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 75230 Porg – The Last Jedi’s cutest creature is now a life-size LEGO set [Review]

Love them or hate them, Porgs are one of the most iconic creatures from the new Star Wars sequel trilogy. Nearly universally loved for their cuteness, the tiny feathered creatures have featured prominently in promotional materials and scores of toys from The Last Jedi right from the beginning. The first minifigure-scale LEGO Porgs appeared in the 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon last year, but LEGO is now releasing a life-size sculpture of the fuzzy birds. 75230 Porg contains 811 pieces, and we believe it will retail for $70-$80 USD beginning in October, but LEGO has declined to confirm either the price or the availability date at the time of publishing.

Update Oct. 1: The set is now on sale from LEGO for $69.99 in the US ($89.99 in Canada | £59.99 in the UK).
Update Sept. 17: LEGO has confirmed that the official release date for 75230 Porg is Oct. 1, and it will retail for $69.99 USD.
Original update on Sept. 16: We have personally observed this set being sold in retail stores, where it’s priced at $69.99 USD. Obviously, that also means that it’s already available, at least in some markets.

Click to read our full, hands-on review

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Per Ardua Ad Astra — LEGO Supermarine Spitfire takes flight over Britain

Per Ardua Ad Astra — “Through adversity to the stars” — the motto of the UK’s Royal Air Force, and what sprang to mind as Paul Nicholson‘s LEGO version of a Supermarine Spitfire thundered into view. For a small model, the shaping is pretty good, capturing the iconic elliptical wing shape well, and there’s a nice mix of colours to create a camouflage effect. And the use of 1×1 “cheese slopes” delivers the essential touch of the raked exhausts down the sides of the engine. I’m less of a fan of the forced-perspective base — I think the presentation would have benefitted from further separation of the plane from the ground, and perhaps a tighter depth of field pushing the background out of focus. However, despite those minor photography gripes the plane itself is a cracking model, immediately recognisable and eminently swooshable.

Red resilient rescuers ready to respond, react and recover

If you take your LEGO city build and public services seriously, these are the unsung city rescue heroes you need. Steven Asbury has some serious skills that bring these vehicles to life, consisting of a rescue boat that sits four minifigures towed by a truck, along with a proper fire truck ready to pump out some high-pressured H20 to show who’s the boss around here.

See more of these LEGO rescue vehicles

A sailor’s paradise

What better way to relive that perfect holiday than to recreate it in LEGO! Paul Trach has the right idea, building this stunning Dufour 520 Grand Large yacht bobbing on an azure Caribbean sea. The gradients of blue, created by layering trans-blue tiles over suitably selected black and grey plates, evoke the Antiguan paradise perfectly.

The yacth is a beauty too, sleek and elegant, and filled with accurate nautical details. Check out its beautifully laid timber deck, splendidly precise sail and rigging, and plate thin hull. All that’s left to do is kick back and enjoy the scene.

Motoring through the ages with Peter Blackert

When LEGO car builders come to mind, Peter Blackert is probably one of the most prolific. Over the past few years, Peter has churned out dozens of high-quality LEGO cars, and it isn’t unusual to see him share four or five new builds in a given week. Peter is well-qualified to be making brick-built cars because he works as an engineer for Ford Motor Company. Last year also witnessed the publication of his book, How to Build Brick Cars. Peter renders his digital models using POV-Ray, and his portfolio of LEGO cars is rich and diverse, consisting of a wide range of makes spanning over 100 years of production. Having looked through his models, we have decided to pick a car for each decade spanning the early 1900s through the 1960s. They look nice individually but, when grouped together, they help tell a story of the motor industry.

1900s – Curved Dash Oldsmobile:

At the turn of the Century, automotive design was still heavily influenced by horse-drawn transportation. This period also represented a mechanical gold rush, with tons of individuals and organizations attempting to make their mark on the industry. One of the most important contributions to the industry during this period was the assembly line, which allowed for cost-cutting mass production. Credit for this development is often given to Henry Ford and the Model T, but the Curved Dash Oldsmobile was America’s first mass production car. Peter’s version of the Curved Dash looks faithful to the original and looks wonderful with its top up or down.

See more of Peter’s amazing vintage automobiles

A charming LEGO dwelling fit for a dwarf

This humble Dwarven home by Isaac Snyder may look like a fairly simple construction, but if you take a closer look, there are quite a few techniques worth mentioning that bring this dwelling to life. The black roof uses small slopes in an asymmetrical pattern which is quite unexpected. Also, the corner pillars blend seamlessly with the walls. The inset alcoves for doors and windows have a very strong castle fortification vibe, and speaking of doors, this one is a gem, made from various brown plates stacked simply, and adorned with hinges made from one of my favorite “new” parts, the modified 1×1 round plate with handle.

But there is one more thing… an interior.

Circle: a brick-built tribute to Finland’s finest

Building a tribute in LEGO to Finland’s finest progressive rock act Circle, Eero Okkonen proves once again that he is the master of the brick-built figure. Each band member has been designed with full articulation in mind, and posed according to their distinctive performance stances.

At TBB we often pick up on standout techniques, but in this case the build is simply littered with too many clever ideas to choose from. Perhaps it’s the way Mika Rättö’s facial expression and distinctive facial hair has been formed from arched mini-figure hands and elaborate horn element?

Or then perhaps it’s the way the amplifiers have been lovingly crafted? Dive in and look for yourself — there is so much to discover.

You can read more about Eero’s love for Circle, and see many more photos on his Cyclopic Bricks Blog.

LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City and Winter Village Fire Station now on sale [News]

LEGO VIP members get early access to two sets today, the 75222 Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City and the 10263 Winter Village Fire Station.

Both sets will be available generally starting October 1, though since technically anyone can sign up for the LEGO VIP program, anyone could get them today as long as they are still in stock.

75222 Betrayal at Cloud City includes 2,812 pieces with 18 minifigs and retails for $349.99 in the US ($399.99 in Canada | £299.99 in the UK). Check out our review of the first set in the Master Builder Series.

10263 Winter Village Fire Station includes 1,166 pieces with 6 minifigs and baby and retails for $99.99 in the US ($129.99 in Canada | £84.99 in the UK). Check out more pictures of this year’s Winter Village set.

LEGO Star Wars 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City – the first Master Builder Series set [Review]

LEGO has been producing large models in the Ultimate Collector Series of LEGO Star Wars sets since 2000, which was only the second year of the LEGO Star Wars theme. But on October 1st, 2018, LEGO will be releasing 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City, the first in a new “Master Builder Series” focused more on playsets based on locations than on large vehicles like the 7,500-piece 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon. This first set in the series includes 2,812 pieces with 18 minifigs and will retail for $349.99 in the US ($399.99 in Canada | £299.99 in the UK), and it’s available early to LEGO VIP Program members today.

LEGO tells The Brothers Brick that the new Master Builder Series branding will be applied to “complex” sets that include “many play features and functions, interior details as well as a range of minifigures.” Let’s dig in and find out if the set lives up to that description.

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Star Wars 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City

Wherever you are, no one can hear you scream if you are a giant fish

They say space is full of stuff of all sorts — Death Stars, teapots orbiting the Sun and even a red roadster. Sheo. explores some of the most distant corners of the outer space to find an interstellar… fish. Yes, he calls his latest LEGO creation a giant space fish, and it’s hard to argue since we have no idea what else can be floating up there! The real highlight of the creation is, of course, a gray sphere right in the middle of the body secured with some crazy amount of red tentacles. Does this creature look intimidating? Absolutely. But can a lonely traveller escape its attraction..?

Awesome LEGO makeover series of Sweden’s Dala horse

A Dalacarlian horse, also known as a Dala horse, is a common trinket in Sweden that’s almost become a national symbol. The history of these tiny carved wood sculptures dates back to the 1600s, and they’re often decorated with a wide variety of colors and patterns. Builder Mark Anderson built a cute little version out of LEGO, with a body only six studs long.

The original horse features traditional decorations with a bold main color and careful ornamentation.

However, after building a few Dala horses featuring the traditional markings, Mark decided to mix things up and expand the decorations to more contemporary themes, which is where they get really fun. Here’s Mark’s Batman Dala horse.

Click to see more Dala horses in other costumes!

LEGO and Bricklink will sell fan-designed sets through new AFOL Designer Program [News]

Today LEGO launched a new initiative in cooperation with Bricklink called the AFOL Designer Program where fans can submit custom designs which will be then be produced and sold by Bricklink. (The term AFOL is an acronym that stands for “Adult Fan of LEGO.”) The creations will be judged by current LEGO designers, “crowdfunded” through pre-sales, then released as limited edition 60th Anniversary sets.

The one-time program will accept submissions through November 18, and the designs must be created in Bricklink’s new Studio 2.0 software. Up to 20 finalists will be selected for judging. The eventual release of the fan-designed sets is slated for April 2019, with 10 percent of the sales going to the designer.