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 addresses 2018 Friends character redesigns by Bricking Around [Guest Post]

Here at The Brothers Brick, we tend to specialize in certain kinds of news, LEGO creations, and reviews, but thanks to our partnerships with other LEGO websites, we’re able to bring you more kinds of content. Please enjoy this excellent observation of the expansion of diversity within the 2018 LEGO Friends line, which originally appeared on Bricking Around, an Australian LEGO fan blog.

When the first images of the 2018 Friends sets started appearing online I noticed that Olivia looked odd. I sent off a message to LEGO to find out what was going on and they got back to me tonight. You can read their full statement in full at the end of the article.

Essentially the visual changes to the characters are actually only one part of the change. Heartlake City will be undergoing changes as well. The town will become more realistic, with different districts and other citizens.

With regards to the five main characters the LEGO Friends team assures us that they will each still have the same personalities and interests as before. Their design changes are just to diversify their appearance.

What are those design changes? Here is a rundown, starting with the most different…

Olivia

The most obvious difference is that new Olivia has a darker skin tone and now wears glasses. Her hair style is also slightly different, with a braid in the front.

Emma

Emma’s eye colour changes from a deep green to brown in the redesign. It could just be me but it seems that they have also changed the eye shape slightly.

Andrea

New Andrea also gets an eye colour change from green to brown. The lip colour has been darkened too. The new hair style is longer and looser than current version.

Mia

While Emma and Andrea switch from green to brown eyes, Mia’s eyes go the other way changing from brown to green. Her lips also have been changed to a more subtle tone.

Stephanie

Stephanie seems unchanged. What do you think of the changes?

You can read the LEGO Friends team’s statement below.

Every year we strive to innovate and make our products even better for children all over the world. A lot of effort has gone into the development of the LEGO characters and universes across our entire product range, so it makes us very happy when changes are noticed.

LEGO Friends in 2018 looks a bit different than what it has in the past. To be specific, the 5 main characters have a slightly different look but also the city and the citizens of Heartlake City have changed.

But what are the reasons for the change?

Firstly, we want to assure you that all 5 friends are still there in 2018. Andrea, Mia, Emma, Stephanie and Olivia – they all still exist! Also the character’s main interests and personalities remain mainly unchanged.

What you will see in 2018 is an evolution of LEGO Friends, a progression of the story and characters to make sure children get an even greater play experience. Every year more than a million children and parents reach out to us and share what they love and what they would like to change. In the LEGO Friends range children told us that they would like even more differentiated characters and also suggested improvements to Heartlake City.

We always take great care to listen to input from children, and the LEGO Friends team has worked hard to make even more engaging and relevant experiences for children – and also make the LEGO Friends universe more true to the actual world children live in.

Taking a starting point in reality, we’ve made the characters more diverse in their appearance and have added more depth to their personality. And of course, they still live in Heartlake City. But just as the characters have changed, Heartlake City has become more differentiated and rich. There are different districts and there are other citizens that play a more active role in the story.

The changes we have made does not change the fact that previous and new LEGO Friends sets will cater for great building and play experience in 2018 and beyond, and we hope to inspire even more stories and play opportunities for children in the future.

This article originally appeared on Bricking Around, and is reproduced here with permission.

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Weather the winter in this medieval cottage

Winter is gaining a foothold on the northern hemisphere, and with it comes winter-themed LEGO creations, most notably so in the LEGO Castle theme. A great example is this recent winter cottage built by Andreas Lenander, complete with snow-covered landscape and minifigures going about their daily errands.

Surprisingly enough, the white walls of the upper floor of the cottage don’t blend with the snow too much, an effect achieved by using dramatically different textures for the two. There is just enough details around the base to show that this is more than just a house on a plate, and the landscape spilling out of the borders helps a lot to bring life to the scene. The best part, however, must be the roof – the tiles used are only half-way pushed in to give a very realistic texture, although it is not obvious whether the roof is thatched or just tiled with very bright tiles.

Sketching Captain Phasma’s best side

Chris McVeigh has built many well-known characters using his brick sketching technique. His latest brick sketch uses layers of curved plates to capture an intimidating portrait of Captain Phasma. The female Captain of the First Order has been crafted using only red, bluish greys and black LEGO parts, yet she is instantly recognisable. As always, Chris has created some lovely angles by layering plates and tiles, giving depth to the build.

If you like this style of building, you will enjoy Chris’ brick sketch self-portrait and brick sketch of Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy. Paddy Blicksplitter also built a portrait of Charlie Chaplin in a similar style.

2017 LEGO Advent Calendars: Day 7

Welcome to Day 7 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO City, LEGO Star Wars, and LEGO Friends 2017 advent calendars along with commentary from our team.

If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump and posted in the evening every day, so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. Will Day 7 make an impression?

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

The dragon that still roams our earth today

The largest species of lizard that still roams the earth today is the Komodo dragon. This monster LEGO version, built by Dennis Qiu, is made from about 5500 bricks and sports a very lifelike menacing pose. It might surprise some to know that recently researchers have discovered that Komodo dragons can reproduce without mating ensuring a single isolated female can have male offspring and ensure the species continues. Dennis has used a lot of curved slopes and wedges to achieve this shapely, pose-able LEGO version of the Komodo.

A brave minifigure has volunteered to stand next to this beast to give a sense of its huge scale.

Fresh building techniques make for a very modern medieval workshop

There is no shortage of excellent medieval LEGO creations out there, and at first look this metallurgic workshop by Markus Rollbühler might not stand out. Take a closer look however, and you’ll spot the cobblestone foundation is made out of silver ingots. The cascade of amazing details spirals out of control from here…

The tree is in a league of its own, built from several hundred pieces with every single leaf captured using green feathers. The chest lids used as roof eaves are a stroke of genius, and there are great textures throughout the build. Details like the birdhouse and the wheelbarrow are amazing, but the entire build is filled with ingenious techniques and solutions — well worth a closer look.

See more of this great medieval workshop!

The top 10 best LEGO sets of 2017: What to buy the LEGO builder who really only wants more LEGO sets [News]

With the release of not one but two LEGO-themed movies in theaters, plus the re-release of two sought-after LEGO sets, 2017 has yielded a cornucopia of excellent LEGO sets across many themes. Here at The Brothers Brick, we reviewed nearly 70 of the sets LEGO released in 2017, which is still just a fraction of all the new sets that LEGO produced this year. As you wrap up your holiday shopping (perhaps complemented by more than just LEGO sets), here are our favorite LEGO sets among those we reviewed here on TBB in 2017.

#10: LEGO Architecture 21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The second incarnation in LEGO of the iconic Guggenheim Museum in New York City kicks off the list at #10. 21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum increases the color palette for more realism, while adding innovative building techniques that take advantage of newer curved slopes. (744 pieces for $79.99, currently $63.99 from Amazon.)

#9: LEGO Star Wars 75172 Y-wing Starfighter

The best and most detailed LEGO Y-wing released since 1999 depicts a Blue Squadron starfighter from the Battle of Scarif in Rogue One. 75172 Y-wing Starfighter includes 691 pieces with 5 minifigs for $59.99, which was already a fantastic price for a Star Wars set, but is currently reduced further at $47.99 from Amazon.

See the rest of our top 10 best LEGO sets of 2017

Time to travel to beautiful cityscapes

If you feel nervous about the future and dread the thought of grey concrete buildings taking over our cities, these beautiful microscale futuristic cityscapes by Jeff Friesen should calm your fears. Each unique scene is beautifully crafted, with buildings, transportation links, water, and features like bridges, parks, and flora. The colour schemes have been well thought-out and there are lots of clever details in each scene despite their diminutive size.

Take a closer look at these microscale cityscapes

Good morning, nice of you guys to drop by

As winter closes in up in the northern hemisphere, LEGO builders’ attention invariably turns to depictions of snow and ice — and for Star Wars fans, ’tis the season to be Hothy. Tim Goddard uses microscale building to great effect to depict the moment when Luke and Han get rescued after their impromptu overnight camping trip at the start of Empire Strikes Back. The little Snowspeeder is nicely done, but the highlight of this tiny scene is that tiny gutted Tauntaun — corpse-based sleeping bags never looked so good.

2017 LEGO Advent Calendars: Day 6

Welcome to Day 6 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO City, LEGO Star Wars, and LEGO Friends 2017 advent calendars along with commentary from our team.

Click to reveal today’s LEGO advent calendar builds!

Great last-minute LEGO-themed holiday gifts that aren’t just more new LEGO sets [News]

It’s been a few years since we’ve posted a LEGO holiday gift guide, so we’re a bit overdue for a refresh. While the LEGO builder in your life will always appreciate more brick to add to their infinitely expanding collection, thoughtful gift-givers might want to consider these other LEGO-related options, including many under $20.

Custom LEGO minifigs & custom building kits

We’re big fans of Citizen Brick, Brickmania, BrickArms, and Chris McVeigh here at TBB. Each of these companies and individuals creates unique, innovative LEGO-themed products that LEGO is unlikely to ever produce themselves but that fit seamlessly with our existing LEGO collections.

Case in point, LEGO will probably never make The X-Files or Breaking Bad minifigures, but our friends at Citizen Brick have produced “Eks Files” and “Lab Partners” minifigs that match the quality of official LEGO minifigs. With custom pad printing on nearly every element, CB minifigs generally run about $15 each.

Continue reading →

A gem of a garbage truck [Instructions]

This isn’t the first time that Flickr user de-marco has built a really nifty LEGO garbage truck. Hopefully, this time won’t be the last time either. In the builder’s latest exploration of the genre, there’s a push towards a more avant-garde garbage truck. From the curved sides to the grab rail on the back, this type of vehicle is certainly familiar to any city dweller.

What’s that you said? You want instructions for this build so you can make your own? Look no further…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT9J58LzBfw?rel=0&w=560&h=315]