If it was tricky enough to put together a shortlist of the best LEGO creations of 2020, but narrowing it down to a single “best model” proved even harder. Every model on the shortlist was excellent, and there was much debate amongst the team. However, after a great deal of discussion, The Brothers Brick is delighted to announce Koen Zwanenburg‘s Tutankhamun Mask as our LEGO Creation of the Year 2020.
Click to see more photos of the LEGO Creation of the Year 2020
As a child I literally dreamed of having a remote control LEGO car. I’m not an experienced Technic builder, though, and the LEGO electronics I had in the eighties weren’t up to the job. So actually making this happen took a long time.
I had to combine different systems for adding electrical functions to LEGO models, but now I’ve finally done it. My new Dutch National Police Volkswagen Transporter drives and steers using IR remote control. It also has a working siren and lights. Nonetheless, it has opening doors and an interior, so it looks just like any of the other vehicles I’ve been building for years.
The second season of The Mandalorian just wrapped up a couple weeks ago on Disney+, and LEGO continues to drip-feed LEGO Star Wars sets based on scenes from the show. Hitting stores on January 1st, 2021, 75299 Trouble on Tatooine provides a fairly low-cost (US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £27.99), spoiler-free way to pick up Mando and the Child in minifig form, with a few key pieces of equipment and scenery from season 2.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick 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 75299 Trouble on Tatooine from Disney’s The Mandalorian
There’s something just completely tranquil about the sight of koi carp. Location probably has something to do with it because they regularly are featured in serene garden landscapes. Ian Hou does these beautiful fish justice with this new LEGO creation. I can just hear the bubbling water and imagine these graceful koi feeding on fish pellets. The stylistic waves as a stand offer just enough visual cues to make this a truly lovely project. This is a welcome moment of zen to finish out a rather tumultuous year. If this is totally your jam then you should check out some other fish in our archives.
We revealed earlier today the new Botanical Collection series from LEGO with in-depth reviews featuring the LEGO Creator 10280 Flower Bouquet and LEGO Creator 10281 LEGO Bonsai Tree. Behind each of these creations are the unique challenges for organic building, which can be a feat especially working with hard edges inherent from LEGO bricks. We take a look behind the scenes of both the sets from the LEGO designer’s lens with the video showcase.
Anderson Grubb a Senior LEGO Designer and LEGO Apprentice Adstrid Sundorf Christensen share their inspiration and journey in creation for the LEGO Flower Bouquet.
LEGO designer Nicolas Vás and Carl Merriam, Senior LEGO Designer speaks about their insights on the Bonsai Tree and thoughts around how the final evolution of the product came to be.
If you’re not that into this new LEGO creation by Corvus Auriac then here are some cute doggies for you. However, you know how some people have a tennis ball hanging in their garage that indicates that sweet spot to park your car? Well, in my household that aforementioned tennis ball is a severed doll’s head because, as it turns out, I’m one of those people. So, you can come to the logical conclusion that I’d be way into this. And if you’re even just a bit like me (you know who you are!) you’re probably way into it too. Corvus calls it Heart Artifact. This builder tends to like things on the creepy side, which is just the thing to make my dark heart go pitter-patter. If you’re like me you should still also check out the cute doggies though because even dark and brooding weirdos love puppies.
In LEGO’s pursuit of older fans, the toy manufacturer has overhauled their adult product strategy, resulting in an immediate expansion of adult-focused sets. One of the ways this has manifested is an attempt to bring in new adult buyers with sets focusing on non-traditional subjects that might fit better into a grown-up decor. Enter the LEGO Botanical Collection, first announced last month, which includes two sets designed to seamlessly blend into a modern aesthetic with models that will look equally at home on your desk or in your den. Earlier today we looked at the beautiful 10281 Bonsai Tree, and now we’re turning our eye on 10280 Flower Bouquet, which as the name implies, constructs a variety of life-size flowers meant for display rather than for play (vase not included). The set contains 756 pieces and will retail for US $49.99 | CAN $TBD | UK £44.99 and is available starting Jan. 1.
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 our full, hands-on review
LEGO has a bit of an unwarranted reputation among the general public as a medium that doesn’t lend itself easily to organic shapes. Hobbyist LEGO builders have been disabusing others of this misperception for many years by sharing LEGO builds inspired by the natural world. LEGO’s in-house designers are certainly capable of creating official LEGO sets full of flora and fauna, as LEGO designer Nicolas Vás proves with the new 10281 Bonsai Tree from the new Botanical Collection. The set includes 878 pieces and will be available on January 1st, 2021 (US $49.99 | CAN $TBD | UK £44.99).
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 10281 Bonsai Tree
Stop for a moment and listen. Can you hear the whole world signing with relief as we say goodbye to 2020? There are so many things we want to be different in 2021, but probably it’s not about my bedroom, which I have to stay in since March. Changing the scene now is almost impossible unless you join Jonas Kramm and his fabulous vignettes. Earlier this year, he shared a wonderful collection of interiors, and now one more room joins the company.
As usual, Jonas is at his best when mixing elements from different themes and eras. For instance, an old fence piece from Fabuland is used as a footboard for the bed. The whole build is a wonderful collection of ideas waiting to be borrowed by numerous fan builders.
You don’t have to be hip on the Final Fantasy games and/or Irish mythology to appreciate this new LEGO render by Daniel Vermeir called Mag Mell’s Gatehouse. A moment ago, I was hip to neither, but you’d be surprised how a little Googling can save and/or destroy your journalistic integrity. In the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series Mag Mell is home to carbuncles, creatures that live for thousands of years and have extensive knowledge of the world around them. But according to Irish mythology, Mag Mell was a pleasurable heathen’s paradise that can be reached only through death and glory. It’s sort of like Plato’s Retreat except with fewer stains on the shag carpeting. Regardless of where this creation takes inspiration from, I really love its eerie, dilapidated watery goodness.
Can you believe that Ninjago has been around for ten years? That’s a lot of Spinjitzu under the bridge. It’s enough to make one feel just a bit nostalgic. Happily, the Ninjago Legacy theme lets fans revisit sets and events from previous seasons. LEGO Ninjago Legacy 71735 Tournament of Elements returns to season four with seven minifigures and an updated combat arena. This 283 piece set will be available starting January 1st for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £27.99. Is there enough here to be of interest the wider LEGO audience? Read on and judge for yourself!
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
Remember when your parents told you that there weren’t monsters under your bed, in your closet, or outside your window? Well, this LEGO build by Flickr user Brixe63 certainly paints a different picture. Not only are there monsters in this little brick-built room, but the room itself is also a monster!
The wallpaper for this room is built out of white and sand green plates and tiles. The monster window utilizes modified 1x1s and 1x2s with teeth pieces in white and red, depicting a bloody mouth fresh after a kill perhaps. Many dark green vine elements creep from the door or erupt through the walls and floor like tentacles looking for a fresh grab. There’s even a ghostly white minifigure hand reaching out from the little cabinet whose drawers are made out of brown bucket handles. The floor is made out of tiles laid on their sides not connecting to any studs, this is a good approach for this build as they can be arranged in a messier way in order to give the floor a lively appearance. This room is definitely a room out of a childhood nightmare, and I am glad I am not the poor minifigure lying in bed in terror.