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 had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in A History of Magic”

Builder spacehopper’s digital LEGO version of Hedwig finds Harry Potter’s snowy owl elegantly perched on what I hope is a copy of A History of Magic. Although relatively small in scale, the use of slopes in varied shades of grey and white effectively suggest feathers. This works well when contrasted with the more formal tiled technique used to create the magical tomes; I especially like the gold ingot elements added here to give textural detail to the book’s cover. Simple inset amber eyes, so often referred to by J.K. Rowling in her novels, complete the build, bringing Harry’s faithful companion to life.

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Newsweek Special Edition: LEGO – The toy that changed our lives [Review]

When you play with LEGO, it’s a birthday party every day! Throughout 2018, the LEGO Group has been celebrating two very special birthdays in the form of the patented LEGO brick (60 years) and minifigure (40 years). To celebrate the occasion, LEGO has given us Wal-Mart exclusives, a special 60th anniversary set, and a series of collectible minifigures dressed for a party. Thanks to Newsweek, we now also have a special edition magazine that is entirely devoted to our favorite interlocking plastic building bricks. We finally got our hands on a copy and are eager to share our thoughts with you.

Read our full review of this Special Edition magazine about LEGO

Tlachtli: The Mesoamerican ballgame

The Mesoamerican ballgame is an ancient sport played throughout Central America starting more than three thousand years ago. While some games may have been played purely for exercise or entertainment, there is strong archaeological and historical evidence for highly ritualized games that could even end in human sacrifice for some or all of the losers. W. Navarre has captured the action of a ballgame from the Aztec era, when ballcourts included rings through which players tried to bounce the rubber ball. The builder uses forced perspective to achieve a backdrop with a stepped pyramid temple — even the blazing blue sky is built with bricks.

The microscale pyramid includes decorative elements made from cut stickers — only official LEGO stickers, of course! The cheese slopes work wonderfully for the pyramid’s steps.

LEGO Star Wars 75218 X-wing Starfighter – the return of the classic Incom T-65 [Review]

Despite — or perhaps because of — the release of two different T-70 X-wings produced in support of The Force Awakens in late 2015 and mid-2016, it’s been over six years since LEGO has released a version of the iconic T-65 starfighter featured in the Classic Trilogy. With the release of 75218 X-wing Starfighter on August 1st, the most recognizable Rebel fighter in the Star Wars universe becomes available to a new generation of LEGO builders. The latest X-wing includes 731 pieces and four minifigs and will retail for $79.99 in the US (CDN 99.99 | GBP 89.99).

How does this latest LEGO X-wing stack up against the previous X-wings released over the years?

Read our hands-on review of 75218 X-wing Starfighter

A new beauty born from a new beauty born from decay

Château Nottebohm is an abandoned mansion in Belgium, and while it may not be the only one of its kind, there has to be something special about it to inspire Marion to build it in LEGO not once, but twice! Abandoned buildings are an acquired taste, but even if we would not all agree they are beautiful, decades of disuse have granted the mansion an aura of mystery and the impression of nature reclaiming what man has taken.

This amazing creation really rewards a closer look, so click here to see more!

A miniature city on the edge of forever

Inspired by artist Mike Kelley’s series of works based on Krypton’s capital city, Grant Masters has built his own cool microscale LEGO version of Kandor. The collection of transparent pieces is well-chosen, with internal structural elements within the bricks showing through to add texture and visual complexity you might not expect for something so small. The dramatic presentation and lighting is excellent too — that hint of green subtly evoking Superman’s lost homeworld and preventing the model being too stark and cold.

Do you really believe your puny powers can threaten a member of the Order of Mata Nui?

Long-time fans of Bionicle may remember the character of Brutaka, released as set 8734 in 2006. Masteryker has completely revamped and re-imagined the classic design into a beautiful but brutal-looking Brutaka. Brutaka has his signature mask and pearl gold colors but is constructed at a much more massive scale. The overall build feels wonderfully organic.

See the weapons wielded by this mighty Bionicle warrior

A chapel that won’t be assaulted

With their towering stone walls, crenelated turrets, and ornate decoration, medieval churches could almost be seen as castles–an idea helped in no small part by the frequency of medieval clergy acting like their secular counterparts. So whether this structure by KevinyWu belongs to the church or the state, the Fortress of St. Jocosa certainly prepared for what the world may throw at it. The fortress’ foundations are a nice bit of rockwork, giving a great feeling of a tiny castle perched upon a lonely rock, and the winding path leading to it, while using simple techniques of stacked dark tan plates, cuts a striking line through the scenery.

Click to see inside the fortress

A well-planned house for a big LEGO family

Everyone can build a LEGO house, but what about a thoroughly planned one? aukbricks shares an outstanding project of a cottage featuring both a brilliant exterior and fully furnished rooms. Because of the dimensions of the LEGO bricks, building interiors in minifigure scale can be pretty challenging, but this house boasts a lot of pieces of furniture that don’t look bulky or weird.

See more photos of this gorgeous LEGO home

Play on, my dead brothers

Character is everything when it comes to building LEGO figures, and Redverse’s Calavera Caballerso – literally “skull gentleman” – has this quality in spades. Stepping straight out of the Mexican Day of the Dead Festival, these two skeletal musicians show off an exaggerated graphic style not easy to capture in LEGO. Look closely and every detail reveals another clever building technique: from the fluted sleeves of their jackets, built from layered cones, to the technic element that doubles as a cravat. My favourite though has to be the black t-bar and white clip plate that forms both a mobile jaw and a toothy grin.

The eyes have it

I am mesmerized by Djokson’s latest build, Mask of the Spirit Caller. The bold colors and intricate design of the Orient Expedition shields make the eyes really pop. After recovering from the trance induced by staring deep into those eyes, I noticed the rest of the build is quite wonderful as well.

In addition to some clever parts usage, particularly the Hero Factory armor plates that ring the neck, this model also has great color blocking. The dynamic pose chosen for this photograph also brings the character to life. Rather than simply showing us a greqt build, Djorkson shows us a moment of a story and invites us to imagine the rest.

Towering in the sky, watching over the clouds

There are such things as classic themes in LEGO builds, like Castle or Space, but there are also very well-established motifs that can fit into these broader themes. One such motif that is often visited by many builders over what is now decades is floating rocks. Marcel V. takes inspiration from some of the more famous floating rock builds to bring us this cute little floating watchtower.

The best part is the watchtower, in my opinion. It has a unique polygonal shape with a cute little dock and very good colour work. Notice that the door is actually a window piece wedged in front of the wall. There are a few other examples of unconnected bricks used on it as well, a technique people seem to either love or hate, but in this case it works really well — connecting the piece just for the sake of it would not change the look of the creation anyway. Besides the watchtower itself, the little landscape adds just enough colour to set the mood and give the titular tower a nice contrast.

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