Some crazy old space wizard once described the light saber as “an elegant weapon, for a more civilized age” — something that is clearly borne out by the plethora of civilized dismemberments seen in the Star Wars franchise. I was very pleased to see this tradition being continued in the latest installment, so much so that I decided to augment LEGO’s rather limited selection of Last Jedi BrickHeadz with one featuring a very special “play feature”…
The LEGO Shop‘s sales & deals for May the Fourth 2018 are now online, revealing plenty to make the credits burn a hole in every LEGO Star Wars fan’s pockets. As we noted in our review of 75181 UCS Y-wing Starfighter earlier today, the new UCS set’s launch is the centerpiece for the May the Fourth event. Similarly, all LEGO Star Wars purchases over $75 qualify for a free 40288 BB-8 polybag to go with your R2-D2 from last year. VIP Black Card holders (those who’ve purchased a UCS Millennium Falcon) can use a special code LEGO sent via email to get a Y-wing blueprint with purchases over $35.
See all the info about May the Fourth LEGO Star Wars sales & deals
Each year, LEGO releases at least one new LEGO Star Wars set in its long-running Ultimate Collector Series line of large-scale sets. Last year saw the release of the monumental 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon (the largest LEGO set ever released at 7,541 pieces) as well as the excellent 75144 UCS Snowspeeder. This year’s UCS release is 75181 Y-wing Starfighter, built from 1,967 pieces, retailing for $199.99 starting on May the Fourth or “Star Wars Day” 2018.
Of course, this is not the first UCS Y-wing that LEGO has released — 10134 Y-wing Attack Starfighter was released fourteen years ago, way back in 2004. We’ll take a closer look at how this latest UCS Y-wing stacks up against the first one in our hands-on review.
Read our hands-on review of 75181 UCS Y-wing Starfighter
If you’re afraid of spiders, look away now, because Leonid An built a particularly nasty one! This evil-looking mech combines arachnid and humanoid motives as it combines system and Bionicle parts from a technical viewpoint.
Click to see the spider mech with more equipment
Our friends over at Citizen Brick are hosting their annual “CB Day” event this Saturday, May 5th. The Citizen Brick team sells off its inventory of one-off, non-production pieces to whomever can get online and grab them the quickest. The first batch of new stuff goes online at 9:00 AM CST, with more pieces available every two hours until 3:00 PM CST. Protip: Submit each order as you find a cool item, and the CB team will consolidate all your orders at the end of the day.
Full disclosure: Citizen Brick is an advertising partner of The Brothers Brick. However, our advertisers have no influence over The Brothers Brick’s news coverage.
Earlier this year we wrote an article about two builders from Australia who came together to create an epic mythical scene. Their inspiration came from a Nordic legend about a pair of warriors who slay a fiery dragon. One of the builders, Ben Cossy, continues the tale with the dragon he calls “Yddreig the Red”. Now we have a snapshot diorama of the confrontation about to take place. It must have taken countless hours to create the incredibly detailed landscape, which features amazing rock work. Everything is positioned in a way that really brings it to life and sucks us straight into this fantasy world.
One thing is for sure: our heroes look like they have quite the battle ahead of them to survive.
Johnny Thunder would be proud of this epic ride from iamkritch. Named the Black Crow 4×4 (thanks to its special hood ornament), this off-road vehicle has just about everything you might need in traveling through the desert to an archaeological dig-site. The roof is covered in crates filled with useful tools, and there is even a fold-out awning to beat the heat on sunny summer days.
See more of this off-roader packed with fun details
Warhammer 40,000 (40K) is a very iconic tabletop game, both with its gameplay and its unique art style. Said art style has inspired many builders to create LEGO Warhammer models, most recently Faber Mandragore with his Blood Angels Captain In Terminator Armour build. The chunky mecha and monsters with oversized weapons and edgy elements are just charming in a twisted way.
The builder has captured the feel of this style perfectly, even adding a little base much like the original figures. Various curves are achieved using all sorts of curved pieces – including car hood elements as oversized shoulderpads. I really like the hammer construction using gray ingot parts and the use of the U.F.O. alien helmet as the head.
Faber has also shared an armored Rune Priest, so perhaps we can look forward to a whole series of LEGO Warhammer units and character classes.
The arrival of the tiny Classic LEGO Space microfigure in the recent 5005358 Minifigure Factory set was bound to prompt a batch of teeny-tiny space creations. Andreas Lenander‘s microscale space truck is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to see — impressively detailed and greeble-covered for the scale, spot-on in its colour scheme, and super-cute to boot. The rocky “tan-scaping” around the build creates a nice alien landscape feel (and the figures are well positioned to conceal those unsightly bases behind the boulders). And is there a little hint of Optimus Prime in the truck’s “face”? I think there is, and it makes me like this even more.
LEGO has unveiled a new set based on Marvel’s upcoming film Ant-Man and The Wasp named 76109 Quantum Realm Explorers. The set contains 200 pieces, three minifigures, and will be available for purchase June 1 for $19.99 USD.
Click to get a closer look at the new set from Ant-Man and the Wasp
LEGO builder Jarek is pretty much the undisputed king of Star Wars ships, routinely making the most accurate and gorgeously intricate vehicles from a galaxy far, far away ever to be built of bricks. He’s been on a roll lately with the Imperial Navy, starting with a TIE Fighter and TIE Interceptor, then upgrading to the heavy TIE Bomber. But now Jarek’s moved up the chain even further, to Darth Vader’s personal spacecraft, the prototype TIE Advanced.
Click to see more of this incredible TIE Advanced
Sleek and grey and deadly — a predator slips through the swell. At least that’s the image conjured up by Luis Peña‘s latest LEGO creation — a microscale model of a Porter-class US Navy destroyer. Although small in scale and simple in colour selection, this model manages to pack in some nice details and textures. I particularly like the use of “Wolverine claws” and quarter-circle tiles in the creation of the ship’s anti-aircraft emplacements.
The Porter was a class of eight heavy destroyers in the United States Navy. Although originally commissioned by Congress in 1916, construction was delayed and the first of the vessels didn’t enter service until 1936. The destroyers went on to see action throughout the Second World War. Only one, USS Porter herself, was to be lost in action.