Over the past decade or so of modular buildings, there has frequently been a gift with purchase available early in the year to accompany it, sometimes with a thematic link. The Detective’s Office launch was accompanied by the 40140 Flower Cart bonus polybag that included a hidden barrel of cookies to tie into that modular’s cookie-smuggling story. More recently LEGO 40586 Icons Moving Truck, which includes furniture to be delivered to LEGO Icons 10312 Jazz Club, came out a few months after that modular. This year, LEGO 10326 Natural History Museum broke tradition by coming out a month early, and now for the turn of the year, LEGO Icons 40681 Retro Food Truck contains 310 pieces and 2 minifigures and will be available with some purchases in the new year at LEGO.com and your local LEGO retail store. An obvious note: it’s really hard to give a thumbs up or down...

This build by Ian (aka bricktacular_builds) caught my eye not because of the mockingjay pin but because of the brick-built LEGO flower that is oddly out of focus. I mean, why would you share a poor image of your creation? And who would put a metal pin by a LEGO build, right? And then I took a closer look… You see, SNOT is a specific way of connecting LEGO pieces. It stands for “studs not on top” and features all kids of sideway connections. And this is exactly what is happening here. The intricate structure of the pin became possible only thanks to a very neat choice of plates and bars with clips. Wing elements fit this ornament wonderfully, making the bird instantly recognizable. I mean, it’s way too similar to a real piece of the Hunger Games merch! The post May the SNOT connections be ever in your favor appeared...

The LEGO Creator 3-in-1 theme has expanded their focus from play sets to include a variety of display sets in recent years. And it looks like 2024 is going to continue this trend with a recently announced wave of Creator sets. Joining the Adidas shoe in the footwear department is the retro roller skate. Riding the recent wave of nostalgia, generation X’ers get ready to jump in to the disco roller-rink with this latest entry. LEGO Creator 11348: Retro Roller Skate includes 342 pieces and will be available starting January 1st for US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99 The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews. Unboxing the parts and instructions The set comes in a square-shaped box branded with the Creator 3-in-1 visual elements. With this set being...

From now until January 4th, LEGO is offering many sets for sale on their website. While there are too many to list out, some of the highlights include sets from Disney, Harry Potter, Monkie Kid, Avatar, Star Wars, and Marvel. Of note in that last theme, the massive 76210 Iron Man Hulkbuster and 71039 LEGO® Minifigures Marvel Series 2 both get a price reduction for this period. These discounts range from 20% to 40% off the normal price, and include sets released as recently as this summer. For the full list, check out everything on LEGO’s Offers and Sales page for the US, Canada, and UK. If you’re looking to take advantage of these end-of-year deals, please consider shopping via our affiliate links (like those above) on The Brothers Brick. By using those links, you help to support our efforts to highlight the best builds, news, and reviews in our LEGO...

Trying to recreate fabric using LEGO bricks has always been a difficult feat for me. So many ideas have been left on the backburner because I couldn’t figure out how to work out a cape on a character build. But when it came to making a bow, as in the bundle of ribbon topping a present, I knew there had to be a better way to achieve the look without resorting to specialized pieces with a reduction in scale or simple curved slopes with no volume. Last year, I cracked the code on the bow of my dreams. But it wasn’t until this Christmas season that I was able to fully realize my vision of a perfect present. It’s helped quite a bit to have increased availability of the 2×2 inverted curved slope, plus enough time to engineer a box with a half-plate of “ribbon” running down each side. From everyone...