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.

You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why...

LEGO Santa Claus is coming to town, and doesn’t he look a treat with his pink glowing cheeks, magnificent fluffy beard and cheery smiling face. Several points of articulation make this brick-built Father Christmas by DOGOD Brick Design quite poseable.

But my absolute favourite part of this rendition of jolly Saint Nick would have to be the compartment within his back, where minifig Santa can enjoy a hot mug of cocoa by his Christmas tree in front of a roaring fire with his cat.

Here “down under” in Middle Zealand Santa generally sports surf shorts, flip-flops and a surfboard. So seeing Christmas with snow, lights, warm fires and ugly sweaters always all seems a little odd when it’s in middle of summer and we’d rather have a BBQ lunch and find a comfy spot under a shady tree with a cooler.

All of that said, there is nothing like seeing the jolly fat man in the fluffy red suit with a stack of presents and a tree with lights to get us in the mood for Christmas. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing for Christmas this year, I hope you are as happy and comfortable as this little scene.

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New LEGO Batman Movie Batmobile, Batwing mini-sets revealed [Review]

We’re continuing our coverage of The LEGO Batman Movie sets with a pair of the smallest sets, 30521 The Mini Batmobile and 30524 The Mini Batwing. These sets haven’t even been officially revealed yet, but LEGO kindly sent them to us so we can bring you an early review. We don’t have any official word on their pricing yet, but we expect them to be in the $4.99 USD range. They should be available Jan. 1, 2017.

Update: LEGO is currently offering the 30524 The Mini Batwing free with purchases of $35 or more on the LEGO Shop Online through Jan. 15, 2017.

30521 The Mini Batmobile, 68 pieces

30524 The Mini Batwing, 79 pieces

Click to read our hands-on review

Who needs reindeer when you have twin turbojets?

Reindeer are ok, but when your responsibility is delivering Christmas presents to children among the increasing hustle and bustle of the 21st Century, you’re going to want something with a little more oomph. With its two turbojet engines this souped-up rocket sleigh by Frost is sure to get the job done in record time and leave Santa Claus plenty of time to devour all those cookies:

This sleigh isn’t just substance but also style with some great looking curves (not unlike the sleek lines of a 1961 Chevy Impala) and a nicely detailed cockpit. And the best part is, no one has to remember anymore reindeer names! Heads are sure to turn when Santa comes roaring into town at 1300 km/h this Christmas!

This helicopter rains fire from the sky

Devid VII recently shared his version of an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter packed with plenty of firepower and details. We’ve seen several good examples of Apaches in the past, and the builder pays homage to them while also incorporating some personal touches. Details particularly worth noting are the techniques used to achieve the shaping of the fuselage, the slanted cockpit and nose sensor array. The Apache’s slanted, quad-blade rotor is nicely recreated as well. Armed with a 30mm automatic cannon, guided missiles and rocket pods, this chopper is ready for action!

2016 LEGO Advent Calendars: Day 23

Welcome to Day 23 of your digital LEGO Advent Calendar! Each day, we’re revealing the day’s calendar model for the LEGO Friends, City, and Star Wars Advent Calendars. We know some of you want to be spoiler free, so you’ll need to “open” the day’s post to see the models by clicking below!

Click here to see Day 23!

There were a lot of explosions for two people blending in

Using only the movie trailers as reference, Graham Gidman built this excellent little scene from Star Wars: Rogue One. Graham was able to create an accurate slice of the imperial-occupied city of Jedha and the people that inhabit it. There’s a ton of texture and personality in that tan building.

And if you think that AT-ST Walker looks like an official LEGO set, well you’re correct! (…it’s the 75153 AT-ST Walker).

When typography is on point, bricks become words

Jonas Kramm, whose way of seeing LEGO bricks has delighted us so many times, has simply done it. And by that I mean he’s literary created “it” with a handful of bricks and curved slopes. This is a fine example of an antique neoclassical font… heavy lines with sharp ends and gorgeous serifs.

If you like this creation by Jonas as much as we do, check out his other builds for “The New Black” project on our favorite parts-obsessed blog New Elementary, where Jonas explores the unlimited possibilities of modified and unusual parts, like paint rollers which he used to create some stunning antique street lamps.

Behind on sending Christmas cards? Use this LEGO Mindstorms plotter to make them for you!

There are only a few days left until Christmas, so anything that saves you time is a good thing. Thankfully, 14-year-old Sanjay Seshan and his 12-year-old brother Arvind built the Holiday Card Plott3r to help in all your Christmas card needs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGDPLqzy6EA

Built and powered by LEGO Mindstorms, the plotter can churn out cards decorated with trees, snowflakes and even Santa’s signature. The creation prints the designs using a dot-matrix and even includes a second contraption that slides out an envelope ready for your beautiful, new card.

Better yet, the project files are all online to be used or improved. That is really in the Christmas spirit! Now we just need a machine that licks and applies stamps and drops the cards off at the post office.

To the manor born

With just over a week to go, the Classic Castle Competition keeps bringing out the hits with this compact creative build by David Leest. He says “Built as a gift for a Lion Knight War Hero, the manor stands proudly above the waterfall”. This towering manor does stand very proud indeed! The battlement is crafted using a stepped technique, with subtle patched brickwork that makes great use of yellowed bricks (usually the curse of many a LEGO fan). The beautifully detailed textured roof and wooden entrance also use a variety of techniques to give the whole model an authentic lived-in feel. The armed guard, standing among the flowers and wild grasses, serves to give the model a sense of scale – it’s bigger than you first realize.

The main feature of this castle is the stunning archway over the river and the balcony where the hero stands with his fair maiden. Another armed guard looks on, while the maiden’s father takes in the view. The techniques David has used to create the different trees, the variety of foliage and the bubbling churning rapids, are wonderful. A home fit for a hero!

Shortlist announced for Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2016 [News]

For over a decade the Brothers Brick has been bringing you the best LEGO creations, and 2016 has stood out as a bumper year. To celebrate 12 months of great models, the Brothers Brick team has looked back over everything we’ve featured and pulled out the best LEGO builds of 2016.

Take a look at these ten amazing shortlisted models, and stay tuned for the final announcement of our LEGO Creation Of The Year 2016 on New Year’s Eve!

LegoJalex‘s brilliant ET model wasn’t just a great bit of character building, the surrounding room was wonderfully done too…

Letranger Absurde‘s Room With A View sneaks into contention — although it was posted on NYE 2015, we didn’t blog it until a couple of days later!

Click here to see the rest of the Shortlist

Rudolph the rad-fuelled reindeer

I have no idea if Mitsuru Nikaido‘s mechanoid LEGO reindeer is really atomic-powered, but it would seem appropriate. How else would a robotic ungulate have the sort of power and endurance to traverse the world with heavy sacks of gifts in tow?

The posing of the reindeer robot (reinbot?) is excellent, as is the level of greebly detail suggesting working gubbins and machinery. Don’t miss the use of minifig gun parts to create the antlers. It’s easy to overlook the sleigh alongside the mechanical beast — but that would be a shame, as it’s a great little build, managing to look futuristic, functional, and festive all at the same time.

Within the swamps, terror and fear grow

For lack of a better term, I find the “evil castle” subtheme to be the most under-represented among historical LEGO builders. I certainly love the sight of a LEGO castle situated upon a hill, surrounded by green trees and happy-looking peasants as much as anybody. But there is a special character to builds which take a darker and more fantasy-inspired direction, such as this ominous creation by ZCerberus:

A master of big, evil castles (such as these twin towers we covered a while ago), the builder brings us this wonderfully eerie scene that takes many turns from the usual castle build. Particular highlights are the battered castle walls, the exposed wooden structures and the keep, which looms high above as if to impose its master’s will upon all below. The choice of lime green for the swamp works really well, and I can’t help but wonder what foul creatures live within it. The black, gnarled trees and the circling wyverns evoke further mystery and trepidation. Overall, the color scheme portrays very well the darker tones the builder chose to express here.

This delightfully creepy castle is part of a collaboration between the builder and myself to launch the next chapter of the Guilds of Historica collaborative roleplaying project on Eurobricks, which is sure to promote some fantastic building and storytelling in the coming weeks. If you’re interested, check out this list of our other collaborative castle builds, including stories and additional pictures, made for the new chapter.