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 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.

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Do you live to eat, or eat to live?

In modern times, “eating good food” has become a hobby of sorts around the world. There are hotspots for foodies to relish in simple and local food sold on the streets or pushcarts, just like this huge LEGO scene from Malaysia depicting such a location, where food lovers hang out and where a few dollars can go a long long way.

This build is a collaborative effort by members of SynergyLUG Malaysia, led by Bruce Lee, along with a large team which includes Junious Tan, Chua Chee Yan, Marco Gan, Tommy Tong, Michael Choy, Zi Quan, Foo Wen Yao, Leroy Pang, Vincent Kiew, Cheng Heng Ching, Wong Chee Keong, Zac Wong, Daphne Gan, Jack Tan and Terry Lai.

Click to see more of the Avenue 4 Street scene

A collection of fantastic LEGO South American feathered fauna

As a zoology nerd, my favorite things to write about are, of course, animals. When I saw these lovely LEGO birds by Luis Peña, I just couldn’t resist! The creative build features iconic species, including the Hyacinth Macaw, Scarlet Macaw, Andean Condor, Black-Necked Swans, Ringed Kingfisher, and Magellanic Woodpecker.

I adore Kingfishers, but I’d have to say that my favorite bird in the series is the Woodpecker. There is some clever parts usage here, giving it character. I love that mohawk headpiece, and the worm that is formerly an “Insectoid” (13757) from 70709 Galactic Titan.

Luis is a talented builder who we’ve featured before. If you like these animals, check out his recent Paleozoic sea creatures!

The dark art of LEGO building

I completely understand YOS Bricks‘ fascination with the black brick, having been featured myself on TBB before for this reason. You can see the appeal in his build of a Thestral from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which uses the black elements to capture the creature’s eerie silhouette.

Again, in a more complex form such as this giant horned dung beetle, the dark colour allows individual bricks to read together as single forms — the insect’s antenna and wings being particularly good at showing this.

Black also works marvellously against brighter colours. The turquoise eyes of the Mooncalf from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, glow magically in YOS Bricks’ final example.

“How can you build this? There’s no pictures!”

“Well, some people use their imagination.” Mike Nieves has used his imagination to create a wonderfully whimsical representation of Belle from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Mike’s character build may not have a defined face, but the pose and setting is iconically Belle. Thanks to her outstretched hand and head tucked in a book, I can almost hear her singing.

Thanks to an extensive use of curved and angled slope elements, Mike has done a great job of capturing the look of Belle. As we can see in this shot, sloped elements are also used to convey a sense of motion with the flow of Belle’s dress. There is some incredibly nice detailing here, including the clever ribbons for the hair and dress.

If you like Mike’s model of Belle, you won’t want to miss his other LEGO Disney character builds.

TEEN TITANS (LE)GO!

Although I’m up to date with all the movies in DC’s cinematic “Extended Universe” it’s not the part of their media empire I’m most familiar with. Instead, I get to blame my kids for every episode of Cartoon Network’s “Teen Titans GO!” that I’ve had to suffer through (and then eventually succumb to). It is unapologetic in its juvenile humor and will break down your will to resist and then begins to hammer home with clever gags, running jokes, and surprise DC comic character cameos.

Which brings me to this humongous LEGO scene from builder Living Rave in Canada. The cacophony of the show is perfectly encapsulated in this diorama that features the iconic Titans Tower just offshore from Jump City, which is appropriately under attack from every direction.

The elaborate build is enhanced with the addition of official characters thanks to the waves of minifigures released with LEGO Dimensions and the LEGO Batman Movie Collectible Minifigures series. I also love the giant brick-built TTG logo in the background. There’s even a brick-built version of their strongest enemy, the demonic Trigon, who also happens to be heroine Raven’s father.

Come see this Victorian city block, love

Welcome back to The Brothers Brick, Łukasz Libuszewski, and thank YOU for welcoming us back into your magical miniature world. This time Łukasz has plunged us straight back into the Victorian era with a modular-style street mashup that would fit right at home with LEGO’s own Creator Expert series…if it time traveled about 150 years.

There are details here for even expert-level builders to appreciate. Look at how the repetitive use of common clips, rails, and minifig utensils add dimension around window and door frames; there are very few flat surfaces to be found. The most mind-blowing parts usage for me was the side by side white modified 1×2 tile w/ handles used in the middle building’s windows.

What also really impressed me when checking out this model is that Łukasz drew his envisioned city block back in May before bringing the model to the real world for us to enjoy.

Łukasz has been featured on TBB a handful of times, notably for his gorgeous cars and modular-style work. A particular favorite of mine was his city Bike Shop.

His Lordship will see you now

We see lots of impressive LEGO castles, often huge models festooned with towers and crenellations. Detailed medieval interiors prove a little less common, but here is an excellent example from O Wingård, and one which shows you don’t have to build big to build good. Although not put together with complex building techniques, this scene is packed full of detail — a hallmark of the best LEGO creations. The walls use a good selection of different brick types to add realistic texture to the backdrop. There’s a fine assortment of armour and weaponry on display, and the ceiling beams are nicely done. However, the highlight for me is the brick-built door with silver “tooth plates” providing hinges — nothing particularly complex in its construction, but a perfectly proportioned portal all the same.

K.I.T.T. – the talking, crime-fighting, Hasselhoff-tolerating car

It took almost three decades, but I’d equate the evolution of a talking assistants like K.I.T.T (short for Knight Industries Two Thousand, from the 1980’s TV show Knight Rider) to what we have today with Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and other voice-activated systems, although these modern systems are still much less capable than K.I.T.T in many ways. This version of K.I.T.T by thewdarren is quite spectacular not only in size, but in all the details built with the LEGO Technic system.

Click to see more of this LEGO Technic KITT

The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth

A man built a thing. He had a name, in those long-before times when salmon ran in the streams like silver clouds in the moonlight and people went about their business in great cities gleaming with glass as yet unmelted by fires from the sky. His name was Patrick B. The thing he built was built from bricks and told a story. A story about a man and his child a boy. That story was first told by a man named Cormac McCarthy in a book called The Road. A book is a thing made of trees but you cant eat it like you can bark and leaves and the little stems that try to push their way toward the darkened sky at the end of the months of snow. This thing this story these bricks by the man Patrick show the man and the boy as they walk long miles along long roads to the sea. It is a thing to behold. A thing you cant look away from.

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:

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