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.

2019 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 1

It’s that time of year again! Break out the hot cocoa and stoke the fire, because The Brothers Brick is counting down to Christmas the only way we know how: with LEGO Advent Calendars! Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 advent calendars along with crazy commentary from our team.

If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. So without further ado, here we go!

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

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.

Catch the Pokemon Magnemite before your TV goes on the fritz [Instructions]

Is your radio going all static-y? Are your lights flickering? Do you feel a slight tingling in your dental fillings? Are your pets acting all weird, I mean weirder than usual? Paranormal enthusiasts will say that you have ghosts, astrologers will tell you that we’re going into Mercury Retrograde but Pokemon Go players may cite that a disturbance in the electro-magnetic flux just might be the presence of a Magnemite, and you’d better catch it quick before it wreaks havoc on your fridge magnets. Builder Poke Bricks is totally into Pokemon (no, seriously, it’s true!) and we just might see a lot more brick-built Pokemon creatures in their photostream soon.

Want a Magnemite of your own? Then follow this step-by-step video to make it happen.

Fabian’s marvelous marbled bricks [Feature]

Last week, we showed you more of Beryll Roehl’s wonderful LEGO test brick photographs. Today, we’re going to look at Norwegian collector Fabian Lindblad and his equally enjoyable snapshots of marbled bricks. Marbled bricks are named such after the swirls of different colored plastic they contain. Some elements are intentionally marbled for sets, while others are the result of changing over the plastic in a mold from one color to another. In the past, LEGO employees occasionally took them home to share with their children. Today, the standard procedure is to recycle them so they don’t leave the building. However, if you are really lucky, you might just find a marbling error in one of your latest sets.

See more awe-inspiring images of these highly collectible bricks

Baby Yoda you must build [Instructions]

With the recent Launch of the Disney+ streaming service, The Mandalorian series has been well-received and one character in particular has taken the internet by storm; of course, I’m talking about “Baby Yoda.” Images and scenes of the galaxy’s cutest toddler have blown up like a supernova. It was only a matter of time until a LEGO fan built the little guy, and Miro Dudas answered the call with an adorably charming rendition. Better yet, Miro decided to share the secrets of the Force with everyone in the form of free building instructions on Rebrickable!

News: The LEGO Group acquires BrickLink from Nexon founder Jay Kim for undisclosed sum – interview with LEGO CMO Julia Goldin

The LEGO group announced today that it is acquiring LEGO marketplace website BrickLink. BrickLink was founded in 2000 by the late LEGO fan Dan Jezek, and was purchased from Dan’s family in 2013 by mobile game company Nexon founder and entrepeneur Jung-Ju “Jay” Kim. Over the past six years, the new owners, via Mr. Kim’s investment company NXMH, have taken the website in a number of new directions, including a “MOC Shop”, Stud.io virtual LEGO design software and the AFOL Designer Program earlier this year.

Although the official press release is fairly light on details, prior to the announcement today, LEGO invited The Brothers Brick to conduct a one-on-one interview with Julia Goldin, Chief Marketing Officer for the LEGO Group. We asked Ms. Goldin about potential conflicts of interest in LEGO now owning a large proportion of the secondary market for its own product, the future of the community-driven BrickLink catalog, and more. Read our in-depth interview in the article below. We’ll also have more analysis and discussion in the coming days.

Read the full interview and press release about LEGO’s acquisition of BrickLink

LEGO Star Wars 75250 Pasaana Speeder Chase from The Rise of Skywalker [Review]

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters in almost exactly a month, but Star Wars fans have been treated to scenes from the movie in several teasers and trailers over the past year, including a speeder chase scene featuring our Resistance heroes aboard a vehicle that look like the post-apocalyptic offspring of the desert skiffs in Return of the Jedi and Enfys Nest’s Cloud Rider swoop-bikes from Solo. 75250 Pasaana Speeder Chase is the smallest LEGO Star Wars set released so far to support the upcoming movie, at 373 pieces with three minifigs and one droid.

The set was released at the beginning of October so is available now ($39.99 US | $49.99 CAN | £44.99 UK | currently 20% off from both Amazon.com and Target).

Read our full review of LEGO Star Wars 75250 Pasaana Speeder Chase from The Rise of Skywalker

These LEGO test bricks are fantastically photogenic [Feature]

When it comes to LEGO, Beryll Roehl is both a collector and artist. LEGO test bricks are the focal point of her collection, and she takes this hobby to the next level by beautifully photographing pieces alongside objects with similar colors. LEGO’s test bricks were produced in a multitude of materials and colors for the purpose of research and development, and they have an exciting history. To learn more about these unique relics of LEGO’s past, be sure to read our informative interview with Beryll. Since then, Beryll has photographed even more bricks like these black BASF bricks with a little bumblebee. How cute!

See more of Beryll’s beautifully photographed test bricks

LEGO Star Wars 75254 AT-ST Raider from The Mandalorian [No-Spoiler Review]

The Disney+ exclusive TV show The Mandalorian just debuted, so we’re taking a look at the single LEGO Star Wars set released to support the show so far. Although the TV show didn’t debut until November 12th, 75254 AT-ST Raider was released alongside the first wave of LEGO Star Wars sets from The Rise of Skywalker at the beginning of October. The set includes 540 pieces with four minifigures and retails for $49.99 US | $69.99 CAN | £49.99 UK (it’s also available at 20% off from Amazon.com right now as well).

This latest AT-ST is one in a long line of “chicken walkers” that LEGO has released, following up on the 75153 AT-ST Walker from Rogue One released in 2016. Of course, that doesn’t count the utterly awful half-walker pawned off on LEGO Star Wars fans in the form of 75201 First Order AT-ST (arguably the worst LEGO Star Wars set ever).

Note about spoilers: Unlike the abominable First Order AT-ST released well in advance of The Last Jedi, this LEGO Star Wars AT-ST does not reveal any spoilers about the TV show. Out of respect for readers who have not yet seen the show (or can’t due to regional release differences), this review of the set will also avoid spoilers. We ask that commenters respect each other and do the same.

Read our full review of LEGO Star Wars 75254 AT-ST Raider from The Mandalorian

The beginner’s guide to collecting LEGO wooden toys, the original LEGO Originals [Feature]

LEGO hasn’t always been a manufacturer of plastic building blocks. From 1932 until 1960, LEGO manufactured wooden toys and, this year, they are celebrating this heritage with the release of LEGO Originals Wooden Minifigure 853967. As a casual collector of wooden LEGO toys, I find the LEGO Originals line intriguing because LEGO is embracing its roots in such a way that allows the public to participate. As excited as I am for the future of LEGO Originals, I thought it might fun to take a look at what I like to call the original “LEGO Originals.”

1940s Quacking duck and circa late-1930s orange duck – image courtesy of Matthew Hocker
Continue reading to learn more about collecting vintage wooden LEGO toys

LEGO Star Wars 75257 Millennium Falcon from The Rise of Skywalker [Review]

The ninth and final film in the Skywalker Saga is due in movie theaters in about a month and a half, and we continue to look at the first wave of LEGO Star Wars sets released in advance of the film. So far, we’ve looked at 75248 Resistance A-wing Starfighter, and today we’re reviewing the largest set in the first wave, 75257 Millennium Falcon. The set includes 1,353 pieces with five minifigs and two droids, and is available now (US $159.99 | CA $179.99 | UK £149.99).

Not counting the monumental UCS Falcon released in 2017, this is the third Millennium Falcon released since Han & Chewie’s Falcon The Force Awakens (2015) and Lando’s Kessel Run Falcon for Solo (2018). Other than minifigs, let’s find out what’s new about this latest iteration.

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Star Wars 75257 Millennium Falcon from The Rise of Skywalker

LEGO Ideas 21320 Dinosaur Fossils – assembling T. rex & Triceratops & Pteranodon, oh my! [Review]

Even though my primary fascination with the past has always been through archaeology, the science of paleontology has also provided a wonderful source of inspiration about the amazing world we live in. Officially unveiled today, the latest LEGO Ideas set is 21320 Dinosaur Fossils, so I was especially excited to get building with an early copy of the set that LEGO sent The Brothers Brick. The new set includes 910 pieces with two minifigures and will go on sale November 1st (US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99).

Editor’s note: This LEGO Ideas set identifies and labels the individual species of each extinct creature included in the set, so you’ll find that we refer to them using binomial nomenclature, with scientific names in italics and abbreviations like T. rex for Tyrannosaurus rex rather than “T-Rex”. If you think Andrew gets pedantic about Star Wars lore, just wait until he digs into a scientifically inspired LEGO set like this!

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Ideas 21320 Dinosaur Fossils

LEGO Star Wars 75248 Resistance A-wing Starfighter from The Rise of Skywalker [Review]

LEGO has released the first wave of LEGO Star Wars sets from The Rise of Skywalker, and we’ll be reviewing each one between now and the movie’s release on December 20th. First up here on TBB is 75248 Resistance A-wing Starfighter, which includes 269 pieces with minifigs and is available now ($29.99 USD | $39.99 CAD | £24.99 UK).

Read our hands on review of LEGO Star Wars 75248 Resistance A-wing Starfighter