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...

The latest wave of LEGO sets includes several sets designed to work with LEGO Boost — the first sets to extend the 17101 BOOST Creative Toolbox into a true system. Not only are the LEGO City 60194 Arctic Scout Truck and LEGO Ninjago 70652 Stormbringer sets compatible with Boost, they are fusions with the robotics system. LEGO City 60194 Arctic Scout Truck has 322 pieces and 3 minifigures at $59.99 USD, while LEGO Ninjago 70652 Stormbringer has 493 pieces and 4 minifigures $39.99 USD. Both sets are available now as part of the summer 2018 wave of new LEGO sets, along with Boost released last year. The boxes, instructions, and sticker sheet Naturally, the star of this review is BOOST. But because we have already written a review of the 10171 BOOST Creative Toolbox, we’ll mostly focus on the other two and their compatibility with the BOOST system. For those individual...

The United States’ Independence Day celebration may have been last month, but this feathery model from the crafty Sergei Rahkmaninoff is a high-flying patriotic tribute any time of the year. Like some of the other Bionicle models featured on TBB recently, this big bird was built as an entry for the 2018 Bio-Cup contest being held on Flickr. We’ve featured birds of prey on TBB in the past, but you’ve never seen one with as dazzling a color scheme or innovative parts usage as this. The Hero Factory shoulder armor for the eagle’s beefy upper legs is impeccable, and the red-and-white striped wings are cleverly constructed with overlapping slopes and teeth pieces. I feel like freedom is about to claw my eyes out. The post A different breed of bird appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Ryan Wood

The first wave of LEGO Star Wars sets often appear weeks or even months before the corresponding Star Wars movie’s release, often leaving LEGO fans wondering how accurate the LEGO sets are compared with the “real” vehicles in the movie. On opening day for Solo: A Star Wars Story, we looked back at the first wave of LEGO Star Wars sets from Solo and compared them to the movie we’d just seen the night before. Now, with the release of the second wave of LEGO Star Wars Solo sets on August 1, months after the movie’s release, we’re taking a look at the LEGO sets we’ve just reviewed from another angle, focused instead on how the three latest sets work together. As we’ve noted in our reviews over the last few days, all three of the new LEGO Star Wars sets from Solo: A Star Wars Story feature vehicles and characters...

Continuing to show love for Pokémon, Mike Nieves built an adorable LEGO Eevee. Just about everything about his Eevee – the eyes, the color choices, the head tilt, and the fluffy tail – is just so darn cute. The sculpting with rounded slope bricks around Eevee’s neck is particularly lovely. If you enjoyed Mike’s Eevee, you may also like his LEGO Arcanine and Rapidash we’ve featured previously. The post Gotta build ’em all appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Nick

Creativity and art are closely related concepts, and there are few things that promote creativity as much as LEGO bricks. As a result, LEGO fan creations often turn out to be the subtlest works of art, as builders express themselves without the pressure of being serious or conveying some deeper meaning or emotion. But in other examples, like this one by Anthony Wilsonn, the main purpose of the creation is indeed to carry an artistic meaning. The creation seems to be a composition of different, seemingly unrelated pillars and statues set in a natural environment that connects them to a coherent whole. The most impressive parts are set in the centre of the image — the square “arch” and the blossoming tree growing around it. Anthony provides a bit of story to the build, but he still leaves it vague enough that the creation remains open to our interpretations. The post...