Yearly Archives: 2018

Toys R Us LEGO minifigure packs revealed, featuring Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Marvel, Ninjago [News]

Toys R Us, which is still operating in a number of countries despite its well-publicized bankruptcy in the United States, has today uploaded images of four new LEGO minifigure packs. These have traditionally been offered as part of Toys R Us’ annual Bricktober promotion, though unlike previous years, this year’s packages are devoid of any Toys R Us or Bricktober-specific branding. Consequently, we can’t confirm yet if these will be exclusive to Toys R Us, especially given the retailer’s drastically reduced market share. The four packs are each themed to a specific license, featuring Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Marvel Super Heroes, and Ninjago, and include a number of exclusive characters.

Update: LEGO has confirmed on Twitter that these sets will be coming to Barnes & Noble in the United States, though likely with a different timeline than the Toys R Us packs in other parts of the world.

Update 2: LEGO has amended their statement on Twitter, clarifying that only the Harry Potter set will be available via Barns & Noble, with no word yet on availability for the others.

Click to see the all four of the minifigure packs

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Trademark of the Blue Angels led by the F8F-1 Bearcat

In August 1946, the F8F-1 Bearcat led by Bob Clarke introduced the Diamond Formation, a formation of four or more aircraft where the elements of the group adopt the shape of a diamond, which is still considered the Blue Angels’ trademark formation today. Builder Greyson has a special place in his heart for the Angels after seeing them up close and wanted to honour and commemorate their historical significance.

This wonderfully 1/45 scale aircraft features a spinning propeller, a tailwheel, and folding wingtips. The blue elements used for the build are bright and stunning, and the clean shapes best represent the swift speed of the angles cutting right through the clouds.

A breath of crisp mountain air

This enchanting mountain hut by Ayrlego proves that you don’t need to build big to build beautifully. Envisioned as an idyllic retreat where medieval townsfolk might bring their goats to graze, it uses a number of simple but effective techniques to capture a delightful homely quality. Revelling in the joy of studded textures, wonky plates adorn its façade bringing a rural feel to the building. This effect is cleverly accentuated where the studded elements meet occasional modified plates. Completing the look, the grass roof uses exposed studs, as well as plant and curved elements in a complimentary arrangement, to craft a charming mossy appearance.

Would Mike Wazowski have depth perception problems?

I’ve always wondered about whether Mike from Monsters, Inc. would have problems depth perception and balance, since he only has a single huge eye. Maybe having a larger eye enables him to compensate. This build by Palixa And The Bricks features Mike Wazowski and Boo, two lovable characters from the movie Monsters, Inc. Mike is instantly recognisable with his handsome blue eye and white teeth (first introduced in the LEGO Mixels line back in 2014). And Boo, well, is playing peek-a-boo as she always does.

LEGO Architecture: 21047 Las Vegas [Review]

What’s built on the dining room table stays on the dining room table….at least, until dinner. Set 21047 Las Vegas is the latest offering in LEGO’s Architecture series, which is now in its tenth year. Time sure does fly and, speaking of time, Las Vegas was originally slated for release back in January 2018. As we reported back on July 31st, this delay was necessitated by the tragic Mandalay Bay hotel shooting of October 2017. In light of this unfortunate event, LEGO decided the best course of action was to redesign its Vegas set by replacing the micro Mandalay Bay with the Bellagio hotel and casino. Set 21047 consists of 501 pieces (according to the instruction booklet’s part inventory) and is slated for release on September 1st retailing at $39.99 USD.

Click to read our full, hands-on review

LEGO reveals 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City, the first set in the Star Wars Master Builder Series [News]

LEGO Star Wars is returning to the planet Bespin with 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City, a 2,812-piece playset based off memorable scenes from The Empire Strikes Back. The set includes a whopping 18 minifigures, two droids, and two vehicles: Boba Fett’s Slave I ship and a twin-pod Cloud Car. The set is also the first in the newly revealed LEGO Star Wars Master Builder Series.

Betrayal at Cloud City will hit stores on October 1st for $349.99 USD, and will be available early for LEGO VIP members beginning September 13 at the LEGO Store Online.

Take a closer look at the new Betrayal at Cloud City set

Dominate the skies with this LEGO F-4 Phantom II

Military jets are a popular subject for LEGO model-makers and represent a particular challenge with their swept back wings and curved fuselages — difficult shapes to recreate in bricks. But Evan M seems up to the challenge, presenting this fabulous minifig-scale F-4 Phantom, decked out in US Navy Vietnam-era livery.

Evan has made great use of some of the new angled tile parts to give the wings a smooth leading-edge, but there’s excellent brickwork all over the model. We’ve seen fimpressive LEGO Phantoms before, notably James Cherry’s astonishing 6,000-piece LEGO F-4 Phantom, but this is one of the best fast jet models I’ve seen at this sort of scale. The overall shaping and the model’s sleek lines are readily apparent in this side view, as is the smart integration of the twin cockpit pieces and the subtle angle up on the wing tips. Retractable landing gear and a full load-out too! Fantastic stuff.

Rewind the scene and play it again, and again, and again...

The wonderful thing about LEGO building is that we get to see the same thing built again and again yet they come out very different each time. This build by GolPlaysWithLego does it yet again and that never cease to amaze me. It reminds me when I was younger and had to keep rewinding my favourite scenes from Star Wars on the VHS countless times just to enjoy the coolness of it all. This scene from the planet Hoth is filled with the tiny goodness of a couple of Snowspeeders, an AT-ST and the big baddie AT-AT. I love how the red elements on the Snowspeeder break the monotony of the muted colors and both partially in motion seconds before the mighty AT-AT takes a fall.

Ariel and these other LEGO Disney characters just want to be part of your world!

Ariel and Ursula recently joined the ever-growing ranks of Disney LEGO characters available in Brickhead form… but today we’re talking about a very different version of these two iconic characters from The Little Mermaid. Mike Nieves has built a well-crafted model of Ariel dramatically posed as she expresses her longing to be part of the world outside her beloved ocean. Her flowing red hair looks very much like it’s on-screen inspiration, and the use of several green curved tiles along her lower body creates the perfect scaly look.

Of course, Ariel is just the start of Mike’s Disney character lineup.

See more of Mike’s sculpted Disney characters

Gorgeous LEGO models of 3 famous New York skyscrapers use 50,000 pieces, stand 6 feet tall

Builder DeepShen has been toiling away for more than a year to create three incredibly accurate classic art deco skyscrapers out of LEGO bricks. All three are New York landmarks, with the American International Building, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building bringing the amazing legacy of tall buildings to brick form, the last of which tops out at a staggering 6 feet, 3 inches. Together, they use a whopping 50,000 bricks.

DeepShen says that the American International Building is 1/192 scale, and stands 5 feet tall. Like the Empire State Building, it’s made from mostly tan bricks with dark grey roofs, while the building’s famous “snow-clad mountain” top is made of white.

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A small piece of summer can be enough

Depending on where you live, this creation by Dvd might be something you might identify with strongly right now, or instead as a little piece of summer to break up your winter mood. So sit back and, despite its simplicity, take the time to enjoy the little slice of summer – like a real vacation!

I like how few pieces the builder needed to perfectly capture the spirit of summer, with little details like a speedboat dragging an inflated banana, a beach hut that probably houses rentable surf boards or drinks and even a towel and beach seats built at this tiny scale. The best part is undoubtedly the waves though, built into the base with just a little bit of variation in height to simulate them breaking on the sand.

Tiny terrors from outer space

This pair Alien and Predator figures by Grant Masters are only a little larger than minifigure scale, which is remarkably small for such detailed brick-built characters. Even more impressively, though, Grant says that they contain only legal connections–that is, connections you might find in an official LEGO set. There are lots of clever bits, but one of the most amusing has to be Grant’s use of microfigs for the Predator’s legs.