Category Archives: LEGO

You’d probably expect a lot of the posts on a LEGO website like The Brothers Brick to be about LEGO, and you’d be right. If you’re browsing this page, you might want to consider narrowing what you’re looking for by checking out categories like “Space” and “Castle.” We’re sure there’s something here that’ll fascinate and amaze you.

LEGO Technic 40th Anniversary Car Chassis [Review]

This year, the LEGO Technic theme celebrates a remarkable date — 40 years since the first Technic sets hit the store shelves in 1977. To mark that occasion, LEGO prepared a couple of surprises for the theme’s fans: a commemorative 1×3 white Technic beam with “40 1977-2017” print included in every set released in 2017, plus something truly touching — a remake of the legendary 8860 Car Chassis set from 1980.

After the instruction booklet became available online earlier this week, every LEGO fan can build his or her own modern copy of the iconic set using pieces from three 2017 Technic sets — 42057 Ultralight Helicopter, 42061 Telehandler and 42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure. The total price of these sets is about $120 USD/95€ for which you will get 4 vehicles at once. At the same time, those with a vast collection of Technic pieces will be able to build their own copy of the classic chassis without getting any new sets, although it would be quite a challenge to get all the pieces in correct colors. The chassis consist of 572 pieces, which sets the model right behind the 42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure in this year’s line-up with a price tag of approximately $50 USD/45€.

Read the full review of this unique LEGO Technic set

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.

Official images of LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 17 revealed [News]

We got our first look at the new Series 17 figures at Toy Fair in February, but that was just the box art. Today, we get to see all the new figures displayed individually—well, all but one. LEGO is keeping one figure under close wraps, showing it as just a silhouette.
We’ll be bringing you an early, hands-on review of this series very soon, along with our usual Feel Guide to help you find the figures you want. Let us know in the comments below what character you’re looking forward to most, and if there’s anything special you’d like to see in our review. Click to see the rest of the images

LEGO her Eggo, or she’ll send you to the Upside Down

Fan conventions are a good gauge for which new movies and shows have wormed their way into the public consciousness. And from what I just witnessed at Emerald City Comic Con, the character Eleven from the hit Netflix series Stranger Things seems to represent the current zeitgeist. Eleven cosplayers were everywhere – both male, female, and even feline! A giant version of the Eleven pop vinyl was stationed outside the Funko booth. And Eleven actress Millie Bobby Brown even showed up to snag a copy for herself. Logic therefore dictated that this should be the subject of my latest pop culture LEGO creation:

To give the model a little more authenticity, I created custom stickers to decorate the waffles and Eggo boxes. I am also working on a presentation of the model for BrickCan that mimics the lightly-Photoshopped scene below in which Eleven demonstrates her paranormal control over toastable breakfast products:

Now dust off your calculator watches, BMX bikes and 1st edition Dungeon Master’s guides, because season two of the nostalgia-ramic sci-fi show drops this Halloween!

The (building) force is strong with this one: an interview with Amado Canlas Pinlac [Interview]

Our continuing adventures led us to track down and interrogate Amado Canlas Pinlac (aka AC Pin). Amado was born in Angeles City in the Philippines, and works in the Information Technology field with previous employment with overseas airlines. He has called East Brunswick, New Jersey home for the last fifteen years, where he lives with his wife Marleth and their three sons, Milton, Marlowe and Myreon. Amado credits the support of his wife for being where he is today!

TBB: Can you tell us how you got into LEGO?

AC: First and foremost I’ve been a Star Wars fan/geek way before LEGO introduced the SW line, as I collected the Star Wars action figures, vehicles, and sets. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise for those who’ve known me over the years that I love to build Star Wars dioramas. In fact I’ve done Action Figure dioramas and was affiliated with various SW fan sites which featured them before I even started with LEGO. One of the problems/drawbacks that I’ve had to contend with the Action Figure dioramas was there was very little or none of the re-usability factor. Around that time, when I was growing disinterested with Action Figures, LEGO started producing the first SW sets.

Continue reading →

The weird and wonderful world of Tim Burton

These brilliant LEGO figures by Bryan To stand out from the current crowd of Brickheadz-styled creations. We have famed writer and director Tim Burton, alongside the quirky fairy-tale characters played in his movies by Johnny Depp. From left to right we’ve got Tim Burton himself, Edward Scissorhands, the Mad Hatter, and Sweeny Todd. My favourite build is Edward, with his cute-looking claws and his weird hair-do.

Enter Sandpunk

If “LEGO Sandpunk” wasn’t a thing before, it totally is now thanks to this wonderful desert city scene from sweetsha. Windmills abound amidst the Middle-Eastern architecture, and there’s a nice sense of activity with the bustle of minifigs around market stalls. However, it’s the huge clock that dominates the townscape, creating an eerie collision between mysticism and technology. The whole thing is reminiscent of Stargate, but the transformation of the gate into a clock is a masterstroke, turning this into something all its own.

My only niggle with the model is the relatively plain studs-up base, which might have benefited from some added texture — pebbles, boulders, maybe a couple of plants. However, that’s a minor criticism of an otherwise well-built and interesting diorama. Check out this wider view to get the full effect of this creative build (and don’t miss the smart use of hot-air balloon pieces to create the onion dome on the foreground building on the left).

TBB cover photo: April 2017

We love LEGO’s new Brickheadz and all the ingenuity that fans are putting into creating custom Brickheadz based on their favorite characters. Like this Sailor Moon and friends by ckb ckd, which we’ve chosen as our new TBB cover photo. These adorable sparkly eyes will be staring back at you for the entire month of April! A cuteness overload is almost guaranteed.

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today. Photos that do not meet the submission guidelines will not be considered, and will be removed from the group.

Keep up with the Brothers Brick by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter or Pinterest. And for occasional extra goodies, follow us on Flickr or subscribe to us on YouTube.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for April 2, 2017 [News]

The Brothers Brick gives you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our Weekly Brick Report for the first week of April 2017.

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: This week we have news about two things to look forward to and one thing to get your calculator out for.

First look at the LEGO Ideas Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket coming in June – Here is the first look at the Saturn V LEGO Ideas set in all it’s black and white glory.
The LEGO Movie’s Unikitty is getting her own TV show on Cartoon Network – Will Unikitty get her own TV show on Cartoon Network? Only time will tell.
First set from the new Wonder Woman movie revealed – Generally spoiler free, this set reveals big bad guy Ares and the cool new Wonder Woman minifig.
LEGO is a worse investment than gold – Read our investigative report on the true value of LEGO vs. gold, based on super scientific, really really serious facts and stuff.

TBB INTERVIEWS & INSTRUCTIONS: You can build your own scientist or smash a MOC. It is your choice. Click a story below to choose your own adventure.

Instructions to build LEGO Stephen Hawking – TBB’s own Iain Heath shares how he made the famous Stephen Hawking LEGO model which helped launch him into the stratosphere.
A conversation with Canadian Iron Builder, Tim Schwalfenberg – Could you smash one of your beloved LEGO creations? Because Tim does! Find out why.

OTHER NEWS: There was a good amount of LEGO news from other places around the web this week. Here are a few items we noticed and thought you might enjoy.

A working LEGO Red Keep from Game of Thrones‘ Opening, Gizmodo – Claus-Marc Hahn might be a bigger fan the opening credits to Game of Thrones than the show itself!
Flybrix Review: This LEGO drone makes failure fantastically fun, Popular Mechanics – How long can your LEGO drone maintain flight? Popular Mechanics runs the tests.
Sports anchor gets creative and uses Lego bricks to show NCAA highlights, USA Today – What do you do when your news station doesn’t have rights to air March Madness highlights? Recreate them in LEGO, of course!

At home in the realm of the Shrooms

Putting Duplo foliage pieces to good use, jsnyder002 brings us a tranquil little fantasy scene with a pair of mushroom houses in a lush landscape. The mushrooms themselves include some great details, from the white spots on their red roofs to the little doorknobs on one of the houses built by inverting jumper plates. The large Duplo bushes give the scene a bit of a cartoon feel, as do the curly sprigs on the left.

LEGO reveals 76075 Wonder Woman Warrior Battle [News]

LEGO has revealed the first set for the upcoming Wonder Woman film (in theaters June 2): 76075 Wonder Woman Warrior Battle. The set gives us the first glimpse of Ares, one of Wonder Woman’s antagonists. This set will have 286 pieces, and will be available May 1. The price has not yet been confirmed.

Mid-scale LEGO U-wing & Blue Squadron X-wing from Rogue One

The UT-60D U-wing gunship revealed in Rogue One (out digitally today and on disc next Tuesday) has inspired numerous LEGO models, from the official 75155 U-wing Fighter set to fan-made creations like the UCS U-wing by Mirko Soppelsa. Adding to his fleet of smaller-scale LEGO Star Wars vehicles, Tim Goddard has built a fantastically detailed U-wing, accompanied by a pair of updated X-wings representing Blue Squadron and Red Squadron.

Like the short-lived 7778 Midi-Scale Millennium Falcon, this scale gives Tim enough pieces to achieve lots of interesting detail (I love the gray section and those blue stripes on the sides of the U-wing) without a huge investment in parts. Naturally, Tim has built fully functional swing-wings for his U-wing.

Light up your desk with LEGO

Finding the right desk lamp can be tricky, but fans of LEGO will love this desk lamp created by Victor. At first look, this may appear to be a functional desk lamp, but actually it’s a cleverly designed lamp made from LEGO bricks. The lampshade is made with the shoulder armour from the Baze Malbus constraction figure, and was actually Victor’s starting point when building the lamp. Details like the little on/off button on the base and the 3mm rigid hose posing as an electrical power cable mean that this lamp is appears to be real.