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

From the dark Matrix

I’m always fascinated by how skilled LEGO builders can create interesting backgrounds for their models using simple pieces. Builder why.not? has made this awesome cyberpunk scene of a figure staring down a robotic eye, but then filled out the background to truly make the scene immersive. One wall cleverly uses the holes in Technic plates to make a Matrix-like cascade of lights, while the other uses minifigure stands and turntable bases to create an interesting texture. And finally, the presentation with careful lighting is as important to this creation as the build itself, and it all comes together marvelously.

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Ask LEGO anything: We’re talking to LEGO, and we want your help! [News]

Next week The Brothers Brick will be in Billund, Denmark at LEGO’s headquarters to talk with LEGO about how the company interacts with the fan community. That’s not all we’ll be doing though, as we’ll also have an opportunity to sit down with a handful of LEGO designers to pick their brains about your favorite themes. We want to give our readers a chance to get in on the action, so if you’ve got a burning question about one of these themes, you can fill out our form to submit your question. Just remember, LEGO designers can never talk about unannounced future products or plans, so there’s no point asking “will LEGO ever make Monorail again?” or “what sets are planned for next summer?”

LEGO BrickHeadz 40367 Lady Liberty officially revealed [News]

LEGO is going all-in on the Statue of Liberty lately, having just released a huge new Architecture set of the famous American landmark last year and featuring a post-apocalyptic version in The LEGO Movie 2, with the huge accompanying Apocalypseburg set headlining the movie tie-ins. Now the emblem of freedom is getting another LEGO makeover with a BrickHeadz set, 40367 Lady Liberty. There’s no word yet on when the set will be released, but it’s a good bet it will be June 1 to have it out in stores well ahead of American Independence Day on July 4. The set has 153 pieces, and will likely retail for $9.99 USD.

Click to see more images

LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71024 Disney Series 2 Feel Guide [Review]

At the beginning of April, we brought you our full, in-depth review of 71024 Collectible Minifigures Disney Series 2, and they’re now available beginning May 1. We’re guessing that a lot of you have been eagerly anticipating getting your hands on 18 more of your favorite Disney characters. There’s just one problem: as always with the Collectible Minifigures, it can be rather difficult to get a full set, due to their blind-pack bags that conceal the identity of the contents. And that’s what we’re here to help with. We’ve sorted a full case by feel already, so here’s our handy guide to helping you feel your way through the Disney Series 2 minifigures.

71024 Collectible Minifigures Disney Series 2 are available from May 1 at The LEGO Shop online for US $3.99 | CAN $4.99 CAD | UK £2.99, as well as from third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay.

Click to read the full Feel Guide

Full images of LEGO Jurassic World sets from Legend of Isla Nublar animated mini-series [News]

LEGO announced in February that they were partnering with Universal to create an animated prequel mini-series to Jurassic World, titled LEGO Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar, and we got a few images of the upcoming sets based on it then. We also got to check out the sets in person at the New York Toy Fair. Now we’re getting our first look at all the final images and boxes.

The new images were revealed by Dutch retailer MisterBricks, though we still don’t yet have the exact release date for the sets.

Don’t miss the rest of the LEGO summer 2019 sets reveals, and be sure to check out the new Toy Story 4, Spider-Man, and The LEGO Movie 2 sets that just went sale a few days ago:

LEGO Architecture
LEGO Batman
LEGO City
LEGO City Space
LEGO Creator
LEGO Friends
LEGO Friends Ocean
LEGO Harry Potter
LEGO Jurassic World
LEGO Ninjago
LEGO Star Wars

Click to get a closer look at the new Jurassic World sets

More LEGO City summer 2019 sets revealed including new Fairground People Pack and Donut Shop [News]

LEGO’s summer wave of sets keeps rolling out, with the rest of LEGO City revealed today, consisting of four new sets. A new firetruck is pretty par for the course for the City lineup, but how about a donut shop under construction? There’s also a second new People Pack revealed, following the science-themed pack from the new City Space line. This one is set at the fairgrounds, featuring clowns, carnival games, and an ice cream stand and more.

The sets were revealed by Dutch retailer MisterBricks. As with some of the other recently revealed sets, we don’t have the exact release date for these, but we are able to provide approximate US prices thanks to the Euro prices listed by the retailer.

Don’t miss the rest of the LEGO summer 2019 sets reveals, and be sure to check out the new Toy Story 4, Spider-Man, and The LEGO Movie 2 sets that just went sale a few days ago:

Click to check out more images of the new City sets

LEGO City is going to outer space with 6 new sets for summer 2019 [News]

Today the new Toy Story 4, Spider-Man, and The LEGO Movie 2 sets go on sale, and we’re also getting our first official glimpse at LEGO’s new City sets for this summer, and they’re far out. The new line will see LEGO astronauts exploring space with near-future tech. Although the line isn’t branded by NASA as some previous sets have been, most famously the NASA Apollo Saturn V, they do include a lot things that are distinctly inspired by the space agency’s real plans. The line includes a Mars rover, a small space station, a futuristic space shuttle, and even a large rocket that bears a resemblance to NASA’s SLS rocket. And perhaps most interestingly, there’s also a new people pack that’s themed to the line, with loads of engineers, scientists, astronauts, and other support crew.

The sets were revealed by Dutch retailer KelCha Toys, and while we don’t have an exact release date for them yet, we are able to give approximate prices thanks to the listed Euro prices from the retailer.

Don’t miss the rest of the LEGO summer 2019 sets reveals, and be sure to check out the new Toy Story 4, Spider-Man, and The LEGO Movie 2 sets that just went sale a few days ago:

Click to check out images of all 6 sets

LEGO Löwenstein Castle set from BrickLink’s AFOL Designer Program [Review]

If you’re a dedicated LEGO fan, there’s a good chance you already use BrickLink.com to buy LEGO sets and individual elements. Now the 19-year-old marketplace has a new way of capturing the hearts and wallets of AFOLs (aka Adult Fans of LEGO). Announced last year, it’s called the BrickLink AFOL Designer Program, or ADP. With it, BrickLink is bringing a handful of fan-designed kits to market via a crowd-sourcing initiative. In many ways ADP resembles The LEGO Company’s own Ideas platform, but besides boasting larger payouts to designers, ADP also promises that the final sets will be virtually unaltered from the submitted designs. After a review period, 16 designs were first made available for a pre-ordering process with a minimum threshold of pre-orders before BrickLink would actually publish the kit. It’s a similar process to the way Kickstarter projects require a funding goal to be met. 13 of the designs met that goal and the largest model, Löwenstein Castle by builder Raziel Regulus, skyrocketed in popularity resulting in all 2,500 copies completely selling out during the pre-order phase. BrickLink has provided us an early review copy of the set, so let’s see how this fan-built model stacks up. Löwenstein Castle has 2,015 pieces and a $199.99 USD sticker price, though it is now sold out.

While the BrickLink ADP sets are not official LEGO sets and will not bear the LEGO logo, the sets do have The LEGO Company’s blessing. The AFOL Designer Program was initiated in affiliation with LEGO to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the LEGO brick, and each box will feature the official 60th-anniversary logo. The LEGO Company has also worked with BrickLink to provide elements explicitly for the sets. This is unlike any other aftermarket sets, which have always relied on pieces sourced out of regular LEGO sets (and consequently, those sets have a much higher price).

Click to read the full hands-on review

LEGO Ninjago summer 2019 wave revealed with 12 sets [News]

Today, Swiss retailer meinSpielzeug have revealed the summer wave of Ninjago sets, which consists of eight standard sets plus four Spinjitzu Slammers. It’s a song of ice and dust, as the new sets feature two dominant locales of an icy mountain and a dusty desert. The Serpentines are back again as the primary opponents, with a few even sporting fearsome new headpieces. Meanwhile, the Ninjas’ legendary ship, Destiny’s Bounty, has received quite the makeover. No longer a vessel, this time it’s got six monster wheels and the top deck can convert to a flying ship.

According to meinSpielzeug, the sets will launch May 28. We don’t have standard pricing for them yet, but we can make a rough guess on their price points based on the Swiss prices from the retailer.

Don’t miss the rest of the LEGO summer 2019 sets reveals, and be sure to check out the new Toy Story 4, Spider-Man, and The LEGO Movie 2 sets that just went sale a few days ago:

Click to check out all the sets below

Care for a bit of apocalypse with your tea?

The mind of Andy Baumgart must be a very interesting place. Somewhere in that chaotic cranial coolness, there was a collision between the neurons responsible for housing the military schematics repositories, the hot rod files, and 90s girl LEGO themes. Thus, out popped the T-42 “Sugarcube” MLRS, which has got to be one of the most insane (and insanely awesome) military vehicles to ever grace our site.

Studded with nearly every chrome silver element LEGO has ever produced, and jazzed up even more with a generous dose of immaculately applied custom decals, this red rocket launcher houses a single Belville figure. As we’d expect with Andy, there’s no shortage of fantastic and unusual parts usages. The most obvious, of course, are rockets sprouting from the back which hail from the Series 17 Rocket Boy. The roof is a piece that isn’t seen often, but is actually being used for its intended purpose, having been a Fabuland vehicle top. Look closely, and along the side you’ll spot a well-disguised derrick arm, while Belville crowns and classic gates line the front. Of course, you wouldn’t want to miss tea time, so there’s a set just in reach of the driver.

Giant LEGO stud wall hangers now available for pre-order on Amazon [News]

Here’s a bit of LEGO swag sure to liven up your LEGO room. These giant 1×1 round plate “studs” are actually wall hangers, perfect for coats, bags, or just bringing a bit of LEGO flair to your walls. While many of the LEGO-branded home decor items we see are aimed at a younger audience, I think these are pretty classy. Perfect replicas of their miniature counterparts, the three studs range in size from about 2 inches in diameter for the smallest, to nearly 4 inches for the largest. The set of 3 studs is priced at $9.99 USD.

The best part is that they don’t just come in the classic colors, either. There’s a pastel-toned set and a monochromatic set, too. All three will be available April 30, and are currently available for pre-order on Amazon.

Classic colors

Pastel colors

Monochromatic

And while you’re checking out LEGO on Amazon, don’t miss the Iron Man Hall of Armor, which just released April 1. The Avengers: Endgame set is already out of stock at many retailers (my local LEGO store was completely sold out today), and meanwhile Amazon not only has the set, but has it for 20% off. That makes it just $47.99 to jumpstart (or complete) your collection of Tony Stark’s Iron Man suits, since this set has 5!

75125 Iron Man Hall of Armor

Riding the rails like it’s 1815

It’s hard to believe, but trains are now more than 200 years old, going back to the early 1800s for the most rudimentary steam-powered rail engines. This model by Nikolaus Löwe shows one of the first such engines constructed, which hails from 1815 and was known as the “Steam Elephant” due to its large trunk-like smokestack mounted on the front. Nikolaus has done an excellent job recreating the lattice of ironwork with bars and clips surrounding the boiler. Interestingly, he’s chosen to photograph it on a brass model track, which although not LEGO does look mighty nice.