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.

Sydney gets an Ice Planet make-over

Ice Planet 2002 was a short-lived LEGO Space subtheme from 1993 through 1994. The year 2002 has since came and went and we have not had manned missions to other planets, icy or otherwise. Despite the theme’s short shelf life and failure to predict history, its dynamic blue, white and trans-neon-orange color scheme captivated builders for decades to come. So much, in fact, that Aido K’s local LEGO Users Group put the challenge out to give any modern LEGO set the Ice Planet 2002 treatment. Being the consummate Aussie that he is, Aido went with the Sydney Skyline 21032 set.

Now the world has a new creation it never knew it needed but is better for it. It turns out Aido seems to like the challenge of making something out of official sets as evidenced by this previously featured creation based on the Green Lion from this Voltron set.

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War Machine buster is bursting with style...and serious weaponry

Mech builder extraordinaire Kelvin Low goes by the Flickr handle chubbybots, which aptly describes his sometimes chunky building style. Kelvin also has a knack for re-imagining and rebuilding official LEGO set mechs with stunning results. They are often much more detailed than then their official LEGO counterparts, such as this Hulkbuster sized War Machine. Kelvin’s model not only looks great, but it is highly poseable, with a fully loaded arsenal of guns, rockets, and cannons.

Hidden throughout the model are several transparent red plates that complement the transparent red 2×2 round plate with rounded bottom used for the main reactor. I think that Rhodes is set up to give Thanos or anybody else who gets in his way a serious run for their money.

You’ll flip for my flippers!

It’s been said that puns are the lowest form of humor and are often a sign of brain damage. Well, call me brain dead because I featured this particular creation based in part on thinking up that title. Not seeing the genius of it? Then I challenge you come up with a better one. While you’re mulling that over, check out this scuba diver by Djokson. His name is Dr. Renaud and he is accompanied by his BUBBLE assistant drone.

Plenty of creations have featured the ubiquitous and streamlined modern brick separator but few have featured the older bigger, clunkier ones. The former comes with nearly every set nowadays but the latter had to be purchased individually. Djokson managed to get his hands on at least two older ones, and the result proves that they are not only good for prying up those pesky 2×4 plates but you can also use them to propel yourself through water.

While the genius of this post’s title may be a subject of hot debate, the coolness of this builder’s work surely is not. Be sure to check out his previously featured office companion and Umi the Jelly for more whimsy and wonder.

Every piece is useful in chess and in LEGO

If you love strategy games, it is likely that you enjoy chess, one of the oldest strategy games out there. When I was in high school, a group of friends and I got together to play chess every Friday, but I must admit that I showed up mostly for the Twizzlers and chips and salsa. Judging by his excellent LEGO rendition of a chessboard, Chris Maddison seems like the kind of guy who would have shown up to show people up with skillful moves and clever endgame strategies.

This is a very handsome and elegant board and set of pieces, with virtually no studs showing except for the eyes and throats of the knights. The anti-studs at the top of the rooks look great, but my favorite piece is the king, with a simple yet effective cross atop his crown. The SNOT (studs not on top) board looks perfect for playing; I could easily see myself being checkmated in three moves on it. Perhaps it is time for me to dust off my old chess set and start playing again; or better yet, I could build myself one like Chris.

DUPLO riot police crosses a thin blue line

DUPLO is an excellent way to engage the minds of 2-5 year olds and to introduce them to “regular” LEGO, which they would likely play with once they get a little older. The larger pieces, simple construction, and cute scenarios are ideal for little hands and developing minds. But leave a youngin’ watching a certain…animal-named news station unsupervised for fifteen minutes, and they may raid the stash of smaller bricks to build adorable DUPLO riot gear to keep the adorable DUPLO zebras from playing with the adorable DUPLO giraffes. A builder who goes by the dubious name of Paddy Bricksplitter shows us the way with this DUPLO riot frame.

Plenty of LEGO System, Bionicle, and Duplo parts are mixed (you can do that, you know!) to construct this admittedly coherent mech suit armed with a high powered water cannon, tear gas launcher and a heavy duty shield. When your DUPLO denizens get too rowdy, you can bop them on their adorable DUPLO noggins with the baton. Justice is served, poopy-heads!

Friend or foe, I’d like to know

At first glance of this strangely serene scene by Thorsten Bonsch, it seems this pair of poorly armed passersby facing off against an insectlike robot have bitten off more than they can chew. While it is not clear whether the robot wants to help them disarm peacefully, or separate them from their arms literally, one thing is clear… There is more to this model than meets the eye; It was inspired by Tales from the Loop, a series of illustrations and short stories by Swedish artist Simon Stalenhag.

Thorsten captures the delicate but strong appearance of the multi-segmented limbs, as well as the large industrial elements of the robot’s body depicted in the inspirational source material.

Super-cute super brothers superbly put together

Whilst we’ve never had an official set, Mario and Luigi are no strangers to LEGO. Many builders have tackled these gaming icons before, but it’s always good to see another take. These figures by ZiO Chao are excellent — tightly-built in a chibi style, but immediately recognisable, and full of character. The outfits are perfectly captured, the faces expressive, and I love the stands beneath each figure. Don’t miss the brickwork on Toad’s mushroom head, and the simple but effective way ZiO has captured Toad’s face. Lovely stuff.

LEGO reveals 21318 Ideas Treehouse, featuring 3,000 pieces and foliage for 2 seasons [News]

Today LEGO is officially taking the wraps off the latest set originating from its crowd-sourcing platform, LEGO Ideas. 21318 Treehouse is the largest Ideas set yet, with a whopping 3,036 pieces. It stands more than 14 inches tall and features leaves in two colors to build either summer or fall versions. First announced last fall, the treehouse features three cabins and four minifigures. Be sure to check out our full, hands-on review of it that we published earlier today, and continue reading below to see all the official images and information.

Despite the enormous part count, the set will retail for US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £179.99. It’s slated to be available in LEGO stores and the LEGO Shop Online tomorrow, July 24, though LEGO did accidentally sell the set briefly to very excited–and surprised–fans last week at San Diego Comic Con, before pulling it from shelves.

Click to see more of the LEGO Ideas Tree House

LEGO Ideas 21318 Treehouse unleashes your childhood dreams [Review]

LEGO’s purpose for the LEGO Ideas program is to encourage and crowdsource new concepts from the LEGO building community that typically might not be produced as mainstream designs from LEGO’s in-house design teams. LEGO Ideas 21318 Treehouse is the 26th entry that has been mass-produced to date and is the largest Ideas set ever released, coming in at a whopping 3,036 elements. Based on the other sets that have been released this year so far, it will be the fourth-largest set for 2019. With such a high piece count and price, at US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £179.99, LEGO fans might think twice before deciding if this is something that they’re going to fit into their budget and collection, so we’ve got an in-depth review of the set to help you decide.

This original idea was conceived by adult fan of LEGO Kevin Feeser and then designed as a LEGO set by LEGO Designer César Soares. With many other LEGO Ideas finalists are tied to some kind of intellectual property like a nostalgic movie, the concept here is a rare original idea. Let’s dive in and evaluate if it makes the cut in its final form.

Check out our hands-on review of the new LEGO Ideas 21318 Treehouse

A Road King crowned with chrome

We recently posted our review of LEGO Creator Expert 10269 Harley Davidson Fat Boy. It’s an amazing set, but that didn’t stop Bricksonwheels from taking to the road with a 1:10 scale Harley-Davidson Road King Lowrider. As you’ve surely noticed, this creation is awash in gleaming chrome, and this is no accident. Bricksonwheels has been advocating the use of custom chromed LEGO elements for over ten years. As the name suggests, their featured builds are trucks and other vehicles, all decked out with those shiny elements. (My favorite is the Kenworth K100 classic milk trailer combo.)

There’s a lot to admire about this creation beyond the mirror finish. The engine is crammed full of detail and real-world shaping. The blues of the bodywork provide a rich color contrast, gliding through some graceful curves. From the rear, you can see even more chromed elements, along with a better look at the instrument panel.

Bricksonwheels hopes that this creation will inspire others to incorporate more chrome into their own builds. You might even be driven to mod your Harley Fat Boy set…hint, hint!

You have 20 nanoseconds to comply

When these cops come to kick your door in, they don’t mess around. Armed to the teeth and itching for a fight, the squad’s tactical mech carries a faint whiff of ED-209 from Robocop. However, Tim Goddard‘s model is a throwback to an altogether different slice of retro cop sci-fi–LEGO’s Space Police theme of 1989. There’s a tonne of lovely mechanical detailing in amongst the black, and the blue panels and red cockpit give the model some striking standout. I love the guns and missile launcher this thing is carrying, but the smaller arms hanging beneath the cockpit are the killer detail, lending the model some goofy character along with its more obvious menace.

Scouting forward into landscapes of unknown terrain

Fascinating builder Kobalt brings his latest LEGO creation to the table, and it seems to jump straight from the cover of a 1960s sci-fi novel. The slim, lightly curved legs of the Atomic Bug support a large bulbous body constructed predominantly in olive green. This speaks to me of treading over rubble in some alternate universe’s cold war. Red highlights and pinstripes adorn this strider, while the touches of yellow bring out some rather clean greebling towards the rear. This craft has been well looked after. A series of snug searchlights are found under the cockpit canopy as well as some nifty aerials, made from a couple of varied lengths of flex cable. I couldn’t personally think of a better part for those large transmitter-receivers.

On turning this craft around, we are presented with what I can only assume is a power source. Built primarily in white, it stands out nicely from the rest of the body. The white 4×4 multifaceted cylinder hemisphere as the cap on the end allows the continuity to be smoothly ended. This reminds me of a futuristic energy core containment system, presumably for its atomic fuel. From this reversed angle we can also see more of the yellow hints, peeking out from the top. The girder piece gives such a great industrial feel and though it’s almost all hidden, the glimpses you get from the varied angles is all it needs.