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.

Not your average farmer’s market

No matter what day of the week it is, it’s always nice to go to the local farmer’s market. Not only are the food and goods top-notch, they also have a nice atmosphere. Not unlike Andrew Tate‘s village grocer, which has a charming house rather than tents and food stalls. No doubt the fruits and vegetables sold outside in crates are locally grown, given the small-town feel of the build. The ground floor has a small convenience shop, and the rest of the house must be where the owners live.

Andrew pays homage to a more famous LEGO grocer, a popular Modular Building set from 2008. The green and tan awning is similarly to the blue and white awning of the LEGO set, and both share the same white Fabuland lamp-posts. Andrew also references LEGO’s Winter Village series with this village grocer’s alpine architecture. It fits right in there, minus the cold and snow. Come to think of it, what’s Winter Village like when it’s not winter?

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Surfer bike pays homage to a pioneer in LEGO racing

As a 90’s kid, I have an unironic love for early 2000’s LEGO products. The classic trendsetters, Star Wars and Harry Potter are well-liked. Others, like Bionicle, may be questionable by some but have their niche following. And then there are Galidor and Jack Stone, which most of the LEGO community looks down on. I love it all since it shaped my childhood and adulthood, and I’m thankful that builders like Djokson feel the same way. His latest creation, Smog Ocean Surfer, looks like just an ordinary, colourful sci-fi bike and rider. It doesn’t have anything to do with the themes I mentioned, right? Maybe a reimagining of Roboriders? Or maybe it’s more obscure…

I hope I wasn’t the only one who recognised the blue and yellow colour scheme with the grey, monster-like, and cute rider. I’m surprised I remembered the long-forgotten Xalax racers… This build is a reimagining of 4567 Surfer, a set from the first wave of LEGO Racers back in 2001. These small Xalax racers were LEGO’s answer to Hotwheels and similar McDonald’s Happy Meal toys with their outlandish nature. With their element and weapon-themed colour schemes, They felt like a non-Technic successor to Roboriders. The pilots were small, goofy chibi monsters were head and shoulders, and the cars had a slammer system to launch them.

Some assembly required indeed

I was an avid model kit builder as a teenager and young adult. There’s one hobby that brought my model building days to an abrupt end and that involved the rediscovery of LEGO. Still, it’s neat to see a builder like Kale Frost illustrate the love for my old hobby with pieces from my newer one. The cutting mat, paint tubes, pencils, the Exacto blade, even the plastic parts on the sprue are all built from LEGO. With sanding, gluing, and painting there certainly were a lot of steps involved in building models. I still have a few kits in my art room closet. Perhaps this might inspire me to rediscover the hobby. If not, it at least provided fond memories of building models in the basement while listening to my parents’ Black Sabbath tapes. Yes, I said tapes! And Black Sabbath. And parents.

Spending quarantine in outer space

I think everyone can agree that when lockdown started last year, it was the best time to get out our LEGO bricks and start building. I mean, what better things are there to do? You might as well build something big like a spaceship! That’s what Italian builder Tommaso Ferrarese did, with his aptly named FR2020 Quarantine.

This spaceship consists of over 4000 pieces in Classic Space colours, and is suited for prolonged voyages in the distant reaches of space. The double large windscreen gives the two pilots plenty of social distancing room to spend a long time in isolation. The two massive engines have enough fuel to last… however long lockdown goes for. I certainly wouldn’t mind spending lockdown inside this ship, as long as I have some LEGO pieces to build with!

Check out some more spaceship creations that people built during lockdown!

We come from the land of ice and snow...

Back in 2005, LEGO came up with a stunning Vikings theme that captured our imaginations for years afterwards. I wish they would (ahem) revisit the line again (ahem). Are you listening, LEGO? I wish you’d revisit the Vikings line. (Cough, cough COUGH!) Pardon me, it must have been one of those dry prickles you get sometimes. Anyway, Ivan Martynov takes us back to a simpler time when I had other haircut options and the world seemed full of possibilities. This stunning Vikings-inspired Krakenveiðar creation looks like it would be fun to play with. That’s because it is a reimagining of a prototype of a set that never came to be. He even used the Vikings logo of yore. Care to have your minds blown? Check out the prototype. Care to have your minds blown again? Then check out the other times we totally freaked out over Ivan’s stuff.

A breath of fresh air. Sorry. I meant fire. A breath of fire.

Transparent LEGO elements are the best LEGO elements. Fight me. Or better yet, fight this amazing flaming dragon by Markus Rollbühler . Using only 64 bricks, this is one build that’s hot hot hot. The flame elements in the wings are easy to recognize, but there are also some more uncommon parts in there, too. Look close and you can spot a saw blade in the base, snakes, more snakes, and a minifigure flame headpiece.

This is an entry into the third round of this year’s RogueOlympics, a contest that challenges builders to stay under a 101 part count. We’ve seen a lot of really clever creations coming out of this competition, so check our archives for even more featured builds!

Top 5 LEGO excavator sets that could save the world economy right now [Feature]

With the global travel restrictions imposed worldwide right now, many of us are missing airplanes and trains more than ever. But instead of cherishing the day we can all enjoy international flights again, the whole world found itself discussing a completely different means of transportation — container ships. The poor giant, 1,300-foot-long ‘Ever Given’ with about 20,000 containers aboard, is stuck in the middle of the Suez Canal in Egypt.

It seems that there’s no force in this world capable of freeing the vessel, but here enters the tiny hero — the brave little excavator. Looking at the heartbreaking pictures, we can’t help thinking of sending help to the place of the accident. Thankfully, throughout the years, LEGO has released many awesome excavator models, which, we are sure, could solve the problem in no time. Let’s dig into archives and assemble the rescue team of LEGO construction machines to save the world.

Click here to see our top picks…

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for March 27, 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 March 2021.

We get up close and personal with Darth Vader himself with the new Star Wars bust! Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: This week we blasted off to space with reviews of three new Star Wars sets and the NASA Space Shuttle Discovery, got a look at the new Batman Cowl bust, saw the winner of LEGO’s space themed contest and more!

LEGO Star Wars 75306 Imperial Probe Droid [Review] – Rebel scum beware, the new Imperial Probe Droid is here! Check out our in-depth review of this menacing, many-armed monstrosity.
LEGO Star Wars Helmets Collection: 75304 Darth Vader and 75305 Scout Trooper [Review] – The latest wave of collectible Star Wars Helmets has arrived. We’re taking a close look at the newest helmets, the Scout Trooper and the long awaited Darth Vader.
LEGO officially unveils 75304 Darth Vader, 75305 Scout Trooper, and 75306 Imperial Probe Droid – See more official photos and an interview with the designers of the new spring 2021 LEGO Star Wars sets revealed earlier this week.

LEGO Creator Expert 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery launches with Hubble Telescope [Review] – We’ve got our hands on LEGO’s newest Creator Expert set, the massive NASA Space Shuttle Discovery and Hubble Space Telescope. Also, be sure to check out the official reveal and designer video.
First look at official pictures of the upcoming LEGO Super Heroes 76182 Batman Cowl – The first official pictures of the new LEGO Super Heroes 76182 Batman Cowl are here.
LEGO Ideas space-themed contest results announced – LEGO Ideas blog has just published the results of the most recent building competition.
Builder spotlight: Orion Pax and his pop culture extravaganza – Alex Jones has spent years churning out brilliant LEGO creations from various movies and TV series.

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:

Architectural Lessons of LEGO, ArchDaily – Architecture professor finds lessons in LEGO
11 Secrets of LEGO Designers, Mental Floss – “It’s unfair how cool this job is,” LEGO designer Mike Psiaki confirms to Mental Floss.

Time with a child is time well-spent

As a parent, I love spending time with my kids. Builder Felix Jaensch‘s “Orang-Utan with Child” creation is a beautiful tribute to those who play with LEGO with their kids.

There is so much that I love about this. Let’s start with colors: it’s incredible how accurate the orangutan is, with the parent having orange marking around the mouth and the child showing lighter colors. I’m equally stunned at the layering Felix did in replicating fur with bricks. It looks so real!

The tree itself is worth mentioning. Small color splotches help identify the tree as being in a weathered environment.

I hope to see more amazing builds like this from Felix this year!

Builder spotlight: Orion Pax and his pop culture extravaganza

LEGO builds of movies and TV are kind of a big deal. Everybody builds something from their favourite media, be it a character, vehicle, location, or a whole scene. Some people do it so consistency and with quality that their creations become icons in the community. This is where builder and LEGO Masters Germany contestant Alex Jones (Orion Pax) comes in. I recall seeing his numerous Transformers builds as early as ten years ago. Since then, he has graced us with a wide variety of wonderful vehicles from movies and TV shows. Not only that, he also built replica objects from the ’80s. And now, Alex shows them all off on his brand new website.

Click to see more of Alex’s builds!

First look at official pictures of the upcoming LEGO Super Heroes 76182 Batman Cowl [News]

Thanks to the US retailer Barnes and Noble, the official pictures of the newest LEGO Super Heroes set, 76182 Batman Cowl, are finally here. A 410-piece set, designed in the style and format similar to the recently announced 76199 Carnage bust, will retail for US $60. Regional prices and precise availability dates are yet to be confirmed, but we expect the set to go on sale as soon as late April.

Greek Revolution or bust!

Our readers of Greek descent can rejoice. Talented LEGO builder George Panteleon is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the 1821 Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire in style.
Theodoros Kolokotronis was a prominent military leader and one of the key figures of the Greek Revolution. Frankly, I had to Google him but once I did I had learned that George’s rendition is spot on! The mustache, long gray hair, and helmet are particularly inspiring but my favorite detail is the gold filigree on his jacket. He tackles the gentle slope of the shoulders; not an easy feat in LEGO. Even his epaulets accurately depict the gold lion crest that the real revolutionist wore. George is well-versed as a builder and no stranger to our pages. Check out our archives to see for yourself.