Many incredible AFOL-designed sets have come out of the Bricklink Designer Program, especially for fans of Castle, history, and trains.  But even after 9 cycles of submissions and fan voting, there’s one popular LEGO category that hasn’t been represented – Space! Will series 10 break the streak? Perhaps the Graviton Nomad by VangelisBricks is the sleek spaceship that can introduce modern spaceship design to a bigger audience. Built from 1894 pieces, Vangelis’ ship is a sophisticated departure from the Spaceships found in official LEGO sets, while feeling right at home alongside the best Starships featured on this site and popular online. The dynamic mix of angles and curves, clear blocking, subtle asymmetry, and bold colors evoke the amazing creations of builders like Blake Foster and Nick Trotta. Shipbuilding aside, one thing I appreciate about Vangelis’ submission is the strong narrative that accompanies the build. This isn’t just a generic spaceship or nostalgia...

The LEGO Ideas program, which lets fan ideas become official sets, features a pretty even split between licensed brands like Gremlins and Twilight and non-IP subjects, often drawing on nature. Today, we’re taking a look at one of those nature sets – LEGO Ideas 21366 Floating Sea Otters. The set underwent pretty major changes since the fan concept earned its 10k votes, even picking up a bonus baby otter in the process! How does the final model stack up? Today we’re joined by guest reviewer Sakiya Watanabe (n.a.b.e_mocs) for a deep dive on the set. Sakiya’s lifelike creature mocs made him one of our favorite builders of last year, so it’s quite a treat that the builder also created his own Sea Otter moc to accompany the official set, which you can see at the end of the review. Now let’s crack open some clams and get to the review! The LEGO...

The “final eight” of the Iron Forge tournament has been full of exciting up-and-coming LEGO builders, but the last spotlighted builder needs no introduction. Grant Davis may be an Iron Forge novice, but he’s a two-time Iron Builder champion, earning the title in 2017 and defending it in 2020. Grant also co-designed the LEGO Ideas Pop-up Book and is one of the most popular LEGO video creators around with a focus on kinetic builds. Talk about pedigree! So this is a builder that’s really left their mark on the competition – and I’m not just talking about this footprint. We’ve seen a lot of body parts re-created using the engine intake that forms the third round’s seed part. But of all of them, the nose on this Moai might be my favourite use! I don’t know how seed parts are chosen for these contests, but I bet one of the criteria is...

If you’re lucky enough to have visited a LEGO fan event in person, you’ve no doubt encountered large-scale builds of such scale and complexity that you can lose time exploring every detail. Sometimes, these large builds are collaborative works from many builders, but sometimes they represent a singular vision. Australian builder Eve Sellars attended her first LEGO event just a few years ago and quickly got the bug. Within a year, she had created her first display. Last year, she made her Brickvention debut with a much larger display. This January, she returned with her most ambitious project yet – Steampink Tower. After the blockbuster debut, we sat down with Eve to talk about the project and her LEGO journey. TBB: Congratulations on your second year displaying at Brickvention, and thank you for taking the time to chat with us about your creation, Steampink Tower. Before we get to this year’s...

Expert character builder Loke (byggi_l) is back with another stunning creation, this time the Jedi Grand Master himself. Based on his appearance in The Clone Wars, Loke has managed to use his face-shaping skills to wonderfully capture animated Yoda’s proportions. The nose/mouth combo is the highlight for me, as it neatly combines two round mushroom head pieces in opposite orientations. The plant parts used for his hands and feet are the perfect shade of green as Master Yoda looks ready to take on Darth Bane himself. The post Begun, The Clone Wars have appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Jarrett Gercken

The line between High Gothic architecture and Star Wars greebling can be razor thin, as evidenced by this incredible tower from devoureroflego. Working entirely in dark grey, the structure is rich with detail, like the most ornate cathedral, where a close examination of any portion reveals myriad amazing connections and clever parts usage. Once you’ve soaked in the full model, let’s zoom in. Let’s start with the lower section. Chain links are held in place by antennae and serve as microscale railings. Minfig hands and arms, as well as hot dogs, create filigree patterns along the bottom of hte tower. While definitely not “legal” in an official set, I really enjoy the downward spires made from blades gently angled into points an dcapped off with technic pins. Now we move on to the midsection. The ever-popular roller skate adds texture to these smaller spires, circled by syringes. With so many unexpected...

Bricks & Fables is a new online community focused on the intersection of LEGO and D&D, started by some familiar faces from our Minifig Monday features. To celebrate the GOAT of the latest Collectible Minifig wave, who isn’t a goat at all, but a frog, the group rallied a party of adventurers to make amphibious adventurers using the new frog costume headpiece. In the D&D universe of Forgotten Realms, they’re called Bullwugs, and they’re so cute we would kiss them, if that wouldn’t risk turning them into boring human princes. amorphousbricks introduces Ribberos, the Bullywug wizard. The toothy head under the transforms the cute costume into something sinister. Using carrot tops for toes is a brilliant way to add details to the slimy character, and we love the mix of green decorative elements. sword.bricks tells us that from a single, sun-warmed frog spawn pond on the edge of a moss-choked ruin...

LEGO building is an art form, and PartParakeet reminds us why with a build that would be equally in its element in a modern art museum sculpture as on a LEGO blog. Real art prompts thought and introspection, and this build does just that. There’s a good chance you were in a similar scrolling position when you came upon this post (I was), captured here with Insectoids legs sprawled out on the floor. While scrolling through incredible LEGO builds is one of the many benefits of technology, not everything we’re exposed to online elicits a positive response. It’s become far too easy to get sucked into a cycle of doomscrolling through endless negativity and injustice. As with any piece of art, what you take from it is what matters. I’m taking it as a reminder to put down the phone more often. The results of too much consumption often leave us...

The Trojan Horse is one of the most famous stratagems in history. A wooden horse, seemingly a work of art, is left as a gift at the gates of the enemy city. They bring it inside, and under the cover of night, a team of soldiers exits to siege the city by surprise. Isaiah Durand pays tribute to this sneak attack with this build that makes surprising use of a few unexpected elements. Obviously we appreciate how the use of crates and barrels give the horses leg the feeling of real woodwork. But the Technic half-pins acting as the styled horse mane was what really caught us off-guard. The post A clever build of a brilliant deception appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Norm Harper

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and Daniel Olvera is celebrating with this amazing rendition of Benny the Bull from…I’m sorry, I’m being told the Chicago Bulls didn’t make it to the Super Bowl this year. Wait, you’re telling me the Chicago Bulls don’t even play football? Okay, I’ll confess. I don’t know sports. But I know LEGO, and the work that’s gone into Benny here is championship level. From the natural pose to the brick-built jersey number, this bull is the GOAT. The post Three cheers for this amazing mascot appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Norm Harper