Posts by Theo Spencer

Teamwork makes the LEGO spaceship dream work

I’m really liking this Swordfish frigate by Stijn van der Laan (you might know him better as Red Spacecat – after all, he’s been here before). It’s part-submarine, part-aircraft carrier, part-Mass Effect, even part-Halo, perhaps. It’s inspired by a piece of concept art, but Stijn has applied a hefty dose of artistic license to make it his own. And he’s called in some big guns to help him do so, too. If you’re going to solicit advice from a fellow LEGO spaceship builder, then there are few better people to ask than Nick Trotta! Again, our archives will show you why. In this case, Nick apparently provided some guidance on the tapered nose, capping off Stijn’s great work. What a formidable pairing these two talented builders make!

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All that gold, and it’s still not the blingest thing on this Bionicle

Who’s the coolest Water Toa from LEGO’s Bionicle line? Gali, the OG? Nokama, perhaps, who appeared twice as a Toa as well as a humble Matoran? In truth, Mitch Phillips (AKA Gamma Raay)’s unnamed Toa of Water might have them both beat. There’s some serious bling on show here: an enormous gold door makes for a nice shield. The cape is pretty majestic, too. But the biggest party piece is actually the mask. Don’t recognise it? That’s because it’s exceedingly rare – handed out during the 2015 LEGO Inside Tour, only 200 of these transparent-blue ones were ever made! As a result it’s something of a collectors’ item, but it’s refreshing to see it used in a MOC. At the end of the day, it is still just a LEGO piece!

LEGO Jurassic World 76965 Dinosaur Missions: Stegosaurus Discovery – a LEGO Stego at last [Review]

As far as dinosaurs go, it’s probably fair to say that Tyrannosaurus Rex is the most well-known. But after that, I would wager that the Stegosaurus has a good claim to be the second most recognisable dino out there. And although LEGO’s Jurassic World theme has been around for almost a decade, the last time we saw a moulded, minifigure-scale Stegosaurus was in a brace of Adventurers sets at the start of the millennium. That changes this June 1st (August 1st in the USA and Canada), when 76965 Dinosaur Missions: Stegosaurus Discovery will start retailing for US $64.99 | CAN $84.99 | UK £59.99. That price gets you 420 pieces, but is it worth more than the sum of its parts? Read on to find out!

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.

Check out our full review below!

LEGO Jurassic World 76966 Dinosaur Missions: Allosaurus Transport Truck – Allo-Allo, what’s all this then? [Review]

The next installment in the Jurassic World franchise, Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, will release in a little under a week. To partner the release of the show, LEGO has dedicated a handful of sets to the animated show, which can only mean one thing: new dinosaurs! The flagship set of this mini-wave is 76966 Dinosaur Missions Allosaurus Transport Truck, whose 588 pieces include – you guessed it – an all-new Allosaurus. Retailing for US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £79.99 and releasing on August 1st in North America (or June 1st in Europe, Australia and other global territories), should you summon up the courage to face this fearsome predator? Read our review to find out!

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 up on the Allosaurus and its brick-built lunch(?) below

LEGO Jurassic World 76962 Baby Bumpy: Ankylosaur – Dinos-awww! [Review]

Just as Jurassic World followed up Jurassic Park, later this month, the second instalment of the Jurassic World animated series Camp Cretaceous will come to the small screen. Dubbed Chaos Theory, a handful of LEGO sets will also release later this summer to partner it. The first of these is not your traditional system set, instead being a 358-piece model of Baby Bumpy – the dinosaur mascot of the show. Retailing for US $24.99 | CAN $29.99 | UK £19.99 (pre-orders are open now), 76962 Baby Bumpy: Ankylosaur will ship from August 1st in the USA and Canada, or June 1st for other territories including the UK, Australia and Europe. Keep reading to find out what we make of this set!

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.

Check out our review of Baby Bumpy below!

Smile for the camer-androids!

A few days ago, Joey Klusnick staked his claim for NPU of the year with his LEGO camera robot. It’s certainly earned my vote, not least because now, it’s got a little sibling! Rather than a functional camera, the head of this one is a Duplo accessory. In fact that camera throws off the scale slightly – it’s not until you look at some of the parts used elsewhere, like the windscreen in the body, that you realise that this droid is actually pretty small.

This next shot gives you a better idea of that! The consistent colours make them both feel like part of the same family. There’s some more clever parts use in the tyre and rubber band for the camera lens, too. But the cleverest detail might be the names. The bigger bot is called Megapixel; so what’s the smaller version called? Why, Thumbnail, of course!

An eyebrow-raising tachikoma build

Is there a mech concept more versatile in LEGO form than the think tank? So many different variants and possibilities! The latest one to catch our eye is by SPARKART!. It’s got a touch of the Warhammer 40k’s about it, don’t you think? It must be the combination of those big blocky legs and the round dome on top. The leg mechanism looks really interesting as well, incidentally. But whether intentional or not, there’s one thing I can’t unsee. The handlebars above the eye remind me of a single eyebrow, so now all I can think of is a tachikoma wandering around looking mildly surprised at everything…

It shouldn’t be a surprise to see another great robot tank grace our pages, though. Why not have a look at some of the other tachikoma in the TBB archives?

A tiny tank build as sweet as honey

Miniature tanks are a big part of the scale modelling community, and it’s always nice to see it cross over into the LEGO world. The latest to have a go is Jack Rumley, with this fine rendition of an M3 Stuart ‘Honey’ — an American-built tank in British service in the early years of World War II. The sand-blue and tan paint scheme looks equal parts smart and realistic, reflecting the tank’s service in the North Africa campaign. This particular model has been kitted out with a handful of custom decals and third-party parts to elevate the detail level. But make no mistake, it’s bona fide LEGO doing the heavy lifting. Check out the boomerangs used as wheel rockers!

New LEGO Icons 10334 Retro Radio announced and hits the airwaves in June [News]

We interrupt our regular programming to bring you this broadcast from LEGO. They have unveiled the latest set to be added to the 18+ Icons line, 10334 Retro Radio. It’s the second piece of vintage tech to see an official LEGO set in recent years, following LEGO Ideas 21327 Typewriter. Much like the typewriter, this radio includes functional controls that can activate a sound brick inside. But if you’d prefer to play your own shows on it, there is storage in the back for your smartphone as well. This 906-piece set will be available for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99 from June 4th, with LEGO Insiders getting early access from June 1st.

Click here to see more radio pictures and read LEGO’s press release!

LEGO Ideas dresses to impress with the announcement of 21349 Tuxedo Cat [News]

Ever thought your botanical collection could use a cat to knock the plant pots off the mantlepiece? Well, today is your lucky day! LEGO has just unveiled the latest set in the Ideas line of fan-submitted creations: 21349 Tuxedo Cat. Originally entered by user The Yellow Brick (AKA Damian Andres), this furry feline reached the 10,000 supporters threshold in November 2022, with LEGO’s stamp of approval being given in May of last year. Its 1,710 pieces include interchangeable eye colours and, as the set name suggests, a smart black-and-white fur coat. When it hits shelves this June 1st, it will retail for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99.

Take a closer look at this cool cat after the jump

A scale model in plastic kit form (no, not that sort)

Joao Nunes is sharing some pictures of his latest plastic kit. The painting is done, he’s got the brick separator and scalpel ready, and all that’s left to do is… Hang on. We’re confusing our LEGO bricks with our Airfix here! This is a very convincing facsimile of a Tamiya-style model, where instead of simply clicking bricks together, you need to painstakingly cut and paint each piece before gluing it all together. (With Kragle, presumably.) To the purist, that might sound like a nightmare – but fear not, no LEGO pieces were harmed in making this tableau. Even the box and sticker sheet are as good as new!

Learning about Iberian freight trains through LEGO

Something I really like about the global LEGO community is when builders take inspiration from their local surroundings for their creations. Sérgio Batista, for instance, has crafted this nice freighy convoy with a train from his native Portugal. Now I can’t confess to being a train expert, at least not where south-western Europe is concerned, but having seen Sérgio’s model, I’ve now gone down a bit of a Wikipedia rabbit hole reading about the history of railways in Portugal. So I can say with a modicum authority that this is a CP4700 series locomotive, with an attractive brick-built livery!

And you know what’s better than one great scale model of a Portuguese freight train? Two scale models of a Portuguese freight train! Here’s another slightly less modern consist, with the so-called ‘Nez-Cassée’ 2620 series built by Alsthom. Fun fact: ‘nez cassé’ means broken nose in French, and the stubby cab front is where they get this nickname from. Thanks for the educational trip, Sérgio!