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.

When tagging along with Hitchhikers, remember to bring a towel.

There are a lot of variation to the giant spaceships created for SHIPtember (SHIP = Significantly Huge Investment in Parts). Many of them draw inspiration from classic LEGO themes, video games, or movies. Sometimes, however, you see something new from this month long building challenge. For instance, Sheo‘s Hitchhikers has some fascinating shapes, unusual colors, and great part usage. One standout detail is the Death Star piece at the core of the Technic construction at the aft of the ship. I also really like how the main body isn’t built with a standard “studs to the ceiling” approach. The angled bricks give the Kirby-esque detailing a very energetic feel.

In a nice recursive touch, the Hitchhiker has some smaller hitchhikers of its own. These four micro ships also have some unique color choices and part usage. I particuarly like the use of a minifigure hat and flower petals on the blue and red model. The roller skates on the red cargo hauler are pretty sweet, too.

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The magic inherent in transparent purple LEGO bricks

I’ve always felt that there’s something magical about transparent LEGO bricks and that transparent purple LEGO bricks are extra magical. Builder Jayfa also sees something in those elements, as evidenced by their Voidwalker. The entire build is an ode to “nice part usage.” Hero Factory ball joints and armor create the body of an elegant beast. Meanwhile, White Hero Factory armor covers the body, leading to a head that combines Legend of Chima wings with an eerie black large figure armor for the face. Even the tail ends in style, with minifigure wings at the tip.

According to the photo description, Voidwalker was built in just two days. I wish my own creations came together with such quick beauty!

Close to the stars: LEGO Star Wars X-Wing lands on the top of Europe [NEWS]

To promote Triple Force Friday, LEGO GmbH took their Star Wars celebration to the Swiss Alps, unveiling a giant LEGO X-Wing atop Jungfraujoch, also known as “the top of Europe.” While it’s not the first life-size LEGO X-Wing ever made, it is the first time one has been displayed atop the Alps!

Full press release (rough translation from the original German press release) and image gallery from LEGO below.

Close to the stars: LEGO Star Wars™ X-Wing™ lands on the top of Europe

On today’s “Force Friday,” a life-size LEGO® Star Wars™ X-Wing™ built from 2.5 million LEGO® elements has landed 3,454 meters (11345.14 ft) above sea level on the Jungfraujoch – “Top of Europe”.

This makes the Jungfraujoch the highest point on the planet where a LEGO® Star Wars™ X-Wing™ starfighter has ever landed.

As of October 4, 2019, ten new LEGO® Star Wars™ sets are available worldwide for the movie Star Wars™: The Rise of Skywalker.

With LEGO® Star Wars™, one of the most popular LEGO® product lines continues the Skywalker saga in the 20th anniversary of the licensing agreement.

Jungfraujoch, Munich – October 4, 2019: “Do or do not. There is no try,” says Jedi Master Yoda to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars™: The Empire Strikes Back. Yoda then uses the Force to lift an X-Wing™ out of the swamp, making the impossible possible for Luke. In the spirit of this message, on “Force Friday,” October 4, 2019 LEGO GmbH unveiled atop the Jungfraujoch in Switzerland a faithful LEGO® replica of the distinctive Star Wars™ X-Wing™ starfighter from the Skywalker saga. True to the motto “The Force is in your Hands,” LEGO GmbH wants to show that even things that may seem too challenging can be mastered by landing the large model at the highest point on which an X-Wing™ has ever landed – at least in this galaxy.

With the landing of the LEGO® Star Wars™ X-Wing™ on the longest glacier in the Alps, LEGO GmbH also celebrates a very special partnership; the licensing agreement signed 20 years ago marked the beginning of a successful intergalactic journey that has since brought people together across both generations and countries.

The LEGO® Star Wars™ X-Wing™ was built by LEGO® Certified Professional Georg Schmitt with his ten-member team, made entirely of 2.5 million LEGO bricks, and measures a remarkable ten by ten meters (32.8 ft x 32.8 ft). It took more than 1,500 hours to build the LEGO® Star Wars™ X-Wing™.

“For 20 years, LEGO® Star Wars™ has been inspiring children and adults worldwide, representing limitless play and building. Bringing a life-size LEGO® Star Wars™ X-Wing™ onto the Jungfraujoch symbolizes the power of creativity and shows that, with the new LEGO® Star Wars™ sets in our hands, it’s up to us to continue the story after the last episode,” explains Florian Gmeiner, Senior Marketing Director at LEGO GmbH. “Playing with LEGO® bricks inspires your imagination and allows you to tell stories and sometimes even master challenges. With this event we want to motivate everyone to believe in their dreams and their potential, because: ‘The Force is in your Hands.'”

Fans of all ages can look forward to ten new LEGO® Star Wars™ sets, which will be available in stores worldwide on October 4, 2019. In addition to new LEGO® Star Wars™ products for the movie Star Wars:™ The Rise of Skywalker, which will be released in cinemas in Switzerland and Germany on December 18, 2019, there will be a reissue of the Yoda™ sculpture as well as a new version of the popular Millennium Falcon™, with which young and old can create their own personal adventures in search of Kylo Ren’s™ Shuttle. With the new LEGO® Star Wars™ sets, the story is retold – it’s in your hands!

For more information about LEGO® Star Wars™ products, visit https://www.lego.com/de-de/themes/star-wars (US | CAN | UK)

What is a SHIP without a fleet?

The challenges of building LEGO spaceships is getting the different parts to work together to create something aesthetically pleasing, quasi-functional, and just plain cool. This difficulty is magnified with larger ships, especially when you enter the realm of a SHIP (Significantly Huge Investment in Parts, a LEGO spaceship 100+ studs in length). Sometimes one spaceship isn’t enough; you need to build a whole fleet, and that is what Ryan Olsen did. Ryan shared with TBB that his fleet has been slowly growing for eight years, with the mid-size one with the prominent white stripe (roughly in the middle of the formation) being his first. He also drew inspiration from Pierre E. Fieschi for the color scheme and the video game Homeworld.

The studs-not-on-top (SNOT) approach to the spaceship in the foreground makes for a sleek design, and the white stripes, including diagonals, are expertly integrated into the hull. The asymmetrical design works wonderfully, too, with the long appendages coming off the side from near the large reactor core. Hinge bricks do a great job of making a smoothly angled bridge. Everything fits so well, and nothing seems out of place. This fleet is cruising the stars in style!

Roadster Racers get the LEGO look

Ready for some Disney racing action? You’d better be, because here come Mickey and the Roadster Racers, depicted in LEGO bricks by Ian Ying. This super-cute trio of racing vehicles are nicely matched to their counterparts in the cartoon series — Mickey’s Hot Doggin’ Hot Rod is particularly good, with its twin-ear spoiler at the rear. The purist builders out there might have palpitations about it, but I think removing the arms from the minifigures was a smart choice. It allows the hot rods to have tighter proportions than if they’d have to accommodate the limbs, and it gives the characters’ heads an oversized chibi appearance which enhances the cartoon-style appeal. Seeing these, I demand Disney introduce an instant rebranding of the rather tired Magic Kingdom “classic,” Tomorrowland Speedway — I’d queue for hours to race one of these babies!

This LEGO build is an open book

Here’s a build worth taking note of — a 19th century workplace, in 1:1 scale by Russian LEGO builder Nikita Sukhodolov. We get an open ledger on a blotter, a pair of glasses, an inkwell and pen, and a candle to shed some light on it all. All the individual elements are well-built, but some standout features include the melting wax at the top of the candle and the simple-yet-perfect shaping of the spectacles. The ribbon-strip bookmark is nicely done too. I can imagine a whole series of 1:1 scale “workplaces” like this, taken from different technological eras as we progress from handwritten ledgers to desktop computers, tablets, and beyond.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for October 5, 2019

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 first week of October 2019.

We review the new LEGO Technic Liebherr-R-9800-Excavator, but is it worth the hefty price tag? Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS: This week we saw LEGO and Top Gear partner up, a new car was added to the Speed Champions line and we reviewed the new LEGO Technic Liebherr-R-9800-Excavator. Plus, we’re looking for a few good folks to join our team in a variety or roles. Do you have the skills?

LEGO adds Jaguar Formula E and I-PACE vehicles to the Speed Champions lineup – LEGO and Panasonic Jaguar Racing are teaming up for the newest Speed Champions set, which features Jaguar I-TYPE and I-PACE vehicles.
Moving mountains with the new LEGO Technic 42100 Liebherr R 9800 Excavator [Review] – We are building, testing and enjoying the biggest LEGO Technic set to date. Despite its outstanding playability, the set still deserves a lot of criticism…
LEGO Star Wars 75252 UCS Imperial Star Destroyer and 10267 Winter Village Gingerbread House available now – Two of the latest LEGO sets are now available. We also have details about upcoming “Triple Force Friday” deals later this week.
LEGO partners with BBC’s Top Gear for new Technic set – LEGO is joining with the BBC to create a brand new Technic set based on the popular TV show Top Gear.
TBB is recruiting for Social Media Manager and DevOps Engineer roles – If you’d like to be part of the team that supports a diverse, global audience of highly engaged LEGO fans, TBB is looking to fill two very special roles to help support our growth.

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:

LEGOLAND NEW YORK RESORT ANNOUNCES IT’S OFFICIALLY OPENING ON JULY 4, 2020, LEGOLAND – LEGOLAND New York Resort will be the largest LEGOLAND theme park ever built.
Creativity is being “brushed aside” by digital media says Lego’s head of design, Dezeen – As the LEGO Group launches its “Rebuild the World” campaign, Matthew Ashton, the toy company’s VP of design, explains how it is embracing digital technology and licensing agreements to encourage children to play.
Hershey’s, Levi’s And LEGO – Big Companies That Are Giving Back, CEO World – More and more big corporations are stepping up to demonstrate that they are good corporate citizens that will support and invest in the communities that made them what they are.
3D printing community hit by LEGO takedown notices, 3D Printing Industry – Last week, 3D Printing Industry learned that the LEGO Group is targeting the 3D printing fan community with a series of takedown notices.
Ai Weiwei: ‘I’m surprised more artists don’t use Lego’, Evening Standard – Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei says he is “surprised” that more artists do not use LEGO bricks after making his latest works of political protest with it.

Space ships don’t have to be grey

When I think of spaceships, I think mostly drab grey things. This is probably because my imagination has been so strongly formed by Star Wars and the dingy industrial feeling of that universe, evident in almost every Imperial vessel (like the Star Destroyers) and the Millennium Falcon. ZCerberus bucks that trend with a glorious orange SHIP (Significantly Huge Investment in Parts) called Dominion. I know I would submit to its dominion if such a craft appeared on my scopes, because it has enormous cannons of some sort bristling off of every surface, plus a full squadron or twenty of smaller fighter ships docked inside its hull. The greebles on this thing are worth admiring, as they all look perfectly positioned to do something technical, like vent things or convey things or connect things. The whole surface is highly detailed without looking cluttered, which, in my numerous, and all failed, attempts at building a SHIP myself, I have learned to be a sophisticated skill.

I love the angled hull plates with the dark orange striping, with the white striping and brick-built lettering (does this belong in classic – or neo-classic, more specifically – space, with the “LL” designation?). 2×2 modified bricks with side grooves make for some great cannons on the side, and some 1×2 log bricks are just as good on the top in a similar role. The side cannons are mounted on round turrets made from 6×6 radar dishes, which fit neatly into the undersides of some 1x8x2 arches. All in all, this is one of the sturdiest looking SHIPs I have seen, as well as one of the coolest. Check out Z’s Flickr to see more space ships (not SHIPs) in the same color scheme, all part of an epic fleet. I hope it keeps growing!

Clone troopers get the coolest toys

While the time of galactic conflict known as the Clone Wars was just barely glimpsed in theaters between Star Wars Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, the Clone Wars animated series delved much more deeply into the many vehicles produced to meet the tactical and combative needs of a wide variety of troopers. One of my personal favorites would be the one-man version of the AT-ST, the AT-RT, or All Terrain Recon Transport. This model built by Luca s projects is very nicely detailed in true Minifig scale. There are so many great details, but if I had to pick one, it would be these curved wedges used for the feet.

8 new Star Wars sets and discounts galore arrive for Triple Force Friday [NEWS]

Triple Force Friday is here and Star Wars fans are already out in… force to grab up all the best deals. You can get in on the action all weekend at your local LEGO store or online at LEGO.com. You can find discounts on over 40 different Star Wars sets, including the 75212 Kessel Run Millennium Falcon for $135.99 (down from 169.99) and 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle for $103.99 (down from $129.99). You’ll also find 8 newly released sets and the Battle of Endor Micro build gift with purchase. Plus the always helpful Double Points on all your Star Wars purchases.

Read on to see all the new sets.

No tree huggers in these woods

If you are preparing your castle for a siege, you need to stock up on lumber, not just to keep out the cold, but to deprive your enemies of building material for siege engines. You could do this with manual labor, but why bother with that when you have a wizard who can bring the ultimate lumberjack to life? In this case, the wizard is Anthony Wilson who has built a mighty golem he calls the Tree Feller. And judging from the sparsely wooded scene, he has been earning his moniker. Anthony’s model is a perfect blend of castle building techniques and constraction figure sculpting. I especially like the arrowslit/visor, and the patches of moss throughout the towering hulk. Of further note is the great use of partial minifigs wading through the swamp water.

Naturally chiseled features

Builder Carter Witz has a strong back catalog of interesting LEGO dioramas that we’ve always found notable for their natural elements competing with the man-made creations for the eye’s attention. Whether it’s the gates of Menegroth or a steam-powered mechanical walker prowling the landscape there’s always a pleasing contrast throughline that continues with his newest creation, the Forgotten Door.

This creation also shows Carter’s growth as a LEGO builder with rock formations significantly more complex than his prior work. This time-consuming texturing perfectly complements the finely-chiseled stone doorway, and the entire diorama is framed with lush vegetation.

As an aside, I found this photo to be a great game of I SPY. Can you find the shovel, the large pickaxe, two small ice picks, a dismembered minifig hand, or the moon stick?