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.

Bow before the mighty Lich King

Sometimes I look at something and think “Wow, that’s a really cool sculpture!” only to realize it’s actually made of LEGO. That was exactly my thought process when I saw Marcin Otreba’s Lich King Arthas from World of Warcraft. What I was first drawn to, oddly, was the base, and no way did I realize it was built out of my favourite plastic bricks.

Lich King Arthas ????????????

The way the wedge plates are stacked and the cascading effect of the trans medium blue textured wedges make it hard to believe that’s not actually carved out of ice and snow. Then you zoom and realize this thing is an absolute tutorial on parts usage. So many amazing combinations of sword or blade elements really displaying how even specialized LEGO pieces can be combined in unique and spectacular ways. There so many different textures too, my favourite being the claw pieces simulate the white fur on the boots, and the chains creating the mail on his abdomen. The skull on his shoulder ain’t too shabby either. Be sure to zoom in to notice all fantastic parts usages.

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TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 19, 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 third week of September 2020.

The massive Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina set has arrived. Will it scratch your Star Wars nostalgia itch? Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: This week we reviewed three new sets including Mos Eisley Cantina, Diagon Alley and the Brickheadz Nutcracker. Plus, we get news about LEGO’s efforts towards sustainability and more!

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:

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LEGO returns to Burton’s Batman with the 1989 Batwing (76161), a 2,300-piece collector set [News]

Just last year, LEGO brought fans one of the most iconic iterations of the Batmobile, the swooping, elegant design from Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman starring Michael Keaton in the titular role. The 1989 Batmobile (76139) was a big success and received rave reviews, including our own. Now LEGO is hoping to strike twice by returning to the same source material for another of Batman’s crazy rides. Revealed today, the new 1989 Batwing (76161) has 2,363 pieces and will retail for US $199.99 | UK £179.99 | EU €199.99 when it’s available for LEGO VIP members October 21. It will be available for everyone starting November 1, and will include three minifigures of Batman, The Joker, and the Boombox Goon.

Continue reading →

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LEGO Holiday set 40426 Seasonal Wreath [Review]

Have you heard? Winter is coming. That means it’s time to start thinking about festive decorations built out of LEGO! Let’s take a look at LEGO 40426 – a mysterious 510 piece set that will be released on October 1st. LEGO sent us a review copy, but didn’t provide any additional details, so we don’t yet know prices, or where exactly it’ll be available, or even the official set name. In the meantime, though, we can explore the parts, packaging, and multiple building options that this set has to offer. It sure looks like a wreath, but maybe it’s a Yuletide Frisbee or something.

Click to read the full hands-on review

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

The quintessential pit stop on the old town road

There’s a new build in town and it’s got it all! This LEGO saloon and hotel by Thomas Gion features plenty of interior details, cool techniques, and some sweet brick-built signage. We have “SALOON” in the classic Modular theme font and “HOTEL” in a distinctively Western-style serif font, complete with embellishing and everything. On the facade, the sideways log brick technique works wonders as wood-paneled walls. Thomas also has a water trough made of a translucent blue glass window. There’s also a water pump made of a crowbar and bar holder connection on top of a Technic connector spout. In addition to the neat details at the front of this build, it is fully furnished on the inside.

Old West Saloon & Hotel

The floors and walls are detachable for maximum playability. The angled saloon doors look perfectly integrated into the build even with the upper floor removed, with the help of some wedge plates and triangular tiles. A SNOT tile technique is used for the wall frames, creating a very clean-cut appearance. I’m also impressed by the level of detail crammed into the hotel rooms, including ceiling to floor curtains and a mounted deer head.

Old West Saloon & Hotel

Here is an up-close look of the saloon furnishing, though it’s not quite the same without the hustle and bustle of its daily customers.

Old West Saloon & Hotel

Feeling the itch to go on a road trip? Take a ride through our archives for some more Western-inspired builds!

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A little death (star)

Sure you can plunk down the monetary equivalent of a used Toyota and buy yourself the now-defunct LEGO 10143 Death Star II set. But who would you impress, really? Here at The Brothers Brick, you get more kudos and respect if you take matters into your own hands like Rui Miguel Anacleto did here. Even though it’s a wee little Death Star it is expertly constructed and well detailed. And it’s the perfect size and shape to turn it into an ornament for your Christmas tree. Now you have art and practicality all rolled into one. I’d like to see you try that with your 10143 LEGO set. If you do, let me know how that goes.

009

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

First contact

Bart de Dobbelaer never ceases to amaze me with his LEGO creations. Ever since his ‘The Life Aquatic With Clumsy Pete’ series, he has been making one astounding creation after another. First Contact is no exception to this. It features an out of this world landscape with a spaceship in a colour scheme that will send you on a trip down memory lane. The space crew is carefully conducting their work without noticing that their presence hasn’t gone unnoticed. Bart is a master at building alien creatures from obscure LEGO parts. He always manages to use the parts that I am never able to think of a good use for.

First Contact

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I’ve got the blues real bad

You’ve got to hand it to this mech for its commitment to that blue outfit. Is that how it works with mechs? They wake up one morning and sift through their wardrobe of sassy ensembles and decide…blue it is! Well, even if that’s not the way it is with mechs, you have to admire the craftsmanship of this LEGO creation by nobu_tary. Gundam fans would recognize this as the MS-07B Gouf, which I was already well aware of and definitely didn’t learn it from looking it up three minutes ago so don’t get that idea in your heads. This builder is on a roll lately with cool mechs. It turns out this mech has hundreds of friends you may want to check out, each with their own fabulous outfits.

GOUF

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Danger in the Shadows

From the early days of the Empire comes Hugo‘s LEGO creation of what truly can be described as “dark times.” Here, two Imperial clone troopers patrol a run-down street while dangers lurk in the shadows. This whole creation looks dirty, and that’s probably just the way Hugo wanted it. From the different shades of grey, brown and tan, the colors flow together to show the grit of the Star Wars universe, as well as the same colors that are shoved into the crevices of the building. Each brick looks like it naturally exists there. I also really like the use of red capes as the awnings on the walls. That’s a technique we don’t see often enough.

Dark Times RPG Target VII - The hidden blade (Ord Mantell)

The best part about this build is that it fills me with questions: what will happen next? Will the dark Duro figure get the jump on the troopers? Or will the Imperial assassin on the upper level strike first?

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Mars: Bringer of War...and also color coordination

I think I’m not alone in assuming, as a child, that we’d have Mars colonization by the time I was grown. Well, we haven’t even sent manned missions out there yet. But when we get there we’ll inevitably need to shoot stuff. Bob DeQuatre shows us what that could look like with this impressive LEGO Mars Corporation Ares Long-Range Artillery Platform. As you may know, Ares is the Greek god of war and Bob tells us this is Mars Corporation’s deadliest vehicle. He could have called it by its Roman mythological name but that would have been…uh…redundant.

Ares

Proving he’s no slouch, Bob also built this Hermes Mobile Command Center in the same striking red and white color scheme. Designed for long-range missions, this vehicle can hold up to six passengers as well as the driver and gunner. This makes sense considering Hermes was the ancient Greek god of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, animal husbandry, sleep, language, thieves,…and travel. Phew, that’s a lot of jobs! We can only assume all those other things are going on onboard as well.

Hermes

We’re kind of really into Bob’s stuff. Here’s the proof.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

LEGO Holiday BrickHeadz 40425 Nutcracker [Review]

Here in the U.S. and around the world, the end of the year brings a number of holidays and festivities, and under normal circumstances, a trip to the ballet to see The Nutcracker is a major holiday tradition. Well, in the midst of a global pandemic you will be able to bring a little bit of the Nutcracker home for the holidays. LEGO’s holiday BrickHeadz this year is 40425 Nutcracker. Although LEGO was able to send us an early review copy, we still don’t have the price, but we presume it will be $9.99 like other standalone BrickHeadz. It will be available starting October 1 and has 180 pieces.

Click to read the full hands-on review

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Black Family Tree Tapestry

The Black family had a tapestry depicting their family tree. Gayle Spiller managed to recreate the tapestry in LEGO and it is stunning! The magical artwork was made in the 13th century and contains family members from the Middle Ages all the way through to the present. It is located at 12 Grimmauld Place, which means it is currently owned by a certain mister Harry Potter who is not at all pictured on the tapestry. The Black family having been horrifyingly concerned with being purebloods, quite a few of the family members got disowned for various reasons; supporting Muggle rights or being a Squib. Walburga Black, Sirius Black’s mother, is presumably responsible for removing most of the disowned family members.

This incredible brick version really deserves a good zoom in. Gayle used the LEGO flag for the banners where the family members’ names are portrayed, and most of the hats are brick-built using all sorts of parts, from cones, to skirts to the ruff neckpiece. She even managed to include the Black family coat of arms. You can more find closeups on her Instagram.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.