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.

TBB cover photo: February 2017

This month’s cover photo is this Star Trek inspired bridge scene by Guy Smiley. It’s a miniature symphony in it’s use of lighting, color, texturing, fine details and blank space. The sole figure on his raised plinth, back to us, gazing outward, really conveys a sense of the loneliness of command in the loneliness of space.

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Orange is the happiest color

No kidding! Just look at this drone’s face! Except for M9 Orangehead 5 Drone by Marco Marozzi has no “face” to express its emotions — it was created be fast, smart and efficient, and not to entertain you! But trust us, this drone is very happy to be of use.

Speaking seriously, there is so much remarkable about this drone. Orange panels and slopes go extremely well with a moderate amount of black and light gray greebling. I wish the upper part of its body and hands were black as well, but clearly not all the pieces are available in black at the moment. And I’m particularly impressed by plain yet so suitable custom stickers with number 5 on the drone’s head; a small touch that looks so great!

Who done it?

Even non-LEGO fans recognize the simple LEGO smiley face. Unfortunately, in a hypothetical world full of thousands of identical smiling minifigs (now where have we seen that before?), being instantly recognizable can lead to problems. Illustrating one of the potential hijinks of such a world, Paddy Bricksplitter built an Identity parade (or as we call them here in the United States, a police lineup).

After a crime, police officers will place their main suspect in a lineup along with several “foils” who have a similar weight, height, build, and coloring as the suspect. Then, the police officers will bring in an eyewitness (in this case, a severely injured minifig and presumably, the victim of the crime) to view the lineup through a one-way mirror and “pick out” the criminal. But when everyone looks identical, how can you possibly identify the right person? And who would ever volunteer to stand in as a “foil”?

LEGO Life social network aims to be a safe space for kids to share their creations [News]

Today, LEGO launched a new social network app for kids called LEGO Life. The purpose of the network is to provide a safe environment for children to share their creations and meet other builders their age without potentially being exposed to the content and discussions oriented for adults that is typical on sites like Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, or Flickr.

The app is essentially the digital embodiment of the LEGO Club Magazine’s “Cool Creations” section merged with LEGO’s now-shut-down community message boards. (Interestingly, the company is launching a separate LEGO Life Magazine as well.) On the app, kids can create their own representative minifigure, post photos, complete building challenges, and comment on other kids’ creations. Continue reading →

First look at the new 2017 LEGO sets from Nuremberg Toy Fair [News]

Germany’s Nuremberg Toy Fair is the largest Toy Fair in the world, and where toy manufacturers go to show off their new products to potential buyers. As in previous years, LEGO has a large presence with a lot of new sets. Thanks to our friends at Promobricks, we’re able to bring you the first look at some of what LEGO has planned for the rest of the year, including Architecture, Creator, Technic, City and more. In a few weeks we’ll be covering the New York Toy Fair and bringing you close-up, hands-on coverage of these new sets and more.

LEGO Architecture 2017

Don’t miss other upcoming LEGO sets we’ve announced, including:
Summer wave of The LEGO Batman Movie sets
21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Marvel & DC Superheroes LEGO Brick Headz
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 LEGO sets

Click to see the rest of the new sets

Vignettes from How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother, for those of you who don’t know, is a romantic comedy about 6 friends and their everyday stories told from Ted’s viewpoint. The entire premise (surprise!) is Ted telling his kids the story of how he met their mother. It took him 9 seasons finish telling that story! It kept viewers guessing who was Ted’s wife all along. Builder Sascha is clearly a huge fan, and he’s built a series of vignettes from a few key scenes that fans should love and remember.

That famous yellow umbrella in the final episode

Continue reading →

2017 Speeder Bike Racing League Contest sponsored by The Brothers Brick [News]

The LEGO Speeder Bike Group is hosting their annual Racing League Contest. Any minifig-scale speeder bikes are welcome to enter. Check out the group’s photo pool for examples, if you aren’t familiar with the genre.

There are three Grand Prize sets up for grabs, as well as individual category prize sets, donated by The Brothers Brick!

Click here to read all about the prizes!

Architect of style

This architectural gem by o0ger depicts a cultural center you can catch a performace by an indie band or play some giant chess. One of its most captivating features is the clever use of the wing plate for the roof. The builder even took advantage of the cutout in the center of the wing to add a dormer.

The ancient ruins of a forgotten civilization

If the builder of these ancient ruins seems similar, you would be right, because Mark Erickson is one of the best castle builders out there, and very active to boot. There are a bunch of details to see in this with architectural texture being the most important one. I am fascinated how well the builder managed to make all the buildings look similar, even with different techniques used throughout. The palm trees also deserve a closer look, as they get thinner towards the top, an effect achieved by transitioning from palm trunk pieces through brown fez pieces to 1×1 cones.

All aboard the micro Hogwarts Express!

Everyone dreams of heading down to platform nine and three quarters and jumping aboard the magical train waiting there. But for those of us who never received our Hogwarts invitation (Obviously, my owl got lost on the way to my house) however, ForlornEmpire‘s amazing microscale LEGO Hogwarts Express is as close as we are going to get.

Empire’s microscale English countryside scene is quite lovely and the mini Express is spot on. All that’s missing from this adorable little scene is some billowing smoke from the egnine.

LEGO Batman Movie 70909 Batcave Break-in [Review]

I don’t know about you guys, but I am super pumped for The LEGO Batman Movie coming out on February 10, 2017. We already know that Will Arnett as Batman is hilarious and there’s bound to be plenty of LEGO jokes hidden in the background. So while we count down the days until the hilarity ensues, let’s review one of the The LEGO Batman Movie sets: 70909 Batcave Break-In.

Overall, this set has a lot going for it. There are a ton of interesting play features built into the design and the two vehicles are phenomenal. Best of all, the set comes with 9 great minifigs, several of which are exclusive to this set. Continue reading →

Summer 2017 wave of LEGO Batman Movie sets revealed [News]

The LEGO Batman Movie’s Feb. 10 release is right around the corner, but LEGO isn’t done revealing all the tie-in sets yet. Last week we got a look at the new LEGO Brick Headz collectible figures line, which includes 4 characters from the movie, and today we’re getting our first look at the summer lineup of film sets, due out in June.

70916 The Batwing, $89.99 USD

Includes Batman, Robin, and the Batwing with seating for two minifigures. The Batwing can transform from flight to landing modes, and features a rear compartment with a small car. The Batwing is 18 in. (48cm) wide and 12 in. (31cm) long. The set also includes Harley Quinn and her cannon. We reviewed the Batwing mini set recently.

Continue reading →