Category Archives: Feature

The Brothers Brick is not just about showcasing the best  fan builds and bringing you the latest LEGO News, we also love to investigate, interview and discuss!  These featured articles are all interesting articles that you can look back and enjoy reading.

Custom Minifig creations with Hollywood LEGO hero stuntmanbrick [Guest Feature]

Hi there! I’m Aidan, you may know me as @stuntmanbrick on Instagram, and I’m fortunate enough to be TBB’s guest writer today. A little about myself – I’m a screenwriter based in Los Angeles and I just graduated from USC with a master’s degree in writing. I write mostly family/adventure/sci-fi-type features, and I say all this because film is one of my two passions – the other, of course, being LEGO.

A lifelong fan of the plastic, I’ve been running my LEGO Instagram page for about six and a half years now, accruing over twenty-thousand followers in that time. My work mostly focuses on recreating pre-existing characters from movies and television, whether it’s 1902’s A Trip to the Moon, this year’s Sinners, or anything in between. With that, let’s talk LEGO customs. 


The story continues…

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This Week in LEGO Bricks: Convention collabs, contests, and creativity unleashed [Feature]

As much time as I spend following the LEGO hobby, there are always amazing builds and stories that I would have missed without ABrickDreamer’s weekly This Week in Bricks videos. Like this video tour of Ben Cossy’s incredibly LEGO collection that is sure to fill any AFOL with awe and envy. Or Harry Jo’s final epic build before joining LEGO next month as a set designer. Lots of amazing builds this week!

 

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.

Silverpuke Collab redeems Metalheart Y2K aesthetic in LEGO

If you’re a fan of the post-Bionicle LEGO character scene, you might have noticed a spike in monochrome silver creations that look like liquid metal exiles from a Cyberspace graveyard vibing to Nine Inch Nails as they hack the planet.

vampirr

They’re rad. I poked the building beast who started the trend, Djokson, to find out more about this collab called “Silverpuke.”

Originally, this started with a few of my builds: Psychopomp Alloy, Sinew and Silver Fog. In an attempt to revisit the aesthetic of metallic Y2K renders (metalheart stuff in particular) I used the often maligned palette of silver pieces from Bionicle to achieve that feeling.

The term silverpuke itself used to be a derogatory phrase thrown around on certain fan forums to refer to builds utilizing an overabundance of such parts. The aim with the collab title was to reclaim it. For the longest time, Bionicle builders bemoaned the excessive usage of silver blade pieces in sets, and many called them unusable outside of weapons. So it also serves as a fun challenge when building.

From there, some of my friends were inspired to make their own, and it sorta snowballed into a recurring collab. The builds tend to come together very quickly when inspiration strikes.

A selection of models from of the growing collab follows:

The Silverpuke MOCS go Halcyon and on and on

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.

Andrew Redfern on rebuilding1200 years of British history with Minifigure Monarchs [Interview]

Teacher and Adult Fan of LEGO Andrew Redfern has spent the last four years recreating 1,200 years of British history in LEGO. What started as a modest MOC project depicting the Kings and Queens of England blossomed into Minifigure Monarchs – 332 pages of LEGO builds and custom minifigures depicting both the royals and the people of Great Britain. Great Brits in little bricks indeed! As the Kickstarter goes live, we chat with Andy about his passion project, which you can back now.

Hear ye, hear ye, our Interview with Andy about Minifigure Monarchs begins after the fold

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.

Talking Love, LEGO, and Building with Pride with Two Gay AFOLs [Interview]

Simon and Dan, better known as  Two Gay AFOLs, are vibrant voices in LEGO fan media, sharing their love for the hobby on social media and at fan events. The pair are also pillars of the Minifig Habitat community and sigfig scenes, helping build community and ensuring that everyone feels welcome. We sat down with Dan (the talkative one!) about the pair’s rise and the importance of GayFOL visibility (Gay fan of LEGO) in the hobby.

our interview with Two Gay AFOLs follows

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.

Every Pride Habitat is Awesome [Feature]

In celebration of Pride month, Two Gay AFOLs and the gayfols community hosted a habitat challenge asking builders to create a stack of three LGBTQ+ themed minifig habitats. The results are truly inspiring in the many ways the theme was interpreted and for the outpouring of joy and support within the LEGO community. Here are a few of our favorite stacks from the challenge.

Rainbow Falls from candy.bricks

Iconic by the ModMom

The parade of Pride habitats continues

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.

This Week in LEGO Bricks: Bio-Cup beasts, Rolli rodents, and Star Wars scenery [Feature]

Every week, there are more amazing MOCs and builder stories than we can cover, which is why we’re so grateful to welcome back ABrickDreamer‘s This Week in Bricks series. And what a busy week it’s been, especially as we have our hands full herding all the animal heroes scurrying in for Delving Day. Sit back, grab a few bricks for table scraps, and enjoy the show!

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.

Heroes of Fur and Feather – Challenge 1: Delving Day [Contest]

Welcome to Heroes of Fur and Feather: A “Dungeon Crossing” role-play adventure in LEGO! On Monday we put out a call for heroes and already many have answered the call. Today we’ll meet our main heroes and learn what happens on Delving Day. Today’s story ends with a challenge for our featured heroes as well as anyone who wants to play along. It’s not too late to create your own animal hero and participate in weekly challenges for the chance to win Animal Crossing LEGO sets. Share your character and challenges on Flickr or Instagram and tag it #HeroesOfFurAndFeather . Now on to the story!

Roll for initiative and read on

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.

Tributes roll out for set designer and pillar of the AFOL community Markus Rollbühler [Feature]

Markus “Rolli” Rollbühler is a force of nature in the LEGO world. Having made the transition from AFOL to professional set designer in 2016, Markus remains a community icon, generously giving back to and creating alongside a global community of builders. Some of his “hobby” roles, even as he designs sets (like my all-time favorite set Ninjago City Gardens), include organizing epic collabs with the amazing Rogue Bricks LUG, contributing to BrickNerd with Contest Roundups and other community spotlights, co-hosting the Iron Builder competition, offering set design commentary on BrickSet, and providing brick-built trophies for the Brickscalibur competition.

At last week’s Brickworld Chicago convention, some of the builders who have gotten to know “Rolli” over the years paid tribute to the legend with mouse-themed MOCs in reference to the tiny animal that has come to symbolize the big-hearted builder.

Kit Nugent recreates a Tom and Jerry gif with some wonderful parts usage for the popped kernels and mouse ears. Kit remembers the first time they encountered Iron Builder challenges with the crazy amounts of oddball parts – and not long after Kit would go on to compete in the competition as well!

The Mouse Behind the Magic

The tributes keep rolling after the fold

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.

Introducing Heroes of Fur and Feather: A Dungeon Crossing Role-Play Adventure! [Contest]

Calling all minifig fans and role-players! The Brothers Brick invites you to join in a new kind of LEGO adventure – one that celebrates building creativity and storytelling. For the next four weeks, follow along as intrepid heroes created by Jacob Manahan, Red Impala, and beyondb0nes embark on a fantasy adventure in a world that mixes LEGO Animal Crossing with Dungeons and Dragons. Or if you want to play along, roll your own minifig hero and join the story! Participating doesn’t require a massive collection of bricks – just a talent for creating characters at minifig scale and a willingness to get into the story. Check out our Minifig Monday features for the type of builds that we’re talking about. How does it work? Read on for the rules:

Learn how to follow along or participate in the first Brothers Brick Role-Play adventure

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.

Jen Feeny: On building community and bringing Pink City to life [Interview]

For builders of LEGO habitats, Jen Feeny is a familiar and beloved face. The Halloween Habitat challenges and other themed events she hosts throughout the year have become pillars of the online LEGO community that came together during the pandemic to connect with others through bricks. As an organizer with WMLUG, Jen’s latest project is a large-scale collaboration called Pink City that combines modulars, minidolls, whimsy, and a whole lot of pink bricks! We checked in with Jen to learn more about her journey and this latest delightful project.

Our interview with Jen and pics of Pink City come after the fold

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.

A day of knights from LEGO stars [Minifig Monday]

Where I live in Sweden, we’re in that time of year when day never ends, which has me craving night  Knights! For this week’s Minifig Monday, we’re rounding up enough white knights, royal champions, and bullish bruisers to surround a round table, and a strong dose of NEXO Knights!

We start with Sir Candrel, the Luminous Flameknight, from Linus (minifigurebuilds). He may equip NEXO pauldrons and shield, but this knight works with wax, not wires. I love the use of Shakespeare’s neck frill atop the helmet and the fur collar on the axe for dripping wax detail.

Sobek Bricks is back with Calanthia the Dragon Slayer, a half-elf knight with flower maidens to hold up her flowing cape. I don’t know what I like better about Calanthia’s combo – the curved horns on the helmet, or the winged goat by her side.

None shall pass without my permission! Okay, you have my permission. Read on.

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.