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.

Two hot takes on the dog days of summer

In a tradition old as time, Iron Builder competitions see two top builders in the LEGO community face off with a serious of dueling creations based around a “seed part” that must be featured in each build. As summer 2024 comes to an end, two fresh-faced challengers vie for the title of Iron Builder in “Battle Red Cauldron.” After coming out swinging with a cool Harley Quinn, Eann “Miscellanabuilds” McCurdy turns up the heat with slice of backyard life. Cauldrons are cleverly employed as a propane tank for the grill, while also appearing as chimney and dogfood dish. It’s the brick-built pets who steal the show. Their personality, combined with the slick studs-free setting, evoke a stop-action cartoon more than a LEGO model.

On Diet

Maven of microscale Geneva D ripostes by doubling down on the dog – hot dog, that is – with a life-size frank made from interlocking cauldrons. Minifig arms make for surprisingly effective mustard, and Wolverine claws in green, used by Eann for grass, return here as relish. A pair of cauldrons make for a convincing ketchup lid, but it’s the recessed cauldron representing a tomato on the label that scores the knockout punch.

Hot Dog

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LEGO Ideas 21351 Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas – a beloved classic comes to life [Review]

Since its premiere in 1993, Tim Burton’s Disney animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick (who went on to direct other stop-motion classics such as James and the Giant Peach and Coraline), has been a favorite holiday tradition for families and children-at-heart worldwide. LEGO fans have been eager for an official set and had their appetites whetted somewhat by the release of collectible minifigures for Jack and Sally as part of the second Disney CMF series. The LEGO Ideas platform has had several projects inspired by the film submitted over the years but they have never been approved to become official sets… until now. LEGO Ideas 21351 Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas comes with 2,193 pieces and will be available starting on September 3rd for LEGO insiders and September 6th for everyone else for US $199.99 | CAN $TBD | UK £189.99.

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Read our hands-on review of 21351 Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

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.

A detailed LEGO plane that’s no mirage... Or is it?

LEGO builder Beat Felber is well known for his enormous models of industrial vehicles (exhibit A: our Beat Felber archives). But he’s ringing the changes with his latest model! It’s smaller than his usual fare, of military rather than industrial nature, and more at home in the air than on the ground. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the flawless attention to detail. This plane – and its loadout – is based on a real Dassault Mirage, on display in Beat’s native Switzerland. With the help of some custom decals, it compares very favourably!

Dassault Mirage III RS Swiss Air Force

It wouldn’t be a Beat Felber model without a bit of functionality as well: on here, the landing gear retracts into the undercarriage. You can see what it looks like in flight on this very smart display stand!

Dassault Mirage III RS Swiss Air Force

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.

A concert venue from a pop fan’s wildest dreams

Grab your friendship bracelets, Swifties, because the queen herself has arrived. Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has stunned audiences across the world, and now it makes a stunning LEGO diorama, too. The biggest challenge, says artist Paul Hetherington (aka “brickbaron”), was coming up with a design that could represent the entire tour in a single scene. So he focused on the Lover House, a symbol of Taylor’s extensive career and body of work.

LEGO Taylor Swift Eras Tour Stage (Paul's Version)

The Eras tour continues after the jump!

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.

Mega Star Wars MTT makes me marvel!

Originally introduced in the Phantom Menace, the Multi-Troop Transport (MTT) has seen several LEGO iterations in official Star Wars sets. But none of them have shown the vehicle in the blue-and-grey CIS livery seen in the Clone Wars animated series. The Minikit Guy has also previously built an MTT in Trade Federation brown – but they have updated it to its Separatist colours! And what a model it is, made up of either 10,000 or 11,000 pieces. Hang on – 10 or 11 thousand? Why the difference?

UCS Clone Wars MTT - Confederacy of Independent Systems / CIS Version

You’ll have to click through the link to find out!

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.

Meat and more are back on the menu in LEGO Isengard

After weeks without elevenses or second breakfasts, with naught but Ent-draughts to sustain them, you can feel the joy when Merry and Pippen discover Saruman’s private food stash. MorlornEmpire (secondary account of Eli Willsea, aka ForlornEmpire) recreates the scene in a delicious LEGO vignette. The builder is no stranger to Lord of the Rings vignettes, and again he showcases his eye for screen detail with dynamic composition at miniature scale. The lattice roof is my favorite feature, providing a nice contrast from the color and textures on the stone walls. Look carefully and you’ll see that the floor is flooded, but not so high as to ruin those barrels of Old Toby.

Merry & Pippin Find The Food Stash

The scene was created for the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics 2024 for a final round duel against Isaiah Kepner, who ended up winning the competition with his tribute to Rohan’s Golden Hall feast.

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.

Heading off some flowery NPU

The Botanical Collection has been a great source of Nice Parts Use (NPU) by the standards of LEGO sets, and it’s inspired builders to find their own clever uses for unusual parts. The latest to dig around in their parts bin is Jaroslaw Walter. The result is not one, but two flowering plants, presented in a nice little pond. The lilypad plants make use of some minifigure headwear: a crown in the middle, and the Collectible Minifigure series 21 ladybug figure headdress. There’s another headpiece in the bigger plant too: Ahsoka’s montrals sit at the centre. But what really catches the eye are the pterodactyl wings used as leaves! It borrows some of the floral tech from 10280 Flower Bouquet.

Flowers art

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.

A. Lemur explains it all, Episode 2: A call for art! [Feature]

The last time I rapped at y’all an interesting thing happened. Whether it be diverse representation in the Friends line, or the minifigures that come in LEGO Star Wars Microfighters sets, folks online sure have opinions about it. The consensus of said opinions on my last post, at least the ones that chose to share them anyway, was that they didn’t like me or the accompanying AI-generated image of me chitchatting and being as cool as a cucumber. As for not liking me, we did our own scientific research on the matter. We polled nearly a dozen people, and asked whether they’d prefer to encounter me in the forest or some rando dude from the internet. They unanimously chose me! However, I’m willing to acknowledge that our research may be biased because nearly a dozen people were all I could survey in the TBB hot tub last night. As for not liking the AI-generated image of me, the online randos might have had a good point, so we did something about that. Now you get this mugshot of me from 2015 that definitely isn’t AI-generated, so don’t get that idea in your heads. Or is it? Definitely not, maybe. What’s with the mugshot, you may ask? Well, as mentioned in my prior post, I was charged with the distribution of biohazard materials across property lines. (I swear they made up that rule just for me!)

As mugshots go, it’s not bad. I was living the YOLO lifestyle back then as evidenced by my sweet green fauxhawk, devil-may-care expression, and aviator sunglasses. In my defense, and if it’ll please the court, Your Honor, this mugshot was the only publishable image of me I had on my phone. The rest are -well- hilarious to be sure but nothing we can publish on The Brothers Brick. Which is why I’m appealing to y’all with…

A call for lemur art!

That’s right! We’d love to see your artistic chops and different styles and mediums. Please submit your original A. Lemur-related artwork using the form below. You may draw me in all kinds of predicaments and situations; why I could be riding a rollercoaster, driving a car, or even soaking in TBB’s headquarters hot tub when Andrew isn’t looking. With your imagination and artistic ability, there’s no telling what hijinks I could be up to! Extra kudos points go to you if you include something green and white in the composition. Kyle says it’s good branding!

What do I get in return?

I’ll come by occasionally to rap at y’all to explain some LEGO terms, maybe talk about events in your area or whatever floats my tail. When I do, and if we use your image to accompany it, I’ll credit you and even provide a link to your socials. With legions of readers worldwide, it could garner you some sweet likes and follows! We’ll even throw a bit of swag your way.

But what do you look like? How are you different from other lemurs?

What’s to stop me from just copy/pasting lemur images and raking in the sweet rewards? Good point! Besides the fact that I can talk, write, and be overall charming and likable, I look a little different from your normal lemur in the sense that I have a green and white striped tail. Andrew dared me to do it a long time ago and I just sort of kept it. I am older now, so I sometimes wear glasses; green, of course. You can depict me in a dyed green fauxhawk, like in my mugshot, but it’s not necessary. Otherwise, I look like your normal, walking’ talking’ smart-aleck lemur.

What are the rules?

Please submit your original art using the form below by September 7th, 2024. Any medium, any style is welcome whether it be digital art, collage, paint, markers, pencils, whatevs! All we ask is that it’s hosted on the internet somewhere for us to go have a gander. Also, please be over 13 years old. No entries from anyone 13 or under will be accepted. I hate to say it but -sigh- please no AI-generated art. As you may have witnessed, we have eggheads already who can do that and some folks didn’t like it. In this scenario, I get to rap at ya occasionally about cool LEGO stuff and whatnot, talented people get credit and attention for their sweet, sweet art, you don’t have to see mugshots or any of those hilarious unpublishable images from my phone, and we keep the naysayers off our backs. It’s a win/win for everybody!

Thanks for reading. Now let’s see what magic you can do!

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.

Start your plasma engines, the LEGO F-Zero GP is about to begin!

While these days Nintendo’s F-Zero might be best known as providing a stage and combatant in Smash Bros, the franchise was once among the crown jewels of Nintendo platforms. Each game pushed the hardware limits of its generation to create a thrilling sense of speed, and the colorful hovercrafts and their alien racers added a layer of story and lore never before seen in a racing game. Nintendo super-fan Clément pays tribute to the intergalactic grand prix with a LEGO starting gate and three racers: the Wild Goose, Golden Fox, and Sonic Phantom. Clément nails the chunky aesthetics of the N64 era, when the franchise went 3D, witch each vehicle’s colors and silhouette instantly recognizable.

F-Zero Grand Prix: 2nd edition

If Clément’s take on Nintendo’s space racers has you feeling the need for speed, consider revisiting the Brothers Brick speeder circuit for other zippy hover vehicles.

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.

A mad scientist’s lab you won’t want to leave

In the early 2010s, while most people were watching LOST, I was engrossed in the mysteries of a different show: Fringe. It ran for five seasons before its unjust cancellation, but not before it proved itself to be one of the most thoughtful, creative, and well-written sci-fi shows on air. With that preface to anyone who missed out on Fringe‘s initial run, ledamu12‘s detailed LEGO recreation of Walter Bishop’s lab is a welcome blast from the past.

Lego Fringe - Walters Lab.

Take a tour of the lab

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 Technic 42176 Porsche GT4 e-Performance Race Car – New elements under the hood! [Review]

We’re two thirds of the way through the year and thus far LEGO has given us an outstanding collection of Technic models. The latest wave includes the lunar rover, after all! But for those looking for something a little faster paced, you might meet your match with LEGO Technic 42176 Porsche GT4 e-Performance Race Car. This new vehicle flies under the Control+ banner, and comes with an all-new, fully loaded, RC hub. Come with us a we look under the hood of this 834-piece kit, which is currently available and retails for US $169.99 | CAN $219.99 | UK £149.99.

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Continue reading

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.

The lotus and the damselfly

Mattia Careddu takes us on a journey to Sri Lanka with a LEGO version of the Nymphaea Nouchali, or Blue Lotus, the country’s national flower. The model makes good use of  Hero Factory cocoon elements as petals, and syringes double as stamens. Admiring the flower is a Prodasineura Sita, a species of damselfly endemic to the island nation. Minifig hands make for excellent hairs on the delicate insect’s spindly legs. Care Creation regularly finds inspiration in unusual LEGO elements or subjects not typically seen in LEGO models. This tiny model does both!

Journey to Sri Lanka

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.