Since its premiere in 1993, Tim Burton’s Disney animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick (who went on to direct other stop-motion classics such as James and the Giant Peach and Coraline), has been a favorite holiday tradition for families and children-at-heart worldwide. LEGO fans have been eager for an official set and had their appetites whetted somewhat by the release of collectible minifigures for Jack and Sally as part of the second Disney CMF series. The LEGO Ideas platform has had several projects inspired by the film submitted over the years but they have never been approved to become official sets… until now. LEGO Ideas 21351 Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas comes with 2,193 pieces and will be available starting on September 3rd for LEGO insiders and September 6th for everyone else for US $199.99 | CAN $TBD | UK £189.99. The LEGO Group provided...

LEGO builder Beat Felber is well known for his enormous models of industrial vehicles (exhibit A: our Beat Felber archives). But he’s ringing the changes with his latest model! It’s smaller than his usual fare, of military rather than industrial nature, and more at home in the air than on the ground. The only thing that hasn’t changed is the flawless attention to detail. This plane – and its loadout – is based on a real Dassault Mirage, on display in Beat’s native Switzerland. With the help of some custom decals, it compares very favourably! It wouldn’t be a Beat Felber model without a bit of functionality as well: on here, the landing gear retracts into the undercarriage. You can see what it looks like in flight on this very smart display stand! The post A detailed LEGO plane that’s no mirage... Or is it? appeared first on The Brothers Brick....

Grab your friendship bracelets, Swifties, because the queen herself has arrived. Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has stunned audiences across the world, and now it makes a stunning LEGO diorama, too. The biggest challenge, says artist Paul Hetherington (aka “brickbaron”), was coming up with a design that could represent the entire tour in a single scene. So he focused on the Lover House, a symbol of Taylor’s extensive career and body of work. Panning down from the giant representations of Taylor on screen (each of a gorgeous work of art in its own right), here’s a better look at the pop star herself, represented with style by a custom minifig. The rooms of the Lover House are chock full of detail, with nary a blank space to be seen. We’ll start with the room representing Red, the iconic breakup album, complete with the burgundy armchairs from her music video. The ribbed 1×2...

Originally introduced in the Phantom Menace, the Multi-Troop Transport (MTT) has seen several LEGO iterations in official Star Wars sets. But none of them have shown the vehicle in the blue-and-grey CIS livery seen in the Clone Wars animated series. The Minikit Guy has also previously built an MTT in Trade Federation brown – but they have updated it to its Separatist colours! And what a model it is, made up of either 10,000 or 11,000 pieces. Hang on – 10 or 11 thousand? Why the difference? The different part counts come from the model’s flagship play feature: the famous retractable droid racks! If you’ve only seen the saga films, you’ll be familiar with the MTT’s role as a Battle Droid carrier… …But since that film, the Separatists had developed Super Battle Droids, and so this transport must be made capable of carrying these too! You can see a bit more...

After weeks without elevenses or second breakfasts, with naught but Ent-draughts to sustain them, you can feel the joy when Merry and Pippen discover Saruman’s private food stash. MorlornEmpire (secondary account of Eli Willsea, aka ForlornEmpire) recreates the scene in a delicious LEGO vignette. The builder is no stranger to Lord of the Rings vignettes, and again he showcases his eye for screen detail with dynamic composition at miniature scale. The lattice roof is my favorite feature, providing a nice contrast from the color and textures on the stone walls. Look carefully and you’ll see that the floor is flooded, but not so high as to ruin those barrels of Old Toby. The scene was created for the Middle Earth LEGO Olympics 2024 for a final round duel against Isaiah Kepner, who ended up winning the competition with his tribute to Rohan’s Golden Hall feast. The post Meat and more are...

The Botanical Collection has been a great source of Nice Parts Use (NPU) by the standards of LEGO sets, and it’s inspired builders to find their own clever uses for unusual parts. The latest to dig around in their parts bin is Jaroslaw Walter. The result is not one, but two flowering plants, presented in a nice little pond. The lilypad plants make use of some minifigure headwear: a crown in the middle, and the Collectible Minifigure series 21 ladybug figure headdress. There’s another headpiece in the bigger plant too: Ahsoka’s montrals sit at the centre. But what really catches the eye are the pterodactyl wings used as leaves! It borrows some of the floral tech from 10280 Flower Bouquet. The post Heading off some flowery NPU appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Theo Spencer

The last time I rapped at y’all an interesting thing happened. Whether it be diverse representation in the Friends line, or the minifigures that come in LEGO Star Wars Microfighters sets, folks online sure have opinions about it. The consensus of said opinions on my last post, at least the ones that chose to share them anyway, was that they didn’t like me or the accompanying AI-generated image of me chitchatting and being as cool as a cucumber. As for not liking me, we did our own scientific research on the matter. We polled nearly a dozen people, and asked whether they’d prefer to encounter me in the forest or some rando dude from the internet. They unanimously chose me! However, I’m willing to acknowledge that our research may be biased because nearly a dozen people were all I could survey in the TBB hot tub last night. As for not...

While these days Nintendo’s F-Zero might be best known as providing a stage and combatant in Smash Bros, the franchise was once among the crown jewels of Nintendo platforms. Each game pushed the hardware limits of its generation to create a thrilling sense of speed, and the colorful hovercrafts and their alien racers added a layer of story and lore never before seen in a racing game. Nintendo super-fan Clément pays tribute to the intergalactic grand prix with a LEGO starting gate and three racers: the Wild Goose, Golden Fox, and Sonic Phantom. Clément nails the chunky aesthetics of the N64 era, when the franchise went 3D, witch each vehicle’s colors and silhouette instantly recognizable. If Clément’s take on Nintendo’s space racers has you feeling the need for speed, consider revisiting the Brothers Brick speeder circuit for other zippy hover vehicles. The post Start your plasma engines, the LEGO F-Zero GP is about...

When wandering through a LEGO landscape strewn with ruins, you would be advised to watch your step. Just ask Gus. who, as the cereator of this scene, probably has a good idea where it is safe to step to avoid the deep swamp water among the mushrooms. The whole scene is elevated, allowing fern fronds to barely emerge from the surface. With so many kinds of mushrooms you probably should also check your pocket guide to make sure you pick the right ones for your stew. The post A LEGO swamp full of stange mushrooms may hide a secret or two appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Daniel

Prolific builder Eero Okkonen is the Geppetto of the LEGO community, crafting detailed characters with such personality that they seem ready to come alive. His latest model of a blue fairy isn’t inspired by Pinocchio, however, but by a fairy tale from Eero’s native Finland, Pessi and Illusia. Eero employs his usual panache for NPU (nice parts usage), with the highlight perhaps the Queen’s Dragon heads used as Illusia’s skirt. As lovely as the fairy is, it’s Pessi the adorable toad who steals the show here, with those perfect saucer eyes and sporting a wonderful wicker basket of interwoven flex tubes. The scene is rounded out by delectable cloudberries on stems that incorporate foam leaves, appropriately enough, from the Belville Flower Fairy Party. The post Fairy and toad are friends appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Jake Forbes