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.

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the ruins?

Kayaking, canoeing, and boating of other types are pretty popular where I live. While Jesse van den Oetelaar’s LEGO model seems to portray a more medieval type scene, this build reminds me of a real life historic park not too far from me, where you can kayak on a creek amidst the ruins of an aqueduct.

Jesse’s minifigure character William Renou paddles a brick-built sail boat which utilizes many small brown elements, notably many tiles of various sizes for the body of the boat while the sail mast utilizes multiple brown 1×1 round bricks. The water in this model is rendered with white trans-clear tiles, which is a bit different from most builds I have seen which tend to make use of trans-clear elements in various shades of blue. The white trans-clear elements are a good choice and they work well with the mostly grey color-scheme of the architecture.

The aqueduct ruins mostly make use of 1×2 brick elements, slopes, tiles, light green tree limb elements, and various other light grey pieces. I especially appreciate the cattails that are fashioned out of tan technic pins attached to brown sticks which were then stuck into the holes of tree limb elements. While the fantasy vibe is evident throughout this work, the vignette is still quite relatable in real and present moments as well.

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LEGO Technic 42123 McLaren Senna GTR [Review]

McLaren Senna is one of the most advanced track vehicles designed and manufactured by McLaren so far. They say, only 75 copies of the car will be built, so if you missed a chance to get one, LEGO has something for you. The new LEGO Technic 42123 McLaren Senna GTR is yet another licensed LEGO Technic set, joining the winter wave of sets along with 42122 Jeep Wrangler and 42125 Ferrari 488 GTE. The 830-piece building set offers a 1:15 replica of the world-famous supercar. It will be available from January 1, 2021, for US $49.99 | CAN $69.99 | UK £44.99.

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The Coveted Mythosaur Skull Pendant

We all saw the child sporting a very fashionable Mythosaur skull necklace in season one of The Mandalorian (no season two spoilers here). If you can’t find one of these beauties online why not build one for yourself like Luis Peña García has out of LEGO elements?

Peña crafts his LEGO version of the pendant using a menagerie of light grey elements, small black plates in various sizes, and a couple pieces in flat silver. In order to give the skull form, Peña mainly utilizes the light grey slopes and tiles in various shapes and sizes while the black plates that the grey pieces are assembled on serve as the negative space creating eye and nose sockets. Peña most cleverly uses a few binocular pieces in grey for the teeth of the fictional creature. Overall this build is spot on in its depiction of the Mythosaur skull pendant, wear one of these babies and the Mandalorians will know that you are legit!

Tiny and tossed about

Here’s a little diorama that captures what it must have felt like to be a sailor during the Age of Exploration. Ferdinand Magellan’s ship Victoria was the first vessel to circumnavigate the globe, and it was a mere 69 feet long. No doubt rounding the horn in a ship that small must have felt a bit like aboard the ship in TonyFlow76‘s little kinetic sculpture.

Using trans-blue garage doors pieces to simulate the undulating sea, a tiny ship is held in place while it rides up and down the massive swells.

Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’. Keep them doggies rollin’.

Classic Space the Next Generation returns in the AT-TCC – All Terrain Troop and Cargo Crawler by Boba-1980. The color and shapes of this fan theme harken back to the days of Mars Mission, but the with all the upgrades you expect from a sequel. I really enjoy the utility of this vehicle – the tires and treads should take you just about anywhere you need to go. There’s room for six passengers, and there’s plenty of cargo space in the two removable pods. My favorite feature, though, is the clever nose design made from two 6×10 windscreens.

Even if the orange and black of CS.NextGen isn’t for you, there’s a chance you’d be interested in the blue and yellow of Neo-Classic Space. There’s room for everyone out in the vastness of the universe, after all.

Will budget cutbacks lead to more small-scale warfare?

The governments of the world spend a lot of money on military hardware. Maybe they should look to Aaron Newman for ways to save some funds. I mean, LEGO is expensive, but it’s not THAT expensive. And these micro-machines look pretty capable to me. Aaron has shared three quality builds, each with clever scale reductions. Standout details include the guns on the battleship made from modified 1×1 round plate, the curved sand-green slopes on the wings of the plane, and the modified cone in the tank’s barrel. If you’d like to build your own, Aaron has made the instructions available for free.

LEGO may not produce official military sets, but that hasn’t stopped the fan community from building their own. Our military archives feature some great builds ranging from the historic to the fantastic. (As well as reviewing the sets that LEGO sort-of-but-not-quite let slip through the cracks.)

Back to the future, sort of.

Usually when LEGO fans think of Vic Vipers, they think of NoVVember – but this new design by The Brick Artisan shows that a good theme isn’t confined to a singe month. The LL-551 Viper is full of sweet sci-fi details like twin laser cannons and integrated shielding. On the building side of things, there are all sorts of clever choices like using minifigure metal detectors as part of the hull. There’s also a wealth of quality greebling and great details like using the gap between arched bricks to house some tubing. This is one sweet ride that can help carry us over until next November.

The colors and logos also identify the LL-551 as part of the NeoClassic Space theme. Isn’t it nice when the future is clearly such a bright and shining place?

Take your pick, they’re all fantastic!

Sometimes you don’t need a metric heap-ton of LEGO bricks to build something truly fantastic. František Hajdekr is consistently quite good at achieving amazing detail with just a handful of parts. Here are four great vehicles that are just about the right size to compete with your favorite Hotwheels or Matchbox cars. I’m smitten. How about you?

The most adorable puppies in the world

Having a bad day? Thoughts of a global pandemic got you down? Just stop right there and look at the pure joy that is Aaron Newman‘s LEGO creation.

OH MY GOODNESS. They’re adorable! The little noses and teeny eyes longingly looking into my soul makes me melt with happiness. How can you say no when one of them begs for a treat?

Ok, time to be serious. Aaron says he made the doggies as a commission project. He tried to build them on a 1:1 scale, but decided he could do better if the scale was 1:2. It took a long time to get the right look for the eyes, ears and collars, but he’s very proud of the final result.

So are we, Aaron! Thank you for sharing this incredibly heart-warming build with us.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for December 26, 2020

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 December 2020.

We review the Transfiguration class from the upcoming Hogwarts Moments sets. Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: This week we returned to Hogwarts for a Transfiguration lesson from Professor McGonagall and we have our shortlist together for our annual Brothers Brick Creation of the Year!

Shortlist announced for The Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2020 – Take a look at the best LEGO creations from 2020 in the Shortlist for The Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year.
LEGO Harry Potter 76382 Hogwarts Moment: Transfiguration Class [Review] – Missed the last transfiguration class? No worries! Join our review of Professor McGonagall’s course as seen in LEGO Harry Potter 76382 Hogwarts Moment: Transfiguration Class set

TBB ADVENT CALENDAR REVIEWS: Happy holidays to all of our fellow LEGO builders! As is tradition, we at The Brothers Brick will be opening our advent calendars as we count down to Christmas. We’ll also be sharing commentary on each one, which will be both insightful and hilarious!

2020 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 19

2020 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 20

2020 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 21

2020 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 22

2020 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 23

2020 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 24

2020 LEGO Advent Calendars, Day 25

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:

I Desperately Need This Lego Machine That Measures Presents and Perfectly Cuts Wrapping Paper to Size, Gizmodo – As enjoyable as the holidays are, there are parts that you’re happy to be done with—like wrapping presents.
15 Easter Eggs to find in the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special, StarWars.com – The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special, now on Disney+, is a delightful romp through some of the greatest moments from a galaxy far, far away.

What’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold!

Dutch LEGO builder Koen Zwanenburg takes us back to 2002 (well, 1993, really) with this ice cool Mini Ice Planet 2002 diorama. All the great sets from the pivotal early nineties theme is represented here. We have the Blizzard Baron Ice-Sat V, the Deep Freeze Defender and finally Ice Station Odyssey. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any cooler, the whole shebang is built into a cohesive diorama reminiscant of the theme’s box art. It’s cooler than being cool and ice cold indeed! Here’s all the other times we were smitten by all things Ice Planet 2002.

LEGO Chinese Festival 80106 Story of Nian [Review]

In Chinese mythology, the Nian is a monster who emerges at the end of the year to terrorize villages. Luckily, it’s a cowardly beast. Red lanterns and robes, combined with a healthy dose of explosive fireworks, are enough to drive it away for another year. LEGO brings this myth to life in LEGO 80106 Story of Nian, part of their Chinese Spring Festival theme. This set was announced back in November at the 3rd China International Import Exhibition, and will be available to buy on January 10th, 2021. Containing 1067 pieces and retailing for US $79.99 | CAN $109.99 | UK £59.99, this set has six minifigures, a village playset, and the Nian itself. That sounds pretty cool, but can it appeal to a wide audience? Let’s take close look and see just what all the fuss is about!

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