Tag Archives: Review

Not sure which LEGO sets to pick up for yourself? Need ideas for that LEGO fan who already has more LEGO than he or she can possibly build with in a lifetime? Nervous about the quality of the custom accessories that tempted you at your last LEGO convention? Read our reviews of LEGO sets, books, accessories, and more right here on The Brothers Brick.

All aboard the new 3,000-piece Disneyland LEGO set, 71044 Disney Train and Station [Review]

Revealed today, LEGO is returning to Disneyland with a brand new set, 71044 Disney Train and Station. LEGO’s history with Disney goes back a long way, but few sets have focused on Disney itself rather than its franchises. Of course the first was the gigantic 71040 Disney Castle from 2016. Now the Disney Train and Castle takes us once again to the magical kingdom with one of Walt’s most beloved attractions. Based on the C. K. Holliday steam locomotive on the Disneyland Railroad in the original California park, the train is motorized with LEGO Powered Up! components. Including the train, track, and station, the set has 2,925 pieces and 5 exclusive minifgures, with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, and Goofy. It will retail for USA $329.99 | CAN $379.99 | UK £299.99 and will be available starting August 21 for LEGO VIP members, with general availability on Sept. 1.

Click to read the full, hands-on review

LEGO Stranger Things Castle Byers event build & Comic-Con exclusive Barb minifigure [Review & Editorial]

LEGO has gone all out to promote the new LEGO Stranger Things 75810 The Upside Down set released earlier this summer, with a hilarious retro designer video, and a contest on LEGO Ideas (don’t miss TBB’s own Darker Hawkins LEGO contest). These are all things that every LEGO builder can enjoy together, but LEGO has also released two items to much more limited audiences — Will’s fort Castle Byers (a small build given away only to attendees of launch events in London and New York City) and fan-favorite Barb (a unique minifigure only available at San Diego Comic-Con). Both of these are now only available at exorbitant prices on the secondary market. The Brothers Brick picked up each of these so we could bring you a hands-on review.

Read our hands-on review of these unique LEGO exclusives from Stranger Things

A little dirt never hurt: LEGO Technic 42099 4×4 X-treme Off-Roader [Review]

Here is a simple truth: these days LEGO remains one of those few common activities that give you a rest from a smartphone. For me and for many of our readers, building with LEGO has always been a pastime that requires no downloads, installing or updates; you open a box and the play begins. Obviously, winning over modern-day kids who love digital entertainment and touchscreens is a tough challenge for a toy manufacturer. They say if you can’t beat them, join them, but LEGO thinks differently: if you can’t beat them, build them into the play experience. Along comes LEGO Technic Powered Up — the first generation of LEGO Technic electric elements that bring smartphones and tablets into play. With a whole lot of sensors and features, the new smart hub and motors are among the most advanced LEGO pieces ever produced. LEGO Technic 42099 4×4 X-treme Off-Roader introduces the new play system. The set includes just 958 pieces, but the new expensive electric elements are to blame for the price tag of US $249.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £199.99. It is available starting today, so we are building and testing the model in an attempt to discover the limits of the new Powered Up system and Control+ smart app.

Click here to see our impressions…

LEGO Technic 42098 Car Transporter [Review]

No doubt, cars are among kids’ most favorite toys. And if you have a few toy cars the best thing you can do with them is to transport them using an even bigger car, or a car transporter. These trucks make for an excellent toy with a lot of playability, and LEGO has even released a DUPLO one, not speaking of many other sets released across various themes. This year, yet another car transporter comes as a LEGO Technic set. 42098 Car Transporter seems to be the longest LEGO vehicle ever released yet, reaching more than 3 feet/1 meter with the rear ramp lowered. The set consists of 2,493 pieces and will be available starting August 1 for US $179.99| CAN $229.99 | UK £139.99.

Click here to continue reading…

Discovering LEGO set 75938 Jurassic World T. Rex vs Dino-Mech Battle [Review]

The latest wave of Jurassic World sets are based off the new LEGO TV series, Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar. Most of them have already been on the shelves since spring, with this exception: 75938 Jurassic World T. Rex vs Dino-Mech Battle. While the set has, in fact, been on shelves in other parts of the world since the beginning of June, it’s making its North American debut on August 1st. Whether you’ve seen this one around and couldn’t decide whether or not to get it, or if you’re learning about it for the first time, we thought we’d take a look and share what we’ve discovered! The set has 716 pieces and retails for US $89.99| CAN $119.99 | UK £79.99.

Continue reading →

LEGO Harry Potter faces the Dementors in 75945 Expecto Patronum [Review]

It’s another summer of Harry Potter, and we’re continuing our reviews of the new sets available now, following our review of 75948 Hogwarts Clock Tower. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry faces the evil jailers known as Dementors, against which only the “Expecto patronum!” spell is effective. 75945 Expecto Patronum captures the moment in the Forbidden Forest when Harry fends off hundreds of Dementors attacking Hermione Granger and Sirius Black. The set includes 4 minifigs and a stag Patronus with 121 pieces and retails for US $19.99 | CAN $24.99 | UK £19.99.

Read our complete review of LEGO Harry Potter 75945 Expecto Patronum

Going full throttle with LEGO Creator Expert 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy [Review]

When it comes to motorcycles, few manufacturers are as internationally recognizable as Harley-Davidson. Since 1903, their bikes have proven themselves on the battlefields of World War I and II, dusty roads around the world, and in countless racing events. This rich legacy now includes LEGO set 10269 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, the 2nd Creator Expert set to feature a U.S. vehicle (the first being this year’s Ford Mustang). Harley-Davidson first unveiled the Fat Boy for the 1990 model year, and the line has been in production ever since. Revealed for the first time today, LEGO’s version of the Fat Boy depicts the 2019 model with Milwaukee-Eight 107 engine. The set consists of 1023 pieces and will be available to LEGO VIPs beginning July 17th and to the general public worldwide on August 1st for $99.99 USD | $139.99 CAD | £84.99 GBP


Click to read the full hands-on review

LEGO Harry Potter attends the Yule Ball with 75948 Hogwarts Clock Tower [Review]

When LEGO revived the Harry Potter theme last year after a seven-year hiatus, one set was notably missing: a minifigure-scale Hogwarts Castle. Of course, we did get the stupendous microscale 71043 Hogwarts Castle, but we’d come to expect a regular set labeled “Hogwarts Castle” as LEGO had done at least four times previously. However, this time LEGO had something much more grand up its sleeves. Afterall, there’s no way to have a proper Hogwarts Castle at minifigure scale without it breaking both your bank and your back. Beginning with the excellent 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall and continuing with 75953 Hogwarts Whomping Willow, LEGO is releasing a sweeping minifigure-scale Hogwarts bit by bit, with each segment modularly fitting to the next. 75948 Hogwarts Clock Tower is the third in the series. With 922 pieces, it retails for US $89.99 | CAN $119.99 | UK £84.99. It is available starting July 1 in North America, though it has already been available in Europe.


The revived Harry Potter theme has been playing a mad-dash game of catch-up to whip through the movies–because yes, the sets are based on the movies, not the books–in order to get a new generation of LEGO Harry Potter fans up to speed with all their favorite moments. Last year’s Great Hall was based on The Philosopher’s Stone, the first movie, while the Whomping Willow followed with a scene from The Chamber of Secrets. In building the modular Hogwarts LEGO has skipped right past the third movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban. Hogwarts Clock Tower is set during the Yule Ball in The Goblet of Fire, when two rival wizarding schools are visiting Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. Continue reading →

Revisiting Löwenstein Castle from BrickLink’s AFOL Designer Program [Review]

There are only a few days left to purchase a set from BrickLink’s AFOL Designer Program (ADP), and having just taken a second look at the Wild West Saloon a few days ago, we wanted to give the same treatment to one of the program’s most successful models, Löwenstein Castle by builder Raziel Regulus. We’ll also take look back at the overall program.

In our early review of Löwenstein Castle, the finished packaging of the set was not yet ready from BrickLink. With the final product now available, let’s revisit the set and packaging, and take a look at the expansion of the base model that has been developed by the original fan designer.

Click to continue reading about the Löwenstein Castle

Revisiting the LEGO Wild West Saloon set from Bricklink’s AFOL Designer Program [Review]

Over the last few months, we reviewed the Wild West Saloon and the popular Löwenstein Castle custom LEGO sets from Bricklink’s AFOL Designer Program (ADP). Since we received an early review copy, it arrived without the actual packaging and manuals. Bricklink has now generously sent us the actual packaging backers can expect to receive. With box-in-hand, we wanted to provide our readers with a quick revisit of the set, this time only focusing on the unboxing experience and instruction manual.

Click here to experience the full unboxing

LEGO City 60230 People Pack – Space Research And Development [Review]

Among LEGO universes, space exploration is the new Pirates. And the new Castle, too. Space is trending like never before. Quite uniquely, LEGO isn’t only revisiting historic moments, but also gives us a glimpse into the future of space traveling; this is what LEGO City summer 2019 sets are all about. The lineup consists of familiar concepts for ships and vehicle, but there’s one set that stands out from the rest, 60230 People Pack – Space Research And Development. The set brings a stunning assembly of 14 minifigures along with a bunch of accessories and equipment. It consists of 209 pieces and retails at US $39.99 | CAN $49.99 | UK £34.99.

Click here to continue reading…

A look at The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part Blu-ray set [Review]

The LEGO Movie 2 was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray, so we thought we’d take a look at the special features and let you know what we think! To be clear, this review is not of the movie itself. If you’d like, you can read a separate article about The LEGO Movie 2‘s box office performance and what several of our contributors thought of it. If you haven’t watched it yet (seriously???) and you are trying to decide if you should, check out spoiler-free The LEGO Movie 2 review.

Click to read more about the special features!