It’s been a few years since we’ve posted a LEGO holiday gift guide, so we’re a bit overdue for a refresh. While the LEGO builder in your life will always appreciate more brick to add to their infinitely expanding collection, thoughtful gift-givers might want to consider these other LEGO-related options, including many under $20. Custom LEGO minifigs & custom building kits We’re big fans of Citizen Brick, Brickmania, BrickArms, and Chris McVeigh here at TBB. Each of these companies and individuals creates unique, innovative LEGO-themed products that LEGO is unlikely to ever produce themselves but that fit seamlessly with our existing LEGO collections. Case in point, LEGO will probably never make The X-Files or Breaking Bad minifigures, but our friends at Citizen Brick have produced “Eks Files” and “Lab Partners” minifigs that match the quality of official LEGO minifigs. With custom pad printing on nearly every element, CB minifigs generally run...

This isn’t the first time that Flickr user de-marco has built a really nifty LEGO garbage truck. Hopefully, this time won’t be the last time either. In the builder’s latest exploration of the genre, there’s a push towards a more avant-garde garbage truck. From the curved sides to the grab rail on the back, this type of vehicle is certainly familiar to any city dweller. What’s that you said? You want instructions for this build so you can make your own? Look no further… The post A gem of a garbage truck [Instructions] appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Matthew Kay

The final battle on the beach of Scarif as seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a delightful mix of soft sand, blue ocean waves and giant walking AT-ATs stamping palm trees and rebels. German builder speedyhead recreates a small fragment of the scene, however, with a little twist: the diorama was displayed for kids, so the builder included a number of small easter eggs for young audience members to spy. Stormtroopers faced some serious troubles while deploying at the beach – like a wild cougar or Batman on vacation inviting soldiers to have a swim. However, my favourite cameo is a giant Scarif shark, which doesn’t look happy with some Imperial forces invading its home planet! The post Any epic battle looks better on a beach, including Star Wars appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Alexander

Microscale is an interesting LEGO building style for a few reasons. It lets a builder recreate ideas they could not otherwise due to the constraints of their collection or time. It also presents a unique challenge of capturing shapes and textures with only a few pieces, which would be easier (but perhaps less rewarding?) at larger scales. With this water mill by Robert4168/Garmadon, the grass and the front face of the house have the characteristic simple microscale charm, but the house’s left wall, the hill with the cute fence, and especially the thatched roof have a texture to them that even larger scale creations would envy sometimes. The post For milling your tiny grain you need a tiny water mill appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Luka

Welcome to Day 5 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO City, LEGO Star Wars, and LEGO Friends 2017 advent calendars along with commentary from our team. If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump and posted in the evening every day, so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. Let’s take a dive into Day 5! For Day 5, we have a mini gingerbread house from City, a Resistance Officer minifigure from Star Wars, and a pink-nosed pug from Friends. Chris: A man, a pug, and a plan to get the gingerbread house he deserves. Starring Liam Neeson. Honestly though, for being made of 12 pieces, that’s a pretty clever little gingerbread house. I think if I opened my Friends calendar on...

This build of a seemingly cute warrior by John Cheng is so much more than it seems. Imagawa Yoshimoto was a feudal lord during the 16th century in Japan who was very good at not only battling but also at diplomacy and securing key alliances during his reign. His black steed and the accompanying base is quite a unique complement to the usual BrickHeadz builds that we’ve seen quite a lot of lately. Aside from being brick built, Pokémon Conquest fans may recognize him as a playable character. The post Shogun from the 16th century appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Edwinder

This past month we have seen a flurry of 2018 set announcements, including a new wave of LEGO Batman Movie sets with many more villains and Batman outfits. To add to the cavalcade of characters, LEGO has announced a second series of collectible minifigures from the movie. The 20 unique figures will hit store shelves early next year for $3.99 each. Here they are below, with our initial impressions. Mermaid Batman Starting with the new Batman variants, we see the Dark Knight has been playing a bit with Aquaman, and has sprouted a black mermaid tail, black trident and two tactfully placed seashells. Swimming Pool Batman The second and last Batman sports a dolphin friend (which will be REALLY easy to feel for), a lifeguard’s rescue tube and a speedo. From the picture, we can’t tell if his shirtless torso includes his ninth ab, but we hope so! Tropical Joker Joker...

The Battle of the Bulge was the German’s last offensive of World War II. Although it initially caught Allied forces off guard, especially in the heavily wooded Ardennes region, it proved to be a major disaster for Germany that hastened its inevitable demise. Dunedain98 has build a wintry scene from this battle that depicts American soldiers preparing to attack an StuG III Assault Gun alongside a derelict, battle-damaged home. A view closer down to the action from minifigure eye-level really shows off the atmosphere with the snow-laden trees and the offensive anticipation in the air. The post Soldiering on amongst the trees of Ardennes in 1945 appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Elspeth De Montes

When you view a LEGO model in person, you’re limited to seeing things as they appear to the naked eye. In the digital realm, especially when a healthy amount of photoshopping is involved, scale is just as ripe for manipulation and modification as anything else. With Koen‘s latest build, it’s obvious that this point is understood fully. From the castle on the left to the massive flag in the middle, the final product here is just as much the finished photo as it is the builds on their own. That’s neat. It’s worth noting that this creation was made for the LEGO Ideas logo contest that we wrote about recently. While it’s hard to say if LEGO Ideas would be open to adopting such a maximalist logo, this is certainly a stellar build. The post A spectacular avail of scale appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Matthew Kay

Welcome to Day 4 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the three mini-builds from the LEGO City, LEGO Star Wars, and LEGO Friends 2017 advent calendars along with commentary from our team. If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump and posted in the evening every day, so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. Let’s see what Day 4 has in store. For Day 4, we have a chair and lamp from City, a blaster cannon from Star Wars, and a bunny stand from Friends. Chris: Is that a bus stop for City? Or a tiny vignette of a reading room? In any case, Star Wars proves yet again that it’s got the best models (my own bias towards Star Wars notwithstanding). The legs on this model...