A few weeks ago, we put out a call looking for new Contributors to join our team of LEGO-minded writers. And we want to remind you all, as the applications trickle in, that the search continues and it’s not too late to throw your hat into the ring. If you’re interested in helping us out with 3-5 articles each week covering the best built models on the web, please read on for what we’re looking for and how to apply. Thanks!
Click to read more about the open roles
By my counting, LEGO has made roughly 50 versions of the Batmobile since the first version debuted in 2006, but one version that has yet to be sold in brick form is the futuristic model seen in Batman Beyond. One builder who couldn’t let that slide is F1Elevenbricks, perhaps the biggest Batmobile enthusiast in the LEGO fan community. The builder’s take faithfully recreates the distinctive silhouette of Batman/Terry McGinnis’ supersonic ride, while giving it a muscle car spin with added greebling. For a breakdown of the build process and more angles, the builder provides a video on Instagram.
I really like obscure LEGO colours. That includes things like aqua, neon yellow and chrome (and once upon a time, teal, which is the best colour as we all know). But by virtue of their scarcity, they rarely pop up in custom creations. So when TBB Alum Carter Baldwin‘s sand-red mech came across my desk, I was sure it was a digital creation. Not so! This is a bona fide in-the-brick build, using parts that Carter slowly accumulated over the years – apparently, the parts you see here are almost his entire collection. On the one hand, that means we won’t see many more builds in this colour palette; but on the other, it makes this one that little bit more special!
In many countries, trucks with oversize loads, like the transformer transport I built several weeks ago, are commonly accompanied by escort vehicles. They warn other road users and their drivers can help the trucks’ drivers to navigate tight curves or narrow streets.
In the UK, such escort vehicles are usually vans. Obviously, these tend to have high-visibility markings, which, to me, makes them attractive as Lego builds. My latest two models represent two rather different examples: a Ford Transit and a Mercedes Sprinter.
Continue reading
Green or renewable energy is very popular in many countries, with electric vehicles, wind farms, and solar panels on rooftops. This flying ship by Dwalin Forkbeard features flower power. It’s the perfect mix of steampunk and fantasy. The complex engine sprouting tanks and gears contrasts the many branching limbs growing from the sides of the boat, which are well-shaped, with a few loose planks for that weathered look. The scene is perfectly finished with a subtle forest background.
Febrovery brings all the builders to the yard, and by yard I mean crater-pocked retro space surfaces that can only be tamed by big wheels and a whimsical design. With dozens of rovers being shared each day, and some builders creating a new rover every day of February, we can’t possibly cover them all, but as the event is such a supernova of creativity, we have to give it our best effort. With Febrovery half over, we present some of our favorite builds so far. Tell us in the comments which rover you’d rather ride!
Retro radar rover by Ids de Jong
Every day during Febrovery the mad inventor Ids de Jong has robots B1 and B3 encounter a new rover, drawing inspiration from classic Space themes or inventing new ones. Like this radar rover that looks like it rolled out of the atomic age (or the toybox of Shannon Sproule). The Alpha Team windscreen is a part we don’t often see in MOCs, but it looks great here, especially paired with that lovely sand blue!
Grab an air tank and helmet and ride along with us to see more amazing rovers!
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 2nd week of February 2025.
TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS This week, LEGO Botanicals bloom with a new set and a workshop on building your own personal floral arrangements using ideas from the Botanicals collection and even adding real flowers. For even more news and reviews, be sure to check out last week’s Brick Report if you missed it.
OTHER LEGO NEWS
Back in the 1300s, sharing hilarious memes was hard. The story was dictated to an artist by some lord or another, then they had to grind and mix their own pigments using beetles and ram’s bladder and stuff, then they transcribed it all as an illuminated manuscript that took years to finish only to be read by a small population of scholars. Take this silly “egg horse” for example. The left image portrays a LEGO creation by Toltomeja and its inspiration to the right is an artist’s depiction of the front view of a -um- horse from L’estoire de Merlin in 1316. The artist likely lacked any real references to horses so you can forgive the silly rendition. Incidentally, this is precisely what sunk my would-be van mural painting career; a total lack of half-naked warrior maidens hanging around my studio and an end result that looked a bit like this egg horse.
While it’s true that LEGO did offer a version of Tolkien’s iconic dragon, it fell utterly short of capturing the enormity of Smaug the stupendous. Stefan Johansson delves under the mountain and brings forth a fitting tribute to this chiefest and greatest of calamities. It’s a beautiful model with the great dragon too large to be contained by his gold-littered base. Smaug claims his armor is like tenfold shields, but Stefan instead makes excellent use of the pauldrons of a praetorian guard for that nigh-impenetrable belly. The best part of the impressive build is Smaug’s head with that great lower jaw, ready to chomp dwarves and chew scenery with Cumberbatchian gravitas.
If you’ve ever been to a LEGO fan event like BrickCon or Bricking Bavaria (and if you haven’t, do look for an event in your area!) one of the highlights is seeing collaborative builds where the parts, creativity, and passion of a team comes together to make something epic. 2024 saw some incredible collaborations, like Rogue Ronin or the latest incarnation of New Hashima. One of our favorite collabs of 2024 was “Medinat al Musawrah,” a fictional city inspired by the architecture of the Middle East and North Africa that is both modern and ancient. When we learned that the display would be returning in 2025 at BrickFair NoVa with new additions from Blake Foster and others, we reached out to the organizers to discuss the project’s inspiration, creation, and future.
A big thanks to Michael Willhoit, George Hawes, and Tobias Whelan for sharing their story.
TBB: First, can you talk about how the project came together? You had all just teamed up for the Old City district of New Hashima. What inspired this new collaboration?
Michael: The project was born from a few different factors. First, I wanted to move away from cubes. Having just completed New Hashima, some collaborators and friends of mine expressed interest in breaking away from using just a cube standard because of the constraints it had. It’s a tried and true technique but I wanted to devise a new system. More odd angles, pockets and alleys, density, and generally capturing the feeling of a city that’s been standing for centuries. Originally I modeled this off the iconic Kowloon Walled City, but that brings me to the next factor. We wanted to move out of the Eat Asian aesthetic sphere. I personally find a lot of inspiration in the Middle East, and I was lucky enough that I found people to share that. Looking in that area you can see similar insane density in cities like Cairo. There were initially 11 of us to test this. Everyone brought something unique to the display that I think really pushed it forward. George and Tobias shared in coordination roles, and George particularly contributed a massive modern pyramid structure to the build.
Tobias: I’ve been collaborating with George, Mike, or both of them since 2019. They’re some of my closest buddies and we can all unify a vision despite stylistic differences in building. Even with the massive scale of 2023’s New Hashima, George, Mike, and I all built for the Old City portion.
Our in-depth interview with Michael, George and Tobias continues
Cyberpunk is spreading as New Hahima collaborations appear in Australia and Germany, Bricklink Designer Program opens voting for the next fan-designed set, and a new microbuild contest challenges you to shrink your favorite 18+ set. These are just some of the stories covered by ABrickDreamer in This Week in Bricks!
A big congratulations to Dominique Boeynaems on a well-deserved Iron Forge victory! (You can revisit our spotlight here.)
This LEGO creation by Djokson is called Mamba Marauder Snake; three words I’d love to get on my resumé but alas my job experience is mostly Excel spreadsheet related. I’m seeing a lot of tasty parts from the DreamZzz Action Race Car set. I’m particularly loving the watchband and green canopy. The builder’s inspiration though comes from this little racer from back when Donnie Darko was seeing creepy bunnies. Darko, creepy, and bunnies are three more words I’d love to see on my resumé but my work mostly involves boring meetings.
