Buried in Bricks

The LUGlife - Where have I been?

2014-11-21T15:54:00.000-08:00

Part of WisLUG's group display at Brickworld Chicago, 2014.

I started this blog almost two years ago as an outlet to write a little about my love of LEGO, but it recently fell to the wayside for several months because life got a little too busy to keep up with it and other responsibilities popped up. I'm easing myself back into blogging because I actually did enjoy writing about my AFOL experiences and I'm hoping to get back to a regular schedule.

During my hiatus, I was actually MORE involved with LEGO than I was before I went away. As I wrote about previously, I took over the administration of my LUG (LEGO User Group) about a year and a half ago. Since then, I have been actively trying to build the membership and the activities offered by the group, which has actually taken up a huge chunk of my time.

Between maintaining a main site, Facebook page, and trying to coordinate public displays, it's actually a fairly busy task. It's all paying off though. The LUG now has a core group of over 20 members who are pretty active, with another two dozen or so who are semi-present for our meetings or other events. I can only imagine that is going to grow as time goes by, as long as we keep up with our current efforts.

While reviews and random musings are fun to write, I'm actually hoping to shift the focus of the blog a little more towards my experiences running a LUG. Sound off in the comments if that interests you at all.

LEGO holiday gift guide - 2014 edition

2014-11-17T15:53:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, where I share some of my picks for the best of what LEGO has to offer this holiday season. It's been a big year for LEGO collectors. I am hard pressed to recall a time when there were this many different sets and themes available on the market. In fact, there are so many products to choose from that my nearest LEGO Store can't even stock them all!

As with the past two years, I'm going to break this down into price ranges. This is mainly to help those who wander onto the blog figure out what's the best they can get for the money they plan to spend. Also, this is by no means a comprehensive list of what's out there right now. These are just some of my picks based on sets I've built, seen built, or read reviews on. They are what I would recommend to friends or family who ask "what LEGO set would you buy for so-and-so?"

Stocking Suffers (Under $15)
These are little sets that that make good little gifts for maybe that non-family kid you have to buy for. Small LEGO sets can sometimes seem underwhelming, but these represent some of the better ones I believe are out there.

Collectible Minifigures - Currently on Series 12, these blind-bag packaged figures are always a hit. Kids (and many adults) love the figs, and this series consistently turns up characters that are fun to have in your collection. One of my favorite layouts at Brickworld this year was the CMF environments built by ToroLUG, which covered every series of figs out so far. While the production quality has dropped off a little with the last few releases, these are still worth picking up.

Mixels - 4.99
My first thought on these was that they are kind of random, but the idea has proven to actually be quite clever. I highly recommend picking up all three of a single color for the most fun, but I have seen kids do so much with just a single pack that I don't think you can really go wrong.

Light Repair Truck (60054) - $9.99
When it comes to CITY theme vehicles, I tend to shy away from the police and fire based sets. I have enough of them in my collection and they are pretty evergreen since there is always one out there. These general utility vehicles are always great though and I love it when they offer a little extra play feature, like the light post.

Mia's Lemonade Stand (41027) - 9.99
As the parent of a young girl, I have been getting plenty of time in with the Friends line of sets. Most of what we have bought for her has been on the smaller side, mainly because her interest in building has not really taken off fully as of yet. There are many sets in this range, but we've been pretty happy with this one around here. Not only do you get a pretty practical lemonade stand for play, but you also get a very nicely done little scooter to go with it.

Batman: The Penguin Face off (76010) - 12.99
I'm a sucker for Super Heroes sets and this one is pretty darn good. Aside from including two excellent figures, this set also features some very clever brick-built penguins and an awesome duck for The Penguin to ride around in. There's plenty of action in such a nice little set.

The Average gift range ($15-39)
This is where the bulk of my LEGO purchasing is done for gifts, so I will be offering quiet a few options here.

Forest Animals (31019) - 19.99
I.love.this.monkey! While there are many smaller Creator sets, I think the theme doesn't really start to shine until you hit the $20 price point. The 3-in-1 sets are particularly impressive, since they encourage kids to look at different ways to use the pieces included. There are many useful pieces in this set and I highly recommend it.

Camper Van (60057) - 19.99
Most of my favorite CITY sets are the great vehicles, which are your standard cars/trucks/vans in the $20 range. I'm a big fan of this one in particular because of how well done it is. It has quite a few play features, including seating inside the van and a canoe. The logging truck is also a relatively unique vehicle, if you would like to avoid a police/fire vehicle rehash that's been done a hundred times.

Batman: The Riddler Chase (76012) - 29.99
While the dragster portion of this set is kind of a...drag, the Batmobile is awesome and is almost worth the price of the set alone. Add in the excellent figures (Flash, Riddler, and Batman), and you get an excellent set for just $30. Perfect for the little Bat-fan in your life.

Cinderella's Dream Carriage (41053) - 29.99
The Disney Princess line is getting a second wave, so LEGO must be doing something right. We have built a few of these, but I have been left mostly unimpressed with the structures offered in the line. Far too many big pieces are used to construct the walls, limiting their usefulness in creative building. The carriage though offers a great selection of pieces and is really kind of a classic of Disney lore. If you're in to steampunk building, I've saw a very cool MOC made using the wheels from this set, although I have since been unable to re-find the picture.

Snowspeeder (75049) - 29.99
When it comes to Star Wars, I seldom touch anything that's not Original Trilogy. I make exceptions for a few of the cooler Clone Wars models, but those do not pop up very often. While the ship itself is not very large, it is one of the better minifigure scale versions I have seen. Of course, this also pairs very well with a set I'll be listing further one down in this guide.

MetalBeard's Duel (70807) - 34.99
It's hard to believe that less than a year has passed since "Everything is Awesome" passed into the minds of every LEGO fan in the world. I've either built or handled most of the sets in the line, but this one stands out as my favorite on the cheaper end of the scale. I fully admit to having a thing for pirates, so you might consider me a little biased. This set still stands out to me though because MetalBeard is a cool character (and fun to build) and he actually has a worthy opponent included with the excellent Micro Manager.

For the good kids ($40-99)
This is also the range where you start getting to sets adults will really enjoy more as well, since they offer more of a challenge and are typically more detailed.

Minecraft: The First Night (21115) - 39.99
It's possible to argue that Minecraft's popularity peaked when Microsoft bought the property earlier this year. Those who spend any time around kids would probably be able to tell you how wrong you are. This wave of sets is hitting just in time for Christmas, and I'm guessing all of them are going to be hard to come by. While there are cheaper entries in the line, this one gets my pick for now. An important thing to keep in mind with all of the Minecraft sets is that they all include incredibly useful common parts in standard colors. With the grays, browns, and greens, there are tons of non-Minecraft things that can be built with these. If any ever actually go on sale, I would be highly tempted just to pick them up as parts packs.

Stephanie's Beach House (41037) - 39.99
The fall wave of Friends sets has them going to the jungle, but I'm still a big fan of the Heartlake City buildings that go with the line. This build actually packs in a ton of nice details and accessories for a mid-sized set. One of the great things about many of the Friends buildings is that they really do feel like a complete playset when done. This is one of my favorites from the theme this year.

X-Men vs. The Sentinel (76022) - 49.99
I initially was extremely disappointed in this set when I saw it in pictures. The Blackbird seemed too curvy and the sentinel is...well, he's still not very impressive. In person though, the jet is actually fairly well done for what it is and I really don't think you can complain about the minifigures at all (other than questioning the re-use of Magneto so soon when there are so many other villains to make). Easily my favorite Marvel set of the 2014 line.

Bike Shop & Cafe (31026) - 89.99
If the modular line seems a little too big for your kid, or just a little to out of your price range, this set is an excellent substitute. They are apparently carrying on with this style of mid-range buildings next year as well, which I see as a very good sign that LEGO realizes we want more than single-family houses for buildings. What really makes this set work so well is the many different configurations you can do using the pieces, since it is a 3-in-1 set. Just a great set overall from a classic theme.

For the "amazingly good kids/spouses" ($100-199)
This is the stuff that growing up as a kid my parents would have picked as a "big present" under the tree. These sets are the ones fans young and old will enjoy.

Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! (70816) - 99.99
Hands down my pick for best set of the entire year. Not only does it embody one of my favorite characters of the entire LEGO Movie, this ship is truly an amazing blend of what made LEGO my favorite toy as a child and what brought me back to it as an adult. I think any LEGO fan who skips this set it really going to regret it down the road.

Ultra Agents Mission HQ (70165) - 99.99
The Agents theme came back strong this year and, while most of the smaller sets are perfectly good buys with interesting figures and builds, the flagship set stands out above all of the rest. There is such a great variety of little details in this set, from the collection of spy vehicles to the gadgets in the command center. Easily a stand out from the wave.

Star Wars: AT-AT (75054) - 109.99
When I think of OT vehicles, the AT-AT is the first thing that comes to mind. I have vivid memories of watching the Battle of Hoth over and over again as a child. While ridiculously impractical as a siege vehicle, there's just something about the AT-AT I still find charming. LEGO has produced multiple versions of this set over the years and, while this one does feel a little small, I think it's the best yet. I'm sure it will come as no shock that it can be a little unstable, but I still think this is worth adding to any Star Wars fan's collection.

Parisian Restaurant (10243) - 159.99
No list would be complete without the latest entry in LEGO's now iconic Modular line. While the price got bumped $10 for the Parisian Restaurant, the designers made good use of that money in making what is probably one of the most detailed buildings in the theme yet. Both inside and out, there are far too many features to even begin to list them all. I don't think anyone could be upset with adding this to their collection. I've been very impressed with how the Modular line has progressed over the years, and I'm hopeful for what the future will bring for the design of these buildings.

For the "Can you buy presents for me?" crowd ($200+)
This is the stuff that's for the really good kid (or adult) on your list.

The Simpsons House (71006) - 199.99
When it was confirmed that there would be a Simpsons set in LEGO form, I think most people were not shocked to discover it would be the famous family's humble home. The designers certainly did not skimp on the details with this set and it earns every penny of its hefty $200 price tag. There are some issues I have with the set (Half the family looks stoned), but the rich interior packed with references from the long-running show more than makes up for any flaws. Sadly, I have not added this to my collection yet. It's on my list though.

The Tumbler (76023) - 199.99
I hesitated about putting this set on the list. Not because it's horrible or poorly designed, but because your chances of actually finding a copy any time before 2015 are pretty much non-existent. The demand for this set was so strong, it pretty much disappeared within days of being released and LEGO's own website indicates you will likely not be able to buy it until next year. I have so far only managed to see a single copy in the wild at my local LEGO store, and I just could not justify spending the money at the time though. The Tumbler is arguably one of the more iconic variations of the Batmobile to come out of the cinematic side of Batman and this set is pretty clearly a must have for any fan of the franchise.

MetalBeard's Sea Cow (70810) - 249.99
A monument to excess, this ship manages to be the most amazing and ugly pirate ship I have ever seen at the same time. Much like the SSS!, the Sea Cow stands out as a highlight of the LEGO Movie for me and I would love to have this version sail in to my collection. One thing I find amusing about this ship in comparison to other TLM sets though is that it's not even remotely close to the same scale as the movie version. While it's only on screen for mere seconds, the actual ship is many times larger than this. Making a MOC of the "real" Sea Cow is actually a future project goal of mine...although it's more of a dream project at this point.

Star Wars: Sandcrawler (75059) - 299.99
If there's one thing LEGO does right, it's large LEGO sets based on Star Wars. There have been very few misfires in this line and the Sandcrawler is the latest and greatest to join the list of mega-sets from the OT. While obviously not as impressive as some versions, LEGO has actually managed to take what's essentially a rolling warehouse and turn it into an excellent display piece and playset. Other priorities will probably keep me from ever owning this, but I'm still so happy it got made.

And so, that wraps up my annual list of LEGO greats for the year. As always, I would argue that any gift that involves LEGO is a welcome one. Happy holiday shopping!

Birds and Big Bang Theory pass LEGO Ideas review, fate of Doctor Who uncertain

2014-11-07T09:43:00.003-08:00

After what feels like months of waiting, the LEGO Ideas team has finally revealed what the next two sets are going to be. You can watch the video below and then see my thoughts after the jump.

I really like the birds set (and believe I voted on it, but that was oh so long ago). I imagine The Big Bang Theory set got through mainly because of the marketing potential. I can just imagine a future episode of the show featuring the set in the background, or even as a prominent prop the characters interact with.

I am disappointed that neither of the Doctor Who sets made it through the review process. I guess it's encouraging to hear that they are still "being evaluated," although we have no way of knowing what that actually means. I guess it's possible LEGO is actually working on a licensed line already that will be apart from the Ideas label...which really may be the best way to handle the property. I could just imagine the uproar from the Whovian community if their favorite Doctor was left out.

Given the recent track record with Ideas sets, I'll be interested to see how they handle these releases. The ongoing supply problems with the Research Institute set have upset a lot of casual fans. The past two times I've been in a LEGO Store, I have heard at least two people come up to the counter asking about the set. I don't expect the birds set to light the same fires, but I imagine it will have the same kind of short shelf life that caught people off-guard with the Curiosity Rover. On the plus side, the EXO Suit no longer seems to be in short supply.

Doctor Who projects flood LEGO Cuusoo

2014-03-08T19:17:00.002-08:00

It's been about a week since the LEGO Cuusoo team announced that previous licensing conflicts over Doctor Who based sets had been resolved, so they can now accept projects based on the property. As expected, it did not take very long at all for several proposal to make their way on to the site.

Doctor Who holds massive potential for LEGO to create a set with massive geek appeal. Rather than relying on a retro property, such as Back to the Future or Ghostbusters, you have the ability to release a set that's still very much a part of current popular geek culture, even if it is more than 50 years since the series started.

Let's take a look at some of the more popular projects that have shown up on Cuusoo and appear on track to hit the 10,000 votes needed for review.

"Doctor Who" from GlenBricker
This one falls more under the category of general theme support, showing us a very basic T.A.R.D.I.S. design in the background and custom minifigures based on the 11th Doctor and companion Amy Pond to draw people in. Scrolling down shows a wide variety of other custom figs, with designs based on all of the past Doctors and many other companions and villains. The figures really push this one forward, in my mind, and is likely responsible for it currently being the most supported Doctor Who project on Cuusoo. It will likely be the first to hit the votes need for review, even though it does not have a very detailed T.A.R.D.I.S. model attached to it. That's probably the one glaring weakness of the project.

"Doctor Who and Companions" from AndrewClark2
This project places a much greater emphasis on the T.A.R.D.I.S. and includes a very nice looking model at minifigure scale. It's a render though, which really annoys me. Not having a physical model built I think is a very big negative for a project. I fully support the idea of a Doctor Who set, but I would really like to see what their model looks like in the physical world before I put my support behind the many offerings we are sure to have. Many of the current projects don't even have opening doors, which is another pretty big negative on this one. Instead, we get a model that folds up and is used as a backdrop for a scene depicting the control room. While still several thousand votes behind GlenBricker's project, this one is also on track to probably hit the review stage at some point.

There are several other Time Lord-related projects up on Cuusoo, but so far these are the only two to break the 1,000 supporters mark. That's likely because they are the most well polished projects and feature very excellent looking custom Doctor Who minifigures.

Making a show-accurate T.A.R.D.I.S. in LEGO is actually quite difficult at minifigure scale. Especially if you are trying to design a model with doors that open normally. None of the scale projects so far actually do that, from what I can tell. The best ones also rely heavily on decals to give the iconic ship its texture. You have to jump up to the larger "UCS-style" projects to find fully functioning doors, and most of those probably have no chance of actually getting done if past experience with larger Cuusoo models is any indicator.

While it still includes custom figures, I think monkey_roo's proposal has one of the better designed T.A.R.D.I.S. models in minifigure scale. I would like to see the Police Box signs recessed a bit, but it's otherwise a very good representation. The only real flaw is that, once again, the doors do not open properly.

I think it's fairly obvious at this point that we are going to get some sort of Doctor Who LEGO set. As of this writing, one project is closing in on 9,000 supporters and should qualify for the next review period.

LEGO CUUSOO Fall 2013 review results are in

2014-01-30T08:10:00.000-08:00

The LEGO CUUSOO project has released the results of the latest review period, and fans of a certain movie should be rejoicing about right now. That's a pretty obvious hint...but watch the video anyway.

There were obviously many amazing projects this time around, but I'm not complaining at all about the decision the CUUSOO team made.

Ghostbusters sticks out as one of my favorites 80s movies, second only to Back to the Future quite honestly. The fact that fans can own yet another iconic vehicle, along with minifigures of the main characters, is just amazing. Let's just hope that they stick to the original design a little more closely than they did with the DeLorean. While the set looks much better in real life than it does in pictures, there are still some weaknesses in the design that should have been addressed.

As for the projects that didn't make it, the female minifigure set is a very cool idea and I could easily see LEGO doing something like this as even a non-CUUSOO set. Poptropica makes no sense to me, although I'm sure there are kids who would have loved it. FTL is another one that looks nice and I can see why it made it to the review, but the audience is far too limited. I think the idea of an ATLAS model is great, but the micro-scale nature of the project fails to really do it justice.

The Road to Oz getting shot down is probably my biggest disappointment. The set was very well done for its size and the figures looked great. It would have been a pretty easy release to make and I think it would have been much more popular than LEGO likely anticipated. Still, as this MOC from Brickworld last year proves, you can still do some pretty impressive building without an official set being released.

As for the next round of sets, I'm going to give some predictions.

Sherlock, Japanese old style architecture, and UCS DeLorean are not going to happen. The concept on Sherlock is a little too vague and focused more on minifigures I think. The architecture set looks nice, but I almost feel like that would be better as a Master Builders Academy entry. The UCS DeLorean is just too big for CUUSOO and the likely price point would kill it. That's easily a $200 set.

The leaves the Legend of Zelda, Macross EF-1 Valkyrie, and The Adventure Time Project. All of these have merits and I think a good chunk of the decision will be tied to licensing issues. Zelda already got killed off once because Nintendo building toys were tied to another company. The Valkyrie project is very well done and is easily something I could see myself buying. I have no interest in Adventure Time at all, but I can see the appeal. That's going to be another one that comes down to the license, I have a feeling.

If I had to pick a likely winner, it's probably going to be Adventure Time. That's mainly because Nintendo hates making money. Otherwise, Zelda would be the easy winner for this round.

The Disney Princess, LEGO style

2014-01-25T13:02:00.002-08:00

With a young daughter in the house, I am forced to admit that several of the more recent retail sets I have built are from the Friends theme. Introduced a few years ago, the line has become a favorite of my daughter and she frequently enjoys just looking at pictures of the sets online. Most of her collection is from polybags, although she did score the sweet Heartlake Pool for Christmas. Of course, I ended up building it, but she was quite happy with the finished product.

Now that LEGO has tested the waters a little with a girl-focused theme and had some success, they have moved on to a more licensed approach with the loved and hated mini-dolls. Hitting store shelves in 2014 is a line of Disney Princess inspired sets, complete with little versions of some of the franchise's most well-loved characters. LEGO and princesses is not exactly new of course. They have had DUPLO versions of the characters out there for a few years, and that line appears to be continuing. But moving them in to regular brick form greatly expands the audience and the final results look quite nice.

Let's take a look at the sets serving as the introduction to this line in their "big kid" brick form.

41050 - Ariel's Amazing Treasures - The smallest entry in the line, this set features the mermaid version of Ariel and a Flounder piece. It's only 77 parts, and most of them are pretty basic. Of note are the trans-purple starfish, pearl gold gates, and a light purple arch and slopes, which are all unique to this set. Clocking in at 77 pieces with a $12.99 price tag, this is a relatively horrible deal on the price per part front. It's not totally unexpected, given the licensed nature of the set, but the build itself is also fairly plain. The Ariel figure will probably drive sales of this set on its own, but I can't see myself picking this up unless it's discounted below the $10 mark.

41051 - Merida's Highland Games - For just $7 more, this set feels much more substantial than the Ariel set and actually has quite a bit of activity going on. You get a decent sized castle wall, several little game stations, and a very nice looking Merida figure (along with her three bear brothers). From a parts-pack perspective, you get some very useful tan bricks and plant pieces. The light purple door and gold bow appear to be unique to this set. The latter is likely far more useful from a MOC perspective. It's still suffers from the licensed curse of a weak price to piece ration, but I'm a little more forgiving of that simply because there are far more useful parts in this set (as long as you leave the stickers off). This is probably an easy pick-up if it sees any discount at all.

41052 - Ariel's Magical Kiss - Ariel gets a second offering in the opening salvo of princess sets, this time in her human form and paired up with Prince Eric. This is a cute little scene that seems to recreate Ariel's room from the movie, while also pairing it up with the boat scene as well. Outside of the pink boat and figures, nothing is really unique to this set (although a few parts are pretty close). There are still quite a few very useful elements present though, including a wide selection of plants. At 250 pieces for about $30, I'm sure the Amazon reviews will be filled with the usual "not as big as I expected" complaints I usually see, but there's actually some pretty good value here.

41053 - Cinderella's Dream Carriage - Full disclosure: My daughter has the DUPLO version of this set and the carriage is probably one of her favorite LEGO pieces ever. It has been used to give many characters a ride around the play room. This will probably be one of the sets from the line she ends up getting early on and I think it's one of the better offerings. The carriage itself is actually a fairly impressive build that makes good use of SNOT techniques to give the finished product its curves. The heavy use of white and medium blue helps to significantly cut down on the presence of pink and purple that seem to dominate other sets in the theme. The golden wheels of the carriage are something completely new and I'm already looking at them as a possible wall decoration piece for MOCs. They are very well done and quite impressive. My only complaint is that there's no fairy godmother figure included, which limits some of the play activity with the set.

41054 - Rapunzel's Creativity Tower - The good news is that $40 gives you a fairly decent sized castle-style tower that's packed with play features and actually evokes some sense of Rapunzel's home in Tangled. The bad news is that the majority of the tower is built using panels, which leaves most of the detail work to be done with stickers. I would feel a little weird spending $40 on a 299 piece set as well. Favorite things about the set: There's a Pascal figure/piece and there's a unique tan 1x12x3 arch. If I was going to go with the more castle-like entries of the line, I would probably go with the flagship of the theme that I'll be talking about next.

41055 - Cinderella's Romantic Castle - At about $70 for 646 pieces, this is actually one of the best priced sets of the entire theme. It's also packed with a ton of rare pieces, which are appearing for their first time in gold, light blue, and even in tan. The castle itself still relies heavily on the use of panels to build the main structure, but there is far more detail work done using actual bricks than what we see in the Rapunzel set. Height-wise, it's actually only a few bricks taller than the Rapunzel tower, but it's also more spread out and features a well done garden area. I can easily see this being a hard to find set by next Christmas, so it might be worth watching for sales over the summer if you want to pick this one up for a little princess fan.

Overall impressions: While I'm not terribly excited by the heavy use of wall panels to build most of the structures in this line, I think all of the sets have some well thought out play features that will make them very well received. The use of some bigger pieces will actually make it easier for younger builders to do several steps on their own as well. While my own daughter is a little more obsessed with My Little Pony than princesses right now, there are plenty of girls in the target age range for these sets who will probably eat them right up.

These are a smart move by LEGO and I can see the theme carrying on for quite some time. I actually find myself hoping we get some of the villains from these stories as well, although my guess is the line will remain relatively conflict free.

LEGO The Simpsons House revealed

2014-01-08T18:09:00.000-08:00

The rumors have been going around for months. Images of the figures have been circulating on various forums for the past few weeks. Then, earlier this week, the first images of an actual set made its way on to EuroBricks. Finally, LEGO has confirmed that they are in fact doing a licensed theme featuring "The Simpsons," the gold standard of animated Sunday night programming for more than two decades.

I must say, I'm fairly impressed. Here is the press release, via Brickset.

71006 The Simpsons House

Ages 12+ 2,523 pieces

US $199.99 - CA $229.99 - DE 199.99€ - UK £179.99 - DK 1,699.00 DKK

*Euro pricing varies by country. Please visit shop.LEGO.com for regional pricing.

D’oh! The Simpsons™ House has been turned into LEGO® bricks!

Build The Simpsons™ House with detachable roof, modular design, car with dent, the famous family couch, 6 minifigures and so much more.

Recreate hilarious scenes from the classic animated TV series with The Simpsons™ House. Taken right out of Springfield, this amazing model is crammed with tons of LEGO® brick detail.

Lift off the roof and open up the house to discover Homer and Marge’s big family bedroom including bed and Maggie’s crib, Bart’s room with his skateboard and Krusty the Clown poster, Lisa’s room with her favorite books, jazz poster and more, and bathroom with shower, toilet, sink and mirror.

Lift off the top floor to reveal the fully-fitted kitchen with dining table, chairs, yellow and light-blue tiled floor and lots of pots, pans and other accessories. Then it’s into the living room with couch and TV playing Itchy and Scratchy, purple piano and more.

Next to the house is the detachable garage, complete with workbench, tool rack, vacuum cleaner, broom, toolbox, tools and the family car, complete with dent (because only in a LEGO world are dents a plus!), opening trunk and ‘radioactive’ bar from the nuclear power plant. Step outside onto the terrace and you’ll find loads of cool items, including a grill, wheelbarrow and air conditioning unit with ‘Property of Ned Flanders’ decoration, sausages, 2 garden loungers, flowerpots, a shovel, 2 fruit cocktail glasses, Lisa’s camera, Bart’s skateboard ramp with ‘El Barto’ graffiti and an antenna on the roof.

The Simpsons™ House is the perfect collector’s item for fans of all ages. Includes 6 minifigures: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and Ned Flanders.

Includes 6 minifigures: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and Ned Flanders
First floor includes yellow and light-blue tiled floor, sink, oven and stove, drawers, cups, pot, pan, bowl, mixer, plates, cake tins, cutlery, dining table and 4 chairs
Living room features TV playing Itchy and Scratchy, couch, boat painting, telephone, carpet, purple piano and staircase to the second floor with family photos
Bart’s room features a bed, night lamp, desk with pin board, chair, Krusty the Clown poster, skateboard, shelves with books, radio and a cap
Marge and Homer’s bedroom features a bed, 2 side tables, Maggie’s crib and Marge’s bagLisa’s room features a vanity mirror with hairbrush, stool, bed, table with lamp and cup, shelves with books, magnifying glass, backpack and a jazz poster on the wall
Bathroom features a shower, toilet, sink and a mirror
Detachable garage features the family car, tools, workbench, tool rack, vacuum cleaner, toolbox and a broom
Family car with space for 4 minifigures features a dent in the front and an opening trunk to store Homer’s suitcase and a ‘radioactive’ bar from the nuclear power plant
Outside area includes a grill, wheelbarrow and air conditioning unit with ‘Property of Ned Flanders’ decoration, sausages, 2 garden loungers, flowerpots, a shovel, 2 fruit cocktail glasses, Lisa’s camera, Bart’s skateboard ramp with ‘El Barto’ graffiti and an antenna on the roof
Can you spot all the items Homer has “borrowed” from Ned Flanders?
Remove the roof and top floor to access the different rooms inside
House is hinged in the middle for easy access
The perfect set for fans of LEGO® brick building and The Simpsons™!
The Simpsons™ House measures over 9” (23cm) high, 16” (42cm) wide and 9” (24cm) deep

Available for sale directly through LEGO® beginning February 2014 via shop.LEGO.com and LEGO Stores.

Worth noting, fans with a VIP card might be able to pick up the set a couple of weeks early. LEGO has an advertised early access sale on February 17th for an "exclusive set." Smart money is this is an early chance to grab this set for VIP members.

The LEGO Movie sets now available!

2014-01-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

Builders around the world are getting their hands on the new movie tie-in sets that go with the upcoming "The LEGO Movie" release. The sets are obviously heavily inspired by the upcoming feature film and I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about them. If you have not seen the trailer yet, I highly recommend taking a peek.
It looks like an action packed film and I hope to go see it when it hits theaters later this year. Of course, what good is a movie without toys to go with it? Thankfully, it looks like LEGO went all out with the tie-in sets, all of which appear to be (obviously) based on scenes and vehicles from the movie.
So, let's get to the sets. There's a pretty wide range for the line at multiple price points, which gives fans plenty of options. There are 13 sets in all.

70800 - Getaway Glider - Your impulse purchase of the line, this is one of the cheapest sets. The glider itself is a little mish-mash of parts (like much of the line) but offers some very cool new parts. The mustache part is new and the gray chicken part will be a great addition to any farm MOCs that are out there...if people actually do that. You also get a horse and two baddies, which should offer plenty of play possibilities. At 104 pieces for $12.99, it is a little overpriced., but it still looks like a cool little build for an intro set for the line.

70801 - Melting Room - But wait, there's another small set! Once again, you get Emmet, along with the Heroine of the film, Wyldstyle, and some sort of robot cop. At 122 pieces for $12.99, this is a slightly better value for the money. That said, the set is a pretty basic jumble of bricks and I think 70800 offers a little bit more playability for this price point. It is great to see what (I assume) are the two main characters of the movie in a small set.

70802 - Bad Cop's Pursuit - Futuristic flying police car? Check. Couple of Alligators sporting police lights? Check. Portion of a collapsed bridge? Che...wait, what? I absolutely love the car in this set. It's very sleek and reminiscent of something out of The Fifth Element, one of my favorite sci-fi action movies. The bridge itself seems a little tacked on, but I guess it helps explain the presence of the gators in the set. At $29.99 for a 314 piece set, we finally get past that golden ratio of about $0.10 a piece. Still, I probably would have been much more excited about this set if it was $20 and just dropped the bridge.

70803 - Cloud Cuckoo Palace - What..the...heck? This thing looks like a nightmare of pastels and what (I hope) is an ironic twist on sets that are typically targeted at girls. I don't hate it, but I don't love it. There are many factors that actually make this set interesting though. There are a ton of rare parts in here, both in element type and in the colors they are present in. I'm also a big fan of the suit print on Executron's torso. I can always use a few extra businessmen type prints for populating my city layouts. That said, as much as I love rare parts and unusual colors, I don't see this one being a big priority for me to pick up. I might grab a few copies for a parts draft, if it sees a decent discount down the line.

70804 - Ice Cream Machine - Here we have the first of several "2-in-1" sets in the line. There are a series of City-like vehicles (and one castle) that have alternative battle machine modes. It's an awesome idea and I think this part of the theme will end up including some of the more memorable sets. Up first is an ice cream truck that can be turned in to a plane. Note those flick-fire missiles have Popsicles for tips and the ice cream cone on top turns into a cannon. This set is an early favorite of mine and I hope to pick it up soon. At 344 pieces for $30, this is also a pretty good deal on the parts/price ratio.

70805 - Trash Chomper - Never has a garbage (or is it recycling?) truck struck more terror into the hearts of bad guys. This is yet another wacky, yet awesome, 2-in-1 design that gives us a standard trash truck like many others in the City line...but a crazy alternative mode that will send evil fleeing for the dumpsters. One of my favorite features of this set is the Technic mechanism that makes the jaws on the front actually chomp! A very nice little touch on this set. On the value side, 389 pieces for $30 is another big positive.

70806 - Castle Cavalry - The castle mode on this is pretty basic and is almost similar to The Gatehouse Raid set. Of course, things get crazy when it turns into a steam punk like flying contraption. This is probably the least effective version of the 2-in-1 sets in terms of turning a real world object into a battle machine, largely because you are making the vehicle out of what's normally a scenery piece. However, I expect this one to sell very well for reasons beyond just the build itself. At 424 pieces for $30, this set is an amazing parts pack for castle fans. You get two great army builder figures that slot in nicely with the current Castle line, along with an array of great parts that can help expand existing sets or open the door to making additional creations. I will be watching closely for sales on this one.

70807 - MetalBeard's Duel - I love a good LEGO mech, especially some of the crazier ones that have come out recently like Ninjago's Samurai Mech. That set initially seemed like a random jumble of parts that worked well together, but I don't think it even holds a candle to this one. There are so many little details on the pirate mech, I don't even know where to start. From the peg leg to the cannon and shark arms...even the ice cream smoke coming out of the back, the designer did an amazing job here crafting something that evokes images of a crew of pirates rising from the sea in their battle suits, ready to plunder. The fact that he comes with a baddie to fight of almost equal size just means there's plenty of play potential with this set. At $35 for 412 pieces, not to mention several of them being worth a couple dollars on their own, this is an excellent set for parts as well.

70808 - Super Cycle Chase - Wyldstyle's cycle features pretty heavily in the trailers for the film, which probably means that accounts for most of its screen time in the actual movie. It's an interesting dragster style vehicle and looks like a fun build. I have to add that I'm really digging the police vehicles from this line. While not as cool as the flying bad cop car, the all terrain pursuit vehicle in this set is still pretty impressive. It looks very solid and actually appears to have room in the cab for two minifigures. That's kind of an oddity for most four-wheeled vehicle LEGO puts out. I do find it funny that the set comes with a spike strip, similar to what police deploy in real-world vehicle chases. That's an interesting, albeit a little scary, inclusion. RRP on this is $50 for 514 pieces, making it a good deal on the price per part front.

70809 - Lord Business' Evil Lair - I'm always a little mixed about scenery type sets, especially when it comes to larger models. On the one hand, I understand the impracticality of making a complete building at a certain price point. On the other, I always feel like it's a little incomplete. That being said, there are certainly enough play features packed into this set to pique my interest. Touches like the tube of Krazy Glue are pretty cool, although I'm more interested in the story behind the "Where are my pants?" sign. Lord Business himself has some cool legs, but I'm much more entertained by the use of a pair of red cups to give his helmet some horns. This set is the top end price point for the line, but still makes a good bargain at 738 pieces for about $70.

70811 - The Flying Flusher - While not as cool as Popsicles, flick-fire missiles bearing plungers on the end of them are also hilarious. The fourth vehicle in the $30 2-in-1 line is a plumbing truck turned airplane that features the plunging armament, along with water cannons and a hatchet propeller. This is probably my least favorite of the four, but it's once again a great deal at about $30 for 351 pieces. The higher set number at a lower price point may indicate this is an exclusive, which does seem a little odd for a non-licensed theme.

70812 - Creative Ambush - I don't have the words to really describe what's going on here. This does not appear to be a 2-in-1 set, although it does mimic the style of the other vehicles with the Saloon-plane and food cart VTOL. I think creative fits the name of this set very well, but it's also starting to feel a little forced. The lack of the 2-in-1 feature for what are obviously vehicles that started as something else makes this one fall a little short for me.

70813 - Rescue Reinforcements - The flying shack is cool and we see another brick-built baddie like the one in most other sets...but will you just look at that fire truck mech! While it doesn't have all of the little hidden details seen on MetalBeard's battle suit, this mech is still very impressive. The set is an excellent deal at 859 pieces for only about $70...but I wish I could get that fire engine mech just on its own.

Overall, I have to say I'm fairly impressed with the sets of this theme. The 2-in-1 line is easily my favorite and most of the sets I pick up will probably come from that price range. That's mainly because I love both the vehicle and the alt modes on each of them, but also because the price per piece ratio on each of them is just excellent. Most of the sets from this theme look to be a good deal, with a wide range of useful parts well below the usual $0.10 per part people shoot for. A big hand for LEGO's designers on these awesome sets for what I hope will be an excellent movie out on February 7th.

LEGO holiday gift guide - 2013 edition

2013-11-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

It's the holiday shopping season again, and it's a great time to look back at some of the best LEGO has to offer from 2013. Whether you are buying for young fans or older ones, these are my picks for what I would love to give or receive over the holiday season.

These picks are obviously not a complete list of all the great things that LEGO has to offer. They are based on my own experiences building them (at least many of them), general impressions from reading reviews, and from looking at the inventory/instructions from the sets. I don't think you can ever go wrong with any gift that involves LEGO. As an AFOL though, I field questions from parents all the time about what's the "best" set to get for their kid or relative. This list represents some of the suggestions I tend to offer.

Stocking Stuffers (Under $15)
Small LEGO sets can sometimes seem underwhelming, but these represent some of the better ones I believe are out there.

Collectible Minifigures - Widely available at major retail outlets, the CMF line continues to have wild popularity. The practice of 'feeling' packages to find that one specific figure is practically an art form, but I have never really been disappointed by any figure I have opened. Many of the characters are unique in the LEGO universe and these provide an excellent way to gather an army of citizens for any builder.

Emma's Karate Class - There are several Friends sets available in the $9.99 price range, but this is my pick for the most interesting of the bunch. There are some interesting pieces in this set and the karate outfit torso is a nice touch. My second pick at this price would be Mia's Magic Tricks (mainly because my daughter is in love with the little bunny).

Forest Ambush - Castle army building at its best, this set features four figures, a dog, plus plant pieces. It's obviously not a very substantial set, but it's the perfect addition to the collection of any Castle fan who wants to add a few more troops to join the battle.

Crawley's Claw Ripper - Like it or not, CHIMA appears to be here to stay for awhile. One of my nephews has become obsessed with the theme, so I'm getting a much closer look at some of the sets than I had originally planned. The figures in this theme really are great and extremely detailed. This vehicle is surprisingly durable and makes for a pretty funky little battle vehicle.

The Average gift range ($15-40)
This is where the bulk of my LEGO purchasing is done for gifts, so I will be offering quiet a few options here.

Spider-Man: Spider-Cycle Chase - I'm pretty happy with all of the Super Heroes sets in the $20 range. They all have a great selection of figures and interesting parts. This set gets my pick because I love Spider-Man and the car is just plain awesome. It's extremely sturdy and the hover conversion on the wheels opens up two avenues of play. Venom and Nick Fury are just great figures to have as well.

Eris' Eagle Interceptor - Still my favorite set from the CHIMA line, no question about it at all. This set has tons of articulation, great figures, and a very appealing color scheme. Even if you have an only passing interest in the theme, this set is a great build and the finished product is tons of fun.

The Golden Dragon - Ninjago remains wildly popular. This is a very nicely done set and I'm pretty sure you would have a hard time finding a boy who does not love ninjas and dragons. This has also been pretty deeply discounted for the past several months, making it a steal right now at the price it's listed at with many retailers.

Downtown Bakery - Food. Lots of food. I love sets that help me build up a menu for my LEGO figures to dine on. Aside from that, this really is a nice looking set with a good selection of parts. I have a feeling the Heartlake Pet Salon will get more love, but I've always like bakeries more than puppies.

Creator Tree House - What kid doesn't love a tree house? There's just so much detail packed into a $30 set here. It's the tree fort I always wanted to build as a kid, but never had a nearby tree big enough to put it in. The brick-built dog is also a great little touch.

Flatbed Truck - I'm a big fan of most CITY vehicles that are NOT related to the police of fire aspects of the line. I like good utility vehicles that you would commonly see driving around town each day. My only gripe about the set is that the woman should have a "freaking out" face printed on her, since most of my run-ins with tow trucks have not been under happy circumstances. On a similar note, the Monster Truck Transporter is pretty sweet as well.

Mini Backhoe Loader - I had very few Technic sets growing up and I don't really buy many of the sets from the line even now. I mainly just look at the instructions to see how the assemblies work, with the goal someday of incorporating moving parts in to some of my MOCs (have not tried that yet, it's on the list). This set really intrigued me though. It has a ton of cool features showcased by multiple points of articulation. For the more technical builder, I see this as a great entry-level set for Technic products.

Stagecoach Escape - Yes, the Lone Ranger movie was a flop at the box office. It doesn't change the fact that this is a great set with a ton of figures and three horses. It's fun to build and my daughter loves to play with it. I basically ignore the TLR connection and just like to think of this as a really good western set.

LEGO Play Book - While it's not a set, I think this book is just full of awesome and should be in every LEGO fan's collection. This thing is packed with some amazing ideas for kids and adults. DK publishing does an excellent job on these books.

The DeLorean Time Machine - I'm a child of the 80s, so it's probably no surprise that this set was a day one purchase for me. While there are some flaws with the model (such as the outline pieces that represent the edges of the windshield), I still believe this is a very well done set. Being able to easily alter the model to reflect the trilogy is an awesome idea. The finished product really feels so much better than the stock images LEGO put out for this. A snap buy for any AFOL who grew up in the 80s.

The Bat vs. Bane - While most young kids have probably not seen Nolan's gritty trilogy of Batman movies, I still think think this set offers a lot for any fan of the Dark Knight. At the top end of this price range, I found this to be a much better deal than the Malibu Mansion Attack in the Super Heroes line.

For the good kids ($40-80)
This is also the range where you start getting to sets adults will really enjoy more as well, since they offer more of a challenge and are typically more detailed.

Dragon Mountain - Easily my favorite set from the latest Castle line. The dragon is a great piece, but the actual structure itself is pretty darn cool as well. I think LEGO hit it just right with this one.

Spider-Man: Daily Bugle Showdown - I've raved about this set before, and it's probably one of my favorites from the second wave of Super Heroes sets in the mid-range of the line. The building itself is very impressive and Dr. Doom's ship is a fun little build. Good set is good.

Gorzan's Gorilla Striker - Two words: Banana Gun. I have an odd fondness for mech-style sets. I think they have some cool play features and usually have great parts in them. This is a pretty quirky set, but I think it's a ton of fun and worth picking up for any CHIMA fan.

Dolphin Cruiser - This set might even appeal to builders who don't even like Friends very much. The lift off design to access the lower cabins gives you the full range of play with the boat and the color scheme is very pleasing. I've actually considered adding a marina to my planned layout simply because this boat exists. Easily the best Friends set yet.

Turtle Lair Attack - While I don't think it can beat the actual full size version made for regular figures, this is still a great set. I only wish it came with all four turtles. There are plenty of little play features tucked in here and it has several very useful parts.

Family House - I don't think you can ever go wrong with the houses made for the Creator line. All of them feature some unique and creative designs that make them stand out. The two-toned roof creates a nice effect, as do the many large windows. I especially like the use of the light brick to help highlight the large interior space of the home.

Temple of Light - I have always enjoyed the designs for the major Ninjago sets that are location-based. This one provides you with an excellent looking mech and a pretty substantial building. Kids should love this because there is a wide variety of characters and giant robots are always a big hit.

For the "amazingly good kids/spouses" ($80-200)
This is the stuff that growing up as a kid my parents would have picked as a "big present" under the tree. These sets are the ones fans young and old will enjoy.

The Lion CHI Temple - This thing is pretty epic and serves its purpose well as the flagship of the CHIMA line. Packed with figures and play features, this is just an amazing set. Get it for the kids or get it for yourself. I think most builders will just love this one.

Republic Gunship - It's not the first version of this iconic vehicle to be made in brick form, but it's very easy to see why LEGO keeps rehashing this one. This latest version is very well done and makes an impressive display piece for fans who just want to add to their fleet of Star Wars ships. Even though I'm not a big fan of the prequels, I greatly enjoyed the Clone Wars animated series and this ship is featured heavily there. It's one of the few Star Wars sets this year that feels like a "must buy."

Jabba's Sail Barge - While initial impressions of this set were a little mixed, I think it turned out much better than many Star Wars fans initially thought it would. The barge uses a number of interesting building techniques and I think a Jabba figure is something every kid will love. That said, I still feel it's a little overpriced at regular retail. Look for sales on this one.

Palace Cinema - The modular building line is pretty much a staple of my collection at this point. I loved being able to add another corner building to my collection and this set just looks great. I still think having a windows in a movie theater is a little stupid, but I have been playing with a few different methods to replace them. It's not my favorite of the series, but it's a solid addition to the theme by LEGO.

Arkham Asylum Breakout - The new version of the classic Batman I set just blows its predecessor out of the water. I love this set and it's probably my absolute favorite from the past year. Several of the villains are exclusive to this set. It's a beautiful building and I just love the architectural features. This set will be a classic for years to come and I can't think of a good reason why you should not have it. Buy it. Buy it now. Just blame me for having to spend the money. I can live with that.

The Haunted House - While technically a 2012 set, I still felt compelled to put this on here because I truly do believe this is one of the best sets LEGO has available right now. This mansion really has it all. With a richly detailed exterior and interior, there are hours of enjoyment to be had with this set. I was extremely happy to add this to my personal collection and I believe this will easily fall in the category of sets that are remembered for years to come.

For the "Can you buy presents for me?" crowd ($200+)
This is the stuff that's for the really good kid/adult on your list.

Ewok Village - While the Death Star remains the top end of the Star Wars line, this new entry does a good job of recreating a key location of the original trilogy. Featuring 17 figures, you get a pretty substantial collection of OT characters here. As you would expect, there are a ton of play features in this. It's also a pretty detailed build, using a ton of different techniques to create the trees that hold up the village itself. I'm not a fan of most smaller Star Wars sets, but I always feel that LEGO gets it right when we get to the higher end of the price range for sets.

Sydney Opera House - I was lucky enough to see this over the summer at Brickworld, and I think it's an excellent addition to the landmark series of large sets. A variety of techniques are employed to create this iconic building. The finished product is very impressive and will wow anyone who sees it in person. The only downside is that the footprint for this set is pretty large, making it very difficult to find a place to put it on display.

Mindstorms EV3 - A friend of mine was very eager to get his hands on the latest version of this amazing series from LEGO, and I completely understand why after getting a chance to play around with it for awhile. The newest incarnation of Mindstorms is pricey, but the educational value of being able to create complex assemblies and then program them makes this a truly great product. As has been proven with previous versions of Mindstorms, the possibilities with a set like this are truly endless.

That about covers it for what I feel are some of the best of the best LEGO has out there this year. Still, like I said at the start, I don't believe a bad LEGO present exists. It's pretty much guaranteed that any child I'm shopping for this year will be getting bricks for the holidays.

Building an active LUG

2013-11-09T19:17:00.000-08:00

I have been pretty negligent about posting these past few months. Part of the reason is a rather busy work and family life schedule, but another factor is that I have been working much harder at getting my local LUG (LEGO User Group) to be much more active. Over the summer the founder of the LUG I belong to (WisLUG) moved out of the area. I agreed to take over the administration of the group, and it's been quite a ride since then.

For those unfamiliar with the LUG program, they are an outlet for local Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOL) to come together and share their love of all things brick built. While LUGs are active in many different ways, a primary goal of the program is to help promote the LEGO brand through helping with and running public events. This can include organizing independent displays in an area, participating in events at LEGO brand retail stores, or coming together with members from many LUGs for large public displays (Brickworld).

I joined WisLUG about a year after it started. It's membership had been growing, but we still had sparse attendance at meetings. No real big activities had taken off yet and the first major thing I did was help build displays for the Milwaukee LEGO store. Since taking over in July, I have made it my goal to get the group more active in a variety of activities. In the past, we had simply been doing displays for the nearest LEGO store and at Brickworld. I have been working extremely hard to find us more local outlets, and that work is finally starting to pay off.

In October, the LUG held its first independent event at a local education/independent toy shop. Over a dozen members helped contribute to a group build, while also providing their own MOCs (My Own Creations) to help fill several tables with wonderful works of LEGO building. The next weekend, we took many of those MOCs down with us to a Rockford, IL Park District event, where we joined members of others LUGs for a LEGO-related event at the venue. Both shows were a great deal of fun and were a great way to connect with other LEGO fans in our area. They were also a valuable learning experience in figuring out what I need to keep in mind when organizing our participation in these activities.

Things are starting to pick up as well. I am currently talking to our local library system about doing events in connection with LEGO clubs they host each month. We are looking at doing at least three events in 2014 at different branches where members will display work and we will have some bulk brick for kids to build with.

So, that's why I have been pretty scarce on the blogging front lately. Most of my non-building free time has been tied up with trying to find local venues for us to display in. As we get more active, I'm hoping our membership will grow as well, which should help us be able to staff even more local events.

LEGO Back to the Future set now available

2013-08-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

The long wait is over for those who have been hoping to get their hands on the latest CUUSOO set. The Back to the Future Time Machine is now widely available at retail release. I have two on their way to me now, one for myself and another for a likely gift later this year. I'm sure a review will be on the way eventually.

With early sales and the presale at SDCC, this set has already been out in the wild for a couple of weeks. Reviews have been mixed, but there seems to be a broad consensus that some of the alternate builds of the model are better than the primary display mode. The BTTF series was a favorite of mine while growing up. I'm looking forward to putting this one together to relive some of those memories. I will, of course, be watching the movies while building each version.

LEGO announces two more Minecraft sets

2013-07-17T08:02:00.002-07:00

Following up on the heels of its super popular CUUSOO Minecraft set, LEGO has announced two more sets are coming this fall. The announcement came during San Diego Comic Con, which is going on this week.

This seems like a great decision on the part of TLG. The original Minecraft set has been a huge hit, and was in high demand during the holidays last year. I'm not the least bit shocked to see them continuing to pursue this property, since it seems like a natural fit for LEGO.

The officials press release is below the cut. Thanks to The Brick Show for the info.

COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: SAN DIEGO (July 17, 2013) -- Delighting LEGO® and Minecraft fans across the globe, The LEGO Group today announced it is extending its relationship with Swedish game developer Mojang to build on the blockbuster success of its first LEGO Minecraft building set to add two new models that will be released September 1, 2013.

LEGO Minecraft provides the opportunity to build, reconfigure and create new Minecraft micro-worlds in a physical LEGO way. The two new 3"x3"x3" models, The Village and The Nether, are on display for the first time at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Fans can also enjoy and take pictures with a large interactive 3D mosaic complete with Micromob character props at the LEGO booth (#2829).

"LEGO Minecraft is a perfect example of how people's passions can be amplified when digital and physical interests are combined, and there couldn't be more synergy between the engine that drives the Minecraft gaming experience and the creative fuel of a LEGO building experience," said Michelle Wilson, senior brand manager for LEGO Systems, Inc. "We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Mojang to create new Minecraft characters and environments in LEGO form so that fans can get as creative as they'd like in their physical world as in their digital one."

"There's no doubt about the connection between LEGO building and Minecraft -- not only the design similarities, but the immense creativity that our fan bases share," said Lydia Winters, Mojang's director of fun. "Given how well received the first model was last year, we can't wait to see what fans think of these new designs."

LEGO Minecraft New Product Highlights

The Village

With this model, fans can create and customize their own Minecraft village with LEGO bricks. Just like the game, fans can build houses, grow crops and beware the mines in their own micro-world as well as play out their own storylines with Pig, Villager and Zombie constructible Micromob figures.

The Nether

Builders can create the Minecraft Obsidian Portal and The Nether to explore the newest biome with this microscale LEGO model, complete with Netherrack, gravel, flowing lava and bedrock. This model includes two Ghasts and one Zombie Pigman constructible Micromob figures.

The new LEGO Minecraft micro-scale models can be split into four sections and reconfigured for different play experiences. They will be available beginning September 1, 2013 with a suggested retail price of $34.99.

SDCC 2013 Super Hero minifigures unveiled

2013-07-15T10:16:00.002-07:00

LEGO is continuing its tradition of offering several exclusive Super Heroes minifigures at the San Diego Comic Con, which gets underway later this week. The figs for this year include Spider-Woman, a black suited Superman, Green Arrow, and a new torso print for Spider-Man.

As a fan of the Super Heroes line, I'm a little sad that I will likely never own a single one of these.These figures have seen extremely high demand in the past and typically command a huge price on the secondary market. Previous versions have pretty much started with price tags north of $100, since the only way to get them is to be at the show and to win the lottery.

The return of LEGO Castle

2013-07-03T18:00:00.002-07:00

As a young boy, LEGO's Castle theme was easily my favorite of the bunch. I've commented before about the hours spent drawing up my own plans for massive LEGO castles and the excitement of getting a large portion of the theme in its early days. I still have most of those sets sitting in storage, waiting to be rebuilt.

Unfortunately, that's likely where they are going to stay for a bit. I seem to have multiple projects piling up and the new and shiny stuff keeps grabbing my attention. Of course, that new and shiny includes the latest wave of Castle sets that are starting to come out right now. LEGO had them online first and now Amazon has them listed as well. The line is pretty small, but I wanted to take a few minutes to go over what's being offered.

70400: Forest Ambush
The smallest set in the line is essentially a battle pack, featuring four minifigures (two from each faction) and a dog. The treasure chest on a cart is not really a new concept and I do have to question why the flick-fire missile is coming out of a rock wall. There are some useful parts in here, but at $11.99 I'm probably waiting for a discount on this one.

70401: Gold Getaway
For $19.99, you get a decent carriage, a horse, and three minifigures. From an army builder perspective, I would probably prefer the Forest Ambush set. Carriages are pretty much a standard with every Castle/Kingdoms release, and I would probably prefer some of the older versions over this one. The tiny wall and Balista are a nice touch to round out the set, but I probably would have opted for a fourth figure over the outpost wall.

70402: The Gatehouse Raid
Here we go. For just $10 more ($29.99), you get a far more impressive set that really starts to feel like a Castle offering. The structure itself looks very well done and I've always been a sucker for the barding piece on horses. The catapult is little simplistic, but I have to admit I really like the color scheme for the Dragon Knights and the use of red cheese wedges to kind of create a dragon scale effect.

70403: Dragon Mountain
There's a dragon! Also a princess and a wizard! This is a pretty sweet base for the Dragon Knights. While the wall itself is not very big, there really are plenty of play features packed in. Also, did I mention there's a DRAGON!? I'm sold. I'm already having the urge to put a couple of these together to build a real dragon stronghold. It might take awhile before I get there at $49.99, but I'm feeling the need to start sketching up some castle plans.

70404: King's Castle
There have been five sets that have carried the name "King's Castle," including the one that also has "Siege" in the title. There's actually seven, if you count both versions of King Leo's Castle. In modern times, they have all had a RRP around the $100 mark.

This latest offering in the line looks to be pretty much your standard castle. I do notice there are some stickers to give the wall pieces some texturing. Dislike. With seven figures (The king of the Lion faction, three Lion soldiers, and three Dragon Knights) it will not be the most well populated conflict. You do get a decent sized fortress to defend though, so as the namesake of the theme, it will do. There's nothing that really stands out with this latest iteration of the King's Castle, but it's not exactly terrible either. An easy pick up if you have so far managed to not end up without a castle in your collection.

Overall, the latest version of the Castle theme offers up pretty much what you would expect from the line's history. You get a few fun playsets and a big fortress to serve as the crown jewel of the line. All feels right in my LEGO world having castles back on store shelves. It's only a matter of time before all feels really right and one of these is in my collection.

The Lone Ranger Stagecoach Escape - 79108 LEGO Review

2013-06-26T17:28:00.000-07:00

The Lone Ranger movie is due out in theaters next week and I figured it was finally time to get around to building one of the LEGO sets from the movie line that have been sitting off to the side for a few weeks now. So far, I have picked up the Stagecoach Escape and Constitution Train. I'll be reviewing the train here in a few days.

The Stagecoach was the first set of the line that jumped out at me as a must have. In terms of western vehicles, you can't really get much more iconic than a red wagon being pulled by a team of horses. Add in the fact that you get a set packed full of figures and features, and it was hard to come up with a reason not to add this set to my collection.

What's in the box?
The set consists of three numbered bags, a small sheet of decals, and a single instruction booklet. As usual with the smaller sets, the instructions are not protected and will likely come out of the box slightly folded. Bag 1 includes two horses, Lone Ranger minifigure, Jesus minifigure (that would HEY-zeus, I imagine), and the bricks to build the base of the wagon and hitch for the horses. Bag 2 includes Tonto and most of the main frame for the coach. Bag 3 has the Barrett and Red Harrington figs, along with bricks for finishing the build.

In terms of parts, most of the bricks included are widely available and nothing is exclusive, outside of the figures. The gold 2x2 tile is only in one other set, as are the reddish brown suspension beams used on the wheels of the coach. There are quite a few useful pieces in here still and the color selection is pretty good.

Extra pieces

You also get two copies of the 1x1 pocket watch tile piece. By the time this line is done, this piece will probably be as common as the compass from Pirates of the Caribbean sets. I should also note that I got an extra reddish brown hat and a couple extra revolvers, which I was quite pleased with.

What about the minifigures?

For a $30 set, it's pretty impressive to see that LEGO crammed in a whopping five minifigures. They include the two main characters and what I'm guessing is a major villain, henchman, and female lead of the movie. Tonto and Red both have great soft hair pieces, which have holes in them for adding on headgear (Tonto's crow and Red's hat).

The torso printing on all of the figures is great. Red and Tonto are the only figs with expressions printed on each side of their heads. The cowboy hats on the others pretty much make that impossible to do.

Overall, I was quite impressed with the figures. The inclusion of five movie characters in a set this size is almost unheard of, but it's very welcome.

How is the build?

As with most vehicles, construction starts from the ground up. You build the main struts and wheels to begin with, along with the hitch for the horses. Next is a little technic contraption that allows you to bounce a small suitcase out of the back side of the coach. Then it's the walls and driver's seat. The build is topped off with the roof of the stagecoach and a small safe that holds a silver bar.

The build itself is pretty basic and nothing really came across as too challenging. It took me about two hours, but that was largely because I was watching a movie and had some other distractions. If you focused on just the build, I can't imagine this taking more than an hour.

Stickers are minimal and, while not essential, do enhance the overall final product quite nicely. The two largest are used on a pair of 1x4x3 red wall pieces, which creates the backs of the seats inside the stagecoach. There are two more that go on a pair of 1x8 brown tiles and say "STAGE COACH." Finally, you get four that are mounted on 2x2 red tiles that go by the doors on each side.

Final thoughts
I got pretty much exactly what I expected to out of this set. Considering I went in with high expectations, it did not disappoint. While I have not yet built the rest of the TLR line, I hope the rest of them look just as good when they are complete.

At a US retail price of $29.99, 279 pieces, five minifigures, and three horses, I think this set is a steal. If you can get any sort of discount, it should pretty much be an on the spot purchase. When I'm shopping for Christmas gifts for LEGO fans later this year, this will probably be one of the first sets I consider.

Worth noting for US buyers, Amazon currently has the set on sale for just $24.97.

Building a major MOC using LEGO - Part 5: The finishing touches

2013-06-24T20:38:00.002-07:00

All of the sections are complete and the time has come to pull everything together. As with most major MOCs, I designed this to be pulled apart for transport. It's a great way to pack something like this up in a few boxes and minimize the space needed for moving. Of course, there's still a little bit of work that's needed to bring everything together and see how it looks before sending it off to the show.

Finishing up work on a major project leaves me with some mixed feelings. On the one hand, I'm extremely happy to be able to move on to something else and make new plans. On the other, it's been such a time consuming process, that it feels a little strange not to be working on this design anymore.

Oh well, let's wrap this up.
My original plan was to have everything standing alone on four identical baseplates, which could then be fit together easily and capped off with a dome. Sadly, the need to angle portions of the build made that pretty much impossible. Instead, I went with the Capitol wings tied together to a central building and the dome placed on top. The baseplates could then be on their own, tied together with a central plate and a 4x4 turntable acting as a central pivot point to help line up the X of the building on the square.

As for the actual process of bringing those pieces together, the wings are attached using a mix of plates. The 8x8 with a corner cut plates are perfect for creating the angle I was looking for. The inner wall sections with a staircase were mounted using 2x2 turntables on the top and bottom. This had an added bonus of giving me some room to work with when lining up those sections with the tiles on the main base.

The central section of the building is largely hollow, primarily because I was worried about weight. A trick I used to help keep that weight down and reduce the need to build large support pillars came courtesy of my daughter's LEGO box. Using DUPLO bricks to build the inner support columns was a huge help in spreading out the weight of the roof, while reducing the need to use a ton of regular sized bricks. One DUPLO 2x4 is equal to eight standard 2x4 bricks, so that was big help. A few layers of plates on the roof helped tie everything together and the dome rests right on top. I have to say, I was pretty happy with the finished product.

I'm obviously a little behind on getting this wrapped up, since Brickworld Chicago is a little over a week past at this point. The MOC was done before then though and here's a picture of it on display at the show.

Sadly, only one member of the LUG was able to get another building done, so our downtown landscape did not turn out as grand as I had hoped. Still, my build was always meant to stand on its own if needed. It was nowhere near as large as many of the builds I was able to see in Chicago (more on those later), but I'm still happy with the results of what really was my first major project of my own design.

Thanks for following along with me on this process. On to bigger and new things!

Check out previous installments of this series: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

LEGO Sydney Opera House (10234) unveiled!

2013-06-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I wish I was at Brickworld in Chicago tonight. I unfortunately had a busy work week and will not be able to get down there until tomorrow. Had I been there tonight, I would have been so happy to see this amazing reveal of the Sydney Opera House!

This thing is just awesome and absolutely huge!

The official info, via Brickset:

10234 Sydney Opera House™

Ages 16+. 2,989 pieces.

Recreate Australia’s architectural masterpiece!

US $319.99 CA $379.99 DE 279.99€ UK 249.99 £ DK 2499.00 DKK
Recreate one of the 20th century’s most distinctive buildings with the Sydney Opera House™ model. Build the unmistakable shell roofline, waterfront forecourt and more with this authentic representation of Australia’s most iconic building. Employ a variety of new and advancedbuilding techniques to recreate the complex forms, angled walls and subtle detailing of the real thing! Collect lots of dark tan LEGO® bricks including the rare 1x1x2/3 stud and 1x2x2/3 stud slopes, as well as a 48×48 stud baseplate in blue for the very first time!

• Build this model of a UNESCO World Heritage Site!
• Includes hard-to-find dark tan LEGO® bricks, tiles and sloped bricks!
• Collect the 48×48 stud baseplate, available in blue for the very first time!
• Sturdy construction allows the model to be handled and moved!
• Features advanced building techniques for complex forms, angled walls and subtle detailing!
• Measures over 11″ high, 25″ wideand 15″ deep!

At $320, this thing is obviously not going to be a cheap set to pick up. I will need to score a decent discount before I can even think about bringing it home. Also, I need somewhere to put it when it's done. It really is a wonderful looking set though and I really want to see how they handled the construction of this.

UPDATE: I managed to find this beauty nestled in with the general displays at Brickworld this weekend. Here are some close-up shots of different sections of the model.

Wides shot from the side.

A view of the back end.

The sails from above.

A close look at some of the trans black pieces used for the windows.

I have to admit, the size of this set in person is quite impressive. It will be very tempting to pick this up shortly after release.

Building a major MOC using LEGO - Part 4: To the dome

2013-06-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

In tackling this project, I knew that the dome was going to be a bit of a challenge. The very brickish nature of LEGO doesn't exactly lend itself very well to curved shapes. There are, of course, a few specialty pieces made by LEGO that create that curved effect on their own. However, they can look out of place if the proportions are off. In this case, given the size of this project, I could not find anything that would match the specific length and size I was looking for.

As I'm sure many people who MOC do, I looked to random image searches for a little bit of inspiration. Oddly enough, I ended up finding something close to what I was shooting for with this project from a post about spheres. This helped give me some insight in to how to get at least a portion of the effect I was looking for.

I started construction of the dome by figuring out the basic footprint I was shooting for, which ended up being 8x8 studs. From there, I started building a layer of staggered plates up the top, ending up with something resembling a pyramid. Then it was simply a matter of using a combination of 1x4 and 1x2 plates to create kind of a terrace effect from the bottom to the top. This left me with a roundish surface when I was done.

I decided to use a SNOT approach to help cascade off the sides, since the dome of the Capitol is more elongated than spherical. I used a pair of 1x1 bricks with a stud on the side on each side of the building, which gives the plate two firm connection points. You could use something else, but I had a ton of these on hand already from another stage of the building process.

Once the snot plates were attached, I used a 1x8 modified plate with door rail to help smooth out the edges.

From there, I was able to just do a solid wall on each side with some windows and other design features to add some texture. I think the finished product ended up looking pretty good for my first try at a domed structure.

We're almost done! In the next installment, I'm going to go over how I tied the entire project together.

Check out previous installments of this series: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Building a major MOC using LEGO - Part 3: Raise it up

2013-06-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

Most people who have built anything on a standard 10 inch baseplate have probably suffered through the frustration of parts popping off when you go to actually move your creation. While these large plates offer a great continuous surface to work with when building, they are a little flimsy. This is an issue I knew was gong to be a problem as soon as I started this project, mainly because I was going to be using a LOT of tiles on the base. Those 1x2 tiles have a habit of just coming off when you don't want them to, especially mounted on a baseplate.

You may have noticed that a lot of MOC builders often present their finished product on a raised display stand. This feature really serves two purposes. First of all, it offers a decorative flair to the area beneath the MOC. Second, it makes it easier to move large projects around after construction is complete, minimizing the risk of pieces coming loose when there's a change in the tension as the plate bows ever so slightly.
For this project, I went with the standard baseplate as the bottom layer. I then used a mix of 2x4 and 2x6 brick around the perimeter. Stacks of two 2x4 bricks were then placed at intervals inside the square, which allowed me to essentially tile the baseplate with a mix of 6x8 and 2x6 green plates. The finished product ended up being extremely stable, making sure my tiles for the roads and sidewalks remain firmly in place when this has to be moved. I'm not personally setting this up at Brickworld this weekend, so I wanted to make the process as easy as possible for the person who will be doing the heavy lifting.

Now, you may ask why I bothered going two bricks high on this. You can get a similar added stability by just adding normal building plates on top of the baseplate, without messing with all that extra 2x4 brick. The reason is actually the third benefit of using a raised base for a large project.

As I continued work on the Capitol building, I realized that there was going to need to include a mechanism to help mount the Capitol on the base at an angle. The building I'm modeling this project after is actually a hexagon, with an angled entry way between each of the four wings of the building. In addition, the property actually sits as an 'X' inside the square block it was built on. The wings themselves actually point toward the four corners of the property.

Most MOC builders know that mounting anything at an angle can be quite difficult. This is especially true if you are building a larger project. Fortunately, turntables exist. I went with a 4x4 turntable, which rests two plates below the surface layer of the project. This allows the building to actually rests on the tiles on the top layer, while still having the central turntable as a connection point to the base. The use of a turntable also gives me the ability to shift the entire building at once, so I have some extra freedom when lining up the different angles.

For the roads and sidewalks, I used a double row of black and then a single line of light grey. Microfig scale does provide some benefits in terms of space, although I'm still using a ton of tiles across four baseplates.

You will notice the heavily tiled section near the top edge of the picture. This is sort of the plaza in front of each wing of the building, which each edge will rest on. The green 2x2 tile that's sticking out is there to support the building along the edge to the central section of the building. I honestly lost track of how many tiles I have used at this point. I know that I cleaned out at least three different sellers on Bricklink though. I guess the upside is I may never need to order 1x2 light grey tiles ever again.

Next up, I'm going to talk about domes

If you're just stumbling on to this series, be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2.

Building a major MOC using LEGO - Part 2: Planning

2013-06-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

Building with LEGO can sometimes be an interesting process. For many builders, nothing beats sitting down with a bunch of parts and doing some free building, even if no goal is in mind. For others, painstaking preparations are made with the laying of every piece planned in advance.

Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle. I like to have an idea of what I'm getting into so I can order parts, but I'm very open about what the finished product should end up looking like when I'm building my own design. This partially comes from the fact that I really do not like the digital design tools that are out there right now. I've used LEGO Digital Designer on a few occasions and the interface, quite honestly, annoyed me to no end. Searching for specific elements can be a pain and my computer always seems too slow to keep up.

For my current project, I went a little rudimentary on playing with the design. I started by generating a rough sketch of what I wanted to build and then marking it up a little to get an idea of what types of bricks would be needed to achieve the desired effect. I then did my best to identify those parts, primarily using the wonderful catalog feature that's available on BrickLink.

Using BL makes it easier to generate a want list as well, which then helps me search stores for maximum effectiveness in purchasing power. I'm more likely to spend a few extra pennies on the elements I want, if I can get most of them from a single buyer to save on shipping. Minimizing those postage costs was a lesson I learned last summer when sourcing my Cafe Corner. It's not worth the hassle of having to order from four different sellers if I end up paying at least $2-3 on shipping per order.

For my current project, I need quite a bit of white brick. This can be a pain, as I'm pretty much buying all of it new to limit possible discoloration. I've made some progress so far. After a nice round of orders, I came up with this as my final design for each of the four wings of the Capitol building.

You will notice quite a few changes from the original schematic and the current physical product. This is largely the result of sitting down and actually building. Some features I envisioned did not work out the way I hoped they would, while the chance to add other details presented itself during the building process. I also scaled down some other features after I realized some of the dimensions were not working well in the physical realm. The goal here is of course to create enough variation in the surface to mimic some of the architectural features of the real thing.

The front end changed a little in the design process as well. I was having a hard time getting the angled roof to work in a way that did not also result in the internal support structure being highly visible. It's a design feature I was willing to compromise on. I'm still quite happy with how this section of the build worked out.

Next up, I'm going to cover how I dealt with stability of the baseplate and played with way different ways of properly mounting this to accurately reflect how the Capitol sits on the grounds.

Summer wave of LEGO Lord of the Rings sets now available

2013-06-03T18:56:00.001-07:00

The summer line of LEGO products is coming out fast and furious, with the latest releases including a fresh wave of Lord of the Rings sets. I have to admit, I sat out for The Hobbit sets. Most of them were cool and Bag End is still very much on my want list, but I only recently got around to watching the movie and the dwarves just did not excite me very much. For some reason, the LotR sets feel a little different in my eyes. I don't know if it's just fond memories of the trilogy, or if it's that there are far more characters and environments to work with right now. I really feel like there's plenty they can do with the line.

With that said, I'm very excited about the latest wave that's hitting store shelves now. We are getting a good mix of items at fairly reasonable price points. There's also the first female fig of the LotR line with Arwen, which I'm sure many people are excited about. As is usual when a new line of a theme I enjoy hits the shelves, I like to take a few minutes to jot down my thoughts on them.

79005-1: The Wizard Battle
I will admit, this seems like a bit of a concession to the fact that the only other set with Saruman is the awesome Tower of Orthanc that's due out later this summer. It's of course the cheapest set in this wave at $12.99 and the parts are pretty much a mix of black and light grey. The most interesting piece in here is of course the minifig head with the Eye of Sauron printed on it. I can see this being a very easy impulse buy at some point down the road.

79006-1: The Council of Elrond
An older Elrond and Arwen are the obvious big draw for this set. I find it funny that there's yet another Gimli-pult here, with the first coming in Helms Deep. That poor dwarf keeps getting thrown around. I love the inclusion of these two figs, but I'm actually far more excited about the Dark Orange 6x5 plant leaves. This is the first set these have appeared in and they will go great with the Dark Red plant leaves that came in one of The Hobbit sets to help create some fall foilage. I'm sure there will be quite a bit of demand for these from builders everywhere. I just wish there were more than three in this set, since $29.99 makes it hard to pick up a few. If you ever see these in a Pick a Brick wall, buy me a cup!

79007-1: Battle at the Black Gate
Figure wise, there's quite a bit going on here. Gandalf the White, a different Aragorn torso print, the Mouth of Sauron, and Mordor Orc are all new to this set. Add in the giant eagle and you get a great selection of figures. That said, the actual gate portion feels a little lacking. This is very easily a candidate for the "encourage you to buy two and combine them" category of sets, which is fine. However, it still feels like you are just getting half a set with this one.

79008-1: Pirate Ship Ambush
It's a pirate ship, I'm sold. Honestly though, it is a little strange to see a set based on a scene that's just a few minutes long, even if it comes from a key plot point in the movie. At $99.99, I can say that this one will be hard to pass up when I see even a modest discount. The ship actually looks fairly substantial in size and the sails are a cool shape. You also get a great array of figures, even if Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are repeats. I know I already want to build up an Army of the Dead to sweep down on the forces of Mordor.

There are easily sets in here that I would love to pick up and I'm excited that the LotR line continues with some strong offerings. The pirate ship will probably be the first buy for me, unless something else gets discounted heavily before I find it on sale. Enjoy and feel free to sound off with your thoughts in the comments!

LEGO unveils Ewok Village set 10236

2013-06-01T11:34:00.002-07:00

It appears the rumors were true. LEGO will be releasing a giant set this year based on the Ewok Village from Return of the Jedi. Cute teddy bear characters aside, this looks like an extremely well detailed set full of vegetation and great play features.

I don't know if this will end up replacing the Death Star, or if it's just a sign that more large playsets will be coming in the future. This set reminds me very much of the classic Kenner Ewok Village, which was probably one of my favorite non-LEGO toys as a kid. I had hours of fun using it as a base for action figures from many different lines.

As usual, LEGO has put out a video with the designer to help highlight the set. Check it out!

Here are the details, via the LEGO press release:

10236 Ewok™ Village

Ages 12+. 1,990 pieces.

Recreate classic scenes at the Ewok™ Village!

US $249.99 CA $299.99 DE 249.99€ UK 199.99 £ DK 2,099.00 DKK

Travel to Endor™ and visit the treetop home of the Ewoks. Just like in Star Wars™: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, this recreation of the Ewoks’ forest dwelling is packed with cool functions, including the treetrunk hideout, secret Lightsaber stash, spider web, net traps, slide, catapults and an elevating throne.

Use the rammer function to take out the Scout Trooper’s speeder − just like in the movie! Realistic details include rope walkways, vine and leaf elements, kitchen, food storage area, bedroom and a planning room. The Ewok Village set is the perfect addition to your LEGO® Star Wars collection.

Includes R2-D2™and 16 minifigures with weapons: Luke Skywalker™, Princess Leia™, Han Solo™, Chewbacca™, C-3PO™, 2 Rebel soldiers, 5 Ewoks™ (including Wicket™, Teebo™, Chief Chirpa™ and Logray™), 2 Scout Troopers and 2 Stormtroopers™

• Includes R2-D2™ and 16 minifigures: Luke Skywalker™, Princess Leia™, Han Solo™, Chewbacca™, C-3PO™, 2 Rebel soldiers, 5 Ewoks™, 2 Scout™ Troopers™ and 2 Stormtroopers™

• Features tree-trunk hideout and secret Lightsaber stash, spider web and net traps, slide, catapults, elevating throne, speeder rammer function, kitchen, food storage area, bedroom and a planning room. Speeder also included.

• Weapons include a Lightsaber, 3 blaster pistols, 2 blasters, 2 blaster rifles, 2 spears, bow and a crossbow and also includes 2 staffs

• Collect hard-to-find Endor Princess Leia, C-3PO, Luke, Han Solo and Wicket Ewok minifigures

• Measures over 1" (35cm) high, 21" (55cm) wide and 13" (35cm) deep

Available for sale directly through LEGO® from September 2013 via shop.LEGO.com, LEGO® Stores or via phone.

Brickset also has a ton of photos posted to its Flickr stream.

LEGO shows off full scale X-Wing Fighter in Times Square

2013-05-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

To help promote the release of the Yoda Chronicles, LEGO has built a giant X-Wing that's currently on display in Times Square in New York City. This nearly 23 ton model clocks in at an overwhelming 5,335,200 bricks. It was built in the Czech Republic and then transported to the US. After its stop in NYC, the iconic Star Wars fighter will make its way to LEGO Land in California.

Photo: StarWars.com

Gizmodo has a ton of pictures from a sneak peek at a hangar just outside of New York.

Not only is this a great way to promote LEGO's latest Star Wars movie, it's also a great reminder of the two very excellent X-Wing sets LEGO currently has out there. There's both a standard system set and of course the new UCS version that came out on May the 4th.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes game pre-order bonus

2013-04-29T18:59:00.001-07:00

The game is not due out until the end of October, but GameStop has apparently unveiled the exclusive preorder bonus content it will be offering for the LEGO MARVEL Super Heroes game. According to the current pre-order page, those who buy the game in advance will receive....a Spider-Man keychain.

Oh yeah, you'll also get a download code for some extra characters.

Color me underwhelmed, but also a little relieved. After the debacle surrounding the LEGO Lord of the Rings pre-order, I'm kind of happy that I don't need to worry about dealing with the company again. I honestly hope this is the result of the many complaints LEGO likely received after GS screwed over so many customers who pre-ordered for the Elrond minifigure.

It is worth noting that Amazon also has the game up for preorder already. If history is any guide, chances are it will be $10 below retail price as we get closer to the release date.

UPDATE: It appears the bonus might be moving to another retailer. According to the site gonintendo, Walmart locations in the US will be offering an exclusive Iron Patriot minifigure with pre-orders of the game. There's no mention of it on their site yet and they have the release date currently listed as 12/31/13, so I'll be watching for an update from them.

Fingers crossed this is legit.

LEGO reveals Tower of Orthanc set

2013-04-26T21:53:00.001-07:00

Rumors have been swirling for some time about a large LEGO Lord of the Rings set based on the Tower of Orthanc, one of the many iconic locations featured in the books and the movies. A glimpse of the set showed up in the background of a single picture, fueling speculation of just how large the set could be. Now we know. I think the video pretty much speaks for itself here.

Via Toys N Bricks, here's the press release:

10237 Tower of Orthanc Press Release

Ages 14+. 2,359 pieces.

Build the The Lord of the Rings™ trilogy must-have model!

US $199.99 CA $249.99 DE 199.99€ UK 169.99 £ DK 1699.00 DKK

Finally, collect one of the most instantly recognizable and iconic buildings of The Lord of the Rings trilogy: The Tower of Orthanc! Build all 6 highly detailed floors filled with fascinating movie-related details including the attic, library, alchemy room, Saruman’s throne room, entrance hall and dungeon. This exclusive model stars in some of the most iconic scenes from The Lord of the Rings movies. Swoop down with the Great Eagle and rescue stranded Gandalf the Grey from his tower-top prison after his defeat at the hands of the white wizard, Saruman. Build the powerful, tree-like Ent, with poseable limbs and cool swinging arm function, then attack the Uruk-hai and Orc Pitmaster while Saruman and his servant Grima Wormtongue take refuge high in the tower. The Tower of Orthanc is a must-have model for any The Lord of the Rings collection! Includes a Great Eagle, buildable Ent figure and 5 minifigures with weapons: Saruman with kirtle outfit, Grima Wormtongue, Gandalf the Grey, an Uruk-hai and the Orc Pitmaster.

• Includes a Great Eagle, buildable Ent figure and 5 minifigures with weapons: Saruman with kirtle outfit, Grima Wormtongue, Gandalf™ the Grey, an Uruk-hai™ and the Orc Pitmaster
• Features 6 highly detailed floors with lots of functions, including a folding staircase, LEGO® light brick palantir, opening entrance doors and a trap door
• Weapons include 5 staffs, knife, sword, shield and a long axe
• The attic features a folding staircase, the 3 staffs of the missing wizards, the 2 keys of the Two Towers, 2 maps and an Uruk-hai helmet, shield and sword
• The library features 2 books, 2 torches, 2 maps and 2 skulls
• The alchemy room features 2 torches, a bomb (being produced for the Battle of Helm’s Deep™), 2 potions, bottle, skull, gunpowder keg, pot, cauldron and a long axe
• Saruman’s throne room features lamps, 2 bookcases with 3 potions, map, letter and the powerful palantir with a LEGO light brick
• The entrance hall features opening doors, trap door, 2 large banners, chandelier, statue and 2 axes
• The creepy dungeon features a chain, 2 bones, 2 skulls and a rat
• Buildable Ent features poseable limbs for holding a minifigure and a cool swinging arm function
• Attack the tower with the cool buildable and poseable Ent!
• Swoop to the rescue with the Great Eagle!
• Activate the LEGO light brick and make the palantir glow!
• Set the trap door and banish unwanted guests to the dungeon!
• Prepare the bomb for the Battle of Helm’s DeepTM!
• Swing the Ent’s arms to smash or grab things with the poseable fingers!
• Measures over 28" (73cm) high, 8" (21cm) wide and 6" (16cm) deep
• Ent stands over 9" (23cm) tall

So yeah...there goes $200.