LEGO just unveiled two new characters to add on to the BrickHeadz family from the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Newt Scamander and Gellert Grindelwald, numbered 76 and 77 respectively, are featured in a two-pack set of 247 pieces and retail price of $19.99 USD. These are the first two characters to be featured from the Fantastic Beasts theme and will be released for sale on October 1.
Click here to read the full press release…
It’s been four years since LEGO released the last Star Wars Sandcrawler, the massive Ultimate Collector Series Sandcrawler. Now LEGO has returned with a set that’s a bit smaller, but still has 1,239 pieces, 75220 Sandcrawler. It’s available now, and retails for $139.99 USD. Today we’re building the set in this video review to see exactly how this giant mobile Jawa fortress stacks up.
75220 Sandcrawler includes 1,239 pieces with 6 minifigs. The set is available now from the LEGO Shop (USD 139.99 | CDN 159.99 | GBP 109.99), Amazon.com, eBay, BrickLink, and elsewhere.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
We’re now just one month from BrickCon 2018, the country’s longest-running LEGO convention. Each year LEGO fans flock to Seattle the first weekend in October to view more than 30,000 square feet of custom LEGO models, along with vendors featuring everything from custom-engraved bricks to vintage sets. The event is open to the public Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6-7, and tickets can be purchased online, with prices ranging from $11-$17 depending on entry time. Last year tickets sold out in advance, so don’t wait to get yours.
Adult fans who wish to get the all-access treatment can sign up for the full four-day experience, which includes the ability to display their own custom LEGO models, along with workshops, prizes, games, drafts, access to the friends-and-family night, and more. Signups for the full adult fan convention, which runs Oct. 4-7, can be found on the BrickCon builder site. Tickets for the full event are $75 if purchased before Sept. 18. After that, you’ll need to pay the late registration price of $100 or sign up at the door if any space is available (though that will cost even more).
The Brothers Brick is sponsoring a Ninjago City collaborative build at this year’s BrickCon, featuring creations from our staff and readers like you. Click the image below to learn more about how you can get involved.
The Brothers Brick is an official sponsor of BrickCon.
The LEGO Ideas team has just announced that ten projects have achieved the required votes to qualify for the second 2018 LEGO Ideas Review. These ten sets reached the 10,000 supporter mark between May and September 2018, and as a result have made it into the next phase of the process, in which LEGO makes a decision about whether to select the design to become an official LEGO Ideas set.
Of course, there is no guarantee that LEGO will decide to produce any of these designs as an official set, but each fan-designed project deserves congratulations for reaching this important milestone.
See more about each qualified project
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 first week of September 2018.
TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: LEGO Technic proves that you can build anything you dream about, and the 2018 Advent Calendars are now on sale.
TBB FEATURES & INSTRUCTIONS: We have some sweet instructions for you along with two feature articles highlighting history in different forms.
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:
Check out the other LEGO news of the week
September has arrived and so have new LEGO sets, from the Hogwarts Castle and 2018 LEGO Advent Calendars to the Las Vegas Architecture skyline set. These will likely sell out quickly, so make sure to get yours soon before they are out of stock.
Click to take a closer look at the new LEGO sets for September 2018
Did you know that 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the modern minifigure? In recognition of this very special birthday, the LEGO Group released its party-themed Series 18 minifigures a few months ago, including a remake of the 1978 policeman. The LEGO Group continues to celebrate, this time by reaching into their archives to share some historic images with our readers. Here at The Brothers Brick, we love minifigures and are excited to share the images and history behind the LEGO Group’s versatile and lovable characters.
In the post-World War II economy, the LEGO Group began shifting its priorities in toy manufacturing. While the foundation of LEGO rested on wooden toys, Ole Kirk Christiansen saw a future in plastics and purchased the company’s first plastic injection molding machine in 1947. It was with this equipment that the LEGO group first began producing its Automatic Binding Bricks in 1949. These hollow-bottomed bricks were the forerunner of the modern LEGO brick.
LEGO’s earliest sets were fairly basic construction toys, and characters were never packaged with the sets. This changed after Ole’s son, Godtfred, introduced the System of Play series in 1955. “System of Play” referred to the versatility of LEGO bricks to be used by themselves and with a child’s existing toys. LEGO advertised the toy as the perfect companion for dolls and HO (1:87) scale toy trains. LEGO created the Town Plan series, which is populated by brick-built buildings and prefabricated vehicles, to serve in part as an add-on for model railroading.
It was also during this time that LEGO introduced the great-great grandfather of the minifigure, a set of four tiny police officers. The figures were posed in four different positions, designed so they could direct traffic throughout the intersections of the Town Plan. Resembling HO-scale figures, they did not have moving limbs or recessed indentations for connecting to studs but were nevertheless LEGO’s first people manufactured for the System of Play.
Click to read the full history of the LEGO Minifigure
LEGO has revealed a life-size Bugatti Chiron built from more than a million Technic elements that actually drives. Powered by more than 2,300 Power Functions motors, the car is the first ever fully-functional self-propelled LEGO sports car, reaching top speeds nearing 20 mph (30 kph).
More impressive, LEGO designers didn’t use any glue in the construction which took more than 13,000 hours total. The life-size Technic Bugatti Chiron even includes a working speedometer and rear spoiler while replicating the sleek curves of the iconic sports car.
A bit bigger than the 42083 Technic Bugatti Chiron we reviewed earlier this summer, the life-sized model can fit two passengers inside and weighs a whopping 3,300 pounds (1,500 kg), supported by a steel frame.
Click to get a behind-the-scenes look at the life-size LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron
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 fourth week of August 2018.
TBB NEWS: Bespin is back with the new Master Builder Series set, along with formerly unknown Harry Potter and Jurassic World minifigures coming your way.
TBB REVIEWS: While they don’t taste any different (we checked), take a look at this article comparing the old and new plant elements now sourced from sugar cane, as well as a review or two.
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:
Check out the other LEGO news of the week
The Imperial Landing Craft was added to the Star Wars canon with the 1997 “Special Edition” re-release of Star Wars: A New Hope. The recent release of 75221 Imperial Landing Craft marks the second time LEGO has produced a version of this vehicle, despite very limited screen time — the first 7659 Imperial Landing Craft was released in 2007. This latest LEGO Sentinel-class landing craft set includes 636 pieces and 5 minifigs (counting Artoo) and retails for $89.99 in the US ($109.99 in Canada | £79.99 in the UK).
Read the full review of LEGO Star Wars 75221 Imperial Landing Craft
Whether you like LEGO BrickHeadz or not, there’s no denying that they make excellent sources of small parts for your own LEGO creations, often in unusual colors or with unique printed elements. If you’re more of a collector than a builder, BrickHeadz are also a solid investment, since sold-out BrickHeadz are going for two to three times their original price on the secondary market. Regardless of your motivation, LEGO that’s as much as 46% off is hard to pass up!
Without further ado, here are the LEGO BrickHeadz sets currently on heavy discount on Amazon.com. Note that some of the lower-priced items like Thanos and Gamora (at rock-bottom prices of only $5.38 each) can only be purchased as part of orders over $25, but it’s pretty easy to get over that price threshold, so just add them to your cart and keep shopping.
See the rest of the LEGO BrickHeadz on sale now, including Harry Potter, Star Wars, and more
Toys R Us, which is still operating in a number of countries despite its well-publicized bankruptcy in the United States, has today uploaded images of four new LEGO minifigure packs. These have traditionally been offered as part of Toys R Us’ annual Bricktober promotion, though unlike previous years, this year’s packages are devoid of any Toys R Us or Bricktober-specific branding. Consequently, we can’t confirm yet if these will be exclusive to Toys R Us, especially given the retailer’s drastically reduced market share. The four packs are each themed to a specific license, featuring Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Marvel Super Heroes, and Ninjago, and include a number of exclusive characters.
Update: LEGO has confirmed on Twitter that these sets will be coming to Barnes & Noble in the United States, though likely with a different timeline than the Toys R Us packs in other parts of the world.
Update 2: LEGO has amended their statement on Twitter, clarifying that only the Harry Potter set will be available via Barns & Noble, with no word yet on availability for the others.
Click to see the all four of the minifigure packs