This week we found a good selection of LEGO sets on sale from Amazon, with deals on Ninjago, LEGO City, Star Wars, LEGO Ideas sets and more. Check out last week’s Star Wars sales post, as some of those sets are still discounted. You can also see the entire list of LEGO sets on sale at Amazon.
LEGO Ideas – The Big Bang Theory is 20% off, currently listed at $47.97.
There’s just under two weeks remaining in the annual Brickstory contest run by Croatian LEGO fansite Kockice.hr. There are 4 themes to enter: Industrial Revolution, History of Music, Age of Piracy, and Early Middle Ages, and Kockice will be giving out prizes to the top 10 entries, with prizes as large as Assembly Square and Big Ben. The contest is open to LUG members worldwide, and ends Feb. 15, so don’t delay. Click the image for the full rules.
LEGO and Warner Bros. today announced several upcoming expansions to LEGO Dimensions, adding to the growing pantheon of licenses the video game envelops. The new packs will include characters from The Goonies, Harry Potter, and LEGO’s own Chase McCain. The new packs will be available in May. New packs are also available Feb. 10, including a Batman Movie Story Pack to coincide with the The LEGO Batman Movie, an Excalibur Batman, and Knight Rider.
Read the full press release and see the other packs below.
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LEGO has been named the world’s most powerful brand according to Brand Finance’s yearly Global 500 rankings, unseating previous title-holder, Disney. The annual rankings are based on factors such as brand familiarity, loyalty, marketing investment, staff satisfaction, and corporate reputation.
Image courtesy of Bram Van Laere
LEGO has come a long way from wooden toys to plastic bricks and the licensing empire it is known for today. According to the report, LEGO’s brand strength is based on its appeal that spans generations, evidenced in the fact that LEGO bricks from 1958 are still compatible with their modern day iterations. That nostalgia and creative freedom, combined with a decade of solid marketing, financial gains and successful licensing product lines, helped take the company from near-bankruptcy in the early 2000s to its current number-one brand ranking.
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Last week we got our first look at LEGO BrickHeadz, the upcoming line of collectible brick-built characters. Today LEGO is unveiling 2 additional characters, the beloved Disney characters Belle and the Beast. This isn’t the first time Beauty and the Beast has come to LEGO, as Belle’s Enchanted Castle was released last year in the Disney Princess line.
Each BrickHeadz character will retail for $9.99 USD, and they will be available for VIP early access beginning Feb. 15, with a wide release March 1, just in time for the March 17 opening of the live-action Beauty and the Beast film. Read the full BrickHeadz press release below the jump.
With 4 BrickHeadz each from Marvel and DC, plus these two classic Disney characters, that accounts for 10 of the planned 12 characters for BrickHeadz Series 1. Let us know in the comments what you think the last 2 characters for Series 1 will be. Continue reading
Today, LEGO launched a new social network app for kids called LEGO Life. The purpose of the network is to provide a safe environment for children to share their creations and meet other builders their age without potentially being exposed to the content and discussions oriented for adults that is typical on sites like Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, or Flickr.
The app is essentially the digital embodiment of the LEGO Club Magazine’s “Cool Creations” section merged with LEGO’s now-shut-down community message boards. (Interestingly, the company is launching a separate LEGO Life Magazine as well.) On the app, kids can create their own representative minifigure, post photos, complete building challenges, and comment on other kids’ creations. Continue reading
Germany’s Nuremberg Toy Fair is the largest Toy Fair in the world, and where toy manufacturers go to show off their new products to potential buyers. As in previous years, LEGO has a large presence with a lot of new sets. Thanks to our friends at Promobricks, we’re able to bring you the first look at some of what LEGO has planned for the rest of the year, including Architecture, Creator, Technic, City and more. In a few weeks we’ll be covering the New York Toy Fair and bringing you close-up, hands-on coverage of these new sets and more.
Don’t miss other upcoming LEGO sets we’ve announced, including:
Summer wave of The LEGO Batman Movie sets
21035 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Marvel & DC Superheroes LEGO Brick Headz
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 LEGO sets
Click to see the rest of the new sets
I don’t know about you guys, but I am super pumped for The LEGO Batman Movie coming out on February 10, 2017. We already know that Will Arnett as Batman is hilarious and there’s bound to be plenty of LEGO jokes hidden in the background. So while we count down the days until the hilarity ensues, let’s review one of the The LEGO Batman Movie sets: 70909 Batcave Break-In.
Overall, this set has a lot going for it. There are a ton of interesting play features built into the design and the two vehicles are phenomenal. Best of all, the set comes with 9 great minifigs, several of which are exclusive to this set. Continue reading
The LEGO Batman Movie’s Feb. 10 release is right around the corner, but LEGO isn’t done revealing all the tie-in sets yet. Last week we got a look at the new LEGO Brick Headz collectible figures line, which includes 4 characters from the movie, and today we’re getting our first look at the summer lineup of film sets, due out in June.
Includes Batman, Robin, and the Batwing with seating for two minifigures. The Batwing can transform from flight to landing modes, and features a rear compartment with a small car. The Batwing is 18 in. (48cm) wide and 12 in. (31cm) long. The set also includes Harley Quinn and her cannon. We reviewed the Batwing mini set recently.
This week we were able to track down Fedde Barendrecht to his Australian hideaway in Brisbane. Fedde, who goes by the handle Karf Oohlu, works from home, uploads another crazy LEGO creation almost daily and dreams of world domination. Somehow lots of monkeys and frogs are involved. Let’s dive into his mind but keep your wits about you. Once he has us in his tentacled embrace he may not let go again.
The Brothers Brick: Hey Fedde! What can you tell us about yourself? How did you get into LEGO and what keeps you there?
Fedde: Hi, I’m an old fart, my name is Fedde Barendrecht, Dutch born, Australian raised, and now living in Brisbane Australia. I blame a certain AFOL, Aaron Andrews (aka Darkspawn)—it’s all his fault. The first time I’d visited his place, I saw all the castle MOCs he was working on. (These days, family life—kids—is burning up most of his spare time, and cost him his Lego room.) It got me interested, so I first got into Bionicle, thinking they seemed restrictive and so would feed the interest but not get out of hand. A few System sets eventually got bought, some more—things got out of hand.
Fifty-nine years ago today on January 28, 1958, at 1:58pm, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen submitted a patent application for a tiny toy building block, which was approved six month later. Little did Godtfred know that his “highly sophisticated inter-locking brick system” would take the world by storm, and lead to LEGO becoming the largest toy company on the globe, selling products in more than 140 countries.
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Coffee giant Starbucks announced this week that it is adding Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, executive chairman of the LEGO Brand Group, to its board of directors. Knudstorp is generally credited with turning around LEGO during a difficult time for the global company over a decade ago.
