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.

Build a darker Hawkins in TBB’s Upside Down building contest and win 75810 The Upside Down plus rare Castle Byers event set [News]

The third season of the Netflix series “Stranger Things” was released on July 4, and we have the perfect activity for you as you binge-watch the whole season. Build any location featured in any season of the show! But unlike some other contests inspired by the show recently, there’s a catch: You have to build both the real-world version of your favorite Hawkins locale and the Upside Down version, as seen in the official LEGO set LEGO Stranger Things 75810 The Upside Down — one of our favorite LEGO sets of the year so far. The top builder of our contest, judged by TBB staff, will win this fantastic set, plus the super-rare Castle Byers mini-build set released only to attendees of the LEGO Stranger Things launch events in London and New York.

Learn how to enter the contest and read the fine print

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Watch this time lapse as fans use 56,000 LEGO bricks to make a huge Stranger Things Season 3 poster [Video]

Last weekend, Netflix’s brought fans a bit of the 1980s with the Hawkins Fun Fair at California’s Santa Monica Pier. A carnival experience filled with Stranger Things tie-ins like the ice cream shop featured in Season 3 and a Demogorgon photo op. Starting today, the event has moved to New York’s Coney Island for the weekend. To celebrate their recent partnership with an official Stranger Things LEGO set, LEGO was on hand to help fans create a massive Stranger Things Season 3 poster.

The enormous mosaic was built throughout the weekend with the help of fans, who each assembled a small tile to place on the poster. Using more than 56,000 LEGO pieces in all, the poster measures 90 inches tall and 60 inches wide. It took more than 40 hours to design. Check out a time-lapse video of the poster’s construction below.

This terrifying LEGO Demogorgon is here to watch Stranger Things Season 3 with you

What’s the perfect LEGO accompaniment to binge-watching Stranger Things Season 3 today? Of course, it’s building the incredible official LEGO set of 75810 The Upside Down. But you should also check out this amazingly terrifying Demogorgon from expert builder Aaron Newman. Built in a large scale, it captures the otherworldly horror perfectly, with its gangly limbs and menacing flower head.

If you like this, be sure to read our interview with Aaron Newman. Want to see more LEGO Stranger Things? Check out these other incredible LEGO models:
75810 The Upside Down [Review]
LEGO Chief Hopper’s Cabin
LEGO Stranger Things Minifigures
LEGO Stranger Things BrickHeadz
LEGO Stranger Things Miniland Figures

Won’t you be my neigbor?

While kids don’t have deadlines to worry about or bills to pay, childhood can still be stressful at times. Watching “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” for me and other kids, was a nice way to leave our troubles behind and visit a sweet, gentle, understanding soul, even for just a little while. Matt De Lanoy has rekindled some of my fondest childhood memories with this Neighborhood of Make-Believe layout. Far left we see Grander Tiger and his granddaughter Collette at the Eiffel Tower while Mr. McFeely makes a speedy delivery to King Friday the XIIIth and Queen Sara Saturday. About middle and to the right we see Lady Elaine Fairchild tending to her Museum Go-Round while to the right of her in the background is none other than Mr. Fred Rogers himself waving to his friends in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

See more of this LEGO Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood scene

Have a drink on me, fellows, for tomorrow, we fight.

Scenes from Star Wars movies and television have been a major source of inspiration for LEGO builders since the first time we were transported to that galaxy far, far away. Some builders take more subtle inspiration from the Star Wars universe to create scenes that we never saw but were there all along, like this model of barracks for Rebel troopers on Hoth by Gabe F, a charming view into the day-to-day life of the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to fight the tyranny of the Galactic Empire.

The carved organic snow landscaping is great, and there are lots of little details like portable bunks complete with temperature gauge and power cords, pin-ups on the wall, and cups of caf littered throughout. There’s even a lost sock. Hopefully, the owner has a spare pair to keep their toes warm.

Oh Captain, my captain

LEGO mosaics are near and dear to my heart, as is the character of Captain America. Bluesecrets brings both together in a stunning creation featuring Cap in his bearded “Nomad” phase. This mosaic is 45 inches wide by 35 inches tall (about 114 x 89 centimeters) and is comprised of nearly 40,000 plates. Many brick mosaics use a “studs out” approach where the top of the brick is visible. In contrast, Bluesecrets uses a “studs up” technique where the plates are stacked on top of each other. This allows a higher level of detail in the image, but requires different (and, in my experience, trickier) craftsmanship as the “pixels” that make up the image are rectangular instead of square.

I bet she knows how to open doors, too

When LEGO builder chubbybots saw the new Jurassic World set with a dinosaur mech (75938), he felt like the Tyrannosaurus needed an upgrade to even the fight. And what an upgrade it is! From the robotic legs with enormous claws to the extraordinarily long arms (for a T-rex), this dinosaur can now pack a punch as well as take one. The powerful blasters on the back look certain to take down any foe, be they robotic or organic.

The use of many textures in the greebles both lends an air of authenticity and implies that this is a custom suit made at home, rather than a sleek factory-produced exoskeleton. I love the Bionicle armor covers on the knees, and the splash of red at the shoulders gives the otherwise grey and earthy model a bit of zip. Adding Emmet as the pilot, rather than Owen, is a clever nod to both roles played by actor Chris Pratt. Did the T-rex really need the upgrade? I’m not so sure, as I have seen it take down pretty much every other big bad beast on the island.

Rock block box to rock your socks off

When thinking about LEGO brick built characters, a few names spring to mind and LEGO 7 is absolutely one of them. His creations seem to prove themselves, time and time again, and I find myself really looking forward to any of his new works of art. There is just so much to love about his newest build, Animal Music Box, that it’s hard to pick where to begin. This handiwork is booming with colour, expression and simulated sound. As this is an all inclusive show, the speaker stacks and attached lighting rig frame the background banner superbly, leaving the band to focus on the music. Though there is a lot going on in the main image, he has been kind enough to break it down into individual elements too.

So, lets delve into the box itself before getting onto the plethora of characters found within.

A border keep to keep the border well-kept

A castle built in the north must be strong enough to survive the icy winters and keep the enemy hordes at bay. Looking at this one by Marco den Besten, we can safely say that the inhabitants will be well-protected from both. Built near the southern border of the icy guild of Mitgardia, where it borders the rival guild of Avalonia, the fortifications are thick and the walls high. Ample crenelations protect those on the walls from any enemies who might aspire to shoot arrows at them from below. Plenty of action fills the scene, with troops marching over a bridge, a farmer bringing produce to market, folks fishing, and even a ship approaching the dock. Are the intentions of the sailors friendly? I don’t know, but axes are drawn.

Marco is famous among LEGO castle builders for his large displays, and perhaps even more famous for his large evergreens made of uncountable spines/vines. The way the towers are set at angles to the walls makes for a visually striking shape, a far cry from the square castles I used to make as a kid. Like this creation? Check out more huge castle dioramas built by Marco den Besten such as a fortified city and a city in the snow.

The grass is the sun and the stone is the blue sky

Certain core LEGO themes like castle and space seem to have very specific directions of experimentation and technical progress. We generally associate castle builds with unique textures, but having a colour palette usually limited to various earth tones. Colour experimentation is not unheard of in the theme though, but remains the rare exception that reminds us of specific builders like Luke Watkins or jaapxaap, among others. This time, Anthony Wilson goes to the extreme with what almost looks like a negative image of what would otherwise be a cute but quite ordinary castle scene.

There are so many tones of blue, yellow and orange in this build that even if I try to count them all, I would probably still miss one or two. The transitions between the different colours in the grass are especially smooth and really add up to a realistic effect (as realistic as yellow grass can be). The 1×2 tile-based wall is not a new technique, but the two rows look great overgrown by all sorts of dark brown plants. The yellow ninja minifig and its animal companion add that vitally important bit of life that complete the scene.

Meet Anna. She’s not your average dinosaur.

Meet Anna the Ankyloceratops, she is not your average dinosaur. A builder who goes by the name of Victor got it into his reptile brain to construct a hybrid between a triceratops and an ankylosaurus. The end result makes her a fierce defender of all the grass and stream she has here. Her armor is comprised of plenty of radar dishes and these pointy bits. Her shaping, coloring, even the well-crafted landscape conveys Mesozoic goodness. Anna just might be the best thing I’ve seen all day and I’ve seen a video featuring a basket full of wiener dog puppies.

An impish little tree stump

Sometimes a build comes around that is not large, or highly sophisticated, or deeply symbolic, but instead is just plain whimsically charming. This little tree stump built by Marcel V. and inhabited by several imps is one such build. The lovely arrangement of earth tones strikes the right chord, and nothing is out of place or superfluous. The grass stalks and flowers set a scale for the build that is life-sized, with little four-brick high imps scurrying about causing mischief from their little home. And don’t miss the wood grain of that severed stump!

There are a few nice piece usages to be seen here, like the cupcake cup for a flower and the corn-suit from a collectible minifigure growing beside the little house. I love the little ladders and the window on the roof. It is all captured in a clean visual aesthetic, with impeccably placed pebbles, too. These impish fellows look like they could come straight from the microverse of the Planticore we featured a short while ago.