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 sales & deals on Amazon for August 8, 2018 [News]

We hope everyone has been able to pick up something they want from the August 2018 wave of new LEGO sets. But with every new wave of LEGO sets there are discounts on older sets. The LEGO Store will likely not be discounting these sets for quite some time, but there are some gems among the sets on discount from Amazon.com right now. As always, a portion of the sale goes to support the reviews, event sponsorship, contests, and more that The Brothers Brick gives back to the LEGO building community.

LEGO sets 35% off or more

See more LEGO sets 25% off and more

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

LEGO BrickHeadz 41612 Steve and Creeper from Minecraft [Review]

Having a Minecraft set in LEGO is the best form of flattery in some weird and wonderful way. Minecraft was meant to be the LEGO of the digital world, and here we are now reviewing a franchise character that LEGO inspired in the first place – making a jump back from the virtual world to a physical one. I am for one a fan of Minecraft, from its indie startup roots to its recent acquisition by Microsoft and the vast cult-like following it has all over the world, though I’ve never taken to the characters in the universe as much as the overall gameplay. The LEGO Minecraft BrickHeadz 41612 Steve and Creeper come numbered 58 and 59 respectively in the continuation of the series. The two-pack costs $19.99 for 160 pieces.

Click to read the full Steve and Creeper BrickHeadz review

Nightmares of a fallen soldier

When I first laid eyes on this, I immediately felt the presence of the spine-chilling sentinels from the Matrix movies. Being organic and mechanical at the same time is twice the horror. The slime and ooze of the hungry sentinel give life to a sense of threat and danger. Builder Jayfa further evokes our heightened feelings with an attack on a fallen soldier.

The dinosaur tail end sections really make great use of exoskeletons and things that make nightmares come alive. It also does seem like it would have taken Jayfa some time to balance the creature for the perfect shot.

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.

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!