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

BrickCon 2020 Online brings the LEGO fun to you this weekend [News]

Saturday and Sunday this weekend, Oct. 3-4, you can join with hundreds of other LEGO fans from around in the world in some LEGO fun with the BrickCon virtual convention. Tickets are just $5, and including access to two full days of LEGO programming. Fans will get to interact with current and former LEGO set designers, ask questions of contestants from the LEGO Masters TV show, watch brick-built robots compete in arena-style duels, and more.

For adult fans who want an even more in-depth experience, tickets start at $25 and include access to quite a few additional panels, entry to door prize draws, play games, and more starting tonight and going through the weekend.

The Brothers Brick is proud to be an official sponsor of BrickCon.

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.

That’s no moon. That’s a spaceship!

Spaceships come in all shapes, sizes, and configurations. But throughout the last month (dubbed ‘SHIPtember’ by LEGO builders thanks to a community initiative to build big SHIPs), we tend to see a lot of weirdness come out, and I mean that in the best possible sense. One of the weirder ships to float across our screens this time is this massive crescent from Markus Rollbühler.

Seeming to have taken some styling cues from Ninjago City, the vessel has stacked housing units and what I have to assume is an invisible space bubble to keep everyone from exploding or drifting away. Technicalities of physics aside, the craftsmanship is remarkable. The crescent shape is thanks to two semicircles of railroad track bowing out slightly to form a canoe, into the middle of which the city is nestled.

Ray-tracing the future

Bigger than it looks, this boldly colored racer by David Roberts seats a LEGO Technic figure at the helm and is named the Sunray. The striking stripes are courtesy of clever brick-building in the wings with stacked blue and yellow slopes, making the trans-yellow canopy almost entirely disappear. All told, the craft is little more than a pair of wings strapped on a big engine, but that’s exactly what you’d want from your anti-gravity racer.

A lived-in universe

One of the things that made the Star Wars universe so magical was its relatively groundbreaking take on approach to depicting a lived-in, weathered place, that felt like it had history and people striving to earn a living, unlike the clean, sterile environments of scifi predecessors like Star Trek. LEGO builder DarthBricks has set about building a series of large vignettes as part of a LEGO RPG they’re playing. The detailed scenes perfectly encapsulate the cluttered, imperfect world of the Empire. First up is this scene from Corellia, where a few Rebels spy on an Imperial patrol.

Next is a scene from the desert world of Tatooine, where the Rebels ambush some troopers. The amount of detailing feels just right, with enough texture to the dust-covered walls to make it feel worn, while still keeping the focus on the action.

Let’s see where DarthBricks goes next. Perhaps Kashyyk or Scarif?

BrickCon 2020 virtual convention this weekend, tickets still available [News]

BrickCon, the longest continuously running LEGO convention, is happening this weekend, October 2-4. Usually occurring in Seattle, this year the organizers have moved the con completely online. The adult-builder-focused con will consist of panels with special guests, breakout sessions on a variety of LEGO topics, games, trivia, prizes, and more. Various tiers of registration include the options to get a variety of swag, such as the con t-shirt, a surprise goodie bag, participation in the door-prize pool, and more. Ticket prices range from $25 to $80 depending on tier and shipping location, though we have been told that some tiers are close to selling out. Every AFOL-focused tier will get access to the full con experience.

For fans who just want to tune in see cool LEGO MOCs, visit the virtual Brick Bazaar, and watch a more limited live-stream of Q&As and builder discussions, more akin the typical public convention experience, tickets available for $5.

The Brothers Brick is proud to be an official sponsor of BrickCon.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 26, 2020

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the fourth week of September 2020.

Baby Yoda is back and bigger than ever in our review of the new 1,000-piece set that will launch with The Mandalorian Season 2.

TBB NEWS, REVIEWS AND FEATURES: Over the past week we reviewed the newly announced Baby Yoda and got to go a hands-on with two new Christmas sets: the Elf Club House and the Seasonal Wreath. We also got a first look at the upcoming UCS-style 1989 Batwing.

LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian 75318 The Child Review – There’s no denying the popularity of Baby Yoda, but when we saw the box for this giant buildable figure we weren’t too sure about it. But after building it we’re completely won over.
LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian 75318 The Child Press Release – Check out LEGO’s official images and press release, along with release dates and more
LEGO Winter Village Collection 10275 Elf Club House Review – What are Santa’s elves getting up to when they’re not wrapping presents? Find out in our review of this lovely cottage club house!
LEGO Winter Village Collection 10275 Elf Club House Press Release – Check out LEGO’s official images and press release, along with release dates and more
LEGO Holiday 40426 Seasonal Wreath Review – The decorative set doesn’t just build a standard Christmas wreath, but it can also become an Advent wreath adorned with candles.
LEGO Batman 76161 1989 Batwing Press Release – Check out LEGO’s official images and press release, along with release dates and more

OTHER NEWS: There were quite a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:

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LEGO car crash? Just rebuild it!

LEGO builder Matthew Terentev built an amazing Technic replica of a 70s-era Russian station wagon, the GAZ-24, and then he crashed it. The result is this fascinating depiction of a crashed LEGO car, which is something that even after years of featuring LEGO models here on The Brothers Brick I haven’t seen done well more than a few times. Rather than just being a partially disassembled pile of bricks, you can tell exactly how the front-right impact crumpled the hood and bumper of this racer.

What’s even more unusual is for a LEGO car to have a story. But Matthew didn’t just build the crashed Gaz-24. Instead, he gives us its whole life as a car, starting with the original, factory spec wagon.

Click to see more of the LEGO Gaz-24

The guardian spirit of the woodlands

The ancient woods have even older guardians, and this one does not seem like one to be trifled with. Named Tyto, the mighty beast is part owl and part lion, with the antlers of a stag. LEGO builder Joss Woodyard has expertly sculpted the chimera to achieve an organic, regal shape. The furry chest is made of Hero Factor armor pieces layered together, but it’s the wings that really sell the beast for me. The feathers are created with many different kinds of wing elements, but primarily several dozen white stylized wings from the Legends of Chima theme. They’re strung together with clips over a spine of flex tube to create the wings’ shapely curves.

Oh, and that name? Tyto is the Latin name for the genus containing owls. This magnificent beast will watch over all his feathered friends.

LEGO Star Wars The Mandalorian 75318 The Child official pictures released [News]

Earlier today we brought you a hands-on review of the newest LEGO Star Wars set from The Mandalorian, 75318 The Child, but here are the official images from LEGO. Better known by the fan nickname of Baby Yoda, the character stands about 8 inches tall and has a poseable head, ears, and mouth. Featuring 1,073 pieces, the set will be available for pre-order starting October 21, and is slated to be available to purchase on October 30th, coinciding with The Mandalorian’s second season debut on Disney+. The Child will retail for US $79.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £69.99.

Click to see more pictures and read the full press release

LEGO Star Wars 75318 The Child is a 1,000-piece Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian [Review]

Ever since Star Wars: The Mandalorian debuted on Disney+ last year, the adorable, nameless alien has set the internet on fire. Simply called “The Child” in the show, fans have dubbed the green toddler Baby Yoda, and to help protect season 1’s plot, Disney didn’t license any toys of the character until this year. Now LEGO is diving into the merchandising, providing fans with three different scales of Baby Yoda in anticipation of season 2. The latest, being officially revealed today (though images have been circulating for awhile), is this 1,073-piece buildable figure. 75318 The Child will retail for US $79.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £69.99, and will be available for pre-order starting October 21, and will release on October 30 in conjunction with The Mandalorian season 2 debut. We’ll be publishing LEGO’s official press release and images later today, but since we have the set in hand, we wanted to kick it off with a full review instead.

Click to read the full review

LEGO returns to Burton’s Batman with the 1989 Batwing (76161), a 2,300-piece collector set [News]

Just last year, LEGO brought fans one of the most iconic iterations of the Batmobile, the swooping, elegant design from Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman starring Michael Keaton in the titular role. The 1989 Batmobile (76139) was a big success and received rave reviews, including our own. Now LEGO is hoping to strike twice by returning to the same source material for another of Batman’s crazy rides. Revealed today, the new 1989 Batwing (76161) has 2,363 pieces and will retail for US $199.99 | UK £179.99 | EU €199.99 when it’s available for LEGO VIP members October 21. It will be available for everyone starting November 1, and will include three minifigures of Batman, The Joker, and the Boombox Goon.

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LEGO to invest $400 million in sustainability, begin phasing out plastic packaging next year [News]

Today The LEGO Group announced an increased commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, pledging to spend $400 million USD over the next three years to fast-track a variety of green initiatives and social programs. The most visible difference to fans will be the introduction of paper bags in LEGO packaging, which are set to replace the clear plastic bags that hold each step’s pieces in LEGO sets. The company plans to trial run the new paper bags next year, with the goal of making all its packaging sustainable by 2025. Tim Brooks, Vice President of Environmental Responsibility at The LEGO Group, said, “We have received many letters from children about the environment asking us to remove single-use plastic packaging. We have been exploring alternatives for some time and the passion and ideas from children inspired us to begin to make the change.”