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.

A place to call home in Hong Kong

Walking amongst the old residential buildings in certain parts of Hong Kong, one looks up to see hanging laundry, treasured rooftop garden space, and air-conditioning units attached to dusty windows. Chiukeung Tsang has captured the scene perfectly in LEGO, with loads of character packed into one model. The curved corner is typical of the architectural style, as are the rows of windows, and the commercial nature of the ground floor with residential housing above. I particularly like the use of colour on the right, it lifts the entire build and adds visual interest without looking too garish.

The view from the other side shows the typical ground floor shop, complete with awning, and the obligatory tourist posing for a selfie.

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Practice shooting targets with a working LEGO Desert Eagle

As a LEGO weapon builder myself, I know how difficult it is to construct a gun model that fires projectiles and manages to look the part. However, YouTuber Snyzer_Tech makes it look easy with his functional Desert Eagle replica. Though it looks a bit flashy in custom-painted gold, his magazine-fed, brick-shooting handgun is impressive in both form and function. Watch Snyzer light up some brick-built targets in this slick two-minute video.

Bionicle’s Rahkshi reimagined

You may have been in for a surprise if you logged into Flickr a few days ago and found several of the most talented Bionicle builders out there had posted their own, reimagined versions of the Rahkshi – the Bionicle bad guys from a while back. I’m not entirely sure why or how this happened, but I am glad to see it because each of these builds are so unique will still be recognisable and true to the general design of the original sets.

Son of Makuta – Shattering by Mitch

See more of these Bionicle Rahkshi

Swashbuckling ship sails the seas

Rather than telling the tale of the “Curse of the Black Pearl,” we have a new swashbuckling adventure to share: the “Attack of the Dark Bluish Grey Pearl”. The titular ship has been beautifully sculpted in LEGO by Simon NH with some painstakingly intricate techniques for the hull. Simon used minifigure hands to hold 1×2 tiles together, which permits a great deal of shaping — check out that bow to see what can be achieved with this method. The sails are also fantastic, with plenty of movement and texture achieved with bricks.

Simon’s favourite part of the ship is its stern, so it is worthwhile taking a closer peek from the rear. There, sand green decorative fence and semi-circular windows fit in perfectly. I also love the use of the telephone handsets and Unikitty’s tail in dark bluish grey.

LEGO Creator Expert 10257 Carousel review – with designer commentary [Review]

We announced the news that LEGO was revisiting the fair with the Creator Expert 10257 Carousel back in April this year. The set has been available since June 17th and is priced at US$199.99 / £159.99 / 179.99€ for 2670 parts and 7 minifigures. While the set is not motorized, it can be rotated via a hand crank, and there is the option to add LEGO Power Functions once your hand gets tired from cranking. The carousel is 38cm wide and 32cm tall so you will have to prepare some display space for this large model.

This isn’t the first carousel to be produced by LEGO — 10196 Grand Carousel was on sale for a short time between June 2009 and November 2010, with limited availability. As a result, its after-market value has increased to make it an expensive buy for fairground fans. 10196 Grand Carousel was priced at £179.99 / $249.99 back in 2009 for 3263 parts including Power Functions, a Green 48X48 Base Plate, and 9 minifigures (it now commands $1-2k on the secondary market)

Continue reading →

Wearable LEGO Star Wars Jango Fett helmet

Lego Admiral continues his impressive series of wearable LEGO helmets with a build of bounty hunter Jango Fett’s helmet from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. The builder continues to refine his techniques since constructing his Darth Vader helmet replica, nailing the dome shape on top, the iconic T-shaped visor slot, and indented cheek plating. The fold-down rangefinder is a nice touch.

Lego Admiral shows the Mandalorian helmet is not only screen accurate in the bricks, but is also wearable.

BrickCon 2017 is three weeks away [News]

BrickCon 2017 in Seattle is only three weeks away! The largest fan-organized convention for builders begins Thursday, Oct. 5 (for a full day!) and runs until Sunday, Oct. 8. The public is invited to come see everything on Saturday, Oct. 7 from 10am to 4pm and Sunday, Oct. 8 from 10am to 3pm, at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.

Read all the reminders and logistics about BrickCon 2017

Do armed amphibian time travellers croak?

I’ve recently become a fan of Rick and Morty, and everything alien I see triggers all instincts of another time and dimension. This frog-like humanoid alien built by Random Vector is worthy of an ally in one of those adventures. You’ve got to love those magnifying glasses turned space goggles and the armed and dangerous pose of our croaking time traveller. I still can’t figure out how that mouthpiece area is held in place, but it’s an ingenious use of a part. I will always wonder, do space frogs eat bugs too?

Indiana Jones and the collection of LEGO vignettes

If there’s one thing I love more than a beautiful LEGO model, it’s a collection of beautiful LEGO models. Inspired by the Harry Potter vignettes we featured earlier in the year, John Klapheke wanted to build a series of something he was fairly knowledgeable about. The mission John set for himself was to create six vignettes for each of the Indiana Jones movies, each set on a 12×12-stud base.

At first, he was pretty adamant about keeping the entire scene confined to those dimensions. Later, with the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull creations, he relented and let some detail spill over (and sometimes through) the sides of the base. John says “aiming for consistency” was the unique challenge of a project of two dozen separate, yet interconnected creations.

Click to keep up with the Jones’s

LEGO Star Wars 75187 BB-8 [Review]

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).

Read the full review

The Detective and the Big Boy Scout

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.

UNESCO World Heritage sites recreated in LEGO at the Piece of Peace exhibition in Singapore [News & Interview]

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