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.

TT Games is looking for another Model Designer!

Traveler’s Tales Games just contacted us regarding new job openings in their LEGO department. They specifically thought of our readers in regards to the Junior LEGO Model Artist position. As many of you know, TT Games is the powerhouse behind the line of highly successful LEGO video games, including the various Star Wars, Batman, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones games, just to name a few. Whoever ultimately lands the job will have the opportunity to work on upcoming titles. It seems like quite the opportunity for the right person. Below is the information relating to the Model Artist position. Check out this link for details on all the LEGO-related positions, as well as the other job openings currently available. They have hired other Adult Fans of LEGO in past, namely Carl Greatrix and the Arvo brothers…you could be next!

Junior LEGO Model Artist

We are looking for a Model Artist to join our highly skilled and motivated team. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work on the ever expanding range of acclaimed LEGO titles across all major development platforms. The role available is based at our Knutsford development studio.

Main Responsibilities:

– The design and modeling of LEGO models and vehicles
– The design and creation of 2D texture decals
– Optimization of assets to support each game platform

Skills & Qualifications:

– Good knowledge of LEGO elements, connections and advanced building techniques
– Excellent communication and organization skills
– 3D modeling experience in Autodesk Maya & Photoshop an advantage, however training can be made available
– Practical and methodical approach to both technical and creative problem-solving
– Demonstrates dependability and commitment to projects / tasks
– Flexible approach with the ability to adapt with change
– Ability to work under pressure and to strict deadlines

In return we offer a competitive salary with paid overtime and bonus scheme.
If you’re interested in this role, please contact jobs(AT)t-tales.com using LEGO Model Artist as the Email subject.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Donations to Creations for Charity 2013 starts today!

The fifth annual Creations for Charity is now accepting donations of Lego creations from anyone wanting to help raise money to buy Lego for underprivileged children. From now until November 15th, anyone can donate a Lego creation for sale in the fundraiser. All you have to do is fill out a form and be prepared to ship the creation directly to the buyer. For the budget builders, you can still choose to be reimbursed for the cost of making your creation, and as usual there are unique gifts to reward your help. It is always my pleasure to invite you to participate in the Lego community’s tradition of giving back!

Here are last year’s donations to four cities in the US and in Chile and Croatia. To learn more about Creations for Charity, watch the promo video or visit creationsforhcharity.org.

BrisBricks 2013 Convention

For those of you in Brisbane, next weekend (Oct 5th-7th) will see the BrisBricks LEGO Convention out at Chandler. Details below.

OPENING TIMES:
Saturday 5th October 2013 – 9:00am-5:00pm
Sunday 6th October 2013 – 10:30am-5:00pm
Monday 7th October 2013 – 9:00am-4:00pm

Autism Community Session:
Sunday 6th October 2013 – 9:00am-10:30am

TICKET PRICES:
Adult: $10.00
Child (3-15yrs): $5.00
Under 3yrs FREE

Book tickets online:
To book tickets click here http://www.trybooking.com/DDJR

Tickets sold at door:
Limited tickets will be available at the door. (cash only)
Book online to avoid disappointment as sessions often reach capacity
Pre-paid tickets will take priority entry

LEGO Announces 10241 Maersk Line Triple-E [News]

Today at the Skærbæk LEGO convention in Denmark, LEGO unveiled a new addition to the Maersk line, which be available starting in January 2014. Worth noting is the fact that this ship is not LEGO’s special “Maersk blue” as all the previous sets in the Maersk line have been since the 1970’s, but instead is the new medium azure. Presumably this means that Maersk blue has been permanently phased out.

Here is the official press release:

10241 Maersk Line Triple-E
Ages 12+. 1,518 pieces.
Build the Maersk ‘Triple-E’ container vessel – a true giant of the seas!

US $149.99 – CA $179.99 – DE 129.99 € – UK 109.99 £ – DK 1199.00 DKK
Presenting the largest ship in the world – the record-breaking Maersk ‘Triple-E.’ Built from over 1,500 bricks, the model recreates the real vessel in amazing detail. Our LEGO® designers have included rare colors such as medium azur, dark red, sand blue and sand green. There are rotating gold-colored screw blades leading to the brick-built twin propeller engines, which you can view through the window built into the port side of the ship. You can even customize it by adding or removing the containers. This authentic set includes a display stand and fact plaque with detailed information about the ship and, as a finishing touch, there’s the gold coin that is added under the mast of all Maersk Line ships for good luck on their voyages. This model is perfect for LEGO fans!

• Features include rotating gold-colored propeller blades, brick-built twin 8-cylinder engines, viewing window into the engine compartment, adjustable rudders, detachable lifeboats, removable containers, rotating crane arms and a special ‘good luck’ coin
• Includes rare medium azur, dark red, sand blue and sand green colored elements
• Play with the model on carpeted surfaces or mount the model on the display stand
• Building instructions also include interesting facts about the real ship
• Includes 1,518 bricks
• Ship (mounted on stand) measures over 8” (21cm) high, 25” (65cm) long and 3” (9cm) wide

Click the picture above to see all of the images, and watch the designer video below:

Bricklink updates ToS, causes furor [News]

Following the acquisition earlier this year of Bricklink.com by gaming mogul Jung-Ju Kim, Bricklink has begun to make changes to their site in anticipation of a complete site overhaul. One of their first steps has been to roll out a new ToS. Bricklink appears to also be claiming the exclusive rights to the common naming system for LEGO pieces, through threatening legal action to competitors. This is intended to protect Bricklink’s market dominance from newcomers like Brick Owl. It is natural that Bricklink takes reasonable steps to protect its interests, but they may have stepped too far with this claim. Our friend Tim Johnson over at The New Elementary has an excellent write-up covering the issue.

LEGO Adventure Book 2

If the LEGO Adventure Book was an unofficial sequel to the 80s Ideas Books, the LEGO Adventure Book 2 is an official sequel to an unofficial sequel. Whatever you want to call it, it’s a book filled with great models by many great builders. I won’t write much about the book (aside from pointing out it has almost 40 sets of instructions), but I will leave you with the list of builders who contributed to it: Megan Rothrock (author/editor), Mark Stafford, Are J. Heiseldal, Arjan Oude Kotte, Barney Main, Birgitte Jonsgard, Tommy Williamson, Tyler Clites, Marco den Besten, Yvonne Doyle and Daniel August Krentz.

You can pre-order from Amazon.com right now (and remember, clicking that link helps support TBB).

Lego Curiosity Rover, in Chalk

Apparently, there are some Lego CUUSOO fans in the chalk art world. Check out this amazing rendition of the Curiosity Rover (recently announced to be an upcoming CUUSOO set) on the sidewalk. Thanks to Stephen Pakbaz for the heads up!

Galidor Returns!

Angus MacLane (MacLane) brings us an awesome hardsuit, with a Galidor twist. He’s combined a great model with one of the worst things ever made by Lego. When he hears that Galidor was canceled, he’ll be crying himself to sleep on his colossal pillow.

Lifestyles of the Brick and Famous (narrated by Robin Leach!) brought to you by BrickNerd

Today’s clearly a video-heavy day. Great way to break up the day. Who can say no to Iain‘s bricks of character coming to life? When it comes to characters, though, Tommy Williamson (GeekyTom) is certainly holding his own. He keeps making BrickNerd better and better every time.

This time, though, is very special.

On this episode, we take a look into the the Lifestyles of the Brick and Famous.

While you’re at it, check out Tommy’s contest (now through 9/30!) to Pimp your Nerdly. Instructions are available on his site!

LEGO Gollum reminds us that there are only a few more days to register for BrickCon 2013!

BrickCon 2013 is less than a month away and registration will be closing in two weeks! If you are planning on attending the longest-running LEGO fan convention in North America, you had better get registered. There will be prizes, games, seminars, round-table talks, food, new friends and, of course, tons and tons of cool LEGO creations to drool over. This will be my eighth BrickCon and every one has been fun and unique. You definitely don’t want to miss the party! Iain Heath posted this video gem to remind all of us how precious registration really is…

If you plan to attend the whole convention, register through the BrickCon Builder’s site.

If you plan to only view the displays during the public hours, buy tickets in advance at the Public BrickCon sit.

Welcome to the brand new Brothers-Brick.com!

Those of you visiting The Brothers Brick today will notice some big changes to the site. We’ve just rolled out a brand new design that we hope you’ll like a lot.

Brothers-Brick.com 3.0

Key changes:

Optimized for whatever screen size you prefer — desktop browsers, tablets, and mobile devices.
Wider post area to highlight bigger photos and videos (with dynamic resizing for smaller screens).
Simpler navigation across the top of the page.

Everything you love about TBB is of course all still here, but now the site should load faster and work better no matter how you choose to access it. And it’s just a whole lot prettier.

Huge thanks to Alyse (half of the dynamic Bolt of Blue duo) for the new design!

Love it, hate it, bug reports — let us know what you think in the comments!

MiniMi – A new LEGO minifig app

I was invited to try out the new minifig app, MiniMi, while it was still in beta. It is a fun, novelty app and I actually spent quite a bit of time trying different comibinations of figures, making myself, my family members and what-not. My kids absolutely loved it. Overall, it is well made and pretty intuitive to use. It’s an entertaining app, in and of itself. Also it is free to download, which is nice. There are also expansion packs, such as Space and Castle (yay!), which cost 99 cents each.

However, I think this app has the potential to really shine as a customizing tool. How so? Because it has the only minifig face generator of which I am aware (feel free to correct me in the comments if I am wrong). Switching hair, hats, torsos and colors in the app is pretty straightforward but the face generator is something unique. You can choose from a selection of eyes, eyebrows, mouths, facial hair, glasses and so forth to create unique faces that don’t actually exist on official minifigs. Because the app has built in share functions, you can export your fig image…isolate the face…resize and print it on decal or sticker paper.

Currently the number of elements in the app is limited but the expansion “packs” remedy this somewhat and the team is planning more. If they expand the library of facial elements, I think this app could be something really special. I would also like to see a feature added to where the user could resize and/or change the colors of the various facial features but this may come with time.

Download it here.

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!

Like this article? Tell all your friends!