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.

Finding Nemo is easy – he’s in his car

Hot on the heels of one LEGO vehicle inspired by The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, along comes another brick rendition of Captain Nemo’s steampunk automobile. Lego Fjotten‘s version comes in screen-accurate white, and features the trademark six wheels and beefy split bonnet. A surfboard piece provides some smart curves up-front, and the rear tapers nicely. The presentation of the model is excellent — the cobbled street and the black ironwork of fence and lamp-post add a suitable Victorian-era feel.

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TBB Cover Photo for June 2018: Sandyman’s Mill

The TBB cover photo for June 2018 is Sandyman’s Mill by Patrick B. Now visiting our social media pages will make you want to be a hobbit and live in The Shire!

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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A garden invader of the most adorable kind

Remember those awesome little buffalo from a short while back? Or these even tinier ones a little further? They were a product from the brilliant mind of Jens Ohrndorf. And now Jens is at it again with another adorable animal: a mole! No buffalo this time, but we are equally impressed with the latest creation.

The best part of this cute build is probably the use of the magnifying glass to make a little ring around the eyes. It works so perfectly it even gives the creature the appearance of whiskers. I wonder if it’s also a play on the fact that moles have pretty poor eyesight.

Beautiful LEGO recreation of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is one of the most famous buildings in the world — first a Greek Orthodox Church, then the Ottoman Imperial Mosque, and now a museum. Despite its reknown, its distinctive collection of domed, sloped, and circular construction is surely an intimidating subject to recreate in LEGO bricks. However, Rocco Buttliere — the undisputed master of LEGO architecture — appears up to the task.

The attention to detail that’s gone into this model is impressive, and the parts use is a masterclass in how to give a LEGO creation depth of texture. Don’t miss the use of Shakespearean-minifigure neck ruffs as flourishes on the surrounding towers, battle droid feet employed as arched windows, and the masterstroke of using hot dog sausage parts for the central dome! This is a great example of imaginative building to show anyone who ever says LEGO parts are getting too specialised nowadays.

The TBB Field Guide to LEGO Dinosaurs: A Jurassic World Compendium [Review and Infographics]

When the new wave of LEGO Jurassic World sets came out, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on the dinosaurs. The children in us immediately began stomping them around and making roaring noises. Here at The Brothers Brick, we are not ashamed to say we get giddy while playing with toy dinosaurs. We’re also not ashamed to say we are serious nerds. After our dino-dueling escapades, we began to wonder how accurate they are to the real things. As far as scientists can hypothesize, that is. So we did some not-so-archaeological digging — after all, it’s palaeontologists who study dinosaurs, not archaeologists, as Andrew our Editor-in-Chief (and resident archaeology buff) likes to remind everybody!

As it turns out, there is a vast amount of knowledge that scientists have obtained from the fossils of these creatures. That being said, there is a lot of information that they still don’t know, as well as much heated debate on the truth about each one. The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchise has been both heavily criticized and applauded for its attempts at realism. But without getting too wrapped up in the debates, we’ll take a look at the best working knowledge of these dinosaurs. So put on your favorite leather vest or red bandana and paleontologist’s expedition hat, because away we go!

Read on to unlock the mysteries!

For the love of a man who will not see his country go down

What seemingly looks like a build of a loving elderly couple is more than meets the eye. This LEGO creation by Vincent Kiew is a living legend with his supportive wife. Tun Dr. Mahathir refused to let his country of Malaysia down and came out of retirement at a ripe old age with his supporting wife Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah by his side. So here’s the story that’s fit for a movie script just waiting to be made.

A classic ride for your LEGO amusement park [Video]

With the new release of the LEGO Creator Expert 10261 Roller Coaster, we now have an all-out amusement park! It’s the piece of the puzzle we’ve long been waiting to add to the collection. On top of that, awesome builders are creating all kinds of fantastic rides to pair up with the Coaster, alongside the Fairground Mixer, Ferris Wheel, and Carousel. Lee Yung Chiu is one of those wonderful builders. His Pirate Ship Ride is a classic that just about anyone can identify with, and he did an excellent job.

Check out the video of it in action. There’s just something about that hypnotic swinging…

Chui’s ride is filled with carnival spirit and joy, as the patrons swing back and forth. The cleverly geared system is run off of a Power Functions XL Motor and Battery Pack. The whole creation is lighted, and also includes a concessions window that can be easily removed and customized.

A mighty high castle in the clouds

One of the things that can really set a castle apart are the little architectural details — window frames, a well-crafted wall, bridges, and parapets. This stunning creation by Fraser Ratzlaff has all this and more. At a glance, it might seem like this castle in the clouds has to be microscale, but make no mistake, this minifig-scale castle is nine feet tall! One of the most impressive things about this castle is the support, made entirely of official LEGO bricks.

See more details after the jump

Incredible, fully lit LEGO Batman Wayne Manor with huge Batcave underneath stands over 6 feet tall [Exclusive]

We’ve always known that Batman has it pretty sweet, with a huge mansion sitting atop a cave for all his toys. But this jaw-dropping creation by Brent Waller shows us the full extent of Batman’s lair, from the gorgeous gothic architecture of the Wayne Manor to the dark depths of the Batcave. Brent has given TBB an exclusive early look at all the details of this incredible creation, so let’s check it out.

Click to see more pictures and a video of the Manor and Batcave

IKEA announces new collaboration with LEGO [News]

Today at Democratic Design Days, IKEA’s annual press event in Almhut, Sweden, IKEA announced that one of their new partnerships will be with the LEGO Group. Together, they will be producing a line of products aimed at bringing children and adults together. “We have a lot in common. Play is essential to kids, and we both believe that, so together the LEGO Group and IKEA, we really want to enable many more opportunities for play in the homes with children and their parents,” said Lena Dixen, Senior Vice President, Product Development, LEGO Group. In fact, the collaboration began with the toy company. LEGO approached IKEA and “asked if we wanted to play,” said Fredrika Inger, Business Area Manager for Children’s IKEA.

65 Million bricks in the making

“Before you even knew what you had, you designed it, and built it, and slapped it on a plastic baseplate…”
-Ian Malcolm (not really)

A new Jurassic World film is on the way, and ZiO Chao is celebrating with a set of busts of some of the most iconic dinosaurs from the franchise. ZiO built his model for Rebrick’s “Iconically Jurassic World” contest (now closed). Each dinosaur’s head is depicted with a 3-dimensional profile view, with the following prehistoric beasts being represented….

See all of the LEGO dinosaurs up close!

Saber-toothed cats join the hunt in LEGO City Arctic 60193 Arctic Air Transport [Review]

We’re continuing our expedition to the frozen tundra of the Arctic with more new LEGO sets from the LEGO City Arctic Expedition theme released on June 1st. In our review of 60195 Arctic Mobile Exploration Base, we took a close look at the new woolly mammoth. 60193 Arctic Air Transport is the smallest set that includes the saber-toothed “tiger” at $39.99 in the US (49.99 CAD in Canada | £24.99 in the UK), with 277 pieces and 2 minifigures.

First, let’s get some taxonomy and nomenclature issues out of the way. While the mammoth is rather evidently a mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius or one of its close relatives), it’s less clear what the “saber-toothed ‘tigers'” in these new Arctic sets actually depict. From more than 40 million years ago until the last Ice Age barely 12,000 years ago, there was a broad range of carnivorous creatures with long canine teeth, none of which were closely related to modern tigers in Asia. As a result, most palaeontologists use the common name “saber-toothed cat” to refer to the true felines that had saber-shaped canine teeth (like the iconic and aptly named Smilodon fatalis from the La Brea Tarpits), and generically “saber-tooth” to refer to the full range of creatures across many orders, genera, and species who had such teeth — even including a few marsupial saber-tooths! Thus, we’ll be avoiding the term “tiger” in favor of saber-toothed “cat” or just saber-tooth. If your eyes haven’t completely glazed over yet due to all this taxonomic minutiae, we’ll return to this point when taking a close look at the saber-tooth in this LEGO set.

Read our hands-on review of the new LEGO City Arctic 60193 Arctic Air Transport