About Chris

Chris Malloy (porschecm2) has been a LEGO fan nearly all his life, having started with System bricks at age 3. He is the co-author of Ultimate LEGO Star Wars, and his creations have been featured in several books and The LEGO Movie. He also helped develop the first LEGO Minecraft set, 21102 Minecraft Micro World: The Forest, which has gone on to inspire a whole theme of sets. He's been active in the online community since 2002, and regularly attends LEGO fan conventions such as BrickCon and BrickCan. He enjoys building in a wide range of themes, but keeps returning to Castle, Space, and Pirates. Check out his LEGO creations and photography here.

Posts by Chris

LEGO 10259 Winter Village Station announced [News]

It’s that time of year again: winter is coming, and that means another new Winter Village set. Having been a staple since 2009, Winter Village sets create a quaint cottage-style holiday town. Last year’s set was 10254 Winter Holiday Train, which featured only a small wayside stop. LEGO is giving it a huge boost with this year’s set, 10259 Winter Village Station, a proper station for the rail line. Winter Village Station has 902 pieces and will retail for $79.99 USD when it’s available Oct. 1. While LEGO has not yet confirmed, it will also likely be available Sept. 15 to VIP club members, as previous Winter Village sets have been.

Click to read the full press release and see all the images.

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The LEGO Ninjago Movie’s largest set: 70620 Ninjago City [Review]

The list of largest LEGO sets ever produced is dominated by Star Wars and Architecture sets, with the likes of the Ultimate Collector’s Series Millennium Falcon and the Taj Mahal topping the charts. Now, though, LEGO’s home-brewed Ninjago theme is proving to be a serious contender. Having already brought us two sets over the 2,000 piece mark (the Temple of Airjitzu and Destiny’s Bounty), Ninjago’s latest entry has an incredible 4,867 pieces, skyrocketing 70620 Ninjago City to the third-largest LEGO set ever created.

From left, Senior Editor Chris Malloy and Founder and Editor-in-Chief Andrew Becraft with 70620 Ninjago City

The primary locale in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, which opens September 22, Ninjago City is an Eastern-inspired cyberpunk city, brimming with action and loaded with hidden details. 70620 Ninjago City will be available to VIP members in the LEGO Shop Online and in LEGO stores Aug. 16 for $299.99 USD, and will be available to everyone Sept. 1.

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The LEGO Ninjago Movie’s 70618 Destiny’s Bounty [Review]

Initially designed with the help of a focus group of adult LEGO builders, Ninjago has been one of LEGO’s most popular themes since its inception in 2011. Rumors of its impending cancellation circulated a few years ago, but the theme has stayed strong and become one of the longest-lived homebrew licenses for LEGO. Now having spawned a feature film due for release September 22, the line is as robust as ever with more than a dozen sets and a minifigure series from the film in the latest wave. This year’s lineup contains the several of the largest Ninjago sets ever, such as 70617 Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon, which we reviewed yesterday. Today’s focus is 70618 Destiny’s Bounty, which at 2,295 pieces edges out 2015’s Temple of Airjitzu (2,028 pieces) and loses only to the as-yet-unreleased Ninjago City (a whopping 4,867 pieces) to come in as the second largest Ninjago set ever. 70618 Destiny’s Bounty retails for $159.99 and is available now from the LEGO Shop Online.

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LEGO’s midsummer sale begins now, including Star Wars, Superheroes, Minecraft, and more [News]

LEGO is prepping for the influx of new sets (such as the Star Wars: The Last Jedi LEGO sets revealed yesterday) by slashing prices for the weekend on a wide range of current sets in the LEGO Shop Online for US and Canada. Most of the prices are dropped by about 20%, but this includes a few hard-to-find sets such as Arkham Asylum (which we reviewed) and the Winter Toy Shop that are more difficult to snag on sale. The sale should begin Saturday and run through Sunday.

10249 Winter Toy Shop, $79.99, now $63.99

Click to see the full list of sets on sale

Full assortment of Star Wars: The Last Jedi LEGO sets revealed [News]

Today we’re getting our first official look at LEGO’s initial wave of sets for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. If the release schedule follows that of Rogue One and The Force Awakens, the sets will hit store shelves in September. We don’t have part counts or prices yet, but you can check out what the First Order and Resistance have been getting up to with a host of new ships. While all of these sets will be available before the movie’s release, those keen on avoiding all spoilers may want to look with a guarded eye. We’ll just leave you with this awesome Ultimate Collector’s Series-style BB-8 above the fold, and you can see all the sets below.

75187 BB-8

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It’s not a view the Jedi would show you

The planet-city of Coruscant is magnificent in the setting sun, and the expansive urban landscapes were one of my favorite visuals from the prequel trilogy. This image by Malen Garek of a view from the Jedi temple may have been erased from the archives, but it’s breathtaking nonetheless. Malen has nailed the colors, and the forced perspective backdrop is one of the better I’ve seen.

This space dragon evolved with ferocity

We highlighted BobDeQuatre’s amazingly cool white space dragon ship back in 2014, and it struck us as a highly unique concept executed remarkably well. In the intervening years, we haven’t seen much of the space dragons theme, but now Bob is back with an overhaul of the Whitefang. Now bigger and badder, the ship retains its basic structure and curved shaped based on the dragons of Eastern mythology, but loses the obvious cockpit in favor of a more organic look.

The LEGO Ninjago Movie Trailer #2 arrives [News]

A few days ago as I was reviewing The LEGO Ninjago Movie Collectible Minifigures, I mused about what Lloyd’s mother ever saw in Garmadon. Well, I didn’t have long to wait for the answer, as revealed in this new trailer. We also catch a quick glimpse of Ninjago’s biggest enemy yet—and it’s probably not what you expect. The LEGO Ninjago Movie arrives September 22, and will be accompanied by a full line of sets, including one of the largest LEGO sets ever, 70620 Ninjago City.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a72vtYb_RlQ

The LEGO Ninjago Movie Collectible Minifigures 71019 [Review]

Just as LEGO did with The LEGO Movie and The LEGO Batman Movie, there’s a wave of collectible minifigures dedicated to the characters in September’s The LEGO Ninjago Movie. Revealed only a last month, 71019 The LEGO Ninjago Movie Collectible Minifigures will be hitting stores August 1 ahead of the movie, and feature 20 characters who, nicely enough, are not all ninjas. But much like the world of Ninjago itself, these characters, who range from a sushi chef to a teen pop fan, abide in a stereotyping mashup of all things Asian. The figures will retail for $3.99 each, and are concealed in blind packs just like previous series.

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Massive LEGO Who Framed Roger Rabbit display built with over 250k pieces

The good folks of KC Bricklab have come a long way since they started the Kansas City-based LEGO club five years ago. Their most recent exploit is an incredible journey through the half live-action, half-animated feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The 1988 Robert Zemeckis film is filled with hairy escapades, quick humor, and more than a bit of weirdness, and at 8 by 16 feet, KC Bricklab’s display brings it all to life.

The display was a collaborative effort by 19 members of KC Bricklab, and contains the zany mainstreet of Toontown, the huge Acme factory warehouse, and a bit of psychedelic forest among other scenes.

KC Bricklab began planning the build in December of 2016, and had it completed in time for display at Chicago’s Brickworld LEGO convention in June. Although the club meets monthly, most of the planning was done virtually, and the finished display for the convention was the first time the builders got to see the full layout assembled.

Click to see the rest of the images

The garden of earthly colors

Each LEGO builder has their own niche within the hobby, and TBB’s own Elspeth De Montes has found hers in an affinity for LEGO colors. She’s taken up collecting certain elements in as many colors as she can find, and she’s designed this lovely little garden, cleverly incorporating a few varieties of them more organic-looking elements in their full spectrums. Some, like the ferns, have only appeared in three shades so far, while others, like the 1×1 flowers come in a great number.

3 LEGO sets from DC’s upcoming Justice League movie revealed [News]

Today, LEGO has pulled the wraps off three upcoming tie-in sets for DC’s Superhero Justice League movie, which is due in theaters November 17. The LEGO sets will arrive earlier, hitting store shelves August 1. This will be the first time LEGO has produced a film-accurate Aquaman minifigure, while the Batman and Flash minifigures sport updated designs. Between the new sets for The LEGO Ninjago Movie, Thor: Ragnarok, and the inevitable slew of Star Wars sets, it seems much of LEGO’s offerings for the rest of the year that we’ve seen so far are tie-ins to the big screen.

See all the images below.