Tag Archives: Reviews

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.

LEGO Mindstorms 40413 Mini Robots Gift with Purchase set [Review]

After a seven-year hiatus, LEGO has come out with an all-new Mindstorms system. We took a look at the new 51515 Robot Inventor set last week, but when it went on sale yesterday via LEGO’s website and stores, it also included a matching gift with purchase. 40413 Mini Robots is available with any order over US $100 | CA $100 | UK £100 and includes 366 pieces. The promo runs until Nov. 1 or while supplies last. The set builds tiny versions of the five robots from the full-size Robot Inventor Mindstorms kit to let everyone get a piece of the new Mindstorms, whether you intend to plunk down $360 for the big kit or not.

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The next generation of LEGO robotics: Mindstorms 51515 Robot Inventor [Review]

The year 2013 feels like eons ago. After all, a lot can happen in 7 years, and that’s how long it’s been since Mindstorms EV3 arrived on the scene. Now it’s beyond high-time for the long-awaited successor to LEGO’s premier robotics platform to hit the stage. Back in June when LEGO Mindstorms 51515 Robot Inventor was revealed, some people were ecstatic, but many were unimpressed with the features of the new system. In this review, we’ll take a deep dive to see if this set proves that you shouldn’t judge a bot by its cover. Robot Inventor contains 949 pieces and will be available beginning October 15 for US $359.99 | CAN $459.99 | UK £329.99.

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LEGO Winter Village Collection 10275 Elf Club House [Review]

It’s hard to believe, but somehow it’s already nearly October. While some people think that should mean “Halloween all the time,” others–particularly those in marketing–think that it’s a good time to start getting everyone ready for the gift-giving holidays. Normally that just makes me grumpy, but it does have the occasional upside. Here’s one of those positives: it’s time for LEGO to announce the newest addition to their Winter Village Collection! This year, we leave Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole to check out what the elves get up to in their spare time…namely hanging out in their club house. This highly anticipated set spans 1,197 pieces with goodies like a new minifigure-scaled reindeer, four elves, a heap of presents, and, oh yeah, the club house itself. The Winter Village Collection 10275 Elf Club House will be available September 23 from the LEGO Shop Online for US $99.99 | UK £84.99 | EU €94.99. Is it worth fitting into your holiday budget? Read on and see!

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LEGO Star Wars 75318 The Child is a 1,000-piece Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian [Review]

Ever since Star Wars: The Mandalorian debuted on Disney+ last year, the adorable, nameless alien has set the internet on fire. Simply called “The Child” in the show, fans have dubbed the green toddler Baby Yoda, and to help protect season 1’s plot, Disney didn’t license any toys of the character until this year. Now LEGO is diving into the merchandising, providing fans with three different scales of Baby Yoda in anticipation of season 2. The latest, being officially revealed today (though images have been circulating for awhile), is this 1,073-piece buildable figure. 75318 The Child will retail for US $79.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £69.99, and will be available for pre-order starting October 21, and will release on October 30 in conjunction with The Mandalorian season 2 debut. We’ll be publishing LEGO’s official press release and images later today, but since we have the set in hand, we wanted to kick it off with a full review instead.

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LEGO Holiday set 40426 Seasonal Wreath [Review]

Have you heard? Winter is coming. That means it’s time to start thinking about festive decorations built out of LEGO! Let’s take a look at LEGO 40426 – a mysterious 510 piece set that will be released on October 1st. LEGO sent us a review copy, but didn’t provide any additional details, so we don’t yet know prices, or where exactly it’ll be available, or even the official set name. In the meantime, though, we can explore the parts, packaging, and multiple building options that this set has to offer. It sure looks like a wreath, but maybe it’s a Yuletide Frisbee or something.

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LEGO Holiday BrickHeadz 40425 Nutcracker [Review]

Here in the U.S. and around the world, the end of the year brings a number of holidays and festivities, and under normal circumstances, a trip to the ballet to see The Nutcracker is a major holiday tradition. Well, in the midst of a global pandemic you will be able to bring a little bit of the Nutcracker home for the holidays. LEGO’s holiday BrickHeadz this year is 40425 Nutcracker. Although LEGO was able to send us an early review copy, we still don’t have the price, but we presume it will be $9.99 like other standalone BrickHeadz. It will be available starting October 1 and has 180 pieces.

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LEGO Star Wars 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina – largest Master Builder Series set ever at 3,000 pieces & 20 minifigs [Review]

If you watched Star Wars beginning with Episode IV: A New Hope as many of us born in the decades before the Prequel Trilogy did, the first planet in a “Galaxy Far, Far Away” you ever saw on screen was Tatooine. But the enormous universe that Luke Skywalker and Ben Kenobi lived in truly came alive only when they first stepped into the cantina in the Mos Eisley Spaceport — “This place can be a little rough,” Old Ben warned Luke. LEGO’s latest set in its Master Builder Series takes us deep into that “wretched hive of scum and villainy” with 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina. It’s rare that I acknowledge up front in a review how excited I was personally about a forthcoming LEGO set. But I am, because my favorite planet in the Star Wars universe is still Tatooine, and my favorite place on the planet is Chalmun’s Cantina. Does it live up to my nearly life-long expectations? How does it compare to previous incarnations of this iconic watering hole?

75290 Mos Eisley Cantina is built from 3,187 LEGO pieces, and the product description states that it includes 21 minifigures “plus” R2-D2 the droid (a point we’ll return to later in this review). The set retails from the LEGO Shop for US $349.99 | CAN $449.99 | UK £319.99 and is available to LEGO VIP Program members beginning on September 16, with general availability on October 1st.

Let’s strap a blaster to our hip, leave the droids to park the landspeeder, and step inside…

Read our hands-on review of LEGO Star Wars 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina

LEGO 75978 Harry Potter Diagon Alley [Review]

Today, there is no LEGO theme as special as Star Wars. Not only is it one of the fundamental LEGO universes, but it is also presented in almost every category of LEGO products: regular sets, junior sets, action figures, keychains, stationery, video games, and many more including, of course, more expensive exclusive sets. Apart from the Star Wars and Creator Expert / 18+ advanced building sets, there are not that many themes that have earned an exclusive product release. Thankfully, the LEGO Harry Potter joined the club in 2018 with the release of 71043 Hogwarts Castle. And just two years later comes another massive exclusive set, 75978 Diagon Alley. Despite being 500 pieces smaller than the gigantic Hogwarts castle, with its 5,544 pieces, it’s big enough to be the fourth in the list of the biggest LEGO sets released so far. Remarkably, both sets have the same price tag of US $399.99 | CAN $499.99 | UK £369.99, so let’s build the new one and find out whether it has more value for the same money.

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LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71028 Harry Potter Series 2 Feel Guide [Review]

With the newest wave of Collectible Minifigures, 71028 Harry Potter Series 2, now available on store shelves, that means it’s time to bring you our Feel Guide, the best way to know what you’re buying before you fork over your hard-earned cash. Veteran fans know that LEGO’s blind bags have plenty of tells, and if you’ve got a little bit of patience you can determine each and every figure without opening a single pack. This means you can buy a full set of 16 unique figures without getting unwanted duplicates, and we’re here to help with a downloadable cheat sheet to get you started.

LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71028 Harry Potter Series 2 are available now for US $4.99 | CAN $4.99 | UK £3.49. They may also be available from third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay.

Click to see the Feel Guide

LEGO 40423 Halloween Hayride [Review]

Autumn doesn’t really start until later in the month, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get hyped up now for fall festivities. (After months of quarantine, I’m pretty sure time is meaningless, anyway. ) So who’s up for a haunted hayride? Oh. Right. COVID. Staying indoors is still the better part of valor, so maybe not. But wait! LEGO has come to the rescue! 40423 Halloween Hayride is available in North America from the LEGO Shop Online for US $12.99 | CAN $16.99. But is this set a trick or a treat? Read on and see!

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Facing the music: LEGO Ideas 21323 Grand Piano [Review]

They say there is nothing you can’t build with LEGO bricks. Most of the time, that is very true provided you have enough plastic bricks. But let’s get real; there are certain categories of real-world things that do not translate into LEGO-world particularly well, carrying form but not function. One example would be musical instruments. It looks like building a playable LEGO musical instrument is nearly impossible. It also looks like you have to have the skills of a magician to land a job as a LEGO Ideas designer. The work the LEGO design team did to turn fan Donny Chen’s idea into the official 3,662-piece 21323 Grand Piano set seems truly amazing. However, you never judge a set until you have built it, so let’s assemble, tune and play this majestic instrument, which can be purchased today for US $349.99 | CA $449.99 | UK £319.99.

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LEGO Harry Potter 40412 Hagrid & Buckbeak BrickHeadz characters [Review]

Harry Potter fans have a lot of LEGO sets to choose from this year, but if they want to add Hagrid and Buckbeak to their BrickHeadz collection, they’ll have to act fast. This buddy pack of our favorite care of magical creatures professor, and his Hippogryph Buckbeak are available from September 1 – September 15 as a gift with purchase of any Herry Potter LEGO set priced at $99 or more (€100 / £100 Harry Potter purchases only), while supplies last.

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