Tag Archives: Minifigs

Everybody loves LEGO minifigures — well, almost everybody. Minifigs are often the stars of the LEGO models we feature here on The Brothers Brick, but we also feature some amazing custom minifigs you’d never expect to see in an official LEGO set.

Chrome Block City review

Chrome Block City is a Bricklink store that specializes in selling a large selection of custom chromed Lego elements. This is our first time reviewing their products, which the owner has sent to me for sale in the Creations for Charity fundraiser later this year. Below is a video of the review along with a summary of pros and cons.

Chrome Block City


Pros:

  • Large selection of parts and colors.
  • Very limited quantities on most items, making them exclusive to the few owners.
  • Same clutch strength when used with regular Lego elements.
  • High quality of chrome paint on most items.


Cons:

  • Chrome parts are expensive due to their quality and cost of production.
  • Some parts with bar shapes have minor exposed areas that are not chromed. Contact the seller before buying if this is a concern to you.
  • Underlying printed patterns on the original elements may be visible. This can be cool if the pattern is appropriate but may be distracting if the pattern is out of context.

Overall, Chrome Block City’s large selection of chromed elements means there’s a good chance you’ll find something that appeals to you in an interesting shade of chrome. Many of their items are one-of-a-kind, which means you can take pride in being the owner of an exclusive chrome Lego piece. Despite the high quality of most elements, a few will have imperfections as mentioned above and in the video, but they are not significant enough to be recognized without a close inspection.

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.

ChromeBricks new releases and review

ChromeBricks is a longstanding Bricklink store that sells custom chromed Lego elements. I reviewed a sample of their products several years ago, and I recently received some of their new items for a review. Below is a video of the review along with a summary of pros and cons.

IMG_0753


Pros:

  • Flawless quality of chrome paint. I love the deep shade of chrome red.
  • Same clutch strength when used with regular Lego elements.
  • Two-toned chrome weapons are unique and awesome.
  • Underlying color of Lego element has similar color to chrome paint.


Cons:

  • Chrome parts are expensive due to their quality and cost of production.
  • Connections between minifigure parts and accessories are tight, requiring effort to swap.

In conclusion, ChromeBricks offers top quality chrome elements for those with a budget for them. Their crimson red chrome is eye-catching and their unique two-toned weapons are outstanding. The tight connections between their chromed minifigure parts might diminish the play value, but I suspect most buyers will not subject them to heavy use.

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 Brigade

Well boys and girls, there is a new super hero team in town. If you thought The Avengers or Justice League were cool, just take a look at The Brothers Brigade. Twelve super powered, super cool individuals from around the World (well, most of them are from the U.S., but they do have three token foreigners). They are fighting evil and taking names.

The Brothers Brigade

Full Character Bios:
Front Row (L-R)
Tripod, Gold Member, Mad Physicist
Second Row (L-R)
Artist, The Stud, El Capitan
Third Row (L-R)
The Surgeon, Archaeology, Knight Farmer
Back Row (L-R)
Justice of Space, Mr. Naked Train, Death Pixie

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.

Danish Gothic

Seb Toutouille (spidertoutouille) has recreated the iconic 1930 painting “American Gothic” by Grant Wood using minifigs and a bit of forced perspective.

American Legothique by spidertoutouille on Flickr

It’s not quite perfect — I think the farmer could’ve and should’ve held the pitchfork vertically — but it’s a lovely scene nevertheless.

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 Extraordinary League of Justice

Purists beware: Hammerstein NWC is all up in your grill with his latest batch of minifigs. Steam Punk meets the Justice League, with this amusing lineup of familiar heroes: Nautical Man, Luster Lady, Albert Jordan, Super Chap, The Martian Gentleman Hunter, Bat-Fellow and The Flash Esq.

The Extraordinary League of Justice

My 5 year old daughter and I have been watching Justice League cartoons recently so naturally I solicited her opinion on the photo. She liked Wonder Woman’s bling, was disturbed by Batman’s ‘mustache’, but what she really wanted to know was: “why is Super Panties so angry?” Good question daughter…good question.

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.

“It’s raining men!”

I searched the darkest corners of the internet for LEGO related material to cobble together a decent Father’s Day post, to no avail. Luke and Vader riding a rollercoaster together just doesn’t do it for me and my own little builder wouldn’t sit still long enough to photograph our first collaboration; a 12 inch tall model of Aku (the shogun of sorrow). So instead, enjoy a bunch of half-naked dudes, courtesy of Moko

Muscle!

Happy Father’s Day.

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.

Les hommes du village et la femme en rouge

Mesdames et Messieurs, la brique du frère est fier de présenter deux excellents vignettes par Sofiane SAMLAL samsofy L’un est fabuleusement heureux, et on est peut-être le contraire.

village people

La première scène est le célèbre groupe de disco américaine des années 1970 qui a comporté des stéréotypes culturels américains, ainsi que des mélodies accrocheuses et des paroles suggestives. Dans la recherche de cet article, je suis surpised de constater que le groupe était-il la création d’un compositeur français.

la femme en rouge

La deuxième scène est beaucoup plus grave, depicitng Ceyda Sungur, comme elle est comblé avec du gaz lacrymogène dans le parc Gezi comme elle est venue de son bureau de l’université à proximité de défendre parc de pelles.

To all our French and French-speaking Canadian readers, please excuse my rusty attempts at your language. High School was a long time ago…

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.

Skis, Guns and a big LEGO Fan

The pedant in me is very happy that Karwik has, after many years, given me the designation of a rad ski-mobile (technically an aerosan) I built way back when. He’s also given all of us an absolutely excellent LEGO rendition of the NKL-26 which totally puts my older one to shame. And since you need to be freezing in your boots to use this thing, I promise not to complain about the 10C minimum on this Winter’s day…

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.

Tiny tank chaser

Before I hand things over to Keith for the weekend, I think I owe our readers a somewhat more adorable chaser to follow all the super-serious discussions about LEGO and the military this week. This “MK45-Toad” is brought to you by Eero Okkonen (Pate-keetongu).

MK45-Toad

The use of binoculars for the tank treads is brilliant, and even the minifig includes some interesting part combinations, like the modern/space visor on the LEGO Castle helmet.

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 Contaminated

I know what some of you are thinking: “you’ve lost your mind Goldman, this isn’t even a build!”. What can I tell you, I’m a sucker for the hazmat-guy minifig and all things G.I.T.D. Somebody told me this site started as a bunch of figbarf anyway, so hopefully you will forgive this break in your regularly scheduled programming. So what say you, constant reader, is this kind of image appropriate fair for the big blog, or strictly small-time action?

The Contaminated

The image comes courtesy of delgax and if this kind of shot is your bag too, he’s got a photostream packed with very classy minifig-based photography.

Hey, at least it isn’t a storm trooper walking across a chili-dog.

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.

Mr. Gold charity auction

If you want a Mr. Gold minifig but don’t want to give your money to someone trying to profit off their luck, you can bid on one offered by the BrickBrats family on eBay with 100% of proceeds going to the American Lung Association in California, which has provided services and support over the years to their son with asthma at no charge. This is a great story of one of the good things brought out by the highly coveted Mr. Gold.

Via Brickset

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.

Project Swapfig

Yes, some Kickstarter projects are lame or overly ambitious, but here’s one that actually makes sense to me: Project Swapfig.

22-03

The man behind the project is British AFOL Drew Maughan (.SilentMode). His intention is to address the following question:

How many times have you wanted a specific minifigure, but didn’t want to buy a whole set – or spend hours feeling through packets and risk getting the wrong one? Wouldn’t it be easier to trade with someone who had the figure you want?

The (modest) funding he is asking for will go towards promoting a web site that Drew is setting up, where collectors of LEGO minifigures can trade their unwanted figures for ones they want, instead of having to use different forums all over the web or having to pay big bucks to unscrupulous sellers. Drew has already put a lot of thought and work into this project and it looks good so far. I also know him to be a stand-up guy. I heartily recommend that minifig-lovers among you (you know who you are) check out the project and support it. The funding deadline is the 16th of April.

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.