Ok, it’s the street, but it’s still some amazing chalk work.
There’s some speculation that this may be related to the giant Lego minifig that recently washed up in Florida.
Thanks to Tom Hohman for the heads up.
UPDATE (Nov 9): Artist Leon Keer has posted complete photos of his chalk art effort on Flickr (I’ve replaced the unsourced photo above with one of his). And here’s the finished artwork, evocative of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s terracotta army:
Breaking news from LEGO. It appears that LEGO Universe will be shutting down at the start of the new year. My heart goes out to all those who will be losing their jobs. Here’s the press release:
LEGO Universe to close in 2012
Online game will close on January 31, 2012. The LEGO Group’s digital offerings will continue to develop over the coming years.
November 4, 2011 – The LEGO Group today announced that it will close LEGO® Universe, an MMOG (massively-multiplayer online game) that has been in operation since the autumn of 2010.
In spite of very positive player feedback and a large number of players in the free play zone, it has not been possible to convert a satisfactory number of players to paying subscribers. It has therefore been decided to close the game as of January 31, 2012.
“The LEGO Universe team can take pride in having developed and launched a great LEGO experience that many players will miss,” said Jesper Vilstrup, Vice President, LEGO Universe. “Right now, we have almost 2 million players in LEGO Universe, and we get extremely positive feedback from players. Unfortunately, we have not been able to build a satisfactory revenue model in our target group, and therefore, have decided to close the game.”
Despite the change, the ambition to develop and run a digital business remains. In future, it is the intention to further pursue cooperation with partners. The LEGO Group has a strong and continuing partnership with TT Games Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to create digital LEGO experiences within video games. A further expansion in the digital area will mainly be based on similar partnerships.
“The development of our digital offerings continues to be a very important element in our strategy,” said Mads Nipper, Executive Vice President, LEGO Group. “We have more than 20 million visitors on www.LEGO.com every month, and LEGO video games are among the bestselling children’s video games with sales of more than 60 million units in the last five years. Through our experience developing and running LEGO Universe, we have gained a lot of valuable insights, and we have a very strong foundation for future development in the digital area.”
As a consequence of the closure, the LEGO Universe staff has today been informed that the ‘Play Well Studios’ in Louisville, Colorado and the game’s marketing function in Billund, Denmark will be closed. This will affect 115 employees. All affected employees will be offered assistance in finding new jobs inside or outside the LEGO Group.
Amazon.com keeps dropping the price of the recently released LEGO Architecture set 21010 Robie House.
Price was one of the big complaints when this was released, so quit complainin’ and get shoppin’! Looks like it’ll make a great dark red parts pack.
Via FBTB.
Peer Kreuger shares a short video capturing some great footage from LEGO WORLD 2011 that took place from October 19-26.
Thanks for the tip vmln8r!
Brickworld Fort Wayne 2011 happened last month in October. This video by John Brune captured many of the stellar creations displayed at the event.
I’m not sure where Brickshelfer grogall has gotten all the official photos of 2012 LEGO sets, but I keep finding more high-res photos of upcoming sets. The latest is the “Dino” line, reminiscent of the Dino Attack/Dino 2010 sets from a few years ago.
5885 Triceratops Trapper includes a tan triceratops with a bulky 4×4 vehicle:
The new dinosaurs reflect the improvements to animal molds and printing we’ve seen recently in other themes. The Tyrannosaurus rex in 5886 T-Rex Hunter looks simultaneously more LEGO-like and realistic (at least compared to the LEGO dinosaurs from the Dino Attack sets).
I’ll withhold judgment on the vehicle designs until I see them in person (presumably in January), but I really like what I’m seeing of the creatures.
In an odd but awesome twist, LEGO City leaves the, well, city and heads for the hills in 2012. All of the law enforcement and emergency services that form the core of each year’s LEGO City sets are represented by wildland firefighters and park rangers instead.
Looks like there are some interesting new brick…bricks.
Oh yes, there are bears. I am so building a moonshine still out back of this hillbilly cabin.
In the same vein, the firefighters battle forest fires with their bulky wildland equipment.
I wonder if wunztwice will approve of the chainsaws…
Via Eurobricks.
A bit belated news for some, I realize — I’ve been sick — but 4184 Black Pearl is out now from multiple sources (text link goes to LEGO Shop; image link below goes to Amazon).
The highlight in this set for me is definitely the minifigs, with Davy Jones and the shark-headed Maccus. It goes for $100 (less at some big box stores at the moment) and includes 804 pieces.
Free shipping has been extended again from the LEGO Shop, with double VIP points through the end of October.
Finally, every purchase over $99 includes the first of a two-part Christmas vignette for free:
Here’s the second part, due out in November:
The Creations for Charity store is now open where you can buy a custom Lego creation to fund the donation of Lego sets to Toys for Tots during the holidays. There are an unprecedented 35 MOCs to kick off this year’s store opening, and just about all are one-of-a-kind works sold on a first come, first serve basis.
More MOCs will be added to the store as new donations come in, and you can donate a Lego creation by November 15. I recommend checking the Creations for Charity website for updates on the fundraising progress and previews of new MOCs for sale, and above all, I hope you’ll take part in this year’s effort to brighten the holidays of many children.
Nannan just posted about the 6860 Batcave and other 2012 sets, but I think this deserves its own post: We now have our first decent/official photos of the upcoming Collectible Minifigures Series 7.
Here’s what I’m seeing, with names I make up as I go along:
Quite a diverse bunch!
EDIT: Not sure how we missed these, but here’s Series 6 (via Toys N Bricks):
The official high-res image of 6860 The Batcave has been released. There are also additional pictures of 2012 sets from Star Wars, Cars, Spongebob, and Series 7 Minifigs posted on FBTB’s Flickr photostream.
The VW Camper Van isn’t the only German vehicle released in LEGO form this year. Long-time readers of the blog will recall that I’m obsessed with the Mercedes Unimog, and I’ve featured several — starting with Adam Grabowski’s Unimog back in 2006. Adam now works for LEGO as a designer. I don’t think Adam works on Technic sets, but it’s nice to see an official LEGO version of this awesome vehicle.
It’s been out for a few months, but I suspect it might be news for a couple of you out there. TechnicBricks has the full review.
