Tag Archives: Space

From giant space carriers to starfighters, moon bases to moon buggies, whether you love LEGO models inspired by real-world space programs or science-fiction, you’re in the right place.

LEGO Ideas Exo Suit out today [Review & Giveaway]

LEGO sent The Brothers Brick a copy of the new LEGO Ideas 21109 Exo Suit, which we’re going to give away to one of you out there reading this. Read the full review to find out how!

There have been a lot of great LEGO CUUSOO / LEGO Ideas sets that have come out, but before the Exo Suit they all had one thing in common: they were all based on someone else’s design (intellectual property or IP in licensing jargon). So it was a great to see Pete Reid‘s Exo Suit become the first original idea to be turned into a LEGO Ideas set.

The set comes in a typical small form LEGO Ideas box. I thought the designers did a great job on graphics and background art, which is very reminiscent of the classic space box art.

When you open up the set you’re presented with a fantastic instruction manual and 4 small bags of pieces, which include a total of 321 pieces. While it might not seem like a lot of pieces, the final build is surprisingly large.

The instruction booklet starts off with some info on Pete and Senior Set Designer Mark Stafford on how they collaborated on the set. It’s followed by a great background story that sets up the Exo Suit. I also liked how scattered throughout the instructions are little tid-bits of information about the Exo-Suit or the turtle, which just adds a bit of fun to the whole building.

Originally I had planned to go over the actual build process and point out interesting bits and details on the Exo Suit, but as I was actually building it, I decided not to ruin everyone’s fun — I would rather everyone experience it on their own. I will say that there are definitely some uncommon techniques that you would not find in your typical LEGO set. An example of which is placing a 1×1 round stud in the center of a 2×2 round plate (see picture).

The piece selection in this set is also a bit odd for a typical LEGO offering. There are a lot of ball-joint pieces that makes up the bulk of the frame, and a lot of tiny detailing elements that are attached to it, which makes up the rest of the set. But for a lot of builders this gives a great value: it is a small set with an incredible selection of specialized sci-fi “greeble” pieces.

But really, the stars of the set are the two Classic Space minifigures (with extra air tank) available in green for the first time:

The inclusion of these two figures, plus the low price point, and limited run will likely result in a very high demand set. Which is unfortunate as I would love to be able to buy a massive stockpile of these to get an army of Green Classic Space men, with enough left over pieces to build something really cool.

Read the review and enter for a chance to win this set →

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Space Dogs: Never Cry Wolf

Pascal’s wolf-headed minifig hardsuit is the perfect use for those Chima heads. Looking especially vicious with the Exo-Force shoulder patch, these would look perfect pouring from a drop ship.

John and Ian channel the 80s

Or so John Moffatt (John Moffatt) and Ian MacDonald (ABS doohickies) say. I think they’re just channeling awesome in this collaborative build. There are so many great details on this ship. My favorites are the ring (electromagnet perhaps?) on the front, the radar dish, and the engine arrangement itself. This ship has utilitarian workhorse written all over it (in gray). Make sure you check out some of the detail shots to get a good feel for this lovely bit of monochromatic space.

Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

Tomorrow is the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon. I hope we see many moon-themed LEGO models over the next couple of days, but we’ll start with this fantastic microscale version of the lander by Ted Andes.

Ted has been building one vignette a week this year, and this is his 31st. Check out his photostream for the rest.

The Wise Owl... Of Space

Alexander (Malydilnar) brings us a cool space fighter. This ship caught my eye, as I recognized it as inspired by the work of one of my favorite concept artists, Karanak. Ironically, this is one of my least favorite illustrations, and I thought I didn’t like the style of the ship. Seeing it assembled in Lego, though, my opinion has changed. Great job Alexander!

Robot Can Build a LEGO Tower All the Way to Space!

Well, OK, just in theory. But this amazing NXT-controlled LEGO robot by Hknssn can build its own tower, and since the robot rides up the tower with each new piece it places, there’s theoretically no limit to how high it can build as long as it continues to be fed pieces.

Friday Night Fights – Concept Art Ships

Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada for another round of Friday Night Fights. Tonight we dive into the world of Concept Art turned into LEGO. A lot of builders will use reference photos of cars and buildings to build their models. There’s a small subset of sci-fi builders which will use Concept Art as a basis of their creations. Let’s go to the tale of the tape.

In the white corner, we have Alexander (Malydilnar) who used this concept as inspiration for his Talon fighter:

In the blue corner, we have Jake who used used this concept as inspiration for his ship:

As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding, by way of comment, which ship is a cooler Concept Art turned LEGO. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights, Exo Suits, Ilya won a close 3-2 with his BAR Exo Suit. Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!

A lamp alight in the darkness of space

I’m apparently in quite a spacey mood today, since this is the second microscale space LEGO model that caught my eye. This one is by Shannon Sproule, a med-station orbiting Saturn named Nightingale. The gold is a beautiful touch.

Population density increases on Epherna 1

Tim Clark just posted this fantastically complex microscale space scene, complete with a pair of ships flying overhead and two more smaller ones on a landing pad.

This build is a great example of how repetition can really increase the realism of a LEGO model — the pairs of ships, the beacons, and all the small technical details. Real life is full of repetition, and doing the same even in a sci-fi setting adds a level of realism that would be lacking if every detail was unique.

Here’s another great shot, showcasing the landing pad and the biodome behind it.

Good things, small packages

The second kinda-annual Small Starfighter Contest is in full swing, and a week in we’re already seeing some strong contestants. My favorite entry thus far is the R7 Senex by Nate Rehm-Daly. Compact, with just the right mix of greebs and armor, all wrapped in a fantastic color scheme.

Friday Night Fights – Exo Suits

Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada for another round of Friday Night Fights. Tonight we celebrate the release of Pete Reid’s Exo Suit. Space fans (my self included) have been eagerly waiting for news and now finally the reveal of this fan favorite Ideas set.Let’s go to the tale of the tape.

In the light grey corner we have BillyBurg with his midi-Exo Suit:

In the dark grey corner we have Ilya T(traples) with his B.A.R. Exo Suit:

As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding, by way of comment, which of these Exo Suits you would want on your SHIP. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights, Ships of the fleet, Showing that size doesn’t always matter the Corvette Beatrix won 4-2! Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!

LEGO Ideas Exo Suit Officially Revealed [News]

LEGO has just released an announcement video for the forthcoming LEGO Ideas (née Cuusoo) set, 21109 Exo Suit, based on Peter Reid’s terrific design submission. This is one of the more imaginative videos LEGO has done for an announcement, and it fits perfectly into Peter’s Space universe that he lays out in his book, LEGO Space: Building the Future. See our previous coverage of this set here and here. There appears to still be no word on the price or part count, though it is set to be released in August.