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.

Enter Sandpunk

If “LEGO Sandpunk” wasn’t a thing before, it totally is now thanks to this wonderful desert city scene from sweetsha. Windmills abound amidst the Middle-Eastern architecture, and there’s a nice sense of activity with the bustle of minifigs around market stalls. However, it’s the huge clock that dominates the townscape, creating an eerie collision between mysticism and technology. The whole thing is reminiscent of Stargate, but the transformation of the gate into a clock is a masterstroke, turning this into something all its own.

My only niggle with the model is the relatively plain studs-up base, which might have benefited from some added texture — pebbles, boulders, maybe a couple of plants. However, that’s a minor criticism of an otherwise well-built and interesting diorama. Check out this wider view to get the full effect of this creative build (and don’t miss the smart use of hot-air balloon pieces to create the onion dome on the foreground building on the left).

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TBB cover photo: April 2017

We love LEGO’s new Brickheadz and all the ingenuity that fans are putting into creating custom Brickheadz based on their favorite characters. Like this Sailor Moon and friends by ckb ckd, which we’ve chosen as our new TBB cover photo. These adorable sparkly eyes will be staring back at you for the entire month of April! A cuteness overload is almost guaranteed.

Want to see your own LEGO creation featured across TBB social media for a month? Then read the submission guidelines and send us your photo today. Photos that do not meet the submission guidelines will not be considered, and will be removed from the group.

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TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for April 2, 2017 [News]

The Brothers Brick gives you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our Weekly Brick Report for the first week of April 2017.

TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: This week we have news about two things to look forward to and one thing to get your calculator out for.

First look at the LEGO Ideas Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket coming in June – Here is the first look at the Saturn V LEGO Ideas set in all it’s black and white glory.
The LEGO Movie’s Unikitty is getting her own TV show on Cartoon Network – Will Unikitty get her own TV show on Cartoon Network? Only time will tell.
First set from the new Wonder Woman movie revealed – Generally spoiler free, this set reveals big bad guy Ares and the cool new Wonder Woman minifig.
LEGO is a worse investment than gold – Read our investigative report on the true value of LEGO vs. gold, based on super scientific, really really serious facts and stuff.

TBB INTERVIEWS & INSTRUCTIONS: You can build your own scientist or smash a MOC. It is your choice. Click a story below to choose your own adventure.

Instructions to build LEGO Stephen Hawking – TBB’s own Iain Heath shares how he made the famous Stephen Hawking LEGO model which helped launch him into the stratosphere.
A conversation with Canadian Iron Builder, Tim Schwalfenberg – Could you smash one of your beloved LEGO creations? Because Tim does! Find out why.

OTHER NEWS: There was a good amount of LEGO news from other places around the web this week. Here are a few items we noticed and thought you might enjoy.

A working LEGO Red Keep from Game of Thrones‘ Opening, Gizmodo – Claus-Marc Hahn might be a bigger fan the opening credits to Game of Thrones than the show itself!
Flybrix Review: This LEGO drone makes failure fantastically fun, Popular Mechanics – How long can your LEGO drone maintain flight? Popular Mechanics runs the tests.
Sports anchor gets creative and uses Lego bricks to show NCAA highlights, USA Today – What do you do when your news station doesn’t have rights to air March Madness highlights? Recreate them in LEGO, of course!

At home in the realm of the Shrooms

Putting Duplo foliage pieces to good use, jsnyder002 brings us a tranquil little fantasy scene with a pair of mushroom houses in a lush landscape. The mushrooms themselves include some great details, from the white spots on their red roofs to the little doorknobs on one of the houses built by inverting jumper plates. The large Duplo bushes give the scene a bit of a cartoon feel, as do the curly sprigs on the left.

LEGO reveals 76075 Wonder Woman Warrior Battle [News]

LEGO has revealed the first set for the upcoming Wonder Woman film (in theaters June 2): 76075 Wonder Woman Warrior Battle. The set gives us the first glimpse of Ares, one of Wonder Woman’s antagonists. This set will have 286 pieces, and will be available May 1. The price has not yet been confirmed.

Mid-scale LEGO U-wing & Blue Squadron X-wing from Rogue One

The UT-60D U-wing gunship revealed in Rogue One (out digitally today and on disc next Tuesday) has inspired numerous LEGO models, from the official 75155 U-wing Fighter set to fan-made creations like the UCS U-wing by Mirko Soppelsa. Adding to his fleet of smaller-scale LEGO Star Wars vehicles, Tim Goddard has built a fantastically detailed U-wing, accompanied by a pair of updated X-wings representing Blue Squadron and Red Squadron.

Like the short-lived 7778 Midi-Scale Millennium Falcon, this scale gives Tim enough pieces to achieve lots of interesting detail (I love the gray section and those blue stripes on the sides of the U-wing) without a huge investment in parts. Naturally, Tim has built fully functional swing-wings for his U-wing.

Light up your desk with LEGO

Finding the right desk lamp can be tricky, but fans of LEGO will love this desk lamp created by Victor. At first look, this may appear to be a functional desk lamp, but actually it’s a cleverly designed lamp made from LEGO bricks. The lampshade is made with the shoulder armour from the Baze Malbus constraction figure, and was actually Victor’s starting point when building the lamp. Details like the little on/off button on the base and the 3mm rigid hose posing as an electrical power cable mean that this lamp is appears to be real.

Superheroes never grow up, they just keep fighting

They’ve been fighting since they were mighty micros. Now all grown up, and they’re still at it. James Zhan portrays a battle scene between two long time enemies. They’ve been at it for 60 years, since their characters were first introduced. Of course, Captain Cold technically does not possess any mutant or evolved powers. So all the Flash needs to do to save the day would be to just use his super speed to steal the Cap’s weapon. I mean, how hard could it be?!

Thunderbird car is a fab one

I don’t care what anyone else says, FAB1 was the best of the Thunderbird’s vehicles — it’s a bright pink supercar with machine guns and an oil-slick dispenser! What’s not to love? The only thing that could make it better is some chibi LEGO styling — as delivered here by redfern1950s. The bubble cockpit, the stripe, the fun versions of Lady Penelope and Parker, all excellent. But the highlight for me? The stylish rake of that unmistakably Rolls-Royce front grille — utterly FABulous.

LEGO is a worse investment than gold [News]

Contrary to popular belief, LEGO bricks are not a better investment than gold, based on findings from a new study we’ve conducted. The study analyzed each substance without bias to test the popular notion that the world’s best-selling toy is a better investment plan than stocks, bonds or precious metals.

Gold imitation bricks, available from Amazon.

Continue reading →

An Orc’s home is his castle

Get a sneak peek into the latest trends in Goblin decor right here! Logs, tentacles, and lengths of chain are all the rage this season — and no fortress wall is complete without a culvert gate spewing a stream of lava. Kingdomviewbricks keeps us all up to date on Orcish design in this fantastic LEGO scene. The bubbling river of hot death is a nice touch, but don’t miss the mix of old and new grey sloped bricks to create the barren landscaping of the base.

Piecing it all together

Do you ever feel like the pieces don’t fit? That you don’t fit in? Anne Mette V illustrates many examples of the seemingly insurmountable social chasms that can exist in today’s world. Superbly staged and photographed, each thought-provoking situation is sitting on its own brick-built misfitted puzzle piece perfectly juxtaposed against the black backdrop.

We see the divide between the haves and have-nots, and the awkward feeling of not fitting in with the cool crowd. Anne has included discrimination of many kinds in her LEGO creations including age, race, sex, class and ability.

The next time you see someone who appears to be having a hard time fitting in, offer them a hand, a smile, or a friendly conversation. You might just make a new friend and help move all the pieces a little closer together.

And yes, the pieces do actually fit together.