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.

LEGO Star Wars 75235 X-Wing Starfighter Trench Run [Review]

A number of things have changed in the way LEGO has begun marketing its sets in 2019, and one of them is the Juniors line of branding. The “Juniors” branding has been replaced by boxes with a huge “4+” number at the bottom left corner. This year, for the very first time, the LEGO Star Wars theme enters the newly branded 4+ (formerly “Juniors”) age group and one of our favorite vehicles makes its debut, the X-Wing Starfighter. We don’t typically review sets meant exclusively for younger kids, but with Star Wars, how could we say no? 75235 X-Wing Starfighter Trench Run is available now, retailing at $29.99 in the US (CDN 39.99 and GBP 24.99), and we wanted to let you decide for yourselves as we dive into the details.

Read our full review of 75235 X-Wing Starfighter Trench Run

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Sail away in this Seanchan Greatship

The Wheel of Time is a classic series of Fantasy novels by Robert Jordan, first published in 1990. One of the empires in the Wheel of Time universe is known as Seanchan, and it inspired Douglas Hughes to build a LEGO version of a Seanchan Greatship. According to the builder, the Seanchan style is a fusion of medieval European and Asian influences. For example, the figurehead is European while the trio of ribbed sails are reminiscent of Chinese junks. I love the sculpting of the bow and the ornate detailing running the entire length of the ship. The golden hawk figurehead looks stunning and doubles as a reference to Artur Hawkwing, one of the Seanchan empire’s earlier leaders.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for January 6, 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 first week of January 2019.

TBB NEWS: Ushering in 2019, a flood of new LEGO sets hit stores and we have your complete guide. We also got a peek at of The LEGO Movie 2 with minifigures and a massive set.

The LEGO Movie 2’s largest set revealed as 70840 Welcome to Apocalypseburg! – Coming in at 3,178 pieces and 12 minifigures with an epic Lady Liberty, the apocalypse is nigh.
Your guide to 112 new LEGO sets now available for 2019 – We compiled an extensive list of all the new, cool LEGO sets available starting January 1st.
LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71023 for The LEGO Movie 2 officially revealed – We have your first look at all the characters from the upcoming sequel, Wizard of Oz included.
Farewell Nancy Grace Roman, you are now truly one with the stars – We pay a tribute and last respects to Nancy for inspiring people all around the world.

TBB REVIEWS: We take a look at some of the 2019 releases from two popular themes and an exclusive: Speed Champions, Star Wars, and the Chinese New Years Eve Dinner, respectively.

Review of 80101 Chinese New Years Eve Dinner – We got our hands on the Chinese Spring Festival Special Edition LEGO set to show you all the printed pieces.
Review of 75892 Speed Champions McLaren Senna – Going full throttle into the new year, we go in depth with the McLaren Senna.
Review of 75228 Star Wars Escape Pod vs Dewback Microfighters – The first of release of Microfighters that features a creature, we are overcome by cuteness.

TBB EDITORIALS & FEATURES:

This LEGO Volkswagen Beetle is a Bumblebee in disguise – A truly transformable creation in the most classic sense from our very own Builder in Residence, Ralph Savelsberg.
Brothers Brick LEGO Creation of the Year 2018 – We reveal our LEGO Creation of the Year by Eli Willsea and Grant Davis with their epic Star Wars Jakku Star Destroyer Scene.
Brothers Brick LEGO Builder of the Year 2018 – Coming out right on top for the Builder of the year is Chi Hsin Wei and his versatile and amazing creations in 2018.

No one escapes Vader’s wrath

One thing we all learnt from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is that you don’t want to stand between a Sith Lord and his blueprints! NS Brick Designs has done an amazing job of capturing the iconic scene, giving us Darth Vader in full on rage as he storms the gantry corridor toward the fleeing Tantive IV.

It may only be a small LEGO build, but through the careful placement of the scattered Rebel troops — one being pinned to the ceiling by a force throw — captures the sweeping flow of the sequence. The interior is the other star, overflowing with accurate details. The panelled floor constructed from Technic bars showing just how far things have been taken in the pursuit of the perfect build.

A pair of LEGO lookouts

Meerkats are pretty incredible little creatures. They live in tight-knit family groups and are known for fearlessly defending each other from predators. When they are old enough, every family member takes a turn at keeping watch. This wonderful sculpture by Andreas Weißenburg is a lovely tribute to those exceptional lookouts.

What’s even more impressive is that these sentinels actually move their heads from side to side, scanning the horizon. The inner mechanisms are simple, but clever and efficient. It involves two continuous belts catching and turning gears at different times. The resulting movement really brings them to life!

Classic space: upscaled, armed and dangerous

Builder Jacob Sadovich, who is probably best known to the LEGO community for his LEGO Ideas winning ship in a bottle project, has given us a very different, but equally impressive new model. At first glance it looks like a well built if fairly typical Classic Space star fighter, but look again and you’ll see it’s built to a much larger scale — a scale that allows him to pack in the details, from the clutch of wing mounted missiles, to the huge turbine intakes on each thruster.

Designed around the Technic LEGO figures from the late 1980s, this ship really is huge. Zoom into the front canopy and you can see Jacob’s modified pilot up close, replete with bespoke Classic Space uniform.

There are more surprises to be discovered when viewed from behind.

A rear mounted gun turret completes the military feel of this superb spaceship. Beautifully formed form an X pod, it pays homage to iconic World War 2 planes such as the Lancaster Bomber.

LEGO Overwatch Reinhardt enters the battlefield

A LEGO Overwatch build has been revealed, and it’s this awesome rendition of the hero Reinhardt by Herbert Lee. The heavily-armored German is classified as a tank in the massively popular first-person shooter video game and his appearance here more than justifies the title. The model’s stout form looks like it can take a beating and the helmet looks remarkably accurate to the game, as does his signature rocket hammer.

As an added bonus the Reinhardt model’s base is also a meticulously built and overly greebled recreation of the Overwatch logo. It also puts into perspective just how big Reinhardt is in brick form.

Finally, check out how fan builder Herbert’s model stacks up against the official LEGO Overwatch set in TBB’s recent review of 75953 D.Va and Reinhardt.

No kidding, this fort is way too small for the both of us!

Do you remember that giant awesome LEGO set you always wanted as a kid but somehow never got for Christmas or your birthday? Well, it might not be that easy to get a sealed copy of that set now, but at least you can build an itsy-bitsy version of it! Letranger Absurde brings back the legendary LEGO Western 6769 Fort Legoredo from 1996. As a child I was fascinated by its wooden walls and I was sure it must take a thousand LEGO bricks to build such a massive fort. Now, this copy looks just as exciting with walls and towers made of some of the smallest LEGO pieces. And just when you notice an adorable micro cannon right outside the fort’s gates, you simply can’t help smiling at this tiny beauty.

You couldn’t paint a better Nightmare than this, even Before Christmas

Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring…except for SpaceBrick. SpaceBrick’s latest LEGO model presents a unique twist on the classic Tim Burton film by taking a scene and contextualizing it as a painting. His brick-built illustration is even mounted on an easel! The builder did a great job of crafting the moonlit cliff with a curl, and the surrounding scenery is to die for. Pairs of Harry Potter wand on sprue elements were used to create tombstones, which look Burtonesque in their own right. Look carefully, and you might also catch a glimpse of a tiny Jack Skellington.

The level of detail in this LEGO model is frighteningly high, right down to the tools of the trade scattered below the easel. There are half-filled tubes of paint, a paint spill, and wood shavings alongside the pencil sharpener. It all helps one feel the artist’s sense of accomplishment they must have experienced upon finishing their masterpiece.

LEGO X-wing locking S-foils in attack position

There are few Star Wars vehicles as recognizable as the X-wing — from the distinctive shape of the wings that give it its name, to the long tapered fuselage. This iconic starfighter has inspired many LEGO builders to attempt to capture it in brick, as well as official LEGO sets like 75218 X-wing Starfighter released last year. This model by JJbricks is a fantastic build at minifig scale and has some great details, such as the canopy, resting on an angled frame. The visible grey bits on the inside of the wing are also a nice touch. But some of my favorite parts are the laser cannons. Made with just a few pieces, they very accurately capture their on-screen inspiration.

And this rear view shows off a nice bit of greebling within the hexagonal body of the ship.

TBB cover photo for January 2019: Captain on the Bridge!

A new year brings us a (belated) new cover photo for The Brothers Brick’s social media channels. This month’s cover photo by Finn Roberts takes us high above the earth, to the interior of a spacecraft preparing to depart our planet’s orbit.

This scene is also built to fit the interior dimensions of an inflatable habitat module that Finn featured in a previous LEGO model, alongside a fantastic spacecraft used to assemble an interplanetary cruiser under construction. We can’t wait to see what the finished cruiser looks like!

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today. Photos that do not meet the submission guidelines will not be considered, and will be removed from the group.

Keep up with the Brothers Brick by liking us on Facebook and following us on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. And for occasional extra goodies, follow us on Flickr or subscribe to us on YouTube.

Fright Knights flashback

Do you remember Fright Knights? Thomas “Thomassio” van Urk does, and he’s built a flashback tribute model to the LEGO Castle subtheme from the late 1990’s.

This homage is quite a bit more complex than the forgotten theme’s biggest castle set, 6097 Night Lord’s Castle, but features many of the key details that scream “Fright Knights” including bats (using original flags, soldier helmets, and bat elements), Willa the Witch on one of the towers with a telescope, and even main antagonist Basil the Bat Lord if you peer closely. More modern flourishes include the Bat Monster from an early collectible minifigure series, seen terrifying a hapless knight on the grounds outside the castle.

It’s not just new and old minifigures being included. Fancier building techniques than the original sets are on full display here as well, with tons of Studs Not On Top tiling and detailing all over the place. My eye immediately latched onto the round tower section shown below, which features some really nice double cheese wedge action to fill the gaps of the detailing wrapped around the tower.

If you enjoyed Thomas’ work here, see some of his previous models on TBB like the Dohodno Zdanie and giant sky pirate airship the Lady McZep.