In honour of Chris McCandless’ 52nd birthday earlier this week, 2019 TBB LEGO Builder of the Year Andrea Lattanzio build a stunning recreation of the “Magic Bus” from the end of McCandless’ life, as documented in the book and film Into the Wild. This creation is a fitting tribute. The landscape looks like the clearing on the rugged Stampede Trail, featuring various elements representing rocks, plants, and mushrooms. My favourites are the tree built out of brown stud shooters and the grey homemaker hairpiece as a large rock. Framed inside its wild Alaskan surroundings, is the bus itself. The design is spot on and includes clever use of a dish with a spider web pattern as old and aged headlights and a stack of 3×3 dishes as the bus’s grill. The post Go into the wild on the magic bus appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: David Guedes

LEGO mecha builders draw their inspiration from all across popular culture sources, like movies, anime, and especially video games. While mecha has very deep roots in Japanese culture, and in the writings of Jules Verne, and H.G.Wells, the 1984 BattleTech (originally Battle Droids) could be considered one of the original mecha franchise to inspire modern LEGO creators to build machines piloted by humans. And that is where Kevin Hansen turned for inspiration when building this model. Built using a variety of curved white parts, the mech is very accurate to its source material, and this is one walker you do not want stepping on your picnic. Besides cannons on each arm, there is a missile battery mounted behind the pilot’s compartment that will make it rain fire. The post A chicken walker worth clucking about appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Daniel

In spring 2010 the Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) received a commission to bring “a new residential typology” to Manhattan. They delivered 35 stories of twisty goodness in VIA 57 West. The tetrahedral shape is a pretty far cry from a typical blocky facade you might expect to see. Builder Nicolas Carlier rendered this unique shape in LEGO, and did a solid job of not being constrained by typical building styles. Long runs of plate ascend at unexpected angles, propped up by tiles and cheese wedges. The interior’s plaza makes good use of modified 1×1 round plate and 1×1 cones to fill out the greenery. Just like the real building, this model has a very different feeling when viewed from the other side. Even in LEGO form, you still get a good feel for how the residential needs of the building are being met. A beautiful building still needs...

I deeply admire those who can take a LEGO build and create a story using beautiful photography. That’s exactly what Orient R Minesky has done with this pair of adventurous school girls. The builds themselves are well done, but their interaction with non-LEGO items brings them to life. The collection includes several great shots, and we wanted to share a few of our favorites. Here they’re spending a beautiful day taking pictures in the park. This shot with the leaf is my personal favorite. There’s something poetic about the way she gently admires it. If she could think, what would be on her mind? While one is looking at leaves, the other is reading a book. The builder may have been able to get away with an actual LEGO book element, but there’s something neat about going this route. I love the way her hair floats in the breeze. They move from...

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the second week of February 2020. LEGO Ideas announces the two newly selected sets. Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details. TBB NEWS, REVIEWS & FEATURES: This week we said goodbye to the first team on LEGO Masters, learned to build a Mario Mystery Block and got a peek at the two recently approved LEGO Ideas sets. Building this Super Mario block is no mystery! [Instructions] – Want to learn how to build a LEGO version of a Mario Bros mystery cube? Look no further than this tutorial by Tiago Catarino!Leaving LEGO Masters: An interview with contestants Kara and Jessie about the first two episodes [Feature] – We sat down with LEGO Masters contestants Kara...

We get an early look at LEGO set themed under the Star Wars: The Mandalorian TV Series from an Amazon Canada listing featuring the two main characters from the show in BrickHeadz form. The set features ‘The Child’ (aka Baby Yoda) in its floating pod (hover pram) and “The Mandalorian” with his signature armour and weaponry the Amban rifle mounted on his back and a blaster in hand. The Child is built in the smaller 3×3 configuration of the BrickHeadz that we saw in the Harry Potter Hedwig design. The Child is void of any unique printed parts except the eyes which has made several appearances before while The Mandalorian has a Triangle (2×2) printed tile below the visor similar to the designs of Bounty Hunter Boba Fett BrickHeadz but with dark grey curves. The BrickHeadz set comes with 295 pieces and listed as CAN $24.99 and based on previous similar...

Ah, robots. Despite not being alive, somehow they manage to capture our hearts. Try hating WALL-E or R2-D2. Try it, I dare you. I knew you couldn’t. I suspect they’re just trying to soften us up for the impending AI overthrow of humanity, but in the meantime, it’s fun to think about helpful and friendly sentient robots. Take this one by Grant Masters; it’s inspired by the movie Elysium, and is here helping this child who broke his leg. Adorable, right? See the trust in that kid’s eyes? Any moment now the robot will rip his face off with those pincer hands and stomp on him with those grille and roller skate feet. The greebles and textures look perfect, and the contrast between the body plates in white and the technical stuff underneath in black makes for a sharp image. Almost as sharp as those pincer hands. The post The prelude...

Builder Koen Van Der Biest is a master of the brick built figure. His subjects are many and include a range of well-known video game and cartoon characters. This time he goes meta-LEGO with this collection of charming Fabuland characters. I’m a huge fan of Fabuland and these recreations are spot on from Walter Walrus’ anchor to the cat’s cute bow. The faces are nicely rendered and perfectly capture the original characters’ personalities. I, for one, would love to see LEGO bring this theme back. Maybe revamped with a collaboration with Nintendo for some future Animal Crossing sets? I would be first in line! The post Get fabulous with these brick-built Fabuland characters! appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Flynn

Did you know that some people hypothesize the name “walrus” originated from the Danish word “hvalros” meaning sea horse or cow? So naturally, walruses and Denmark-based LEGO would go hand in hand! (Or flipper in brick, I suppose.) And this lovely brick-built pinniped created by Andreas Lenander is as adorable as they come. Look at those little tusks! Speaking of tusks, part of their scientific name, Odobenus, means “tooth-walker” and refers to how they drag themselves out of the water by those giant canines. So now you know! If you would like to check out more animal builds, take a look at this lifesize-(ish) rat, an elegant buck, or a fishing grizzly bear. We’ve even featured the walrus’s vulnerable neighbor, the polar bear. The post The cutest of sea cows appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Bre Burns

LEGO Masters has aired its second episode, and the first team has been chosen to go home. The Brothers Brick had the opportunity to sit down with them and talk about their experience, what it was like to build under pressure, and what the reaction has been to appearing on the reality show. In the interview conducted jointly with BZPower and True North Bricks, the team talks about how it felt to change directions halfway into a challenge, what they would have done differently, and what advice they have for contestants on LEGO Masters Season 2. If you haven’t yet watched the episode, be warned that there will be some spoilers! If you’ve watched the episode, by now you’ll know we’re talking about the loveably quirky team of Kara and Jessie. What did you take from your experience on LEGO Masters and how will it help you move forward? Jesse: For...