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.

The great outdoors awaits

… and what better way to get there than in Lino Martins‘ latest creation? This fabulous 1974 Ford Bronco features the trademark touches which make Lino one of my favourite builders — smooth curves and good color choices all wrapped up in the large scale he seems to have made his signature.

Obviously the canoe and the power winch are lovely, the wood paneling effect is neat, and that metallic stripe down the side is just sweet. But what tops this model off for me is the detailed engine beneath the bonnet — brilliant stuff.

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LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 16 Feel Guide [News]

LEGO’s new Collectible Minifigures Series 16 is hitting stores around the world, so be sure to check out our review of Series 16. But how do you find the ones you want? Some people are happy taking their luck with purchasing a random bag, but many fans — be they kids, collectors, or just regular joes — will want to collect the whole set, or maybe just one or two very specific figures. You could guarantee that by purchasing an entire case, but buying 60 figures just to guarantee a set of 16 is very expensive. So, of course, the alternative is to ready your nimble figures and prognosticate what’s in the bags by touch alone. With years of experience doing this since Series 1, we’re here to help make that task a bit easier.

Get your digits ready, it’s time to start poking and prodding plastic bags of minifigs.

Click to read the full Feel Guide

Donald Duck mech is ready to take the fight to Mickey

Looks like Donald has finally had enough of that mouse hogging the limelight. Dvd‘s latest creation shows just how everyone’s favourite anthropomorphic duck plans to even the score. This is the sort of model we love here at TBB — it’s not just good fun, it’s a really well-built mech too.

Too often these kind of mash-ups rely too heavily on the presence of the minifig to explain themselves, but here the job gets done with excellent colour-blocking — realistic-looking, but also unmistakably “Donald”. And if you need any more convincing this is a cracking mech model in it’s own right, then check out the beautiful greeble-work on the legs…

My only criticism here is the photography is a little washed-out. I wonder if a gray backdrop and less harsh lighting might have given better contrast for the base and white elements of the model? However, that’s minor nitpicking at an otherwise excellent creation.

LEGO announces end of Bionicle theme, 2016 to be final year [News]

LEGO’s Bionicle theme has been among the longest running proprietary themes LEGO’s ever developed. Bionicle started in 2001, where it was one of the most original toys to hit the market during my childhood. I still remember buying the first wave of Toa, with their elemental powers, and avidly reading the comics with sweeping story arcs that accompanied them. The first Bionicle theme lasted until 2009, when it was discontinued in favor of LEGO’s next buildable-action figure theme, Hero Factory. Hero Factory had a successful run for five years, from 2010-2014, but never achieved the acclaim or fandom that surrounded Bionicle. Last year, LEGO returned to Bionicle, and fans could experience the world of the Toa heroes again. All told, over the 12 years Bionicle has been in production, Bricklink records 433 set entries for the theme — a remarkable life for the home-grown theme. However, LEGO has announced that 2016 will be the final year for Bionicle. Read the full press release below.

Continue reading →

LEGO scenes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

First, we were blown away with tiny scenes from The Sorcerer’s Stone, then with vignettes from The Chamber of Secrets. And now (you guessed it) we have a series of wonderful LEGO scenes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. This time around, the master builder behind the month-long madness was Kevin Wollert. In total, Kevin built 23 amazing Potter-themed vignettes. Each of the scenes took me back to the first time I read the book (the best one in the series if you ask me). I especially appreciate how Kevin was able to capture the dark tones of this story.

Click here to see the full set

LEGO Worms with arms

Worms was an artillery strategy video game released in 1995, back when worms were fashionable. The sometimes-controversial builder Suck My Brick has nicely captured these well-armed and battle-ready guys in LEGO form. There is definitely a humorous side to arming worms with grenades, flame-throwers and machine guns, and the comedy has been transferred to these brick versions. From hot dog bun eyebrows, through a cigarette-chomping worm, through to a Rambo-worm with bad teeth, what’s not to love about these little dudes?

My favourite is the grumpy warworn worm on the right with his grenade and WWII-style helmet. There’s some ingenious parts usage to create his grenade pin. Shame he has no hands to pull the pin and throw it!

All who gain power are afraid to lose it. Even the Jedi.

Say what you will about Episodes I through III, but I can appreciate a climactic turning point in a character’s story arc. I can appreciate it, even more, when such a scene is translated into LEGO! Cecilie Fritzvold beautifully captured the final scene of the opening sequence from Revenge of the Sith where Anakin begins his journey to the dark side by killing Count Dooku. The amount of detail jammed into this LEGO scene is fantastic! I love the microscale ships in the background, Palpatine’s clikits handcuffs, and of course, the prone, unconscious body of Obi-Wan in the foreground.

In case you missed it earlier this month, Cecilie also built a micro-podracer from The Phantom Menace. As always, be sure to check out all of Cecilie’s builds on Flickr and may the force be with you.

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake in LEGO

Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake is iconic. It’s a familiar love story of the White Swan, Odette, and Prince Sigfried. One thing I always thought was amazing was Odile’s fouettés: this is where the dancer spins 360 degrees, on pointe. Odile does them to “steal” the prince, and the original ballerina could do 32 in a row.

In 1995, choreographer Matthew Bourne left his mark on Swan Lake with one major change: the swan’s gender. Odette and the corps de ballet, traditionally danced by ballerinas, was now performed by male dancers. David Hughes has given us this glorious and very recognizable sculpture of the Lead Swan in the classic pose, used by the dancers to imitate some bird-like moves giving grace to the dance.

Teal me a story

Spoiler alert: most UFO pictures are faked, including this one. Teal is a very rare color, and most of these bricks were never made in it. Which makes this virtual model all the more striking. Digital artist dunkleosteus_ldd used Lego Digital Designer and Bluerender to design this uniquely shaped alien craft. Perhaps it could be built in real life using a more common color. Would it still look this cool in red?

This LEGO drone cannot wear skinny jeans

This LEGO drone by Guy Smiley has the build of a machine aimed at impact and intimidation rather than agility and speed. It bears a resemblance to the drones in the awesome short film Keloid, a source of inspiration for LEGO drones since 2013. Those thunderous thighs would make a grown man quiver, not to mention the weaponry carried in its arms. I’m not exactly sure what type of weapon is in its left arm, but it looks like some sort of futuristic chain gun with a handy supply of rounds in the chamber.

I particularly like Guy’s colour blocking technique, the use of two main colours nicely highlight the shaping of his drone. There are some clever parts in there if you take a closer look, it’s not often cupboard doors form the head of a drone!

If you liked this build, Check out this previously blogged Militech Weapons Platform and drones by drone builder extraordinaire, Devid VII which were also inspired by the film Keloid.

Nexo Knights 70318: The Glob Lobber | 70319: Macy’s Thunder Mace | 70320: Aaron Fox’s Aero-Striker V2 [Review]

The next wave of Nexo Knights is upon us, and we’re continuing our review series. We’ve already reviewed the four Ultimate series Nexo Knights sets. The sets are available in some markets already, and should be widely available soon.

Today we’ll be looking at 70318: The Glob Lobber, 70319: Macy’s Thunder Mace and 70320: Aaron Fox’s Aero-Striker V2.

70318: The Glob Lobber

In wave one of Nexo Knights we got two £7.99 / $9.99 / €9.99 sets that weren’t in the Ultimates line. These two were 70310: Knighton Battle Blaster and 70311: Chaos Catapult. In my opinion, these were perfect little sets: for a small amount of money you were getting two minifigures and some nice new pieces. I think these trump most of the Ultimate sets and even 853515: Knights Army-Building Set or 853516: Monsters Army-Building Set due to their inexplicably high price here in South Africa (close to $30).

Click to read the full reviews of all 3 sets

Passing on to LEGO Nirvana

There’s a saying in Japan that you’re born Shinto, get married as a Christian, and die a Buddhist. In other words, you practice Shinto rites from birth, have a Western-style wedding, and leave this world through Buddhist funeral ceremonies. Thus, one of the many unique aspects of Japanese culture I experienced growing up there was seeing station wagons with tiny, shiny golden Buddhist temples sprouting from their backs. These little mobile temples are actually Japanese hearses, and Moko has once again used his collection of chrome-gold bricks by building a LEGO version of this iconic Japanese vehicle. In case you’re too dazzled to notice, I’ll also point you to the clever front grill on this 4-wide LEGO car.

Check out Moko’s blog for more photos, including breakdowns and building techniques.

And for all our bilingual readers out there, here’s a totally ridiculous vehicle. Unfortunately, that’s the best I can do, since the very silly pun in Japanese (「オハカー」) simply does not translate. The car has a pullback motor, though I suspect a crash could result in grave consequences.

That pun is so funny I need to go lie down now and meditate on my life. Memento mori.