealed as part of the 4+ lineup [News]

Our friends over at Brickset have spotted that Dutch retailer Van Der Meulen has published images of a pair of new sets based on the Mickey and Friends brand, which is the umbrella under which Disney places most of its movies, TV shows, and cartoons with the iconic characters. The two new sets are part of LEGO’s 4+ line aimed at junior builders, and feature simple builds with large elements. Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy have all appeared in minifigure form in a few sets before, but Pluto makes a first appearance in this scale. There’s no word yet on specific pricing or availability dates, but LEGO generally releases a large wave of sets on June 1, so it’s possible these may become available then.

Click to see the new sets

Ice Planet just got cooler with this life-size handheld computer

LEGO designer Chris Perron recently sat down to build a life-size replica of a LEGO element, and settled on one of his favorite themes, Ice Planet 2002 (a love I share with him). Instead of building a simple upscaled version of the theme’s iconic 1×2 tile, though, Chris reimagined it as a handheld tablet for exploring the frozen world. It’s bulky and rugged so that intrepid ice adventurers can handle it through gloves, and Chris converted all the knobs, lights, and screens to three-dimensional elements. And I couldn’t be more in love with the result. Forget about flower bouquets, this is the life-size stuff I want from LEGO.

And Chris didn’t take the easy route and just make the back a flat, featureless expanse of white. It’s got a rugged pattern that seems exactly like what you’d see on a device made to withstand being dropped onto the ice. The 2002 in the middle is just the icing on the nostalgia cake.