Category Archives: News

Stay current on the latest news and information about LEGO, from sales & deals to new set announcements. We also cover LEGO events and conventions all over the world.

LEGO 75978 Harry Potter Diagon Alley [Review]

Today, there is no LEGO theme as special as Star Wars. Not only is it one of the fundamental LEGO universes, but it is also presented in almost every category of LEGO products: regular sets, junior sets, action figures, keychains, stationery, video games, and many more including, of course, more expensive exclusive sets. Apart from the Star Wars and Creator Expert / 18+ advanced building sets, there are not that many themes that have earned an exclusive product release. Thankfully, the LEGO Harry Potter joined the club in 2018 with the release of 71043 Hogwarts Castle. And just two years later comes another massive exclusive set, 75978 Diagon Alley. Despite being 500 pieces smaller than the gigantic Hogwarts castle, with its 5,544 pieces, it’s big enough to be the fourth in the list of the biggest LEGO sets released so far. Remarkably, both sets have the same price tag of US $399.99 | CAN $499.99 | UK £369.99, so let’s build the new one and find out whether it has more value for the same money.

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LEGO to invest $400 million in sustainability, begin phasing out plastic packaging next year [News]

Today The LEGO Group announced an increased commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, pledging to spend $400 million USD over the next three years to fast-track a variety of green initiatives and social programs. The most visible difference to fans will be the introduction of paper bags in LEGO packaging, which are set to replace the clear plastic bags that hold each step’s pieces in LEGO sets. The company plans to trial run the new paper bags next year, with the goal of making all its packaging sustainable by 2025. Tim Brooks, Vice President of Environmental Responsibility at The LEGO Group, said, “We have received many letters from children about the environment asking us to remove single-use plastic packaging. We have been exploring alternatives for some time and the passion and ideas from children inspired us to begin to make the change.”

LEGO BrickHeadz Frankenstein and Star Wars Obi Wan minifigure now available for sale [News]

The Frankenstein BrickHeadz will be available on the LEGO Online stores (Sept 15). As usual, the exact time of release may vary across regions. A new addition to the store is the Obi Wan Star Wars LEGO 20th Anniversary figure that was previously only available as a gift-with-purchase and if you feel lucky, you can order individual packs of the latest Harry Potter Series 2 collectible minifigures.

Click to see the listings

TBB Weekly Brick Report: LEGO news roundup for September 12, 2020

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the second week of September 2020.

The massive Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina set is the latest in the LEGO Star Wars Master Builder Series. Keep reading our Brick Report to get all the details.

TBB NEWS AND REVIEWS: This week we got to see LEGO’s collaborations with Adidas and Levi’s come to fruition, got a feel for the new Harry Potter CMFs, took a peek at the new group of qualifying builds for LEGO Ideas, went on a Haunted Hayride and more!

- LEGO 40423 Halloween Hayride [Review] – The days are getting colder, and longer, the leaves are starting to turn, and that means it’s time to go on a Haunted Hayride!
- LEGO’s new collaboration with Levi’s uses Dots for customizable clothing – Soon you’ll be able to wear your LEGO on your sleeve thanks to LEGO’s new collaboration with Levi’s, which brings a line of customizable clothing utilizing the Dots theme.
- LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71028 Harry Potter Series 2 Feel Guide [Review] – Hunting for Harry Potter Series 2? Download our handy cheat sheet to help you find exactly the figures you want!

First Look: Unboxing of the LEGO and Adidas ZX 8000 sneaker collaboration – We get a first look at the unboxing of the LEGO Adidas ZX 8000 sneakers.
Will the rules of LEGO Ideas change with a large number of projects achieving 10,000 votes? – LEGO attributes the large number of submission and support votes to the current effect of the pandemic but may consider future changes.
This 3,000+ piece 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina is the next LEGO Star Wars Master Builder Series set – This place can be a little rough – LEGO announces the new 3,187-piece 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina set with a full set of images, including all 21 minifigures!

MORE TBB NEWS:

LEGO Ideas second 2020 Results breaks record with 35 fan submissions qualifying for productisation review – The LEGO Ideas second 2020 Review period has ended and a total of 35 amazing submissions had the votes to qualify for review.
Earn 150 LEGO VIP store points by answering a Harry Potter online quiz. – LEGO is giving away 150 VIP online points for simply answering a Harry Potter quiz correctly.

Colorful and delightful LEGO merchandise from Chronicle Books – Chronical Books has a range of LEGO merchandise ranging from journals, to puzzles and postcards that are well designed and eye-catching.
Free registration for LEGO House Fan Day event to be held on 24 September – LEGO House is back with a day of live sessions catered for the fan community to be held in September.

OTHER NEWS: There were quite a few other interesting LEGO news articles from around the web this week. Here are the best of the rest:

Could your vintage Lego set pay the college fees?, Financial Times – The Brothers Brick’s own Chris Malloy contributed to this article about vintage LEGO prices.
Coolest Lego Set Ever? The Story Behind The 3,662-Piece Grand Piano, Forbes – Forbes interviews the designer of the Grand Piano Ideas Set.
Chinese ‘copycats’ of LEGO sentenced for copyright infringement, Global Times – Nine people in Shanghai were sentenced up to six years in prison on Wednesday for infringing on the copyright of Danish toymaker LEGO, as China looks to take strict measures to protect intellectual property.
Disguise Announces LEGO ‘Star Wars’ Costumes,License Global – The first-ever LEGO “Star Wars” costumes are officially launching.
The LEGO Group’s Samuel Johnson on Seinfeld, Voltron and LEGO Art , Play Creator’s Conference – How do you become a LEGO designer? What goes into turning classic TV shows like Seinfeld into a LEGO set? And what inspired LEGO Art range, the firm’s new line of sets that allow fans to create LEGO pop art masterpieces?

LEGO’s new collaboration with Levi’s uses Dots for customizable clothing [News]

LEGO’s new collaboration with clothing brand Levi’s is the next step for the Dots theme introduced early this year. Teased last week, the new clothing line for adults and kids will feature small patches of material similar to the LEGO Dots bracelets sewn onto a variety of jackets, hats, accessories, and of course, denim jeans. The small patches of studs can then be adorned with LEGO elements drawn from the Dots theme. The brands are being shy about details as yet, though, with no word on the specific pricing or when you can expect to be able to purchase them. LEGO has also recently unveiled a collaboration with athletic brand Adidas.

Click to check out the full press release and more images

This 3,000+ piece 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina is the next LEGO Star Wars Master Builder Series set [News]

While a few images of the set were revealed in our article last week, today LEGO is fully revealing the next Star Wars Master Builder Series set, 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina. The newest version of the iconic Star Wars location includes 3,187 pieces. It is accompanied by 21 minifigures (plus Artoo), including many characters that have never appeared in any other LEGO Star Wars set. The set will retail for US $349.99 | UK £319.99 | EUR 349.99 starting sales on September 16 for LEGO VIP members and then globally from October 1, directly via LEGO.com and LEGO Stores.

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

LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71028 Harry Potter Series 2 Feel Guide [Review]

With the newest wave of Collectible Minifigures, 71028 Harry Potter Series 2, now available on store shelves, that means it’s time to bring you our Feel Guide, the best way to know what you’re buying before you fork over your hard-earned cash. Veteran fans know that LEGO’s blind bags have plenty of tells, and if you’ve got a little bit of patience you can determine each and every figure without opening a single pack. This means you can buy a full set of 16 unique figures without getting unwanted duplicates, and we’re here to help with a downloadable cheat sheet to get you started.

LEGO Collectible Minifigures 71028 Harry Potter Series 2 are available now for US $4.99 | CAN $4.99 | UK £3.49. They may also be available from third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay.

Click to see the Feel Guide

TBB Cover Photo for September 2020: Fit for the Gods

This month’s cover photo, from Aaron Newman, features the Gods of Olympus. From Hades to Zeus, Aaron has recreated these Greek Mythological Gods in LEGO, while capturing the essence of what makes each of these mythological characters unique. Hit up Aaron’s blog post to learn more about his approach to each minifig.

And if you’re looking for even more Greek minifigs, Aaron has also recreated some of the most well-known Mortals and Monsters from the pantheon of Greek myth. I’m a big fan of Icarus, who looks to have just flown too close to the sun, but honestly, these all look great.

Submit your LEGO creations for a chance to be featured across TBB social media for a month! Check out the submission guidelines share your builds today.

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Will the rules of LEGO Ideas change with a large number of projects achieving 10,000 votes? [News]

Yesterday a whopping 35 LEGO Ideas projects were announced for qualification review. Earlier this year, 26 sets were shortlisted for also achieving the 10,000 votes required for a submission to be reviewed. Achieving 10,000 votes is no easy feat as we’ve seen in the past, but with the recent support of projects skyrocketing, there has been chatter amongst the community if the rules should be tweaked or changed to bring it back down to more palatable numbers.

Click to read the current decision point from LEGO

LEGO 40423 Halloween Hayride [Review]

Autumn doesn’t really start until later in the month, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get hyped up now for fall festivities. (After months of quarantine, I’m pretty sure time is meaningless, anyway. ) So who’s up for a haunted hayride? Oh. Right. COVID. Staying indoors is still the better part of valor, so maybe not. But wait! LEGO has come to the rescue! 40423 Halloween Hayride is available in North America from the LEGO Shop Online for US $12.99 | CAN $16.99. But is this set a trick or a treat? Read on and see!

Click to read the full hands-on review

Earn 150 LEGO VIP store points by answering a Harry Potter online quiz [News]

LEGO store is practically giving away a total of 150 free VIP store points for simply answering a Harry Potter online quiz. All you need is 6 out of 9 answers right and you’re set to receive them almost instantaneously.

Click for the full details and link to earn the points

LEGO Ideas second 2020 Results breaks record with 35 fan submissions qualifying for productisation review [News]

LEGO just announced a new record of 35 submissions by fan creation submissions to be considered for the second 2020 review, the highest ever amount since the inception of the programme for a single review period. The first review earlier this year had 26 submissions, making it a total of 61 sets now in the pipeline of options for LEGO to decide what creations would be made into official LEGO sets.

Click to see the qualifying projects