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.

Ice cold shenanigans at the Gotham Museum

We’ve seen several very impressive Batcaves over the years but poor Mr. Freeze has been largely thus far given the cold shoulder. Until now. Brothers Brick alumni Tim Lydy invests several months and an ungodly amount of LEGO bricks, both stock and custom, to give Mr. Freeze a fitting lair complete with about seventy individual LED lights. The exterior of the museum is quite impressive with its textured brickwork and massive Spartan statues flanking central Greek-style columns. The icy ornamentation along the top and the frozen tail to the right offers just a glimpse of what’s inside. Let’s take a tour, shall we?

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The icy halls of the frozen north

If there’s one word that encapsulates Jeff Friesen‘s LEGO models more than any other for me, it’s “clean.” His builds always seem to have every single piece precisely where it ought to be. And his latest one looks like it’s from a picture book of the ideal Viking winter world (unlike hellish purgatory of Valheim that’s all the rage right now). This microscale creation doesn’t have any obviously new or even unusually innovative techniques, and yet it’s absolutely splendid from the snowcapped peaks to the tiny longships. The village spreading across the slopes with their tiny mounds of snow on top, and the two giant waterwheels give this settlement a fairytale aspect that I can’t get enough of.

Jeff was the winner of The Brothers Brick 2017 Creation of the Year and it’s well worth checking out the other builds we featured in our archives: Jeff Friesen LEGO creations.

A black and white ride for the Red Planet

Here’s a fun fact: while here, on Earth, we often design our vehicles to merge with the environment, on Mars, the more attention your rover gets, the better. And since the planet is red, even black and white will do. Cole Blaq knows how to make a rover remarkable with an unusual cockpit structure while keeping the rest basic. It has just the right amount of detailing, with neat headlights in the front and very suitable stickers in the back. And why would you need more when your rover has rims like these?

Neptune, god of the sea

I must confess Alex’s creations leave me in awe. For his latest figure, he drew inspiration from the Roman gods, Neptune, to be precise. The construction of the head is beautiful. It always amazes me how Alex manages to create faces with so much expression out of LEGO bricks. The face of this figure isn’t the only standout feature of this creation. The best thing has to be the feeling of movement this creation has. The tentacles, hair, and beard all appear to be flowing as if they are underwater. My guess is the bionicle webbed fin armor is what started this creation. It is a perfect fit for an underwater god’s crown.

Load up and roll out

There’s always a ton of cool builds that show up in February thanks to various “Febrover” contests. This year was no different with Isaac Snyder’s (on Flickr as -soccerkid6) M-Tron rover and loading station.

First off, so many shields! It’s incredible to see so many of one piece used so well. The shield shape gives the base of this build a concrete look, very fitting for space-corporation LEGO design. I’m also a huge fan of the use of ladders as the frame. It feels like this whole build was taken right out of an industrial outpost controlled by M-Tron.

But the rover is the real star of the show. The wheels were installed backward so Isaac could use the grey disk as a detail effect, which is very clever. I totally dig the mini-crane on the back as well, with again a ladder being used, this time as the crane arm.

M-Tron should really make a comeback. If it does, I hope it looks like Isaac’s stuff!

Bring back my classic dinosaurs!

Back in 2000 LEGO released their first dinosaurs when Johnny Thunder went to Dino Island. Most dinosaurs weren’t very poseable, their only articulation points being the tail and head, just like the early crocodile and the classic dragon. The parts from these classic dino sets were the inspiration for Alex latest creation. He used the necks, tail pieces, flippers but most of all their heads. Apparently the mouth of the dinosaurs hold a mixel eye perfectly. Alex named them Jlorp and Schlorp and claims that every hero needs a good sidekick. So my question is, which one is the hero and which one is the sidekick?

Dorothea Williams is a saxophone player with soul

Disney/Pixar’s latest animated film Soul is about a music teacher with a secret passion for Jazz, who lands the opportunity of a lifetime, to play alongside his biggest inspiration, a Saxophone player named Dorothea Williams. Chi Hsin Wei has captured this unique character in LEGO perfectly, from her bountiful hairdo to her casual pose. She leans back on one foot while putting her heart and soul into her music. One of my favorite details is the red headband just above her forehead, and if you look closely, you can just see a hint of an earing peeking out from under her hair.

LEGO Ninjago 71745 Lloyd’s Jungle Chopper Bike [Review]

We’ve been sharing an early look at a number of sets based on the latest season of Ninjago. Today we tackle the smallest of the bunch, 71745 Lloyd’s Jungle Chopper Bike. This 183 piece set will be available March 1st from the LEGO Shop Online for US $19.99 | CAN $24.99 | UK £17.99. Is there enough here to be of interest to both Ninjago fans and the wider LEGO audiences? Come along as we take a close look!

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.

Click to read the full hands-on review

The complex simplicity of Plum blossoms

Sometimes a LEGO creation makes you blink twice before you realize it is actually made out of LEGO bricks. It doesn’t have to be a big creation with complex building techniques, sometimes it can be something quite simple like this spray of plum blossoms made by ZiO Chao. It showcases the blossoms of a plum tree in different stages. When I say simple, I don’t mean to say that this is by any means an easy build. After staring at this picture for over 15 minutes, I still can’t figure out how the five petal flowers are put together. Could the base of the flower be a dish or maybe a steering wheel?

LEGO 40450 Amelia Earheart Tribute gift with purchase set revealed [News]

Today we’re getting our first official, high-quality images of LEGO’s next tribute set, 40450 Amelia Earhart Tribute, by way of the Australian LEGO certified store. According to the Australian LEGO store, the set will be a free Gift with Purchase for customers who spend at least $199.99 AUD starting tomorrow, Feb. 22, until supplies are exhausted. There’s no word yet on the promotion details in other parts of the world. It follows on two previous tribute sets, 40291 Creative Personalities featuring Hans Christian Andersen, and 40410 Charles Dickens Tribute.

Among the most famous aviation pioneers, Amelia Earhart disappeared in 1937 on her trip to circumnavigate the globe flying a Lockheed Model 10-E Electra. However, the red aircraft portrayed in the LEGO set is the Lockheed Vega 5B that she flew solo across the Atlantic in 1932 and is now on display in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

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Doggocurrency, a great investment indeed

Stocks and cryptocurrency are hot topics these days. I know almost nothing about both but have been somewhat keeping up with the discussions of such in the news. Recently an alternative to bitcoin has been released – the “dogecoin,” which is a type of cryptocurrency featuring the hilariously cute face of the Shiba Inu dog from the “Doge” meme. Builder Julius von Brunk, presents a rich LEGO homage to this fun and new form of crypto.

This brick-built good boy is raking in some of the best coinage LEGO has to offer, including the original LEGO coin element and some pearl gold 1×1 and 2×2 tiles. Mr. Doge himself is fashioned out of many different kinds of slopes, bricks, and tiles in tan and white colors, with his adorable black nose rendered by a black technic ball joint. I’d say this model was well worth von Brunk’s time and efforts.

Me not Grimlock, me MechaGodzilla!

Mecha Godzilla is the best Godzilla who isn’t really Godzilla. Kelvin Low (chubbybots) shares an amazing take on this iconic monster, who seems ready to take on all comers. Described by the builder as “a fusion of King Gogulas from Zoids and Kiryu from Godzilla”, I can’t help but notice the color choices, too. Those remind me strongly of Nexo Knights, adding another fun layer of meta. I love those huge stompy feet and the central-check cockpit. It really is a thing of beauty.

Even better, there’s a video that lets you get an up-close and personal look at this creation!

There’s more Godzilla-related fun in our archives, too.