Posts by Theo Spencer

40679 Love Gift Box Gift with Purchase: No love lost, or love at first sight? [Review]

The LEGO seasonal sets have become something of a regular tradition by now. Valentine’s Day is coming up soon, so what are we getting this year? In 2022 we had 40522 Valentine Lovebirds, with 40462 Valentine’s Brown Bear the year before. In 2024, LEGO are switching it up, and our love-themed offering is a Gift with Purchase in the form of 40679 Love Gift Box. It will be available with purchases totalling US $75 | CAN $TBD | UK £TBD, and consists of 158 pieces. It’s available for two weeks from February 1st, so if you need a gift for a LEGO-loving partner, you can get one in time for the 14th. But should you? Keep reading 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.

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Never practice turning people into frogs in the mirror

Witches are known for, among other things, flying around on broomsticks and turning people into frogs. F.S. Leinad‘s LEGO witch has certainly got the former nailed – this particular broomstick uses some minifigure hair to mimic the bristles flapping in the wind. As for turning people into frogs… Well, her spell seems to have backfired somewhat. Her nose, hat, hands, and feet have all transformed into tiny amphibians! She’s probably not very happy about it, but surely even the grumpiest of witches can appreciate some Nice Parts Usage.

Keep an eye out for the latest in LEGO cybernetics!

Ever wondered what cybernetic enhancement you would get if you lived in the future? Rocket feet, perhaps? Or a brain that can access the internet? As someone with seriously shoddy eyesight, I would settle for some functioning eyeballs. Jan Woźnica has got me sorted, it seems! This product is simply titled “Eyeball, Mk2”. I like what I see! Dots bracelets for optic nerve cables, and part of General Grievous’ wheelbike for the iris. Mind you, that part is now giving me an idea of the scale… I’m not sure I can fit one of these in my skull, let alone two. Perhaps it’s best to wait for the Mk3, or 4, or 5. I’ll keep an eye out for those…

A portion of medieval village that has us eager for more

We see a lot of enormous collaborative LEGO dioramas here on TBB, albeit often through the individual modules that make them up. At first glance, this serene windmill scene by Sandro Damiano might seem like one such module. There are some conspicuous holes to connect to other parts of the diorama, and after all, it is referred to as “Module #2”. But the only person Sandro is collaborating with on this particular project is… Himself! He has taken on the construction of an entire medieval village. This section is already pretty big, so this could end up being very impressive once finished!

Not only that – if the other modules are as well-built as this one (and with Sandro’s skill, there’s no reason to doubt they will be), it could be pretty stunning too. Take a look at the river flowing over the weir here, for instance. Using trans-light-blue cockpit is the perfect way to capture the movement of the water! We can’t wait to see more, Sandro…

LEGO teams up with Hasbro to bring Peppa Pig to LEGOLAND parks and Duplo sets [News]

LEGO has been no stranger to brand tie-ins of late, and they have added another popular TV character to their line-up. The Danish company is teaming up with Hasbro Entertainment to produce DUPLO sets featuring Peppa Pig and her friends. Peppa has been a mainstay of children’s TV for 20 years as of 2024, and the collaboration will see sets released in the Duplo line aimed at toddlers and pre-schoolers. Merlin Entertainment, custodian of the LEGOLAND parks, is also being brought into the fold. In LEGO’s hometown of Billund, the LEGOLAND park will get its own Duplo Peppa Pig play area. Meanwhile, LEGOLAND Deustchland in Gunzburg, Germany, will get a new neighbour in the form of a Peppa Pig-dedicated theme park. More details on the sets are slated to come later on this year.

What do you make of this news? Have a read of the press release below, and let us know what you think in the comments!

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The builder of this spaceship is no mug

What does it take to succeed in the Iron Forge? Well, I don’t exactly have any experience to draw on, but you can be sure that a bit of ingenuity and outside-the-box thinking will go a long way. Exhibit A: Nate Chiles‘ latest effort. In this early phase of the contest, the seed parts are not always as prescriptive as in the Iron Builder finals, so the ongoing second round challenges builders to use any LEGO piece tagged as a cup or goblet. And that does technically include the actual LEGO mug that forms the engine of this spaceship. Or at least, we’re assuming that’s what’s going on here. The alternative explanation is that this is a standard minifigure mug, and Nate has a shrink ray. Are they even allowed in this competition? Can we get a ruling on this please?!

Break free of the chains that bind you – and turn them into a boat

Aido K‘s latest LEGO masterpiece has left me lost for words. Well, not completely speechless – but this is a family-friendly website, so I can’t publish my audible reaction. My favourite genre of creation – if you can call it that – is people using the engineered properties of the LEGO system of parts in unusual ways. That’s where the idea for this build came in: LEGO bricks are designed to work under compression – that is, being squashed together. Aido turned that on its head, so this uses elements in tension (i.e. being pulled). So that boat in the middle is almost entirely shaped by chains under tension and the pull of gravity. It’s beautiful!

That means the boat can fold down flat for easy transport – which is just as well, as this model made its debut at the Brickvention show in Melbourne over the weekend. Seeing the boat rise from the chains is very satisfying!

900 years to wear down a temple, 7 days to build it out of LEGO

The proficiency of LEGO builders never ceases to amaze me. Timothy Shortell (AKA Classical Bricks) tells a story of coming across a photo of the Ta Prohm temple in Cambodia. A week goes by, and boom – we get this amazing model at the end of it. That’s no time at all! Just the careful positioning of the roof tiles for that jungle-weathered temple look must have taken a good while. In fact, all the weathering is very well judged, and the tree roots winding their way down to the ground – very nicely done. It’s almost unfair how quickly this was all achieved. When I build for a week, I’m lucky if I’ve even got a half-finished model at the end of it, let alone one as good as this!

What if HR Giger designed LEGO starfighters?

Space Jam contestants, beware. Ted Andes is done with being a judge as of this year, and he’s getting involved in the LEGO building competition instead! It’s not just Ted you need to be wary of, though. His “Ravager” looks as deadly as it sounds. It has a touch of the “HR Giger”s about it – which is appropriate, given it’s entered in the Bio-Mechanical Fusion category (Giger was a pioneer of the biomechanical art style). But it’s even more apt that this look is achieved using a host of Bionicle parts. Bio-Mechanical, indeed!

The future of farming: the only way is up!

Vertical farming isn’t exactly a new thing, but even seeing examples of it in the present day, there’s something quite futuristic about it. Throw in some cool architecture, add in a few greebley bits, maybe some drone workers, and boom, you’re transported to a distant planet. Oh hey, that’s exactly what Bart de Dobbelaer has done! Although there are no immediate clues as far as scale goes, you get the sense this is some enormous monolith built just off the shore. Bart is quite the prolific off-world builder, you know.

A LEGO dragon inspired by an unlikely source

Check out this LEGO dragon Joss Woodyard has built. Cute, isn’t he? His name is Pit, and I love his flowery tail and scaly body made from pink rock pieces. But he’s more than just a loveable li’l guy! (Pit, that is – though I’m sure Joss is lovely too!). The reason he’s called Pit is he’s named after the pitaya fruit, which is also a source of design cues. Those black dots on his white underbelly? That’s the seeds you find in these fruits! The green dorsal fins? They’re the leaves! It’s a really clever way of taking inspiration from something completely unrelated. Unrelated? Well, not quite – the other name for a pitaya is a dragon fruit. What a great idea!

In this year of the dragon, Joss is building one of these each month – and if his previous creature creations are anything to go by, he’ll definitely be featuring on our pages again!

The man in the Moon isn’t taking visitors today

You know LEGO’s 10315 Tranquil Garden? What if it was a bit more… Other-worldly? Might it look something like this Crescent Moon Garden by Nannan Zhang? I would say so! Nannan – formerly of these pastures, of course – was inspired by a real-world garden sculpture hybrid for this, and I love his take on it. I have to imagine it’s set on some distant world with floating rocks, giant trees, and a grumpy hermit who built a whole temple just so he could get some peace and quiet away from the world. Well, sorry, grumpy hermit, but I want to come and visit!