A viewer today asked for my thoughts about a potential LEGO fan safety issue in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.  They have a friend who is abstaining from making part orders on the popular Bricklink marketplace out of fear of contamination, and wanted to know if I felt this was an overreaction.  Below was my response:"I think everyone has a right to be as safe as they feel they need to.  There's no single right answer.  The fact is, no matter what we do, the majority of people on the planet are going to contract this illness, it's just a matter of when. Even if every country completely "flattens the curve" we're not going to exterminate this virus from existence, we're just slowing its spread so healthcare systems can keep up, while also trying our best to not transmit the darn thing to particularly vulnerable fellow humans that we or...

LEGO has revealed SPOTS, a new extension of the DOTS product line targeted at boys. The initial wave of the 2D tile-based crafting theme features armbands, expressive emoji picture holders, a flaming skull pencil pot, and the first in a series of “Extra SPOTS” emoji booster packs surrounding space exploration. Prices vary from US $4.99 to $19.99 with availability beginning later this summer. The creation of SPOTS is partially due to feedback on LEGO’s successful DOTS product line for exclusively targeting girls with bright colors, pastel packaging and glitter. The SPOTS theme again features building with 1×1 tiles (square, round, and quarter-circle tiles), but this time uses more black, white, red and blue colors along with unique prints of bugs, fire, road signs, grotesque emojis and space artifacts that more easily align with boys’ interests. LEGO states that the intent of the SPOTS line is to offer boys a creative canvas...

Most of us are at home right now, but if you are in a position to fill your time with some LEGO building, there are 19 new sets and items to choose from for April. The biggest set launching today is the new LEGO Ideas Pirates of Barracuda Bay followed by pre-orders for the Technic Fast & Furious Dodge Charger. LEGO is also offering two seasonal gifts-with-purchase, an exclusive Easter Egg with purchases more than US $50, and a smaller yellow Easter Bunny polybag with purchases more than US $30. Both gifts-with-purchase will be available through April 14th while supplies last, and yes, you can get both on a single order. This is a full list of LEGO themes with new products released today (alphabetized for your ease of use) that you can click on to go directly to that section of this article (unless you just love scrolling, then scroll...

If you think about it, the Super Mario universe is one of the only places where you want to go down the tubes. I mean, other than a water slide, where else can you find something fun at the end of a “plumbing” pipe? Perhaps this extra large (64×64 stud) pixleated pipe, built by H.Y. Leung, contains all the extra coins Mario could dream of. And don’t worry, he’s not going to be stuck in mid-air forever. This pipe contains an equally large mechanism inside to move him up and down. If you’d like to see more of H.Y. Leung’s builds, be sure to check out our previous articles highlighting them. The post Double jumps and pipe dreams appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Bre Burns

Back in January, we featured a tiny LEGO upright piano with instructions, built by Tiago Catarino. Now he brings us another mini masterpiece: a baby grand! While they’re both adorable, I have to say, this one is my favorite. He captures the shape perfectly. As he often does, Tiago has shared instructions and a video tutorial so you, too, can compose this sweet little instrument. If you’d like to try out more of Tiago’s instructions, we feature many here. Or you can check out other music-inspired masterpieces in our archives. The post How to build the baby-est of baby grand pianos [Instructions] appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Bre Burns