Did you see the LEGO LC-130 Hercules we sent to Antartica at the end of last year? Did you want your own rocket-powered ski-plane? Over the last couple of months, TBB’s own Ralph Savelsberg worked with Dan Siskind and his team at Brickmania to turn Ralph’s model of this iconic aircraft into a custom LEGO kit you can buy. Ralph is awesome, Brickmania is awesome, science is awesome, airplanes are awesome — we couldn’t be happier that one of our team’s designs is being turned into a Brickmania kit! Learn more about this unique LEGO kitTell all your friends! Major Motoko Kusanagi is a cybernetic human employed in law-enforcement in the Japanese manga, anime, and forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster, Ghost in the Shell — 50% cyborg-intelligence, 50% human, 100% LEGO. Builder Grant Masters uses an old Belville figure with coat of paint to show how the protagonist hooks up to a network of systems. The twisted tubing provides a suitably cyberpunk backdrop to the scene, and it’s all enhanced with some nice uplighting.
Sometimes all you need to relax is to contemplate a beautifully-built LEGO model. This wonderful bonsai by ZiO Chao deserves your attention — chill out and soak up the serenity. The gnarled and twisted tree itself is nicely-done — with an interesting technique of inserting flower stalks into larger leaf pieces — but it’s the little rock and the display stands which elevate this into brick-built art. I want one of these for my house. We recently had the chance to sit down with Johan Alexanderson (LegoJalex) to discuss his building style and approach to the hobby. A part-time web developer, as well as a free-lance illustrator and comic book artist, Johan is 35 years old and lives in Sweden. Come with us as we explore the mind of a builder! TBB: So how did you get into LEGO building? LegoJalex: I started building about 5 years ago, after a “dark age” of about 15 years. I had a stressful time then and I really needed something to relax with, so naturally I started to build again.
Building with LEGO has so many great memories for me and I really like the creativity involved. I think there are similarities with my interest in drawing and illustrating, where in both you have to think in a creative and artistic way. Curved silver elements lend a nice retro chopper feel to George Panteleon‘s hoverbike, but it’s the smart use of sand green pieces to depict a post-apocalyptic sewer which grabs the eye. The tentacle tip makes for a perfect outpouring of skanky muck, and the soccer pitch part creates a great impression of a thick gloopy liquid in motion. I love when builders pay as much attention to the surrounding scenery as to the central model in a scene — it makes all the difference between a decent image, and a standout one. Immersing a LEGO model in a real-world scene is quite a feat. Did Chris Madison really make a mouse hole in his wall skirting? Of course, a closer look reveals it’s all built with bricks. A brilliant set-up, and the perfect use of the piece LEGO fans dub the “cheese slope”!
Just looking at Jared Chan’s latest build makes me hungry and craving for something ever-so-sweet. I spy with my little eye a tuna sandwich, cheese bites, chocolate mousse cake, and fruit tarts. The set-up of this afternoon spread is even more pleasing with the addition of some very cleverly constructed cups of tea. I’ll let you enjoy staring at all this while I’m off making my High Tea reservations! It is said that you can give anyone a canvas and a brush but only an artist can make it come alive. Same goes for LEGO bricks; you can take a bunch of bricks and put them together, but it takes true creativity to bring those bricks to life. Master artist Chris Maddison does it ever so elegantly and skillfully with only a single color, re-creating man’s first footstep on the moon. It’s so iconic and recognisable that it doesn’t even really need any introduction. It’s really a lesson and inspiration for builders in capturing the simple essence of the subject. In every aspect of the partnership between the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder, it’s always Batman who has stolen the limelight.
I’ve even felt that the recent LEGO Batman Movie reinforces this pattern, one that spans the entire 76 year franchise. Robin warrants a bit more visibility of his own, and these LEGO builds are the exactly what’s been long overdue. Elvis Lawrey builds not 1 but 6 vehicles that are well deserved by Robin, all in a predictable but appropriate red and black color scheme. My favourite has got to be the menacing tank. Hop over to Elvis’ Flickr album and salivate over the details behind each build! Click to see the vehicles The Brothers Brick publishes so many stories that we’re giving you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our Weekly Brick Report for the last week of February. TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: The week was light on news, but after such frantic last week, we don’t mind. We still have some reviews, an interview and a guest post for your reading pleasure. 2017 Toy Fair New York roundup and inside look at LEGO’s booth – TBB’s own Chris Malloy reflects on the New York Toy Fair and shares some hands-on insight on what’s to come.
First look at LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 17 at Toy Fair – Get your first look at the box for the next series of Collectible Minifigures (CMF) from the New York Toy Fair. Review of LEGO Technic 42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure – This 603-piece BMW beauty is the first licensed Technic motorcycle ever released and is a bargain. Review of LEGO Speed Champions 2016 Ford GT & 1966 Ford GT40 – These are truly stellar cars, with a new part and a great selection of other parts at a low price-per-parts ratio. Interview with builder Anu Pehrson about Architecture and Al Pacino – We talk with Anu about her beautiful architectural builds and getting involved in the LEGO community. LEGO on display at Emerald City Comicon 2017 in Seattle next week – Come see TBB’s display and many more pop culture-themed creations at Emerald City Comicon. LEGO 3.18 mm connection analysis by New Elementary – Here’s an in-depth article about unique 3.18 mm connections from Tim Johnson originally appeared at New Elementary.
Amazon sales on Ninjago’s Temple of Airjitzu, Star Wars, Technic, Elves and More – This week there are several deals on Amazon worth knowing about. OTHER NEWS: There was a little LEGO news from other places around the web this week. Here are a few items we noticed and thought you might enjoy. Watch a LEGO genius build a machine that makes paper airplanes, BGR – Brazilian designer Arthur Sacek builds a robot capable of folding and launching a paper airplane. How LEGO built brand trust, brick by brick, AdWeek via Huffington Post – LEGO has built a multi-dimensional brand that communicates this is something you can trust in. 21-year-old man cremated in giant LEGO brick, AOL – Losing a loved one is never easy, but a family of a deceased LEGO fan honored his life in a unique way. How Warner Bros. and LEGO sold a comedy about a humorless vigilante, Ad Age – so how is one of the best comedies of the year based on him? That’s your Brick Report for the week.
See you next month! With LEGO’s introduction of BrickHeadz, we’re starting to see fan builders apply their creativity to featuring their favourite characters in this new form. Mark Gotidoc captures the essence of these five Pixar characters’ emotions cleverly with just the right tones and elements, but with one difference from LEGO sets: no printed body parts. The only parts which are printed are the eyes, which truly convey the expressions of each individual. The rest are cleverly fashioned in minimal parts but with maximum effect. I particularly like how some of the fists are fashioned with “lamp holder” pieces, instead of the expected plate holders (which to me look like hooks more than anything else). Unlike many of my childhood friends, I’ve never been fond of motorcycles. Well, some of them look cool and I heard some of them are really fast but while all of my mates spent hours drooling over pictures of bikes in auto magazines I was pretty content with a huge yellow pneumatic tractor from LEGO Technic on a table in my room.
And now, 15 years later, here I am, feasting my eyes on the new LEGO Technic 42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure on my table, thinking that I’ve been missing something in my life till this very moment. Although there have been plenty of LEGO Technic motorcycles before it, this 603-piece beauty is the first licensed motorcycle released, and the retail price of $59.99 / 49.99€ makes this BMW a solid bargain among all the licensed LEGO Technic sets. Reviewing a BMW R 1200 GS set gives a lot of opportunity for reflection upon the licensed models in the Technic theme, as well as comparing them to the old Model Team sets, and this is what I’d planned to base my review on until I got my hands on the set. The problem is this BMW doesn’t need to be compared to other bikes, cars, or cranes. It stands out against every other 2017 Technic set. Its announcement was highlighted by several official press releases, emphasizing that this bike is a self-contained and stand alone model. It’s not a primarily meant as toy, nor is it merely a sophisticated mechanism or a dodgy Technic machine by Billund’s designers.