Brandon Griffith, who you may remember from his role in the awesome Tower of Orthanc diorama, has a cool new project up on Kickstarter. It’s a set of trading cards, but the subjects aren’t athletes, they’re LEGO builders and their creations. The mock-up photos look pretty awesome to me, and I’m also honored to say that I’ve been asked to be an artist in the series.
This past weekend, LEGO announced the new 10226 Sopwith Camel set at AFOLcon in Manchester, UK.
Lots more photos in the photoset on Flickr.
In addition to the large-scale version, LEGO will also be releasing a mini version:
Here’s the full press release:
10226 Sopwith Camel
Ages 14+. 883 pieces.
US $99.99 CA $129.99 DE 89.99 € UK 79.99 £ DK 799DKKRelive a classic era of aviation history with the Sopwith Camel biplane!
Recreate your very own piece of aviation history with the historic Sopwith Camel. This detailed replica of one of the most recognizable British single-seat biplanes ever to have graced the skies. Features include a realistic rotating propeller and engine cylinders, hinged tail rudder, realistic tension wires, functioning wing ailerons and tail flaps that can be controlled from the cockpit – just like the real plane! The detail doesn’t stop there; this authentic model has over 880 bricks, including dark green, dark tan and metallic silver elements.
- Features include a rotating propeller and engine cylinders, hinged tail rudder, functioning wing ailerons and tail flaps that can be controlled from the cockpit
- Includes dark green, dark tan and metallic silver elements
- Recreate a piece of aviation history
- Turn the propellers and see the cylinders rotate
- Model measures over 15” (40cm) long and has a wingspan of over 19” (50 cm)
Available for sale directly through LEGO® beginning June 2012 via shop.LEGO.com, LEGO® Stores or via phone.
LEGO adds:
In addition the Sopwith Camel has many sought-after parts including some metallic parts on the cowling and new 1×1 round tiles. “We’re also introducing the 1×1 brick in dark tan, which was on our top ten list of elements that our fans want and we give you quite a few of them,” adds Jamie
“We have tried to avoid stickers wherever possible and have a brick-built rudder in the characteristic red, white and blue of the original. Also included are dark green 8×16 plates and 1×3 tiles in the same colour.”
Finally, here’s the designer video:
If you’re considering attending Brick Fiesta from July 4-8 in Houston, you have until the end of this month to guarantee registration with an engraved brick badge. For more info on the convention, check out their website.
The annual LEGO Star Wars sale on May 4th (“May the Force…” — you get the idea) is upon is. The pickings are a bit slim this year, but you get free shipping on all orders over $75 and various gifts with purchase — R2-D2 poster, TC-14 minifigure, etc.
The only two bigger sets on sale are Imperial Shuttle” and Super Star Destroyer
— both at 20% off.
Link for our Canadian readers:
Link for our UK readers:
For all the LEGO fans in and around Toronto (or Canada and North Eastern USA in general), the dates for Brickfête have been announced. It will be held July 12-15 this year at the Hilton Hotel in Toronto. Press release below.
This is a call out to all AFOL, LEGO collectors, builders, hobbyists, enthusiasts and vendors within walking, driving or flying distance of Toronto, Canada. The Brickfête Team would love to see you this summer for our annual LEGO Fan Convention. Join us for some good times completely focused on our beloved obsession with the brick.
This July 12, 13, 14 & 15, 2012
Hilton Hotel in Toronto, CanadaTo register for the four days visit our AFOL portion of our site… www.brickfete.com/AFOL/event
Our new hotel venue is awesome! Incredible hotel rates have been secured and there is free parking for all Brickfete guests. If you are from out of town (or country) we are located right across from the Toronto Airport, which means you can just fly here, board the shuttle to the hotel and not worry about renting cars, maps or public transit.
Join our website’s free forum if you have any questions or want to discuss things such as sharing a room, collaborative builds, or just a chance to connect with others before the event.
Our list of events are being posted and there is something for everyone to get involved with.
Build Challenges
Live Auction
Prize Raffles
Games
Contests and Activities
And more to come…Display with us and enjoy the company of other AFOLS. We can’t wait to see you on the attendees list and to see what you have built.
If you are new to conventions and are hesitating… check this forum post out and feel free to ask questions www.brickfete.com/AFOL/thread/120
All the rest of the details and more can be read on www.brickfete.com
Does your child love LEGO?
Check out Brickfête’s Public Expo Days
The general public is invited to view the awesome LEGO Creations on display
July 14th and 15th, 2012 – 10am until 3pm
Tickets sold at the door and onlineWe cant wait to see you there,
The Brickfête Team
“A festival run by fans, made by the fans, for the fans.”
LEGO Cuusoo is really picking up speed lately, breaking 88 miles per hour moments ago! Masashi Togami’s DeLorean project on Cuusoo achieved the 10,000 vote threshold tonight, meriting it an official review by the LEGO Company, and if all goes well, development into an official LEGO set.
The good people at LEGO have asked us to spread the word about a customer survey they’re running. It’s targeted towards the adult and teen fan communities, and you have to be at least 13 years old to respond. As a fan, I’m happy to have my voice heard by folks inside the LEGO company, responding to the survey seems worth the time. Here’s the word from LEGO, followed by links to the survey in various languages.
Dear LEGO fan,
The LEGO fan community is important to us. To improve and support the LEGO fan community we have partnered with Aarhus University, Denmark, and DePaul University, Chicago, to carry out this survey. The survey is part of a large ongoing research project aimed at better understanding user activities and interactions in communities.
We would greatly appreciate if you would complete the questionnaire (see link below). It will take you approx. 20-30 minutes. Please note that you must be at least 13 years old to take this survey.
The survey ends by May, 17, 2012 (midnight GMT). All responses are strictly confidential. We will share the top line findings (in English) with you once we have analyzed the data (approximately end of June 2012) through the LEGO Ambassadors.
Thank you very much for your help!
Kind regards,
Jan Beyer, Community Operations Manager EU/Asia
James Foulds, Community Operations Senior Manager, Americas/Australia
Tormod Askildsen, Head of the LEGO Community Events & Engagement team
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LEGO_Fan_Survey_German
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LEGO_Fan_Survey_English
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LEGO_Fan_Survey_Spanish
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LEGO_Fan_Survey_Korean
When LEGO fan Greg (aka Yatkuu) achieved 10,000 votes for his Cuusoo project based on the R-rated film Shaun of the Dead, we were all incredibly curious to see how LEGO would react. They’ve given it full consideration, and have determined that they will not further pursue turning this project into a set. This marks the first time that a Cuusoo project has reached the proper number of votes, but failed the review process. The official statement is below.
The LEGO Jury has completed the review of the Winchester – Shaun of the Dead project that hit 10,000 supporters on LEGO CUUSOO on March 31, 2012.
LEGO CUUSOO gives the opportunity to submit product ideas, however all LEGO products, regardless of age target, must be content appropriate for our core audience. With this in mind we have decided that – good though the model is – the film Shaun of the Dead contains content that is not appropriate for our core target audience of children ages 6-11.
Long before the Winchester received mainstream media attention, Greg (Yatkuu) contacted us in earnest to see if his project was acceptable. We recognized the potential conflict, but didn’t see a reason to remove the project. The model was presented tastefully and we thought it deserved fair consideration. With 10,000 supporters, the Winchester earned the opportunity to receive the full LEGO Review.
Greg has been a pleasure to work with throughout this process. We’re impressed by his model, grateful for his constructive approach with us, and we are sad to disappoint such a devoted LEGO fan.
We appreciate the passion exhibited for new product ideas on LEGO CUUSOO. Opening ourselves to new product suggestions invites popular ideas that don’t always fit our brand. This is the first time we’ve felt that we should turn a LEGO CUUSOO idea down, but we’re grateful for the spirit behind projects like the Winchester and for the opportunity to be challenged. It keeps us sharp and looking toward the future of the LEGO brick.
Lego’s Architecture sets seem to be coming in rapid succession lately, with the Sydney Opera House announced just back in February. Now Lego has announced their latest set, 21013 Big Ben, giving some well-deserved microscale attention to a famous landmark previously only seen in the cartoonized world of Cars 2.
Big Ben, one of the UK’s most recognizable buildings and a global symbol of Victorian London and the Gothic Revival style, has been recreated as the latest set in the LEGO® Architecture series.
Big Ben, officially known as the Clock Tower, has stood at the north-eastern corner of the Palace of Westminster in London for more than 150 years. It was designed by the unlikely team of Classical architect Charles Barry and Gothic Revival pioneer Augustus Pugin and completed in 1859.
Big Ben is the fourteenth model in the LEGO Architecture range, which uses the LEGO brick to interpret the designs of iconic architecture around the world. It is the first model to be designed by Rok Zgalin Kobe from Slovenia who joins Adam Reed-Tucker as a LEGO architect.
“The most challenging in creating this model was representing the richness of 19th century Gothic Revival architecture in a scale usually more appropriate for modern or contemporary architecture of smooth surfaces and clean lines,” said Rok Zgalin Kobe.
Charles Barry won the competition to build the new Palace of Westminster in January 1836. His initial designs were without the clock tower that would become known as Big Ben. As his own style was more Classical than the increasingly popular Gothic Revival, Barry asked for assistance from Augustus Pugin, a leading light of the movement that left its indelible mark on the Victorian era around the world. The design of the interior of the palace and the clock tower are thought to be his work.
LEGO Architecture products features well-known buildings, and the work of important architects Aimed at inspiring future architects, engineers and designers as well as architecture fans around the world, the range contains a booklet featuring step-by-step building instructions that is prefaced by exclusive, archival history, information and photographs of each iconic building, its design origin, its architect and its architectural features.
The LEGO 21013 Big Ben is available for purchase from June 1 in LEGO brand retail stores, LEGOLAND Stores and online at http://shop.lego.com/. The product is designed for ages 12+ and includes a booklet with facts and history about Big Ben. Recommended retail price is $29.99 or €29.99.
For more information about LEGO Architecture visit http://architecture.lego.com/
For fans of LEGO in Sydney and around Australia, the inaugaral Sydney Brick Show will happen in the Sydney Powerhouse Museum on June 2-3.
Sydney Brick Show, 2-3 June 2012
Registrations are now open to display and attend the Sydney Brick Show as an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO®)
SydBricks (A group of Sydney LEGO fans from SydLUG) and the Powerhouse Museum are proud to announce that the first Sydney Brick Show will be held at the museum on the weekend of 2-3 June 2012.
Adult fans are invited to register to display their creations and attend the show. For younger fans wishing to take part the Sydney Brick Show are running a competition where they can submit their creations to win one of 10 family passes and the opportunity to display the winning creation at the show. There will also be a number of interactive activities at the show for younger fans, so keep watch on sydneybrickshow.com.au.
As the show is situated in the Powerhouse Museum, AFOL’s are invited to recreate Museum exhibits in brick alongside the usual MOC creations. Information on exhibits from the museum can be found here. Be in quick to register as some exhibits have already been selected!
Registration to attend the Sydney Brick Show as an AFOL includes entry to the Powerhouse Museum for the duration of the show, Sydney Brick Show badge, show bag and discounted entry to the evening reception event hosted by SydBricks in support of Westmead Children’s Hospital, Sydney.
General tickets for the evening event are on sale now. The evening event will include exclusive entry to see the show without the crowds, a catered cocktail reception, guided talks of the displays, trade tables, charity auction in aid of Westmead Children’s Hospital, a talk from Australian LCP Ryan McNaught and a special presentation from LEGO’s Jim Foulds all the way from the USA.
For up-to-date information or for registration, visit sydneybrickshow.com.au.
If I learned nothing else at Emerald City Comicon last weekend (post to follow shortly), it’s that I’m much more of a Marvel fan than a DC fan. So I’m a lot more excited by the official release today of the LEGO Marvel sets than I was about the DC sets a few months back.
Wolverine is looking pretty awesome with his claws and bike, but Captain America is who I’m happiest to see in LEGO minifig form:
Each set includes a unique combination of minifigs that I’m sure was designed to encourage collectors to buy them all:
Our US readers can see the complete product listing by clicking through the following banner:
In other good news, TBB readers in the UK and Canada can now help support the site by clicking through from TBB when buying LEGO from the LEGO Shop online. I’ll set up the ads on the left to link differently depending on where you are shortly, but in the meantime, you can use the banners below (apologies for the visual repetition — it hurts my eyes, too):
Canada:
United Kingdom:
While we wait patiently for LEGO to release the Marvel Super Heroes sets soon, they’re clearing space by discounting all Alien Conquest sets 25% (or more) through April 8.
