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.

Building trees with minifig antlers, Pt. 2: Branching out with Forestmen [Feature]

The last few years have been bountiful for fans of LEGO flora with new elements and recolors vastly expanding the range of plastic plant life. Maybe it’s nostalgia for the oak trees I grew up with on the Central Coast of California, or maybe it’s my love of noodling with the smallest of LEGO elements, but the plant piece I’ve been most excited about lately is the minifig antlers in green, which recently showed up on some pick-a-brick shops. In the first installment of this feature, I explored ways that this element could be used in microscale trees. For part 2, I’ll explore using the part on minifig scale MOCs. As it was the Forestmen sub-theme that launched my love of LEGO trees, what better place to apply this new part than on one of their iconic hideouts?

To jump-start the process, I’ve agreed to help my Forestmen friends remodel the Forest Hideout GWP. The set is itself a remake of the smallest Forestmen tree set, all of which feature a brick-built tree with a thick black trunk and stubby limbs reminiscent of an ancient English Oak (Perhaps one like this). The re-imagined set incorporates curved elements for the branches but sticks with the classic leaf elements, to match the style in the Lion Knights’ Castle. There’s something undeniably pleasing about the bendy trees next to rigid stone walls, but for my remake, I wanted to bring things a little closer to the look of an old oak. But first… we’re going to need a lot more leaves! 100 minifig antlers was barely enough for a micro-scale forest grove. By chance, a group of Black Falcons had just left Ye Olde Pick-a-Brick with a wagon full of antlers that my Forestmen friends were all too happy to liberate.

Grab a bow and join me and the Forestmen for a grand tree adventure

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This Week in LEGO Bricks: Galactic Empire state of mind [Feature]

That’s no moon. It’s another Star Wars creation in LEGO! We’ve been noticing a lot of Star Wars builds lately, and so has our friend ABrickDreamer in the latest This Week in Bricks. Burned out on the Galactic Empire? How about a video on building the LEGO Roman Empire? There are a lot of great builds and articles covered this week, but my favorite has to be the Baoli of the Lotuses from akidandabrick. Thanks as always to ABrickDreamer for making it easy to catch the week’s highlights in one handy video.

Return of the Return of the Jedi movie poster- in LEGO

They don’t make movie posters the way they used to. Star Wars and cinema fans of a certain age may have fond memories for Drew Struzan’s hand-painted works of art depicting our favorite characters in breathtaking action sequences. LEGO Jedi Master Builders Les Foutch team up to bring the nostalgic feels to life with their rendition of the original Return of the Jedi poster. The side-by-side composition highlights their talent for the brick. Leia, Wicket the Ewok, Lando, Han, and Luke are all brick-built and nicely replicated within the composition. Darth Vader, flanked by TIE Fighters and X-Wings looms large and blended into the dark background; behind him resides the Death Star under construction. My favorite detail is the large four or five piece Jabba figure familiar to those of us who may own the Jabba’s Palace set. It gives us a feel for how large the poster actually is.

LEGO Icons 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire – A Long Expected Party [Review]

Whenever you read this review, it will not be late, nor early. This review, like a wizard, arrives exactly when it intends to. LEGO has returned to Middle Earth with a series of large diorama sets, and after exploring the formation of the Fellowship in Rivendell, and the second of The Two Towers at Barad-Dûr, we visit the beginning of the story: The Shire. This large hobbit hole is accompanied by accessories that set the scene of Bilbo’s farewell party, and the passing of the Ring to Frodo. LEGO Icons 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire contains 2017 pieces and 9 minifigures, and will be available April 2nd to LEGO Insiders (April 5th for everyone) for US $269.99 | CAN $349.99 | UK £229.99. Will you like it half as well as you should? Let’s pause for second breakfast…. ahhh, thats better. Now we’re ready to explore!

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 on for our full review!

Compact KTM X-Bow promises to get your heart racing

If you are unfamiliar with the Austrian auto manufacturer KTM, it may be because they primarily produce motorcycles. The KTM X-Bow (pronounced “crossbow”), expertly built here in LEGO by Nard Verbong, marks their entry into the road car market. The sporty little X-Bow GT2 has found its fans among connoisseurs, and was even invited to participate in the Bathurst 12-Hour endurance race, starting in 2022. This is one of those models where you aren’t sure how it’s holding together. This is Nard’s second iteration of the ultra-light sportscar. Extra credit to the builder for pressing to remove any studs in this updated version.

Making Primo builds from the most unlikely components [Building Techniques]

From Galidor to Clikits, LEGO has released products over the years that defy use in standard models due to a lack of connection points, unconventional materials, or bespoke colors. While most builders ignore these misfit toys, some, like Nathan Don (Woomy World) take it as a challenge to make even the most oddball LEGO piece shine. Case in point, this Hard-shelled Hen, which is an unusually large creation for using only 96 parts. That head? It comes from LEGO’s Primo line for the littlest “builders.” The beast’s shell is an upscaled hard hat, another pre-school toy never intended for actual construction. The neck and legs are DUPLO tubes, which we’ve definitely seen in some sophisticated MOCs lately. Only two studs are visible in this most unLEGOlike creation on the red arch around the neck. So how does this beast come together? As Nathan shares on his blog, there’s a skeleton of ball joints, Technic axles, flex tubes, and Vidyo straps, with rubber tires for fiction. When life give’s you LEGO hen’s teeth, make a hen monstrosity!

Pirate the galaxy in style with the Typhoon and Tarantula starships

Official Star Wars media runs the gamut from abysmal to sublime, but the best Star Wars stories will always be the ones that exist in our heads. Perhaps no other fictional universe has spawned as many fan works where foundational canon serves as a launchpad for creativity. In the LEGO community, RPGs like Star Wars: Factions are collaborative playgrounds for stories told with visual accompaniment in the form of original builds. Sentinel_Brix is one of the more prolific members of that community, leaning heavily into the “opera” side of space opera with a complex serial story with a sprawling cast. One of the builder’s latest arcs features pirates and includes original designs for a galleon and starfighter.

Per the builder’s lore, the DY-76 “Typhoon” is a starfighter from the Clone Wars era built by Koensayr Manufacturing. If the vessel’s cockpit looks familiar, it’s because it comes from the same company the made the Y-Wing. I especially like the biplane wing design and the color details in sand red and light blue.

Read on to learn more about Sentinel_Brix’s Star Wars pirate faction

Check out this superb sculpture of Star Wars’ modern-day superstar

Ahsoka seems to be in everything these days. She first appeared in the Clone Wars, and has since popped up in Rebels, the Mandalorian, the Book of Boba Fett, her eponymous live-action series… And now, thanks to Daniel Jackson, she’s in our LEGO feeds! It’s certainly a welcome appearance, as this bust is wonderfully sculpted. There’s great use of texture (the studs of her cloak contrasting with the smooth texture of her skin), and some choice part use (the dark blue cones are the perfect part for the tip of the montrals). But the star of the show is surely the patterns on the Togruta’s face. It’s deceptively simple, being achieved mostly thanks to layers of wedge plates. But man, it looks so good!

“No... Your father, I am”

Now, my memory is not what it used to be. Heck, only last week I found a LEGO set I forgot that I stashed in the bathroom (don’t ask). And although I recall Yoda, Dagobah, and “I am your father” from The Empire Strikes Back, I’m not sure Grogu was there… But ABrickDreamer (whom you may recognize from our This Week in Bricks features) has recreated this scene from the movie, and there Grogu is, so I must be misremembering. How did no-one pick up on that at the time? He’s even called Baby Yoda! Come to think of it, wasn’t there a Mandalorian in that movie, too…?

LEGO takes us back to the start of Frodo’s journey with LEGO Icons 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire [News]

With LEGO going back to the world of Lord of the Rings in 2023 with LEGO Icons 10316 The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell, we all knew it was a matter of time until we returned to the home of hobbit-kind. And next month, we’ll do just that with the 2,017-piece LEGO Icons 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire. Including everything from the first few chapters/minutes of Fellowship of the Ring, we see minifigures of Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, Merry, Pippin, Samwise, Rosie Cotton, and the Proudfoots… err, Proudfeet… set against Bilbo’s home and the trappings of his 111th birthday party. Set to release on April 2nd for LEGO Insiders (April 5th for everyone else), LEGO Icons 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire will come with a special gift-with-purchase when bought between release and the 8th: LEGO Icons 40761 Lord of the Rings: Sméagol & Déagol. Once available in stores, expect the new set to retail for US $269.99 | CAN $349.99 | UK £229.99.

LEGO Icons 10354 The Lord of the Rings: The Shire | 2,017 Pieces | Available April 2 for Insiders (April 5 for all) | US $269.99 | CAN $349.99 | UK £229.99

LEGO Icons 40761 The Lord of the Rings: Sméagol & Déagol | 181 Pieces | Available as GWP with 10354 until April 8 | US | CAN | UK

Here’s the press release on this new LotR set from LEGO:

Sean Astin Celebrates Middle-earth™ with LEGO Bricks!
New LEGO Icons Set Launches Alongside Exclusive Mini-Film
LONDON, UK (25th March, 2025) – Sean Astin, who portrayed Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, celebrates Middle-earth™ in a new collaboration with the LEGO Group. Astin stars in an exclusive mini-film celebrating the launch of the LEGO® Icons The Lord of the Rings: The Shire™ set, a stunning 2,017-piece diorama that captures the heart of Hobbiton™.
The mini-film, is more than just a recreation of The Lord of the Rings in LEGO bricks; it’s a tribute to the cinematic artistry of the trilogy. Echoing the iconic Osgiliath monologue and cross-cutting sequences that define the films, the mini-film features Sean Astin taking viewers on a personal tour through the set.
Created in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products, the breathtakingly detailed Shire set recreates the festive atmosphere of Bilbo Baggins’ eleventy-first birthday celebration. From Bilbo’s hobbit-hole, complete with its iconic round green door and richly appointed interior, to the nine included minifigures—Bilbo Baggins, Frodo, Mrs. Proudfoot, Farmer Proudfoot, Merry, Pippin, Rosie Cotton, Samwise Gamgee, and Gandalf the Grey—the set brings this iconic scene to life.
Interactive elements include being able to transform a burning letter into The One Ring and make Bilbo vanish with a turn of a dial or recreating the dragon firework scene with interchangeable heads for Merry and Pippin. The set also includes Gandalf’s horse and cart, fireworks, a firework dragon figure, the Party Tree, a party pavilion, and Bilbo’s book, which can be displayed open or closed.
Sean Astin comments: “Not all those who wander are lost… especially when travelling through the astonishing detail of the Shire made out of LEGO bricks! From the smallest hobbit-hole to the grandest fireworks, building this set brought back so many fond memories of Middle-earth™. Now fans can journey there themselves and build their own adventures.”
A true collector’s item that completes the trilogy of sets, following previous Barad-dûr™ and Rivendell™ launches, the LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: The Shire set is a testament to the enduring power of friendship, adventure, and the magic of Middle-earth™.
The LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: The Shire set is available for LEGO Insiders from 2nd April 2025, and for all from 5th April via LEGO.com/TheShire and LEGO Stores, priced at €269.99/ £229.99/ $269.99 In addition, between 2nd – 8th April, shoppers that purchase the new set (10354) via LEGO Stores and LEGO.com will receive a LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: Sméagol™ & Déagol™ (18+) minibuild as a Gift with Purchase, while stocks last, T&C applies.

Age: 18+

Price: 269.99 EUR, 229.99 GBP, 269.00 USD

Pieces: 2,017 pieces

Product No.: 10354

Dimensions: W: 45cm, L: 27cm, H: 20cm

Available: LEGO Insiders 02.04.25 and 05.04.25 for All

Link: www.LEGO.com/TheShire

Pieter Post’s Prussian prisoner on the lam again

Back in 2021, historical LEGO train builder Pieter Post introduced Werner the Wegelagerer, the notorious highwayman who no prison train car could hold. Werner’s back for his next big break, this time escaping above a scenic canal where an unsuspecting boater is about to get a new passenger. Pieter made a few adjustments to the prison car for the latest build, adding new barred windows, swapping some stacked plates for SNOT tiles, and reworking the top. The bridge and barge are lovely, as are the brick-built swan and stork.

The Prussian police will no doubt capture Werner as they did before. Pieter captured that moment back in 2021 and it’s packed with fun sub-builds. Here, we see Pieter’s Grüne Minna paddy wagon pulled by a pair of horses, with some wonderfully intricate tack inspired by this design from the sorely missed karwik.

An all-digital pop star in two dimensions

Hatsune Miku is an interesting mascot – a virtual Japanese character with an entirely digital singing voice produced by the Yamaha Vocaloid line. And such an interesting, unique bit of pop culture deserves an equally-unique LEGO build of her likeness. Enter Mason Martin, with this gorgeous mosaic of Miku in hot pink and electric blue bricks. While this particular bit of art actually lacks the actual character, so much of her iconic style makes it instantly recognizable, from the light azure hair to the boxy headset. But Mason’s LEGO prowess reaches a crescendo with that glorious kanji above the mascot. It spells out her name, which translates to “First Sound Future,” a nod to the unprecedented nature of such a pop star.