Tag Archives: Collaboration

This year’s TBB sponsored collaboration at BrickCon 2024 is all about growth! [News]

Once again, The Brothers Brick is hosting a collaboration of LEGO builds at this year’s BrickCon convention in Seattle. But in order to do this, we’re going to need a little bit of a rebrand. For BrickCon 2024, “TBB” is going to stand for “The Brothers Botany” as we host a garden of botanical builds on the convention floor.

If you’re interested in participating, our tilled plot of table space will be open to botanical creations of any scale, though we’re especially interested in real-world scale plants like those found in the LEGO Botanical Collection. Any creation where the plants are the focal point is welcome to join in. We have awards and prizes planned for the collab, with some additional surprises planted in the garden as well. To help fertilize any budding ideas you may have, I’ve got a few early MOCs of my own that’ll be making an appearance in the display.

Flex those green thumbs, builders, and be sure to select the “TBB Collaboration” when registering the theme of your botanical MOCs. We’ll see you all at the Meydenbauer in September!

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A modular slice of Cyberpunk

Although only one facet of a larger collaborative build, Bart Marable’s first foray into LEGO cyberpunk provides much of the requisite detail to identify it’s overall theme. While most modular buildings have such a great facade, we are left wanting when viewing the sides and backs of the building. Bart, in a relatively small build, has provided 360-degree detail with images to prove his effort.

Let’s call the ‘Fan-side’ the facade. The use of both vivid and understated colors creates a facade that seems to have evolved and been enhanced over time fulfilling the goal of portraying a cyberpunk realm, in my opinion.

Let us have a look at the full effort here.

This Hollow Knight collaboration bugs me quite a bit

I have a special place in my heart for LEGO collaborations; collabs, as the cool kids call them. We have a bevy of cool kids in this article collab-ing on characters from the Hollow Knight video game, so get out your pencils and take some notes. First up is the Watcher Knight, a blue beetle guy built by (I presume) the coolest kid of them all, Sandro Quattrini. I like his stance and there are surely some neat parts usage here. Truth be told, I needed the help of Wikipedia to clue me in on the Hollow Knight game but I’m well aware of its influences such as Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, and Mega Man X. Incidentally, the heyday of those games precisely mark the end of my coolness and my foray into being a middle-aged schlub and occasional public nuisance.

Click to see what the other cool kids are into

30+ builders come together to create epic LEGO diorama of ancient Greece

You may have noticed a few LEGO creations featured here recently with a bit of a Greek flavour to them. It’s no coincidence that these photos popped up in our feeds within a few weeks of each other, as you’ll know if you attended Bricking Bavaria. There, you will have seen RogueBricks‘ enormous (and I must stress, it really is HUGE) ancient Greek collaborative display come together. Having seen a few bits and pieces here and there, we have finally been treated to a photo of the whole glorious thing. And isn’t it magnificent?!

The logistical side of this is almost as impressive as the build itself. Co-ordinating this must have been a serious undertaking! Over 30 builders made contributions to the diorama. Among others, we featured builds by BrickiboT, Justus M., and Martin Gebert, but this spread gives you an idea of what everyone brought to the table. It’s hard to cover everyone here, but I encourage you to check out every one of these creators’ photostreams! You’ll find everything from everyday life to the mythology of Greek epics. At the show itself, there were placards to provide some context and education to visitors, taking home some top prizes in the process, so it’s not merely something to be looked at!

The SquatchLUG LEGO Dungeon Delve at BrickCon 2023 rolls a Nat 20! [Feature]

A little over a month ago, I talked about a collaborative LEGO project debuting at BrickCon 2023: a massive modular Dungeons & Dragons dungeon. I was lucky enough to be invited to take part, contributing the 3-wide module with glowing green eyes I talked about in September. But now, having passed the History check, I’m able to give some further details behind this amazing, fantasy-themed project.

Head deeper into the dungeon below!

A huge collaboration takes on the Pokémon Ultra Beasts!

I love it when a great LEGO collaboration comes together! A group of friends built the Pokémon Ultra Beasts and the end result is pure gold. Take Aidan Hayward’s Celesteela, for example. This is one of the dangerous UBs, (that’s Ultra Beasts) high energy readings can be detected coming from both of its huge arms.

Celesteela brought friends. Lots of them!

The 1864 Battle of Dybbol won Best Battle Scene at Brickfair, Virginia

Sometimes a LEGO creation can be small and still impressive. But sometimes it can be on such a grand scale, that it takes a team of friends to make it happen. That is the case with this stunning Battle of Dybbol scene built by Hunter Erickson and friends. In the builder’s words; Prussia under Wilhelm I and his foreign minister Otto Von Bismarck sought to unify the German states under one banner through careful diplomacy and war. One example of this was the 8-month-long Second Schleswig War between Prussia and Austria against Denmark. The German Confederation thought it was unacceptable that Denmark sought to further integrate the majority German Duchy of Schleswig into the Danish state in 1863. This was seen as a violation of the London Protocol that ended the First Schleswig War in 1852. War was inevitable and in 1864, Prussia and Austria invaded Denmark. That is the scene depicted here.

Continue reading →

This enormous Wild West diorama will bring out your inner cowboy

LEGO’s Western theme may have only lasted a couple of years, but the sets available in that short span could build you a pretty comprehensive Wild West. In the spirit of that, Evan Crouch has collaborated with fellow builders Matt Hudson and Donnie Greenfield to bring us this huge diorama! It’s all there, laid out down one main street in typical spaghetti-western style (among some stunning landscape, I might add). There’s a bank, a sheriff’s office, a Native American camp, settlers, a train station – pretty much the only thing missing is Fort Legoredo itself!

As if babies weren’t scary enough as they are

Thought you were safe from the scary now that Hallowe’en is over? Think again! Simon Liu has collaborated with Micah Beideman to build something which, on the face of it, sounds adorable. I mean, “baby wars.” How scary can it be? As it turns out, pretty nightmare-inducing. The mechanised babies are pretty cute, to be fair, in their tanks with milk bottle cannons. The Scala baby is not a particularly disturbing piece per se, but add some tyre tentacles and you’ve created the most terrifying baby kaiju. I thought the scariest thing a baby could do was scream all the way through a flight – at least this puts that into perspective.

TBB-sponsored collaboration MOCing Memories on display this weekend [News]

If you haven’t heard, BrickCon, the home LEGO convention for The Brothers Brick, is happening this weekend in Seattle. And, as we’ve previously posted, we’re hosting a collaborative display called MOCing Memories where builders can showcase their tributes to LEGO sets of the past, large or small. Now, while it’s too late to register to display your own builds, it’s not too late to stop by Saturday or Sunday to see what our talented bevy of builders have come up with in this ode to themes of yesteryear. If you’re in the Seattle area, and you’d like to see this marvelous TBB-sponsored display (and everything else at BrickCon) there’s more info here.

Reminder: TBB-sponsored collab MOCing Memories at BrickCon 2022 [News]

In case you haven’t heard, BrickCon 2022 is only two and a half weeks away. That’s only 16 days left to get things in order for the Seattle area’s biggest LEGO shindig! And if you’re anything like me, you’re knee-deep in 8×8 plates and minifig utensils finishing things up. But while you’re making sure your Technic technique is perfect, your castles are adequately crenellated, and your ever-growing brick badge is properly fortified, please remember that TBB is hosting its own collaboration at the con: MOCing Memories. Any build that pays homage to LEGO sets of the past (or pieces thereof) is welcome. That’s regardless of scale, regardless of theme, and regardless of era.

“But Kyle,” you say, “there’s only 380 hours left for stacking bricks on top of plates on top of slopes before I put my beautiful masterpiece on display! How can I get something new done in time?” Well, here’s an example of something small that would fit right into MOCing Memories, based on 6190 Shark’s Crystal Cave from 1997. And as a bit of further motivation for you, this may be one of the trophies up for grabs in the theme. Hope to see you and your builds there!

Announcing our TBB sponsored BrickCon 2022 Collaboration [News]

While we try to organize a TBB-sponsored collaborative project for LEGO builders who travel to Seattle to attend BrickCon, the last two years have been a bit strange, to say the least. With the 2020 convention fully remote, and 2021 under restrictions for how many registered attendees were allowed, we’ve had to adjust. But this year, the 90th anniversary of the LEGO brand gave us an idea. We have already seen many builders from around the world creating tributes to their favorite sets or themes from throughout LEGO’s history. So we are very excited to announce this year’s TBB collab for BrickCon 2022: MOCing Memories.

The rules are simple. Build a MOC inspired by a favorite set or part of a set from any LEGO theme, past or present. That’s it. Modernize the classic space rover? Perfect! Microscale fire station? Awesome! Giant-sized minifigure? Oh yeah! Build the ultimate elemental dragon? It’s on! So if you are a registered attendee of BrickCon 2022, and you want to be part of this nostalgic display, then join in on the fun and happy building.

When registering your MOC, be sure to select “TBB Collaboration” as the theme, and we’ll see you in Seattle.