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.

The Making of The Fellowship – Catching up with Cathedral of Bricks [Interview]

When we first encountered the LEGO castle creations from Luke, who posts on Instagram as cathedralofbricks, we were immediately struck by the builder’s skill with medieval architecture and dramatic landscaping. Since we last spoke with Luke, he has gone on to win two top awards in the Summer Joust competition and sailed from castle territory into pirate-infested seas with a stunning tall ship. This month, Luke debuted his biggest model yet, a tribute to Tolkien called “The Fellowship.” It’s such a magnificent build, we had to follow up with Luke about its creation.

our Interview with Luke and illustrations of his work and inspirations follow

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Poké-builders celebrate the release of Pokémon Z-A with Mega Evolutions in LEGO

If you want to be the very best trainer, it’s not enough to collect ’em all anymore. It’s not even enough to evolve your Pocket Monsters. These days, to be the best there ever was, you have to MEGA Evolve those Pokémon. In celebration of last week’s release of Pokémon Legends: Z-A on the Nintendo Switch, nine LEGO building Poké-fans teamed up for the #megabrickevolution collaboration, rendering the new upgrade forms of some of their favorite monsters.

First up, from Matt Goldberg, we have the Mega Charizard X, an evolution of Charmander so smoldering with power that he burns blue. The head is wonderfully sculpted and the body has the right mix of cute and fierce. My favorite technique is the use of Ben 10 scales on the underside of the tail, a part I couldn’t recognize without reading Matt’s description of the build on his blog.

@margits_mocs dares to build the Mega Evolution of Pokémon 303, Mawile. This deceptive critter uses its cute face to catch foes off guard, then chomps them with the steel horns on the back of its head that form a fearsome maw. Margit’s model reallly captures the nightmare potential of that second mouth.

Meet more Mega Evolution MOCs after the break

Minifigs of spooky season – Return of the living bricks [Minifig Monday]

We’re back for a second roundup of Halloween minifigs, ranging from slightly spooky to downright terrifying. Warning – some of these get pretty dark!

Our cover image goes to 2brickmonsters who breaks out the trans neon green for an oozy splatterfest. There’s so much creative parts usage on display, but I think the green crowns as popping pustules takes the creepy cake. Excellent use of the Blacktron mutant CMF legs.

Zakar.ion gets into the Halloween spirit with The Grove’s Curse. Apparently the pumpkin patch got tired of getting carved up and decided to uproot and do some carving of its own!

_motherofcatdragons_ gets medieval with a perfect plague doctor. The Kubaz mask is a little bit creepy no matter what galaxy you’re from.

It’s a nightmare on minifig street after the jump!

Six years in the making, this massive 25,000+ brick haunted house is spookily spectacular [Feature]

From Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion to the clanking metal doors of the midway ghost ride, haunted houses are the best part of any theme park. Tomáš Kašpařík reminds us why, with this incredible 25,000+ piece tribute to spooky amusements. The model debuted at Skærbæk Fan Weekend last month, where we had a chance to explore the display in person.
To make it easier to transport, the model is divided into two sections – the spooky ride queue, with winding lines and a few interior set pieces – and the ride itself, a two-story motorized build. While the physical build is new, the design itself started six years ago as a collab with Jason Pyett of Playwell Bricks. We asked Tomáš about how this project came together and he was gracious enough to share his story:

It all started in March 2019 when I decided I want to build a LEGO Haunted house just like the real thing in theme parks, with carts where people (in this case minifigures) can sit in and enjoy the ride. As you can see from my other builds I am a big theme park fan :-)

Tomáš continues the story of this haunted collab after the break

SHIPtember 2025 Finale: Reflections from the fleet [Feature]

As we celebrate the end of another exciting and inspirational SHIPtember, while the fleet is assembling for the 2025 SHIPtember armada poster, it seems only fitting to take a moment to reflect on the history behind this LEGO building challenge. We sat down for a short interview with Simon Liu, the grand admiral of all things SHIPtember. Simon started it all with an idea to challenge himself, to push beyond his comfort zone, and as a result created a community of builders around the world who come together every year (and sometimes in between) to build the best SHIP they can, and to share their struggles and triumphs with others. As a bonus, I also reached out to the SHIP building community to get their thoughts on the event.

TBB: Hi Simon. It’s great to chat with you again after another amazing SHIPtember! Before we get to the greebles, an icebreaker. What is your earliest LEGO memory?

Simon Liu: In our old house, we used to have this enclosed balcony area that was sort of the LEGO playroom, and had this wooden plank that I built a little LEGO city on. Some official sets, some of my own creations, and some set mods. I would play for hours in my own little city.

TBB: Can you tell us about the history behind SHIPtember and your role in it?

Simon: I started SHIPtember and came up with the idea. It was simple; I had never built a SHIP and didn’t know how to. So why not make it a group exercise? At the time, building a SHIP was seen as a huge investment in time and effort, and now it’s pretty routine to see some people build multiple SHIPs in a month.

SHIPtmeber was actually going to be SHIPril. But after no SHIPs at BrickCon (which historically was the first weekend of October), I decided to move it, ensuring that BrickCon would always have fresh SHIPs.

Our interview with SHIPtember founder Simon Liu and final thoughts from 2025 builders follow

How three builders celebrate travel with LEGO [Feature]

LEGO sets can make excellent souvenirs to take home from vacations, but how can LEGO prepare you for a trip and make that journey even more special?

Australian AFOL Kristel Whitaker recently wrapped a European vacation where she documented her trip with Polaroids built from LEGO. Rather than visit first, build later, Kristel prepped her “photographs” before leaving Australia based on iconic locations, then took an on-location photograph to match. The results are so much fun!

I love the use of monochrome for the LEGO versions, which makes them feel timeless but could also simplify the need to color-match exactly, like with this snapshot from Copenhagen’s Nyhavn.

Kristel’s compositions also help keep scope manageable when the subject is enormous, like with this shot of the Colosseum that she managed to perfectly match on location.

See the world with more AFOL adventurers after the fold!

Minifigs of spooky season – the first omen [Minifig Monday]

Throughout October, spooky builds take over LEGO feeds like a Spirit Halloween store. With so many eerily good costumes and creepy characters this month, we thought it would be a treat to summon the specters early for a month of monstrous madness!

ASortaOkayBuilder kicks things off with Manny, the skeletal bard. Equipped with Héctor’s guitar from Coco and a trans neon green ectoplasmic flourish, this swashbuckling is the perfect minifig to lead us to the lands of the dead.

Captain Dark Shark captures footage of paranormal activity in medieval times. Created for the newly launched Graymane Guild Role-Play community, this haunting is sure to kick of an epic quest when the villager enlists magical help to solve the Ahsenhollow curse.

Anotherlegoaccount has been going through the decades capturing obscure horror films you’ve probably never heard of, like the obscure 1979 Soviet sci-fi thriller “In Space” with its hideous Extroform. The scene with the mandroid was terrifying. I’m just glad the dog survives.

Trick or treat? Spooky Halloween and horror minifigs continue after the fold

Far from home – How my MOCs found their way to LEGO House [Feature]

Sometimes the first step in a journey starts long before it has a direction. Give a child LEGO, and who knows where it will take them?

Since I got my first set, LEGO has been an activity that puts me into a creative zone where I lose track of time and forget to eat. Four decades later, it found me at Brickcon 2022. I didn’t know it then, but I was on a road that would lead me to The LEGO House Masterpiece Gallery, a destination I never could have dreamed possible when that first set was placed in my hands so many years ago.

Read on to learn how building for local events led me to Billund

These Friendshiptember builds are out of this world [Feature]

Friendshiptember is that wonderful time of the year where builders of all experience levels come together to create a ship (space, sky, or seafaring, all are fine!) inspired by the colors and minidolls of LEGO Friends. With another successful Friendshiptember in the rear view mirror, we rounded up some of our favorite entries to share. We also sat down with the event organizer Aubree (moctura) to reflect, so scroll to the end to read our interview. But first, let’s see these fabulous friendships!

Brilliantly capturing both the aesthetic and the color palette of the Friends theme, Chad Rhodes first-ever entry is a sight to behold. This ship is smooth and sleek, yet feels like a true crossover for Friends and Space. The Star and Heart tucked away in the top of the ship is a perfect touch.

With another impressively sleek design, Jason Bourassa shows off this colorful ship adorned with embellishments. Even if the jewels or hearts are blasters, they still seem quite friendly. The bright purple engine exhaust is the perfect final touch.

Travel further into the beyond with these builds

A symphony of Silksong tributes in LEGO

Hollow Knight: Silksong is the rare game that delivers on the hype, blending beautiful worldbuilding with brutal difficulty. Protagonist Hornet and the bug-like denizens of Pharloom have inspired an outpouring of fan models from the LEGO community. Here are some of our favorites!

Fresh off his incredible series of Hollow Knight builds, Joss Ivanwood begins climbing Pharloom with a series of encounters. First, Hornet encounters Shakra, the mapmaker. She’s a lot tougher than Cornifer!

My favorite of Joss’ new builds is Sherma, just a little guy on a big pilgrimage! The party hat in golld makes a perfect miniature chime.

Our tour of Pharloom’s bugs continues after the break

One does not simply make LEGO models of Barad-Dûr this big

Barad-Dûr, seat of Sauron’s power, is known more by reputation than by first-hand accounts in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien describes it as “wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of adamant.” Peter Jackson’s films made Barad-Dûr an iconic on-screen presence with the fiery eye watching all from atop the tallest tower. It was that version that LEGO adapted for last year’s massive Icons set. For Jae Min Lee, a Korean fantasty builder who goes by the handle Saint, the official set didn’t match the picture of Barad-Dûr in his imagination. For over a year, Saint iterated on his vision of Sauron’s stronghold with the latest version debuting just in time for Korea Brick Party 2025. Saint was kind enough to talk with us about his LEGO journey into Mordor.

Our Interview with Saint follows

LEGO pirates make a scene as Umbasa LUG x Brothers Brick contest sails to an end [Feature]

Our friends at Umbasa LUG host monthly challenges focused on minifigs and dark fantasy. For September, the community tried something a little different, challenging builders to create not just characters but a brick-built vignette of between 10-16 studs on each side. The Brothers Brick sponsored this month’s contest, providing a copy of Windmill Village Hut to the winner. And without further ado, we’re excited to reveal that the winner is…

blocksofmocs!

Of the winner, Umbasa LUG organizer jdm_bricks said: “We decided that with such a small build, blocksofmocs was able to pack in such an impressive amount of character and detail, that it just had to be put on top. Highlights for us were the whimsical aesthetic, the very lively classic color pallet, the cohesive pirate crew, and the lovely shaping of the boat and waves.”

Congratulations to blocksofmocs, and thank you to all the other amazing builders who participated.

Click to see some of our favorite runners up from the Pirate Vignette contest