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.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for June 9, 2019 [News]

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 second week of June 2019.

LEGO announced a new upcoming theme this week, but can you guess what it is? Read on to find out more.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS: The space theme continues for another week with a new Ideas set announced and an adorable gift with purchase.

Review of LEGO Creator Expert 10266 NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander – The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing has arrived, but how does the set compare?
International Space Station voted as winner of LEGO Ideas Extraordinary 10 Year Anniversary Fan Vote – The project by LEGO fan and builder XCLD got 45.6% of the votes.
LEGO Ideas 40335 Space Rocket Ride available now free with purchase – For the first time ever, LEGO is giving away an Ideas set as a gift with purchase. Don’t miss out!
LEGO Minions are coming in 2020 – The next movie about the Minions will have a dedicated line-up of LEGO products.

TBB FEATURES: Walk down memory lane with a look back at LEGO Space and some precious photos.

LEGO Space Trivia and History: Take a look back at one of the most stellar LEGO themes – How well do you know your LEGO Space facts?
A picture’s worth a thousand bricks – vintage LEGO photography – Travel back in time with some fun vintage LEGO photographs, and share your own!
Astounding LEGO Super Chief train up for charity auction – Tony Sava’s stunning Santa Fe railroad model is up for charity auction at Brickworld in Chicago.

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The high ground – Light and LEGO combine to bring Mustafar to life in this Star Wars diorama

In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, one of the most memorable moments is Anakin and Obi-Wan facing off on the surface of the lava-planet, Mustafar. Alessandro Rizzello brings the climax of this confrontation to life with a combination of LEGO and light.

Built for the Greatest Battles contest on LEGO Ideas, Alessandro has used LED strip lighting to highlight the danger of a river of transparent-orange crystals. Anakin stands on a movie-accurate hover platform, while Obi-Wan has claimed the high ground. A smattering of 1×1 round plate and flame elements complete the scene.

The glow of the lava results in a very cinematic feel. You can almost feel those minifigs sweating from the heat!

LEGO’s Ultimate Lightsaber Duel set coincided with the film’s theatrical release in 2005 and LEGO included a cameo of the scene with Anakin’s Jedi Interceptor in 2012, but so far they are the only official sets to showcase this iconic battle. (Although LEGO did return to Mustafar recently with Darth Vader’s Castle.) We’re lucky that the fan community is willing to make the return trip!

Iron Man, Iron Man, does whatever an iron can

There was a time about eleven or twelve years ago when I thought a good Iron Man movie could never be made. Thankfully I have since learned the folly of my ways. It turns out you really can make a good movie (or several) about a fast-talking red and gold metal-clad superhero. Ben Fong proves you can also make a good Iron Man LEGO creation.

This well-crafted figure is fully posable but Ben goes the extra distance and features LED lights in the hands, eyes, and chest-mounted arc reactor. Another excellent touch is the lifting mask that reveals a goateed Tony Stark. This stellar figure will have us all declaring “I am Iron Man!”

Old overgrown mansion covered in detail

I’ve really been digging buildings built with plate instead of bricks lately. When a builder uses that idea as a starting point, and then adds in other cool details and techniques the way Jellyeater1 has, then we’re usually in store for a pretty cool LEGO creation.

The overall layout of the old mansion is fantastic and the varied brickwork achieved by using plates of six different colours (not to mention the mixed in masonry bricks and round plates) adds an extra level of detail on what might have otherwise been flat walls. Other details abound to solidify the realism of the house: the ornate entryway, the numerous chimneys, and appropriately positioned drainpipes. My personal favourite details are those that give off the look of being abandoned: the boarded-up rose window, drapes flying out of the open windows, the ivy taking over the back wall, or the tree poking through the roof.

The legacy of Ninjago’s Dragon’s Forge

Everything old is new again and Robert4168 takes us on a nostalgic trip back to 2017 with this colorful and detailed homage to set 70627 Dragon’s Forge. Recently, LEGO has started giving some of their classic Ninjago sets a makeover and re-issuing them under the Legacy moniker. For fans, it’s a great opportunity to get your hands on some updated versions of older locations that you may have missed the first time around. Taking a cue from LEGO, Eurobricks launched a contest asking their members to create their own Legacy scenes based on any past Ninjago set. Clearly, Robert4168 was up to the challenge!

The color palette of the landscaping is a beautiful combination of lime green and dark green accented with translucent blue tiles and bricks for a pleasing water effect. I like the use of angled plates and some sideways building to create its organic shapes. The rickety brown wooden bridge is not only nicely constructed, but provides good color contrast.

The detailed revamping of the forge’s interior is a marked improvement on the original set with its tan and dark tan color scheme, brown window frames and tiled floor. The addition of warm lights inside the forge is a perfect finishing touch that really puts this model over the top.

An Atlas to take your personnel further

Sometimes I come across LEGO builds that add a new wrinkle to my brain as I’m scanning all the details while trying to spot all the exquisite parts uses. Markus Rollbühler tends to be a name synonymous with said builds. His newest addition to Mech Monday, #22: ATLAS – Multipurpose Carrier, is absolutely no exception. The first question I thought was, “Where do I start?” and the first elements to grab me were the Minifig Jet Pack and 1×1 Decorated Tile with Telephone Speaker Pattern. That combination is pure greeble at a tiny scale. Next, the new(ish) Minifig Blaster with studs on all sides. Not only did they get used for legs, they were also used for its well-armored head stock. It took me a few seconds of admiring Bucket Handles and Minifig Hands, to realise Markus is even hiding segments from a Yoda Wristwatch for the mech’s back.

All of that without even mentioning the paint job. The militarised tone is well balanced between its shell of sand green and its industrial framework of bluish greys. Add some touches of Dark Tan into the mix and its complete. I am curious to see it in other colour schemes though–adaptations for different purposes perhaps?

If you missed it, check out Markus Rollbühler’s last LEGO Mech we featured.

This Jem concert is truly, truly, truly outrageous!

You can feel the Synergy emanating from this bright and cheerful Jem set by Samuel Hatmaker. You may remember him as the creator of the popular Golden Girls project on LEGO Ideas (It reached 10,000 supporters but failed to pass the review). This time, he has built a complete playset that includes four separate pieces capturing all the glamour, glitter, fashion and fame of the 80’s hit cartoon, Jem & the Holograms.

What’s cooler than cool? This spaceship.

Ice Planet 2002 might not generate quite the same level of nostalgia among adult fans of LEGO that Classic Space does, but for a certain generation of builders it surely evokes fond memories of trans-neon orange chainsaws and the coolest visors that LEGO helmets had yet seen. It does for me, at least. Bob De Quatre certainly knows how to balance the distinctive white and blue color scheme, with the trans-neon orange accents, that made Ice Planet so distinctive and immediately recognizable back in its heyday. This planetary explorer uses its extensive monitoring equipment to scan the surface in low orbit, looking for whatever it was that these frosted spacemen were trying to find. I never knew what I was supposed to be finding with those chainsaws and ski/snowshoes, but I knew my crew looked good doing it.

The angled faces and down-swept wings show Bob to be a master spaceship builder. Fun highlights are the feathered sections of the wings in front of the air intakes and the opening pods on either side of the tail fin, which can deploy probes to the planet’s surface for added reconnaissance. Nexo Knights’ greatest gift to builders as a theme was perhaps the introduction of many new elements in trans-neon orange, especially the angular canopy used so effectively here. But that is not all that Bob has used well; don’t miss the DUPLO radar dish beneath the cockpit and the Bionicle armor behind it. Now that’s one ~~cool~~ ice-cold spaceship.

Beautiful microscale model of Saint-Tropez

If you have ever visited the charming seaside village of Saint-Tropez on the southern coast of France, then this model by Thilo Schoen will be instantly recognizable. There are so many details that make this LEGO scene by the sea come alive, including colorful shops along the marina, terracotta roof tiles, and the yellow-topped bell tower of the church (Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunció). Topping everything off is the citadel, which towers majestically above the town. Another enjoyable detail includes boats filling the marina, built studs-down using the new modified 1×2 rounded plate in white.

A flock of freaky feathered friends

Who is more curious, the flock of crazy LEGO birds or the bemused kitty? Whatever the answer Morlon Empire’s build has me grinning from ear to ear. Working from a single seed part, in this case a banana that doubles as a beak, he’s created an expressive feathered character. They look fabulous en masse with their necks craning at different angles. Morlon deserves a feather in his cap for creating such an amusing scene from such a simple idea and only a handful of bricks.

A picture’s worth a thousand bricks: vintage LEGO photography [Feature]

When it comes to collecting LEGO items, there are plenty of avenues to pursue. While vintage LEGO sets and gear are perhaps the most obvious choices, I prefer collecting LEGO ephemera. I have spent many hours scouting out old catalogs, brochures and instructions. Out of all the ephemera I have, period photographs of children enjoying LEGO sets are among my favorite pieces. Owning a retired set is enjoyable, but images from the past help contextualize LEGO products in a way a set alone cannot do. Photographs provide a window into the past when now-retired LEGO products were new, which is why I am sharing some of my favorite photographs with you!

See more vintage photographs of children and adults enjoying LEGO bricks

A LEGO tower that stands as tall as some people

In the Chinese city of Wuhan, you can find the 51.4 m Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼). The current iteration of the tower was completed in 1985, but the tower has existed in various forms since at least the year 223. Chinese LEGO fan Smoker Nie (聂汉卿) has built a beautiful replica of the tower, which took a painstaking eight months to design and 1,400 hours to build. It consists of 163,100 pieces and stands at a massive height of 158 cm (≈5.2 ft). This is made all the more impressive by the fact that this is only his second LEGO model. (His first was the Aiwan Ting Pavilion.)

See more images of this beautiful Chinese tower