Posts by Theo Spencer

A shell for protection – just like the Koopas

You may remember gGh0st‘s first build in his Iron Builder duel with Sandro Quattrini: a katana. Here’s a refresher, if you need – it’s worth seeing again. Well, he’s come full circle with his ninth and final build. And just as the shell seed part protects a Koopa, the shells protect this samurai warrior, making up the armor and helmet. But I’m liking some of the other building choices too! In particular, the tile pieces for the plating around the waist, and the Bionicle mask make a great men-yoroi (the face protection that samurai wore). Only time will tell whether it’s enough to win this battle – but it’s been fantastic watching these two builders face off!

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Taking Bionicle to the red planet

The Bio-Cup is underway, a contest utilizing the sometimes-awkward parts of the Bionicle theme! And it’s kicking off in a big way – the theme for the first round of this annual LEGO contest is “Space”. With such a broad topic, some builders have gone to some really far-flung galaxies, but Mohamed Marei has elected to hop over to our neighbouring planet in his Mars rover. I’m seeing a lot of call-backs to previous LEGO themes here. Of course, that includes some of the older Bionicle pieces used here, or the Technic figure and helmet. But that space-suit reminds me of some of the minifigure space-suits from the 1990s, and the rover is decked out in a similar livery to the Mars Mission sets from the mid-2000s. To be fair, orange is very on-brand for Mars!

Stitch together your very own lovable LEGO alien [Instructions]

Season 1 LEGO Masters US winner Tyler Clites is nothing if not persistent. A few years ago, he uploaded a LEGO model of everyone’s favourite havoc-wreaking extraterrestrial, Stitch, to the crowd-sourcing Ideas platform. We covered the first iteration way back in 2016, and it was subsequently re-worked twice before hitting the magical 10,000 supporters mark. Neither model was approved, but Tyler is not content to let this little blue alien be a footnote in LEGO Ideas history! He’s now released instructions over on his website for you to download and build your own. And the best part? They’re free! All you need to do is source the bricks.

And why not get creative with it? Tyler has shown that Stitch can be rebuilt in a variety of forms, so have a go at customising one of your own! My personal favourite is this Elvis Stitch-ley. Look at that immaculate quiff.

Pigs! In! Briiiiiiiiiicks!

Perhaps it’s the mysterious Algorithm™ at work, but my social feeds lately have been on something of a Muppets revival, and I am so here for it. If you feel the same, I defy you to look at Jon-Paul Hansen, AKA j-p-30‘s, LEGO depiction of the Pigs in Space skit without saying the tagline. The set is very well recreated, with – among others – letter tiles used to represent some of the buttons and controls. The crew of Captain Link Hogthrob, First Mate Piggy and Dr Julius Strangepork look as good as their names sound ridiculous.

And if the interior wasn’t enough, j-p-30 has gone the whole hog (geddit? OK, I can hear Statler and Waldorf telling me to leave) and modelled the exterior of the USS Swinetrek too! If I’m not mistaken, this does make use of some light bluish grey paint on the big cone pieces, but the end result is a dead ringer for the show model.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this builder tackle Jim Henson’s lovable characters, either – have a look in our archives to see some of the others.

Who needs garden shears when you have a lightsaber?

Being a Jedi seems swell and all, but all we ever see them do is fight, train, or fly around causing havoc. We never see them doing anything mundane, like the housework or taking the younglings to school. Josh (Sergeant Chipmunk)’s LEGO Jedi is partaking in that favourite pastime of the space-wizard: meditating. But instead of pondering the state of the cosmic Force, he should ponder the state of that floor! Those houseplants have gone completely out of control. You can’t take a step without tripping over one of the roots! Admittedly, the effect is incredibly cool when made out of LEGO bricks. But with this many trip-hazards in the Jedi Temple, OSHA would have a field day. Maybe best we keep the lightsabers hidden on their next visit…

LEGO unveils 2-in-1 Legend of Zelda set; pre-orders open now [News]

Following in the footsteps of Animal Crossing and Super Mario, LEGO has today announced another tie-in with video game company Nintendo. Much requested and long awaited, the Legend of Zelda series sees its first incarnation in brick form in the shape of 77092 Great Deku Tree 2-in-1 Set. As the name suggests, two versions of this venerable tree can be created using the 2,500 included pieces — one from Ocarina of Time and the other from Breath of the Wild. No fewer than three Link minifigures are included, as well as the titular Princess Zelda. General availability starts from September 1st, or you can pre-order the set now for US $299.99 | CAN $389.99 | UK £259.99.

Click here for more pictures and LEGO’s press release!

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!

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!