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 Star Wars UCS-style 75308 R2-D2 [Review]

The annual May the 4th “Star Wars Day” merchandising event is coming up next week, with new products becoming available starting May 1st. The recently announced LEGO Star Wars 75308 R2-D2 joins that list, with 2,314 pieces and a price of US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £179.99. How does this version compare to the first large-scale Artoo (10225) from 2012? Is it worth picking up next week? Read our hands-on review to learn more.

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.

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Star Wars 75308 R2-D2

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Some perspectives don’t feel forced at all

What’s that off in the distance? Cecilie Fritzvold has created a beautiful view of a distant bridge, or maybe a nearby view of a model train set. It’s hard to say for sure, but this stellar mix of textures and techniques is certainly satisfying to look at. I love how the fence along the left side of the scene, and that second lamp post, drop down to create the illusion of a hill leading down to the bay. The bridge itself also merits a closer look, being constructed from the rather unusual Large Figure Part Shield Holder with Axle. (That choice of part was no accident, as this is one of Cecile’s entries into the latest Iron Builder contest, which focuses on creative use of that very element.)

Making bridges out LEGO can be a challenging task. Check our our archives to see how other builders solved that problem.

There once was an impatient caterpillar

This adorable LEGO caterpillar built by Jens Ohrndorf is the perfect illustration for a children’s storybook. Just the critter alone is cute, from his paint-roller antennae to his “fuzzy” body and flower-stem spines. But when you add those balloons, it’s magic. It really does give the illusion of this fellow’s body being lifted up. He didn’t quite use enough, though! Don’t worry little buddy! Be patient and someday soon you’ll be a beautiful butterfly!

Jens is great at giving his builds life and that spark of character. Just check out this fun cactus!

Tigger’s treehouse

I love it when an official LEGO set or theme inspires fans to build their own creation within the theme. But sometimes the inspiration is not a theme or a set but just a single minifigure. According to Kristel, it was the Tigger minifigure from 21326 Winnie the Pooh that inspired her to build this creation. She set her mind to making the minifigure bounce, just like the character does in the movies. In order to make this happen, she built Tigger’s treehouse to hide the jumping mechanism.

This build is awesome for a couple of reasons. Although I love Winnie the Pooh, it has been quite some time since I watched a Pooh movie, so my memories about the show have faded a bit. I had to look Tigger’s treehouse up, and I have to say this is an almost exact match for the source material. Secondly, it blends in perfectly with the official LEGO set because Kristel used the same technique on the roof and a similar technique on the foliage. And last but not least, this creation actually allows Tigger to move and jump.

Curious for more Winnie the Pooh articles? Check them out here!

LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71030 Looney Tunes Feel Guide [Review]

LEGO is going looney as the latest license to get a Collectible Minifigure series is Looney Tunes, bringing 12 classic cartoon characters to minifigure form for the very first time. LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71030 Looney Tunes blind packs will be officially available April 26, though like usual they’ve been starting to pop up in retail stores for a little while already. To help you get the full crew of ‘toons, we’ve compiled a handy Feel Guide that contains all the info you need to get started.

LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71030 Looney Tunes are available starting April 26 for US $4.99 | CAN $4.99 | UK £3.49. They may also be available from third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay. In the US and Canada you can also buy a pack of six, though it doesn’t appear that LEGO guarantees each character will be unique: US $29.94 | CAN $29.99.

Click to see the Feel Guide

An artistic stretch of buildings dedicated to the arts

Microscale buildings can be a challenge to design, but Luis Peña knows just how to make them sizzle. Inspired by the architectural work of Santiago Calatrava and Oscar Niemeyer, the custom buildings in Opera and Museum are filled with unusual elements and a ton of class. My favorite touches are the Mysterio Helmet orb/sculpture, and the Web-effect railings on the bridge. The curves from the balloon panels create a great sense of motion for the scene, too.

If tiny buildings are your thing, take a stroll through our archives for even more compact goodness.

Colorful Medieval Market

Yet again, Brickleas draws inspiration from the blue large figure shield holder. This time the result is a lovely medieval market. There are a lot of LEGO parts used in interesting ways in this creation, including many used as decorative woodwork — the wand, bucket handle and the ninja helmet horn elaborate to name a few. Over the years LEGO has released quite a few ‘wooden’ containers. Brickleas uses quite a few of them in their market stalls. We can spot the crate, box, half, small and large barrel and the flowerpot. Their uses aren’t notably creative — they are, after all, containers used as containers — but the diversity helps to create a disheveled atmosphere I associate with markets. The best thing about this creation has to be the depth the picture has due to the framing, thanks to the tunnel/gate walls on the left and right of the picture. The buildings overlap, and the addition of a microscale castle in the background adds further depth. The flooring deserves a quick mention, and you can tell this is a rich city/town thanks to the abundance of goats.

Didn’t get a Ulysses? Build your own! [Instructions]

If you were looking forward to the LEGO Ulysses Space Probe set, but like the majority of fans didn’t get one when they sold out in mere minutes, you can do what Jonas Kramm did and build your own design that’s even better than the official one! This gorgeous model has significantly more detail than the official one, and employs drum lacquer gold elements instead of yellow, which really amps up the coolness and accuracy.

And when I say that you can do what Jonas did, I really meant it. Jonas has provided free instructions for his design.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for April 24, 2021

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the fourth week of April 2021.

May the 4th will soon be upon us and LEGO has revealed a UCS style R2-D2 model! Keep reading our Brick Report for all the details.

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: This week we reviewed the May 4th Star Wars GWP, sat down for a chat with the designers of the Winnie the Pooh set, saw the inevitable arrival of Luigi and more!

New LEGO Super Mario starter set featuring Luigi revealed online. – It’s-a Me, Luigi! Here is the first picture of the new LEGO Super Mario starter course — featuring Luigi!
LEGO Star Wars 40451 Tatooine Homestead: GWP for 2021 May the Fourth weekend [Review] – We’ve got our hands on LEGO’s free promo kit for May the Fourth, and it’s an absolutely adorable little scene of droid haggling.
LEGO Star Wars reveals 75308 R2-D2, a 2,300-piece UCS-style model to celebrate Lucasfilm’s 50th [News] – LEGO has just officially revealed the biggest R2-D2 ever, with over 2,300-pieces!
Exploring the Hundred Acre Woods: An interview with fan designer Ben Alder and the design team behind LEGO Ideas 21326 Winnie the Pooh [Feature] – We recently had an opportunity to participate in a roundtable interview with both the fan creator Ben Alder and the LEGO design team who brought his idea to life.

OTHER NEWS: There were quite a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:

Top of Mind with Julie Rose: LEGO Theft, BYU Radio – TBB’s own Chris Malloy sits down for a talk about an influx of LEGO theft in Europe
Get a collection of 7 Lego games worth over $200 for just $10, CNET – Humble Bundle is at it again with a fun collection of games that includes Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Premium Edition.
NINJAGO – Ten Years of Spinjitzu: A Documentary, YouTube – On January 14th, 2011, LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu aired its first ever episode. Today, nearly a full decade later, four day-one Ninjago fans come together to create an official documentary, telling the tale of Ninjago’s 10-year journey.

Double tensegrity means double the balance

Spring and fall. Life and death – and the cycle of rebirth. Always and forever Mother Nature will maintain a balance. This subtle yet beautiful LEGO tensegrity sculpture by TBB alum Nannan Zhang is a metaphor for that truth. Most of the sculptures we see have a single 2-chain/string feature. This one employs another chain to give it two distinct sides, like a scale. While it’s done very well here, you can also imagine a plethora of other possibilities for the technique. It’s probably unintentional, but knowing this accentuates the metaphor even more. Give that one a good think!

These builds were a huge hit this past year amongst builders. Take a moment to look back on all of the tensegrity creations we’ve featured, include one that is 3-tiered! Also, while you’re at it, you can check out Nannan’s other models.

A peacekeeping mech that makes us smile

Usually when we show you a mech we go on to talk about the guns and other armament the mech has. But today we have a LEGO creation by Abraham Calderon called S.M.I.L.E. which stands for Strategic Machine Intelligence Loaded Exosuit. While well-built mechs can often make us smile it is a rare occasion when a mech smiles back. But here we are. Abraham tells us this is an AI assisted piloted mech designed for peacekeeping operations. Being former military myself I know that “peacekeeping operations” can sometimes be a euphemism for “lots of guns”. Funny how that works out! Still, I like to presume that this is a cuddly, fun-loving mech who just wants to hang out and maybe have some pizza. If you care to hang out for awhile, check out some of these other awesome mechs we’ve featured lately.

Fun fact: You don’t need a body to drive a car

Sometimes, it can be difficult to build LEGO cars that look the right size for a minifigure, while also fitting a minifigure inside. Calin solves this problem by doing away with the figures completely from the neck down! By cutting out most the bodies of the driver and passenger, the car can be properly scaled and slender. While remaining this compact at minifigure scale, the parts usage can get quite interesting. On one hand, I love the grille brick used as the car’s grille. On the other hand, I also love how in some places, 1×2 tiles have been replaced by ingots, offering that extra level of detail that really bring this car to life.