It’s no secret that George Lucas looked to World War II-era dogfights for inspiration when envisioning the space battles of Star Wars, so a mashup of the two in LEGO form simply makes sense. Here, simplethinker elegantly blends the celebrated North American P-51D Mustang with Star Wars‘s X- and E-wings, with pleasing results. The two ships (fittingly nicknamed “Rebel Scum” and “Laser Bait”) look ready to duel German fighter planes or Imperial TIEs, whichever they happen to run across—a testament to both Lucas’s original vision and the skill with which they were executed in brick form. The post These Star Wars/WWII mashups are just plane awesome appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Ryan Kunz

The next wave of Ninjago sets is coming soon, which means another dojo/battle arena to add to our growing collection. The Tournament Battle Arena includes six minifigures and is compatible with the much larger LEGO Ninjago 71814 Tournament Temple City. There’s a fun moveable platform for fighting, a large statue, and a drum. There are also a few neat hidden traps to catch intruders by surprise. LEGO Ninjago 71818 Tournament Battle Arena comes with 659 pieces and will be available on June 1st globally and August 1st in the US for US $49.99 | CAN $64.99 | UK £44.99. 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. Unboxing the parts, instructions, and stickers The set comes in a small box with the Dragons Rising branding. The arena is shown on the...

Qian Yj is no stranger to triumphs, having brought home the trophy in LEGO Masters China. For his latest build, he turns his thoughts to ancient Rome (as men so often do) and presents a glorious temple facade. There is so much to laud about this capital diorama, but the sweet reliefs definitely take the cake. Marble supplicants kneel at the feet of a god in the pediment, flanked by floral designs all in white. The columns are most impressive too, the Corinthian flourish created by arranging teeth in eyelets around gnashing gears.  The braziers are a simple yet very effective design. And those statues! Such lovely use of tiles to create lifelike forms at this scale. On the temple base, a gallic touch with croissant garlands. Qian Yj excels at immersive models that sweep you away to a living past. To see the builder’s LEGO tributes to his native China,...

If the price tag on the newly announced Lord of the Rings Barad-Dûr LEGO set is making your wallet feel like Viggo Mortensen’s toe, you should check out this micro-scale tower by Joe! From this mini monument to malevolent majesty, you can keep an eye on the hobbits with the DREAMZzz eye tile. With just a few pieces, Joe has captured the evil essence of the dark tower. The two outer towers are captured by a hilt and a plate with a bar, while all the spiky decorative business is made out of a few grills and a gear. I do wonder if Sauron will need a microscope to find the one ring at this scale! The post Micro Barad-Dûr menaces a tiny middle earth! appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Simon Friesen

Baseball season is in full swing in Japan and famously passionate fans of the Hanshin Tigers are making noise for their favorite team. Amongst those fans is Sasaki Nobuyuki (Sasapon), two time competitor on early LEGO competition show King of LEGO on TV Tokyo, and member of the OG brickshelf community. Sasapon built this prize-winning mech last year for a “SigFig” mech contest. What is a SigFig? Essentially it’s a minifig avatar that represents you. Sasapon’s SigFig wears his Hanshin Tigers fandom proudly resulting in this delightful tiger-themed mech. Sasapon leaned into yellow elements with black stripes and the associated construction aesthetic, adding a detachable bulldozer scoop and  claw to the mech’s back. The highly-poseable mech is packed with personality and clever parts usage. レッツゴー　レッツゴー ささぽん! The post Proud, invincible Hanshin Tiger mech! Go, go, go! appeared first on The Brothers Brick. Original linkOriginal author: Jake Forbes