LEGO’s new Brick Sketches product line featuring brick-built portraits of popular characters is now available. The first four sets in the lineup include BB-8, a First Order Stormtrooper, Batman and The Joker.
The 2D portraits are the next collectible LEGO product line following BrickHeadz and are the work of recently hired LEGO designer Chris McVeigh who created the Brick Sketch concept several years ago (read our interview with him about how Brick Sketches became an actual LEGO product).
I’m a fan of the realm of possibilities in the Star Wars galaxy and especially for vehicles that could have been taken a page out of the storylines. This Junk Speeder by Thomas Jenkins gives that vibes of a single-engine mashup of what a scavenger or thrifty junkyard dealer would have up for sale or trade. For a moment, I would think this would be a perfect transport for Ewoks if they decided to venture outside of their forest dwellings. What makes this a sturdy build are likely the technic parts and pins integrated across its wingspan.
Check out Thomas’s other features that we’ve covered from a galaxy far far away.
Move over R2-D2, I have a new favourite droid in the Star Wars galaxy now. If you haven’t already watched Season 1 of The Mandalorian, what are you waiting for? Don’t come back here till you’re done, ok? The IG-11 is full of surprises and I could swear that the only reason I needed the Kleenex to wipe that tear off my eye was because of a dusty home and nothing else, really indeed! Build better bricks captured the best of IG-11 with a mixed bag of almost LEGO odd parts like ingots and barrels, just like how the actual IG-11 seems to be made up of random bits of metal.
The prequels are generally regarded as the least favorites of the Star Wars franchise for many fans. With that said, we can’t deny there were some iconic moments in the films. One such moment; Order 66. That’s when the Galactic Republic was secretly ordered to execute every Jedi they could find–and man that was some edge-of-your-seat stuff! Max Fudal replicates the scene nicely in LEGO and tells us this project took two years and 50,000 pieces to complete. I’d say this was well worth the time and effort. The terrain, from the planet’s liquid core to its craggy cliffs, is astounding. The man-made structures built into the cliffside offer up a change in textures and the minifigures denote plenty of action.
I can get lost in all these great details. I just want to play with this scene all day and maybe execute Order 66 myself! Does that make me a bad person? While you’re mulling that over let’s rejoice in the fact that this seems to be the first time we’ve featured this builder here on The Brothers Brick. If this is any indicator, we readily look forward to seeing what else Max is capable of.
LEGO has revealed an entirely new product line of mosaic sets featuring pop culture portraits called LEGO Art. The four initial sets revealed include Iron Man, Marilyn Monroe, The Beatles, and Star Wars Sith. Each of the adult-targeted sets contains an average of 3,250 pieces, a new brick separator, several new elements, an exclusive signature tile, and instructions and extra parts to build 3 or 4 different designs per set. Each set comes with a curated building soundtrack, and as an added bonus, three copies of either the Iron Man or Star Wars sets can be combined to make an “ultimate piece” triple the size of a single portrait.
Each LEGO Art set comes in a box the size of a pizza and will retail for US $119.99 | CAN $149.99 | UK £114.99. The Iron Man portrait will be available globally (including the US) exclusively from LEGO on August 1st. The other three portraits will be available globally from LEGO and various retailers starting August 1st, except in the US which will have to wait a month until September 1st.
Get a close up look at each new LEGO Art portrait and see the ultimate versions from combining sets
In the Star Wars universe, R2 units are super useful droids. They can help navigate hyperspace, handle power routing, and even do spot repairs. That’s all great if you have a starship, but what about us here on Earth? What sort of assistance can we hope for? Well, John Cooper has a possible answer: this LEGO version of R2-D2 is a fully functional gumball machine. There’s a crank in the center of the chest, and opening hatches on the front reveal a hidden coin slot and gum dispenser. A hatch on the back protects the accumulated cash. I love the clear dome panels used for the head – the exposed gumballs remind me of an old Fisher Price Corn Popper toy. Sadly this version lacks that pop-o-matic type function.
Curious to see things in action? Check out the video!
John also shared a few behind-the-scenes tidbits about the build with us:
Originally the gumballs were going to come out a simple hinged door at the front. But when I decided to use the three-leg configuration, that tilted the body back. So I devised the drawer to capture the gumball when it exists the sloped vertical drop.
I have a deep and profound fondness for robots with gumball machines for heads. I can only hope this is just the start of a whole LEGO sub-theme.
When I think about the rebel fleet from Star Wars, “dirty and ragtag” are usually the watchwords. “Clean and sleek” don’t usually come to mind. But, as we saw with the Millennium Falcon from Solo, even the grubbiest vessels were once showroom-new. That’s what I like about this LEGO X-Wing from Sam K Bricks. Complete with redesigned triangular engines, this modification of the base design feels right at home in that blue sky. The additions of some front-facing sensors on tail fins change the shaping of the nose to make for a more streamlined look, too. It’s probably the first time a starfighter design has made me feel…relaxed.
If you like your X-Wings a bit more on the used side, be sure to check out another featured variation of Sam’s, this time with square engines.
As evil armies spread across the land, a young boy from a farming town journeys to strange places on a quest to defeat the mighty villain. Accompanied by a group of friends and gifted a glowing blue sword, he soon finds himself in the company of a weird little creature speaking in odd sentences, before ultimately defeating evil by casting it into a giant pit. That’s the backdrop for this mighty tower, which LEGO builder CRCT Productions calls The Emperor’s Eye or Vader’s Barad-Dûr.
The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars share a lot of similarities, but perhaps none so visually striking as the resemblance of Darth Vader’s Castle to the architecture of Sauron, and this nifty little microscale diorama shows the resulting mashup. The best part is the Force-blue glowing eye between the spires. The squared-off base works well to counterpoint the jumbled lava rocks around the foot of the tower, and there are some great parts hidden if you look closely, such as chain links and robot arms.
LEGO has revealed seven new Star Wars sets based on everything across the galaxy including the films, television shows, a visual dictionary, and even Disney’s theme park land, Galaxy’s Edge. The sets include two brand new ships, multiple desirable minifigures, a few refreshed models, and the 2020 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar. (Spoiler alert: we’ve included photos of the Advent behind the jump at the far end of this article.)
The seven new sets join four other upcoming LEGO Star Wars models already announced earlier this year, including 75288 AT-AT, 75280 501st Legion Clone Troopers, 75292 The Razor Crest and 75317 The Mandalorian & The Child BrickHeadz. All these new sets should be available globally starting Sept. 1st.
Me knows Roanoke Handybuck love LEGO and me sure he likes Star Wars too! Me think he try to be funny and hide me cookies so me be hungry. That’s not good. Me see cookie flying and me confused! This cookie taste funny though, it feel like it has chewie texture and me not sure if me sees raspberry or strawberry toppings, but you know Cookie Monster no care because me love all kindsa cookies! Om nom nom nom nom!
My wife and I played and replayed Final Fantasy VII on the original PlayStation, grinding character levels and farming materia so we could survive the insane boss battles like the Ruby Weapon. It’s incredibly disappointing that Square isn’t releasing Final Fantasy VII Remake on any platform but the PS4 any time soon. Nostalgia and minor rant aside, I love this chocobo and carriage by Kevin Waner (Brick Ninja), depicting the scene in which Cloud rescues Tifa Lockhart from Don Corneo, the mafioso of Wall Market. The detailed chocobo and colorful carriage take center stage in the scene, with Cloud and Aeris simply providing a bit of narrative context on the side — Cloud is of course instantly recognizable from his enormous Buster Sword.
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.
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!