Coffee giant Starbucks announced this week that it is adding Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, executive chairman of the LEGO Brand Group, to its board of directors. Knudstorp is generally credited with turning around LEGO during a difficult time for the global company over a decade ago.
Category Archives: News
TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for January 28, 2017 [News]
The Brothers Brick publishes so many stories that we’re giving you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our Weekly Brick Report for the last week of January 2017.
TBB NEWS: New LEGO! Fake LEGO! Cheap LEGO! What a week to be alive.
- Brick Headz new LEGO line revealed! – Check out the first official images of LEGO’s new Marvel & DC Superheroes Brick Headz. People might think they are too square, but we think they are right on every angle.
- First look at the new LEGO Architecture Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum – Here’s your first look at Manhattan’s striking Guggenheim art museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
- Can you tell which LEGO minifig is real and which is fake? – In BBC interview, a LEGO manager in Asia has a hard time telling the difference. What do you think of fake LEGO?
- Amazon has some great LEGO sales going on, including Star Wars – TBB always has your back when finding LEGO sales, and this week Amazon had a few worth mentioning.
TBB INSTRUCTIONS & INTERVIWS: We have some cool things to build and techniques to learn from two incredible builders.
- How to build Peppermint Butler from Adventure Time – TBB’s own Iain Heath shows off his character design to go with the new LEGO Ideas Adventure Time set.
- Build your own working LEGO Nerf gun – Following up on their previous LEGO Nerf gun, YouTuber AstonishingStudios shows how to construct a simple working LEGO Nerf blaster.
- Martin Redfern tells us how Wacky Races and LEGO collided – Read our interview with British builder Martin Redfern about his Wacky Races creations.
- The Retro-future is bright: a chat with French builder Vincent Gachod – We pick the brains of this father of two and master of the brick.
OTHER NEWS: There was a massive amount of LEGO news from other places around the web this week. Here are a few items we noticed and thought you might enjoy.
Amazon sale on select Star Wars LEGO sets [News]
We already brought you some great Amazon LEGO deals this week from a variety of themes, but who doesn’t love a good deal on Star Wars? Amazon has discounted the following Star Wars LEGO sets:
Star Wars Resistance X-Wing Fighter is 22% off, on sale for $62.99.
Can you tell which LEGO minifig is real and which is fake? [News]
Can you tell which LEGO minifigure is real and which is counterfeit? Because even some LEGO employees can’t. In a video interview with the BBC, LEGO’s General Manager of Manufacturing in Asia Richard Wong is asked to identify which of two minifigures is fake, but has some difficulty after a quick look.
The interview serves as a microcosm of a larger issue: copycat, imitation and counterfeit LEGO. While competition from legitimate companies like Mega Bloks is entirely legal and healthy, knock-off brands in Asia are copying entire sets, artwork, intellectual property, and logos directly from LEGO.
Counterfeit version of LEGO’s
Ghostbusters Firehouse Headquarters
In order to curb some of the rampant counterfeiting (among other reasons), LEGO recently opened a manufacturing facility in Jiaxing, China and is suing knock-off brand LEPIN in Chinese court. LEGO commented about the lawsuit in a statement: “We are committed to do whatever necessary to protect the LEGO brand and products against undue exploitation, and to minimize the risk of consumers being misled via improper use of LEGO Group intellectual property assets.”
It is true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it remains to be seen if any of LEGO’s actions help prevent what essentially boils down to theft.
What are your opinions about counterfeit LEGO from China? Leave a comment below.
First look at the new LEGO Architecture set, 21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum [News]
The first wave of 2017 Architecture sets hit stores late last month with lovely new famous skylines from Sydney, Chicago, and London (which we reviewed). But here’s your first look at one of the new standalone structures joining the Architecture theme this year, 21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Manhattan’s striking art museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The set contains 744 pieces.
First official images of LEGO’s new Marvel & DC Superheroes BrickHeadz [News]
LEGO first unveiled the BrickHeadz theme of blocky, cute brick-built figures at San Diego ComicCon in 2016, but the 8 figures revealed then were a limited release only for that convention. Now we’re getting our first look at the sets that will be widely available, and the first wave includes 8 figures sold individually, split between DC characters from next month’s The LEGO Batman Movie and classic Marvel characters. Each figure will retail for $9.99, available Feb. 15 to LEGO VIP members, and March 1 to everyone else.
41590 Iron Man, 96 pieces
41585 Batman, 91 pieces
The Retro-future is bright: a chat with French builder extraordinaire, Vincent Gachod [Interview]
This week we were able to sit down with Vincent Gachod from Toulouse, in the south of France. While balancing his job as the head of video production at a french university and raising two kids, he finds time to create some incredible LEGO builds. Let’s pick his brain and see what we can learn from this master of the brick.
TBB: How did you get into the LEGO hobby and what inspires you to build?
Vince: I started with LEGO in the mid 70’s with bricks from my brother’s collection. My first set was the 374 Fire Station of 1978. After my “dark age” in the 90’s, I came back to LEGO with my son and his first sets. I’m inspired by lot of influences (movies, animation, videos games, books, magazines, cars, architecture…) but I’m more inspired by the details : a car’s wheel, a plane’s engine or a vintage vacuum cleaner! I often start a MOC from a single detail like a car’s grille or an exhaust pipe. I spend a long time working on details.
Amazon’s LEGO Sales and Deals for January 2017 [News]
Amazon has some nice sales on LEGO sets this month.
To begin with City Cargo Train is 30% off, currently on sale for $139.99, down from $199.99.
Check out the rest of the deals below.
Congratulations to the winner of TBB’s LEGO Star Wars Death Star giveaway [News]
We’ve just completed the drawing for our giveaway of the LEGO Death Star. Congratulations to reader Bobby in New York! More than 12,000 people entered the contest, so the Force must be very strong indeed with this one.
Since we announced the giveaway a month ago to celebrate 100,000 fans on our Facebook page, TBB’s readership has continued to grow, and we’re now pushing 150,000 already. It’s you our readers who motivate us to bring you the best LEGO creations, news, and reviews from across the web, so look for more giveaways like this in the future as we give back and say thanks.
Congrats again to Bobby!
TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for January 21, 2017 [News]
The Brothers Brick publishes so many stories that we’re giving you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our Weekly Brick Report for the third week of January.
TBB NEWS: From a life-sized Batmobile to a tiny Baby Groot, we have all the news you need to know along with a builder interview and a deep dive into a fascinating new part.
- Life-sized LEGO Batmobile made from over 300,000 bricks – LEGO and Chevrolet teamed up to build a life-sized version of 70905 The Batmobile, and it is exactly as awesomely black (and very dark grey) as the Dark Knight might hope.
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 LEGO sets revealed – Retail giant Amazon has published images of the new LEGO sets for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, so take a look at Baby Groot!
- An interview with Romanian super-builder Vitreolum – We had a deep conversation with Pacurar Andrei, who made our short-list of the year’s best creations.
- New NEXO Knights “Nexogon” part analysis by New Elementary – Enjoy this excellent analysis of a unique new part available now in NEXO Knights sets, which originally appeared on New Elementary.
TBB REVIEWS & INSTRUCTIONS: We reviewed Creator and Ninjago sets, and have some instructions for yet another cute cat. (We might have an addiction here at TBB with brick-built pets…)
- 31065 Park Street Townhouse 3-in-1 – LEGO’s latest set in the Creator theme is the Park Street Townhouse, which is a lovely addition to the mini-modular line.
- Ninjago 70621 The Vermillion Attack – This set is packed with interesting parts and play features, and some of the most detailed armor we’ve ever seen.
- Instructions to build a cute LEGO cat called Jiji – Make your own pet from Kiki’s Delivery Service, the 1989 Japanese animated fantasy by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.
OTHER NEWS: There was a massive amount of LEGO news from other places around the web this week. Here are a few items we noticed and thought you might enjoy.
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Last chance to win the LEGO Death Star from The Brothers Brick
The biggest LEGO Star Wars set currently made is 75159 Death Star, and The Brothers Brick is giving away one copy of this massive 4,016-piece set to celebrate our readers! Today is your last chance to enter to win by clicking this link or the image below, or by clicking the Contests section on our Facebook page. The winner will also receive an awesome TBB logo T-shirt, stickers, and some really sweet A. Lemur buttons. The contest ends tomorrow, Jan. 20, so don’t delay!
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 LEGO sets revealed [News]
Retail giant Amazon has published images of the new LEGO sets for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, which hits theaters May 5. As with previous films in the Marvel cinematic universe, LEGO will release a small wave of sets prior to the film’s opening, and in this case the sets are slated for release April 25. We don’t have word yet on the US prices, but expect them to run just slightly less than the Pound and Euro prices.
76081 The Milano vs. The Abilisk, 460 pieces, £44.99/49.99€
