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.

LEGO Ideas 21332 The Globe features a fully 3D spinning earth globe [News]

LEGO Ideas is spinning up to release the next set from the crowd-sourcing platform, 21332 The Globe. Designed as a traditional earth globe, the newest set is based on the project submission from fan Guillaume Roussel, where it reached the requisite 10k votes on May 1, 2020, and was approved to become a set in September of that year. The official set has 2,585 pieces and will be available starting Feb. 1 for US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £TBD. The 10-inch globe follows last year’s release of 31203 World Map in bringing geography-related sets to LEGO fans and features glow-in-the-dark tiles for labelling the continents and oceans.

Read the full press release and see more pictures below, and be sure to also check out our full, hands-on review of this set.

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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 Ideas 21332 The Globe: Cartography done right [Review]

The last time that LEGO crossed paths with cartography was with Art 31203: World Map. That huge set (11,695 pieces, the highest part count to date) met with a lot of divided reviews from the fan community. While it was clearly “art” was it really a “map”? Well, fans of geography can rest a little easier now, as 21332 The Globe has arrived. Or rather, it will arrive on February 1st for US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £174.99 | €199.99. This 2585 piece set is the latest in the LEGO Ideas theme, based on the concept submitted by fan designer Guillaume Roussel. All the necessary details are  there to call it a map…but the retro styling has us asking “but is this also art?” Read along as we take an early look at this set and see what you think!

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read the full hands-on review

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.

Building Big, Building Bold – An interview with Jonathan Farrell [Feature]

There are a lot of different ways to approach building mosaics in LEGO, and each artist tends to make a claim on their own style. Sometimes that means “massive brick-built images”. In that theme, a clear standout is Jonathan Farrell. We had the opportunity to sit down (virtually) with Jonathan and talk about his methods, his favorite builds, and just what happens to a mosaic that fills a room once you’ve photographed it!

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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 15, 2022 [News]

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the fourth week of July 2021.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS It was another thin week for news, but we did cover a few announcements from LEGO about plans to retire the LEGO Digital Designer software in favor of the more popular Stud.io from Bricklink, as well as plans to consolidate services for ordering LEGO elements directly. We also unveiled the latest collectible VIP coin.

OTHER NEWS

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 fully discontinuing LEGO Digital Designer in favor of BrickLink Studio

Today LEGO has announced that it is finally and completely sunsetting LEGO Digital Designer (LDD), the company’s digital building program that was first introduced in 2004 as a consumer version of LEGO’s internal design software. While LEGO says it will continue to use a version of LDD internally, it is putting forward BrickLink’s Studio software as the officially supported digital building program, which LEGO acquired in 2019 when it purchased BrickLink. Studio supports most files created in LDD, LDRAW, and some other formats, and supports features such as automatically populating a BrickLink wanted list. Although LEGO announced way back in 2016 that LDD would no longer be supported, over the past few years it has continued to receive infrequent updates and even a selection of newer elements. However, the company now says it plans to remove the download page altogether. Users who have installed the program already will be able to continue to use it, and LDD will continue to be available unofficially from third-party download sites.

Click to read the full press release from LEGO

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 to merge online Pick a Brick with Bricks & Pieces starting February

LEGO is rolling out an update to its online ordering systems for individual bricks in February. The current Bricks & Pieces system is being merged into an overhauled Pick a Brick platform. The current systems are fragmented and difficult to use. While most fans are familiar with online Pick a Brick, many are completely unaware of the Bricks & Pieces platform, which is an offshoot of the replacement parts system and is only accessible via a small link in the footer of LEGO’s website. Screenshots we’ve viewed of the new platform indicate that it will retain Pick a Brick’s more robust search features rather than Bricks & Pieces’ limited search capabilities. The new platform will allow users to search the full catalog of available elements in a single location, and prices will be standardized across the selection so elements will now have the same price regardless of color. The company says that some specialized parts may see price increases, while some elements will become more inexpensive. We cannot confirm how significant or widespread these prices changes may be. The update is planned to be available to the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the UK in early February, followed by Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the US in late February. Other markets will follow later.

Under the new, merged system, LEGO will select 1,600 of its top-selling elements to be clearly labeled as “Bestseller” and will be warehousing those elements in the United States and Poland. The company says that orders of Bestseller elements should be fulfilled within 5 working days, down from the 13-18 days with the old system. Orders of standard, non-bestsellers will still ship from Billund, Denmark, using the current, slower fulfillment process, but customers should be able to split their orders within a single purchase, so adding non-bestseller items to your cart won’t delay the whole order. All orders under the new system will now be eligible for promotions (currently Bricks & Pieces orders are not). Orders must meet a minimum threshold of €12 to waive an order fee of €3 for Bestsellers and €6 for non-bestsellers. Fees in other regions have not yet been disclosed.

LEGO will also be making the in-store Build a Mini experience available online, including elements that have been exclusive to it. However, this system will be separate from the merged Pick a Brick and Bricks & Pieces platform. Read the full press release from LEGO below.

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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 VIP collectible coins are back tomorrow [News]

Announced today, LEGO is bringing back one of the most popular collectables of 2021, VIP collectible coins. The coins will be available in VIP Rewards Centre tomorrow, January 11, at midnight (for Australia, Japan, and Korea), at 10 am GMT (for Europe), and at 9 am EST (for the US and Canada). Besides the coins, the coin holder is back, too.

Here’s the official message from LEGO:

LEGO® VIP collectible coins are back!

We’re making our LEGO® VIP collectible coins and coin holder available again on January 11, 2022 in our VIP Rewards Centre. Each coin (as well as the coin holder) is only available to VIP members who didn’t get any coins or weren’t able to complete their set last year. We expect supplies to run out quickly. If demand is lower than we expect, we may open the promotion up so VIP members can get a second coin. Keep an eye on the VIP Rewards Centre for the latest updates.

The coins on offer to VIP members will be:

1. Collectible LEGO® Coin
2. LEGO® “Space” Logo – Collectible Coin
3. LEGO® “Octan” Logo – Collectible Coin
4. LEGO® “Pirates” Logo – Collectible Coin
5. LEGO® “Castle” Logo – Collectible Coin

They’ll be available at the following times:

  • In Australian and New Zealand: midnight Sydney time
  • In Japan: midnight local time
  • In Korea: midnight local time
  • Europe: 11am CET/10am GMT
  • United States and Canada: 9am EST

Last year we shared a review of the Castle VIP coin. The coin was available for 1150 VIP points, so make sure to check our opinion if you consider getting one tomorrow.

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 8, 2022

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the first full week of January 2022.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS Our start-of-year avalanche of set reviews tapered off a bit this week but we had two exciting features! A new LEGO Brand Retail Store set and the announcement of our 2021 TBB Builder of the Year!

Click through to read more LEGO news from around the world

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 Gift with Purchase 40528 LEGO Brand Retail Store – Take the whole store as a trophy [Review]

For ten years, LEGO has celebrated grand opening events with delightful models of LEGO brand stores for lucky customers with qualifying purchases. While the last few versions have been minifigure scale, the original from 2012 was a stylish microscale model. This year’s update seems to be celebrating the anniversary of this concept by revisiting the design of the original. Qualifying customers at new store celebrations will receive the 40528 LEGO Brand Retail Store as a gift with purchases over US $125 | UK £125. No word on the limit for our Canadian friends yet but this should be available for new store openings in select locations worldwide after January 1st, 2022. Still, this 402-piece modern design features a larger floor plan than its predecessor and plenty of sets to catch your eye within a tiny package. Let’s take a tour around the building, shall we?

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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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 Brothers Brick LEGO Builder of the Year 2021 [News]

Every day the team at The Brothers Brick showcases the best models put together by the global community of creative LEGO builders. However, amongst the thousands of talented builders around the world, there are always a few whose work offers inspiration to the rest of us — displaying mastery of technique and creativity across a variety of building styles.

The Brothers Brick is delighted to name Markus Rollbühler as our LEGO Builder of the Year 2021.

Click to see a selection of Markus’ models from 2021

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 1, 2022

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the fourth week of December 2021.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS Well, we’ve come to the end of another year of showcasing LEGO creations, news and in-depth reviews. In our last Brick Report of 2021, we check out two new Lunar New Year festival sets, and more Ninjago vehicles and dragons. We announced our creation of the year and covered the latest video game-inspired LEGO Ideas set.


Click through to read more LEGO news from around the world

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 40522 Valentine Lovebirds – Lovey-dovey, except they’re parrots. [Review]

It seems that merch for the holidays shows up earlier and earlier every year. Case in point, LEGO has revealed their Valentine’s Day themed holiday set – LEGO 40522 (Love Birds). We don’t know the price yet, but based on the 286-piece part count and the 2021 Valentine’s set, we’re guessing it’ll be in the $15-20 US range. We’ll find out for sure when on January 1st when this set is officially released! In the meantime, we can take an even earlier look at this offering  and see if the love shines through or not.

UPDATE! These cuties are now available for US $12.99 | CAN $16.99 | UK £11.99 and they’re called “Valentine Lovebirds”. Good to know!

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Click to read the full hands-on review

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.