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.

A high-tech bus stop for a rapidly growing LEGO city

You can’t build a prosperous city without a fast and modern rapid transport system. As long as public buses remain one of the most popular means of transportation, bus stops need to be regularly upgraded as well. Sergey Antokhin brings public stops to the next level with this very good-looking combo of a stop and an info stand. This design is so clean and simple, it’s hard to believe you need no more than a hundred LEGO pieces to decorate your city street with a public area like this one. Bonus points are for a very smart choice of pieces for the paving: ingot tiles in light bluish gray interspersed with jumper tiles help create a very lifelike pattern.

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LEGO 75217 Imperial Conveyex Transport from Solo: A Star Wars Story [Review]

The current wave of LEGO Star Wars sets from Solo: A Star Wars Story all depict vehicles from the train heist scene. 75217 Imperial Conveyex Transport is the fast-moving armored train that Tobias Beckett’s gang tries to steal coaxium from aboard their stolen Imperial AT-Hauler while harassed by Enfys Nest’s marauders. The LEGO set is available now, retailing for $89.99 ($109.99 in Canada | £79.99 in the UK), with 622 pieces and 5 minifigures.

Read our hands-on review of 75217 Imperial Conveyex Transport from Solo: A Star Wars Story

Giving birth to an idea

There is a dark yet beautiful quality to Reven New’s creation that reminds me of the Swiss artist H. R. Giger’s best work. Playing with the cold interconnection between the human body and technology, the sculpture counterpoints an emaciated body, built from an oddball assortment of LEGO pieces, with the new life of its title. The minifigure baby is no longer grown within the womb, instead created in a birthing tank hooked up to its mother’s brain. Photographed dramatically under a lurid green light, we are left in no doubt as to the unnatural process taking place. As Reven notes in his own description: “No more emotions… Only thoughts, only purpose.”

Gone with the wind

Although not based on a specific aircraft, the latest model from Finnish builder Tino Poutiainen accurately replicates the wild, “held together with string and dreams” frontier of the early days of manned flight. Like the real-life Wright Flyer, Baldwin Red Devil, and other early turn-of-the-20th-century experimental aeroplanes, Tino’s model appears rickety, thin, and massively unsafe: he did a superb job of making the whole thing look like it’s going to fall apart as soon as its wheels leave the ground.

Sumo is the greatest sport on earth

I’ve explained elsewhere why sumo (traditional Japanese wrestling) is the greatest sport on earth — it’s fast, complex, and incredibly exciting. I won an apple in my first sumo bout at age three, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Cindy Su apparently agrees with me, because she built this wonderful rikishi (or wrestler — sumo is the name of the sport, not the name of the wrestlers). She layers various round tiles to bulk up the underlying BrickHeadz form, and gives this mountain of a man a stand complete with a Japanese flag to pose on. He has huge arms to shove opponents out of the ring, with an expressive face that seems to say he’s relieved to have just finished a winning bout.

Interestingly, many of the top wrestlers these days are foreign-born, from countries like Mongolia and Georgia. As someone who spent 15 years getting called gaijin (foreigner, with connotations of “outsider”) in my own home country, I’ve taken a perverse pleasure in rooting for the foreigners in recent sumo tournaments. Of course, sumo wrestlers aren’t born quite so big. They bulk up by eating a special stew called chankonabe, which Cindy has also faithfully created for this rikishi to enjoy.

Green colossus can stand the heat

Is it getting hot in here? Or is it just the sizzle coming off this lovely green mech standing astride a stream of lava? Chris Perron is a designer at LEGO, and says he was inspired to create this model whilst working with the new yellowish-green parts found in the BrickHeadz Little Mermaid set. It’s nice to see LEGO designers continuing to “play” on their own time with the plastic bricks they work with every day! Even better when the results are as good as this. The striking colour scheme might capture first looks, but don’t miss the shaping of the face, the wrist-mounted sword, and the excellent rifle. And as for the colourful swirls within that stream of magma? Simply brilliant.

The best carpenters make the fewest chips

The way the sunlight streams through the wooden slats of Simon NH’s carpenter’s workshop shows not only exemplary building skill, but also quite the talent with the camera. This idyllic scene of a bygone age of craftsmanship matches nifty piece uses, such as the minifigure hair wasp’s nest in the rafters, and the subtly positioned gear rack saw blade, against an eye for pictorial representation. Using the lines of the beams and rafters to exaggerate the perspective in the photograph, Simon pulls the viewer’s eye into this little world, able to linger over every detail of the carpenter’s life; and be rest assured those minifigure hands on the floor are wood chips and not the result of a grisly accident.

LEGO BrickHeadz 41622 Peter Venkman and Slimer from Ghostbusters [Review]

Ghostbusters kicked off as a LEGO theme in 2014 with the LEGO Ideas 21108 ECTO-1, which unleashed nostalgia for those of us who grew up in the 80s. Since then, with the licensing deal already in place, LEGO has released quite a few follow-ups, including the splendid 75827 Firehouse Headquarters and several LEGO Dimensions releases of small Ghostbusters builds with minifigures. LEGO Ghostbusters has now found a new lease of life with the introduction of the BrickHeadz format with 41622 Peter Venkman and Slimer, numbered 62 and 63 respectively in the series. The two-pack release costs $19.99 for 228 pieces.

LEGO Ghostbusters from 2014 to 2018

Before we dive into the review, let’s take a look at an infographic that illustrates the sets released in this theme to date. This Ghostbuster lineup spans the past 4 years from the LEGO Ideas theme to regular sets and LEGO Dimensions game packs. The real favourites of mine are actually the minifigures — especially the Stay Puft minifigure from the LEGO Dimensions Fun Pack.

Click to read the full review

Stug mkIII, a mech for the mean streets

Singapore-based Benjamin Cheh Ming Hann is no stranger to The Brothers Brick, with a huge array of top-tier, futuristic mecha and starships to his name (oh, and bugs). His latest creation continues to wow us as he presents a meaty mech that is bristling with weaponry and optional armor. The Stug mkIII features a colorful blend of chunky slopes and joints that I found really exciting as someone who has struggled to complete substantial mech models in the past. I also appreciate the nearly studless look, which is typical for Benjamin. This model would fit right at home with his prior work KURA IAM model.

Click through for more views of the back of the model and the bonus armor skirting!

Making a pig of himself

Zhu Bajie is one of the Monkey God’s fellow travellers in the classic tale Journey To The West. Western TV viewers might know him better as ‘Pigsy’ from the late-70s adaptation. However, familiarity with the source material isn’t required to appreciate this amazing LEGO version of the porcine hero by Kingmarshy. Wonderfully sculpted from a mix of Technic, Bionicle, and regular system bricks, this is a masterpiece of character building. The face is excellent, as is the headdress, but it’s the lines of the robe, with its white trim gaping around the bulging stomach, which really caught my eye. It’s also nice to see this sort of character engaged in a peaceful activity like feasting rather than set up in a more martial pose. The accompanying furniture is perfect — helping create the period feel, but not distracting attention from the main character himself.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for August 5, 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 first week of August 2018.

TBB REVIEWS: A brand new wave of sets means a deluge of set reviews. Here are our initial thoughts about all things Wizarding World, Disney, and Batman-related.

Feel Guide for LEGO Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts Collectible Minifigures – We’ve got your cheat sheet to finding every magical character you could ever want.
Review of LEGO Fantastic Beasts 75952 Newt’s Case of Magical Creatures – Step aside, LEGO Dimensions. The real Fantastic Beasts sets have arrived at a fantastic price point.
Review of LEGO Disney BrickHeadz 41624 and 41625 Mickey and Minnie Mouse – Available for $9.99 each, the real question here is why this wasn’t a double pack.
Review of LEGO 76112 App-Controlled Batmobile – We took the new Batmobile for a spin and put it through its paces to see if the long-awaited set lives up to the hype.

MORE TBB REVIEWS: There were even more reviews this week, including the largest ever Technic set and four new Star Wars sets.

Review of LEGO Technic 42082 Rough Terrain Crane – This gigantic model comes with 4,057 pieces for $299.99, but does the largest Technic set ever really reach new heights?
Review of LEGO 75215 Cloud-Rider Swoop Bikes – This new set based on Solo: A Star Wars Story, comes with 355 pieces, three minifigures, two bikes and is available now.
Review of LEGO Star Wars 75203 Hoth Medical Chamber – Bacta Tank “near naked” Luke is back in this charming set that packs in many different scenes from Empire Strikes Back.
Video Review of LEGO Star Wars 75218 X-wing Starfighter – Take a look at our hands on review as we explore the set’s play features and compare it to previous X-wing sets.
Review of LEGO Star Wars 75219 Imperial AT-Hauler from Solo – How does the LEGO version of this complicated new cargo vehicle stack up to the real thing?

TBB NEWS: Are you ready for a brand new wave of sets coming in August? We have your early reviews right here to get you ready.

Redesigned LEGO Architecture 21047 Las Vegas revealed – The Vegas Strip is back, redesigned after the shooting tragedy last year to include the Bellagio rather than Mandalay Bay.
Instructions to build your own magic wand from Harry Potter – Check out these simple instructions to build a wand, including a very special core.
Your guide to the 58 new LEGO sets now available – LEGO launched a legion of its latest sets, and this is your guide to every last one, from the new City sets and trains to Unikitty!

https://youtu.be/C2hCN6cVuqM
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

Looks like someone forgot to turn off their studio lights

If you have the LEGO set 41597 Go Brick Me, which we reviewed in-depth, you’re probably familiar with the generic white BrickHeadz model included in that set’s instruction booklet. Well, LEGO builder Pascal Hetzel has created this tragically “melting” creation of that generic BrickHeadz model. Be sure to take a closer look at the creation, which is actually built at double size.

One of the most distinct details of this model is the re-creation of the 1×1 printed tile used for the eyes, which thanks to some clever part uses is remarkably accurate despite the scale increase. I also really like the smooth curves used to make the spreading pools of melted plastic.