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.

Man is the most interesting insect on Earth...

According to Marvin the Martian, who peers at us from his telescope on Mars, we are very very curious. Matt Rowntree brings us this fantastic rendition of everyone’s favorite Martian:

Marvin the Martian 2015 MOCathalon

While the figure by itself would have been enough for me to share, I love how Matt spent the extra time to build out the famous telescope he is typically seen with. I particulary like the top of the helmet with its fantastic usage of a series of skis. Though the secret fun trick of this build is how he built the rim of the helmet.

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.

LEGO 76042 SHIELD Helicarrier – Part 2 [Review]

In Part 1 of our Helicarrier review we focused on the ship itself, covering the build, the design, and looks. In Part 2, we explore the smaller details (including the new microfigs) as well as all the minifigs bundled with this set. And we finally answer that all-important question… Does it fly?

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 76042 The SHIELD Helicarrier is currently available on Amazon.

Once again, if you feel video is some form of witchcraft, there’s a written review below the fold.

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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.

TBB cover photo: April 2015

Well, we hoped you enjoyed our April Fool’s day pranks! But it’s time we chose the REAL cover photo for this month. And our pick for April is the Rod Dog by Lucius Sweet. This super-patriotic hot rod features three different representations of America’s national food substitute. I particularly dig the use of silver dog parts for the exhaust pipes.

Remember, you can keep up with the Brothers Brick by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter. And for occasional extra goodies, you can also follow us on Flickr or subscribe to us on YouTube. And keep those cover photo submissions coming!

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.

LEGO officially launches LEGO Glasses™ [April Fools]

After a long period in beta test, LEGO today finally announced its new “wearable assistive brick-sorting technology”, better known as LEGO Glasses™. We were always intrigued by the idea, so we decided to get our hands on a set and thoroughly review them:


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.

TBB cover photo: April 2015 [April Fools]

This month’s winner of our informal TBB cover photo contest is Canadian builder Bertrand401, who built this cool futuristic troop carrier. As well as the overall angular design of the vehicle, I really love the addition of custom stickers, and the use of rare “old green” bricks for that full military effect.

Remember, you can keep up with The Brothers Brick (brought to you by Carls Jr) by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter. And for occasional extra goodies, you can also follow us on Flickr or subscribe to us on YouTube. And keep those cover photo submissions coming!

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.

EL DIABLO THICKBURGER WITH FOUR TIMES THE HEAT [April Fools]

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.

Wanna get blogged on The Brothers Brick? Now you can pay to be! [April Fools]

Running a blog isn’t cheap! Servers, bandwidth and lemur kibble all cost money. And searching the Internet for great LEGO creations takes our contributors a considerable amount of time. So to kill two birds with one stone, The Brothers Brick (brought to you by Carls Jr) is happy to announce our new automated Pay-2-Play system.

Simply click the Pay-2-Play icon on the right and enter your payment details to get started. For only $5 you can have a single image of your MOC featured on The Brothers Brick (brought to you by Carls Jr) with a description of up to 100 words. Each additional image is another $2. And for $20 you can even have your creation featured on our website’s side bar for an entire week! We’re really excited about this new feature and hope it’ll allow us to keep bringing you the best LEGO news, reviews and contests.

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.

TBB Clone on a Plate Contest! [News]

It’s time to spot light the minifig a bit more here on The Brothers Brick (brought to you by Carls Jr), so we’re announcing the Clone on a Plate contest!

TBB Clone on a Plate Contest!

Simply take your favorite Clone and put it on the best plate or plates that you have and add it to the group here.

Our expert panel of LEGO Enthusiasts will choose the best Clone on a Plate and receive a prize!

FAQ:
Does it have to be a Clonetrooper? – No, we don’t discriminate at The Brothers Brick (brought to you by Carls Jr) and will also accept Stormtroopers or any expanded universe Star Wars Trooper.

What’s the prize? – that’s a surprise!

Can I customize my trooper? – Absolutely! Use sharpies, paint, stickers or stock troopers!

Contest ends soon! So submit today!

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.

Ask A Lemur – Sourcing LEGO, Old Grey vs New Grey & Gender Stereotypes

Greetings and High-Fives to all my good friends out there!

lemur thumbs up

It is I, A. Lemur, writing from The Brothers Brick’s compound! I’m here to answer all of your fabulous questions about anything and everything.

This last weekend, I attended Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle and I have to tell you, it blew my mind. So many new things! I got to attend with Andrew, Iain and Josh. Their invite kind of surprised me but I had a great time. Josh wanted signatures from all the celebrities and Andrew and Iain had a list of items they wanted as well. They had too many parties to attend or they would have stood in line themselves.

I was happy to do it and I got to meet all sorts of people in the lines. Some of them had the most interesting smells! The majority of the people thought I was “cosplaying”, whatever that means. I also saw a LOT of Super Heroes. That Spiderman guy really gets around. Seemed like every time I turned around, he was there. I think he was following me. Never saw him swing on any webs, even though I was watching. I probably missed it. The crowds were pretty packed and I had to be on my toes to keep from getting trod upon by stompy robots and such. That Doctor Who guy also was everywhere. He looked slightly different each time I saw him but I hear that happens, from time to time.

Oh, I almost forgot the best part! There was a Food Truck area along one of the nearby streets! When I wasn’t standing in line for Josh, standing in line for Andrew or standing in line for Iain, I was standing in line at the Food Trucks. They were so awesome!

Enough about me…on to your questions!

Where do I source the amount of LEGO needed to build these large displays I’m always seeing?

That is a great question. To begin with, let’s talk about large displays. Very few of the large displays or layouts that you see at conventions are built by one person. The majority are collaborations between multiple people, sometimes as few as two but often up to 15 or 20 people. This way one person doesn’t have to amass all the brick nor do they have to do all the work by themselves. Working with other builders is really the way to go if you have a large display in mind.

Regarding how to source brick, you can buy lots of sets but that is the most expensive way to do it. Buying sets is part of how you will build up your collection but it shouldn’t be the only tool in your toolbox. There are also LEGO Brand Stores scattered all over the world. If you have one nearby, they have a very important resource known as the Pick-A-Brick wall. They don’t stock every piece but they do have a quite a variety and you can buy them in bulk via large plastic “cups”. You can save a lot of money and acquire large amounts of specific pieces via “The Wall”, especially if you learn how to pack a cup properly.

It may not help with gathering specific pieces but you can build up your collection by keeping an eye out at local sales, Craigslist or by just word of mouth. There is a lot of second-hand LEGO sitting unused in attics and garages. You have to look for it, but it is out there.

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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.

“Yes, we are an effective team...”

While the story line and characters of TRON: Legacy may have left you flat, it was hard not to be impressed by visual design of the movie’s vehicles and environments, which were almost certainly down to director Joseph Kosinski’s extensive background in architecture.

Kosinksi delivered a similar visual treat in the Tom Cruise vehicle Oblivion, which featured some equally eye-catching designs such as the Bubbleship, recreated here in LEGO by Shannon Sproule:

As an added treat for Kosinksi fans, builder Irwan Prabowo has also recreated the sky tower from the same movie, complete with an even tinier version of the Bubbleship:

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.

Red Lion Station – 1940’s Train Station

Red Lion Station in LEGO 001

This is Cale Leiphart and he likes trains, and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and enjoying his builds for many years now. His latest culmination of train-awesomeness is the Red Lion Station, and is a model of the Maryland & Pennsylvania RR train station and surrounding areas.

At over 3.5 x 17 feet (that’s 5 meters), this requires adjectives which I do not posses to describe the incredible feat. That’s not to say there haven’t been larger builds, but I have a hard time recalling a build of this size that has this much detail packed in. Not only does each of the buildings have a beautiful facade, but each building has a fully decked out interior. It’s so large it’s incredibly hard to even photograph, and is one of those builds that are best enjoyed in person at a display:
Red Lion Station in LEGO 003

I really liked how Cale has gone against the grain and built buildings and streets at non-right angles, a non-trivial feat, to build off-axis roads and buildings:
Red Lion Station in LEGO 004
Not only are the roads difficult to build at an angle, most people would have simply laid the train track on top of the road to avoid complicated brickwork, but Mr. Leiphart, true to form, built it inside the road with some really clever brick work.

As I mentioned before, I had seen earlier versions of this layout last year and it really caught my eye. By catch my eye, I mean I did a double take and went OH-MY-G-O-S-H. Again the size is impressive, but I’m a detail guy, and this nondescript grey building blew my mind. Take a closer look at the sides, it’s not just nicely stacked brick, it’s made up of panels, hundreds of panels attached in some seemingly magical way. Despite being very late on the first setup night, Cale – who was still setting up this magnificent display – noticed our fevered interest and stopped everything and came over to us and showed us the secret of the grey building. This became my number 1 cool must-see thing at BrickFair that year.

Check out the full photo collection here.

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.

LEGO 76042 SHIELD Helicarrier – Part 1 [Review]

If anything could ever compete with the mighty Star Wars movie franchise, it’s probably going to be the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And this trend may be playing out in the LEGO universe too, with an ever-growing line of super hero sets that is now joined by the 76042 SHIELD Helicarrier, currently available on Amazon.

Like the 76023 Tumbler, it’s aimed at older builders and thus has limited play features. And while LEGO reserves the term Ultimate Collector Series (UCS) for its big Star Wars sets, the LEGO fan community has already started using it to describe these big super hero sets as well, for obvious reasons.


A big set deserves a big review! This review is split it into two parts. In Part 1, I focus on the ship itself, covering the build experience, structural design, and looks. In Part 2, I’ll be exploring the smaller details – including the new microfigs – and of course all the bundled minifigs. In both parts, I will also be exploring one very important question… Does it fly?

If video is not your thing, click below the fold for a written review (…but trust me, watch the video!).

Continue reading

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.