Worthy or not, you definitely should gaze upon Andrew Steele‘s Talos (and guards), because they are amazing creations. The builder doesn’t provide much explanation as to who they are — besides, perhaps, the character from Greek mythology — but we can imagine Talos being an evil overlord, judging by his skull-decorated throne. The figures are impressive on their own, but setting them in a bit of scenery, even if minimalistic, brings the build to the next level. The figures already look great at first glance, but they are much larger and hiding more details than they seem to at first glance. This is especially impressive in Bionicle builds, as specialized parts and ball joints do not lend themselves as readily to drastically larger creations. The builder did not shy away from specialized figure-building parts though. As you can see, shin guards are used as Talos’ shoulder pads and the crown front, and...

Contests can be excellent sources of inspiration. That may be the case for Kingmarshy, who is competing in the 2018 Bio-Cup. The tournament is centered around Technic and Constraction creations, and this entry was submitted for the 3rd round. The round is themed “The Future” and this is subthemed under “Utopia”. There’s a lot of really great parts usage in this fun little build. The ribbed hose for the skirt is one example, and the Throwbot Technic gearbox pieces are also a great addition. My personal favorite part is the design of “GD-801” the robo-dog. The harpoon gun tail and retro wheels for shoulders really give him the perfect sci-fi look. The post A futuristic female explorer and her faithful dog-bot appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Bre Burns

This microscale model by Koen is of Agrabah, the fictional city from the Disney animated film Aladdin, and serves as the perfect bird’s eye view to the minifigure-scale scene we highlighted earlier today. The numerous tower tops using a variety of pearl gold domes and curved elements are well designed, and the inkwell part ties them all together nicely. One of my favorite missable details is the use of 2×2 macaroni tiles facing each other to create those lovely dark pink and teal stripes in the three larger towers. It also takes some clever brickwork to pair eight of the pearl gold 3×3 quarter domes together into a solid sphere. And if you liked this microscale Agrabah, be sure to check out Peter Ilmrud’s minifig-scale Agrabah we featured earlier today! The post Microscale Agrabah from Disney’s Aladdin appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Daniel

Early this morning, Leicester Square witnessed the biggest gathering of Harry Potter fans since the final film premier was held there in 2011. Fans of LEGO and J. K. Rowling’s famous wizard were out in force, excitedly queuing outside the store, some camping out overnight for the highly anticipated 71043 Hogwarts Castle set, which is now available. At over 6,000 pieces, 71043 Hogwarts Castle is the second-largest LEGO set released by the company to date. Packed full of amazing architectural detail and showcasing almost every important scene from the series, it certainly lives up to its billing. Earlier today we posted a full review of the Hogwarts Castle LEGO set that covers every nook and cranny of the impressive build. Inside the store, a magical makeover had been undertaken, with a life-sized sorting hat installed. It was time for us all to find out which house we would be sorted into....

“Welcome to Agrabah. City of Mystery, of Enchantment, and the finest merchandise this side of the River Jordan…” This cool little LEGO Disney diorama by Peter Ilmrud captures both the exotic atmosphere of Aladdin’s hometown, and a real sense of action and excitement with characters leaping around the rooftops and the magic carpet soaring above. With multiple minifigures crammed into its tight circular footprint, the model has some nice detail in the framing walls. I particularly like the use of panel pieces to provide architectural texture to the top of the buildings. The only slightly jarring note for me is the mixing of regular minifigs with Friends-style mini-dolls — a form of LEGO heresy in some parts — but the overall scene is so nice we’ll let it slide. The post When did you last let your heart take flight? appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Rod

At 6,020 pieces, the new microscale 71043 Hogwarts Castle is the LEGO set with the second-highest part count ever, exceeded only by last year’s 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon at 7,541 pieces. This massive Hogwarts is part of the new wave of LEGO Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts sets, including the minifig-scale 75954 Hogwarts Great Hall. In what is sure also to be one of our longest LEGO set reviews ever, we’re immersing ourselves in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World as we take a close look at this massive set, which retails for $399.99 and will be available on September 1st (August 15 for LEGO VIP Program members). Packaging, instructions, and sticker sheets The Ultimate Collector Series branding and packaging is usually limited to LEGO Star Wars sets, and packaging for very large LEGO sets still varies widely across themes, with LEGO Technic sets like the Bugatti Chiron featuring premium packaging and the spiral-bound...

For years LEGO Harry Potter fans have been asking for a complete model of Hogwarts Castle. LEGO has made more than 20 sets depicting various parts of the wizarding school, some with just a few rooms or a bit of wall, and some with large parts of the structure. Some were excellent, and some were not. Now LEGO has finally created the whole castle in a single set, using a massive 6,020 pieces to sculpt 71043 Hogwarts Castle in microscale, including 27 microfigures and 4 minifigures. The set is available beginning today for LEGO VIP members (signing up is free), and will be available to everyone beginning Sept. 1. It retails for $399.99 USD. Wondering if you should spend your hard-earned cash on a set this big? Check out our hands-on review of 71043 Hogwarts Castle, or see more of the official photos in our announcement article. You can help support The...

It does not take an exceptional amount of imagination to see a landing module in a stereotypical bacteriophage, the type of virus that infects bacteria. So I am surprised that the latest creation from Dwalin Forkbeard is the first time I have seen the aforementioned virus used as inspiration for a LEGO spaceship, especially given how crazy some builders can get with their spaceship designs. Sometimes it takes someone with an outside perspective on the theme to come up with the most out-of-the-box idea. And, as might be expected from a builder with a name taken from The Hobbit, they have so far mostly focused on medieval and fantasy creations, quite often centered about dwarves, as, again, you might imagine. The spacecraft features the main parts of a bacteriophage, but giving a mechanical twist to them: the head, which has the angular appearance we are used to from phage models; the...

Everything appears chill and cozy in Heikki M’s LEGO scene of an attic apartment room. The attic implied with the sloped ceiling and the brick wall in the back of the room are top notch techniques in a scene full of fantastic detail to take in. I also appreciate the use of textured bricks in the rug. Is it suggesting a raised texture, or someone who walked through? You decide, but it’s great either way. The post Take it easy for a little while appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Nick

Nobody wants to be pulled over by the authorities, even if there is nothing to worry about. Now imagine them looking like a mix between the Matrix sentinels and the Xenomorph from Alien. Leonid An imagines this eerie and mysterious floating thing without much description, except to indicate that it seems to be investigating something. The repetitive use of robot arms with horn pieces attached is a popular technique for organic (and spooky) textures and Leonid has used it to great effect here. With that, the pink highlights, a wheel piece and some Bionicle pieces, the build is actually quite simple in overall design, but I can’t imagine any addition that would make it better in what it is. Another great thing about it is that the builder has digitally edited out the bricks suspending the creation in the air, so we do not have to suspend our disbelief. The post...