Category Archives: News

Stay current on the latest news and information about LEGO, from sales & deals to new set announcements. We also cover LEGO events and conventions all over the world.

LEGO Star Wars 75291 Death Star Final Duel takes us to the Emperor’s Throne Room [Review]

With beloved minifigures and generally excellent vehicle designs in the LEGO Star Wars theme, location-based playsets often get a bad rap by comparison. Back in 2016, I described 75137 Carbon Freezing Chamber as half-formed, oddly over-engineered, ugly, and ultimately baffling — one of the worst LEGO sets I’d reviewed in recent memory. Then in 2018, we argued that the $350 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City doesn’t even live up to LEGO’s own product description, despite some stellar mid-scale vehicles and improved carbon-freezing chamber. Given that history, we were skeptical of 75291 Death Star Final Duel (US $99.99 | CAN $139.99 | UK £89.99), which includes 775 pieces with five minifigs and will be available starting September 1st (with the now-standard caveats about COVID-19 shipping). But has LEGO exceeded our low expectations?

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Star Wars 75291 Death Star Final Duel

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TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for July 25, 2020

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the last week of July 2020.

Let the music play with the new LEGO Ideas Grand Piano. Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS: This week we reviewed two new Star Wars sets, learned to make a tiny T-Rex, saw the cancellation of a controversial set, got a sneak peek at the upcoming Harry Potter advent calendar and more!

Four new LEGO Monkie Kid sets revealed including Monkey King BrickHeadz – LEGO has revealed the second wave of Monkie Kid sets including new villains and vehicles and a Monkey King BrickHeadz.
LEGO cancels release of Technic 42113 Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey – LEGO canceled the release of an upcoming Technic set after outcry against the depiction of a military aircraft.
LEGO wants you to choose its next history book about bricks – LEGO Publishing is letting fans choose the topic of their next book about the LEGO brick.

MORE TBB NEWS:

LEGO Ideas 21323 Grand Piano makes music starting Aug. 1st – The Grand Piano is the biggest LEGO Ideas set ever with 3,662 pieces which is music to our ears! (Plus an exclusive interview with the set’s designers!)
LEGO Ideas 21323 Grand Piano designer shows off inner workings of the musical model – See how the LEGO Ideas Grand Piano is put together in this video tour from designer Chee Woon Tze.
LEGO Harry Potter 2020 Advent Calendar revealed – First official images of the new LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendar are already here. Be careful not to spoil the surprise!
Celebrate Christmas in July with a free LEGO mini-gingerbread house with purchase – LEGO is celebrating Christmas in July by bringing back the Mini Gingerbread House free with orders of $100 or more.

TBB REVIEWS AND INSTRUCTIONS:

LEGO Star Wars 75283 Armored Assault Tank (AAT) from The Clone Wars Season 7 includes Ahsoka Tano and Ahsoka Trooper [Review] – We take a closer look at the much-anticipated LEGO Star Wars 75283 Armored Assault Tank.
LEGO Star Wars 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers with AT-RT & BARC speeder [Review] – LEGO Star Wars 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers adds front-line infantry for General Anakin Skywalker to lead into battle.
Build your very own Tyrannosaurus Rex BrickHeadz [Instructions] – If you are a fan of BrickHeadz, and dinosaurs, you can now build your very own T-Rex, designed by Daniel Fortine.

OTHER NEWS: There were quite a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:

The LEGO Group launches new initiative to help parents talk to their kids about online safety and digital citizenship, LEGO – The ‘Build & Talk’ approach encourages learning through play.
LEGO Hits Over 10 Billion Views on YouTube, Making It the Most Popular Brand Channel on the Site, People.com – Popular YouTube channel Vat19 came in second place with 5.84 billion views followed by IDJVideos.TV at 4.49 billion
How Can LEGO Help With Technical Skills for Medical Training?, The Science Times – LEGO can be used for medical training, specifically for technical skills in the field of anesthesia.
LEGO-inspired bone and soft tissue repair with tiny, 3D-printed bricks, Medical Xpress – Tiny, 3-D-printed, LEGO-like bricks have been designed to heal broken bones—and could one day lead to lab-made organs for human transplant.

LEGO wants you to choose its next history book about bricks [News]

LEGO Publishing has announced a fan vote that will determine the direction of the next book they will publish. Fans can vote on LEGO Ideas to choose one of three following titles: “The LEGO Brick Museum,” “The Secret Life of Bricks,” and “LEGO History in 100 Bricks.”

The winning book will be written by Daniel Konstanski, editor of the Blocks magazine. Voting ends on Sunday, August 9th at 7 am PT. More information is included in the press release below.

Learn more about the next LEGO book.

Celebrate Christmas in July with a free LEGO mini-gingerbread house with purchase [News]

If you missed out on the 2019 holiday gift with purchase last year, have no fear–Christmas in July is here! 40337 Mini Gingerbread House set is a 499-piece microscale version of the 10267 Winter Village Gingerbread House and is available with any order of $100 or more in the US or Canada through 8:59pm PT on July 26th or while supplies last.

As always, clicking through the links in the article above helps The Brothers Brick continue to provide the quality LEGO content you’ve come to expect from us. Thanks for the support!

LEGO Ideas 21323 Grand Piano designer shows off inner workings of the musical model [News]

LEGO has released a video showing off the new LEGO Ideas 21323 Grand Piano. In the video, LEGO Designer Chee Woon Tze tickles the ivory, so to speak, to show off how the piano is constructed and how it plays music. The video has constant piano music in the background but unfortunately does not include what the piano music created by the app will sound like. However, seeing the completed set next to the designer shows how massive the model is in context.

LEGO Ideas 21323 Grand Piano comes with 3,662 pieces to build the playable piano for US $349.99 | CA $449.99 | UK £319.99 with global availability beginning August 1st. Make sure to read our announcement and interview with the LEGO Ideas design team about the design effort that went into it.

Click to watch the LEGO Grand Piano designer video

LEGO Ideas 21323 Grand Piano makes music starting Aug. 1st [News]

LEGO Ideas has revealed its biggest set yet, 21323 Grand Piano. The massive musical model comes with 3,662 pieces that make up the 25-key keyboard, sleek black lid and body, working internal hammers, and even an original composition. The set will retail for US $349.99 | CA $449.99 | UK £319.99 beginning August 1st (becoming the most expensive LEGO Ideas set ever).

The Grand Piano comes with a motor, smart hub, and sensor used to connect to the LEGO Powered Up app which creates the sound. The piano can be played in either a “self-play” toy piano mode where hitting any key produces the next note in a selected song, or in an “auto-play” mode where the piano moves randomized keys while the app produces music like a player piano.

The Brothers Brick got an early preview of the Grand Piano from the LEGO Ideas design team, so we have included some interesting facts and quotes about the set throughout the article below.

Take a closer look at the LEGO Ideas Grand Piano.

LEGO cancels release of Technic 42113 Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey [News]

LEGO has canceled the planned release of one of its upcoming Technic sets, the 42113 Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, due to its association with militaries. The summer 2020 LEGO Technic lineup includes the usual construction vehicles such as a Volvo Articulated Hauler, but it also includes the licensed V-22 Osprey, which is a far more unusual subject for LEGO set. LEGO has long publicly held that it does not produce modern military vehicles, and fans were quick to point out that the V-22 Osprey is traditionally a military aircraft. The German Peace Society organized a petition to halt LEGO’s production, and combined with broader questions from the LEGO fan community over LEGO’s licensing of this military aircraft, LEGO has today made the decision to halt rollout of the set. The set was slated to be released Aug. 1.

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is a tiltrotor aircraft for VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) missions and is operated by the U.S. Air Force, Marines, and Navy, as well as the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Although some examples are equipped to play search and rescue operations, the V-22 is not operated by any civilian sources.

Click to read LEGO’s official statement

LEGO Star Wars 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers with AT-RT & BARC speeder [Review]

The summer 2020 lineup of LEGO Star Wars sets has added a number of sets inspired by Star Wars: The Clone Wars, including 75283 Armored Assault Tank with Ahsoka Tano and one of her unique Clone Troopers. 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers adds the elite infantry that Anakin Skywalker leads into battle as part of the Grand Army of the Republic. The set includes 285 pieces with the four Clone Trooper minifigs and two battle droids, and is scheduled to be available in the US starting September 1st from LEGO (US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99), though actual availability may vary significantly due to COVID-19.

Before we dig into the details of the set, it’s important to briefly correct some earlier reporting, which indicated that this is part of the minifigure-centric Battle Packs line of sets within LEGO Star Wars. Although the set does include four “army builder” Clone Troopers and a pair of battle droids, the inclusion of two substantial vehicles places this within the realm of standard LEGO Star Wars sets, not Battle Packs.

(And yes, I inverted the torsos on a couple of the nearly identical Clone Troopers as you can see in some of the overall photos, but thankfully we caught it during photography and the detailed minifig photos are correct.)

Read our full review of LEGO Star Wars 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers

LEGO Harry Potter 2020 Advent Calendar revealed [News]

Swiss toy retailer Meinspielzeug.ch has just shared official pictures of the upcoming Harry Potter 2020 Advent Calendar set. As usual, the set consists of 24 mini-builds and includes 355 pieces and 6 minifigures. The set will be available starting September 1. Detailed pictures of the set are right behind the link to this post, so be careful not to spoil the surprise!

75981 LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendar | 335 pieces (Now Available on LEGO Online Store)
US $39.99 | CAN $49.99 | UK £24.99

Click here for more pictures of the set

LEGO Star Wars 75283 Armored Assault Tank (AAT) from The Clone Wars season 7 includes Ahsoka Tano and Ahsoka Trooper [Review]

Season 7 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars concluded on Disney+ recently, converging the storyline from the long-running animated TV series with the events portrayed in Revenge of the Sith. The season also wraps up a key storyline about Ahsoka Tano, connecting to her appearance as “Fulcrum” in Rebels. Because of this, LEGO fans have been excited about the inclusion of a new Ahsoka minifigure alongside a special “Ahsoka Trooper” in 75283 Armored Assault Tank, announced as part of the summer 2020 wave of LEGO Star Wars sets. The set includes 286 pieces with two minifigs (plus two battle droids), and will become available in the US on Sept. 1st, but may be available already in other regions (US $39.99 | CAN $49.99 | UK £34.99) due to logistics and supply chain challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Star Wars 75283 Armored Assault Tank

Four new LEGO Monkie Kid sets revealed including Monkey King BrickHeadz [News]

LEGO has revealed four new additions to the Monkie Kid lineup, including a new BrickHeadz version of the Monkey King himself. The three other new sets depict new vehicles and villains from the LEGO Monkie Kid universe including a roadster and speedboat. The BrickHeadz Monkey King will be available starting August 1st and the other three sets will follow on September 1st.

It was only two months ago that LEGO revealed the initial wave of eight Monkie Kid sets. The sets are inspired by a new animated TV show based on the Monkey King legend from the Chinese novel Journey to the West.

Take a closer look at all four of the new LEGO Monkey King sets.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for July 18, 2020

LEGO hits all the right nostalgia notes with this incredible NES and TV set model. Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS, REVIEWS AND FEATURES: This week we reviewed the new Minions set, learned to build Miniland superheroes, saw the reveal of an incredible NES model and played a round of “What’s that Element?”.

LEGO 75551 Minions: Brick-built Minions and their Lair [Review] – Minions: The Rise of Gru has been delayed until July 2021, but there are LEGO sets we can enjoy now.
LEGO Brick Sketches featuring Star Wars and DC Comics portraits now available – LEGO Brick Sketches of BB-8, a First Order Stormtrooper, Batman and The Joker are now available.
LEGO 71374 Nintendo Entertainment System is a buildable NES console complete with Super Mario Bros. – Build your own nostalgia trip with this LEGO Nintendo NES console and TV with a scrolling Super Mario Bros. level, available August 1st.
Build your own LEGO Miniland Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman characters [Instructions] – Save the day with the Worlds Finest made with LEGO by Tiago Catarino and Pedro Sequeira
What’s that element? Plate with a triangular shaped bar [Feature] – Some of you may already be familiar with this, but for those who are not, let’s go on this journey of discovery of “What’s that element?”

MORE TBB NEWS: Join us as a contributor to The Brothers Brick or join us online for BrickCon 2020!

TBB’s next recruiting effort for Contributors & Social Media Manager focuses on diversity, inclusion & representation – Are you interested in not only helping The Brothers Brick grow, but making the LEGO hobby community a more diverse and welcoming place? If so, consider joining the team!
BrickCon 2020 is moving online in October with a full convention for adult fans of LEGO – BrickCon 2020 is moving from the Space Needle to cyberspace, hosting a full online convention for adult fans of LEGO in October.
Thieves steal Fairy Bricks delivery van and LEGO sets donated to kids in hospitals – Thieves broke into Fairy Bricks headquarters and stole their van and donated LEGO sets meant for kids in hospitals.

OTHER NEWS: There were quite a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:

Computational LEGO Designer Outperforms Professional Model-Makers, Discover – Designing models with LEGO Technic parts is much harder than with traditional LEGO bricks. Now a computational designer can do the hard work for you.
Coronavirus: ‘LEGO helped me get out of bed’, BBC News – A woman who was furloughed from her job said LEGO helped her to get out of bed.
Animal Crossing, LEGO, Video Games… How the Art Market is Attracting Millennials, Prestige – While the arts and culture industry is estimated to have lost billions due to the coronavirus pandemic, cultural institutions are turning to video games and toys to appeal to a new generation of potential museum-goers.
10 Reasons Why LEGO Is The Most Reputable Company In The World, World Atlas – See how LEGO has lived up to its name for the fourth year in a row, topping the list of the 10 most reputable companies in the world.
First LEGO store opens in Saudi Arabia, Retail & Leisure – The first certified retail store in Saudi Arabia store is spread across 1,690 sq. ft and has been built as a creative hub for the LEGO community.