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:
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!
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.
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!
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!
Greetings and High-Fives to all my good friends out there!
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.
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:
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:
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:
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.
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!).
As a child, I loved the Tintin Explorers on the Moon, I must have checked it out from the library dozens of times. I’ve seen many fantastic attempts at building the rocket Tintin and friends take to the moon, but this latest by Tyler Clites (Legohaulic) is the first build of the lunar tank I’ve seen. Simply put, this is awesome, this scene captures the right atmosphere, from the lunar surface to the brick-built Snowy under one of the domes.
Flickr member simplybrickingit has created this intriguing triptych of household rooms. Each one is beautifully furnished but completely figure-less, and symbolizes a different aspect of our everyday lives. It’s all very Zen. I love the way the partial walls make these scenes feel somehow out of time.
Got builders block and need a break? Want a challenge? Or just want to test your building know how? Then I suggest you check out the fun little Reverse Engineering Contest. Unlike a lot of LEGO contest that ask you to create something, this one asks you to copy a build. They’re all small and deceptively simple, but once you actually sit down and start playing with it, it’s not always as easy as it seems.
This marks the first, of nine, weekly challenges:
It starts off simple and gets progressively harder. So why not join in on the action? Stretch your building brain a bit with these building exercises – oh and don’t forget to read up on the rules on how you could win some prizes. Though this contest is one where the best reward is figuring out all the puzzles.
Oh who am I kidding, a Birds set, and most importantly: rare and useful pieces from contest runner Ryan H. (LDM) is a pretty great prize.