Many times in the LEGO community, you see alternate builds of huge sets that abandon the official instructions to create something else amazing with the same parts. The large sizes provide a lot of opportunities for getting creative. Instructions even used to suggest alternate builds. Further, you can do even more when you add your own additional pieces like our mods to the A-Frame Cabin and Little Mermaid Clamshell. But what if you are limited to only what came in the set? And what if that set is small? Two BrickNerd contributors volunteered to find out. LEGO provided 40647 Lotus Flowers and 40643 Jade Rabbit for them to play around with and these are the results. Are small sets able to have alternate builds? I’ll turn it over to Sam and Sean to answer that question. Lotus Flowers - Samuel Pister (aka Pistash) When the BrickNerd team was challenged to do...

Please enjoy this LEGO-ized miniature Manny and super-small Sid from the Ice Age franchise, brought to you by Oliver Becker. His microscale scene depicts our two protagonists as they venture out at the end of the titular era. We even see Scrat in the foreground trying to hide his 1×1 round plate in the ice. The miniature scenery is quite nice, but the character builds are the real stars of the show. The tread links for Scrat’s arms and legs are brilliant, showing such ingenuity at this tiny scale. And the brickwork to emulate Sid’s triangular face is astounding! But of course, Manny has to put the “woolly” in woolly mammoth with the use of a minifig hair piece as his head. Much like with the movies, here’s hoping we get a sequel! The post A little LEGO “big thaw” from the Ice Age movies appeared first on The Brothers Brick....

The Brothers Brick alumni Nannan Zhang has a knack for creating innovative and breathtaking worlds in LEGO. His specialty seems to be mixing manmade devices with biological elements and this stunning The Last Wisteria is no exception. Let me rephrase that; it’s quite exceptional. His grasp for integrating shapes and colors demonstrates the abilities of a true artist. The tree’s roots intermingled among cold hexagonal tiles are truly awe-inspiring. Even the wisteria’s leaves have a neat order to them. As capable as I like to think I am, even my own words don’t do this piece justice so instead, we’ll let Nannan use his; Among rapid cybernetic hybridization, a thing of beauty flourishes above the metallic earth.. A thing of beauty, indeed. Check out our Nannan Zhang archives to see why sometimes we’re lost for words but we still try anyway. The post Behold The Last Wisteria appeared first on The...

This new LEGO creation by Sandro Quattrini and we’re all pretty thrilled, by golly. I’m loving the intricate details, the ape-like stance, and the fact that this thing resembles a walking airplane. I seriously want to live in this world for a little while. It turns out that you can as this is based on the work of famed concept artist Emerson Tung and his A6M-S Koumuri Jethead art . This isn’t the first time we’ve been impressed by Sandro’s work, in fact, he was named The Brothers Brick Builder of the Year in 2022. Nor is this the first time he has been inspired by Emerson’s work. Check out our Sandro Quattrini archives to see what I mean. This may be the most interesting thing I’ve seen all day and I’ve Googled potatoes and jelly. The post When Dieselpunk art imitates Dieselpunk art appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original...

Following massive hits of 10497 Galaxy Explorer and 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle, this summer LEGO revives yet another classic, spoiling fans with the new 10320 Eldorado Fortress set. A 2,509-piece diorama, fusing two iconic Pirates set together, will go on sale on July 4th (for LEGO VIP members) / July 7th for everyone else for US $214.99 | CAN $279.99 | UK £189.99. The new set brings the classic fort in the new, reworked design, along with tow boats: a larger ship with sails made of fabric, and a small boat. Eldorado Fortress is based on the old version of the fort, set 6276, which was released back in 1989. While the original model consisted of a little bit over 500 pieces, the new products is a massive 2,500 build. Though, the scale and the size of the structures is pretty much the same. It’s easy to notice that the original...