About Alexander

Alexander Alekseev is an active member of the Russian LUG since 2007. Linguist by education, he believes that LEGO pieces are the most effective mean of self-expression and communication between people.

Posts by Alexander

Why buy a new speeder when you can build one?

Does your speeder jerk when accelerating? Or maybe you started noticing that ticking noise coming from the engines after the oil change? I think you should stop by Alexander Blais‘ garage. It’s not the fanciest one, and they might not be accepting credits, but these guys know their trade. Look at all the crates and boxes lying around; some say there is no such spare part they don’t have here in the garage. And forget about silly service droids. You don’t want to trust your lovely speeder to a soulless machine, do you?

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LEGO Education and FIRST unveil RePLAY, the new FIRST LEGO League season theme [News]

Today, LEGO announced the new theme for the upcoming FIRST LEGO League season as well as two new sets for new program divisions. FIRST LEGO League is an international, teacher-led robotics program designed to introduce children to STEM principles. The 2020-2021 season is going to be all about RePLAY, while the program structure will be simplified. From now on the competitions will be held across three divisions: Challenge (ages 9-14), Explore (ages 6-10), and Discover (ages 4-6). Team registration for all three age divisions will now be open for the season launching on August 4, 2020.

LEGO Technic 42111 Dom’s Dodge Charger [Review]

Close your eyes and imagine a LEGO set: iconic 1970s Dodge Charger R/T, packed with authentic details. The opening hood reveals a model version of the iconic V8 engine; moving pistons, wishbone suspension, steering system, and air blower. There are even nitro bottles in the trunk. Just like the real thing! Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? According to LEGO, such an exciting set, in this instance, LEGO Technic 42111 Dom’s Dodge Charger, retails for just US $99.99 | CAN $139.99 | UK £89.99. Moreover, the model consists of just 1,077 pieces, which, by all means, isn’t a big Technic set. A medium-sized Dodge Charger in an authentic design for US $100 seems to be an absolute bestseller. But before you order one for yourself, let’s build it and make sure it is as good as we imaged it.

Click here to continue reading…

A queen can go wherever she likes

Although castles are some of the coolest things you can design with LEGO bricks, there’s one reason they will never be cooler than mechs and vehicles; they are immovable. Spencer Winson adds just a handful of ball hinges to one of his towers and — voila! — who needs royal carriages anymore? And it’s not only the concept of the mech-tower itself that makes the build outstanding, but also the iconic yellow/red/blue color range. The design of the tower was undoubtedly inspired by the legendary 375 Castle set, but have you noticed that the tower in the background is built of Duplo bricks? I must admit I have never seen this double arch Duplo piece before. It is more than 40 years old but still looks stunning in new creations.

A whopping 26 projects qualify for the first 2020 LEGO Ideas review [News]

It totally looks like the LEGO Ideas review committee will be swamped with work for the next several months. For the first time in the history of the LEGO Ideas platform, a smashing selection of twenty-six new projects enters the review stage. Among the most noticeable ideas are the well-know Tesla Cybertruck, an adorable vignette portraying the most mischievous goose of 2019, and even a Technic snow-groomer, which is the first LEGO Technic Ideas project to accumulate 10,000 votes. The selection also includes a bunch of projects based on movies and cartoons, as well as several models based on human-made spaceships. You can read the full announcement on the blog.

According to the LEGO Ideas program rules, a project must gain 10,000 votes to enter the review stage. With three qualifying periods each year, there are about 30 projects qualifying for the review stage each year, or roughly 10 projects per period. With 26 new projects qualified already, a new record of reviewed projects is to be set during 2020. Nevertheless, it does not guarantee that we will see more official LEGO Ideas sets than usual.

If your troopers aren’t anything this lit, don’t bother entering the battlefield

Italian builder Marco Marozzi has proved himself as the master of heavily armed walking battle mechs. His vast portfolio includes mechs of the boldest designs, so for his next creation, he needed something special to take it to the next level. Now, it’s all about the brand of your armor if you do want to reign supreme. PNG5 Supreme Mech would be easy to spot in the heat of the battle — not just because of the branding but also because of jaw-dropping building techniques. Can you count how many various types of connections Marco used in this model? And I don’t know what looks cooler: exposed Technic pins or red mudguards from Town cars.

It ain’t much but it’s a couple of tractors

Designing scaled farming machinery is, in equal measure, fun and challenge. It’s all about sketching a neat chassis, adding just the right amount of grills and pipes to the engine’s exterior, and, of course, building a piece of farming equipment to attache to a tractor. Vladimir Drozd nailed all of these in his splendid designs. It is their clean yet very realistic exteriors that instantly caught my eye. With just a handful of curved slopes, Vladimir managed to create simple models without overloading them with way too complicated building solutions.

It’s so easy to spoil a great creation with an unsuitable exterior element, but I applaud the author’s decision to complete the red tractor with a couple of road signs.

LEGO Star Wars gift with purchase for May the Fourth revealed as 40407 Death Star II Battle [News]

This year, for Star Wars May the Fourth weekend, LEGO suggest hopping into A-wing cockpit to take part in the Death Star battle. The upcoming promotional set revealed today, 40407 Death Star II Battle, depicts a couple of tiny Star Wars fighters swooshing by the turrets of the Empire’s notorious space base. The set will be available for free with the qualifying Star Wars purchases over $75 during May 1-4. Featuring a tiny copy of the iconic A-wing, this promotional set is a perfect gift with the purchase of the latest UCS 75275 A-wing Starfighter set revealed last week.

Click to get a closer look at the Death Star II Battle

New LEGO Star Wars 501st Legion Clone Troopers Battle Pack to hit stores August 2020 [News]

StarWars.com has just shared an early look at the newest LEGO Star Wars battle pack. The long-awaited 501st Legion Clone Troopers battle pack featuring an AT-RT walker, a BARC speeder, as well as six minifigures is slated to be in stores starting August 1st. The set will retail for US US $29.99 | CAN $39.99 | UK £24.99.

Click here for more details…

LEGO Technic 42108 Mobile Crane [Review]

Did you know that the very first LEGO Technic mobile crane was released more than 40 years ago? The lovely 855 Mobile Crane became the eighth product in the Technic lineup since its start in 1977. Despite its simple design, it had every essential function of a real machine. A handful of mobile (and stationary) cranes have been released since then. The year 2020 brings yet another one, 42108 Mobile Crane. During the previous decade, the variety of LEGO Technic pieces have evolved a lot, and multiple new mechanisms have been introduced, too. The question is, how many of those new concepts are implemented in the latest set and how different is it from the previous versions of mobile cranes? Let’s build and test this 1,292-piece set, which retails at US $99.99 | CAN $139.99 | UK £89.99, and find out if it is worth a purchase.

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LEGO partners with Nintendo to create LEGO Super Mario theme [News]

Teased on the LEGO Twitter account and Facebook page today, a brand new LEGO licensed theme developed in partnership with Nintendo is coming soon. It looks like one of the most famous video game characters, Super Mario is about to get his own lineup of LEGO building sets. The teaser doesn’t reveal much but gives a hint on what Mario minifigure will look like.

Click here to watch the teaser…

LEGO Designer Pierre Normandin talks about his inspirations for the new LEGO Creator Expert 10271 Fiat 500 set [Video]

Last weekend, LEGO revealed the latest addition to the LEGO Creator Expert garage — an adorable 10271 Fiat 500 set. Although it is the smallest model in the line-up of large scale vehicles, don’t let its modest dimensions and piece count fool you. There is more to this lovely car than meets the eye, and there’s no better way to learn all the secrets and inspirations rather than shared by the model’s designer Pierre Normandin.

In the most recent LEGO Designer Video, he speaks about the challenges of designing such an unusual car, reveals the meaning of the number plate, and shows his favorite part of the model.

10271 Fiat 500 is available directly from LEGO Stores and LEGO.com for US $89.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £74.99.