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.

He is horrible—horrible beyond anything you can imagine—but wonderful

This dark and mysterious figure by Fedde Barendrecht represents a powerful evil from H. P. Lovecraft’s horror stories. While not as well known as Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep is just as terrifying. In the stories and poems he is said to have a thousand forms, and Fedde has decided to build possibly the most sinister of them in LEGO; a tall, slender man with coal black skin and clothing, with tentacles spreading from underneath his robe.

Most of Fedde’s builds are small with a funny theme, generally centered around an imaginative new use for an exotic brick. Every now and again, however, a nightmare-inducing creation like this one pops up. The build itself is simple, or at least it uses very few pieces, apart from the numerous tentacles. My favourite part usage is the octopus used as Nyarlathotep’s mouth and the tentacles behind his head.

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LEGO Star Wars 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle is unveiled [News]

Most LEGO Star Wars sets are naturally starships and various vehicles for transportation to the many planets of the galaxy, so every building or other structure released by LEGO sparks many fans’ interest. This time, the galaxy’s greatest villain, Darth Vader, welcomes everyone to his formidable castle on the planet Mustafar, as seen in Rogue One. The new LEGO Star Wars 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle, which will be available exclusively at Amazon.com during the upcoming holiday season, features a massive-looking castle built with nearly a 1,000 pieces.

The castle’s hangar houses a copy of the Dark Lord of the Sith’s iconic TIE Advanced starfighter, while the castle itself is populated with Darth Vader in his usual black armor, a second Darth Vader (as seen in his bacta tank), two Royal Guards, an Imperial Transport Pilot, and even a mouse droid.

Darth Vader’s Castle has multiple rooms, featuring several play scenarios such as Vader’s recovery in the bacta tank, communing with the Dark Side of the Force in his meditation chamber, and a landing platform at the very top of the castle.

LEGO Star Wars 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle set will retail $129.99 US and pre-orders start October 4, 2018.

LEGO Shop@Home has started taking reservations as well. The item will be shipped on 1st December if preordered now.

LEGO Star Wars 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle: 1060 pieces | US: $129.99 | Canada: 149.99 CAD | UK: £119.99

See the full photo gallery and press release after the jump

Microscale LEGO island scene is a calm oasis

Sometimes the most surprising detail in a microscale LEGO model can be the simplest one.
Sad Brick demonstrates this in a simple island scene showing a cherry tree as the centerpiece. I enjoy the use of flower elements still attached to each other to sculpt very spherical foliage. Small gold hut-like dwellings help sell the scale of the massive tree. Approaching the island is a ship with a few more great part usages, like the wing from the chicken suit wearing collectible mini-fig, and a twisted white rubber band for the ship’s wake.

This LEGO mech is one serious predator

Every now and then a LEGO model comes along that instantly captures your attention. This crocodile-inspired heavy mech by Marco Marozzi did that for me. Between the color choices, custom details like the camouflage, and well-placed stickers, its dynamic pose, and some truly inspired part usage, this mech is the real deal. To begin with, I don’t think I have ever seen a more perfect use for the molded chassis from the Legends of Chima Speedorz used here for the mech’s upper leg.

Also, the coiled bullwhip usually featured on pirate ships sets, which is used throughout the model for wiring, and possible hydraulics. This mech does not even need any kind of gun or rocket. It can simply tear its opponents limb from limb.

Cool spaceship is minty fresh

There’s a special class of LEGO model which always catch the eye — those smaller creations which manage to pack in impressive depth of texture, making them look much bigger than they really are. This smart spaceship by Silmaril_1 looks supercool in its white and green livery, all sleek lines and futuristic curves. But the level of details along the side creates a sense of scale way beyond what you might expect from such a relatively small model. Minifigure hands and textured bricks are used to good effect, and the moulded hollows and ridges on those Technic panels work superbly at this scale as hull detailing. It’s a sharp and clean colour scheme, and the model is presented well — looking crisp and fresh against that black void of a backdrop.

Under the cherry blossoms

The cherry tree in blossom has a particular significance in Japanese culture, acting as a metaphor for the Buddhist idea of the transience of life. As a result, Ayerlego’s choice to showcase the vibrant pink blooms in his LEGO recreation of an elegant Japanese garden adds an extra level of authenticity to his build. The tree is expertly constructed, carefully arranging its multiple flower stem elements to create the symbolically significant firework-like burst of colour. Setting it against well-selected additions such as the ornamental fish statuettes at the bridgehead, and kimono girl mini-figure completes an aesthetically pleasing display of traditional Japanese life.

New York, London, Paris, Munich, everybody talk about block music

Are you ready to rock? That’s what David Liu is asking with his latest LEGO creation — a selection of excellent brick-built musical instruments. There’s a classic Flying-V electric guitar and amp, a synth, a full drum kit, and an acoustic guitar. Now the band might be lacking a little in the bass department, but this is still an impressive line-up of gear. The guitars show nice shaping for the scale employed, and the keyboard is packed with details — don’t miss those black keys, raised and correctly spaced!

The full line-up of instruments is great, but the highlight for me is that drum kit. Worthy of a closer look, especially the sweet parts use for the tripods and drum kit legs…

LEGO Overwatch building set teaser reveals Tracer minifigure [News]

A brief video teaser featuring the Blizzard’s Overwatch game’s lead designer, Jeff Kaplan, assembling a LEGO Tracer minifigure has just been published via the developer’s official social media channels. This appears to be the first official look at the upcoming LEGO Overwatch sets since Activision-Blizzard’s announcement of the licensing back in May. Unfortunately, no official release date has been given yet, but we can’t wait to see all the new LEGO sets! Edit: The new Overwatch sets are available for pre-order, shipping January 1.

Watch the teaser below:

Microscale tribute to the Tale of the Three Brothers

Prolific model builder Aaron Newman is back with another foray into the (LEGO) Wizarding World.

This microscale scene is itself an homage to builder Aaron’s own minifigure scale Tale of the Three Brothers from back in April of this year. The pieces Aaron’s chosen to replicate his own work in a smaller scale are spot-on: bullwhips replacing flex tubing, statuettes replacing minifigures, and perhaps the funniest and most appropriate detail is the microscale Elderwand represented by a minifig-scale wand now grasped by the formerly-larger-than-life figure of Death.

I suppose the only question I’m left with is whether Aaron will attempt this scene in yet another scale in the future?

This LEGO model was built as an entry for TBB’s Microscale Magic contest. Coverage on TBB of an entry will not be taken into consideration during judging, and will have no effect on its ability to win, either positively or negatively.

Letters from the Front

Many military-themed LEGO creations depict exciting battle scenes or the machinery of war. However, a select few touch on the quieter moments and prompt reflection on a conflict’s human cost. This WW1 scene by Pixel Fox, called Letters to Loved Ones, does exactly that — showing a French and a German soldier, hunkered down in their respective trenches, taking the opportunity to pen a letter home during a moment of calm. The diorama is well done, the trench setting clear from a relatively simple structure, and there are some nice touches in the scenery, with a rat burrowing a hole, and various pieces of equipment scattered around. The French sniper rifle and German machine gun are particularly good. The soldiers themselves are excellent, the helmets and uniforms immediately recognisable as WW1-era. More importantly, they are built to a scale, and in a Mixel-ey style, more commonly employed for comic effect, enhancing the poignant effect of this model.

The gelatinous wonder from space

We may sound like broken records here at The Brothers Brick every year when SHIPtember rolls around, but I really do believe that spaceships people build are getting more and more imaginative. Inthert‘s contribution to this year’s event is a prime example of that.

The spaceship looks almost alive, like a mix between a jellyfish, a mushroom and pure mechanical evil. Shapes are nothing LEGO bricks naturally support, but the builder has managed not only to make the dome at the front look good but also to make it open, with a beautiful mechanical interior. General consensus for conservative spaceship colour schemes suggests fewer colours used, carefully separated by clean lines, but somehow Inthert has managed to make his build look great even with multiple grays, black, brown, gold and green used in very intense combinations. The secret here is that each colour has a strongly defined role and makes sense in the build. As far as details go I could not even begin to cover all the ingenious little parts, but my favourite by far is the central section, where mechanical tentacles can be seen through transparent panels.

TBB Cover Photo for October 2018: Enjoy the high life in the skies!

We at TBB always take pleasure in seeing builders take their creations to new heights. Here we have Marcel V. execute on that quite literally, with these structures dubbed “Giap-Towers,” where minifigures and their humble abodes float amongst the clouds. After featuring this floating steampunk cityscape just a few days ago, we loved their simplistic charm and have chosen this to be TBB’s cover photo for October 2018.

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.

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