Category Archives: News

Stay current on the latest news and information about LEGO, from sales & deals to new set announcements. We also cover LEGO events and conventions all over the world.

First look at the new 2017 LEGO sets from Nuremberg Toy Fair [News]

Germany’s Nuremberg Toy Fair is the largest Toy Fair in the world, and where toy manufacturers go to show off their new products to potential buyers. As in previous years, LEGO has a large presence with a lot of new sets. Thanks to our friends at Promobricks, we’re able to bring you the first look at some of what LEGO has planned for the rest of the year, including Architecture, Creator, Technic, City and more. In a few weeks we’ll be covering the New York Toy Fair and bringing you close-up, hands-on coverage of these new sets and more.

LEGO Architecture 2017

Don’t miss other upcoming LEGO sets we’ve announced, including:
Summer wave of The LEGO Batman Movie sets
21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Marvel & DC Superheroes LEGO Brick Headz
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 LEGO sets

Click to see the rest of the new sets

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

LEGO Batman Movie 70909 Batcave Break-in [Review]

I don’t know about you guys, but I am super pumped for The LEGO Batman Movie coming out on February 10, 2017. We already know that Will Arnett as Batman is hilarious and there’s bound to be plenty of LEGO jokes hidden in the background. So while we count down the days until the hilarity ensues, let’s review one of the The LEGO Batman Movie sets: 70909 Batcave Break-In.

70909 Batcave Break-in

Overall, this set has a lot going for it. There are a ton of interesting play features built into the design and the two vehicles are phenomenal. Best of all, the set comes with 9 great minifigs, several of which are exclusive to this set. Continue reading →

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Summer 2017 wave of LEGO Batman Movie sets revealed [News]

The LEGO Batman Movie’s Feb. 10 release is right around the corner, but LEGO isn’t done revealing all the tie-in sets yet. Last week we got a look at the new LEGO Brick Headz collectible figures line, which includes 4 characters from the movie, and today we’re getting our first look at the summer lineup of film sets, due out in June.

70916 The Batwing, $89.99 USD

Includes Batman, Robin, and the Batwing with seating for two minifigures. The Batwing can transform from flight to landing modes, and features a rear compartment with a small car. The Batwing is 18 in. (48cm) wide and 12 in. (31cm) long. The set also includes Harley Quinn and her cannon. We reviewed the Batwing mini set recently.

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The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Frogs, Monkeys and Cthulu, Oh My: We interrogate that builder of the bizarre, Fedde Barendrecht [Interview]

This week we were able to track down Fedde Barendrecht to his Australian hideaway in Brisbane. Fedde, who goes by the handle Karf Oohlu, works from home, uploads another crazy LEGO creation almost daily and dreams of world domination. Somehow lots of monkeys and frogs are involved. Let’s dive into his mind but keep your wits about you. Once he has us in his tentacled embrace he may not let go again.

The Relic, awakening

The Brothers Brick: Hey Fedde! What can you tell us about yourself? How did you get into LEGO and what keeps you there?

Fedde: Hi, I’m an old fart, my name is Fedde Barendrecht, Dutch born, Australian raised, and now living in Brisbane Australia. I blame a certain AFOL, Aaron Andrews (aka Darkspawn)—it’s all his fault. The first time I’d visited his place, I saw all the castle MOCs he was working on. (These days, family life—kids—is burning up most of his spare time, and cost him his Lego room.) It got me interested, so I first got into Bionicle, thinking they seemed restrictive and so would feed the interest but not get out of hand. A few System sets eventually got bought, some more—things got out of hand.

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The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Happy International LEGO Day from The Brothers Brick! [News]

Fifty-nine years ago today on January 28, 1958, at 1:58pm, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen submitted a patent application for a tiny toy building block, which was approved six month later. Little did Godtfred know that his “highly sophisticated inter-locking brick system” would take the world by storm, and lead to LEGO becoming the largest toy company on the globe, selling products in more than 140 countries.
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The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Lego Brand Group’s Jørgen Vig Knudstorp joins Starbucks’ board of directors [News]

Coffee giant Starbucks announced this week that it is adding Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, executive chairman of the LEGO Brand Group, to its board of directors. Knudstorp is generally credited with turning around LEGO during a difficult time for the global company over a decade ago.

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The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for January 28, 2017 [News]

The Brothers Brick publishes so many stories that we’re giving you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our Weekly Brick Report for the last week of January 2017.

TBB NEWS: New LEGO! Fake LEGO! Cheap LEGO! What a week to be alive.

Building guide: Peppermint Butler
TBB INSTRUCTIONS & INTERVIWS: We have some cool things to build and techniques to learn from two incredible builders.

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


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The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Amazon sale on select Star Wars LEGO sets [News]

We already brought you some great Amazon LEGO deals this week from a variety of themes, but who doesn’t love a good deal on Star Wars? Amazon has discounted the following Star Wars LEGO sets:

Star Wars Resistance X-Wing Fighter is 22% off, on sale for $62.99.

Continue reading →

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Can you tell which LEGO minifig is real and which is fake? [News]

Can you tell which LEGO minifigure is real and which is counterfeit? Because even some LEGO employees can’t. In a video interview with the BBC, LEGO’s General Manager of Manufacturing in Asia Richard Wong is asked to identify which of two minifigures is fake, but has some difficulty after a quick look.

The interview serves as a microcosm of a larger issue: copycat, imitation and counterfeit LEGO. While competition from legitimate companies like Mega Bloks is entirely legal and healthy, knock-off brands in Asia are copying entire sets, artwork, intellectual property, and logos directly from LEGO.

Counterfeit version of LEGO’s
Ghostbusters Firehouse Headquarters

In order to curb some of the rampant counterfeiting (among other reasons), LEGO recently opened a manufacturing facility in Jiaxing, China and is suing knock-off brand LEPIN in Chinese court. LEGO commented about the lawsuit in a statement: “We are committed to do whatever necessary to protect the LEGO brand and products against undue exploitation, and to minimize the risk of consumers being misled via improper use of LEGO Group intellectual property assets.”

It is true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it remains to be seen if any of LEGO’s actions help prevent what essentially boils down to theft.

What are your opinions about counterfeit LEGO from China? Leave a comment below.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

First look at the new LEGO Architecture set, 21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum [News]

The first wave of 2017 Architecture sets hit stores late last month with lovely new famous skylines from Sydney, Chicago, and London (which we reviewed). But here’s your first look at one of the new standalone structures joining the Architecture theme this year, 21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Manhattan’s striking art museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The set contains 744 pieces.

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The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

First official images of LEGO’s new Marvel & DC Superheroes BrickHeadz [News]

LEGO first unveiled the BrickHeadz theme of blocky, cute brick-built figures at San Diego ComicCon in 2016, but the 8 figures revealed then were a limited release only for that convention. Now we’re getting our first look at the sets that will be widely available, and the first wave includes 8 figures sold individually, split between DC characters from next month’s The LEGO Batman Movie and classic Marvel characters. Each figure will retail for $9.99, available Feb. 15 to LEGO VIP members, and March 1 to everyone else.

41590 Iron Man, 96 pieces

41585 Batman, 91 pieces

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The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

The Retro-future is bright: a chat with French builder extraordinaire, Vincent Gachod [Interview]

This week we were able to sit down with Vincent Gachod from Toulouse, in the south of France. While balancing his job as the head of video production at a french university and raising two kids, he finds time to create some incredible LEGO builds. Let’s pick his brain and see what we can learn from this master of the brick.
The Mechanic
TBB: How did you get into the LEGO hobby and what inspires you to build?

Vince: I started with LEGO in the mid 70’s with bricks from my brother’s collection. My first set was the 374 Fire Station of 1978. After my “dark age” in the 90’s, I came back to LEGO with my son and his first sets. I’m inspired by lot of influences (movies, animation, videos games, books, magazines, cars, architecture…) but I’m more inspired by the details : a car’s wheel, a plane’s engine or a vintage vacuum cleaner! I often start a MOC from a single detail like a car’s grille or an exhaust pipe. I spend a long time working on details.

Continue reading →

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.