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.

Revisiting Löwenstein Castle from BrickLink’s AFOL Designer Program [Review]

There are only a few days left to purchase a set from BrickLink’s AFOL Designer Program (ADP), and having just taken a second look at the Wild West Saloon a few days ago, we wanted to give the same treatment to one of the program’s most successful models, Löwenstein Castle by builder Raziel Regulus. We’ll also take look back at the overall program.

In our early review of Löwenstein Castle, the finished packaging of the set was not yet ready from BrickLink. With the final product now available, let’s revisit the set and packaging, and take a look at the expansion of the base model that has been developed by the original fan designer.

Click to continue reading about the Löwenstein Castle

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This monochrome medieval city is anything but bleak

While many LEGO castle builders use at least some shade of gray somewhere in their medieval fortifications, many try to push themselves outside this monochrome palette if possible. On the other hand, sometimes using self-imposed constraints can unlock new levels of creativity. In the case of this microscale village by Aaron Newman, complete with cathedral and an impressive keep, the inspiration came from the task of building a prize for a castle building contest where the use of gray is prohibited. So, whoever wins this prize will still get the benefit of a little gray in an otherwise colorful world.

One of my favorite details about this model are the many angled walls, which reflect a great many real-life castles and ruins around the world. One more missable detail is the sideways bricks that flank the entrance to the cathedral. For the round towers, Aaron borrowed a technique from a previous microscale castle of his featured here on TBB.

That’s a twist. That’s very twisty.

The Norwegian museum Kistefos Museet is currently expanding, and Lego Fjotten brings us a look at the planned art bridge museum in LEGO form. Designed by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), the building spans the Ranselva river while twisting along its axis. The LEGO version accomplishes the same task, spanning a river of 1×2 transparent blue tiles with a turn that is almost as seamless as the large scale architecture will be.

Beyond the centerpiece of the bridge, Lego Fjotten also shows skill with a realistic and complex landscape. Trees, gently sloping hills, a cobblestone walk, and tiny picnic tables with minifigure statuettes give things a sense of scale.

To learn more, I recommend you check out BIG’s project summary for the Twist. There you’ll find amazing concept art and an explanation of how the Twist changes the entire experience of the sculpture garden.

LEGO Overwatch gets two new sets with Junkrat and Roadhog plus Hammond in his Wrecking Ball [News]

In addition to the tidal wave of new LEGO sets coming this summer, LEGO has revealed two new Overwatch sets arriving on October 1st. 75977 Junkrat & Roadhog will come with 380 pieces for $49.99 US and 75976 Wrecking Ball will come with 227 pieces and a Hammond hamster figure for $19.99 US.

The sets will be displayed at San Diego Comic-Con next month at the Blizzard Entertainment booth before they are publicly available this fall.

Click to get a closer look at the two new LEGO Overwatch sets

Lumos Maxima! This incredible custom LEGO Hogwarts Castle looks like it could be straight from the movies

LEGO builder Hyungmin Park has brought something incredible to life. The many official iterations of the Harry Potter universe from LEGO have granted many builders the parts, concepts and construction ideas to achieve so much, and LEGO fans have responded with countless adaptations in a wide range of scales. But when I saw this new Hogwarts castle, I had to rub my eyes. I already have a love for both minifig and microscale builds, but here they work together to create a great forced perspective, all the while being impeccably lit with a huge amount of LEDs.

The Hogwarts Castle is as iconic as a pop culture building could be, and Hyungmin Park’s rendition is just stunning. The main structure of the building has been predominantly locked into microscale, with the odd exception of a well-placed minifig scale scene, reminding me a bit of the giant official LEGO microscale Hogwarts Castle. But this does two things: it allows the viewer to soak in some of their favorite scenes, and it gives some great forced-perspective photos. Having them completely lit up, only enhances the experience even more.

Click to see more photos of this incredible Hogwarts Castle

Does this bug you?

Surveillance technology gets a creepy boost with Marty McFly, Cole Blaq’s latest creation. I’m not sure if this steampunk drone is designed to extract information or blood. It looks like it could do either. Or both. Probably at the same time. Like I said: Creepy.

From a LEGO perspective there are lots of things to love about this build. The spear gun proboscis and minifigure whip antennae fit the insect shaping well. The plastic insect wings are effectively incorporated. My favorite details, though, are the Imperial astromech droid heads. Those transparent domes perfectly combine the suggestion of circuity and faceted eyes.

Cole provides more great views of this creation in his blog post. While you’re there, take some time to explore this builder’s other amazing creations.

Hey Ma, is it meatloaf night?

In true stylised 50s decor, Aukbricks has brought this living room to life. The grand windows, framed by long curtains, really open this space up without losing any of the warmth. I can almost smell the cookies baking in the adjacent kitchen. The lamp, with its combination of Technic wheel and inset steering wheel is ace — the leg composition and string with stud ends, makes it perfect. A staggered and framed arrangement of printed 1×1 Plates appear behind it, seemingly like an unexpected but good way to use them. I’m also impressed by the billy clubs, used as rounded feet on the sofa. Though the part combinations are superbly placed throughout this build, the overall ambience set in the render process has given it a distinctly 1950s nuclear family feel. All it needs now is a turntable with Buddy Holly set to a comfortable level.

The new LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Avengers set brings fantastic minifigures of Hulk and Pepper Potts [News]

Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame is probably the biggest movie of the year. Although, a lineup of LEGO Marvel sets was released in April, the design team made an excellent job not spoiling any plot details. Now, once the whole world learned the outcome, LEGO has something to surprise us with. Pepper Potts in her Rescue armor, Black Widow and Infinity Gauntlet-wielding Hulk all come in 76144 Avengers Hulk Helicopter Drop. The 482-piece LEGO Marvel Avengers: Endgame set hits store shelves November 25 and will retail at US $59.99.

Click here for more pictures…

Revisiting the LEGO Wild West Saloon set from Bricklink’s AFOL Designer Program [Review]

Over the last few months, we reviewed the Wild West Saloon and the popular Löwenstein Castle custom LEGO sets from Bricklink’s AFOL Designer Program (ADP). Since we received an early review copy, it arrived without the actual packaging and manuals. Bricklink has now generously sent us the actual packaging backers can expect to receive. With box-in-hand, we wanted to provide our readers with a quick revisit of the set, this time only focusing on the unboxing experience and instruction manual.

Click here to experience the full unboxing

What lies beneath the waves?

Every year for the past few summers, right around now talented castle builders start coming out of the woodwork and displaying their creations for the Summer Joust. One such talented castle builder is Carter Witz, who has built the ruins of some ancient civilization on the edge of a tropical island. Unlike most such builds, however, Carter has set most of the building beneath the waves, implying either that the level of the sea has risen or that the level of the land has sunk. Or were the original inhabitants merfolk? Our only clue is that the builder has titled the work “Flooded…”. Whatever the events were that befell the now-ruined tower, it is an impressive build.

Large sections of rocks often get to be tedious, but Carter has kept the rocks looking interesting by varying the pieces and techniques on the way up. Minifigure arms on the submerged trees make for effective branches, and the tan gears look like nice corals. There are even ball joint pieces used as some sort of sponge, perhaps. The nicest detail, though, is the fish hiding in the hole in the tower. They don’t mind at all that the place is flooded.

LEGO 75253 Boost Droid Commander now available for purchase in US and Canada [News]

The LEGO Boost 75253 Droid Commander details were revealed back in May and you can now order it online at LEGO Shop@Home on the US and Canada stores. It comes with 1,177 pieces and retails for US $199.99 and CAN $249.99. Other locations such as the UK does not have them listed as of yet.

Click here to order for the US Store listing and here for the Canada Store listing.

You can read more about the details of this set and features in the Press Release announcement or check out the Designers Video released recently below.

A beast from a garden that is older than your grandads

The good old backyard wriggler seems like a toddler in comparison to Tino Poutiainen’s mighty “Ancient Earthworm.” Its resemblance to both the famed Jurassic-era predator and a Tremors Graboid is quite striking. Even still, this leaves me to wonder what scale is it built in? Is it in minifig scale or actually closer to life-size? Whatever the case, this LEGO beast gives me the feeling that it would be an unrelenting foe, whether chasing me down a main road or a garden path.

Poutiainen’s use of the long cattle horn and spiky appendage piece, both in reddish-brown give this build some sensory perception when deep underground. It’s crowning part use though, is the large figure forearm with fist for the head. This piece was only produced in one set almost a decade ago, so it is good to see it making such a purposeful appearance here.