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.

Babydozer on the path of destruction

Accomplished LEGO artist Ted Andes has presented us with a cute riddle: What’s under twenty pieces, adorable and could potentially demolish your house? Baby’s First Bulldozer. This is a prime example of minimal part use for the win. Also known as the Pamper Pusher, this little guy was built as a part of a collaborative effort for Brickworld Chicago. I always enjoy seeing simple two- or three-piece combinations that just work. The tread system made of the microfighter wheel base, a 1×3 thin Technic lift arm, and a stretched tyre, is absolutely one of those.

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Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood where Christopher Robin builds

“Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs…” Well, not in this case. Here we get Winnie The Pooh and Tigger, created in LEGO bricks by BrickinNick. These renditions of the Disney versions of A. A. Milne’s classic characters are immediately recognisable and great fun. Pooh looks a little less rotund than usual, but he’s probably about to sort that out by guzzling an entire pot of honey. The model manages to catch Tigger mid-bounce, which is no mean feat. There’s a real sense of energy and movement in the pose, and Tigger’s colour scheme and facial expression are spot-on.

A sweet dream in LEGO

I love LEGO creations that fool the eye. When I first saw Sweet dream in the old garage by AdNorrel, I thought I was looking at a well composed photo of a real-life moment. I was scrolling through images of LEGO creations at the time, so I knew that couldn’t be right. So I took a closer look.

“Oh,” I thought, “that’s a LEGO minifigure in the center. So the garage is probably brick built. Yep. Looks like they put the build in front of their garden outside to get the background….no. Wait.”
“….”
“….wow.”

There are a lot of details partially hidden in the shadows of the garage. The tiling on the wall expertly mimics the slightly warped wood of an older building. Trophies and statuettes hint at past racing glories, blending in with the more functional aspects of the garage. Custom printing on many of the signs adds tantalizing hints of the larger world this creation inhabits. There are indications that a lot more is happening just out of sight, too, as there’s a crane to the right and the front end of a car to the left. Continue reading →

A Pegasus is more than a work horse

Impeccable maestro of the LEGO sci-fi/space genera Blake Foster seems to not be able to sit still after completing his massive four-year project, the Ugly Duckling. This time, while sticking to his tried, true and tested style, he has created the Pegasus Class Anti-Frigate Attack Fighter. His somewhat iconic, solid dark bluish grey greebling creates the feeling of a substantially sound craft. The white with red pinstripe enclosed paneling is stark in contrast yet strikingly vibrant.

Click to read more about the Pegasus

LEGO to buy LEGOLAND theme park operator Merlin Entertainments in $7.6 billion deal [News]

The parent company of The LEGO Group, Kirkbi A/S, has reached a deal to purchase Merlin Entertainments for 6 billion pounds, or more than 7.6 billion USD. Merlin Entertainments operates eight LEGOLAND theme parks from California to Dubai, dozens of LEGOLAND Discovery Centers, as well as other famous attractions such as Madam Toussad’s and the London Eye, all of which will now come under control of LEGO owner Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the grandson of LEGO’s founder.

Yesterday it was reported by Reuters that Kirkbi, the company under which the Kristiansen family organize their holdings, is joining with two other investment groups, Blackstone Group LP and Canadian pension fund CPPIB, to purchase a 50 percent stake in Merlin. LEGO sold the majority stake in its theme parks to Merlin in 2005 during its financial crisis in an effort to focus more on the core brick product. Now as the largest toy manufacturer in the world with the financial crisis firmly behind them, the company is looking to diversify its holdings once more and the LEGOLAND brand was the natural place to start. Along with the 30 percent stake that Kirkbi retained in Merlin, the new deal will grant a controlling interest in the theme parks that bear their most famous product’s name.

A build 17 years in the making

Since 2002, Spencer_R has been wanting to build the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. One key thing held them back; they were stymied by the lack of the perfect part. (A feeling that is familar to many LEGO builders, I’m sure.) Flash forward to 2017 and the release of the 1×1 plate with a printed square pattern, part of the 70620 Ninjago City set. Then flash forward another year or two, as Spencer needed a whopping 1040 of them to complete the build. The end result is 1/650th scale version that is both a labor of love and a treat for the eyes.

Beyond the highly accurate recreation of the shape of the tower, Spencer has also faithfully reproduced many other details. At the base of the tower the park contains redwood trees made from flower stems, a fence of 1×2 grilled tiles, and a 1×1 round plate standing in for the fountain. There’s even a cafe pavilion overlooking the park grounds.

Be sure to check out the full album on flickr for even more close up details, build commentary, and a great overview of the history and features of the real building.

The Brothers Brick Readers’ Survey 2019 – last chance to tell us what you think and to win a LEGO Lunar Lander set [News]

Complete our 5 minute survey and you could win a 10266 Apollo Lunar Lander LEGO set! This weekend is your last chance to tell us what you think.

Thank you to the thousands of you who have already given us your feedback. We genuinely appreciate your input — it will help us build a better TBB. Click here to take the survey.

The survey is open until Sunday 30th June.

The survey may only be completed once per participant. The free Lunar Lander set will be awarded to a survey respondent picked at random after the survey closes. The prizewinner must be over the age of 18. An email address is required to enter the prize draw. The email address will only be used to contact the prizewinner to arrange delivery. All email addresses will be deleted once delivery is arranged. In the event of the initial prizewinner not responding to contact within 3 days, a new prizewinner will be picked at random. TBB reserves the right to substitute some form of voucher of similar value in the event of shipping proving ridiculously expensive.

Build your own “Roger Roger” droid from Star Wars [Instructions]

The earworm that stuck with me when I walked away from the screening of The Phantom Menace is the “Roger Roger” acknowledgment phrase by the battle droids. You can now build your very own with if you have the right parts on hand, and while you’re at it, builder hachiroku24 has made sure you can articulate them so you can build an army to go with your Star Wars diorama.

See how to build your very own army of Trade Federation battle droids

Which one of youse ordered the shark fin soup?

Beware shark fin soup enthusiasts. It’s not so much my thing but in China shark fin soup is considered a delicacy served at traditional weddings and banquets.The practice has been condemned by the Humane Society International as millions of sharks are killed each year for their fins and it sort of upsets the order and sustainability of other things in the ocean. Enter James Zhan and his toothy Nightmare Amalgam-Z. This creature can walk up on land, politely tap you on the shoulder with this Bionicle part while you’re dining, then maybe proceed to chomp on your face. You don’t want that, do you? We all gotta eat, I know, but driving a certain species to near extinction isn’t cool. So let’s be cool, otherwise you get this guy and we’ve already established what he does. So are we cool? Good!

Wait, wait, don’t tell me! It’s Mettawa Manor in miniature!

In the state of Illinois, in the town of Mettawa, there is a house called Mettawa Manor. Originally built in 1927, when it was purchased in 1990 by newsman Bill Kurtis and his wife Donna LaPietra, they became just the second owners of the estate, and, in the nearly thirty years since, they have refurbished the place and made the gardens a popular horticultural destination. Another newsman, Peter Sagal, the host of National Public Radio’s popular Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me alongside Mr. Kurtis, commissioned a LEGO build of the manor for his colleague from the talented Dave Kaleta to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his marriage at the house. The resulting model is magnificent!

Building in microscale has its peculiar challenges, where each stud width and plate height equals many feet (or meters outside the USA), but Dave has done a great job of replicating the different angles of the roof lines and various bay windows, together with beautiful landscaping. The use of neck brackets for electrical details on the roof as well as the chairs on the back patio is lovely, and repeated 1×1 tiles on the roof create a perfect illusion of shingle texture. My favorite detail is definitely the entry way, though, with the perfect little door framed by an arch of cheese slopes. Photos of the actual house appear on the builder’s Flickr photostream, and it is as spot-on as one could do in LEGO bricks. What a gift!

Not all those who off-road are lost

Decked out in sponsor stickers, and sporting a nifty black and yellow paint job, Ian Ying‘s latest LEGO Technic vehicle is a cracker — a beefy buggy of a 4×4 off-roader. With its fat wheels, roll cage, and striking colour scheme, I can just imagine this baby roaring across the dunes in Baja, or maybe taking on the Paris-Dakar Rally.

This is one of those LEGO models which looks just as good from the rear, especially in this low-angle shot, which gives the vehicle the impression of being packed with engine grunt. That’s not too far off the mark here, as Ian has built a Technic Pull-Back motor into the heart of this model, giving it a nifty turn of speed.

(One small niggle — the spare tyre is different from the rest. But that’s nit-picking at an otherwise excellent build.)