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.

LEGO The Transformers 10302 Optimus Prime is more than meets the eye. [Review]

In the early 1980s, an actor named Peter Cullen told his brother Larry that he was using their shared car to go to an audition for “the voice of a hero truck.” Larry, a decorated Marine officer, gave Peter some advice on how to play an effective leader, “Be strong enough to be gentle.” Peter took Larry’s words to heart and earned the role of Optimus Prime, commander of the Autobots. The show Peter Cullen was auditioning for, The Transformers, was basically a commercial meant to sell repurposed toys from Japan to kids in America. It wasn’t supposed to create an icon. But, when Optimus Prime was killed on-screen in The Transformers: The Movie, the backlash was swift and immediate. Peter Cullen’s “strong but gentle” performance had turned Optimus Prime into something more than just an action figure in the eyes of the audience. The Transformers team quickly set to work on a series of episodes to revive Optimus Prime in Season 3 of the show, and Optimus would remain one of the few constants of the ever-evolving franchise from then on. Now, nearly forty years later, that original incarnation of Optimus Prime has been given new life once again as a fully transformable 1508-piece LEGO set. LEGO The Transformers 10302 Optimus Prime will be available June 1st, for US $169.99 | CAN $219.99 | UK £149.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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I really FALL for this simple design

While LEGO builder Carter Witz tells us he has kept this design pretty simple I’m still smitten with it anyway. Granted it doesn’t have mind-blowing techniques and complex gear trains but you can go a long way with a well-appointed layout. I love the trees, the smiling minifigures and the rock patterns. That waterfall though really makes the piece special. The look and feel takes us back to a specific time in LEGO history right in the sweet spot of childhood memories. You know, before all the backaches and sore knees. This builder frequently takes us to special places. Check out the Carter Witz archives to see what I mean.

In Spudkirk, it’s all about the little things

The fictional town of Spudkirk is home to this LEGO scene by builder Evancelt Lego, featuring a row of tiny townhouses and itsy-bitsy infantrymen. And the details here, even at this scale, are larger than life. The cobbling on the wall is excellent, demonstrating how war-weary the town must be. The use of color in the road, specifically the blotches of lime green and burnt orange, further the worn look of the town. And it does this without drawing too much attention away from the rest of the model. This allows other, more nuanced details to shine through, like that teensy tree on the left. The yellow-orange flowers as foliage on top of a trunk mostly composed of a brown stud shooter fits perfectly at this scale.

Revisiting the classic TIE Fighter from Star Wars

TIE Fighters are one of the most iconic spaceships in pop culture today, and one of the most fun to see built with LEGO. Faku Saku returns to the classic ship with this redesign of an earlier TIE Fighter model he did a few years back. Redesigned and built from the ground up, the wings on this fighter stand out with some exquisite details. Right from the gate, we can see Faku kept the grille tiles for the solar panel detailing on the outside of the wings. Tiles and wedges nicely fill in the inside of the wings. The points where the wings attach to the ship’s body feature greater screen accuracy than the original model. And the outside of the wings? They have a cleaner and stronger appearance than most builds I’ve seen for a Tie Fighter!

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Capturing the legendary King of Fish

Legends are immortal and reach across time to transport us through their stories. Piotrek Przytuła tells one such story through LEGO–the Polish legend of King Sielaw. Long ago, the Masurian Lakes was ruled and guarded by Sielaw, King of Fish. At the behest of the Prussian gods, he protected the waters from greedy fishermen and settlers. Piotrek tells the story through a cross-section so we can see both above and below the waterline. The background is simple, which helps it set the scene and blend behind the impressive action. I do love how the shades of blue grow darker as the water gains depth.

Find out what happens next in the legend

Introducing Cubone’s edgier cousin

I’d choose this Pokémon! Created by Sandro Quattrini, this interpretation of the elusive Cuebone has a mysterious and deadly look to it. The skull helmet is represented by a lower jaw piece, featured in a mosasaurs model from back in 2001. Cubone carries a simple bone club in the original design, however, this version turns the weapon into more of a blade. Holder clips and mechanical arms portray spiked ribs along the blade, leading to a handle formed of flat gears. The stocky rounded proportions of the character are still retained through application of sloped bricks at the main body and the legs. The model has a superb design which is still easily recognizable while having new exaggerated details.

This train tracks. Wait. No it doesn’t.

Sure, there are LEGO train sets on their way this summer, but if you look even further into the future you can find out that Oscar Cederwall (o0ger) has his own unique vision of how the rails will evolve. Basically, they’ll be ditching the rails in favor of hover technology. Smart move. This was a creation a year in the making, and the attention to detail really shines through.

You can take the train out of the desert by clicking here

LEGO Architecture 21058 Great Pyramid of Giza: draw back the sands of time [Review]

When a set review for an unknown Architecture set rumored only as “Monuments of the World” arrived last week, the “click” of other rumors falling into place was audible. Here is one monument of the world – specifically, the oldest and only largely intact of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid of Giza! This lovely diorama moves the time span covered by the Architecture series more than 2,000 years further into the past – The Great Wall of China is the only prior set within several millennia of it – and is also the first Architecture set to depict the same structure at different points in time. 21058 Great Pyramid of Giza has 1,476 pieces. It will retail for US $129.99 | CAN $169.99 | UK £124.99, and to be available June 1st in the UK and August 1st world wide. Read our hands-on review to learn more.

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Read our full, hands-on review

This outpost is in vogue

As we’ve seen in the past, Ayrlego knows how to throw together a pretty rad LEGO building. And this new Mokolei Outpost is no exception! But where their previous constructions typically show the wear of time, with nicks in the walls or peeling plaster, this tan and turquoise tower looks fresh and new. Of course, there’s the typical cobbled feel to the terrain. And the other wooden structures bear a weather-worn patina. But all of this comes in stark contrast to the crisp edges and detailed texture work on the outpost, with pristine lion-head sculptures and ornate patterns carved into each wall. It’s a design fit the chicest sheik.

Did your Land Rover break down? Call the AA

Of course, I don’t mean to imply that Land Rovers are unreliable vehicles. However, if you were in the UK, were to own a classic Land Rover and, God forbid, it would break down on you, what would you do? One of your options could be to call the AA. That is the organisation formerly known as The Automobile Association. Not the other famous organisation with the same initials that helps people overcome another expensive and destructive habit.

The AA operates a roadside assistance service, with mechanics crisscrossing the country in vans. However, if one of their mechanics can’t fix the problem, because it is actually pretty major, they also operate a fleet of recovery vehicles. A lot of those are German-built MAN TGL flatbed trucks, one of which I have now built in LEGO. Like the AA vans, these are a common sight on British roads, also quite commonly seen carrying Land Rovers. I’m still not saying those are unreliable, mind you. I actually like Land Rovers. My LEGO Land Rover model is something of a classic in its own right; I originally built it more than ten years ago and it has never broken down, except for when one of the wheels fell off as I was taking pictures of the truck. Since I’m a stickler for scale and I have not changed the style of my building for this, these two vehicles fit together really nicely.
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This rabbit looks like he is late for a very important date

I might have a soft spot for Disney characters built with LEGO. This white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland by Versteinert. He serves as the Queen of Hearts’ royal herald, an obligation to which he is often late. To help him with his busy schedule he carries around a big pocket watch to keep track of time. In this creation, there are a lot of food parts involved. The ears of the rabbit are made using white bananas. For the hairy cheeks, croissants were used and the trousers incorporate two dark tan pumpkins.

I tried zooming in on the face to get a more clear picture of how it is constructed but unfortunately, I just can’t figure out whether it is construction, friction, or gravity. Maybe it is a combination of all of the above. For the pocket watch, Versteintert stayed in the food theme. The base of the watch is a big Fabuland pot. Which to me is quite humorous as Fabuland was also filled with cute anthropomorphic animals.

These microwaves won’t reheat your leftovers

We’ve covered tiny boats by A Brick Dreamer before. But boats don’t get much smaller than this six-piece schooner. What’s most impressive, though, is that this minuscule mariner gets rocked by waves that actually work, thanks to some tricky Technic techniques. Good thing that lighthouse is there to warn it away from the microscale cliffs.

Have a look at how the full model functions in the video below.