Tag Archives: Books

Matthias of Redwall is ready for battle

LEGO builder Matt Goldberg presents us with this impressive build of Matthias from the Redwall books, written by Brian Jacques. The model is an entry in the Bio Cup competition and portrays the protagonist of the first Redwall novel. Matt has captured the rodent-like features, even the bulbous eyes, of the young mouse. Rounded plates at the face and knees assist in creating the anthropomorphic form of the body. Ready to hear enemies nearby, the large ears of the model are created using the reverse side of armour pieces. It’s nice to see some Knights’ Kingdom pieces make an appearance such as the sword and the pauldron armour at the shoulders. Let’s hope there’s a grand feast awaiting the young hero at Redwall Abbey.

Matthias of Redwall

Skybound Entertainment and AMEET Publishing partner up to publish LEGO Comic Books in 2022 [News]

Skybound Entertainment announced that they will be partnering with AMEET Publishing to start publishing LEGO comic books in 2022. AMEET has already published quite a number of LEGO books for children, including activity books, story books and journals, some of them with minifigures or parts for small builds. As for Skybound Entertainment, you might be familiar with their parent company, Image Comics, who are known for comics like the Walking Dead and Invincible, among other titles.

Skybound will be announcing the LEGO IPs they will use in the next few months.

Click to see the official press release

Writing The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks with Daniel Konstanski [Interview]

Last fall, LEGO held a vote to let fans pick the topic of its next adult-focused book. The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks, written by Daniel Konstanski, emerged victorious and has been available for pre-order via the crowdsourced publishing platform Unbound ever since. The book will not be available via normal distribution after the Unbound campaign, so with just one week remaining for pre-orders, we caught up with Daniel to find out what he’s been up to for the last nine months working on this book. Of course, we haven’t read the book yet, so we wanted to know a bit of what to expect from the finished book. Daniel says he’s been allowed full access to The LEGO Company’s archives—an unprecedented level of access—and has been delving through more than 600 pages of transcripts from interviews he conducted with LEGO employees.

He was able to share with us some exclusive sneak peeks, such as the dinosaur tribe that almost made it into the Legends of Chima theme. The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks will be published in 2022, though only available to those who backed the project on Unbound by May 31, 2021.

Click to read the full interview

A bear in a balloon is something you don’t see everyday

How do you get a polar bear into a hot air balloon, anywho? Well, if you are Revan New, you build the bear and the balloon out of LEGO. Inspired by a favorite scene from the His Dark Materials novels by Phillip Pulman, the scene depicts the story’s protagonist and her band of unlikely friends soaring over snow-covered mountains in an unusual airship piloted by the skilled Aeronaut Lee Scoresby. I love all of the various bags and backpacks dangling from the rigging, as well as the hanging lanterns swaying in the wind—wind which also shapes the clouds passing below.

On the balloon

The builder includes another photo of the figures all lined up, with the perfect accessories, including Lyra and her golden compass.

The Golden Compass figbarf

The tower of Barad-d’aww

How small can the dark lord get? This teeny, tiny tower of Barad-dûr from The Lord of the Rings was constructed by LEGO builder Hubba Blöoba, and it’s got all the right notes despite its diminutive size. A pair of grey bananas make the two spikes that ring the all-seeing eye, while clips and slopes make up the jagged tower itself. The atmospheric clouds elevate this little vignette further and give it an appropriate sense of foreboding.

#6: Barad-dûr

That’s odd, usually the blood gets off at the second floor.

If you’re feeling a bit unsettled but don’t know why, there’s a reason for it. If you’re totally feeling the heebie-jeebies and you do know why, then you, dear readers, are keen to the fact that this is a scene from The Shining. Alex Eylar recreates the pivotal scene in LEGO but got the idea and permission from Reddit user /u/thatbenguy23. (If that’s your real name!) It kind of makes you want to take the family out for a winter retreat at the Overlook Hotel, doesn’t it? Let’s take the elevator up. What can go wrong? While we’re waiting for that elevator, check out this melancholy scene by Alex we posted last May.

The Shining

LEGO GWP 40410 Charles Dickens Tribute: A Christmas Carol [Review]

Two years ago, LEGO released a set based on an interesting new concept to celebrate great minds who had an influence on our childhoods. Titled Creative Personalities (40291), it focused on the famed children’s author Hans Christian Andersen. It’s taken LEGO awhile to return to this theme, but this holiday season they’re releasing the second in the series, Charles Dickens Tribute (40410). Based on Dickens’ beloved short story A Christmas Carol, the 332-piece set will be free with purchases over US $150 | CAN $150 | UK £150 from LEGO.com and in LEGO stores. It will be available first to VIP members Nov. 20-21, and then available as part of the company’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales from Nov. 27-30. Let’s take a closer look.

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.

Continue reading →

Colorful and delightful LEGO merchandise from Chronicle Books [News]

In February at Toy Fair New York we covered selected LEGO branded merchandise at the event. Some of the products are now available, including colouful jigsaw puzzles and journals made by Chronicle Books. Here’s a quick guide and availability on Amazon for sale or preorder.

Click to see the products in detail

Ordinary bookshelf? Don’t be silly!

When young Youtube woodworker, Are Baloni decided to build an awesome transforming bookshelf, LEGO builder Deborah Higdon chose to take it a step further. Is it possible to make it with LEGO? That answer is yes, and the outcome is excellent! From the first picture, it looks normal, but wait until you see how it works!

Click to see what happens!

LEGO’s next book will be “The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks” [News]

Last month, fans of LEGO were invited to vote on one of three titles for the next book the company will publish. The votes are in, and “The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks” took the top spot. The book is targeted at Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOLs) and will be published by the LEGO Group’s publishing partners Unbound and AMEET. The book will be crowdfunded starting today with expected availability in Spring 2022.

“The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks” will feature interviews with the designers, managers and technicians who brought them to life. The book will be written by Daniel Konstanski, the US Editor for Blocks Magazine. Of note, the press release also mentions rewards for crowdfunding backers including a print of the original LEGO wooden duck and several retired LEGO sets with specifics to be revealed soon.

Read the official announcement about

Your guide to the 130 new LEGO sets now available for June 2020 including the Technic Lamborghini and more [News]

Summer 2020 has arrived, and LEGO has launched 130 new sets and items available today. Fans of Technic, Creator 3-in-1, City, Friends, Architecture, Hidden Side and more have a lot to choose from. The new Technic Lamborghini is also available today as well as a slew of exclusive polybags not previously available from LEGO’s online store and a Hogwarts Students booster pack. Nearly every LEGO theme has some new sets–it can be a lot to process!– so we have your complete guide right here detailing each and every new set and item.

Because LEGO releases summer waves at different times across the globe, the majority of these sets are available now in the UK. You can see the complete list of all 130 sets and items after the jump. Sets with a Red Indicator are currently available in the US and Canada as well (61 in total). The Americas will get access to the rest of the sets later this summer.

LEGO is also offering a free gift-with-purchase of 40409 Hot Rod with purchases more than US $85 | CAN $85 | UK £85 through June 21st or while supplies last. You can check out our review of 40409 Hot Rod to see if you want to add it to your collection.

See the entire June 2020 wave of new LEGO sets now available

More LEGO gear from Santoki revealed at Toy Fair New York including Dots-themed school supplies [News]

Santoki is a distributor of LEGO LED lights and stationery, and they’ve just revealed a new lineup of merchandise at the Toy Fair New York this year. Their products include pens, notebooks, keychains, and stationery which all predominantly feature the new LEGO Dots theme hitting store shelves next month.

Click to see more of the LEGO-themed Santoki merchandise from Toy Fair New York