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.

Crashing waves and toppled treasure

A group of privateers have brought their plunder to shore in this amazing vignette by Nicholas Goodman. Nicholas has achieved one of the best wave effects I’ve ever seen, sculpting foam so real I can smell the salt air. The slight incline in the shore and the line between wet and dry sand help sell the effect of being on an actual beach. Environment details like that really help sell the storytelling going on with the minifigures. I have a feeling that even though eight men came ashore, after spilling that chest only seven are leaving…

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.

A Summer folding chair in the middle of Autumn

That air is brisk out there! Autumn most certainly has arrived, making me want to don a warm sweater and maybe sip a pumpkin spice latte. But maybe it’s warm where Dicken Liu is because clearly he has summer on his mind as evidenced by this LEGO folding chair. He even titled this piece Summer Nights. If the desired effect was to have me thinking of summer, even as the wind howls and rattles our ghost Halloween decorations, it worked! I can just about feel the comfort and warmth of a starry summer night. The tea and the side table are a nice touch, too. The mushrooms are also neat!

Don’t get in this Sith lord’s way

According to LEGO builder Simion Alex, this menacing hulk of a ship hails from the Star Wars universe where it’s the personal escort of a Sith lord. The aesthetic isn’t quite what I typically expect from Star Wars, but I absolutely love it, as it screams aggressive and deadly—exactly what you’d expect a Sith lord’s ship to look like. The color blocking is outstanding with just the right amount of greebling to make this starship feel weighty and armored.

I moustache you a question said the lemon

Have you ever been jealous of a LEGO moustache? Well I have. These two critters have the most lavish moustaches and I am jealous. They must have also stopped shaving during a lockdown. Fortunately for them they can indeed grow a decent moustache. Something I am apparently, at age 34, not yet capable of. In Sarah Beyer’s description, it is noted that these critters are friendly. I would not come too close to them, however, as they are equipped with some sharp-looking teeth. Presumably ready to bite whoever tries to touch their luscious moustaches.

The best decorations mean the best confections

LEGO builder Julius Von Brunk has constructed an homage to the yearly quest for candy that brings back fond memories. Navigating a neighborhood on Halloween night in search of treats can be a tricky business. You need to look for a porch light, at the very least, if you expect the occupants to open the door. A jack-o’-lantern on the porch is a sure sign that a house has got some candy on hand. But if you want the good stuff, you have to find the most elaborately decorated domiciles. Julius illustrates that here with a lovely trio of townhouses. Each home has its own unique character, but repeating motifs like window placement and roof shape suggest that they were built as part of the same community. Still, it’s the house in the middle that the kids are really lining up for. Because they’ve gone all out with decorations scary enough to send some kids running away in fear (after collecting a full-size chocolate bar, of course). C’mon, Green House Guy, your pig mask is cute and all. But you’re handing out fruit. Get your head in the game.

LEGO Friends reveals 5 sets for 2023 with diverse characters to better represent children [News]

Today LEGO has revealed the first wave of Friends sets for 2023, bringing in a new cast of characters and an update to the branding with a new logo. A new LEGO Friends television series will also accompany the new sets.

LEGO’s annual Play Well study revealed that 3 out of 4 children felt there were not enough toys with characters that represent them, so LEGO is aiming to bring more diverse representation to Heartlake City that’s inclusive of not just various ethnicities and genders, but also disabilities and neurodivergence. LEGO says the 2023 sets and series will feature characters with limb difference, Downs Syndrome, anxiety, vitiligo, and even pets with disabilities, including a blind dog and a dog with a wheelchair.

Five new Friends sets will be available starting Jan. 1, 2023, and the new TV show will kick off with a special in February.

Click to see the new Friends sets

Tree of the dragon

Bonsai has been done in LEGO before but this wonderful take by Isaac Wilder gives it new life with this stunning dragon shape! At first glance this could just be another bonsai tree but closer inspection reveals it’s true nature. Isaac uses some fantastic techniques to create the dragon head shaping like the use of the rubber band to hold various bars to keep the organic design. And the simple transparent green stud blends in well while still serving as the eye. The base is the same as the official bonsai set so this will look right at home on any fantasy bookshelf!

LEGO discontinuing Mindstorms brand, sunsetting 51515 Robot Inventor at end of 2022 [News]

Today LEGO announced that they are retiring the Mindstorms brand and sets, instead choosing to focus on robotics products like 45678 SPIKE Prime, which we reviewed in 2020. The current Mindstorms product, 51515 Robot Inventor will be discontinued at the end of 2022, along with Powered Up elements 88016 Large Hub and 88018 Medium Angular Motor. In a clear signal that the company is shifting away from Mindstorms rather than preparing to launch a new generation, LEGO has said that the current Mindstorms team will be reassigned to other departments. The company has promised the current Mindstorms Robot Inventor app will be available through 2024. The 51515 Robot Inventor set (US $359.99 | CAN $459.99 | UK £314.99) is currently out of stock from LEGO in the United States and Canada, and it’s not clear whether it will be available again before it is removed from sale.

Here’s the full press release from LEGO:

Since its launch in September 1998, LEGO MINDSTORMS has been one of the core ‘Build & Code’ experiences in the company’s portfolio, carrying with it significant brand equity and becoming a stand-out experience for the early days of consumer robotics and leading to current Build & Code experiences such as SPIKE Prime, from LEGO Education’s LEGO Learning System.

However, now having a number of priorities in LEGO Education and other Build & Code experiences, we have decided to focus our resources and future plans by redirecting our MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor team and their expertise into different areas of the business.

This means the physical MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor product (51515) and its related elements (88016 and 88018) are to exit our portfolio from the end of 2022, whilst digital platforms – such as the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor App – will remain live until at least the end of 2024.

We still have strong belief in the Build & Code proposition and will continue to support it through platforms such as SPIKE Prime, and we are continuing to hold on to the trademark for the MINDSTORMS brand and assessing our future plans together with LEGO Education.

Something turmeric this way comes

We don’t intend to feature nearly every LEGO creation Bart De Dobbelaer has made. But when he’s so masterful at creating beyond-bizarre alien worlds and creatures, the likelihood of us being captivated by his work is as likely as a TikTok influencer being fired from a job, then posting said firing on TikTok. Which, you have to admit, is fairly high odds. Turmeric is an excellent dietary supplement that is said to help with variety of conditions, including arthritis, digestive disorders, respiratory infections, allergies, liver disease and depression. However, these creatures Bart calls Turmeric Nightmares are giving me the heebie-jeebies. Two shades of brown and trans-yellow work well here. The end result is like some sort of malevolent fungus. Creepy stuff! Still we keep coming back for more. Click the link to find out why we think Bart De Dobbelaer is more compelling than a TikTok influencer getting fired.

Have no fear, Chainsaw Man is here! Or something.

For LEGO creations straight from the mind of a weird ten-year old boy, (I know, because I was one once) then look no further than Redverse. Apparently, my ten-year-old self is not the only one to have sketched out something like this. Chainsaw Man is a popular manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuki Fujimoto. This build, against that bold background, depicts the volume one cover. The story features Denji, an impoverished young man, who makes a contract that fuses his body with that of a dog-like devil named Pochita, granting him the ability to transform parts of his body into chainsaws. I mean, what kid hasn’t wanted to do that? Wikipedia goes on to say that Denji eventually joins the Public Safety Devil Hunters, a government agency focused on fighting against devils whenever they become a threat to the world. You see? My parents were wrong; job opportunities abound when you have chainsaws for hands and a face! Now if only I knew how to cash in on my deranged juvenile ideas.

Nothing more than a cockpit with blue wings

Builder David Roberts has got a new LEGO anti-grav racer barreling down the pipe. This boxy blue build is adorable with its four chunky blue wings, awesome red and white checker pattern, and snug cockpit perfect for minimizing drag while still holding a driver. And the bit of yellow pipe that it’s traveling through is great as well, dashed with lines of azure tiles to mark the racer’s path. But my favorite detail has got to be the technic brick and axle pattern in red on the side of each stubby wing. Instead of working around the connection of the wing to the racer’s body, David rolls with it and incorporates the pattern of the axle stuck in the technic hole as a part of the design. The white headlight bricks below the red technic ones bring it all together into a great little space racer!

Now THIS is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween

We are fast approaching the spooky season, and there have been plenty of LEGO builds coming out to mark the occasion. One of my favorites has got to be this excellent The Nightmare Before Christmas construction by Martin Harris. Jack and Zero are both expertly crafted, the former looking wiry as all get out with skinny limbs and an oversized skeleton noggin. His prized pooch has got some ghoulishly good shaping, relying heavily on curved slopes in white to provide a proper flow to its form. But the star of the show for me has got to be the detail Martin put into those gravestones. Consisting of some gorgeous stonework textures, the slight eschew of these tombstones feels ever so Burton-esque! And the “1993” chiseled into the one on the right is an excellent Easter egg for fans of the Disney classic, which came out that year.