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’s largest-ever Ideas set, 21311 Voltron [Review + Video]

LEGO’s largest mech ever has landed, bringing with it a wave of 1980s nostalgia. Based on the cartoon TV series that began airing in 1984, Voltron: Defender of the Universe, this huge robot has taken a long, winding route through LEGO’s product development, arriving more than two years after the project surpassed the 10k-vote mark needed for LEGO to assess the project. With 2,321 pieces, 21311 Voltron is the largest Ideas set to date. It will be available to LEGO VIP members beginning July 23, with full availability Aug. 1, and it will be priced $179.99 USD.

Watch our video review here, and read the in-depth full review below:

Click to read the full review of 21311 Voltron!

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LEGO 71022 Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Collectible Minifigures [Review]

Since LEGO began the Collectible Minifigures theme in 2010, there have been quite a few special series based on licensed properties, from the Simpsons to Team Great Britain to The LEGO Movie. But it’s hard to imagine LEGO could have chosen a theme for their next minifigure line more likely to inspire fans’ devotion than the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, except perhaps the juggernaut that is Star Wars (and it’s unlikely to become a minifigure line anytime soon). The new theme based on the ultra-popular books and films about magicians and muggles features the greatest number of unique minifigures yet, with a full 22 to collect. Kept under wraps until an announcement just a few weeks ago, 71022 Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Collectible Minifigures are set to launch globally August 1, and they will be priced at $3.99 USD each.

Click to read our full, hands-on review

Like a fish outta water

Mammals aren’t the only creatures that want to explore environments that are clearly designed to kill them, and this bold fish adventurer is going where no fish has gone before, with the help of a shiny brass mech suit. Built by Andrew Lee, this clawed fish suit is basically an exercise in using the available inventory of pearl gold elements, which is a pretty limited offering, pulling from Hero Factory, the few basic elements that are available, and a variety of minifigure accessories.

LEGO Harry Potter BrickHeadz: 41616 Hermione Granger / 41621 Ron Weasley and Albus Dumbledore [Review]

As LEGO continues to paint every conceivable theme with a BrickHeadz brush, we can expect to see BrickHeadz from most of their licensed properties, and the Wizarding World is the latest to succumb to the block-headed wave of brick-built figures. A few weeks ago, we took a look at the first set in the series, 41615 Harry Potter & Hedwig. Today we’re turning to the other two sets based on the classic Harry Potter films, 41616 Hermoine Granger and 41621 Ron Weasley & Albus Dumbledore. They retail for $9.99 and $19.99 USD, respectively. Hermione includes 127 pieces, while the two-pack includes 245 pieces. They are available now in the USA and will be available elsewhere beginning Aug. 1.

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LEGO Wizarding World of Harry Potter 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall [Review]

Absent as a theme for seven years, LEGO has returned to the magical land of Harry Potter. This time around the theme is titled Wizarding World, since it encompasses both the Harry Potter books/films and the current Fantastic Beasts films. Fittingly, the largest set of the new wave is the setting for so many of Harry’s adventures, Hogwarts. Since LEGO began producing Harry Potter sets way back in 2001, there have been at least four distinct versions of the iconic wizarding school Hogwarts, plus others set in and around the castle grounds. Each version has a slightly different twist, and this latest edition attempts to bring a hint of proper scale to the monolithic school, opting to forego recreating the whole castle and focusing on a single aspect in greater detail. 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall retails for $99.99 USD, includes 878 pieces, and is available now in the USA, and elsewhere Aug. 1.

Click to read our full, hands-on review

My, what big eyes you have Grandma

Built around BrickHeadz style figures, this lovely sketch of Red Riding Hood by Cindy Su features an adorably ferocious wolf and a strikingly vibrant granddaughter. The little scene is mostly a setup for the characters, who have some great techniques, and thankfully Cindy has some pictures of the characters on their own, too.

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TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for July 1, 2018 [News]

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 first week of July 2018.

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: This week we rounded out our review coverage of the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom sets now that the movie is out, and took to the airwaves with a bit of brick.

TBB’s Iain Heath featured on Seattle NBC station – Our Builder in Residence Iain Heath showed Seattle what LEGO is all about, from hilarious recreations of memes like Grumpy Cat to more serious artistic works like his Homeless in Seattle faux Architecture set.
Review of LEGO Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 75931 Dilophosaurus Outpost Attack – When the Dilophosaurus brings down the gate, you never know what might happen. We take a look at this set with a super cool and surprisingly accurate dino.
Review of LEGO Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 75927 Stygimoloch Breakout – One of the few LEGO sets to feature a herbivorous dinosaur, we’re diving deep into this mini enclosure to see what it’s all about.
Review of LEGO Harry Potter BrickHeadz: 41615 Harry Potter & Hedwig – It’s our first hands-on look at the new Harry Potter brick-built figures, and we can’t help but think Hedwig is super cute.

TBB LEGO SET NEWS: June has been a busy month for LEGO set announcements, and this last week most of all. Take scores of magicians and a giant robot, add in a handful of superheroes, and the rest of the year is shaping up to be quite eventful.

41626 Groot and Rocket BrickHeadz from Avengers: Infinity War revealed – With the addition of these two, we’re only missing Drax from the original Guardians of the Galaxy lineup in BrickHeadz form.
DC Super Heroes 76117 Batman Mech vs. Poison Ivy Mech revealed – Batman has really suited up in this new set which has him and the Flash facing off against Poison Ivy and Firefly.
Wizarding World of Harry Potter collectible minifigures series revealed – Featuring 22 highly detailed minifigures from both Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, this new series is sure to be a hot item for fans.
LEGO Ideas 21311 Voltron: Defender of the Universe set revealed – LEGO’s biggest Ideas set to date is the new ultra robot Voltron, who wields a sword and shield and can actually split into the five lions.

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

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TBB Cover Photo for July 2018: Adventurer’s Truck–“Snap!”

The Brothers Brick cover photo for July 2018 is this amazing Adventurer’s truck by Travis Brickle. Visiting our social media pages this month will take you on an adventure back to the 1990s, when Johnny Thunder and crew explored the remote reaches of the planet, pursued by dastardly Lord Sinister, who will stop at nothing to see the Adventurers fail. Will the brave explorers cross the rickety bridge before Lord Sinister can employ his most dangerous weapon: scissors?

This life-size garden trellis looks amazingly real, but is 100% LEGO

If this doesn’t look like LEGO to you, don’t worry, you’re not alone. It’s just because we’re not used to seeing incredible life-size models like this filled with the tiniest details. Alysa Kirkpatrick crafted this garden trellis, which stands nearly 7 feet tall, after being inspired by gardens in her neighborhood. Check out more details below.

Click to see more of the Garden Trellis

Amphibious space invaders

Look out, the amphibious space invaders are coming! Far from piloting mysterious saucers, however, these toads have tech much more familiar, needing a massive rocket to break the planet’s gravity. As usual, the ever-prolific builder Karf Oohlu employs interesting elements at every turn. Two stand out among the lot, though, with minifigure hands deftly employed to create a stud-reversal beneath the cockpit, and light covers doing double duty as space helmets–an easy-to-miss detail of the landed astronauts.

A lurching demon from the beyond

This shambling horror is brought to you courtesy of Leonid An, who sculpted the creature’s bony ridges from quite an odd collection of parts. Called Preta the Demon, stacked jawbones make his spiny shins, which somehow seems fitting. Meanwhile, an exposed kraata stands in for the unnerving brain in the middle of the demon’s split skull. Here’s hoping you don’t stumble upon this bit of LEGO in the darkness.

Giant 2,300-piece LEGO Ideas 21311 Voltron: Defender of the Universe set revealed [News]

First announced as a forthcoming set nearly a year ago, LEGO is finally taking the wraps off its newest crowd-sourced kit, 21311 Voltron. Based on both the iconic 1980s animated television show of the same name and its subsequent modern-day reboot by DreamWorks, the set will feature five robotic lions who can combine into the super robot Voltron. With 2,321 pieces, the massive mech will be the largest Ideas set to date, easily outpacing the Old Fishing Store and NASA Apollo Saturn V. The set will be on sale briefly at San Diego Comic-Con next month, then will be available to LEGO VIP members beginning July 23, before being widely available August 1. Voltron will retail for $179.99 USD.

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