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.

A History of LEGO Education, Part 1: Strong Foundations [Feature]

LEGO bricks have long been considered an educational toy, but it wasn’t until 1980 when The LEGO Group formally established an educational division. Known today as LEGO Education, the division is celebrating 40 years of collaborating with and developing educational tools for teachers around the world, with products ranging from Duplo to Mindstorms. Here at The Brothers Brick, we are taking a closer look at LEGO Education with a series of articles, and what better way to observe a 40th anniversary than with a history of the subject?

To get everyone pumped up, LEGO created a special video highlighting some of the key points behind the history of LEGO Education. Think of the video as a preview of the history we are about to cover here. Get ready, because it’s time to dive deep into LEGO Education 101!

Click to see the earliest history of LEGO Education

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LEGO Education celebrates 40 years by launching SPIKE Prime engineering kit worldwide [News]

LEGO Education is celebrating its 40th birthday with the worldwide launch of its newest educational tool, 45678 SPIKE Prime. Announced early last year, SPIKE Prime is a hands-on STEAM learning set intended for the classroom that comes with 528 pieces (including 11 new elements, motors, and a hub) and a drag-and-drop coding language with 32 lesson plans. SPIKE Prime retails for $329.95 in the US with variable pricing worldwide.

To mark LEGO Education’s 40 years, The Brothers Brick is taking a close look at LEGO’s well known (though not as well understood) educational arm. Over the next few days, we will get a hands-on look at SPIKE Prime, dive deep into the history of LEGO Education, and have a chat with some of the group’s key designers.

Click to get a closer look at LEGO Education SPIKE Prime

Judging LEGO Masters: Exclusive interview with LEGO designers Jamie Berard and Amy Corbett [News]

LEGO Masters begins next month in the US, and LEGO fans will notice a few familiar faces judging the reality show. During our visit to the LEGO Masters set, we chatted with Jamie Berard and Amy Corbett about making the leap from LEGO designers to reality TV judges.

In the interview conducted jointly with Megan from Brickset, Jamie and Amy talk about how their pasts helped prepare them to be judges, what considerations were involved in selecting winners, and how they resisted the temptation to build along with the rest of the contestants!

Click to read our interview with LEGO Masters judges Jamie Berard and Amy Corbett

Hosting LEGO Masters: An interview with actor and entertainer Will Arnett [News]

LEGO Masters arrives in the US in less than a month, and anticipation for the brick-building reality TV show is growing steadily within the LEGO fan community. The Brothers Brick was invited to visit the LEGO Masters set last month ahead of the taping of the finale, and we interviewed several key players on the show including LEGO Batman himself, Will Arnett.

In the interview conducted by The Brothers Brick News Editor Dave Schefcik and Megan from Brickset, Will Arnett talks about hosting the show, how he interacted with the contestants, his own personal history with LEGO, and if he’d come back for a second season.

Click to read our interview with LEGO Masters host Will Arnett

LEGO reveals Creator Expert football stadium 10272 Old Trafford – Manchester United [News]

LEGO has officially unveiled its newest Creator Expert set, 10272 Old Trafford – Manchester United, a massive 3,898-piece model based on the Old Trafford soccer stadium in Greater Manchester, England, which serves as the home of Manchester United F.C. The 1:600 replica model will be available directly from LEGO for US $299.99 | CAN $349.99 | UK £249.99 starting January 16, 2020 — just in time for the stadium’s 110th anniversary this February.

Such a stunning LEGO set is bound to be a hit with soccer fans and sportsmen all around the world, including the most prominent LEGO fan on the field, David Beckham. We are sure, it’s just a matter of time before David shares a couple of pictures of the latest addition to his LEGO collection on his Instagram page.

LEGO 80104 Chinese New Year Lion Dance [Review]

Throughout Asia, the lion dance is a traditional event in which trained acrobatic performers impersonate the movements of a mythical Chinese lion. Of all the festivities in which the lion dance appears, the most significant is during Chinese New Year celebrations in which they are supposed to invite fortune and luck to businesses, events and festivals. This set was released alongside the 80105 Chinese New Year Temple Fair, both of which can be combined to create a larger atmosphere of a celebration. 80104 Lion Dance comes with 882 pieces, a new rat costume minifigure, and retails for US $79.99 | CAN $109.99 | UK £64.99. Let’s take a closer look at this set to see how it captures the spirit of such a unique event.

Read our entire review of this Chinese New Year set.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for January 11, 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 second week of January 2020.

Celebrate the Chinese New Year with our review of the Spring Festival Chinese New Year Temple Fair. Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS, REVIEWS AND FEATURES: This week we saw the worldwide release of the new Chinese New Year sets, reviewed the Ninjago Gamer’s Market, got colorful with a look at the Trolls Poppy’s Hot Air Balloon set and took a deep dive into the world of Classic Space!

The Brothers Brick Explore: LEGO Classic Space [Feature] – Join The Brothers Brick as we take an in-depth look at Classic Space, one of the most popular LEGO building genres.
LEGO Chinese New Year Temple Fair and Lion Dance sets now available globally – LEGO Chinese New Year 2020 sets are now available worldwide! Combine both the Temple Fair and Lion Dance sets into one grand festival.
Hands-on with 21052 LEGO Architecture Dubai [Review] – Should you take a trip to Dubai? Absolutely.
LEGO Ninjago’s new people pack: 71708 Gamer’s Market [Review] – What’s a video game without an item market for microtransactions? Today we’re checking out 71708 Gamer’s Market, Ninjago’s merch store for ninjas, which includes a whopping 9 minifigures!
LEGO 80105 Spring Festival Chinese New Year Temple Fair [Review] – Join in the Chinese New Year festivities as we take a close up look at the new Spring Festival set.
LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71026 DC Super Heroes: Getting back to the comics [Review] – Did you know LEGO’s new DC Super Hero Collectible Minifigures are based entirely on their comic book versions? We’ve got all the details in this hands-on review.
Trolls World Tour 41252 Poppy’s Hot Air Balloon Adventure [Review] – Sail the skies with us in our review of Poppy’s Hot Air Balloon Adventure from Trolls World Tour!

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:

12 Product Ideas Qualify for the Third 2019 LEGO Ideas Review, LEGO Ideas – The Third 2019 LEGO Ideas Review qualifying period ended Monday morning, January 6th, 2020.
Millennials are finding mindfulness in Lego , The Telegraph – The simple plastic blocks have offered a barrier between Lego fans and the relentless pressures of screens, social media, and stress.
B&Q owner Kingfisher hires Lego digital chief for top customer role, Campaign – Jean-Jacques Van Oosten returns to Kingfisher after 12 years with The LEGO Group.
Mayim Bialik, Terry Crews, Nicole Byer & More Celebrity Guests Announced for LEGO MASTERS on FOX, Broadway World – New competition series LEGO(R) MASTERS has announced celebrity guests.

LEGO 80105 Spring Festival Chinese New Year Temple Fair [Review]

Last year, LEGO released sets 80101 Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner and 80102 Dragon Dance to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival, also known as the Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year). At the time, the sets were only sold in the Asia Pacific region, causing an uproar among fans elsewhere in the world who felt slighted by their regional exclusivity. The extent of this reaction was influential in LEGO’s decision to make this year’s Chinese New Year sets available worldwide. Today, we take a look at this year’s LEGO 80105 Chinese New Year Temple Fair to give you insight into a brick-built celebration filled with fun and beautiful details. The set has been available in the Asia Pacific region since December 26, 2019 but is being released worldwide today. It consists of 1664 pieces and retails for US $119.99 | CAN $159.99 | UK £89.99

Read the full review to learn more about this Chinese New Year exclusive.

LEGO Chinese New Year Temple Fair and Lion Dance sets now available globally [News]

LEGO has made the two new Chinese New Year regional exclusives for 2020 available worldwide. 80105 Chinese New Year Temple Fair comes with 1,664 pieces, 14 minifigures and features a lively festival around a temple gate for US $119.99 | CAN $159.99 | UK £89.99.

80104 Lion Dance comes with 882 pieces, eight minifigures including a new rat costume, and five brick-built dancing lions for US $79.99 | CAN $109.99 | UK £64.99.

Click to get a closer look at each Chinese New Year LEGO set

LEGO Ninjago’s new people pack: 71708 Gamer’s Market [Review]

When I looked over the new 2020 wave of LEGO Ninjago sets, one immediately stuck out among the dragons, mechs, and other usual Ninjago fare. 71708 Gamer’s Market is a small set crammed with nine minifigures, along with three small booths. Other themes have long had people packs and army builders, with City and Star Wars providing the most well-known recent examples, but apart from blister packs of figures, Ninjago has always balanced minifigures with the brick-built parts of the set. With 218 pieces and nine minifigures, 71708 Gamer’s Market retails for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £29.99 and is available now.

As any modern video gamer knows, microtransactions are where game publishers make the big bucks these days, and it’s no different for the new Tron-like digital world in which the latest season of Ninjago is set, so the Gamer’s Market is where you can outfit your character with all the latest gear, from katanas to hats.

Click to read the full hands-on review!

Trolls World Tour 41252 Poppy’s Hot Air Balloon Adventure [Review]

For me, one of the most surprising LEGO reveals from 2019 was the 2020 Trolls World Tour lineup. Back in 2017, Hasbro had the construction toy licensing rights to the Trolls film, and the torch has now been passed to LEGO for Trolls World Tour — These are indeed interesting times we live in. I had forgotten about the line until a last-minute holiday shopping trip to Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve, when I came across a LEGO Trolls World Tour display. While not on my list for this year’s desirable themes, something compelled me to pick up LEGO set 41252 Poppy’s Hot Air Balloon Adventure. This particular LEGO set consists of 250 pieces and, while the Trolls World Tour film won’t be out until April, the sets are currently available via LEGO’s online shop for $29.99 USD | $39.99 CAD | $29.99 GBP

Read entire review for more information.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for January 4, 2020

We take a look at the avalanche of new 2020 LEGO sets available now! Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS: This week we took a look back at the best of 2019, felt a few DC Super Heroes Collectible Minifigures and reviewed the new Speed Champions 76896 Nissan GT-R NISMO!

LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71026 DC Super Heroes Feel Guide – LEGO’s new DC Super Heroes Collectible Minifigures are now available. Use our complete Feel Guide to ensure you get the figures you want!
New orange spaceman joins the Classic Space LEGO minifigure lineup – The new book LEGO Minifigure: A Visual History from publisher DK will be out this fall, and it includes a special minifigure: an orange Classic Spaceman!
Your guide to 153 new LEGO sets now available for 2020, including City, Technic, Star Wars, Architecture and more – Your guide to 153 new LEGO sets now available for 2020, including City, Technic, Star Wars, Architecture and more!
The Brothers Brick 2019 Report Card: LEGO Ideas – We take a look at all the IDEAS Sets released in 2019 and do a quick analysis of what we have up to date.
LEGO Speed Champions 76896 Nissan GT-R NISMO for 2020 [Review] – LEGO Speed Champions shifts from six-wide designs to eight-wide models in 2020. We take a close look at 76896 Nissan GT-R NISMO to assess this change.

THE BEST OF TBB 2019:

These were 2019’s Top 10 most popular LEGO creations featured on TBB – You guys built a lot of amazing LEGO creations in 2019, but here are the 10 incredible builds that our readers liked most.
The Brothers Brick’s top 10 most popular LEGO Features of 2019 – We take a look back at 2019 and the Top 10 Feature articles that had the most views from our stats server. If you missed any, here’s a great time to catch up!
The Brothers Brick’s top 10 LEGO news articles of 2019 – Which LEGO news stories did you click on the most this year? We have your top ten list right here.
The Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2019 – The Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2019 is Chris Yu’s stunning transforming LEGO Moon Base..
The Brothers Brick LEGO Builder of the Year 2019 – The Brothers Brick is delighted to announce Andrea Lattanzio @nortonsevenfour as our LEGO Builder of the Year for 2019!

What is LEGO Masters really like? Let Will Arnett explain!