Next, Jack wrangles up an Imperial Animal Control Trooper. For when your mouse droids are beset by actual mice. Like most Stormtroopers, this job is purely no-kill.

Finally, we have the Imperial Tattoo Artist. Because why should Sith get all the cool ink?

The post Bustin’ Force Ghosts? The Empire has a Trooper for that appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

Harrison Armory Saladin

This Defender class mech uses Hardlight tech to create energy shiels. Dane supplements the brick frame with black cloth, which pairs nicely with the flex tube harness. The rifle is a great sub-build, as is the sheathed dagger on the chest.

HORUS Manticore

This diabolical shock trooper doesn’t just crackle with energy weapons, it also recites from the Egyptian Book of the Dead! As with all of the HORUS mechs, the mech is built more like beast than your typical robot, and Dane nails that creepy posture.

Smith-Shimano Corpro Black Witch

A tricksy controller that can manipulate other mechs on the battlefield. Once again, Dane incorporates cloth to great effect.

HORUS Hecatoncheires

A smaller black-ops variant of the nanite-wielding Balor mech that Dane previously created. The trans pink energy bolts work great as the nanite swarms that flare out like mystical fire.

HORUS Goblin

A hardsuit size mech and the earliest HORUS model, the Gobln can attach itself to other mech like a parasite, hijacking control. Dane recreates the prickly appearance with a great use of red wands.

You can catch up with Dane’s other mechs in our first Lancer  feature and second wave round-up.

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LEGO Icons 11385 Star Trek USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Bridge | 1,701 Pieces | Available September 1, pre-orders open now | US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £159.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

The box and contents

The front and back of the box show off a couple of configurations of the set’s modular design.

We’ve got 14 bags to get through – and a lot of stickers…

The instruction booklet tells us more about the origins of Star Trek and this LEGO set, as well as introduction to the main cast. Much like the Enterprise-D, the TV graphics provide some nice framing for all that information.

The build

Where do we start with all this, then? As it turns out, one of the set’s play features. We’re making an immediate dent in the holographic sticker sheet in the transporter room.

The spinning transporter pads – which need to be clocked – are nicely integrated into a sideways-built floor. But I’m already growing weary of applying stickers, and we’re not even through the first bag!

I share Jarrett’s opinion from his Donkey Kong arcade machine review that round tiles should really be printed, especially that half tiles. In this instance I assume the shiny stickers would have made that difficult, but it’s still wildly frustrating having to line up stickers on round parts.

What sucks even more is that my sticker sheet suffered from some kind of printing defect. There’s a line going right the way across the sticker sheet, through all the stickers needed on the walls. It even extends to the underside of the stickers, as you can see on the right side of this photo.

I’ve deliberately under-exposed the above picture to make it clear where the problem is, as it’s a bit tricky to get it to show up in photos. But it’s very noticeable in person. It’s a real shame, as I really like the shiny effect otherwise. If we’re going to be lumped with so many stickers in this set, LEGO should surely be able to give us some good ones.

We do at least have some printed parts in this part of the build: tiny desert planets! Oh hang on – never mind, these are tribbles. Printing a Technic ball joint is an… Interesting choice for these recurring aliens of the series. The instructions only call for two to be hidden in the walls of the transporter room, but given their rapidly-reproducing nature I do find it rather funny that there’s a spare one in the bag.

The stopper at the back limits the movement, so that you never get lost in an infinite loop of beaming up and down. The motion is quite smooth!

That’s the transporter done – a nice little appetizer. The bridge, of course, is our main dish, and we use hinge plates to create the external structure. Were it not open at the front I believe it would end up as a nonagon.

In similar fashion to the transporter before it, the floor is made up of sideways bricks. Given the polygon that they need to slot into, each segment requires a 1×6 slope on the sides to make everything line up.

The ones above are linked with SNOT plates and brackets, but the alternating segments built next are attached by a single inkwell-to-clip connection. It’s not very secure, but being a snug fit they won’t go anywhere. I doubt many people will be swooshing this set anyway!

Then it’s time to build up the walls. These start as frames, into which we’ll slot some SNOT walls. The screens use a similar trick to the transporter room, with a sticker on a window panel to show the different screens and readouts of the Enterprise.

Each of the four control stations makes use of some absolutely fabulous printed tiles and slopes. Check out those retro designs and colours! Their repeated use clearly made them more economical to print, which does rather reinforce the tight margins LEGO imposes in the print-vs-sticker equation. Regardless, I’m glad to see these prints.

The walls to which those printed parts are attached clip in to some more inkwell pieces, and sit at an angle to the main wall. Note the colourful greebling around the outside too; there are some in blue, yellow and red, referencing the shirt colours worn by most of the Enterprise’s crew.

Sulu’s sword is tucked away behind one of the walls, and on the opposite side, we have more weapons stored – but these are a bit more exciting: we have LEGO minifigure phasers! With a 3.18mm bar connection at the emitter end, these would make for nice greebling elements.

As well as the walls, we have some safety barriers to contend with (this isn’t Star Wars, you know – we have railings in this universe!). This uses a combination of clips and plates with bars to angle them inwards. It’s a neat, if delicate, solution.

That’s the biggest single section finished.

Next up? The lift! Not only do we have some more lavender and reddish orange to drive home that 1960s retro sci-fi feel, but we have an ingenious mechanism for some double sliding doors.

The GIF below illustrates how this works: the pivot in the middle means one door is pushed, the other pulled, when the lever is actuated.

With the roof on, it all works a bit more reliably – I’m being careful above given its unfinished state! Our last holo sticker goes on to this build too: the USS Enterprise’s nameplate. No embarassing typos this time around.

Our penultimate bit of set dressing is… A bit of wall? At least it has a neat technique to close up the gaps created by the angled wall pieces. And we also get some easter eggs! On one side is a viewscreen which we’ll look at later, while the back acts as storage for Spock’s harp, a Trident scanner and two Vulcan Lirpas.

Last but not least is the helm – essentially, where the ship is steered from. It starts off with a core of SNOT bricks, which gets surrounded by a selection of tiles. There’s also a tow ball socket in there.

That socket will be for the captain’s chair. Speaking of chairs, the helms’ chairs are similar to the chairs arranged around the outside of the bridge, but for some reason the stud direction is flipped – I can’t really see why. There’s yet another tribble hidden under the main control panel, too. Those things really do get everywhere.

With that done, our final task is to bring everything together. This is how the instructions suggest to do it, but it can be customised to an extent.

The minifigures

The Enterprise bridge is crewed by eight minifigures. Many share the same torsos, exclusive to this set as are a few of the accessories. Incidentally, aftermarket prices for the TNG torsos seem to have settled at around $5-10 depending on the colour, so assuming these follow a similar pattern, making your own Star Trek characters should be relatively affordable after a few months.

Anyway, let’s take a closer look at them, starting with the blue team. These are the scientists and doctors of Starfleet, so from left to right we have head nurse Christine Chapel, chief medical officer Leonard “Bones” McCoy, and of course first officer Spock. Bones and Spock both come with printed datapads, while everyone has an alternate expression. Yes, even Spock – you have to look really closely to spot the difference, even in person, but it is there!

Then to the red shirts: operations, engineering and security. But since the security red shirts are usually the first to be killed off, our focus is mostly on the former two, in the form of communications officer Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and chief engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott. Only Scotty has an alternate ‘we-don’t-have-the-power-captain’ face, but Uhura does have a printed earpiece. Like Christine Chapel, she has dual-moulded and printed legs to represent the miniskirts worn by female crew members. The printing is only on the front, though, so these figures look a bit odd from the side or back.

Finally, we have the command and helmspeople decked out in yellow… Or are they? If you’ve ever seen any of the TOS costumes on display, you’ll know the real ones were actually more of a yellowy green than the golden yellow we have here. Canonically, though, they are gold, so I don’t have an issue with this colour choice. Neither navigator Pavel Chekov nor helmsman Hikaru Sulu are equipped with accessories, but Captain James T Kirk comes with another tribble. Ironically, his hairpiece looks more like a tribble than the actual tribble piece – or than William Shatner’s hair, for that matter.

The minifigures were a real highlight of the Enterprise-D set, and the same is generally true here. However, I think the TNG figures captured their real-world likenesses better. Spock and Bones are great, for instance, but I’m less convinced by the hairpieces for Kirk or Chekov.

The finished model

The final set takes up quite a lot of room in its longest configuration. This is probably the one best suited for display on a shelf.

From the back, there isn’t a huge amount to see in this layout, but it doesn’t look untidy. Of course, the transporter and viewscreen could be reconfigured to sit either side and make the whole thing suitable for observation from both sides.

Let’s get our cast on set and take a closer look. Places, everyone!

Those printed control panels are one of my favourite parts of the set. They look brilliant, and even the stickers on the viewscreens look great too. In a way it’s a shame we only have Lieutenant Uhura to operate them – even if I did place her at the wrong console… That’s another point on my nerd license.

The helm is similarly well-detailed. The ball-jointed chair is a fun nod to how turbulence and shaking would have been done on the original set. No shaker rig in those days!

It looks comfy too. “You’re in my spot.” Oh sorry, wrong TV series…

While the bridge is pretty accurate to the show, the transporter room has been distorted somewhat to allow for the beaming play function. The whole thing feels squashed and a tad claustrophobic as a result. It’s also a minor annoyance that you can’t beam one set of figures down to then beam another set up, but otherwise, it’s fun and works very well.

… On second thought, maybe it doesn’t work that well. Scotty, you’ve turned Bones and Spock into wandering toupees!

Finally, we come to the wall section with the viewscreen. This bit feels superfluous, to be honest; it feels like an excuse to squeeze some easter eggs in. I’m not sure who that’s supposed to be on the viewscreen either. It’s definitely a Klingon; it looks more like Kang (from TOS season 3) than Kor (season 1), but both of those wear a sash that’s not present here. Perhaps Worf knows who it is.

Conclusion and recommendation

As you’ve probably noticed throughout this review, comparisons with the first LEGO Star Trek set are going to be inevitable. This is the tricky sophomore album to the Enterprise-D’s solid debut record. I will set my biases out now: I’m more of a TNG fan than TOS, and I tend to favour spaceships over location-based playsets. So it’s perhaps not a surprise that I feel a bit lukewarm about the Enterprise Bridge. I like it, but I don’t love it.

The variable figure accuracy and prevalence of stickers (with associated quality issues – be sure to ask LEGO for a replacement sheet if you have the same as I did) are my biggest problems with the set. Had it not been for these I think this actually would’ve represented pretty OK value for money; the build is a good one and the set does do the job of a playset very well, even if it’s not my thing. If you need to pick between this and the TNG Enterprise, and you have the budget, I would pick the ship; but if you want a less budget-unfriendly option, this is still a solid Trekkie set.

LEGO Icons 11385 Star Trek USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Bridge | 1,701 Pieces | Available September 1, pre-orders open now | US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £159.99

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Check out our full gallery of pictures:

The post LEGO Icons 11385 Star Trek USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Bridge: trials and tribble-ations aboard the Enterprise[Review] appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

Winner: “Years of Peace” by Eero Okkonen

Second Place: “Lazy Fishing” by Hubba Blooba, Batuu Bricks, and the_lego_closet

Winner: “The Limbo of Kamui” by Syrdarian

Runner Up: “The Gate of Homecoming” by jesse van den Oetelaar

Winner: “Heitur Pottur” by Eero Okkonen

Runner Up:  “Frozen Wastes” by Wolverbricks

Winner: “Giant Primordial Quagsire” by Eero Okkonen

Runner Up: “King’s Court Mr. Mime” by Byldan

Winner: “The Kraken Knight’s Outpost” by Noldor Lego

(Read our coverage of this colorful tower here.)

Runner Up: “The vengeful guardian” by Syrdarian and Slippin’ Jimmy

Winner: “切腹 [Seppuku]” by gGh0st

Runner Up: “Where Heroes Falter” by Behold_The_Loaf

Winning Team: “Rising Sun”

Simulterious, Vertaro,  Oshi Builds

Runner Up Team: “Scorched Sands“

DanielJustinMOCs, Tom Gray

Winner: “Corvin Castle” by Geneva Durand

Runner Up: “The Last Guardian” by On The Brickside

Master Artisan prize, given to the entry with highest presentation score.

The Winner:  “Tasty marshmallow meal with a froggy friend” by Syrdarian

Runner up:“Frozen Wastes” by Wolverbricks

Grand Architect title, which recognizes the highest scoring entry overall.

Winner: “Years of Peace” by Eero Okkonen

Runner Up: “切腹 [Seppuku]” by gGh0st

Conquering Hero – the competitor who entered at least three different categories and had the highest average score for their submissions.

Winner: Eero Okkonen

Runner Up: Syrdarian

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Let’s take a chronological look at this amazing project from a talented new builder!

We go from one water world to another for Episode II, but the builds couldn’t be more different. Off-grid rocks and mottled colours make way for the clean lines and surfaces of Tipoca City.

Even familiar locations feel fresh under Nicholas’ hand – like the innovative lava detailing on Mustafar. Details like the rubber bands and minifigure arms prevent the magma from feeling flat. Nice DLC-13 droid, too!

It’s time for a short break from the mainline saga as we dip into the so-called anthology films. First, we have the trenches of Mimban from Solo: a Star Wars Story. This is a scene that would look right at home in the Factions LEGO Star Wars RPG.

Then it’s on to my personal favourite Star Wars film, Rogue One. I love the texture of the dirty ground here, as well as the decision to accentuate it using direct sunlight.

As a series of dioramas, the focus is understandably on locations, but Nicholas still manages to squeeze a few spaceships in! Can’t have a Star War without an X-wing, right?

For Episode V, we’re on Dagobah – but not Yoda’s hut, so often represented in LEGO form. We’re in the dark side cave, where Luke has his first ‘duel’ with Darth Vader.

Nicholas is adept at moving from man-made to natural settings, and on Endor, the two are combined with a fallen AT-ST.

Having eschewed the snows of Hoth earlier, a snowy landscape does await us in this scene from the climax of Episode VII. I like the pipes sticking out the right-hand end of the diorama, reminding us that we are on a planet-turned-planet-killer that’s about to blow!

A lot of our dioramas so far have featured moments of relative calm, but that’s certainly not the case with our penultimate scene! Finn rides a fathier (or more precisely in this case, half a fathier) through the casino world of Canto Bight, leaving chaos in his wake.

Finally, we end with The Rise of Skywalker – which did at least deliver some memorable (if rather nonsensical) lines. They fly now!

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That green coat is accomplished thanks to a handful of leaf elements, most notably the translucent green leaf introduced in the Tropical Aquarium last year. What that means is that in the sunlight, this dragon becomes positively iridescent!

*I’m not saying dragons aren’t real – I’m just saying I’ve never seen one…

The post We can see right through this dragon as it sheds its LEGO skin appeared first on The Brothers Brick.

Collectible Minifigures 71053 Shrek Series | Available September 1 | US $4.99 | CAN $5.99 | UK £3.49

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Shrek, Fiona, Dragon: First we have the Shrek fam. Shrek comes with a story book with 2 nicely printed interchangeable pages. Personally I believe he should’ve came with Donkey and Fiona with a baby ogre, but Fiona is the one with Donkey!

Dragon comes with some good dragon parts, but no accessories.

Executioner, Lord Farquaad, Gingy: The nefarious Lord Farquaad and his circle are next. What else would Farquaad come with besides his magic mirror? That’s exactly what they gave him in the form of a sleek printed shield.

His trusted Executioner comes with a printed cue card and microphone, and then there is Gingy. Gingy is a personal favorite character of mine and I’m so glad they went with a normal sized figure to show off his minimal, but accurate details, along with a nice sized lollipop.

Puss in Boots, Pinocchio, Big Bad Wolf: The Shrek fam’s extended fairytale friends are done very well, but are a bit lacking in accessories besides the trio of blind mice that come together with a completed series. I like that Puss comes with an extra bag, but what is Puss without his sword?

Another favorite in the Shrek films for me is Pinocchio. LEGO knocked him out of the park with new dual molded tan arms and a surprisingly to-scale head sculpt, with great printing. The Big Bad Wolf is a strange addition, but comes with a fully printed night gown that can be used for so many other things.

Merlin, Fairy Godmother, Prince Charming: What would a fairytale CMF be without a wizard, a fairy, and a knight? The mother and son pair is a very needed addition to the series, and they are done spectacularly. Both feature great expressive front and back head prints to represent the characters, and accurate accessories as well.

Last but certainly not least we have Merlin. Such a kooky character from the films to add with this cmf, but it’s actually one of the best. While the whole series is great for fantasy customs this new wizard especially is a must grab!

Conclusion and recommendation

All in all I really think this new Shrek collectible minifigure series is one of the best we’ve gotten in a long time. The figures all look great in hand, better than the renders and reveals, and represent the characters to a T.

My favorite of the series has to be Gingy, as my favorite character in the movies. But in terms of details, Fairy Godmother might have my favorite prints. I could see a lot of these figures used to make all kinds of original figures and character recreations. Parts from the Executioner could be used for Batman suits or even original heroes, and I think there is a lot of fantasy figure potential across the board.

Thank you so much to the Brothers Brick for the review opportunity and to any readers this might help influence to pick these up!

Collectible Minifigures 71053 Shrek Series | Available September 1 | US $4.99 | CAN $5.99 | UK £3.49

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with a copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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The complex weave of cables, gold pieces, and flame elements is absolutely breathtaking. The way the concave geometry plays with light – whether natural light or blacklist- adds to the magic.

This golden orb joins Brian’s earlier eyeball moc as a brickbending masterpiece.

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Most LEGO MOCs are introduced by revealing the entire build first, followed by close-up shots of the details. For this project, I wanted to do the exact opposite. I treated the project like the release of a movie, sharing teaser trailers before the story had even begun.

Then, over several days, I told the story through a series of close-up scenes, revealing only small pieces of the MOC at a time. Every post uncovered another part of the narrative, encouraging viewers to follow the journey. Only after the final episode did I post the complete scene.

The response was even better than I had expected. Views and comments went up with each episode as more and more people were excited to see what would come next. But most importantly, turning a simple LEGO build into a cinematic experience made this project truly special for me – a grand conclusion to months of building.

Now that the full series is released, I’m pleased to share the story in one place.

Gotham City breathes in uneasy silence. On the streets, people go about their daily lives, unaware of what is about to unfold. Office workers hurry to their jobs. Families walk past storefronts.

A street artist finishes a fresh Joker graffiti on a kiosk’s wall before disappearing into the crowd. A child sits next to the bank’s columns, eating his hotdog while commuters rush past. The Gotham Trust Bank stands as a symbol of security in a city that has little left of it.

Beneath the streets, commuters wait for the next train at the metro station below the bank. Some stare at their phones. Others watch the tracks disappear into darkness while a janitor slowly mops the platform. Security cameras silently scan every corner. For a brief moment, Gotham feels normal. But in Gotham, peace never lasts.

A gray minibus slowly pulls up in front of Gotham Trust Bank. Inside sits the Joker, surrounded by his clown-masked gang. The doors swing open. Within moments, they storm the bank.

The city’s calm is shattered. Customers dive for cover. Employees freeze in fear. The bank manager is dragged into the vault at gunpoint while terrified civilians are forced to the floor. The heavy vault door begins to open as the gang empties the bank’s reserves with chilling precision.

Meanwhile, the seemingly abandoned minibus pulls away from the bank. It isn’t escaping. It is a rolling bomb. Programmed for one final mission, it speeds toward Gotham Bridge. Minutes later, a deafening explosion rips through the city, engulfing the bridge in flames and smoke. The blast throws Gotham into complete chaos, cutting off escape routes and overwhelming emergency responders.

Inside the vault, the Joker doesn’t flinch.  As Gotham descends into panic, he smiles. This was never just a bank robbery. It was the opening move. The heist was only the distraction. The real chaos had just begun…

Panic spreads through the streets as the Joker calmly walks through the chaos he has created. Sirens begin to echo across Gotham. A police officer attempts to stop them. A single burst of gunfire ends his effort.

With bags full of cash, the gang heads toward the metro station entrance beside the bank and disappears underground.

Police flood the scene. Commissioner Gordon arrives to find another crime scene added to the city’s endless list of tragedies. But the people of Gotham have had enough. Citizens gather in anger. Protesters fill the streets. They are tired of corruption. Tired of violence. Tired of living in fear. News crews rush to broadcast the unfolding crisis to the entire city.

Then… A distant roar cuts through the noise. Heads turn. The Batbike emerges from the darkness. Batman has arrived.

Without saying a word, he surveys the crime scene—the shattered bank, the frightened citizens, the flashing police lights, and the metro entrance leading into darkness.

Somewhere below, the Joker is waiting. Or perhaps he wants to be found. Batman steps toward the underground tunnels and disappears from sight. The crowd watches in silence. The hunt has begun.

But Gotham has learned a terrible lesson: Whenever Batman and Joker cross paths, the city pays the price.

Police units flood the streets as SWAT teams race toward the metro station.

But Batman is already one step ahead. He descends into Gotham’s underground long before the tactical teams arrive, determined to stop the Joker before he disappears into the city’s endless maze of tunnels.

The Joker anticipated exactly that. Leaving several of his men behind to delay the Dark Knight, he sacrifices them without hesitation. Every second they buy is another step toward his escape. Every move is part of the plan.

While Batman fights his way through the remaining gang members, the Joker vanishes into the shadows beneath Gotham, leaving no trail behind.

Above ground, anger reaches its breaking point. Citizens flood the streets, exhausted by the endless cycle of violence, corruption, and fear. Their voices echo through Gotham as protests erupt, demanding justice and questioning whether anyone can still protect their city.

News crews rush to the scene. Cameras begin rolling as reporters broadcast the unfolding crisis live, capturing a city that seems to be losing hope with every passing day.

By the end of the day, Gotham has suffered another devastating defeat.
The city’s most secure bank has been robbed. Gotham Bridge lies in ruins.

And once again…

Chaos has claimed the city.

While building this MOC, I tried to include as many small details as possible and maintain continuity across the episodes. The missing cat poster… and the missing cat quietly wandering around the kiosk. The quarter circular ceiling of the metro station from gunshots. The round corner wall where The SWAT team taking cover on the metrostation’s first level. A passenger seen in Episode I later reappearing in Episode III, beaten, gagged, and taken hostage. Swapping minifigure heads over and over again to match the expressions required for each scene. The janitor, who first appears in Episode I, later locks himself inside the metro station’s maintenance room in Episode III, desperately trying to hide from the Joker and his gang. And, of course, the architecture of the building itself is something I’m very proud of.

Thank you to everyone who followed the story, liked, commented, and supported this project. It truly means a lot. For a little while, I’ll disappear into the shadows… just like Batman. Until the next adventure.

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