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.

Incredible Great Ball Contraption accelerates tiny LEGO balls at 1000 rpm [Video]

If you’ve never heard of a Great Ball Contraption (or GBC for short), you’ve probably never been to a LEGO convention. The term describes a popular theme of complicated LEGO machines built by fans, which can interconnect to continually pass LEGO soccer balls and basketballs around in a mesmerizing fashion, and they’re a mainstay of LEGO fan conventions. This particular GBC is built by Berthil van Beek, who was inspired after seeing another fan’s marble run. Berthil’s machine shoots the tiny balls up to the top of the run, where they hurtle down and are recycled.

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Macross — A tale of war in space, love triangles and the power of music

There was a time in the 80s when the tale of huge transformable jet-mechas, intertwined with love stories which transcended galaxies, was almost real to some of us. Robotech (for those of us in the western part of the world) or Macross (in its original incarnation from Japan) is a series of science fiction mecha anime that’s rated highly enough to still be in many lists of the top 50 anime series of all time.

As a fan of the series, builder Stick Kim takes us back in time by capturing a particular scene where our hero saves the girl while piloting his mech. This fantastic miniature LEGO version of the VF-1S Valkyrie is piloted by Hikaru Ichijyo (Rick Hunter) and cradled in his palms is Lynn MinMay — a beauty who sings, and is his love interest and a key character throughout the series.

It’s hard work but some droid has to do it

Nobody likes to do chores, but even a starship needs to be swept and dusted to ensure those grey space corridors are dust free for photoshoots. This fun little scene by TBB contributor Jen Spencer shows some Brooma and Waita droids helping out with the chores, albeit with a general lack of enthusiasm for their task. Jen’s little droids are adorable, with their cute pot bellies and Kardishan-esque booties.

The part used for their ‘assets’ is the dark orange 2×2 curved top brick, which is also the seed part in the ongoing ABS Challenge contest. And did you spot the ingeniously subtle use of the huge Airplane wing parts forming the walls and doorway?

The comical posing of the droids really makes this little scene for me; the Waita droid at the end seems to be struggling with his heavy plate of fruit. The poor Brooma droid on the lower floor is having to deal with a messy Cola spillage. I hope he has called for some back-up, ideally droids bearing mops and buckets!

Annoy family and friends with your own LEGO Nerf blaster [Instructions]

Following up their firing LEGO Nerf gun, YouTuber AstonishingStudios shows how to construct another working Nerf blaster. Using pieces in your own LEGO collection and an additional spring, scissors, and Nerf darts (and tape and logo decals if you’d like), you can follow along his clear instructional video to build your own Nerf pistol.

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.

Martin Redfern tells us how Wacky Races and LEGO collided [Interview]

British builder Martin Redfern (redfern1950s on Flickr) recently caught our attention with his recreation of one of the cars from the old cartoon Wacky Races. Once we saw he was creating more cars from the show, we got in touch and interviewed him in preparation for the inevitable completion of the starting grid. With all 11 cars and all their drivers completed, learn how they were made and why Martin made them.

Get up close and personal with the builder and his creations

An evil ringmaster with a unique method of construction

At first glance, this facial sculpture triggers conflicting emotions, from one of beauty in the build, to a striking hint of fear. Builder timofey_tkachev has quite the knack of looking at the world through a very different set of eyes. I could almost see these driipping LEGO hands, also built by Timofey, belonging to what I shall dub as “The Evil Ringmaster”.

Take an extra moment to appreciate the subtle skill behind this creation. What is so unique about this build, if you have yet to notice, is that it contains not a single brick or plate – parts that are commonly used in almost any build. It’s all put together with other odd bits and pieces, and yet, this masterpiece emerges.

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.

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Gong Xi Fa Cai! (恭喜发财!) – Wishing you a prosperous Lunar New Year

The Brothers Brick would like to wish “Gong Xi Fa Cai!” to all our readers celebrating the Chinese New Year on Saturday. That’s the greeting you should wish upon everyone you meet during the festivities. It translates into wishing one a very prosperous Lunar New Year. 2017 is the Year of the Rooster in the 12-year Chinese Zodiac cycle. It is said those that are born this year have a sense of trustworthiness, with a strong attribute of timekeeping and responsibility at work. Builder DOGOD Brick Design perfectly captures the symbol of this animal, from it’s fleshy carnucle to the red combs on its head, giving the rooster a standoff-ish and proud look to usher in the new year!

Let it LEGO, let it LEGO, can’t hold it back anymore

Princesses Elsa and Anna from the 2013 animated movie Frozen have now been immortalised in LEGO by YOS Lego, with a host of ingenious parts used in bringing them to life. The builder has managed to capture those impossibly perfect hourglass figures in their flowing dresses and narrow-waisted bodices using a combination of slopes, wedges and (of course) curves. The red-headed Anna figure is fitted out in a beautifully detailed green dress, an amazing likeness to the animated Anna’s green coronation dress.

Elsa’s signature windswept, voluminous yellow hair is very cleverly made with bananas and Hero factory masks. The cheeky little bit of leg showing at the bottom of Elsa’s dress, and the more innocent posing of her younger sister, are very fitting. The characters are fantastic, but my only slight concern is that these two princess have either been drinking too much stimulant energy drinks or perhaps Olaf has given them a fright …those eyes are certainly wide and piercing!

The capital of the Woodland Realm

It has been a while since the last part of the Hobbit film trilogy hit the cinemas, so the trend of LEGO Hobbit and Lord of the Rings creations is slowly declining. But that does not mean we do not get amazing builds like this one every now and again. This diorama of Halls of Thranduil by German builder Jonas Kramm was made for the 2016 Comic Con in Stuttgart in June. and I really envy everyone who had the privilege to see it in person. On the pictures, it seems like a digital render at first, and even a close look at the main picture did not really convince me. I had to look at some detail shots to be sure this was real.

The details are superb and Jonas has really captured the balance and combination of natural landscaping and Elven architecture perfectly. A carefully set amount of clean surfaces contrasting rough terrain makes for a very interesting build to explore. The use of bars and tubing for architectural detail is inspiring. And while the foresty exterior with simple yet effective large trees is a stand-out build in its own right, it pales in comparison with the complex architecture of the cavern and the giant root path and throne. The cave floor is also nice to look at with the clear streams, nice subtle colours and a natural subtle slope.

Autobots, transform and roll out!

As a fan of the Transformers: Generation 1, these Chibi versions of Grimlock, Optimus Prime and Jazz stand out for not only their detail, but for their ability actually transform into their alternate forms. It took builder Sam Cheng about a week each to construct each one of these amazing builds.

Being on the LEGO scene for only 3 years, Sam visualises each creation in his head and tests it out with various forms and shapes, continuously adapting. Using Technic and Mixel joints gives him a lot of flexibility, as he finds them small enough to hide within the builds.

He admits the hardest part of his builds is actually the transformation feature. For instance, Grimlock’s head is pretty heavy so Sam had to compensate by redesigning the legs (which eventually transform into the tailpiece) to provide support in robot mode. It’s a blend of getting the right looks and engineering.

My favourite parts are the golden rings and silver ingots used as finishing touches to the torso and cheeks respectively – the shiny bits give it that extra feel of being a mechanical robot. Hop over to his Grimlock album on Flickr, you will not be disappointed.