With the monster LEGO Icons 10335 The Endurance coming in with over 3,000 pieces, it’s hard to think there’s more that could be added on. And yet, LEGO still drums up some extras with a special gift-with-purchase, LEGO Icons GWP 40729 Shackleton’s Lifeboat, available from November 29th through December 2nd with the purchase of the big ship (US | CAN | UK). So let’s dig into this 232-piece GWP and see if it’s worth prioritizing a buy of LEGO Icons 10335 The Endurance over Black Friday weekend. If you miss the GWP during this window, it may be available from some 3rd party resellers like Amazon or eBay. 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. The box and contents First up, let’s have a gander at this wonderful little box....

Where did the cubes come from? How long have they been here? Was it aliens? Jordan Fridal offers no answers, only questions in a pair of builds featuring enigmatic cubes in ancient ruins. After creating his first cube, based on a design from geometric LEGO genius Zachary Steinman, Jordan was inspired to create a suitably mysterious setting to house it. Jordan’s first cube sits on Aztec-inspired ruins in a dense jungle. Normally a vehicle builder, this was Jordan’s first time playing with LEGO foliage. Jordan set the second cube amidst Greek-style ruins deep beneath the sea. The explosion of color in the surrounding reef includes some clever parts usage, with orange combs, magenta hair, and frogs in pink and gold doubling as coral. Will scientists discover a third cube, perhaps frozen the in the ice or buried in Egyptian sands? Only time will tell. For now, we can only specualte who...

Over the past five years, Stéphane Dely has been building, expanding, and iterating on a massive 100,000 LEGO brick version of Zombillenium, the undead theme park from the comic by Arthur de Pins. His latest update is this monster stage, perfect for throwing a dead man’s party. Stéphane packs loads of brick-build into the scene, with an orc banner and the goblin king’s seal adding to the spooky vibes. Lightsabers encased in transparent tubes are a great touch. The goth band are wonderfully unexpressive as they play Bauhaus covers. Just don’t ask them to play the Monster Mash. The post LEGO zombie concert stage is a graveyard smash appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Jake Forbes

The forest moon of Endor is the scene of the Star Wars equivalent of the Teddy Bear’s Picnic, where a coalition of Ewoks and Rebels (oh, and some Jedi) defeated the might of the Empire once and for all. It’s a scene that has been rendered in LEGO many times, to great effect. Abe Fortier (AKA Hypolite Bricks) has joined the fray with a superb effort! Often, these dioramas are dense with vegetation and trees; it did take place on the forest moon of Endor (not Endor itself!), after all. Abe’s isn’t quite as densely populated with plants, but that might be for the better here. It gives some space to focus on the scene’s protagonists and antagonists – and the superb landscaping. It looks like it gave the good guys a better line of sight to take down that AT-ST, too! The post Can’t see the forest for the trees...

Much as the Apollo missions took us to the moon in the 1960’s with enough technology to easily fit on today’s smartphone, Joel Short brings us back from the landing in 8 simple LEGO pieces. Utilizing the sprue of a pair of 1×1 round plates as the capsule, we see this little spacecraft propelled through a pair of LEGO Space CMF bases toward a 1×1 plate star. Let’s hope they’ve got enough fuel in that flame piece to get them back home! The post Eight pieces is all you need to escape lunar orbit appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Kyle Keller (TBB Managing Editor)

“The crunch of snow beneath my boots betrayed my presence with every step. The forest, a solemn witness to my journey, contoured the world with branches heavy under the weight of winter.” Even without those words, it’s amazing how much of a story the simple but beautiful LEGO build tells. “Prey,” by Louis Nutwood, transports you to a single moment as a solitary hunter stalks a rabbit half-hidden in the snow. Gazing at this build, the world goes still until all you can hear is the sound of your own heartbeat in your ears as you take aim. Will the shaft fly true? Or will the hunter go hungry? The post You only get one shot (to take in this scene) appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Ryan Kunz

All the Empire wanted to do on Mimban was bring peace and prosperity, install a regime loyal to the Emperor, and eradicate the hostiles. Arthur Behe takes to LEGO to show what happens when those “hostiles” fight back. Seen during Han’s brief tour with the Empire in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Mimban is a literal swamp and a figurative quagmire for the Imperial forces. Arthur’s Imperial base, with all of its sensors and greebles, imposes on the inhospitable world perched atop rocks and surrounded by sand-green sludge. I love the dynamic terrain, with a speeder bike swooshing under the gangway. Almost as impressive as the building technique is the number of Swamp Troopers Arthur managed to recruit for the diorama! The post Purging the swamp of Imperial occupiers is more than a solo job appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Jake Forbes

Fritz Lang’s silent sci-fi masterpiece Metropolis remains one of cinema’s most iconic films nearly 100 years after it first hit screens. Paolo Loro‘s LEGO tribute to the film’s classic poster should be instantly recognizable to cinephiles. A black brick skyline and shafts of golden Ninjago blade “light” capture the dramatic angles of Lang’s German Expressionist vision. C-3PO stands in for the Maschinenmensch, appropriate as the film’s robot inspired our favorite protocol droid’s design 50 years later. The post “It’s against my programming to impersonate German Expressionism” appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Jake Forbes

Being left behind on Mars and having to science your way out of certain death might sound like a terrifying fate, but I’ve always found The Martian a very cozy slice of science fiction. Nuno Taborda‘s LEGO space base isn’t based on that film, but it brings the same cozy vibes that has me daydreaming of tooting around an inhospitable planet in my little rover like Matt Damon. Nuno’s living module looks great with its round corners, orange detailing, and tasteful array of sensors and solar panels. Wouldn’t mind settling down in a base like that. But where am I supposed to grow the potatoes? The post Ace space base that fits on your bookcase appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Jake Forbes

In between competing in another Iron Builder competition and contributing to New Hashima, builder Gerrit Gottschalk (gGh0st) spent much of 2024 working on his microscale masterpiece — a model of Château de Chenonceau. The 16th-century French castle sits in the Loire Valley with its bridge and gallery crossing the river Cher. Gerrit’s model consists of about 6,600 LEGO elements and is 80 cm long. Building in the Architecture style at this scale was a new adventure for Gerrit but you wouldn’t guess it from the end results. It’s a remarkable build filled with innovative parts usage and a high level of detail that remains virtually seamless. Gerrit started with sketches, then moved to Studio in planning his ambitious model. He also looked to an earlier version from LEGO designer Aaron Newman which didn’t include the keep and is built at twice the scale, but helped Gerrit with proportions. A standout section...