About Bre Burns

After living in the LEGO mecca of Seattle for 9 years, Bre is now home in her native state of Oregon. She briefly worked for the LEGO Group as a Brick Specialist before she left to pursue her career in Zoology, and LEGO remains a huge part of her life. She and her partner Jessie are active members of SEALUG, SPSLUG, FabuLUG and SquatchLUG, and enjoy building creations big and small that span across many themes. Their build handle is Renegade Bricks. Both are also members of the Event Team for BrickCon, and Bre has previously been the Theme Coordinator for Technic/Mindstorms.

Posts by Bre Burns

The cutest of sea cows

Did you know that some people hypothesize the name “walrus” originated from the Danish word “hvalros” meaning sea horse or cow? So naturally, walruses and Denmark-based LEGO would go hand in hand! (Or flipper in brick, I suppose.) And this lovely brick-built pinniped created by Andreas Lenander is as adorable as they come. Look at those little tusks!

Speaking of tusks, part of their scientific name, Odobenus, means “tooth-walker” and refers to how they drag themselves out of the water by those giant canines. So now you know! If you would like to check out more animal builds, take a look at this lifesize-(ish) rat, an elegant buck, or a fishing grizzly bear. We’ve even featured the walrus’s vulnerable neighbor, the polar bear.

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Building this Super Mario block is no mystery! [Instructions]

Sometimes it’s easy to look at a LEGO model and over-complicate the build process. But this Mario Bros mystery cube isn’t tough to make, and designer Tiago Catarino is happy to show you how!

Click to watch the tutorial video

A new lease on learning with LEGO Education set 45678 SPIKE Prime [Review]

Way back in April of last year, LEGO Education announced the launch of 45678 SPIKE Prime, a new Scratch-based tool in classroom programming. After some delay from the original August 2019 release, it’s now available for purchase and we’ve been fortunate enough to receive a copy to review. We’re excited to see what we learn about this fascinating new set! LEGO Education 45678 SPIKE Prime is available now from the LEGO Education shop for $329.95 USD.

Additionally, with the 40th anniversary of LEGO Education this week, we’re also sharing loads of cool information about the history of the department and its contributions to STEAM learning (Covered over multiple articles). It’s not every day we get to dive deep into a set from a division of the company that has been mildly separated and not intended for general distribution. This division of LEGO is really getting into its stride lately, and the future holds exciting things!

Click to take a closer look at this cool set!

A colorful speedbike supporter

Give Eero Okkonen a challenge and he delivers. In a New Elementary competition, builders were tasked with using the latest marine-life parts to create something interesting. He definitely didn’t disappoint with this lovely character. She’s a fan for another of his figures, a speederbike rider. The coral creatures adorn multiple areas of her costume, but the best parts usage might be the clever placement of shark surfboards to create a skirt!

Eero also recently created an entirely different character with a hockey stick beard. And perhaps one of my favorites is his version of the extraordinary Captain Nemo.

Santa’s got a new kind of sleigh

Santa is going to give the reindeer the day off this year because his sweet new ride is horse-powered instead! Sylon-tw, an excellent ship builder, decided to use his skills this holiday season to give Santa something slick to deliver presents with. His new sleigh is complete with a sleek body shape, thrusters, and plenty of cargo space. He’s even got his own chauffer, the builder’s sig-fig!

While you’re in the spirit, take a look at a Santa macro-figure as well as this year’s advent calendar!

World’s first AI-powered LEGO sorting machine built with 10,000 LEGO bricks [Exclusive Feature]

There are some individuals who find sorting LEGO pieces therapeutic, but most of us loathe the task. And there are entirely non-LEGO machines that could do it, although what fun is that? Some people have tried to use LEGO to build sorting machines, yet their limitations have been quickly apparent. Enter Daniel West and his incredible Universal LEGO Sorting Machine! This baby uses Artificial Intelligence, with the most extensive index to date, to sort parts at a speedy one brick every 2 seconds!

Watch a video of the sorting machine in action!

Poised and ready for the 2019 National Dog Show

How did the holidays sneak up so fast? Thanksgiving is almost here! While it has already passed for some, the American holiday arrives in less than a week! For many, there is more to this holiday than thankfulness and feasting. People gather from all around to appreciate the world-famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, as well as the American National Dog Show. And builder Christian Giomo is ready to take the win (whether he intended to or not). This West England White Terrier is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

The pup is full of expressive character, with eager eyes, open mouth, pink ears, and luxurious brick-build locks of fur. The shaping of the complex face is exceptional. Bonus: the head can twist to the side to give it that delightful head-tilt that makes dog lovers swoon! Speaking of which, if you love dogs, take a look at these former canine champs, as well as a few everyday heroes.

Discovering LEGO set 75938 Jurassic World T. Rex vs Dino-Mech Battle [Review]

The latest wave of Jurassic World sets are based off the new LEGO TV series, Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar. Most of them have already been on the shelves since spring, with this exception: 75938 Jurassic World T. Rex vs Dino-Mech Battle. While the set has, in fact, been on shelves in other parts of the world since the beginning of June, it’s making its North American debut on August 1st. Whether you’ve seen this one around and couldn’t decide whether or not to get it, or if you’re learning about it for the first time, we thought we’d take a look and share what we’ve discovered! The set has 716 pieces and retails for US $89.99| CAN $119.99 | UK £79.99.

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A welcoming watchtower

Although watchtowers are meant to be a lookout for warding off foes, this one by Ayrlego is a bit different. With its colorful trees and clever archway, it’s rather inviting, and I can’t decide which of the two features I like better! The window coverings are also a lovely touch, with tasteful stickers that play off of the doorway curves.

Ayrlego is skilled at creating a whole picture and story in a scene. Just take a look at this period-traveling Wainwright House or a vine-laden jungle lookout.

A look at The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part Blu-ray set [Review]

The LEGO Movie 2 was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray, so we thought we’d take a look at the special features and let you know what we think! To be clear, this review is not of the movie itself. If you’d like, you can read a separate article about The LEGO Movie 2‘s box office performance and what several of our contributors thought of it. If you haven’t watched it yet (seriously???) and you are trying to decide if you should, check out spoiler-free The LEGO Movie 2 review.

Beauty and power on the high seas

Imagine being a pirate and looking along the horizon to see the flagship of the royal navy barreling your way. Say, Stephen Chao‘s Royal Guardian, for example. With more than enough canons to knock the wind out of anyone’s sails, it’s a sight to behold. To be honest, I like history but I’m not a huge history buff; yet I can’t imagine there was ever a pirate ship as formidable (except in movies). I suppose its only downfall would be the speed it would lose with the weight of those canons.

Logistics aside, this build is well detailed and impressive in more ways than one! It’s very busy but clean at the same time. And not only does it look realistic and have superb shaping, it’s also fully furnished. Because, go big or go home, right? The mammoth ship comes complete with captain’s quarters, a galley, a full arsenal, and more.

Like the kind of ships that sail upon the oceans blue? Check out this unique swashbuckler, or maybe another with a gorgeously sculpted stern.

The massive mech of your nightmares

If you’re looking for a video game villain to rule all, look no further. Anthony Wilson’s centipede mech will leave you squirming in your seat. This thing is filled will all sorts of nasty, from its menacing claws to what can only be described as egg-filled hatchling pods. The overall color scheme is phenomenal and the parts usage is superb.

Every inch of the build is filled with cool techniques, from its numerous varying legs, up its spine, and to its terrifying head, complete with serrated swords for pinchers. The design truly brings it to life. Now, it’s important to realize how big this thing is. It would be scary enough small, but it’s over 50 studs tall, not including the upper arms. That’s 40+ centimeters, or nearly a foot and a half. Imagine if it was human scale compared to a minifig. Shudder.

Posing is everything when taking pictures of a build like this, and Anthony has nailed it here. While it’s a completely different kind of build, he also did a great job posing his coffee-loving dragon.