The Maneki-Neko, or “Beckoning Cat” is a symbol of good fortune, originally from Japan, but commonly referred to as a Chinese Lucky Cat due to its frequent appearance in shop, business, and restaurant entrances in China, and in Chinatowns across the world. With Chinese New Year approaching at the end of January, LEGO is introducing a Lucky Cat to its Brick Headz range. Read on to see what we thought when we got our paws on a set… LEGO Brick Headz 40436 Lucky Cat has 134 parts and will be available from 1st January 2020 US $9.99 | CAN $12.99 | UK £9.99 The box and contents The front of the box features the Cat on its display plinth. The box rear shows the Cat’s “play feature” — the lever which moves its beckoning arm — and offers a tease of forthcoming Brick Headz releases. The box contains 134 LEGO pieces...

Welcome to Day 22 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the four mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick 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 so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. Will we get something new for Day 22? For Day 22, we have a pile of presents from Harry Potter and a Cloud Car pilot from Star Wars. Dave: That is one significant stack of Harry Potter presents! The 26 parts create a present for each of the Hogwarts houses, plus we get two new printed tiles with a red wax seal–only previously available in the gorgeous 75958 Beauxbaton’s Carriage. (Honestly, these presents put to...

LEGO Masters has announced it’s cast of contestants for the upcoming brick building reality TV show. Many of the cast have had creations featured on The Brothers Brick previously, and we are excited to see what everyone else creates on the show. LEGO Masters premieres on Wednesday, February 5th in North America on FOX. We are especially excited to announce that one of our own contributors Flynn DeMarco and his husband have been cast on the show. Many people may recognize his Treasure of Snake Queen diorama. We are excited to hear about some behind-the-scenes details from him once the show airs. Tyler Clites is also regularly featured on The Brothers Brick for his outstanding models. The show is hosted by Will Arnett (the voice of LEGO Batman) and features teams of two competing in LEGO challenges to win a cash prize and become LEGO Masters. Throughout the competition, judges 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 third week of December 2019. TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71026 DC Super Heroes: Getting back to the comics – We brought you an in-depth review of the latest batch of collectible Minifigs from the DC comic universe.Fill it up at the LEGO 60257 Filling Station – We brought you a review of a new gas station with 2 vehicles and 4 minifigs.LEGO City 60255 Stunt Team – This stunt team set features two off-roading vehiclesLEGO Creator 3-in-1 31104 Burger Monster Truck – We reviewed one monster food truck, bringing the joys of fast-food on any terrain.LEGO Creator 3-in-1 31105 Toy Shop Town House – The latest 3-in-1 creator set features a toy store with...

There is so much to love about this digital ice breaking scene by Tong Xin Jun. The striking color choices of the Land Rover Defender and the vessel it is pulling is appealing to the eye and seems to be this builder’s signature move. The broken ice patterns are nothing short of mesmerizing in their execution, their glass-smooth tops are accurate for a windswept arctic tundra. This is achieved by lying bricks and slopes on their sides in a SNOT (Studs Not On Top) configuration. The slopes change direction only at the bow of the vessel, accurately depicting how ice chunks would react to being plowed through and the transparent bits in the boat’s wake is an excellent touch. The entire composition is indeed a work of art. The scene seems a bit precarious however. Ice chunks smaller than the Land Rover may not support its weight and, as seen from...

I felt a great disturbance in Billund, as if a handful of voices (in a boardroom) suddenly cried out in glee and were jumping with joy. Yes, you heard that right; Disney expanding the Star Wars lore can only mean that LEGO will get to cash in on more ideas for vehicles including the new space vehicle called the Razor Crest from the Disney+ hit show, The Mandalorian. An official set has yet to surface, but this build by Michał M. is enough to fill the void for now, capturing the essentials from the show’s now-iconic ship. While the two engines on the wingtips could be a bit bigger to be in-line with what’s seen in the show, it’s still an overall nice build that fits into the overall design language. The Razor Crest will still go down in Star Wars history to first feature a vac tube (aka lavatory). I...

Welcome to Day 17 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the four mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick 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 so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. What does Day 17 have in store? For Day 17, we have a Hufflepuff flag stand from Harry Potter and an escape pod from Star Wars. Dave: With this yellow and black flag stand from Hufflepuff, our four Hogwarts house banners from Harry Potter are now complete! I know I was critical of them as “filler” builds and they did get a little repetitive, but I have to be honest… they do look good together...

Bakers were the unsung wizards of medieval times — taking the base material of the fields and transforming it into sustenance by the manipulation of the energies of water and fire. If that wasn’t the advertising campaign of the Bakers’ Guilds then they were missing a trick. Marcel V.‘s LEGO mill is a great example of the Castle building style applied to something other than castles or military scenes. The subtly-textured walls are broken up by some smart wooden trim, and there’s nice parts-usage and building technique on display if you go in for a closer look. Don’t miss the book used for the little roof above the window, the stonework around the door, and the dark brown spears as edge trims. The tiled roof is good too, although it might have benefited from a smattering of some other colour. My favourite touches of detail are easily missed in a casual...

LEGO’s new Creator 3-in-1 31105 Toy Shop Town House and its predecessors remind me of a yearly recurring mini-modular theme for a younger target market. This yearly 3-in-1 tradition has always caught my eye in one way or another, simply because it’s a faint reminder of its bigger cousins the ever-popular Creator Expert Modulars, like the recently announced 10270 Bookshop, but without the hefty buy-in cost. This year we get a 554 piece Toy Shop Town House to explore. Let’s take a look at what’s in store for us. The set is expected to retail for 49.99€, and will be available in January. The box and packaging The set comes with 4 bags, an instruction booklet, two loose plates and no stickers. The build experience The build starts off with a perimeter of wall structures and a few printed tiles of LEGO boxes on the shelves. It’s a nice surprise to...

Welcome to Day 16 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the four mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick 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 so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. Will we deem Day 16 keen? For Day 16, we have a chess set from Harry Potter and a Trade Federation MTT from Star Wars. Dave: This Harry Potter Advent is making all the others look bad this year. That chess set is better than the one that comes in the ginormous 71043 Hogwarts Castle! For Star Wars, we have a MTT (Multi-Troop Transport) from The Phantom Menace. This is an ambitious vehicle to do...