Just like the release of the LEGO Star Wars sets from The Force Awakens in September ahead of the movie’s release in December, LEGO has released their sets from The Last Jedi several months in advance. We’ll be digging into the sets over the coming weeks, starting today with 75187 BB-8.
LEGO BB-8 includes 1,106 pieces and retails for $99.99 in the US (with different prices elsewhere).
Whilst Batman and Superman have had their fractious moments in the past, this pair of cheerful LEGO models by Tony Ng seems to depict them during one of their friendlier periods. Chibi-style “super-deformed” building can often result in highly-stylised and simplified characters, but don’t miss the details here — Batman’s utility belt with its associated gizmos is great, and both of our heroes look like they’ve been hitting the gym. Nice abs boys.
I’d have loved to have seen Superman’s hair rendered in a different shade than Batsy’s trademark black. If only the appropriate bricks came in dark blue.
The “Piece of Peace” LEGO exhibition is traveling show that recreates UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Sites with LEGO bricks. The exhibition originated in Japan and today consists of 43 reconstructed World Heritage sites representing landmarks in 34 countries. Singapore is the fourth country to host the exhibition, after Japan 14 years ago and Hong Kong and Taiwan back in 2014.
The exhibit originated in Japan in 2003, and TBB covered the Japanese Piece of Peace exhibit back in 2006. In 2017, the show opened in Singapore. To commemorate ASEAN’s 50th anniversary, 8 local builders contributed to 7 new replicas of World Heritage Sites in ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries.
Click to see photos of the exhibition and an interview with the builders
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 second week of September 2017.
TBB NEWS: The Ninjago Movie will soon be here, so we have some set reviews as well as interviews and instructions to get you through until next week. Make sure to check out our building contest too!
OTHER LEGO NEWS: This week had a few other interesting LEGO-related news articles. Here are the best of the rest.
We’ve previously featured alego alego‘s imaginative parts usage in a microscale LEGO castle made of minifig torsos. This new creation is no less imaginative in its parts choice, but delivers an altogether more sombre and gothic look. The six-barrel shooter creates an excellent impression of castle crenellations, and the spikes atop the towers lend a real feeling of height. But it’s the big drill piece as a floating rock, coupled with the elegant spiral stair which pushes this model out of the ordinary. I can just imagine a tiny Count Dracula surveying his domain from a window in the highest tower.
Have you ever watched a movie about a “bad guy”, but by the end of the movie, despite the terrible things he has done, you almost want him to get away? That is exactly how I feel while looking at this World War 2 scene by ~J2J~ depicting the final stand of a German tanker as American troops close in. The builder does an excellent job of telling a story with one small scene by coordinating small details throughout. The fire, smoke, a dead German soldier in the background — all allow us to accurately infer the sequence of events that likely led to this moment, making the scene quite dramatic and emotion evoking.
Though they aren’t easy to build, Transformers have always been a popular subject for LEGO creations. Today, César Soares adds his excellent rendition of Bumblebee to the lineup, which upon close inspection, includes many interesting part usages, including minifigure utensils as the fingers of the robot, and minifigure handcuffs piece on Bumblebee’s face. The build makes use of many small parts to appear very complex, almost overcomplicated, just like the source material.
The only thing missing is an explosion in the background and a few lens flares.
An extremely neat piece of Hong Kong by Vincent Lai is actually much more sophisticated than it may seem at the first glance. Three different architectural styles — the “legged” version that stands on the pavement; cantilevered one at the corner; and the typical set-back type with smaller windows — represent the evolution of the city throughout the second half of the last century. Moreover, the diorama tells several stories of ordinary citizens. For instance, an old lady picks up unwanted paper boxes and cartons in exchange of little money, while one of thousands of light trucks, buzzing around the city, is parking outside for loading. And, of course, bonus points are for the retro road sign piece, which is out of production for 20 years already.
Since a spate of builds inspired by the live-action Ghost In The Shell earlier this year, things have felt relatively quiet on the LEGO Cyberpunk front. German builder Ordo aims to noise things up again with this fantastic pink-accented “Candykoma” Think Tank. This beastie is fun and super-cute, but also looks like it packs a punch. I particularly like the functional-looking greebles in and around the “shoulder” joints.
A LEGO scene or model doesn’t have to be massive or packed with unusual building techniques to be impressive. Sometimes all you need is a nice set-up and great photography. That’s certainly the case here, as Marco Zanconi brings us a beautifully composed image with lovely lighting. The old sea captain’s bedroom is a relatively-simple build, but the play of light through the window, and the focus employed, turn the image into something worthy of a Hollywood cinematographer.
You don’t have to wait for winter to see a snow-covered fantasy castle. Isacc Snyder follows his microscale LEGO Rivendell model with this equally cool teeny-tiny fortress. There’s a nice selection of parts here, with Technic cogs providing excellent depth of texture on the towers. I also like the ice-clear frozen lake at the castle’s foot, and the white tooth plates suggesting a spill of snow over the edge of the base. Personally, I might have added black screwdrivers to the turrets on the topmost towers, increasing their “spindle-y-ness”, but that minor reservation aside, I love this model.
One of my favorite video games of all time is Final Fantasy VII, released more than 20 years ago on the Sony PlayStation console. Such iconic characters must inevitably undergo the BrickHeadz treatment, which works very well for the anime styling of character designer Tetsuya Nomura. LEGO builder Ben Fong has captured the look of the two antagonists Cloud Strife and Sephiroth as they’re depicted in the 2005 film Final Fantasy: Advent Children.
Cloud wields his enormous Buster Sword, and Ben has even included the stud in Cloud’s left ear.
