Tag Archives: Ideas

Epic triple-decker pinball wizardry [Video]

We recently featured a pinball machine with a modular play field. I’m not sure why there is a sudden uptick in pinball builds, but I am totally on board! Bring them on, pin-wizards! I have to say, you may have a tough time competing with this one, created by Nachapon Lego. I’ve seen a few multi-tiered LEGO machines, but this is probably executed the best. The physics behind pinball can be complicated. The size of the field coupled with the size and weight of the ball, plus the angles of the obstacles, all make for a tricky design process. Then you bring LEGO into the mix and the constraints take on another level of difficulty.

*INSANE* LEGO Pinball Machine!! Please vote at Lego ideas website.

The Star Wars theme will be popular for many of you, but if that’s not your thing, the builder made a sister-table. The obstacles are the same, but this one has a creative and colorful adventure motif as a tribute to the vast possibilities of LEGO. The game-play video below will have you wishing you could have a go at it yourself! I particularly like the ball-saving that can be done by kicking it back to the main level once it drains.

If you haven’t already, definitely take a peak at some of our other featured pinball articles! You’ll find my own Classic Space pinball machine, along with a few others that will get you excited about making one too!

LEGO Ideas launches 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay marking the return of classic pirates [News]

LEGO Ideas has revealed its latest fan-inspired set, 21322 Pirates of Barracuda Bay. The impressive 2,545-piece set features a shipwreck island teeming with eight minifigure pirates. As an added bonus, the set can be re-built into a fully working pirate ship. It will sell for US $199.99 | CAN $259.99 | UK £179.99 starting April 1st.

We’ve already gotten a hands-on look in our review of Pirates of Barracuda Bay. Continue reading this article for all the official product images and press release.

Click to get a closer look at the official images of Pirates of Barracuda Bay

Building “Pursuit of Flight” is still attainable [Instructions]

Nearly a year ago, we featured this exceptional kinetic sculpture by Jason Allemann. The “Pursuit of Flight” later went on to become a finalist in the recent LEGO Ideas review round. A week ago, LEGO announced which projects made it into the next production run, and unfortunately, Jason’s “Pursuit of Flight” was not one of those projects. But do not despair! He has made the full instructions available to anyone who is dying to build this wonderful piece of art.

Pursuit of Flight Instructions

For those big Star Wars fan out there, you can try your hand at a trench run variation of the original model.

As you may know, this is not the first time that Jason (also known as JK Brickworks) has been a LEGO Ideas finalist. He has actually previously won the coveted opportunity to have his build become an official set… twice. He’s responsible for 21305 Maze and 21315 Pop-Up Book (the latter in collaboration with Grant Davis).

More than your average LEGO City garbage truck [Video]

What’s a city layout without the staple vehicles: police, fire, ambulance, bus, delivery, mail, garbage? You gotta have them all! LEGO has released a few generic garbage/recycling trucks, but none of them are this cool. At first glance this build by Scott Hasse looks a bit like an average set. But up close it’s pretty nifty. Rather than the typical manual dump action displayed in the City line, you get a truck that works much more like the ones you see on the street in real life.

LEGO Automated Side Loading Garbage Truck with minifigs

A simple turn of the knobs not only grabs and dumps the bins, but also compacts the refuse into the dump collection in the back. The whole thing is really smooth and works like a charm! An if you had a fleet, you could put tiles on the sides to indicate garbage vs. recycling or compost. Would anyone else besides me get hours of entertainment from playing with this thing? My next step would be to motorize it!

This could become a real set one day, you never know. But in the meantime, you can use some simple instructions to build your own little garbage truck.

The top 10 best LEGO sets of 2018 [Review Feature]

LEGO released nearly 800 sets this year, and The Brothers Brick has so far reviewed over 120 of them — that’s more than two reviews a week over this past year. But now we’re winding down the year and looking back on 2018, with just one week left until the end of the year. LEGO’s free shipping offer ends tomorrow, so as you wrap up your holiday shopping, here are a few of our favorite LEGO sets released this year.

And for some extra goodness, don’t miss our list of the best LEGO sets of 2017 (many of which are still available).

Read our complete list of the best LEGO sets released in 2018

LEGO 21311 Voltron now available [News]

The largest LEGO Ideas set to date, 21311 Voltron is now available. Long anticipated by fans nostalgic for the iconic giant robot from the 1980s TV series of the same name, Voltron stands over 15 inches tall and includes 2,321 pieces, and costs $179.99 USD. But most impressively, it’s actually assembled from the five lions, and transforms with remarkable ease. Voltron will be widely available beginning Aug. 1, but if you’re a VIP member you can go ahead and purchase the set now from the LEGO Shop Online. VIP membership is free.

Buy LEGO 21311 Voltron from the LEGO Shop Online [USA | UK | CAN]


If you’re still on the fence about Voltron, or just want to know before spending your hard-earned cash on a giant transforming robot, check out our review. We go in-depth in our text review of Voltron, and give a thorough breakdown of the transformation process in our video review below.

LEGO’s largest-ever Ideas set, 21311 Voltron [Review + Video]

LEGO’s largest mech ever has landed, bringing with it a wave of 1980s nostalgia. Based on the cartoon TV series that began airing in 1984, Voltron: Defender of the Universe, this huge robot has taken a long, winding route through LEGO’s product development, arriving more than two years after the project surpassed the 10k-vote mark needed for LEGO to assess the project. With 2,321 pieces, 21311 Voltron is the largest Ideas set to date. It will be available to LEGO VIP members beginning July 23, with full availability Aug. 1, and it will be priced $179.99 USD.

Watch our video review here, and read the in-depth full review below:

Click to read the full review of 21311 Voltron!

LEGO Voltron designer video shows behind the scenes effort to make the set a reality [Video]

LEGO Ideas has quickly become one of the most exciting and progressive product lines of the company, and the latest set, 21311 Voltron: Defender of the Universe is no different. From the designer video included below, we learn from LEGO designer Niek van Slagmaat and graphic designer Mark Tranter that the leg and arm connections on Voltron were the most challenging part of creating the functional set (and we get to see Niek being particularly fly with some beautiful drum-lacquered silver elements).

The set will be available July 23rd for LEGO VIPs and August 1st for everyone else for $179.99 USD. Look out for our thorough review coming later this week.

Complete set of LEGO Space X rockets and vehicles – Go for launch!

Space and space exploration is also a very popular subject when it comes to LEGO creations. Valerie Roche and Matthew Nolan have designed a collection of SpaceX vehicles and put it on LEGO’s crowd-sourcing platform Ideas, where it’s already well on its way towards the needed 10,000 supporters. One of the coolest things about this project is that the designers have received input from people working on the real SpaceX program to help make the models even more accurate.

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Check out the full collection of vehicles

Giant 2,300-piece LEGO Ideas 21311 Voltron: Defender of the Universe set revealed [News]

First announced as a forthcoming set nearly a year ago, LEGO is finally taking the wraps off its newest crowd-sourced kit, 21311 Voltron. Based on both the iconic 1980s animated television show of the same name and its subsequent modern-day reboot by DreamWorks, the set will feature five robotic lions who can combine into the super robot Voltron. With 2,321 pieces, the massive mech will be the largest Ideas set to date, easily outpacing the Old Fishing Store and NASA Apollo Saturn V. The set will be on sale briefly at San Diego Comic-Con next month, then will be available to LEGO VIP members beginning July 23, before being widely available August 1. Voltron will retail for $179.99 USD.

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A little aquarium comes to life as these LEGO fish really move [Video]

Brick-built aquariums are often extremely cool, but how many can say their LEGO sea-creatures actually move? My guess is not too many. But one clever builder, Mark Smiley, has managed to create an adorable little “LEGO Clockwork Aquarium” that does just that! With the turn of a crank, the fish move in a circle along the tank perimeter. There’s also a crab that hops up and down, and a starfish that spins! If you look closely, you can even see a little Easter Island head in the corner, and a shrimp in the helmet. The whole thing is modular and customizable. But just wait until you see it in action!

Lego Clockwork Aquarium

Click to watch the video of the tank coming to life!

LEGO Ideas 21314 Tron: Legacy available now [News]

Last week we reviewed the latest LEGO Ideas set, 21314 Tron: Legacy. The set launches on March 31st, and is available now from the LEGO Shop online ($34.99 US | £29.99 | $44.99 CAD).

The new set includes two light cycles, three minifigures — Sam Flynn, Quorra and Rinzler — with a total of 230 pieces. You can learn more about the set in our hands-on Tron review.