As the spending season kicks into high gear at the start of October, LEGO has turned out quite the interested “Gift with Purchase” to help keep us entertained. Unlike any other GWP I’ve encountered, 40596 Magic Maze is a gravity-powered ball maze seated on a 24×24 stud square. Read on to get my thoughts on quite a novel concept. 40596 Magic Maze consists of 332 pieces and is available until October 9th from LEGO stores or their website with qualifying purchases of US $150 | CAN $200 | UK £130. The box and contents This brightly-colored GWP arrives in a a pink box with standard “Gift with Purchase” iconography, such as the present in the upper right corner and the “Limited Edition” banner at the bottom. Be warned that this is only for ages 12+, so too bad all you 11-year-old maze-lovers! The back of the box shows some of the...

LEGO builder Pico van Grootveld toasts the end of SHIPtember (a month of creating spacecraft that are 100 studs or longer) with an agave-inspired hauler clad in an appropriate shade of green. Including features like a warp drive, anti-asteroid lasers, and fuel extension vats, this 139-stud starship is the preferred method for hauling limes, salt, and spirits from one side of the solar system to the other. The shaping here is beautiful, with well-crafted stabilizing fins along the sides and a technical-looking front hatch for quick loading and unloading. It’s just the thing for those late night runs to the triple sec nebula! The post The latest in interstellar LEGO tech-quila appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Kyle Keller

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the 4th week of September, 2023.TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS The big news this week would have to be our review of the latest and highly anticipated UCS Venator. Or maybe it was our coverage of this year’s holiday set, the Alpine lodge. We also covered Mario, and Dreamzzz. And be sure to check out our last Brick Report for more news and reviews. [NEWS] New LEGO sets for October 2023 now available for purchase — The first of the month means new LEGO sets, and October has a bunch.[REVIEW] LEGO Dreamzzz 71461 Fantastical Tree House — A fun treehouse with two options, chill time, or battle mode.[REVIEW] LEGO Icons 10325 Alpine Lodge – On holiday for the holidays —...

It’s almost become its own holiday for LEGO fans: the first of the month brings a new slate of sets to the shelves of LEGO stores and LEGO.com. Lines will be formed, items will go on backorder, and Christmas preparations will be made. The month of October offers plenty of new sets for the upcoming holidays and in tribute to Disney franchises old and new. Early access to some of these sets may require you to be a member of the LEGO Insider program (if you were a VIP previously, you’re now an Insider by default). LEGO Ideas 21343 Viking Village | 2,103 pieces | Available Now | US $129.99 | CAN $169.99 | UK £124.99 You can find TBB’s review of 21343 Viking Village here. LEGO Star Wars 40658 Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama | 282 pieces | Available Now | US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £25.99 75367 Venator-Class...

I love insects and spiders. Really, I do. Tops on my LEGO wishlist is the new 21342 Ideas Insect Collection but boy, does looking at insect photos make my skin crawl! I’m scratching as I type and that is a testament to how realistic this new flea creation by Mitsuru Nikaito is. “Associative itching” is a real thing and, according to the science-y types at the University of Pennsylvania, itchy associations crosses species because primates get it, too. It’s a sensation so good, I decided to pass it along to you all. Let me know in the comments if you’re feeling it too and, if you love creepy-crawlers, check out our insects archives for more skin-crawling goodness. The post Do I make you itchy? appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Lino

This time of year is exciting for a few reasons; one of which is the diversity of color that autumn brings. The other neat thing about September, (or should I say SHIPtember?) is the bevy of massive LEGO ships we get to feature here on The Brothers Brick. Take Nathan Proudlove’s HMY Seraphim, for example. Her Majesty’s Yacht, HMY Seraphim, the personal transport and diplomatic vessel for Her Imperial Majesty, Catherine De Marques, the Empress of the Holy Roman Galactic Empire is glorious in scale but apparently, Her Majesty also demands lots of color. Who am I to argue, for I am but a plebe? While I’m well aware that Nathan’s scope of influence is as vast as Her Majesty’s kingdom, in terms of color and pattern, I’m willing to bet a dollar that Nathan borrowed a little DNA from concept designer Chriss Foss for this one. Am I right? The...

Man, I really need to play the Horizon series of video games. Now that might seem like a bit of a random ramble from yours truly (hey, it’s what I do best). After all, Horizon: Forbidden West came out 18 months ago now. The reason it’s suddenly on my mind is down to this mean-looking machine that Nicola Stocchi has built from nearly 8,000 pieces. This elephant-like creature, called Tremortusk, is apparently designed “to cull the human population”. I’m glad I read that particular piece of information. Had I only heard the name I would’ve guessed Tremortusk was a Pokemon or something. Somehow, I doubt this thing will take kindly to a Pokeball being lobbed at its head. So now I know not to try that. Every day is a school day! This isn’t the first creature in Nicola’s Horizon menagerie either – have a look at some of the others....

Sometimes, good art requires patience. You may have a painting like Monet’s composed of thousands of little dots, or you might make Rubik’s cube mosaics. Or you’re Dicken Liu, and have turned a selection of LEGO bars and hinges into a beautiful black panther bust. I cannot imagine how long this must have taken to line everything up! We’ve seen similar builds in more two-dimensional mosaic form, but this is the first I can remember being a free-standing model. There’s all sorts of parts hidden within, including snakes, brooms, laser rifles, fishing rods, handlebars and more. And while I can appreciate the time this design must have taken, am I the only one who kinda wants to crush it to see how it deforms…? The post Be careful with this beautiful black panther bust appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Theo Spencer

Thanks to the Lego Ideas challenge: “Celebrate Japanese Culture” we’ve been seeing a lot of Japanese-inspired creations lately and we’re all for it. Oskar tells us this 2486-piece mosaic was built for that challenge and that eventide- 宵 (yoi) is a Kanji character symbolic of the hours of evening until midnight. It also signifies the eve of an event, particularly of festivals. In celebration of the many various flower festivals held in Japan, he chose to depict a flower motif blossoming from the warm orange glow of the setting sun – symbolizing the growing merriment on the eve of festivities. With this intention, he went with a blend of inspiration from traditional woodblock motifs and modern graphic design to offer a broader imagery of festive values both past and present in Japanese culture. I’m rather smitten by each petal; made from four triangular tiles. The post Eventide-In the hours of the...

If you’re like me, you didn’t know you’d go gaga over a LEGO pretzel spaceship flying over a character-strewn beach today, and yet here we are. Pretzels have been my lifelong favorite snack so naturally I’m glad to see that Pascal Hetzel and I are on the same wavelength. I must admit that even I didn’t expect to be cheering for Benny and his delicious spaceship today. It checks all the boxes of stuff I’d be into: beefy engines, sick exhaust pipes, tropical islands, Iron Man, The Mandalorian, Benny, sharks, Darth Vader, Batman, Santa Claus, and PRETZELS! Heck yes! What is it; my birthday? This piece begs the question; how can I love something but still not know what the heck is going on? That’s the story of my life, really. In case you haven’t yet experienced a delicious salty-good overload, here’s a close-up shot of the pretzel ship in action....