LEGO recently sent us some books to review, so you will see more book reviews than normal pop up on here over the next month. If you own any of the books, feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments!
The first two we will be reviewing are LEGO Minifigure Year by Year: A Visual History and The LEGO Movie: The Essential Guide.
LEGO Minifigure Year by Year: A Visual History
Published by Dorling-Kindersley, LEGO Minifigure Year by Year is a hardcover of 255 pages, currently listed at $22.08. Like most of the DK LEGO books, it feels like a high quality book and is very durable. Which is good if you have kids because they aren’t going to want to put this down. My kids keep making off with my copy.
First off, the cover has three minifigures embedded in it. They consist of a Storm Trooper, Robber and “Townsperson”. The Stormtrooper and Robber are good figs but, honestly, the “Townsperson” is pretty boring. He is made up of plain red torso and legs, classic smiley face and brown hair. I think he could have been better. Once you open the book, the first thing you notice is that half the width of the book is taken up with a cardboard spacer for the minifigs. Not to worry, the book is still quite substantial, but the spacer does get in the way a bit.
The book itself starts with a history of how and why the minifig was created, with some neat pictures of old prototypes. After that, the book gets into the real meat of the subject by covering each year. It covers important moments in minifig history, such when different expressions were first introduced or when different shaped heads were first used. It does not have pictures of every single minifig ever made but it does a good job of covering the important ones and showcasing how they have changed and how they have remained the same over the years. The pictures are good sized and very sharp.
The timeline is occasionally interrupted with short, two page topics that cover such things as Minifig transportation or various Gear.
Overall, I was rather impressed with it. As a long-time fan of LEGO, there wasn’t much information I didn’t already know, but it is a fun book to have around. If you are looking for a good introduction into the history of minifigs in general, a fun coffee table book to impress your non-LEGO friends or a book for your kids to drool over for hours, this is the book for you.
The LEGO Movie: The Essential Guide (Dk Essential Guides)
Also published by Dorling-Kindersley, The LEGO Movie: The Essential Guide is a hardcover of 63 pages and currently listed for sale at $11.27. Again, the book is high quality and feels durable. This book is basically a guide to the main characters and events in The LEGO Movie. There is very little behind-the-scenes sort of information. It would be a good book for a child who was fan of the movie. I don’t many adult fans would be interested for much more than a quick read through it once or twice. I would say it is designed for kids 10 years old and younger. It filled with fun factoids and jokes by the characters and is a fun book. My older kids liked it but moved on quickly. My younger son poured over it for quite some time.
Lastly, it has the complete lyrics to the song “Everything is Awesome”. You need it just for that, right?
My overall impression was favorable. If you are looking for a cheap LEGO book for a younger child, this will fit the bill. If you are looking for something with more information that will hold the attention of older kids or want a good reference book in your LEGO room, you should probably pass on this one. It’s a kid’s book and it fills that role very nicely.