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.

Do the Technicolor Yawn with this Technic theme park thrill ride [Video]

Builder Shadow Elenter dubbed this the “3D Dizzy” and subjected Technic figures to do the Technicolor Yawn (aka barf). This is an imagined thrill ride at a theme park that spins ever so smoothly like a gyroscope and will surely induce nausea and leave anyone vertiginous with the constant spinning and rotation.

This feat took 14 motors that spans from Power Functions to custom SBrick controllers. It weighs almost 115.8 lbs (7.2kg) and measures 54x24x19 inches (90x59x47cm) in its dimensions.

Don’t let the spinning structure steal the show. The ride actually takes you through the full experience from buying tickets to access paths and ramps for the figures. The safety bars are programmed to secure the adrenaline-hungry humans just like in a real-world ride, and the ramp access automatically moves out of the way. Perhaps this will indeed inspire a real-world theme park ride!

Check out the full video here:

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TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 9, 2018 [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 September 2018.

TBB NEWS: This week had incredibly varied topics of news, from new sets and ideas to sales and conventions.

10 fan projects have qualified for the second 2018 LEGO Ideas Review – Which of these fan creations could become an official LEGO set?
LEGO reveals 10263 Winter Village Fire Station as their next holiday set – The tallest ever building enters the LEGO holiday lineup complete with a fire truck.
LEGO unveils 41631 Fantastic Beasts BrickHeadz – Newt Scamander and Gellert Grindelwald appear in BrickHeadz form starting Oct. 1.
BrickCon 2018 LEGO convention in Seattle is now just one month away – Come meet The Brothers Brick at one of the best LEGO exhibitions on the west coast.
LEGO Friends, Elves, Star Wars and more on sale at Amazon – Many of these sets are 30% to 40% off retail.

TBB REVIEWS & FEATURES: Get to know TBB better by watching our video review and reading about one of our contributor’s build process.

Video review of LEGO Star Wars 75220 Sandcrawler – Check out our hands-on look at the newest set of wheels from Tatooine.
Feature: How to build a LEGO Grumman E-1 Tracer early warning aircraft – TBB contributor Ralph Savelsberg takes us through his build process in this new series.
Interview with Takamichi Irie, builder of LEGO House bugs and a motorized BB-8 – What inspires this builder to create such organic shapes with unconventional pieces?
Talented Italian LEGO builder Luca Di Lazzaro dies far too young – The LEGO fan community lost a great builder this week, so we compiled some of his best work in his memory.
Enter Brothers Bricks’ LEGO Harry Potter microscale competition – Show off your stuff and you could win the massive new 71043 Hogwarts Castle.

OTHER NEWS: There were quite a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:
Check out the other LEGO news of the week

You can practically hear this baby growl

Who hasn’t imagined cruising down the main drag in a custom hot rod? Whilst doing it for real might prove beyond most people’s budgets, maybe we can take a leaf out of ianying616‘s book and at least create a LEGO version of our dream automobile. This black and silver vehicle is an intimidating beast, all hunkered-down suspension and gleaming chrome highlights amidst the black and grey. The monochromatic colour scheme doesn’t just look mean, it reduces distractions, keeping the focus of attention on the smooth lines of the bodywork and the details of that hulking engine.

Not content with furnishing this beast with working steering and suspension, the builder has also given it a pristine interior, complete with nicely upholstered seats, dashboard instrumentation, gear stick, and handbrake…

LEGO reveals 10263 Winter Village Fire Station as their next holiday set [News]

Every year since 2009, LEGO has released an addition to their Winter Village theme. Following last year’s 10259 Winter Village Station, LEGO has revealed that the model for 2018 will be another type of station — a fire station! 10263 Winter Village Fire Station includes 1,166 pieces, six minifigures and a baby, a Dalmatian, red fire truck, frozen fountain and a Christmas tree.

The set will retail for $99.99 starting on October 1, with LEGO VIP availability beginning on September 13.
Click to take a closer look at the LEGO Winter Village Fire Station

40198 LEGO Ludo Game (also known as Parcheesi or Sorry!) [Review]

Unlike building with LEGO, playing board games implies very specific elements of luck, strategy, and competition. It’s very hard to draw parallels between building with plastic pieces and spending hours over a board moving tokens back and forth. So when the two universes meet each other, the result can be absolutely unpredictable — just like 40198 LEGO Ludo Game, the new LEGO version of the famous Ludo board game. The set consists of 389 pieces, includes a small army of 16 minifigures and retails at $39.99/€39.99. And could I have imagined how much fun was hidden inside the box..?

Click to read the full review

Stranger Things teen line-up

The Netflix original series Stanger Things was an instant cult classic, and has led to a number of LEGO creations inspired by some of its memorable cast of characters, including a tribute to Barb by our own Iain Heath. This latest creation by Casey McCoy features the older teens from the show and they are instantly recognizable versions of their on-screen inspirations.

While fairly simple in construction, the models feature some nice techniques in the shaping of clothing and hair. I thought the purposeful miss-alignment of 1×1 bricks to create textured fabric for the pants was very effective.

Want to see more from Stranger Things? Check out our previously covered full line-up ofBrickHeadz by the same builder.

Surviving the apocalypse is all about a well-provisioned outpost

When it comes to post-apocalyptic LEGO creations, there is a vast selection of sub-genres that builders are inspired by, from cyber-punk, to wasteland survival, to monster/zombie/alien-infested worlds… and so many more. This scene by LegoFin. is set in a world where massive flooding and pollution have forced survivors to carve out a life among the crumbling remains of cities.

Aside from some very well-textured and very broken walls, I especially like the use of black bars throughout the structure for re-bar. This creates an even greater sense of danger and hostility in the environment. One missable detail is that the entire outpost is supported by a few small supports precariously balanced over the water. Then there’s all those utilitarian details like the radio tower, weather vane, and solar panels that complete the scene very nicely.

An iconic Harry Potter scene, filmed in LEGO stop-motion [Video]

If you’re any kind of self-respecting Harry Potter fan, you know about the Mirror of Erised. Even more importantly, you know one of the most famous quotes of the entire series. As Dumbledore says, “It does not do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live.” These noble words that resonate with us all come at a pivotal point in the storyline.

Now that scene has been masterfully re-created in LEGO stop-motion by Geertos13 who also voices the young wizard.

A humble village containing a luxurious treasure

This charming little village is the home of an exotic mineral. At first glance you wouldn’t notice that this is where pearling is done. But as you look closer, you begin to see the story told by builder Ayrlego. As villagers go about their day, two women sit in the top corner, opening the clamshells.

The rockwork and landscaping are nice, as well as the angles of the buildings, and the little scenes are simple but clever and cute. My favorite part is actually the fish racks at the bottom, using pirate hooks to hang them up for drying.

Like this build? Ayrlego is a great storyteller, and we’ve covered several other creations that are even better! You’ll find the beauty in the fine details of this jaguar sighting, these navy barracks, and this research center.

Jarek finally gets around to the X-wing, and it was absolutely worth the wait

We’ve been featuring the excellent LEGO models of Polish builder Jarek for more than ten years. While Jarek builds across many LEGO themes, he is perhaps best known for his highly detailed LEGO Star Wars vehicles, from the sleek A-wing back in 2008 and a 2-meter-long Imperial Star Destroyer to Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced just a few months ago. And yet, Jarek has never before built the iconic X-wing starfighter — until now.

The Incom T-65 X-wing is a particularly challenging craft to render in LEGO due to its harsh angles and distinctive details. As one of the most recognizable vehicles in the Star Wars universe, as well as a frequent subject of official LEGO sets, like the recent 75218 X-wing Starfighter. As a result, even casual fans tend to catch even the smallest inconsistencies and inaccuracies.

See more of what might be the best LEGO X-wing ever

Built it through the grapevine

Amidst the summer heat, Josephine Monterosso’s brick-built grapes look quite refreshing, not to mention realistic. They look like they were just picked off the vine, right down to the green leaf hanging off the end of the stem (the leaf appears to be a green minifig cape). The grapes themselves are purple Technic ball joints, a part which has been around since 2001 but never appeared in dark purple until this year (you can find it in sets 76103 & 41342). A good part can be made even better with the proper technique, and I especially love how Josephine used plant pieces to create a very organic looking bunch of grapes. Bon appétit!

Now we got ears it’s time for cheers

Back in 2016, Koen treated us to his magical take on Disney’s iconic Mouse. Two years later, in a response to LEGO’s own BrickHeadz versions, he’s redesigned his model of Mickey as well as adding Minnie to the mix. It just goes to show how much a year or two means in terms of the evolution of LEGO elements; Koen improving on the rounded shaping of the characters’ heads with new curved tiles as well as using the printed eyelash piece for Minnie’s eyes. The design of Minnie’s bow, with its single stud polka dots, and her brick-built shoes, demonstrate some seriously clever building too. The result: a brilliantly realised recreation of our favourite cartoon couple.