A complex train build that never goes off the rails

Look, I’m not a train guy. I can barely tell a caboose from a boxcar, and yet even I am in awe of Smile Leo‘s amazing LEGO train, depicting a China Railways DF11G locomotive. The first thing to notice is the variety of angles at which the bricks and plates all fit together for the smooth, rounded angles of the train’s nose. Next, check out the intricacy of the machinery around the wheels. With another model, I might just classify it as a bunch of greebling (you know, little mechanical details that are there just to look cool rather than have any particular function), but it’s clear that every meticulously chosen element mimics an actual train part. I can almost hear the churning of pistons and the whine of wheels on rails.

LEGO Despicable Me 4 75581 Minions’ Music Party Bus [REVIEW]

If you’ve seen any of the Despicable Me movies you know that those chattery little Minions get up to all sorts of shenanigans when left unsupervised. Well, now they can do it in style with this fully loaded party bus. Did the Anti-Villain League approve of this excursion, or did someone leave the key box unlocked? LEGO Despicable Me 4 75581 Minions’ Music Party Bus includes 379 pieces and will be available on May 1st for US $39.99 | CAN $49.99 | UK £34.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Read on for our full review

This little Star Wars astromech is bursting with personality

Everyone’s favorite little droid with a huge personality is back in brick form, built in LEGO by Ron McPhatty. Ron has managed to pack an impressive amount of detail into Chopper’s diminutive stature using solid building techniques. That yellow 1×1 tile on Chopper’s chest perfectly matches the original design, and the 2×2 triangular tiles match his patchwork metal plating. Ron also models a variety of Chopper’s exposed internal components with various LEGO pins, bars, and bushes.

MOD 75379 Chopper P4

Even better, Ron has built Chopper to be in-scale with the new LEGO R2D2 set and provided Chopper with some added accessories that model his middle wheel and head arms. I’d argue that hijinks are un-a-droid-able!

MOD 75379 Chopper P3

A tiny kingdom of towering LEGO trees

A vertical kingdom of stone surrouned by towering pines overlooks a pale blue lake in Eli Willsea‘s stunning LEGO diorama titled Heart of the Kingdom. The whimsical architecture, lovely colors, and striking verticality are reminiscent of the Monument Valley games, but the details are utterly original and evocative. This build marks Eli’s return after a busy 2023 when he competed in three heats of the Iron Builder competition and is a clear reminder of why he’s a NPU (Nice Parts Usage) star. How to pick a favorite detail? The elegantly angled tooth bars serving as micro stairs? The grey roller skates adding a decorative touch to the 1×1 towers? The wands still on their sprue for the portcullis? I have to go with the grey popsicles flanking the cave beneath the castle. Even though there is nary a stud to be seen, with its right angles and clean lines, Eli’s model celebrates the aesthetic of the brick.

Heart of the Kingdom

LEGO Icons & LEGO Art sets 10341 Artemis Space Launch System and 31212 The Milky Way Galaxy unveiled for summer 2024 [NEWS]

For years, LEGO has offered a wealth of options to delight space enthusiasts. This year has seen a resurgence in space-themed LEGO sets, and today, LEGO introduces two new additions in this vein: The 10341 Artemis Space Launch System, joining the LEGO Icons collection, and the 31212 The Milky Way Galaxy, expanding the LEGO Art line of products. These sets will be available on LEGO’s website on May 15th for LEGO Insiders (May 18th for everyone else).

Read all about these two new sets below

LEGO Despicable Me 4 75580 Minions and Banana Car [REVIEW]

Minions and bananas go together like peanut butter and jelly, like coffee and doughnuts. So it can be no surprise that the latest wave of sets from the Despicable Me franchise includes this obvious combination. This banana car set comes with four minions and a bunch of accessories, basically a Minions battle pack. LEGO Despicable Me 4 75580 Minions and Banana Car includes 136 pieces and will be available on May 1st for US $24.99 | CAN $32.99 | UK £19.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Read on for our full review

Mario Kart Inspired build: Exploring Cecilie Fritzvold’s LEGO Creations

Crafted by LEGO builder Cecilie Fritzvold, the ‘Baby Mario Kart’ build stands as a testament to imaginative construction and clever design. Inspired by the beloved video game franchise, this creation showcases remarkable attention to detail and inventive techniques. One striking feature of this build is its unconventional base construction. Rather than being built upright, the entire scene is cleverly crafted on its side, adding a dynamic element to the display. Each kart within the scene is meticulously designed, employing unique building techniques to convey a sense of action and motion, even when at rest. The ‘Baby Mario Kart’ build is a testament to Fritzvold’s creative prowess and technical skill within the realm of LEGO construction. With each new creation, she continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible with these iconic bricks, leaving fans eagerly anticipating her next innovative masterpiece. Have a look at some of her creations in the Cecilie Fritzvold archives.

Baby Mario Kart

This Bavarian beauty goes full steam ahead

Should you find yourself in the 1920s and need to get from Munich to Nuremberg in record time, then you’ll want an express ticket to ride behind the Bavarian S3/6. This majestic steam locomotive is meticulously recreated in LEGO by Bricks_n_Trucks. At 10 studs wide, the engine is comparable in scale to the Hogwarts Express Collector’s Edition, but unlike LEGO’s largest steam engine model, this train is fully motorized with a BuWizz engine (see the video below the fold!). The version you see here is an update to the builder’s first iteration, and spotting the differences highlights how much thought went into the smallest details.

Bavarian S3-6 (BR18.4)_(Update)

But what’s a Bavarian steam engine without luxurious cars to pull?

Click to see the train cars and video!

Begun, the Clone War has—and it’s lookin’ good

Like a regular guy who dutifully appears at family reunions only to get shown up by his neurosurgeon cousin, the Acclamator-class assault ship tends to get overshadowed by its more famous descendants. But this humble Acclamator (by FlyInSpace) looks amazing enough in LEGO to have us forgetting about mighty Star Destroyers for a few parsecs. Executed with nary a stud in sight, it uses SNOT bricks to simulate the smooth-yet-textured hull plating to great effect.

Acclamator • Main View

Here’s an aft view. That dark bluish-gray greebling is just superb.

Acclamator • Rear View

But wait! There’s more!

How do the clone troopers board? We’ve got you covered.

LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion [REVIEW]

The Despicable Me franchise, which includes 3 movies and a fourth coming out this July, as well as 2 spin-off films focusing on the yellow banana-loving minions, has been hugely successful, with each film landing in the top 5 grossing films for the year they came out. Hence, it’s no surprise to see another batch of LEGO sets as part of the summer wave. The first set we’re covering is LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru’s Family Mansion, which includes 868 pieces, comes with 9 characters, and will be available on May 1st for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Find out if the set is as much fun as a banana

LEGO Despicable Me 4 75582 Brick-Built Gru and Minions [REVIEW]

Recently there have been several LEGO sets building characters outside of the usual minifigure scale, like the buildable LEGO Star Wars 75371 Chewbacca and LEGO Super Mario 71411 The Mighty Bowser. These sets straddle the line between play sets and display scenes, offering options for collectors similar to the BrickHeadz theme, and sub-themes like the Star Wars helmets and starship collections. One such set is from the Despicable Me 4 wave, a brick-built Gru surrounded by 5 minions on a rotating base. LEGO Despicable Me 4 75582 Brick-Built Gru & Minions comes with 839 pieces and will be available on May 1st for US $54.99 | CAN $69.99 | UK £49.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Find out if this display set is worth picking up

A beautiful build of a terrible fate

History repeats across The Legend of Zelda games like a flat circle. In the groundbreaking entry Majora’s Mask, looping time becomes the key to saving the world when a cursed mask draws the moon down on a collision course with Hyrule. Majora’s Mask itself, brilliantly recreated in LEGO by Dylan Mievis, is a terrifying relic. With its bright colors and heart shape, who would guess the mask contains such evil? (Actually, the eyes are a tell — they’re super creepy!) The front of the mask shines with a mix of curved tiles, accented by carefully looped white strings. I’m in awe of the perfect stud-free curve that wraps from brow to chin (if I had to guess, each segment is clipped to a hidden hose? I’d love to get a peek behind the mask). The colorful spikes are the creepy icing on the cake. You don’t have to be a fan of the games to appreciate the craftsmanship on display in Dylan’s model.

Majora's Mask

Dylan is no stranger to video game LEGO builds. We’ve featued his delightful Deoxys from Pokémon and spectacular Shovel Knight, but he’s also tackled Hollow Knight, Minecraft, and Nier: Automata, among others. Game on, Dylan. Game on!