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.

Look ma! LEGO made us a transformer!

Builder Serge S really really gets his money’s worth out of the LEGO sets he buys — especially the 10242 Mini Cooper . Last year he shared his alternate builds of the set that produced an elegant sports car and a monster of a truck, all from the very same set. This year he’s back with the same pieces to share with us a slick-looking two-propeller monoplane that includes a base stand. If there’s one thing I can learn from Serge, it’s that creativity gives birth from constraints, and perhaps all of us should whip out our older sets and give alternate builds a go!

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A good market has everything, from food to servants

Even though this oriental bazaar creation by Scottish builder Colin Parry uses LEGO pieces introduced as recently as 2016, there is a strange 2008-like essence to it. Maybe it’s the use of all yellow minifigs (flesh tones have been more predominant in recent years) and amongst them many older head prints. Or maybe it’s how clean the design is, as opposed to more contemporary high-detail castle building trends. Whatever it is, I like it and I think it’s important that we do not get so wound up in progress as to forget how much more there is to be done in styles that fell out of fashion years ago.

While there is much to love in the architecture and other details like the boat or canvases, the real star of the show is probably the minifig action. Minifig posing is an art most people ignore when making dioramas, but it can be the difference between a good scene and an amazing one. After all, what is a diorama without life?

Aaahh!!! Real LEGO Monsters

As any child of the 1990s (or their parents) can tell you, Nickelodeon television shows were simply the best. And Aaahh!!! Real Monsters is right up at the top of the list of best cartoons from that decade. And judging by this terrific LEGO version of Krumm, it seems that Julius von Brunk agrees with me. Just look at Krumm’s signature armpit hairs (so stinky), his blue lips (terrifying), and his hand-held eyeballs (where will he roll them next?).

Here’s hoping Ickis and Oblina are right around the corner (or hiding under Julius’s bed).

A chocolate box château in France

The Château de Chenonceau is a historic building in the Loire Valley in France, spanning the River Cher. The current château was built in the early 1500s on the foundations of an old mill and was later extended to span the river. While not the original owners, the château was acquired by the Menier family, who are famous for their signature chocolates, and they still own the château to this day. Isaac Snyder has managed to capture the architectural essence of this beautiful, grand building in LEGO microscale.

The complex collection of varying roofs that depict the chapel and library areas at that Northeast end of the château are very nicely built, but my favourite section is definitely the multiple archways with the flowing river below.

Presenting REJECTZ: They’re like BRICKHEADZ, only much much worse

For proponents of the art of LEGO character building like myself, LEGO’s new Brickheadz pattern is somewhat horrifying – from an aesthetic standpoint. But it looks like a lotta builders are jumping on the bandwagon and creating their own, so I guess these neckless, mouthless wonders are here to stay! Anyone who was around for the 2010 explosion of Angus MacLane’s (imho superior) Cubedudes probably knows how all this is going to play out. And while some builders have tried to counteract this movement with nicer templates, I decided to see how low I could go. And I think I may have succeeded…

Duplo brick in critical but stable condition

You can almost smell the clinical environment and hear the beep… beep… beep of the heart monitor in this hospital-themed build by Finnish builder Eero Okkonen. The IV bag hanging from the drip stand seems to contain the infamously yellow vitamin B infusion with a tube leading down to a rather frail looking hand on the bed. The pulse oximeter is hooked up to a large monitoring machine with a glowing display. Additional details like the “Get Well Soon” card and a couple of bottles of tablets are a lovely touch.

What is particularly impressive about this build is the ingenuity of the part that Eero used as the screen display for the monitor — it’s actually the underside of the current seed part in this round of Iron Builder, namely the Duplo part Fire/Grass/Ice 1x4x2.

Where’s my pot of hunny?

I have to admit, when I first saw LEGO’s new BrickHeadz, I wasn’t so sure of it being a loveable theme. But once again the LEGO fan community has proven me wrong. How could you say no to these bright and colorful Winnie The Pooh characters by builder Bob Chai. He even extends this lovely build to include a themed base that spells out “POOH”. While the Pooh has a cute extended tummy, what tickles me is how Tigger is balancing on his signature tail bounce!

Carpet come baaaaack!!!

There’s a new round of Iron Builder competition now underway and Jonas Kramm is already getting amazing builds out there. His newest contribution to the brutal battle is an interesting one. It’s instantly recognizable as an Iron Builder challenge creation, but there is so much nice piece usage that it is hard to tell that the “seed part” (the piece which the duelling builders in the Iron Builder challenge are required to use in each build) is a Duplo grass piece. It could be the lip-stick piece! Or the black ponytail hair piece! But it’s not. It’s a wretched Duplo brick.

With all the unique part usage in this creation, it’s easy to miss subtle details that mark the difference between a good builder and a master builder. Jonas has used perfect tiny gaps between pieces on the unfortunate carpet rider’s turban to represent the folds and edges of the cloth. Attention to detail on all levels like this is one of the reasons why Jonas got invited to the Iron Builder challenge to begin with, and deservedly so.

Get a grip

Who knew LEGO brick separators could be so handy? Kevin Low turned his extra brick separators into claws for this swift-looking mecha. The flashy orange claws stand out as the key features of this creation, and the subtle use of orange pieces elsewhere ties the whole model together.

Court is in session. The verdict? Lovely

A Federal Constitutional Court building might not sound the most obvious inspiration for a LEGO creation. But the resulting microscale creation from Pascal Schmidt is just lovely. Designed by Paul Baumgarten, the original German building was one of the first truly modern court building, avoiding the traditional use of oppressive architecture designed to intimidate and impress. Pascal has perfectly captured the lighter, airy, Modernist feel of the structure. And those trees — fantastic.

Spaceship, Spaceship, Spaceship: A peek into the mind of British builder Jeremy Williams [Interview]

This week we got to sit down with British builder Jeremy Williams (aka “Bricking It”). He lives in Leicester with his wife and two young sons (ages 5 and 6). He travels frequently, consulting for accounting firms and training their accountants. However, I was able to catch him between road trips and pick his brain. Come explore the mind of a builder with me!

TBB: Hey Jeremy, can you tell us how you got into LEGO?

Jeremy: Sure – I got into LEGO as a kid, and Classic Space was my era. I spent every evening building and playing with spaceships! I also got slightly into Technic, but never Castle or City. I then abandoned LEGO as a teenager and only picked it up again six years ago after my first son was born. I figured I had an excuse again!

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Minifigure scale Star Wars Imperial Shuttle Tydirium made from over 6000 LEGO bricks

Swiss builder Hannes Tscharner has crafted another Star Wars masterpiece, this time building his own UCS style model of the Imperial shuttle Tydirium from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. At 94cm wide and 102cm tall, the model stands larger than LEGO’s own 10212 Imperial Shuttle and contains more than twice as many pieces. It also features several play features including motorized folding wings, light-up engines, a full interior, and more.

See more photos of this huge shuttle, along with an action video!