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.

Who says electric vehicles are slow?

Building fast cars in LEGO has always been a popular theme, and that only sped up with the launch of the Speed Champions theme. And while the creation of racecar models isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, there are some LEGO fans giving this genre a serious boost. One such builder is Malte Dorowski, whose newest model off of the assembly lines is this beautiful Porsche 99X Electric. I am a big fan of the 3-color scheme in stark black, white, and red, with my favorite part being the front fenders made from panels found in 1980s and 1990s space sets.

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A LEGO builder builds a LEGO builder building LEGO

It was a pleasure to meet Jason Allemann a few weeks back at BrickCon. He was our very funny keynote speaker and if you don’t know him by name, you may certainly know him as the builder who specializes in feats of engineering such as his now famous Sysiphus model and the two times his LEGO Ideas submissions became actual sets; once with the 21305 Ball Maze and the 21315 Pop-Up Book. If you were lucky enough to attend BrickCon this year, you may have had a chance to get your grubby little mitts on the exclusive convention model, which is of this LEGO builder building LEGO, built by Jason, also a LEGO builder. See, it’s totally meta! Like all of Jason’s models, movement is a key feature with this one. You turn a crank and this little fellow toils busily on his LEGO model of the BrickCon logo.

Also, if you happen to have a Power Functions motor you can hook that bad boy to it and this little guy will really cook! But don’t just take my word for it, watch this build video of the designer building the model, then later hooking up a motor to it. Brothers Brick’s own Chris Malloy did the graphic design for the packaging. Neat!

Sweet cyberpunk dreams at the No-Tell Motel

What do you do when you are eagerly awaiting the release of a video game, and the wait is killing you? If you’re like Jan T. and are drooling over screenshots of RPG (role-playing game) Cyberpunk 2077, you draw inspiration from your obsession and channel it into a LEGO model. Jan’s No-Tell Motel offers an atmosphere that is simultaneously gritty and colorful; dilapidated city streets and patches of rusty metal contrast nicely with the teal upper floor and purple & green graffiti. There are also plenty of excellent details to spot, including thugs & junkies, grass peaking through the concrete, a balcony supported by a Technic shock absorber, and a Technic piston acting as a flower pot. Here, the world can go to Hell and still look beautiful.

Chibi Sisyphus can never get ahead of his head

In order to fully appreciate this next creation, we’re going to have to define a couple of terms. The first is chibi. That’s a Japanese slang term that describes an art style where characters are drawn as small, chubby figures with exaggerated features. The second is Sisyphus. In Greek mythology, he was a king who was punished by the gods for his wicked ways. He is forced to push a giant boulder up an even bigger hill, only to have it roll back down every time it nears the top. At first glance, these two terms don’t seem to have a lot do to with each other. Leave it to Sheo to unify them into a really cute image of eternal torture. In this version, Sisyphus doesn’t have a boulder to push; instead, his over-sized chibi head is the enormous weight that has to be moved upwards.

Creative use of various arches and curved slopes creates an anguished, yet adorable, visage. The use of a curved brick for the leg gives a great sense of that upward pushing. I also like the detail of the 2×2 round tile for his belly, and let’s not ignore the build of the mountain either. The rocks are built out in all directions, with a combination of slopes, plates, and tiles giving some lively texture to the backdrop.

For when the trail riding is hard

LEGO builder Jake Sadovich is best known for his successful Ideas project that turned into 21313 Ship in a Bottle, but that’s not all he’s great at. His latest model is this rad bike sporting a ludicrous six-cylinder radial engine. With a wicked cattle skull mounted on the front handlebars plus the gunmetal, grey, and brown color scheme, the motorcycle has a distinct Western-punk feel. The bike has plenty of clever details, but particularly great are the brown tails for the skull’s horns and the Nexo Knight robot shoulders integrated into the radial engine housing.

Smile through your fear and sorrow...

The new Joker movie by Todd Philipps in my view tells one of the best origin stories for the Clown Prince of Crime. Being a fan of the Dark Knight and the various original treatments of his arch-enemy over the past decades, no comic panel could have told the tale that was told with the amazing embodiment of Joaquin Phoenix on the big screen. While this LEGO bust of the Joker by George Panteleon isn’t from the movie, it bears a striking resemblance to the Joker from Batman: The Animated Series, especially that nose and that wide grin. The amazing brick layering techniques in which every single piece seems to fit perfectly and brings this character to life gives me the chills.

Click to see more angles of this superb build

Amazon sale has half-price Star Wars Sandcrawler, The LEGO Movie 2 sets, & more

Amazon is offering up some sweet LEGO sales today, with a full 50% off a variety of sets, including Star Wars, The LEGO Movie 2, and Creator. Discounts this heavy aren’t particularly common online, so if you’ve had any of these sets on your wishlist, now is a great time to grab them, or just stock up early on Christmas gifts.

First up is 75220 Sandcrawler, the latest iteration of the mighty Jawa vehicle. We gave this set a full video review, so be sure to check it out.

75220 Sandcrawler | $70 (50% off)

Click to check out the rest of the LEGO deals on Amazon

Sound and Fury: The Doof Wagon is the personification of driving music

The 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road is a ton of fun. It has stunning visuals, great acting, an engaging story, and rich world building. And, oh yeah, just a touch of hyper-modified post-apocalyptic vehicles that really define the word “awesome.” Take, for instance, the Doof Wagon – Immortan Joe’s idea of driving music. Nicola Stocchi has created a stunning rendition of this beast that lives up to its on-screen origins. From the dual flamethrowing guitars to the towering tower-speakers, it took just over 3000 LEGO elements to bring this beast to life. There are lots of excellent details to call out, like the different types of 1×1 round plate that mix up the look of the speakers. Check out the use of Technic pins to add texture to the engines. And did you spot the minifigure squeeze-bulb horn? You have to wonder what luckless warboy gets to work that particular instrument.

The rear view shows off the build on the giant drums. Each is made from hard plastic wheel with a drum head cleverly made of a 2×2 round tile surrounded by four 2×2 macaroni tiles to create the equivalent of a 6×6 round tile. I’m also fond of the expert usage of wedge plates to match the industrial feel of the resonators.

Overall, this is one sweet ride. Why settle for rattling your car windows with a pathetic in-dash sound system when you could have the Doof Wagon blasting out “Sweet Home Chicago” at 220 decibels?

This LEGO diorama is a real train wreck

It’s a pretty typical scene: You’re running late. Trying to make up for lost time you watch the speedometer creep upwards as you race to your destination. If you’re unlucky, this might result in a speeding ticket. If you’re very unlucky, you might end up in a crash. And, if you’re one of the most unlucky people who ever lived, you’re a train engineer in Paris in October 1895. In that last case, you’re unable to brake. Your train runs through the buffer stop. And then it crashes through the upper-story station wall to end up standing on it’s nose in the Place de Rennes below. SEBASTIAN-Z captures this tragic moment, the Montparnasse derailment, in an intricate LEGO diorama.

The Gare Montparnasse terminus has been simplified to a facade, with eye-catching details like the clock made from parts from Big Ben and Santa’s workshop. The broken window makes good use of transparent LEGO elements like wall panels, and 1×2 bricks and plates. The selection of minifigure onlookers are well constructed, and giving one of them a baguette is a nice way to help establish the location.

This particular scene has become a part of popular culture. A similar crash appears in a dream in the movie Hugo, which is where SEBASTIAN-Z first heard of it. Let’s hope wrecks like this stay in the realm of film and LEGO from now on…

A brighter future (maybe)

Don’t get me wrong; I love me some sci-fi dystopian futures. But, after a while, it’s nice to see something a little more upbeat. Stenertje treats us to such a vision with “Space Police II Outpost.” Sure, it’s a police station, but look at how friendly and clean it is! There are trees, festive flags, and even a mailbox. The local mounties ride kaadu instead of heavily-armored speeder bikes. And the ship at the center of it all! Clean lines, and what appears to be only a hint of weaponry. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Pulling back the camera a little, things may not be quite as placid. The tops of the pylons surrounding the launch pad are covered with missile launchers and guns. And is that a robotic Gatling gun off to the right?

Well, no matter. I’m sure the heavily armed fortifications are just relics from the past, and not some subtle build up for a future Space Police theme…

Three-legged doom

I don’t know precisely what the Martian tripods in H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds looked like, but I can easily imagine this three-legged walker by Mitsuru Nikaido being cast in the next Hollywood version. Towering over the battlefield and filled with mechanical intricacy, this monster tripod evokes overwhelming technology. All the exposed wiring made from minifigure whips, though a common technique, is particularly effective here. The gunmetal-colored egg container on the upper housing enhances the sense of alienness.

It’s time to pick up the Ford Mustang set, thanks to this alt build

LEGO Creator Expert’s latest vehicle, 10265 Ford Mustang, is one of the best vehicles LEGO has made. But Nathanael Kuipers decided to use the parts from the set to build another stunning vehicle, this beautiful classic pickup. With the clean lines and split grille that marked the Ford F100 trucks of the early 70s, it’s remarkable that every element in this truck came from a single copy of the Mustang. Now that LEGO has moved away from cars with a Volkswagen Camper Van and a Technic Range Rover Defender, maybe they’ll turn an eye to gorgeous trucks like this, too.