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.

The White Stag of Portland welcomes hipsters and tourists alike

In the city of Portland, Oregon there’s a giant neon sign of a stag jumping over an outline of the state. The historic landmark currently reads, “Portland Oregon” through the middle. It has had a few variations over the years, including, “Made in Oregon.” But one thing always remains the same: that white stag. The sign holds a special place in the hearts of many Oregonians, including mine, and Patrick Biggs’. He’s another builder we’ve featured several times, and the creator of this LEGO version of the iconic Portland stag. Usually Patrick builds posable figures and critters of fiction. This time he went for something a little different to display at the BricksCascade 2018 convention this weekend.

The body of this animal is beautifully shaped, and the white is clean and regal. Also, it can stand alone just as easily as with the full display stand. You don’t even need the backstory to appreciate it! Altogether, it’s one tribute to be proud of.

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The Mack Anthem semi truck roars to life with LEGO Technic set 42078 [Review – Part 1]

Once upon a time way back in the 1990s, in the far-away kingdom of Denmark, the LEGO Model Team theme was born — a theme so brilliant, none of the sets was ever called disappointing or failed. But one day the theme was violently discontinued with no hope that it would be brought back. For many years, both young and adult LEGO builders cherished their dreams about seeing those sets in toy stores again. And it looks like the much-needed flash of hope is finally here: LEGO Technic 42078 Mack Anthem seems to be an example of a nearly flawless toy and display model.

The set is the fifth biggest in the history of the LEGO Technic theme, counting 2,595 pieces. The Mack Anthem features no costly Power Functions or pneumatics elements, so its retail price of £139.99 / $179.99 / 149.99€ makes it the most reasonable choice for pure brick volume among LEGO Technic sets of the first half of 2018.

Click here to read the full review of 42078 Mack Anthem

No secret is safe from the 5PY 8UG!

Unique LEGO creations are great, bringing a new idea or two into the builder community. The latest build by Aaron Newman is one such creation, but the amount of original ideas is just off the charts for a model this size. While we see robot bugs and fully functional transformers every now and again, the whole approach to the concept is completely new with this build. Making the “bug” transform from a translucent egg that then doubles as its wings and the way it was achieved, as well as the bug folding in a logical way within the egg, has many layers of innovativity to it.

The shape of the creature is quite nice, with characteristically bent feet and what appears as a split mandible. There are some neat parts usages like ray guns and goblets used as legs and translucent pyramid pieces that seem perfect for insectoid eyes. I think the most rewarding way to view this creation is trying to understand the way it transforms and consequentialy appreciating the effort put into it.

Functional LEGO Liebherr mobile crane will lift your bricks on high

Leibherr mobile cranes are like buses, two come along at once and you are not sure which to jump in. Thankfully we can admire both of YU KEE LIU‘s builds as these all-terrain mobile cranes are fantastic in both accuracy and build quality. The first build depicts the Liebherr LTM 1350 mobile crane and the model is capable of extending, lifting items and moving them on its rotating axis.

Yu Kee Liu has managed an impressive feat of engineering with his LEGO version as you can see from a view with the crane arm extended.

Click to see an even larger LEGO version of a Liebherr mobile crane

Do you know your ABC in Danish?

Growing up learning English as a kid was hard enough with 26 letters, Anne Mette V has 3 whole other letters to contend with in the Danish Alphabet which she has carefully created out of LEGO bricks. LEGO ABC contains a series of simple, beautiful vignettes depicting the different letters. With Dragons, Lions, Pandas and Astronauts all contained in childhood like blocks of beautiful colour, there is plenty to look at. I love the little classroom scene in the bottom right-hand corner.

LEGO Ideas 21314 TRON Legacy unveiled, available March 31 [News]

LEGO has officially unveiled the final design for the next LEGO Ideas set, 21314 TRON: Legacy. Designed by Tom and Drew (aka the BrickBros UK), the set includes 230 pieces which make up two Light Cycles and three minifigures. The set will retail for $34.99 USD beginning March 31, 2018.

We’ll have the complete, hands-on review of this new set for you tomorrow, but in the meantime enjoy the new product details and photos.

Click to get a closer look at the new TRON: Legacy set

Gold-toothed king of the wasteland

For people well immersed in the online LEGO community, Mark Erickson is one of the best and most influential castle builders out there. In recent times, he has branched out into other themes more often and one such occasion is with this apocalyptic roadster. It is not a direct recreation of a vehicle from a Mad Max movie, but the inspiration is all over it.

Getting the obvious part out of the way, the huge back wheels are amazing and by far the best part of the build, but there is so much more to see, so here are some more points of interest: the flames bursting from the engine give an incredible sense of movement and the engine itself is very well built. There are some more subtle segments as well, but I feel like they add a lot to bring the build together – the colour choice for the black windscreen is important, many people would have tried to make it clear, which would just not look as good. The most subtle, yet most characteristic part in my opinion, is the little golden spike amongst silver ones at the front. Like a gold tooth in a postapocalyptic survivor’s grin.

A somber Guild Hall for somber Victorian gentlemen

This amazing modular building by O Wingård strikes a unique mood. The builder’s minimal use of color, those imposing pillars, and tall windows give this model a distinctive Victorian feel. Not to mention the double chimneys. The real hero of this model is the elaborate statue over the door, and the distinguished gentleman keeping watch on the porch. You can almost hear the gaslights sputtering and flickering. The only thing this building needs is some London fog to really set the stage.

While the building and the lone minifigure strike a somber mood, a LEGO French bulldog lends a touch of whimsy to the scene.

A market raid worse than a medieval Black Friday

Unless you’re stuck in the Middle Ages, you’ll probably know that contemporary LEGO castle building techniques call for texture overdoses and lots of earth tones. That is all great, but I often like builds that are different from this new norm, because variation is key. Joel Tyer approaches the problem of originality from a different angle – the addition of white pillars at the side of the wall in this market scene gives the creation a unique and memorable appearance, without sacrificing complexity for uniqueness’ sake.

The terrace alone is not the only reason the build is so good, of course. The landscape is very fluid and the little stream outlines the base perfectly. The tower has an interesting hexagonal shape, rounded off at the edges with Technic pin connectors. This looks surprisingly good even with the different levels of textures in play.

And don’t miss the action at the back of the market, with soldiers and merchants going about their business.

LEGO BrickHeadz 41597 Go Brick Me customization kit [Review]

We first brought you the news about the LEGO BrickHeadz 41597 Go Brick Me customization kit at Toy Fair in New York last month. It was clear from the parts selection and packaging that LEGO intends builders to create a broad range of characters from the set, which includes 708 pieces for $29.99 (and will be available on April 1st but is starting to show up in the wild already).

This set is an utterly unique LEGO set, remarkable in many ways. We purchased a couple early copies of the set from a major US retailer, and we spent an entertaining evening building avatars of ourselves and a diverse cast of interesting characters. Let’s dig in and see what’s so different about this LEGO set.

What can you build with 41597 Go Brick Me? Find out after the jump!

Classic Space gets a facelift

The classic space theme is always near and dear to my heart, as my very first LEGO set with a minifig was 487 Space Cruiser. There have been many LEGO creations paying tribute to this theme, from scaled up versions of classic sets to microscale. This long-range scout ship by Alec Hole represents a significant reboot.

The classic division of light gray wing/underside and blue fuselage pays homage to the theme while prolific greebling and other details throughout the model give it a very modern feel. There are a number of elements from the classic sets used here to connect this modern vessel to its historic roots, from the overall blue and gray color scheme to the little “bumblebee” stripes.

Tiny LEGO version of Manila Cathedral

Here’s a LEGO model worthy of a little worship. Gerald Cacas has put together this wonderful microscale rendition of Manila’s Cathedral. There’s an impressive level of detail on display here, with smart texturing around the base, at the top of the walls, and on the dome. My head hurts just looking at the brickwork that’s gone into the belltower.

Modelling an existing building with any sort of accuracy at this scale is an achievement in itself, but to include a detailed interior? That’s just showing off! Gerald does exactly that with a lift-off roof revealing the inside — complete with pews and altar. This is excellent microscale work.