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 LEGO Ninjago Movie is a fun, yet familiar, daddy issues story with LEGO at its core [Review]

When I first heard that LEGO was going to produce a movie featuring Ninjago, I was flummoxed. As an adult fan of Lego (AFOL), the entire Ninjago line fell outside my realm of interest when it came to building sets. I hadn’t watched the show, played the games, or even purchased a set outside of 70751 Temple of Airjitzu which I bought on discount one day because I thought it was a brilliant architectural model. Saying that I had any sort of expectation to enjoy a press screening of The LEGO Ninjago Movie this past weekend would be a stretch.

Heading into the second LEGO-themed movie of the year, I couldn’t help but think the movie could use a bit more breathing room on the calendar, coming only seven months after the successful run of The LEGO Batman Movie. This bias seemed confirmed by the sheer amount of marketing I saw for the film, from Ninjago-themed obstacles on American Ninja Warrior to baking a La-Lloyd cake on How to Cake It, all paid opportunities to promote the film. If a movie needs to work this hard to get people to the theater, the movie itself needs all the help it can get, right?

Read our full review of The LEGO Ninjago Movie

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Finding peace amongst calamity

Jizō or Kshitigarbha statues are a unique part of Japanese culture,standing quietly around temples or cemeteries like little beings — tiny guardians or protectors. These cute LEGO versions by delayice capture a peaceful and serene atmosphere. In recent times the statues are believed to be protectors of children and unborn babies — offering some comfort for mothers who have had losses, helping them find peace amongst calamity, and reassurance their loved ones will always be protected and comforted in the afterlife.

Creepy LEGO figure will haunt your toybox

It’s not often a little LEGO model gives me the full-on creeps, but this Bionicle creation from PaleoBricks is giving me a bad dose of the heebie-jeebies. The ghastly face, the tattered cape, the chains — all come together to create a haunting sense of despair. But it’s the stance that does it for me — the hunched shoulders and the sense of a lurching gait. This is great posing, lending the model genuine character. I can’t help but imagine this thing shuffling through the night towards my house. Shudder.

Smile if you wanna go faster

Sometimes a LEGO model shows up which just makes you smile. Tuts Panga‘s Classic Space speeder might not be the most complex creation we’ve ever seen, but if this doesn’t cheer your soul then there’s surely something wrong with you. The vehicle is delightfully chubby and the retro colour scheme is spot-on. I’m also a fan of the minimalist scenery, it provides a bit of context but doesn’t distract from the main focus — the grinning minifigure who’s clearly having a whale of a time in his new ride.

Don’t shatter the peace of this pool

Inspired by some of the submerged ruins found in Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Joseph Z. has made imaginative use of a pane of glass to create an excellent LEGO scene — a wandering traveller taking a moment’s rest by a tranquil pool. The ruined stonework is nicely put-together, with a depth of texture suggesting both weathering and antiquity, but it’s the use of dark grey below the waterline vs the lighter grey above which caught my eye. I also like the way the grass stalks placed under the water-lilies suggest the plants’ continuation beneath the surface — it ties the above and below-water elements together, making this more than simply two different models separated by the glass. Perhaps a fish or two wouldn’t have gone amiss, but that’s nitpicking at an otherwise lovely piece of work.

Over the fields an eerie sound, as we hear the black birds cry

Crows are often attributed ominous and intimidating characteristics, but interestingly enough, this one by John Cheng would have none of that. While the head seems a bit large, the beak leaves no question as to what bird this build represents. John uses just enough specialized parts to give a clever build, while still incorporating lots of more traditional slopes. For a seemingly simple creation, the builder has achieved plenty of character and realism.

Exactly three inches high — a very good height indeed

We’ve seen Alice In Wonderland LEGO creations before, but Martin Redfern proves himself a master of quirky character once again with this version of Alice encountering the Caterpillar. Alice herself is fun, and the caterpillar curling over to peer down at her is nicely put-together. However, it’s the little touches which elevate this model out of the ordinary — the funghi-flavoured foliage at Alice’s feet, the shaping of the big mushroom, and that hookah pipe. Don’t miss the white snake used as a curl of smoke — we’ve seen it before, but it’s perfectly placed here.

HispaBrick Magazine 028 is out now [NEWS]

Lluís Gibert, Jetro de Château, and the rest of the team at HispaBrick Magazine have just released the English edition of Issue 028 as a free download.

This issue includes a report from the LEGO Fan Media Days in Billund, plus interviews with LEGO theme teams, and Robert “RobenAnne” Bontenbal — the fan designer of LEGO Ideas 21310 Old Fishing Store.

There is also a reconstruction of the conversation the team had with LEGO’s then-CEO, Bali Padda, by Richard Jones from The Rambling Brick, and Stuck in Plastic talk about their toy photographers’ collective. The rest of this issue is packed full of articles about education with Six Bricks, set reviews, robotics, MOCs, and all you need to know about LEGO Boost.

Hispabrick 028 is available as a free download in English, Spanish and Croation, thanks to a collaboration with Kockice.

Out on patrol

The stripped-back colour scheme used in this model could easily have seen it turn out as a big lump of grey bricks — a common problem in LEGO creations depicting modern maritime vessels. However, this offshore patrol ship by Luis Peña has a really pleasing level of detail. The depth of texture around the bridge is excellent, and the microfigures on the forward deck create a sense of the appropriate scale in which to consider the model. The isolated splashes of colour offered by the helicopter and the flags manage to break things up a bit, and the use of Technic bricks for portholes down the hull may be obvious, but it’s also effective.

It’s a cool model, however the white backdrop for the photography is a little stark. Might have been nice to set the scene with a “sea” of loose trans blue 1×1 plates or something?

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 17, 2017 [News]

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

TBB STAR WARS NEWS: Every list of the largest LEGO sets ever released must now be rewritten, because the UCS Millennium Falcon has landed! We’ve got your full LEGO Star Wars coverage right here, including a chance to win the largest LEGO set ever made.

TBB sits down with LEGO Star Wars UCS Millennium Falcon designers — We interviewed the lead designers for LEGO Star Wars – Jens Kronvold Frederiksen and Micheal Lee Stockwell and found out some of the challenges of building such a large model.
LEGO Star Wars UCS Millennium Falcon and Winter Village Station now available for VIP members — The UCS Millennium Falcon sold out like hot cakes (surprise!) but the Winter Village Station is still up for grabs. Now the only way to get your hands on the largest set ever made is to…
WIN A UCS MILLENNIUM FALCON! — TBB is hosting a building contest and giving away a UCS Millennium Falcon as well as FOUR elusive Space Slug sets. Get building! The deadline is Oct. 15th.
Review of LEGO Star Wars 75187 BB-8 — This charming LEGO BB-8 includes 1,106 pieces, a bobbling head, and a lighter thumbs up, all retailing for $99.99 USD.

See the rest of this week’s LEGO news after the jump

The Void Raven under cover of night

From Random Vector‘s imagination flies the beautiful stealth starship Void Raven. The dark color scheme not only evokes the stealthy feel of the spacecraft, but also places the spotlight on brilliant texturing and clever parts usage throughout.

The pair of translucent blue Bionicle masks inside of an inverted tire in the rear, and the arrays of tread links, are my personal favorite details highlighted here.

You’ll need a longer tape to catch this fly

Red, who is at his best creating characters with uncommon Bionicle and Hero Factory pieces, presents a very charismatic figure of a space smuggler. Large insectile eyes and a pair of antennae is all you need to create a very vivid image of an anthropomorphic fly. One moment you put it in some bright armour and give it a gun, the next it is already smuggling goods!