Do you remember those building kits that let you assemble your own airplane or bird? No, not LEGO. The kits made from balsa wood or Styrofoam that were a step up from paper airplanes. LEGO House Masterpiece Gallery alum ArzLan lets nostalgia take flight with a pair of easy-to-assemble bird planes that perfectly capture the 2D designs and die-cut slots of the classic toys. I can practically feel the disappointment as they inevitably nosedive, crack a wing, and end up in the waste-bin after a few good flights.
Category Archives: LEGO
LEGO by the Numbers: LEGO Group announces 2024 financial results [News]
As is customary around this time of year, the LEGO Group has provided an update on its finances having crunched the numbers for 2024. Following on from 2023’s solid foundation, the Danish toymaker continued its expansion, growing market share despite the continued contraction of the global toy market. As a result, both revenue and operating profit saw increases year-on-year to record levels, by 13% to 74.3bDKK, and 10% t0 18.7bDKK, respectively. There was also strong growth on the sustainability front: the share of sustainable and sustainably-sourced materials more than doubled in 2024. For more in-depth information, and a word from LEGO Group CEO Neils B Christiansen, read their press release after the jump!
Charizard, I choose you (as my backup option)
I’m always going to be a fan of the Squirtle-Wartortle-Blastoise line from the Pokémon games. But even then, I can’t deny that the coolest of the final 3 evolutions has to be Charizard. Daniel BrickSon has recreated the fire-type ‘mon in LEGO form, performing its signature Flamethrower move. The fire looks excellent, the yellow and red a great approximation of the 2D anime styling. And Charizard itself is fab, too, making use of many arch pieces in orange and teal to craft its 3D form. It makes me want to pick up my Game Boy to play Pokémon Red all over again… Oh hey, Daniel built one of those, too! (I’m still picking Squirtle, though.)
A Hero (Factory) is only as good as its villains
From 2010 to 2014, LEGO replaced the Bionicle line with Hero Factory, a world of robot agents protecting the galaxy from villains bots like Thornraxx. Builder Magmafrost13 gives this B-tier adversary an S-Tier makeover that’s buzzing with clever techniques. The bug-bot’s curved gaster is made from interlocking feet elements. I especially like the shaping on the face, which uses paint rollers to connect the antennae and hides Hero Factory masks under the bulbous eyes. This version of Thornraxx might not shoot balls out of its mandibles, but with all those wicked blades around the carapace, the foe seems decidedly more lethal. Better call on Benjamin Anderson’s upgraded Stormer to swat this fearsome pest.
LEGO reveals giant Mario & Standard Kart display set on MAR10 Day
Drafting in for the win after the newly released LEGO Mario Kart play sets, The LEGO Group announces a new contender for the Mushroom Cup, the super-sized LEGO Super Mario 72037 Mario & Standard Kart. Containing 1,972 pieces, the set includes a buildable Mario figure with his classic racing Kart, and a display stand for dramatic poses. Older fans will appreciate the larger-scale poseable Mario, with printed eyes and a new mold for the plumber-turned-racer’s iconic moustache; the character should look good next to The Mighty Bowser. The release continues LEGO’s run of large-scale Super Mario-themed sets for collectors, but in a first for coporate synergy, this news coincides with that most super of holidays MAR10 Day, better known the rest of the world as March 10th. LEGO Super Mario 72037 Mario & Standard Kart can be pre-ordered now for US $169.99 | CAN $219.99 | UK £149.99 and will be available to all on May 15th.
Start your engine and read on for more details on this super-sized Super Mario set!
Warning: speed hump ahead
Camel crossing ahead. One hump means we’re in dromedary country, specifically a dustry stretch of desert highway en route to Pakistan. Dessis Bosman has built a LEGO truck that’s up for this rigorous road — a Scania LB141 in the livery of Dutch hauler Rynart. Bult at 1:13 scale, the truck is a beast. And at ~160 studs long, it also qualifies as a SHIP. Around 1000 2×4 tiles went into the tarpaulin alone.
Dennis had previously built a Scania LB141 in the yellow livery of British shipper Astran, and used the chasis as hte foundation for this new build. The truck takes advantage of an incrased range of parts in dark azure to match the Rynart livery.
Drive on for more pics of Dennis’ desert-ready truck
Jump in the cockpit of this fun LEGO model of the Z-95 headhunter
Most Star Wars fans know about the iconic X-Wing fighter made famous by Luke Skywalker’s trench run during the attack on the Death Star, but did you know about the sleek predecessor, the Z-95 Headhunter? swbuilds, who specializes in amazing LEGO Star Wars vehicles that are quite detailed, has turned their impressive skills to build this lesser-known starfighter in LEGO. The techniques used to craft the wings and fuselage with almost seamless connections is, to quote Darth Vader, “Impressive, most impressive.”
Celebrate Fabuland with your own Maid of Fabuland microscale steamboat [Instructions]
Are you a Fabuland fan but won’t be able to make the trip to Billund for the official LEGO tribute set? Or perhaps you love steamboats but are scared by the price tag on the upcoming Ideas set? Or maybe you just love cute things and walruses! In any case, Fabuland’s biggest “Fabufan,” and all around nice human Stewart Lamb Cromer has you covered with free instructions for a microscale version of the Maid of Fabuland paddle steamer that he built for display at LEGO House.
Here’s Stewart posing with the full-size version at LEGO House. Stewart talks about the build journey and his challenges with losing sight in one eye in a moving account on his blog.
Jumpei Mitsui rings out the end of an era with a massive Danjiri shrine
When we first featured builder Jumpei Mitsui 18 years ago, he was the fresh-faced star of Japan’s LEGO King Championship TV show and, soon after, the youngest person to earn the title LEGO Certified Professional builder. Now, on the eve of returning to school for a master’s program in artistic expression, Jumpei reveals his latest creation, a nearly life-size Danjiri cart buitl entirely of LEGO bricks. Carts like these, modeled on shrines, are paraded around town during Danjiri Matsuri festivals where different neighborhoods compete in pulling their decorated cart through the streets while chanting furiously. Jumpei recreates the intricate hand-carved woodworking in brick, as well as lantern decorations with flower prints and kanji script.
Jumpei, who specializes in large-scale creations (like this jaw-dropping model of the battleship Yamato), starts with a sketch, but then free-builds everything by hand. This project, consisting of over 200,000 bricks and weighting over 200kg, took six months to complete. When working on large-scale projects, Jumpei has an assistant who should be quite familiar to fans of the site – Moko – one of the most prolific and impressive mecha builders around whose we’ve featured going back nearly 20 years!
Jumpei’s creation is currently on display at the Sumiyoshi Danjiri museum in Kobe. Congratulations on this masterpiece, and best of luck in the next chapter of your art education!
Building trees with minifig antlers, Pt. 1: Microscale [Feature]
Ever since LEGO released Reindeer Fan with a new head accessory, I’ve been wondering when we’d see element 6440443 antlers used as foliage in a LEGO set considering how closely it resembles oak leaves. The Fountain Garden set released in January contains a single use of the leaf, but in white. Inspired by this lush tree from Ryan McBride, and not seeing many uses of the part in MOCs, I decided to do some experiments myself. But first I needed to source more leaves. Fortunatey I had just the Forestmen for the job…
Read on to learn how to make microscale trees with antlers
TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for March 8, 2025 [News]
In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders worldwide, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the 1st week of March 2025.
TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS There was big news from Disney and Jurrasic World regarding set announcements, with a new wave of 6 sets celebrating the fourth film in the Jurassic World franchise. Disney fans got the announcement of a substantially larger castle from Beauty and the Beast, including a library and a ballroom. If you are still hungry for LEGO news, sink your teeth into last week’s Brick Report.
- [NEWS] LEGO announces new sets from the Jurassic World Rebirth movie — Springtime means another awesome wave of dinosaur sets from the latest Jurrasic World movie.
- [NEWS] LEGO reveals LEGO Disney 43263 Beauty and the Beast Castle, a brick-built château for Prince Adam — The Beast’s castle gets an impressive upgrade.
- [REVIEW] LEGO Jurassic World 76968 Dinosaur Fossils: Tyrannosaurus Rex – An epic specimen to behold! — Bre digs deep to uncover all the secrets of this massive display set.
OTHER NEWS
- Man accused of stealing $25,000 worth of Lego from northern California stores – [The Guardian] — Well, at least there are plenty of robber minifigures for him to use as his sigfig.
- Lego Artists Prepare for Brick Convention This Weekend – [Fox44News.com] — Waco, Texas is hosting its first LEGO convention.
- School attempting to break Lego world record with 42,000 bricks – [ABC45.com] — A San Antonio school set out to beat a world record… find out how they stacked up.
Frontier justice under a brick-built sky
Here at The Brothers Brick, we’re always fans of immersive scenes where every inch of the image is built from LEGO bricks. Scenes like this wild west showdown from RebelLUG member James Libby. The staging takes a note from director John Ford’s playbook – “When the horizon’s on the bottom, it’s interesting. When the horizon’s in the middle, it’s boring as…” Shout out to the wonderful buildings, each of which uses a different SNOT building technique to achieve rugged frontier authenticity. The brick-built sunset, drawing the eye to the horizon where our lawman and outlaw face of, is a stunner and a colorful alternative to a duel at high noon.