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.

Creator Expert 10256 Taj Mahal, LEGO’s 2nd biggest set ever [Review]

Last month we announced that LEGO is re-releasing the iconic 10189 Taj Mahal set as Creator Expert 10256 Taj Mahal. There was a mixture of surprise, pleasure and dismay at this announcement, depending on your ownership of the original 10189 and whether the re-release could affect your “investment” or your ability to finally afford this iconic set. Taj Mahal is the second-largest LEGO set of all time with 5,923 pieces, and is available beginning today in LEGO stores and from the LEGO Shop Online for $369.99 USD / £299.99. It is rated as 16+, reflecting the size and nature of the set as a display piece rather than any technical challenges when building.

In contrast to some recent re-releases like UCS Millennium Falcon 75192 or UCS Death Star 75159, this is not a re-modeled set but a pure re-release of the same set under a different set number. Let’s take a quick look at the two sets for comparison, as there are a couple of differences worth highlighting.

Continue reading our review

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Cyber Monday brings awesome deals on LEGO to Amazon, including discounts on SHIELD Helicarrier, Simpsons Kwik-E Mart, and more [News]

We’ve already alerted you to some great deals on Amazon that began on Black Friday (not to mention the new LEGO Taj Mahal coming out today), but Cyber Monday is primed to bring even more fantastic deals from a wide range of themes, including Super Heroes, Star Wars, Simpsons, Technic, and more. Follow this link to check out all the Cyber Monday LEGO deals on Amazon, or look below for the highlights. The sale runs only for today, Nov. 27, and as always, these sales likely have limited stock and vary by country. At the time of writing, all of these are active on Amazon.com in the USA, but you won’t want to delay.

While these deals are disappearing fast, don’t forget that Amazon has a lot of great LEGO sets on sale that aren’t part of the Cyber Monday blitz, including some more than 50% off. Click here to view the non-Cyber Monday sales.

First up is Marvel Super Heroes 76042 The SHIELD Helicarrier at $244.95, which is 30% off. With a set this large, that means a savings of over $105 off the regular $349.99 MSRP.

Click below to see the rest of the deals.

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Iconic Luke & Vader scene from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back recreated perfectly in LEGO

One of the most iconic scenes from The Empire Strikes Back takes place in Cloud City, where Darth Vader reveals Luke’s parentage. Due to the sheer scale of the film’s setpiece, this memorable scene hasn’t appeared in many brick-built creations, but Caleb Watson and Carlyle Livingston have managed to pull off an incredible huge-scale build that’s appropriately and simply titled “Noooo!”

This impressive size of the central duct of Cloud City stands out, recreated perfectly though with a detailed backlit background. Although the patterned backdrop may look simple, the careful placement needed to get the textures just right isn’t easy.

Here Caleb (left) and Carlyle stand behind their masterpiece to give a sense of the scale needed to do justice to this scene in bricks.

View more details of this creation below.

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LEGO 10256 Taj Mahal, 2nd largest set of all time, is now available [News]

Almost a decade after the first version hit shelves, the new 10256 Taj Mahal is now available to order from the LEGO Shop online or at your local LEGO store. The Taj Mahal was the largest LEGO set ever released until the new edition of the UCS Millennium Falcon unseated it last month. This re-release of this Indian icon includes 5,923 pieces (one more than its predecessor) and is priced at $369.99 USD.

The original Taj Mahal still commands a premium on the secondary market, though news of its re-release has cut prices more than half since it was announced (from $3,000 USD to $1,350 for a new, unopened set). LEGO’s alleged recent focus on reclaiming some of the secondary market is having a noticeable effect.

Additionally, if you order today (Cyber Monday), the LEGO Shop Online has a few remaining Black Friday sales and freebies, including several discounted sets, 40254 Nutcracker with purchases over $99 and a branded shopping bag with purchases over $199, while supplies last.

Although specific sales and promotions will vary by region, remember that our Canadian readers can support TBB by clicking through to buy the Taj Mahal (or anything else) from this button:

And a link for our dear UK readers as well, if you feel inclined to do some LEGO shopping:

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for November 26, 2017 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the last week of November 2017.

TBB SALES & DEALS: From Black Friday to Cyber Monday, we have all the sales and deals you need to know about heading into the holiday season.

LEGO Batman 70922 Joker Manor now available with Black Friday & Cyber Monday LEGO deals – Joker Manor retails for $269.99 and includes 3,444 pieces with 10 minifigs. LEGO has also discounted a dozen or so sets by 20% or more.
Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2017 deals on LEGO Star Wars from Amazon.com – The discounted sets include several of the new sets from The Force Awakens, along with a significant number of other 2017 sets. Follow this link to check out all of the deals for yourself.
Amazon UK Black Friday LEGO Deals up to 50% savings on Star Wars, Technic, Minecraft, Friends, Superheroes – We thought it would be useful to give a quick summary of some of the best deals out there for our UK-based LEGO fans.
Citizen Brick launches new “Eks Files” minifigs on Black Friday – Citizen Brick will launched their “After Dinner” Black Friday sale with their new Eks Files minifigures.

TBB NEWS: Check out these two things for your festive Christmas tree – one set to display under it and one creation to hang on it.

Review of 10259 Winter Village Station – With Christmas just around the corner, it is time to build the newest addition to LEGO’s Winter Village line. The set includes 902 pieces, five minifigures, and retails for $79.99 USD.
Instructions to build a PC Christmas tree ornament – Chris McVeigh is at it again, making brick-built electronics to hang on the Christmas tree.

TBB LEGO SET NEWS: News of all the LEGO sets coming out next year hasn’t slowed down, with Star Wars, City, Minecraft, Architecture and the 60th Anniversary line all being revealed.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi LEGO sets, constraction figures, and Microfighters revealed – Look out for spoilers because all the movie sets are here, including more Porgs!
More LEGO City 2018 sets revealed – A month ago we got the first look at some of LEGO’s City 2018 sets, but now we can see the mountain adventures clearly, bees and bears included.
LEGO Minecraft 2018 sets revealed – Take a look at the new Minecraft animals, including rabbits, donkey, polar bear, chickens, and a brown bear.
New LEGO Architecture 21039 Shanghai set revealed – The latest LEGO Architecture set depicting Shanghai, China has been revealed, featuring the Longhua Temple, the Bund, the Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center, and the Shanghai Tower.
LEGO to celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2018 by going back to its roots – LEGO will celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary with a new line of classic Creator-style sets focusing on the imagination, with each set featuring a special tile printed with the 60th Anniversary logo.

OTHER NEWS: There was a good amount of LEGO news from other places around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest.

Daisy Ridley “builds” the Millennium Falcon, NPR – Daisy Ridley, the actress who plays heroine Rey in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, answers fan questions while constructing a LEGO Millennium Falcon.
LEGO introduces Ralph – a chatbot to help you decide what to buy for Christmas, MobileMarketing – The Ralph ‘giftbot’ guides shoppers through questions – about the age of their child, their play interests etc. – then offers up gift recommendations.
What LEGO has learnt from building a social network for kids, Campaign – LEGO may seem like a brand that can’t put a foot wrong, but it’s had to learn some hard lessons fast since it launched LEGO Life in January.

Set a course for the East

We’ve perhaps not seen as many Eastern-influenced LEGO creations as we might have expected following the LEGO Ninjago Movie and sets, but here’s an excellent medieval/Oriental ship creation from ElviN. The colour scheme is a little sombre, but that’s helping me imagine this her slipping her moorings before dawn and heading silently out of harbour, bound for faraway shores on nefarious Imperial business. The vessel’s dragon prow is nicely-done, and the circular entrances, lanterns, and roofing all contribute to an Eastern feel to the ship’s lines. But my favourite touch is the line of oars — protruding from smart oarholes, and well put-together from clips and tiles.

Let’s crack it open and see what happens

When you stumble across some sort of alien pod embedded in the ground, the obvious choice is surely to open it. I mean, what could go wrong? Devid VII‘s LEGO scene doesn’t illustrate the consequences of the choice made by this pair of foolhardy characters, but I can’t imagine it’s going to end well. At first glance this scene might seem simple, but then you spot the landscaping — built using the 6-sided “Nexogon” piece. It’s a wonderfully alien-looking crystaline structure, and coupled with the twisting foliage and purple pool, it creates an appropriately other-worldly atmosphere.

Designed with a single purpose – to destroy Imperial ships

Inthert has put his talent for building outstanding copies of Star Wars spacecrafts to good use with another brilliant model to help the rebels fight the Imperial forces. As the builder comments his own creation, the biggest challenge during the work on this B-wing was the problem with proportions; it’s so easy to ruin the build with just one extra plate or a tile. Fortunately, the result is beyond any compliments.

Hear the high tone of the xylophone

This xylophone built by Pistash looks just like the real instrument some of us have grown up with. Although the brick-built version probably sounds different, it still has all the vibrant colors of this traditional toy. It’s shown that LEGO has really come up with a diverse palette that makes wonderful creations like this possible.

Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2017 deals on LEGO Star Wars from Amazon.com [News]

Following the LEGO discounts for Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com has unveiled its Cyber Monday LEGO deals available now, mostly focused on LEGO Star Wars sets. The discounted sets include several of the new sets from The Force Awakens, along with a significant number of other 2017 sets. Follow this link to check out all of the deals for yourself, but we’ve found a few highlights you might be interested in. Don’t miss the LEGO.com Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals. These deals may be available in multiple regions, so check them out and save on your holiday shopping while helping to support The Brothers Brick.

75179 Kylo Ren’s Tie Fighter is 20% off at $63.99 and includes the highly sought-after BB-9E (“BB-Hate”) figure.

See all of the LEGO Star Wars deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Sometimes even an invisible creation can be good

Transparent clear is definitely not a rare LEGO colour, but the pieces that come in clear tend to be ones appropriate for windows and similar constructions. Apparently disagreeing with that, Grantmasters has built a stealth Predator figure using as many translucent parts as possible, and even the odd gray elements do not stand out somehow. While we wait for LEGO to release more diverse parts in translucent colours, this figure transpires to be one of the more impressive in its scale.

Photographing LEGO in a non-LEGO environment may be viewed as cheating by some, but I believe it adds a lot to the character in this specific example.

No sleep ’til bricktime

The Beastie Boys’ debut album Licensed To Ill is a certifiable classic. Not only is it packed full of awesome tracks, but I can distinctly remember how cool the gatefold sleeve looked when the LP first appeared back in 1986. Brick Flag is also clearly a fan. He’s recreated the iconic cover art in LEGO bricks — a Boeing 727 smashing into a mountainside, and looking more than a little like a stubbed-out cigarette. The model would be great anyway, but the fact it’s such an accurate representation of its inspiration just makes it even better. What’s the time? It’s time to get built.