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.

LEGO Spider tank is out to ruin your day – Pew pew

In case you are wondering what is more terrifying than a spider big enough to step on you in the middle of the night, how about one that is also just as likely to pulverize you with its fists or punch a soda can-sized hole in your gut with its energy blaster thing. I’m talking about this imposing LEGO walking tank by Tino Poutiainen, which is appropriately named Mastadon.

The walking arsenal looks surprisingly nimble, and it can also call in some redundant reinforcements with its communication array, just to show off.

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A cottage among the leaves

LEGO is an art form. It requires precision placement of elements, meticulous thought, endless creativity, and a bold sense of the possibilities. Sure, you can build like a four-year-old, placing stuff willy-nilly and using any old color you please. You can also color on walls like a four-year-old, but that doesn’t take away from the frescoes of Raphael or Michelangelo. A build like this one by Marcel V. illustrates my point. There is a balance of composition, the cohesion of form, careful use of colors, and especially crisp photography. This is no child’s toy anymore.

This is not the first time I have written about a treehouse by Marcel, but this one has glorious limbs and even more glorious little rooms. The cheese slope roof looks great, and if you look close, every potted plant is constructed and attached differently. Don’t miss the book as a little roof over the door, too. My favorite detail might be the small table at the base of the tree, built of a combination of sorcery and twigs. The little pebbles arranged so carefully, stalks of grass, and even the soldiers posed loose give the build a much larger feel while still exhibiting a mastery of brick composition. After all, LEGO is an art form.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for February 1, 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 last week of January 2020.

Check out our rundown of all the new LEGO sets arriving this month. Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS, REVIEWS AND INSTRUCTIONS: This week we celebrated the 62nd Annual International LEGO Day, learned how to make our own mini pool table and piano, saw the announcement of some mysterious new Fast & Furious LEGO sets and explored our arts and crafts side with the announcement of LEGO Dots!

LEGO Dots revealed: New arts and crafts theme puts emoji tiles front and center – LEGO Dots have arrived with new tile-based crafting decoration kits and emoji booster packs.
Happy 62nd International LEGO Day from The Brothers Brick – Sixty-two years ago today, a patent application was submitted that changed our lives. Happy 62nd anniversary, LEGO!
LEGO announces new Fast & Furious license coming to Technic – LEGO announces that they’ll be producing sets based on the Fast & Furious movie franchise.
The next LEGO Technic premium set is a 1:8 Lamborghini supercar – Make sure you have a spare shelf for the next massive LEGO Technic set, a 1:8 Lamborghini supercar.
Your guide to the 12 new LEGO sets for February 2020, including BrickHeadz, Creator Expert, LEGO Ideas and more – We have your guide to all the new LEGO sets available now, including the International Space Station!
Tinkle the tiny ivories with this teeny piano [Instructions] – Build this cute upright piano along with Tiago Catarino.
Build your own minifig-scale LEGO pool table [Instructions] – Round out your LEGO lounge with this pool table and couch instructions by Tiago Catarino.

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:

Celebrate International LEGO Day with these record breaking structures Guinness World Records – We’re showing you some of the magnificent and over-the-top structures that have made it into the record books using tiny plastic bricks.
Chronicle Builds a List for Adult Fans of Lego, Publishers Weekly – Chronicle Books has secured the rights from the LEGO Group to release licensed books and stationery for adult fans of Lego
LEGO Rainbow Unicorn Sculpture Awes on Santa Monica Boulevard, WeHo Times – The sculpture is a promotion for the new Fox reality competition series LEGO MASTERS.
The LEGO Group wins final decisions in major intellectual property lawsuits against Lepin manufacturer in China, LEGO – The LEGO Group announced that it has received favorable final decisions against defendants of multiple intellectual property infringement cases in China.
How to Take Your LEGO Building to New Heights, According to Real-Life LEGO Masters, SyFy – How do you become a real-life LEGO Master? Skill. Practice. Failure. Obsession. Any questions?

TBB cover photo for February 2020: Taking in the sights

From the incredible detail to the creative forced perspective execution, this build from collaborative team Grant Davis, Eli Willsea, and Micah Beideman, does not disappoint. With every glance, you’ll notice something new (oooh, look at that AC unit and that awning made of 1×1 cones), which is one of the many reasons we chose it for our February cover photo. Read our original article to see how this trio used LEGO to bring a painting to life.

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then read the submission guidelines and submit your photo today. Photos that do not meet the submission guidelines will not be considered, and will be removed from the group.

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Keep your LEGO city clean with 60249 Street Sweeper [Review]

Year after year, the LEGO city keeps expanding with plenty of houses, modular buildings, vehicles and, of course, fire & police stations. All that development is bound to attract legions of minifigures — it’s only a matter of days before the plastic trash begins to pile up. To keep up with this issue, LEGO has released several garbage trucks over the years, but what happens when baseplate streets become filthy? You need a good street sweeper, but the last street sweeper to appear in LEGO City was carted around by a minifig 12 years ago. That’s a long time for discarded 1×1 plates to accumulate alongside the curb. The wait is over because LEGO is back to keep the brick-built highways clean with set 60249 Street Sweeper. The set consists of 89 pieces and is available now via the online LEGO shop for $9.99 USD | $13.99 CAD | £8.99 GBP

Does the LEGO Street Sweeper clean up well? Find out in our in-depth review!

Your guide to the 12 new LEGO sets for February 2020, including BrickHeadz, Creator Expert, LEGO Ideas and more [News]

A new month means new LEGO sets are now available, so here is your TBB New LEGO Set Guide for February 2020. There are 12 new items available (much less than the 153 sets from January!) including the Ideas International Space Station, Disney BrickHeadz, general availability for the Creator Expert Manchester United Stadium, and a few more.

Additionally, you can get the Hidden Side 40408 Drag Racer as a free gift with purchase with orders of US $45 | CAN $45 | UK £45 or more through Feb. 9th while supplies last.

See the entire February 2020 wave of new LEGO sets now available

Red looks good on more than just Ferraris

When I was a kid, I collected lots of Hot Wheels and Matchbox diecast cars. Somehow or other, among them all, I ended up with three red Lamborghini Countaches, all identical. I just had them out the other day, looking at them with my son, in fact, driving at insane speeds around the coffee table and eventually plunging over the edge in a fiery wreck. I also recently purchased the new Ferrari F8 Tributo, and noticed that the new windscreen looked a lot like the Hot Wheels Countach’s shape. It seems I am not the only one, as super car LEGO builder Jonathan Elliott used that very piece to create his own 7-stud wide take on the Countach LP400, and did it immeasurably better than I could have.

The signature triangular scoops in the sides are done perfectly, and the angular hood and body, which ushered in a new era of sharply angled supercars, replicate the original’s nearly spot on. I wish this version had the huge V-shaped wing on the back that later models (including my Hot Wheels) had to add control to the car at high speeds. Sure, the wing decreased the top speed a bit, but the car handled better with it when pushing its upper limits. But that’s minor. The 7-stud body is a nice compromise between the too-small 6-wide and the too-large 8-wide, too. I’m not sure if it fits a minifig, but does it have to when it looks this nice?

A History of LEGO Education, Part 2: Path to Mindstorms [Feature]

LEGO Education is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary! As a birthday gift, we are commemorating the occasion with a three-part history feature on this special division of the LEGO Group. Part 1 provided an overview of the history of LEGO education from the 1980s through 1990s, but we left out an important component of the story. Part 2 picks up where we left off, covering the beginnings of LEGO’s programmable robots in the classroom and at home. These were the precursors of LEGO Mindstorms!

Learn more about the prestigious lineage of LEGO robotics platforms released before LEGO Mindstorms

Practical magic

It’s a common practice to touch up LEGO images with a bit of post-production magic. Sometimes it’s knocking out a background that isn’t quite clean enough, or maybe it’s going the other direction and putting a galaxy behind your spaceship. There’s nothing inherently wrong with extending a build by giving things clarity or context. However, Marcel V. shows us that everything doesn’t always have to be “fixed in post”. Tearing apart is 100% LEGO, from the craggy landscape to the clouds on the horizon. And the photo itself is untouched, free from any editing.

The short focal length gives clarity to the foreground elements like the lone wanderer (and faithful canine companion), and adds an air of mystery to the objects in the distance. Are those vines (constructed from 1×1 round brick and dinosaur tails) responsible for the fractured rock? Are they just taking advantage of another calamity? Just how close is the horizon? Are those storm clouds or an onrushing menace?

A behind the scenes look reveals some of the complexities that went into this creation. It’s interesting to see the different layers of construction that combined so seamlessly in the final image.

I don’t know about you, but I’d love to see more photos from these adventurer’s travels. There’s just something special about the practical nature of their world that speaks to me.

Welcome to the jungle, we’ve got fun and games

Welcome to the jungle, it gets worser every day. You can thank Axl Rose for that grammatical abomination that is now stuck in your heads. Wait…what? He doesn’t say “worser”? “Worse here”? You mean I’m the one that has been singing it wrong all this time? Man, that is a bummer! It totally ruins my intro premise. Anyway, sukhodolov_nikita built a LEGO creation aptly called “Welcome to the jungle” and it seems almost as inhospitable as Axl’s version. First of all, that broken suspension bridge is going to be a sticky-pickle to navigate and that bright yellow frog just might present some adverse effects, especially if you lick it. While the presentation and build techniques are quite good, (the idol is especially nice) this jungle doesn’t seem particularly welcoming at all. It might be safer to just stay home and listen to me sing my favorite Elton John song. Here goes…Hold me closer, Tony Danza…

A holiday home under a dome

Builder Malin Kylinger creates a lovely little getaway ensconced in a glass dome that evokes thoughts of Victorian mantlepiece decor and vacation getaways. We’ve featured Malin’s incredible creations in the past and they never fail to wow us.

I love a good microbuild and this one doesn’t need to be outrageous to capture our attention. Its simplicity makes me think fondly of being in the woods and the peacefulness that brings. A tiny cabin sits atop a nicely built mountain surrounded by some nice trees made from grass elements. The three-leaf element is used for the ground greenery and the pink flowers create a nice color contrast. I really like the small waterfall at the front of the house and the sand green and gold design that surrounds the bottom border. A lovely little getaway under a dome where the weather is always perfect.

Once charged, this solar-powered gentlelady can be a hellion on two feet!

LEGO Builder Andrew Evans has heated up something a little different for us to savor. She is Vaihdelia, the Solar-Powered Gentlelady and she’s adorned in what seems to be a corseted jacket made from solar panels. My artist’s sense of color is alight with Andrew’s use of black and gold. White makes an excellent tertiary color while just a few hints of orange, green and marigold really makes this figure pop. The sword guard is a carriage wheel and the piece is used again as part of her collar. The three-panel presentation illustrates how versatile this figure is. Her solar-powered parasol is comprised of parts from a Darth Vader buildable figure but can convert to a shield while in fight mode. I’m sure she’s a gentlelady for the most part but can be a hellion on two feet when she needs to be!