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.

Imaginary islands, real LEGO bricks

When looking for unique builds to showcase here at The Brothers Brick, we see a lot of digital creations. There’s nothing wrong with that; virtual bricks can let a builder explore color combinations that LEGO has yet to produce, or to forgo the limitations that gravity would put on a delicate creation. But when you see something that you’re pretty sure is a render, only to discover it’s real? That’s something special. Oh, sure, Eli Willsea tried to throw me off by titling their creation The Imaginary Islands. But considering this was part of a real-world collaboration for BrickWorld, I think I spotted the clues that this is, indeed, a physical model. And what a model it is! A futuristic city floats above a lush landscape, which sits amid a calm sea.

I really like the use of carrot tops in the vegetation and the inverted Queen Watevra’s crown atop one of the buildings. What does puzzle me, though, is just how those waterfalls work. Is the city pumping up a ton of extra water from the sea? Is it the result of some sort of extra-dimensional gate gone wrong? Gasp! Is all that water around the base not a sea at all, but rather a giant lake of city-generated sewage? Is this actually a dystopian nightmare after all? I….I think I need to go lie down now.

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Nothing is impassable with a blurrg mount – I have spoken

The premiere season of the Disney+ Star Wars television series, The Mandalorian, has ended, and as with any Star Wars product, it has inspired many, many LEGO fans to create custom models based on the shows vehicles and characters. While I would never admit being tired of seeing more models of the baby who is not Yoda or the Razoecrest, the unsung hero of the show, in my opinion, is the Ugnaught Quiil, and his herd of female blurrgs. It looks like Letranger Absurde agrees, as evidenced by this scene showing Quiil spouting wisdom from his lofty perch.

This sweet ride will soon be an official giveaway set!

There’s something about a 50s era car that gives me a deep sense of longing for a time and a place that I was never a part of. Well, it turns out so many others share in this notion. The term for that is not nostalgia but rather… anemoia. Versteinert likely knows what I mean as evidenced by this fabulously 50s convertible. The good news for anyone not a sexagenarian but still in love with that 50s style is this ride was the grand prize winner in the LEGO Ideas contest and will soon be an official Gift with Purchase set. Details as to exactly when and which sets you’d need to purchase haven’t been released yet, but our not-too-distant future is looking bright!

Contest rules state that any entry would need to be a generic design. I say “generic” meaning no particular model or brand, but I’m seeing a little bit of ’59 Impala, little bit of ’57 Chevy Bel Air, little bit of Ford, little bit of Cadillac and all things that make my heart go pitter-patter. The ice skate blade hood ornament is inspired, and the Dagmars (named after this actress) on the bumper are an excellent touch, but the pièce de résistance would have to be these surfboards. It would seem giving us all a sense of anemoia just might be this builder’s thing. Here’s a prior time we featured his vintage Chevy truck.

Notre Dame before the fire.

I was recently challenged to recreate Notre Dame Cathedral in microscale and it sounded like a fun challenge. From the start, I knew I wanted to incorporate an Arkenstone and 2×2 Tie Fighter windscreen dish, so that gave me a specific scale. Then I looked online to see what others had done. From there, I just started test building different portions of the cathedral. Half an hour later, I came up with this. The idea to use droid arms as flying buttresses came from someone else’s build and I was impressed at how well they tie the whole thing together. I’m quite pleased with how it all came together so quickly, and especially proud of how well the Tie Fighter pieces work as rose windows, as well as the pentagonal jumper plates as arches.

A bear that barely uses any parts

There is something beautiful in simplicity. How few parts can be used to still capture the essence of a thing? For Grantmasters, the answer is approximately twelve. It is an eclectic collection, from Belville doll feet to a white phone receiver, to a bandana and scarf. Capping it all off is the face from the new Chinese New Year set printed on the BB-8/porg head piece. The bamboo in the background, the dynamic pose, and the hat perfect it, making it a true work of art.

A-wing, transform and roll out!

Yeah, yeah, we’re featuring another Star Wars build. Or….are we? Builder Alan Yap has gone beyond the slew of Razor Crests and Baby Yodi (If that’s not the plural, it should be) by taking a RZ2 A-wing interceptor from Star Wars The Last Jedi and mashing it into the Transformers universe. This cool creation doesn’t require any rebuilding to switch between robot and vehicle modes, and it looks sweet as both.

In vehicle mode, Alan gives us the shape and styling we’d expect from any stock A-wing creation. There are great part choices, like the use of life rings in the engines, and the 1×1 round tile with a star decoration near the cockpit. there are no unusual seams or weird blockiness that would suggest there was more to this build than meets the eye.

The robot mode is equally impressive, with superb articulation that allows for great poses. I like that the head (made primarily from a tooth plate) has a classic Generation-1 feel to it.

For even more photos, and a discussion of the design decisions that were made, I suggest you check out Alan’s post about the build. It’s fascinating reading.

InSight has landed

Because I grew up during the time of M:Tron and Blacktron, I tend to think of fantastical fictional ships when I think of LEGO space creations. Of course, this totally neglects all the models built of real world spacecraft. Luckily, LEGO fans like Cyndi Bourne produce amazing space creations like her NASA Mars InSight Lander to remind me that space is a real place. This detailed model was originally commissioned by an employee at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, but it was Cyndi’s idea to add the landscaped base. Her landscaping always impresses me and clearly she can build the surface of any planet! While it might seem simple, as the whole landscape is built from various sizes of dark orange plate, achieving this look requires both patience and creativity. You have to know just where to put each plate, and Cyndi clearly knows.

Like a rock? No, like a mountain.

In 1999, my favorite LEGO theme by far was Rock Raiders. It was a great sci-fi take on a mining/construction theme; it had cool colors, chrome elements, interesting looking builds, and best of all, awesome rock monsters. Sure, I had some concerns about the environmental impact of mining operations. And were those rock monsters evil or just creatures defending their homes and families from overworld plunderers? No matter, there were crystals to be had. And those crystals were in transparent neon-green plastic and I needed them.

These days problems are bigger, so it’s only appropriate that the Rock Raiders have been scaled up as well. Peter Carmichael took the 4950 – Loader Dozer Rock Raiders set and made an amazing UCS version of it. Peter’s build takes on all three key elements – the Loader-Dozer itself, the monster, and the power crystal. (Or, as I like to call it, the Giant Crystal Of Crystalness.)

Continue reading →

A mythical fox of a different kind

Can someone help me with a tech question? How do I set the parental controls so that my parents can’t watch Fox News? While The Brothers Brick IT team and I are working that out, I’d like to show you a fox of a different kind. This Kyuubi no Kitsune (Nine-tailed Fox) built by Jessica Farrell is a well-known character in Japanese folklore. Jessica tells us that this magical creature lives for an incredibly long time and grows a new tail for each century of spiritual training and wisdom. Upon gaining its ninth tail, the Kitsune has reached its full powers and its tails may begin to turn golden or white in color. Its natural form is that of an ordinary fox but the powerful Kitsune is able to shape-shift into other forms, particularly that of a beautiful young woman, and get up to all sorts of mischief!

She also tells us that this model is comprised of 4,304 elements and took three weeks to design and build. I am particularly fond of the intricate textured stones and the flowing brook. The entire setting instills a tranquil feeling for me and the Kitsune’s expression exudes wisdom. Now that is a Fox network I would watch!

This wouldn’t be the first time we were enchanted by Jessica’s mythical beings. Check out this dragon and an uncanny walking house.

The Brothers Brick Explore: LEGO Classic Space [Feature]

Classic Space – one of the perennial LEGO building genres, ever-popular amongst fans for its nostalgic nods to iconic official sets of the past, and the opportunities it presents to depict an optimistic expansionist vision of humanity’s intergalactic future.

This building genre takes its primary influences from the LEGO Space sets released between 1978 and 1987, and the follow-up themes released during the late-80s and beyond, when factions like Futuron, Blacktron, and the Space Police were introduced to the universe.

But the genre is about much more than just the official sets. Take a trip with The Brothers Brick as we blast off on our grand tour of LEGO Classic Space…

Click to read our in-depth overview of the Classic Space building genre

Trolls World Tour 41252 Poppy’s Hot Air Balloon Adventure [Review]

For me, one of the most surprising LEGO reveals from 2019 was the 2020 Trolls World Tour lineup. Back in 2017, Hasbro had the construction toy licensing rights to the Trolls film, and the torch has now been passed to LEGO for Trolls World Tour — These are indeed interesting times we live in. I had forgotten about the line until a last-minute holiday shopping trip to Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve, when I came across a LEGO Trolls World Tour display. While not on my list for this year’s desirable themes, something compelled me to pick up LEGO set 41252 Poppy’s Hot Air Balloon Adventure. This particular LEGO set consists of 250 pieces and, while the Trolls World Tour film won’t be out until April, the sets are currently available via LEGO’s online shop for $29.99 USD | $39.99 CAD | $29.99 GBP

Read entire review for more information.

A Star Wars post sure to make you “Mad About Me”.

Let’s face it, you can’t get that jaunty, upbeat tune out of your head now. I know it, you know it and builder Minicoop4 knows it. The best thing to do is just ride it out and maybe re-watch Star Wars. These five Jizz-wailers (tee-hee!) are so good at playing that one tune that it’s the only request they ever get. Trust me, I’d love to keep sputtering out the lowbrow jokes real thick here but any innuendos I may have had in mind were already exhausted by the world’s most important news source so you’ll get no more jokes from me.

Some neat facts about the song though; it commonly goes by the Cantina Band Song but it’s actually called “Mad About Me”. The band of Bith aliens is called Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes, but if you want it played at your wedding, you’d have to credit composer John Williams. If you want to audition for the band, be sure to have a black turtleneck and a snappy pair of gray slacks. It also helps if you have cleavage showing. Forehead cleavage, that is. OK, maybe I had one dumb joke left!