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.

This water isn’t the purist I’ve ever had

Not every LEGO creation has to be made exclusively with LEGO bricks. Of course, there are some whose radical purist dogmas forbid anything besides what was intended by The LEGO Group to be used in creations, but they are extremists. Many builders would say that cutting, gluing, or painting go too far, but most other things are okay. And some say that anything goes, as long as the end result looks cool. Now, I’m not sure where Inthert falls among these groups, but this creation transcends mere LEGO and becomes something different with the inclusion of a real-world spray bottle. It may not be the sword of Exact-Zero, or the Polish Remover of Nail, but its incorporation into the build is both genius and surprising.

It seems that Farmer Gary needs to water his field, and has come up with a novel way of distributing the necessary fluids. Will it work? Unlikely. But the build, built for MOC Wars 2020, is great. Check out that weather vane, for example, using an ice skate and a minifig hand. Or the grass, with sand green 1×1 clips. The variation in texture between the building, the path, and the vegetated areas works perfectly, displaying a keen eye for detail. If only Farmer Gary were so keen.

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Ce n’est pas un mème

René Magritte had something to say about the treachery of images. And the Matrix film series had a lot to say about the nature of reality. It looks like Timofey Tkachev has some thoughts on this matter, too. I mean, a picture of a LEGO sculpture of a scene from an imaginary world played by a real person? That’s some mind-bending stuff if you think about it enough. (Or maybe this self-isolation is just getting to me.) Regardless, this is one stunning bit of sculptural work. In The Choice, Timofey has once again built with an enviable level of photo-realism. I mean, just look at the shaping in those hands!

My favorite detail is the choice to replace the traditional red and blue pills with appropriately colored 2×4 LEGO bricks. Part of me wishes that one of them was a knock-off brand, though. Just for that added bit of snark.

A serene journey over the falls

LEGO builder Paul Vermeesch comes out of a year-long hiatus to deliver a beautiful scene inspired by the works of Aaron Becker. Becker illustrated three books known collectively as The Journey trilogy, filled with beautiful images but no words. The protagonist travels about a fantasy world armed with a piece of red chalk. With it, she creates various modes of transportation colored red which stand in stark contrast to the dream-like colors of the rest of the illustrations. Paul has captured the feeling of the books beautifully in LEGO, using a limited, earthy color palette and a single red canoe.

One of the things I love about this model is how open, airy and light the whole thing feels. Everything in the scene seems tall and spindly. The building is a fairly simple structure adorned with lovely architectural details including the green half dome at the top. The landscaping is a great combination of sideways building and interesting flora. The tall, thin mushrooms dot the landscape which features some really fantastic trees made from brown flex-tubes, 1×1 round bricks, and olive green leaves. I particularly like the detail of the flags strung up between them on the right.

I’ve seen a lot of treatments of waterfalls, but this one is a bit different. I love the choice to use smooth bricks for the water and the 1×2 clear plates as the foam. It’s a wonderful bit of contrast that adds to the illustrated quality of the piece. In keeping with Becker’s original style, the central focus is the red canoe. Aboard the boat, the sailor looks quite happy even as he’s reaching the edge of the falls. At least it’s not a long drop.

Before skateboarding and punk rock there was Krass and Bernie

LEGO builder Chris Vesque tells us that in a very specific time of his life, before skateboarding, before hip hop, before punk rock, before geeks and fandom…just a bit past Star Wars and Classic Space, there was Krass & Bernie. He goes on to say how CARtoons Magazine and the art of George Trosley captured his imagination and his funny bone. Krass and Bernie is a comic penned by Trosley about two car customizing enthusiasts who are short on good sense but long in creativity and ingenuity. Their misadventures often culminate in something as ridiculous and over-the-top as this dragster-beetle. The beefy tires, the blown V-8 and the Beetle that seems to defy gravity are the stuff that can only exist in CARtoon dreams. I’m smitten! Whether it be the screaming hand Santa Cruz skateboarding logo or the Beastie Boys License to Ill album cover we’ve been smitten with Chris’ counterculture LEGO stuff before.

Yes, you can take it with you

When you want your coffee “to go”, Breado’s Bricks has you covered. This compact LEGO brewer can fit in your pocket! I mean, you probably wouldn’t want to do that. But you could. That’s all I’m saying.

Like other offerings from this builder, there’s extensive use of custom silvered elements to bring a shine to things. But don’t overlook the “standard” LEGO elements in there, too. I like the use of the compass-print 1×1 tile (From the Collectible Minifigure Hiker) and the 1×1 round gauge tile as indicators.

My coffee orders tend to err on the side of “does that come in gallon jugs?” so maybe this isn’t an ideal size for my personal use. But it sure would free up some space in my kitchen.

Stunningly large microscale model of Burj Khalifa

At first glance, this LEGO model of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai could be mistaken for the official set… wait, who am I kidding? there’s no possible way you could confuse this incredible model by Rocco Buttliere for the LEGO set made with only 333 pieces.

There are so many great details that I’m not sure where to start. How about with the inner ring at the base of the model, which uses circular roller-coaster tracks to create a faceted plaza between all three spurs of the building.

Rocco also creates large trees that match the look of the tiny trees made from green flower parts.

Along with the many stunning architectural details like the symmetrical recessed circular gardens, and the gently curving buildings along the edge of the model and the multiple sloped and terraced plazas, the three tapering spurs capture the look of this iconic landmark beautifully.

LEGO unveils three buildable Star War helmets including a TIE Fighter Pilot, Stormtrooper and Boba Fett [News]

LEGO has unveiled three new buildable Star Wars helmets inspired by “epic villains” from a galaxy not too far away. Two of the helmets featuring a Stormtrooper and Boba Fett were made public last week, and today LEGO is revealing a third in the set featuring a sleek black TIE Fighter Pilot’s helmet.

The sets are intended for adult collectors with a recommended age of 18+ with dark, upscale box art reminiscent of LEGO’s Ultimate Collector’s Series (UCS) line Star Wars products. The sets contain anywhere from 625 to 724 pieces, though each is priced the same at US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99. The collectible helmets are available for preorders online in the US today (tomorrow for everywhere else), with delivery and general availability beginning April 19 ahead of the “May the Fourth” holiday.

Take a look at close-up photos of the new LEGO Star Wars buildable helmets

The entire world of Mario Kart just got shrunk by lightning

With the exciting news of the forthcoming LEGO and Nintendo Super Mario partnership, we should expect to see a bunch of LEGO creations imagining what some of the forthcoming sets might look like beyond those revealed in the press release. BenBuildsLego is off the starting grid early, with this wonderful idea — an Architecture-style line up of iconic tracks from the classic racing game Mario Kart 64. We’ve got six tracks, each immediately recognizable just from a tiny seven-brick-wide segment: Koopa Troopa Beach, Mario Raceway, Bowser’s Castle, Sherbet Land, Wario Stadium, and of course, Rainbow Road. If you didn’t start humming the tunes for each of those as you read through the list, are you even a real Mario fan?

A roving rover

It’s not clear whether LEGO builder Shannon Sproule‘s roving habitat is meant for use on a distant planet or the apocalyptic future of our own, but this repurposed APC looks like it’s seen it all. Shannon says it used to have a turret, but that’s now been replaced with a hab module and comms equipment. The vehicle is battered and worn, with Shannon doing a great job with the weathering thanks to introducing some brighter colors like dark orange and coral. The simple digital background also gives the presentation that sense of place, which goes a long way in telling the APC’s story.

LEGO Collectible Minifigure Series 20 official images revealed [News]

The Brothers Brick shared the actual in-person look at the upcoming Collectible Minifigures Series 20 celebrating the 10 Anniversary since the introduction in 2010 via the reveal at Toy Fair New York just weeks ago. Today we get to see the official product images released by The Minifigure Store (UK).

Click to see the full set of images

The very model of insanity

When considering the possible end of civilisation, it’s important to consider worst-case scenarios. However, I have to admit I’m baffled so many people appear to have decided the very worst thing that might happen in the coming weeks is that they run out of toilet paper. Gregory Coquelz appears to share my bemusement as he’s put together a LEGO version of an intrepid prepper — securing enough toilet rolls to see them through the coming sh__-storm (see what we did there?). Our heroic shopper has certainly stuffed his trolley to bursting point with the precious resource, although personally I might have grabbed at least a little food as well. Of course, the stockpiling of LEGO to get through any quarantine period would be a different matter entirely — an eminently sensible idea if you ask me.

OSHA would like a word

Some LEGO creations are great at telling a story. Take “Clunker” by Inthert, for example. The story here is: “Mining asteroids is a sucky, sucky job.” This scene of futuristic yet questionably maintained drilling equipment is full of great details and part usage. In particular, I’m enjoying the Minecraft-esque blocks that are being removed from the surface. I’m all for hyper-realism in LEGO creations, but when you can keep things “blocky” for a reason…well, it’s a nice treat.

A stand-out technique is the texture of the rock, created by layering lots of ball-socket plates. A more subtle, yet impressive, trick is the use of the firing pins from stud shooters braced diagonally in the underside of 1×1 plates. I hadn’t seen that one before. I shouldn’t be too shocked about that, though, as this build is part of the MOC Wars 2020 competition. You have to be as tough and skilled as these miners to survive that.