Posts by Theo Spencer

1,941-piece LEGO City Tower brings together the best of LEGO City [News]

LEGO City covers a lot of bases. Fire service? Check. Police force? Absolutely. Construction? Naturally. Space? As of last year, big-time! But that’s a lot of different sets to buy if you want a taste of everything. Fortunately, LEGO has you covered with an enormous tower of City. And it’s called, well, 60473 The City Tower! 1,941 pieces make up a skate ramp, construction site, metro, and even a spaceship launch pad. If you’ve seen the LEGO City: No Limits TV show, you’ll likely recognise some of the seven minifigures included too. This one-stop City shop will hit shelves this June 1 with a retail price of US $209.99 | CAN $TBD | UK £179.99.

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Cello, is it me you’re looking for?

Yes, yes, I know this is probably a double bass rather than a cello. But I couldn’t come up with a bass-based pun for the title, so you’ll just have to bear with it. Besides, we should be focussing on this terrific LEGO musician as built by Mattia Carredu. The cello/double bass/contrabass/whatever it is is very well-sculpted – the wands for tuning pegs are a great touch. So, too, is its player, looking resplendent in blue. There are some great techniques at play here as well. Her dress includes an upturned cupcake tin, and the hat is a terrific arrangement of droid arms around a wheel. Individually, they’re great builds – but put together, they are the very picture of elegance!

TBB Asks: does LEGO feature in your travels? [Feature]

Life is full of questions. Why is the sky blue? Why did the dinosaurs die out? And why do green LEGO bricks taste the best*? OK, admittedly, that last one was a suggested question by our mascot, A. Lemur. Needless to say, it didn’t make the cut for our weekly icebreaker segment: TBB Asks! And this week, we’re asking: do you travel with LEGO? Perhaps you have a minifigure mascot that goes where you go, or you got a bit too tap-happy with your credit card while on holiday and now you need to buy a new suitcase. Let’s see what our team has to say – and be sure to tell us your long-haul LEGO lore in the comments!

*Disclaimer: please don’t eat your LEGO. It wrecks your teeth, doesn’t taste very good, and unless you have the digestive system of a lemur, you’ll get all blocked up. Don’t ask me how I know.

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A LEGO AT-ST from before it was called an AT-ST

Every LEGO builder has a signature style. Some are more subtle than others, but everyone’s got one. In Matt (Classic Brix)’s case, his LEGO Star Wars creations often feature some nostalgic minifigures from the early years of the theme. Don’t let that retro snowtrooper fool you, though: this Hoth AT-ST uses thoroughly modern parts and techniques. Most obviously, you have the 2×3 curved wedge slopes, which are a perfect match for this walker’s feet. But there’s a delicious touch of irony in that printed part between the ‘eyes’. It is contemporary with the snowtrooper, and from a set featuring an AT-ST… But it sided with a miniature snowspeeder instead!

Adding a touch of sci-fi tech to creatures of the Cretaceous

Here’s a hot take: the Jurassic Park scientists had it all wrong. No, not the whole could they/should they thing – that’s covered in the movies. No, they were just barking up the wrong prehistoric tree: why go through all that trouble reviving dinosaurs, when you can just create robotic ones instead? I mean, the tech is already there! And I propose that LEGO builder Mitsuru Nikaido should be the chief scientist on this project. After all, he’s got years of experience mechanising animals in the brick. Heck, he’d already made one dinosaur before this Ankylosaurus. And it would’ve made the Jurassic Park much safer. Dinos on the rampage? Just hit the power button!

LEGO Pixar lamp Luxo Jr. leaps in as the next Ideas set [News]

LEGO as not been shy about releasing significant iconography from major brands recently. We’ve had logos from Star Wars and Marvel within the last year, while the Disneyland castle has seen a few iterations at different scales. Now, thanks to the Ideas line of fan-designed models, Pixar’s de facto mascot Luxo Jr. gets in on the action! 21357 Pixar Luxo Jr. was designed by Pixar and LEGO fan Toby Bennett, passing the requisite 10,000 votes in August 2023 before being approved for full release last November. Its 613 pieces will be able to recreate Luxo’s signature bouncing and bending movements, alongside the ball that appeared in its 1986 short film debut. Full release happens this June 1st, but you can pre-order it now for US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £59.99.

Want to see more Pixar pics? Let’s bounce!

Cleave through the air with this clever LEGO speeder bike

Does anyone remember the LSB contests? For the uninitiated, LSB stands for LEGO Speeder Bikes. These days, it’s primarily a group over on Flickr full of wonderful speeder creations. But as Charlie Jones reminds us, there were a handful of contests run through said group, too. Charlie has been busy building a handful of speeders to remember them by – and we’re particularly taken by the Carmine Shard here!

Seeing it in such a dynamic pose is cool, but even members of the Guavian Death Gang need a rest now and then. And this shot gives us an insight into how this build started, too. It seems that a minifigure cleaver can slot through a minifigure’s legs and double as a speeder saddle! An ingenious connection, which is sure to be a boon for LSB builders everywhere. On which note – I’m going to see if I’ve got any cleavers myself…

TBB Asks: What was your first LEGO set? [Feature]

The LEGO community is full of stories, anecdotes, and tales both tall and heartwarming. Sometimes, all you need is a prompt to get them out! So we’re starting a weekly feature here on the Brothers Brick: TBB Asks. It does what it says on the tin: quite simply, we ask a different LEGO-related question every week, and invite contributors and readers alike to share their stories and answers! These may vary from what your favourite set is, to what minifigure tool would be best suited to a zombie apocalypse. (I think it’s a lightsaber, incidentally.) This week, we’re asking: What was your first LEGO set?

Make sure to leave your answer in the comments – and if you have an idea for a question, feel free to leave that there, too!

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Revenge of the Fifth: Star Wars day for prequel trilogy fans

For some people, there are two Star Wars days. Yeah, yeah, we all know about May the Fourth be with you – but don’t forget Revenge of the Fifth (of May)! This year, it’s even more pertinent than ever, as Revenge of the Sith has enjoyed a mighty-successful 20th anniversary re-release. It’s also getting a re-run in our LEGO feeds, too, thanks to builders like Nicholas Goodman. I haven’t seen the re-release of Episode III, but I hear that seeing Order 66 on the big screen really hits different. I’m more than happy to settle for brick-built dioramas such as this, though. The Jedi Archives look resplendent made up of various shades of trans-blue tiles!

Hey, we’ve got some archives of our own too! Why not look through them to see what else 20 years of Episode III LEGO builds has brought us?

LEGO Star Wars sets lead the way for May releases [News]

Star Wars Day is just around the corner. Fans have been well-served so far: The Revenge of the Sith anniversary showings have led to it becoming the highest-grossing re-release ever, and at its halfway point Andor season two is still getting rave reviews. Best of all, May brings with it a host of new LEGO Star Wars releases! We’ve reviewed almost all the new sets, ranging from 75409 Jango Fett’s Starship to 75407 Star Wars Logo. And don’t forget the 40765 Kamino Training Facility Gift with Purchase, available with qualifying purchases from May 1st to May 5th. If Star Wars doesn’t take your fancy, there are sets from the Marvel, Art and F1 collections coming out this month too. The full range is of course available over on LEGO’s website: LEGO US | LEGO CAN | LEGO UK.

This is where the fun begins… Read on for our highlights of May’s new releases!

LEGO shoot-’em-up fighters worthy of Player One Privilege

I’m an oldest sibling, so when we played video games growing up, I usually enjoyed Player One privileges. That is, until my siblings got better at the games than I did, and so I would get demoted to being a mere Player Two. I’m not sure which of these two LEGO ships that Brad K has built is which – I think tradition dictates that blue is one and red is two? Either way I don’t think I’d be disappointed with either in this case! There’s very little studs-up building in the ships themselves; it seems to almost all be sideways. In fact the bases seem like the only studs that are the right way up. But they’re a lovely touch too! Which one are you choosing?

Bridge the gap between original and sequel trilogies with this detailed Star Wars diorama

I said it in my review of LEGO’s microscale Home One, and I’ll say it again: one of my favourite Star Wars sets is 7754 Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser. Every now and then I’m reminded of it, and this time it’s swbuilds‘ turn to do so. As you might have guessed, this builder specialises in highly detailed Star Wars builds, with a bridge of one of the Mon Cala species’ flagship cruisers. But not (necessarily) Home One! Even though we can spot Admiral Ackbar, Leia, Nien Nunb and Lando Calrissian all gathered around the table, swbuilds states that this is layout draws more from the sequel trilogy than their original appearance in Return of the Jedi. Either way: we love it!