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

What’s kraken on the high seas?

It’s a bad day in the fog for this hapless crew of mariners. They’ve stumbled across the most infamous sea-beast of yore, the might Kraken, whose arms entangle ships like playthings. Mark of Falworth’s awesome diorama sets us right in the middle of the action as the giant cephalopod drags the ship to the watery depths.

The fog (made with a fog machine, not Photoshop) adds a grim bit of horror to the scene, and the technical details are outstanding. Check out the suction cups made of buckets, and the peeling planking of the deck.

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Time to get Looney down under

The Tasmanian Devil may be a whirling mess of destruction, but he’s still a lovable addition to the Looney Toons lineup. He’s also one of the few Looney Toons characters I’ve never before seen LEGO-ized. This caricature by Oliver Becker nicely fills in that gap, giving Taz his famous hands-raised stance and ravenous mouth.

LEGO officially reveals sets for Thor: Raganarok [News]

A month ago we got our first look at the new LEGO sets for Thor: Ragnarok, with the official box art and a few images. Now, however, LEGO is officially announcing the sets as they become available globally beginning today, though oddly they don’t release in the US until August.

76084 The Ultimate Battle for Asgard, 400 pcs, $49.99 USD

(available from LEGO UK)

76088 Thor vs. Hulk: Arena Clash, 492 pcs, $59.99 USD

(available from LEGO UK)

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The LEGO Batman Movie’s The Ultimate Batmobile 70917 [Review]

Even though The LEGO Batman Movie has been in theaters since February, LEGO Batman is back this summer with a whole new wave of sets. Many of the sets this time around feature some of the more spoiler-ish elements of the movie, but nothing that will ruin the movie if you haven’t yet seen it. The flagship of this wave is 70917 The Ultimate Batmobile, which we got our first look at in February at the New York Toy Fair. It’s a massive creation from the film’s turning point that features a Batmobile, Bat-Tank, Batcycle, and Batwing all joined into a rolling fortress for Batman and his cohort. By far the largest of The LEGO Batman Movie sets, The Ultimate Batmobile has 1,456 pieces and will retail for $129.99 USD and should be available June 1.

The set includes 8 minifigures, along with a light-up Batsignal.

Click to read the full review

Largest ever LEGO Minecraft set announced: 21137 The Mountain Cave [News]

The LEGO Minecraft world just got a whole lot bigger. Today LEGO has announced the largest set yet for the minifigure-scale theme, 21137 The Mountain Cave. Coming in at a staggering 2,863 pieces and a retail price of $249.99 when it arrives July 1, young Minecraft fans had better hope Grandma has deep pockets if they put this on the wishlist (though the set does also hit the highest age target in the Minecraft theme at 12+). This is the second large exclusive for the Minecraft theme, following last year’s 21128 The Village.

As the name implies, the set features a sizable stone mountain (12in, or 31cm, high at the peak) that’s riddled with caves. The mountain’s footprint is 20x11in (53x29cm), and has minecart tracks, a small home, and a light brick that can be positioned to light a jack o’ lantern, lava, or several other features. The set features lots of new printed elements, along with two minifigures and 13 mobs, including some new ones such as a baby wolf, bats, a charged creeper, and a giant slime. As with other large exclusives, we expect it to be available about two weeks early for LEGO VIP members.

See more images and read the official press release below

Free LEGO Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 The Milano 30449 mini set [Review]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hit theaters last week, and although LEGO’s tie-in line of sets has been available for a little while, they’re still doing something special to mark the occasion. From now until May 19, if you buy over $35 of LEGO from the LEGO Shop Online or a LEGO store, you’ll get the nifty little mini set 30449 The Milano as a free bonus. It’s got an MSRP of $3.99 USD and has 64 pieces.

It’s a tiny set, but still fun, so we thought we’d give it a review.

Click to read the full review

LEGO DC Superheroes Build Your Own Adventure book announced [News]

Today LEGO has revealed the latest entry to the Build Your Own Adventure book series by publisher DK, featuring Green Lantern and his fellow DC Superheroes. The 80-page hardcover volume includes a Green Lantern minifigure and a small selection of bricks, and is filled with building tips and more than 50 small models for inspiration designed by TBB’s own, editor Rod Gilles. The book is due out in August, and is currently available for preorder from Amazon for $16.50 USD or £17.99 in the UK. Rod is a veteran of the Build Your Own Adventure Series, having previously built models for the Star Wars Build Your Own Adventure book and the LEGO City Build Your Own Adventure Book.

A fancy title is all you need

Excited for The LEGO Ninjago Movie? The movie trailer has been out since February, and we got our first official look at some of the sets last month. But whether or not you’re going to take a pass on the film or are already in line (6 months early), you can surely appreciate this awesome fan design of a brick-built scroll of the movie’s title by ZiO Chao. The lettering is perfect, both for the small text in Latin characters on the top and bottom and the main title with hànzì characters.

Only the best care is given in this LEGO hospital

The brick-built nurse is clear enough as LEGO, but the room created by Kirill Simerzin begs a closer examination. Overflowing with terrific details such as the slatted window blinds, IV drip, and power bed, you can almost hear the quiet beeping of medical devices in this rendered scene of an Intensive Care Unit.

The larger miniland scale allows for lots of extra details missing from typical LEGO hospitals.

LEGO unveils largest Ideas set yet: 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V [News]

After an early tease of 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V last month, today LEGO has officially taken the wraps off this massive 1:110 scale rocket. First announced last June, the Saturn V will be the largest ever fan-designed LEGO Ideas set with 1,969 pieces, giving even the part count a nod to the year of mankind’s first steps on the moon. The rocket itself stands 39 in. tall (100cm), and consists of all three stages with a full complement of the lunar orbiter, lunar lander, command module with flotation devices, and three astronaut microfigures. The Saturn V will retail for $119.99 USD beginning June 1, the same day as the just-announced 10257 Carousel.

The Saturn V is the first of two upcoming LEGO Ideas sets based on NASA, with a Women of NASA LEGO set coming later this year or early in 2018.

Click to see all the images of the Saturn V

COSMO Cars of the future

Look twice—those aren’t sideways cars, they’re COSMO Pods, the kit-built racers of the future. Designed by Volker Brodkorb, each of the vertically oriented pods is souped up to match its driver’s style and outfitted with a unique engine, and then splashed with a classic paint job hearkening back to the old petrol-powered four-wheeled racers of yore.

Of course, I’m rooting for the Ford GT40-inspired pod, because who doesn’t love that iconic blue and orange Gulf livery?

New LEGO Creator Expert set 10257 Carousel announced [News]

Today LEGO announced its latest Creator Expert set, 10257 Carousel. The 2,670 piece set is the latest entry to the popular carnival theme of sets that includes 10247 Ferris Wheel, 10244 Fairground Mixer, and of course, 10196 Grand Carousel from 2009. The new Carousel has five brick-built animals galloping around its platform, which spins with a hand crank and comes ready for Power Functions integration. The set includes seven minifigures, and will retail for $199.99 USD. It will be available June 1, 2017.

The original carousel from 8 years ago is greatly loved, but the fact that LEGO is circling back to the same carnival ride after only two intervening sets is sure to raise some eyebrows. However, the old 10196 Carousel is so highly desired by fans that it’s currently selling for around $1,700 for an unopened copy, and over $1,100 for a used version, a rare figure outside the Star Wars and Modular themes. Certainly, many fans who can’t afford to spend over $1k on a single set will be glad to see this version. Although slightly smaller than the original, the new set carries a $50 lower MSRP, likely due to the Power Functions being an optional extra this time. Although we spy plenty of elements in new colors, however, we haven’t spotted any completely new elements apart from the cloth roof panels. Let us know in the comments if you see anything we’ve missed, though!

We’ve got the full press release, designer video, and all the images below.

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