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.

Here’s the skinny on this barber shop

Some people shave their heads and then shed a tear while gazing in the mirror because the option of having cool Johnny Depp hair has long since expired. Allegedly. Shut up, don’t judge. Other people, like Maxim Baybakov have better experiences with haircuts and visit the same barbershop for twenty years. He liked his local barbershop so much he has recreated it in LEGO. He tells us the balcony still haunts him to this day. Why? He doesn’t provide the answer but I can only presume it was an incident that involved a freshly coiffed haircut and someone dumping hot oil or a pot of soup or something. No matter why the balcony haunts him, admittedly, the build techniques are pretty stellar. The inset tan storefront, the roof, and the round window are also quite charming.

It’s not quite instructions, but this shot offers sort of an exploded view that illustrates some of the more clever techniques for this build. With a little time and patience, this balcony can haunt you as well.

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LEGO Star Wars helmets: 75274 TIE Pilot, 75276 Stormtrooper, & 75277 Boba Fett [Review]

Twenty-one years and around 700 sets after its inception, the LEGO Star Wars theme has done something new. It has introduced LEGO sets with an age rating of 18+. No, they’re not risque models of Princess Leia, merely display models clearly targeting adult collectors who want display items for their mantle. Few LEGO themes have embraced adult collectors the way the Star Wars line has. With the multi-generational, massive fanbase for Star Wars, this isn’t surprising, since now more than 40 years after the original film there are certainly more Star Wars fans over the age of 18 than under it. And this focus on adult fans isn’t new. Back in 2001, LEGO introduced the Ultimate Collector Series, kicking off not just with an X-wing and TIE Interceptor, but also an 1800-piece bust of Darth Maul. Now LEGO has introduced a trio of new mantle decorations in the form of three iconic helmets from the Star Wars universe:
75274 TIE Pilot Helmet | 724 pcs | US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99
75276 Stormtrooper Helmet | 647 pcs | US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99
75277 Boba Fett Helmet | 625 | US $59.99 | CAN $79.99 | UK £54.99

All three of the Star Wars helmets are available now, and run for the same price with around 600-700 pieces. So what makes these new sets worthy of an 18+ rating? Spoiler alert: nothing. However, that aside, let’s see how the sets stack up.

Click to read the full review

It ain’t much but it’s a couple of tractors

Designing scaled farming machinery is, in equal measure, fun and challenge. It’s all about sketching a neat chassis, adding just the right amount of grills and pipes to the engine’s exterior, and, of course, building a piece of farming equipment to attache to a tractor. Vladimir Drozd nailed all of these in his splendid designs. It is their clean yet very realistic exteriors that instantly caught my eye. With just a handful of curved slopes, Vladimir managed to create simple models without overloading them with way too complicated building solutions.

It’s so easy to spoil a great creation with an unsuitable exterior element, but I applaud the author’s decision to complete the red tractor with a couple of road signs.

If you can dream it, you can build it

I’m a die-hard Disney fan. Walt is one of my creative heroes — a constant source of inspiration — and the theme parks at DisneyWorld are some of my favourite places. The current lockdown situation has seen us have to cancel a family trip to Florida, and whilst there are obviously much more serious problems in the world than a missed holiday, I’ve been feeling a bit down about it. I decided to cheer myself up by attempting to recreate some Disney magic with LEGO bricks. Three years ago, I enjoyed putting together a microscale LEGO version of Cinderella’s Castle, so I decided to set myself the challenge of creating some other iconic theme park sights. In addition to a rebuild of the Magic Kingdom’s centrepiece castle, I took a crack at Spaceship Earth at Epcot, and the Chinese Theatre at Hollywood Studios. We’ll see where my microscale tour of central Florida takes me next, but I feel Animal Kingdom and Typhoon Lagoon beckoning…

Millennium Falcon concept smuggles its way into our hearts

Based off of Star Wars: The Art of Solo Andrew Miller’s slick Millenium Falcon variant zooms straight out of hyperspace and into LEGO. I have to admit I’m a huge sucker for concept art, and I hold a special affinity for any bit of Star Wars-that-could-have-been.

This black-and-grey version has very few similarities to the white-and-blue edition we got in Solo: A Star Wars Story (and as the Kessel Run Falcon LEGO set.) The small black winglets on either side of the hull are interesting, and I especially like the souped up engine cowling and much longer prow. The builder even worked in an removable escape pod not unlike what we got in the movie. I suppose explaining how this Falcon became the piece of junk we all originally met in A New Hope would have been just a tad more difficult.

Check out the art this is based on:

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for April 25, 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 April 2020.

We’ve got the info on all the upcoming summer LEGO Creator sets! Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS, FEATURES AND REVIEWS: This week we saw Universal and LEGO tie the knot (movie wise), learned about an update to the Powered-Up system, revealed the May 4th LEGO Star Wars Gift with Purchase and got touchy-feely with the new Collectable Minifigure set!

LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71027 Series 20 Feel Guide [Review] – Collectible Minifigures Series 20 is available now! Want to split a case with friends? We’ve got just the thing for you with this handy Feel Guide.
LEGO and Universal Pictures strike deal for new LEGO movies – LEGO and Universal Pictures will be making more LEGO Movies for the next 5 years, in a new deal that opens the way for movies based on both existing and new franchises.
It takes all sorts of sorts: LEGO organization and me, Chris Doyle [Feature] – Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle (@Whatevscj) takes us through his workspace and sorting strategy.
LEGO Powered Up update to the community – LEGO shares with the community a message on the Powered Up system and how they’ve been listening to the feedback.
LEGO Star Wars gift with purchase for May the Fourth revealed as 40407 Death Star II Battle – This exclusive LEGO Star Wars Death Star II Battle set will be available from LEGO May 1-4.
LEGO Creator Summer 2020 wave features a pirate ship, space rover and camper van – LEGO Pirates are making another comeback in these new Creator 3-in-1 sets coming this summer.

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:

Huge 3D-printed LEGO go-kart makes you the minifig, Hackaday – The LEGO Technic line is definitely the hacker’s flavor of LEGO.
NASA and Lego Host ‘Build a Planet’ Challenge, Smithsonian – The event was part of the company’s week of #LetsBuildTogether challenges
Some Good News (SGN) by John Krasinski, YouTube – Episode 4 starts off with a low-tech stop-motion LEGO opening.

A leg-endary burger

One of the first things I’m going to do when the lockdown comes to an end is head out for a decent burger. This LEGO model by Joe has got me in the mood for fast food. It was initially the “wooden” table which caught my eye in this creation — a nice combination of colours and parts evoking the feel of a cracked piece of timber. However, a closer look revealed something else notable — a plethora of minifigure leg parts used throughout the model. The burger patty, the lettuce, some of the fries, and the straw — all made with minifigure legs. Not sure leg meat is the best source of protein for a burger, but hey, if it tastes good, I’m in.

Magnificent Minas Tirith in Microscale

Minas Tirith, the White City, capital of Gondor, is one of the most recognizable locations from the Lord of the Rings series. From its many levels to the distinctive knife-edged stone dividing the city into two halves, and the massive rock face it was carved from. While it may be easy to recognize, it is not so easy to build, and Mountain Hobbit has done a masterful job of bringing this iconic city to life in microscale.

One of my favorite features is the gently curving outer wall, which features random studs, and an assortment of plates and tiles with some great offsets to give the wall a truly weathered look. The many subtly tinted slopes for roofs are a nice touch.

A castle so moving it’ll have you howling

Okay, let me start with a confession: I’ve never watched a Studio Ghibli film. I know, I know, that makes me a bad person. Someday I hope to reform my ways. But before you throw your rotten eggs and moldering cabbages at me, let me show you a cool build that is inspired by one of the movies, Howl’s Moving Castle. Built by First Order Lego for both the Style it Up contest and the Iron Forge, it is a sight to behold. The complicated details are lovingly depicted here, from the houses embedded in the sides to the many, many complicated-looking mechanical apparatuses on the back. Is that a rat as smoke? Yes, it is. And beards and hair, too. There are too many other fabulous parts usages in this thing for me to list, so be sure to zoom in on it yourself, but if you notice that there are lots of minifigure legs and hips about, that’s because it is the seed part for the Iron Forge, the open-to-all-comers qualifying competition for the Iron Builder. Maybe this entry will “walk away” with the coveted prize. Ha. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some movies to go watch <ducks a rotten cabbage>.

Are you a better person than me and love Studio Ghibli? Console yourself for my ignorance and look through this Spirited Away series of builds, or a Princess Mononoke or My Neighbor Totoro figure. Just please stop throwing those rotten tomatoes at me!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Come along and sing the song and join the jamboree! Mickey Mouse may have already celebrated his 90th birthday (Steamboat Willie premiered in November 1928) but there’s always time for LEGO cake.

Mickey and his birthday cake were sculpted by Californian Bill Vollbrecht, a former Master Model Builder and LEGOLAND park designer who clearly still has the magic touch, as Mickey exhibits all the character and detail known the world over, down to the buttons on his pants and shape of his eyes. There’s even a really neat and appropriate inky splotch base.

Bill also shared with us that the cake was imagined as one Goofy might have baked for Micky in Toontown: lopsided, multicolored and with candles askew.

Want to have your own Mickey adventures? Read our reviews of the Disney Train and Station and Steamboat Willie, both featuring Mickey minifigures and for sale now. If minifigs are too small, get instructions or inspiration from Build Better Bricks or Alanboar Cheung!

Let Aladdin take you on a magic carpet ride

It’s a whole new world of LEGO building when MSIndustries uses the plastic bricks to create this spectacular Aladdin model. I will admit to being a hardcore Disney fan so of course, my scrolling stopped upon seeing this image. I was immediately drawn to the nicely rendered characters and that wonderfully fluid magic carpet that seems to float in the air by magic.

The characters are full of life and interesting parts usage. The construction of Aladdin’s turban and Jasmine’s hair is particularly well done as well as their outfits. The Genie’s expression and pose are perfect and really give him a lot of personality. But for once, Genie isn’t the center of attention here. Its’ the magic carpet’s turn to shine. The patterning is beautiful and the undulation in its’ form is achieved using a combination of 10 x 10 LEGO nets, round 2×2 plates and bars. And that floating look? It’s not Photoshop trickery but in fact a practical effect.

Check out the magic that helps keep the carpet afloat

LEGO and Universal Pictures strike deal for new LEGO movies [News]

LEGO and Universal Pictures have announced a five-year exclusive agreement to develop, produce and distribute more movies based on LEGO licenses. This pact includes all the film rights for previously released titles, so we could see the next installment of franchises like The LEGO Movie as well as new additions to the LEGO film universe.

Previously, Warner Bros. via the Warner Animated Group had produced a total of four movies over a span of 6 years but made the decision by the end of December 2019 not to renew the license agreement with LEGO to make more big-screens titles. While the first LEGO movie was considered a box-office hit, and the total takings from the four movies combined grossed over $1.1 billion globally, individually the later titles (The LEGO Batman Movie, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part) did not bring in the same box office expectations. There was interest from Universal pictures with involvement in LEGO films following their work on the Jurassic Park LEGO miniseries, and now the two companies have finally closed on the agreement.

Here’s the press release from LEGO in full:

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA—April 23, 2020— Universal Pictures today announced that the studio has entered into a five-year exclusive agreement with the LEGO Group to develop, produce and distribute theatrical releases based on its intellectual property and original ideas. The announcement was made by Donna Langley, Chairman, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, and Jill Wilfert, Head of Entertainment, the LEGO Group.

Capitalizing on its timeless brand, the LEGO Group’s expansion into content creation with titles including The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie, The LEGO Ninjago Movie and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, has grossed nearly $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office. Universal and LEGO have previously collaborated on the television special, Jurassic World: The Secret Exhibit and the 13-episode mini-series LEGO Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar.

“The LEGO System in Play gives people the ability to build worlds and create stories that they carry throughout every phase of their lives,” said Langley. “To partner with such an iconic brand that remains relevant and is constantly evolving allows for creativity in storytelling. We’re thrilled to start building out the next chapter of LEGO movies together with Jill and the LEGO team as they continue to inspire curiosity and innovation.”

“Universal’s commitment to unique storytelling from diverse voices makes the Studio the perfect partner as the LEGO Group enters this new phase of filmmaking,” said Wilfert. “Donna and the entire Universal team bring a sense of wonder and imagination we share, and we can’t wait to execute on our shared vision.”

Wilfert will serve as producer on all LEGO projects developed and released by Universal. Rideback’s Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich will produce alongside Wilfert on the next LEGO-inspired feature. Lin produced all previous LEGO features.

The LEGO Group was represented in the deal by Ken Kleinberg and Jill Smith from Kleinberg, Lange, Cuddy and Carlo.