Today LEGO is announcing that the iconic 10189 Taj Mahal will be re-released as Creator Expert 10256 Taj Mahal. Formerly the long-time record holder for Largest LEGO Set until being dethroned a few months ago by the new UCS Millennium Falcon, this set is still the second-largest LEGO set of all time with 5,923 pieces and will be available on November 27 (aka Cyber Monday) in LEGO stores and from the LEGO Shop Online for $369.99 USD.
Category Archives: News
TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for October 29, 2017 [News]
In addition to the best LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick also brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the last week of October 2017.
TBB NEWS: This is a week of winners and losers. On the winning side, some amazing Millennium Falcon builds, NASA and New York. In the losing corner? Lego Dimensions.
- Announcing winners of The Brothers Brick’s Millennium Falcon LEGO building contest — TBB’s building contest ended with more than 160 entries showing off the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy. Who walked away with the top prize, a UCS Millennium Falcon?
- Review of LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of NASA — The set includes four minifigures depicting women astronauts, scientists, and engineers from the US space program’s history.
- 2018 LEGO sets for DC Comics Super Heroes, Creator, City and Technic revealed — There are a couple of interesting sets in particular with 31081 Modular Skate House within the Creator theme and 42074 Racing Yacht from the Technic line-up.
- LEGO Dimensions is officially dead — LEGO Dimensions has officially been cancelled by LEGO and Warner Brothers, per the game’s official Twitter feed.
- LEGOLAND New York to open in 2020 — Merlin Entertainment will build a third LEGOLAND park in the United States, located in Goshen, New York.
- Instructions to build a waste container transporter — This garbage transporter will happily pick up any used and discarded LEGO bricks for disposal.
OTHER LEGO NEWS: Video reigned supreme this week in other LEGO news. Enjoy these clips!
- LEGO Mini Chocolate Machine, YouTube — This year for Halloween, JK Brickworks decided to build a Mindstorms chocolate dispenser to surprise trick-or-treaters.
- Fan-Made LEGO RICK AND MORTY Short Makes Us Want More, Nerdist — This video was a collaboration by two Redditors who combined their talents to bring the world of Rick and Morty to the world of LEGO style animation.
- Unikitty’s Halloween Sneak Peek premieres on Cartoon Network, YouTube — Unikitty is getting her very own TV show and this is the first preview, sans studs.
LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of Nasa [Review]
LEGO recently unveiled its latest LEGO Ideas set, 21312 Women of Nasa. The set includes four minifigures depicting women astronauts, scientists, and engineers from throughout the US space program’s history. LEGO sent The Brothers Brick an early review copy of the set, which is due out on November 1st.
While the minifigures are certainly the heroes of the set, the set also includes three mini-builds, with 231 pieces. When released, the set will retail for $24.99. Given the science-oriented, minifig-centric nature of both LEGO Ideas sets, comparisons to 21110 Research Institute will be inevitable among LEGO fans, and we’ll do our best to compare and contrast them along the way.
Click through to read our full review of LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of Nasa
2018 LEGO set images for LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes, Creator, City and Technic revealed [News]
Official images of a selection of early 2018 LEGO sets have been released, including LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes, Creator, City and Technic sets due for release. The details include the set number and part count or pricing in some cases, but not all the information has been released as yet. There are a couple of interesting sets in particular with 31081 Modular Skate House within the Creator theme, and 42074 Racing Yacht from the Technic line-up.
Images for three sets from LEGO DC Comics Superheroes have been released.
76097 Lex Luthor Mech Takedown, $39.99
76098 Speed Force Freeze Pursuit, $29.99
76096 Superman & Krypto Team-Up, $19.99
The LEGO Creator Line up includes a fun looking mini-modular build 31081 Modular Skate House and a selection of vehicles including a stunt plane, racing car and a 4×4 outback explorer jeep-like vehicle.
31081 Modular Skate House, 422 pcs
See more of the first wave of 2018 LEGO sets
Announcing winners of The Brothers Brick’s Millennium Falcon LEGO building contest [News]
The Brothers Brick’s LEGO Millennium Falcon building contest ran throughout the month of September, with more than 160 entries large and small. When we announced our contest, we had no idea that LEGO would be running a Falcon contest of their own, with the new 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon as their grand prize. However, LEGO kindly leveled the playing field between the two contests, and the First Place winner of TBB’s contest will also be receiving a UCS Falcon, courtesy our friends in Billund. Each of the four winners will also be receiving the super-rare “Escape the Space Slug” set.
In First Place, taking home the UCS Falcon, Josh Fowler built a large-scale Millennium Falcon interior that depicts the creatures from the Dejarik “holochess” game that Chewie played with Threepio, but with the game’s creatures playing with minifigs instead. All of the judges agreed that the creative inversion of roles, large scale, and excellent recreation of both the Falcon’s interior and the creatures themselves deserved our grand prize.
We asked contestants to submit only one photo as their entry, but do be sure to peruse Josh’s photostream on Flickr for more close-up shots, like this one showing off the hilarious results of the game in progress.
In Second Place, winning the current 75105 Millennium Falcon set from The Force Awakens (plus a space slug), city son used LEGO bricks to create what is essentially an Impressionist painting of the Millennium Falcon. We can only think of a handful of LEGO creations that use this technique to good effect, and this is certainly the best — we just can’t imagine transporting it to a show!
Click through to see the runner-up winners and honorable mentions
LEGOLAND New York to open in 2020 [News]
Merlin Entertainment announced plans today to build a third LEGOLAND park in the United States, located in Goshen, New York. The park will be the ninth LEGOLAND theme park in the world and will only be open seasonally from April 1 to November 1 when it opens for business in 2020.
The park, located an hour and a half’s drive north of New York City, will be situated in the small town of Goshen near the US Military Academy at West Point and is expected to attract between 1.5-2.5 million tourists a year. The facility will also include a themed hotel and aquarium.
LEGO Dimensions is officially dead [News]
LEGO Dimensions has officially been cancelled by LEGO and Warner Brothers, per the game’s official Twitter feed:
Although the writing seemed to be on the wall, we have resisted posting unconfirmed rumors of the game’s demise over the past few months. But today, after two years of content, a parade of characters, and new lines intellectual property for LEGO to play with, Dimensions is officially confirmed to be ending. Wave 9 of expansion packs released last month will be the final packs.
TBB will publish a piece looking at the impact, benefit, and demise of LEGO Dimensions soon, but until then, let’s all raise a glass to the minifigures that could have been but never will. RIP LEGO Dimensions. May we continue to enjoy playing you now that 100% completion is possible as the end is in sight.
TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for October 22, 2017 [News]
In addition to the best LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick also brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the fourth week of October 2017.
TBB NEWS: It has been a slow news week, but we still got launched into space and have a few days left to get double VIP points at the LEGO Shop online.
- LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of NASA unveiled — The newest LEGO Ideas set is here and it is out of this world! 21312 Women of NASA has four minifigures, three mini-builds, a total of 231 pieces, and will be available November for $24.99.
- Creations for Charity 2017 sale starts now — The annual Creations for Charity sale has just started, and from now until the end of November you can buy a custom Lego creation to raise money to provide Lego sets for underprivileged children.
- Double VIP points continues for North America — The LEGO Shop online continues to offer Double VIP Points in North America through Oct. 25, with the exclusive “LEGO Iconic VIP Set” free with $125 in purchases.
OTHER LEGO NEWS: This week only had a few other interesting LEGO-related news articles. Here are the best of the rest.
- Mantis Hacks’ latest make is a giant 3D printed LEGO Forklift, 3Ders — Matt Denton, a Youtuber known for 3D printing huge LEGO sets, has wowed us once again with his latest project: a giant 3D printed forklift.
- The sad, slow death of LEGO Dimensions, EuroGamer — Toys-to-life franchise LEGO Dimensions is likely drawing to a close a year earlier than originally planned.
- Police raid toy store over a Lego Ninja costume, USA Today — Police raided a LEGO store in Vienna after receiving a complaint that a Ninja character was violating a ban on wearing face coverings, leading to an argument about whether costumes are included in the ban.
LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of NASA unveiled [News]
Back in February, we shared the news that LEGO Ideas chose Maia Weinstock’s Women of NASA project as one of their newest additions to the LEGO family. Today, LEGO is unveiling 21312 Women of NASA, available November 1. The primarily minifigure set has 231 pieces, and will retail for $24.99 USD.
The model, similar to LEGO Ideas 21110 Research Institute, includes four minifigures based on real-life NASA pioneers: astronomer and educator Nancy Grace Roman; computer scientist and entrepreneur Margaret Hamilton; astronaut, physicist, and entrepreneur Sally Ride; and astronaut, physician, and engineer Mae Jemison.
21312 Women of NASA also includes three mini-builds illustrating three areas of science including programming software for the space program, a model of the Hubble Space Telescope and a mini Space Shuttle Challenger with three removable rocket stages
More photos and info about 21312 Women of NASA after the jump
Creations for Charity 2017 sale starts now [News]
The annual Creations for Charity sale has just started, and from now until the end of November you can buy a custom Lego creation to raise money to provide Lego sets for underprivileged children. Visit creationsforcharity.org to learn more about the organization and find out how you can donate a creation.
Take a look at some of the items for sale this year and keep in mind that new creations will be added regularly until the end of the fundraiser on November 30th.
TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for October 15, 2017 [News]
In addition to the best LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick also brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the third week of October 2017.
TBB NEWS: This is your last chance to win a UCS Millennium Falcon and to get double VIP points at the LEGO Shop online! Hurry!
- Last day to enter the TBB LEGO Millennium Falcon Contest — You have until midnight PT tonight to post your custom LEGO creations featuring the Millennium Falcon for a chance to win the most epic prize pack in history
- Review of Chris McVeigh’s My First Computer DOS Edition — Chris McVeigh’s builds are always designed with detail and care, and this computer did not disappoint.
- Instruction to build your own TIE Fighter — Thanks to instructions provided by Inthert, you can build his LEGO version of this iconic starfighter and take on the nearest X-wing.
- Double VIP points + a cart load of freebies from the LEGO Shop — The LEGO Shop online started its latest Double VIP Points event this week, with a slew of other freebies.
OTHER LEGO NEWS: This week had quite a few other interesting LEGO-related news articles. Here are the best of the rest.
- Become a LEGO person with this DIY cardboard costume, CNET — Feeling ambitious this Halloween? Go for brick with this LEGO minifig costume how-to video.
- LEGO vs Architecture: BBC film explains how it’s all connected, Arch Daily, — Lego – The Building Blocks of Architecture, explores the history of LEGO and its relationship to architecture, from its origins with carpenter Ole Kirk Kristiansen to modernist ideals.
- LEGO model of Florence cathedral to be made, The Florentine — 20,000 LEGO bricks will be used to make the a large-scale model of the Florence Cathedral and the Baptistery.
- This guy built a giant Leica camera out of LEGO, PetaPixel — Danish designer Milan Madge recently built himself a gigantic Leica III rangefinder camera out of LEGO blocks.
Double VIP points + a cart load of freebies from the LEGO Shop [News]
The LEGO Shop online started its latest Double VIP Points event earlier today, with a number of other promos running alongside. In addition to 2x VIP points, which works out to approximately 10% off the current purchase usable toward a future purchase, LEGO is giving away a number of gifts with purchase. The main promo set is 40178, which includes a brick-built LEGO VIP card and a vignette-style section of a LEGO Store.
You can also get a free Paleolithic pair of people (the Collectible Minifigure cave man and cave woman in a special cave box), free Lloyd minifig from The LEGO Ninjago Movie (with any purchase over $50), and a free LEGO Friends Tic-Tac-Toe set (with the purchase of any Friends purchase of $20 or more).