Posts by Theo Spencer

LEGO Gotham City expands with 16-minifigure-strong 76300 Arkham Asylum [News]

It takes a special kind of crazy to be a supervillain, and a special kind of prison to keep the rest of us safe. A good thing, then, that Gotham City has the Arkham Asylum. And from September 12, you can have it too – in LEGO form! 76300 Arkham Asylum has just been unveiled, with 2,953 pieces and 16 minifigures covering both heroes (such as Batman and Robin) and villains (from Mr Freeze to Killer Croc). Interestingly, the press release – which you can read after the jump – indicates that it doubles as a 24-part advent calendar as well as a nice display piece. It’s a tad pricier than your usual LEGO advent calendar, at US $299.99 | CAN $379.99 | UK £269.99, but it can already be pre-ordered ahead of its September release.

Enter the asylum below, and see if you’ll go crazy for this big Batman set!

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Wizard of Oz’s Emerald City gets the LEGO treatment as part of Wicked wave of sets [News]

Something Wicked this way comes… Yes, Wicked, with a capital W! Following the theatrical release of the Disney film last year, another wave of LEGO sets is releasing this September 1. Most interesting among these is 75685 Emerald City Wall Art, a 1,518-piece display set that you can decorate your walls with, yellow brick road and all. Stylistically similar to previous LEGO Art sets, this one does include 6 minifigures: Wicked’s protagonists Glinda and Elphaba, plus Dorothy Gale, the Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin Man from the classic Wizard of Oz adaptation. All this will be available for US $159.99 | CAN $199.99 | UK £139.99 from September 1.

We may not in Kansas any more, Toto – but we still have more pictures after the jump!

Re-live your handheld gaming days with new LEGO Game Boy [News]

It’s barely been a few months since Nintendo launched the Switch 2, continuing their long line of handheld (well, kind of) gaming consoles. Of course, it all started in 1989 (or 1990 in the US) with the Game Boy. The latter is the subject of a new set in the LEGO Super Mario line: 72046 Game Boy, a 421-piece set with a price tag of US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99. Two buildable Game Pak cartridges are included: Super Mario Land and, although this is listed as part of the Super Mario theme, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening also makes an appearance. You can swap the screen out to reflect which cartridge you’ve got in there, too! You can pick up this icon of gaming from this October 1.

Press Start – i.e. here – to see more pictures of the Game Boy!

LEGO Star Wars 75433 Jango Fett’s Starship: Slave I 2: Electric Boogaloo [Review]

Firespray-class starships appear to be like proverbial London buses. You wait 20 years for a specific one, and then two turn up within three months of each other! LEGO finally re-visited Jango Fett’s Slave I in style earlier this year, with the mammoth 2,970-piece 75414. But if that set’s $330 price tag is putting you off, good news! From August 1, you’ll be able to pick up 75433 Jango Fett’s Starship for a more modest US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £59.99 (and you may be able to find it on eBay or Amazon, too). This one’s only got 707 pieces, but it does feature an extra minifigure for a total of three. Read on to see if you should pick up one, both, or neither…

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.

Continue reading →

Celebrating a LEGO anniversary in style with a 26,000 piece Revenge of the Sith diorama

Now normally, when we feature LEGO creations on the Brothers Brick, we like to lead with some nice clear photos that really show a build off. But sometimes we have to make an exception, such as when the scene is set as fantastically as in Kyle Collard (LordofVador)’s colossal Mustafer diorama! This of course depicts Anakin and Obi-Wan’s duel at the climax of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The moody lighting and bright blue lightsaber blades instantly evoke that epic scene on Mustafar.

But it doesn’t look half bad in daylight either! This was a heck of an effort by Kyle: over 26,000 pieces and close to 300 hours of building and re-building. It has real meaning, too. Kyle tells us that this same scene was the subject of one of his first MOCs, some 14 (!) years ago. So this build doubles as a showcase for his growth as a builder, and a celebration.

And every celebration needs a present, right? You might have sussed out from the above photo that this diorama made it a convention (which is an achievement in its own right, taking something this big on the road!). And it’s at Brick Rodeo that this build received the Best Star Wars Scene award. Congratulations, Kyle, and happy LEGO anniversary!

Ciao! LEGO Ideas travels to the Mediterranean with 21359 Italian Riviera [News]

The Ligurian coast of Italy is a popular tourist destination on account of its sunshine and picturesque seaside views. You may know it as the Italian Riviera. LEGO certainly does, thanks to fan designer Alex Sahli, whose LEGO Ideas submission is today unveiled as the next set to be released in the line of fan-designed sets. The original concept reached the 10,000 supporters milestone in December 2023, and has now morphed into 21359 Italian Riviera. Now consisting of 3,215 pieces, this one will retail for US $299.99 | CAN $349.99 | UK £249.99. LEGO Insiders will get first dibs on it from this August 7th, while general release starts on August 10th. There’s also a gift with purchase coming between the 7th and 13th for Insiders purchasing this set, although at the time of writing we don’t have any more information on that. More as we get it!

Take a closer look at this bellissimo LEGO set after the jump!

Bapanada! Welcome to this map store from LEGO Dirtmouth

The long-awaited Hollow Knight spin-off, Silksong, is slated to finally come out later this year. (It’s really happening this time, right? Right?!) It’s been a long wait, but it has allowed LEGO builders such as DJ (GioiaLego) to hone their craft and bring the roguelite to life in brick form. This is one of the first locations you see in the game: Cornifer & Iselda’s map shop. It can be difficult to translate 2D designs into LEGO’s 3D nature, but this is a terrific execution! The parts choice for the Hollow Knight is perhaps most noteworthy; purists may not be keen on the dots added to the crash helmet, but there’s no escaping what a perfect choice the spike is for its nail weapon!

Silksong is coming any day now, honest – but until then, you can pass the time browsing our archives of other Hollow Knight builds.

Feeling crabby? Don’t forget your morning coffee!

It’s July, which means it’s time for one of my favourite monthly LEGO building challenges: it’s #TimeForCrab! As the name suggests, it’s a month full of LEGO crab builds that are as adorable and absurd as they are numerous. Áron Gerencsér – better known to some as Pohaturon – has made himself a cappucino with a touch of crustacean flavour! Apart from the fun design, there’s also some fun parts use. The chocolate squares are great, but this is one of the first alternate uses I’ve seen for the Pixar lamp shade. And what a good one it is too!

Step to the rhythm made out of grey LEGO bricks!

I would say I’m showing my age with that Roni Size reference, but given New Forms came out the year I was born, perhaps it’s just an aging music taste. The reason I’m trotting it out is because a LEGO builder appropriately known as The Maestro has titled this musical build after a UK drum and bass classic: Brown Paper Bag. This appears to be an alternate universe where Dr Frankenstein is a D’n’B junkie, and he’s rigged up his monster with a banging sound system. It features some clever parts use, too – it took me a minute to realise that head is the back of an elephant’s head. I love the tyres for music notes, too!

LEGO Star Wars 75417 AT-ST Walker: does the latest UCS set walk the walk? [Review]

It’s almost become a tradition – insofar as LEGO has traditions – that we get two Ultimate Collector Series Star Wars sets every year. Usually, these come in May (for May 4th) and some time in the autumn. But this year, 75417 AT-ST Walker is bucking that trend! This latest UCS set releases this August 1st alongside a host of other Star Wars sets. It’s the second time the Imperial walker has been tackled at this scale – but this time, your US $199.99 | CAN $259.99 | UK £179.99 gets you 1,513 pieces. Pre-orders are open now, and after its release date, it may also be available from third-party retail sites like eBay or Amazon.

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.

Walk this way to read our review, if you’re no chicken (walker)!

Five new LEGO Star Wars sets revealed, including UCS AT-ST, Jango, and Clones [News]

The first reveals of the next wave of LEGO Star Wars sets has jumped out of hyperspace! The quintet of sets covers a wide age and price range, with all set to release August 1, 2025. The headline act is 75417 AT-ST Walker, the second iteration of the scout transport at Ultimate Collector Series scale and first in almost two decades. That one is 1,513 pieces for US $199.99 | CAN $259.99 | UK £179.99. At the other end, we have our second Slave I (Jango’s version) of the year, and two massive clone sets that include some long-awaited Galactic Marine and Commander Bly minifigures.

Continue reading →

This gargoyle has gone from grotesque to gorgeous!

By many accounts, gargoyles were installed on the sides of buildings to ward off evil spirits and demons. That makes them heroes, despite their somewhat scary looks. But as Magmafrost13 demonstrates, throw a pink skirt on a monster and suddenly the scariness makes way for cuteness. Kind of. I have to admit, all I’m imagining is an anime in which a bunch of gargoyles have to learn to ward off a series of demons through the power of friendship, love, and togetherness. Magmafrost13, I have an idea for a pitch…