SlyOwl busts out of the starting gate with this entry for the Colossal Castle Contest. Packed with all sort of fun olde time carnival action, the dark of side the fair is revealed in the depths below the midway.
Category Archives: News
LEGO VIP Program
I’m passing some information along about the LEGO VIP program. I must apologise profusely for taking so long to blog this information. It came right in the middle of a very busy patch of my life and I then completely forgot it.
It also came as a PDF which made life much more difficult. I’ve converted the PDF pages to images and uploaded them to flickr. It comes in UK, US and German forms.
And from the FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I join the LEGO VIP Program?
To join the LEGO VIP Program, visit your nearest LEGO Store and see a LEGO Store Associate to pick up a card. To complete your registration, you must go online to VIP.LEGO.com and submit your member profile. You can find a complete list of LEGO Stores at stores.LEGO.com
- How do I collect points with my LEGO VIP Card?
When you are ready to make a purchase at the LEGO Store, hand your VIP Card to the cashier. Your points will be instantly added to your card as a part of your purchase transaction, and you can view the points you’ve earned at the bottom of your receipt.
- What about my current paper loyalty card?
If you own a loyalty card with valid stamps on it, just bring it in store and exchange it for a new LEGO VIP Card. We will transfer all of your spend amount across so you won’t lose out, plus we’ll still give you the 25 bonus points for signing up.
- How do I check my points balance?
There’s a points statement at the bottom of your receipt, which will tell you how many points you have earned on that transaction, and what your current total balance is. You can check your balance by visiting VIP.LEGO.com and selecting the ‘My VIP’ tab.
- How do I add family members to my LEGO VIP Membership?
If a family member is over 13 years old and resides at the same postal address, you can add them to your LEGO VIP Account. To do this, your family member must first join up in store and collect their own unique LEGO VIP Card. They can then ask a Store associate to create a ‘shared membership’. If you already have both cards, you can also create the
shared membership by contacting our Consumer Services department. It is important to note that all members within a Shared Membership can earn and redeem points from the same points account. LEGO is not responsible for any points redeemed without shared member approval.- What happens if I need to return items to the LEGO Store?
If you return the item with your receipt you can exchange it for another product or refund. We will require your VIP Card to adjust the balance accordingly. For more information on the LEGO Store return policy, please consult your purchase receipt or a Store Associate.
- What if I change my address?
If you move, please let us know! You can email our Customer Services Department, and include your old address, new address and VIP Card number.
- What if I have lost my LEGO VIP Card?
If your card is lost or stolen, please contact a LEGO Store Associate for a replacement card. The lost card will be deactivated and your points balance will be transferred across to the new card. LEGO is not responsible for any points redeemed on a lost or stolen card.
- Do my points ever expire?
Yes, if your card is left inactive for a consecutive period of 24 months, we will reset your points balance. Before this happens, LEGO will notify you via email.
The Carl Sagan deep space exploration vessel dwarfs its own builders
It seems both inevitable and appropriate that humankind will name a spacegoing vehicle after astronomer and author Carl Sagan. We’ve also come to expect excellence from the collaborations between Ed Diment and Ralph Savelsberg.
The Carl Sagan certainly doesn’t disappoint.
Describing it as a “near-future deep space exploration ship” inspired by Ralph’s microscale John Archibald Wheeler, the builders stand behind their work and give us a sense of its immense scale:
As much as I appreciate the sleek starfighters and heavily armed starships we feature here so often, it’s refreshing to see builders taking both a more realistic and peaceful direction with a large LEGO spaceship.
Instructions for the LEGO Rock Band bus now available
With LEGO Rock Band now shipping from both Amazon.com
you may want to build some of the things you’re seeing in the game, starting with the band’s bus. You can download a PDF of the instructions from LEGO.com now.
Via FBTB.
Announcing Creations for Charity!
I’m excited to announce a new online charity event that has just started! The event, called Creations for Charity, sells custom LEGO creations from fan builders to raise money to buy LEGO for underprivileged children. All funds will be used to buy LEGO sets for the charity Toys for Tots. From now until early-December, there will be new creations listed to be auctioned. Come visit the store to see what we have!
If you are interested in contributing a creation, you can read the details here. Happy holidays everyone!
Mini Castle Contest declares its winners!
Dan Joosten’s contest on Classic-Castle has run its course and he’s declared winners in all categories:
Miniature Set: Bartosza6m with his version of 6081 – King’s Mountain Fortress:
Miniature Castle: Chris Edwards with his Castle on the Lake:
Check out the second place, third place, and runner-up entries here! Congratulations, everyone!
Colour Change 2.0 – Not happening after all [News]
UPDATE (AB): We’ve received word that the purported color change is not happening after all. Here’s Jan Beyer, Europe’s LEGO community coordinator:
Hi all, i spoke to our Design Lab again and this was a misunderstanding from my side. The Design Lab is constanly looking trough our color pallette to make them as consistant and efficient as possible.
So these were only thoughts and not any final decisions so please take the information down again everywhere you posted it and let the people know that no final decision was take so that it was basically a misundestanding.
I’ve just received word through the LA forums that a few colours will be changing over the upcoming years: trans-black (aka smoke), pearl light grey and pearl dark grey. I suspect for the majority of us the trans-black change will be the most noticeable.
I realise that these changes are going to upset some of you but since no-one has seen the new colours please keep your comments reasonable. Trans-black isn’t the first transparent colour to change (I think it’s probably one of the few to never have changed) but if you hate change I suggest you start stocking up now.
The Colossal Castle Contest has begun [News]
Now in its seventh year, the massive multi-category contest, run annually by Classic-Castle has gone live.
Categories include Technological Advances, Alternate Sets, Medieval Mariner, Outlaw Escape, Eastern Medieval Life, Religous Life, Knight’s Training, Custom Castle Figure, Brick Castles, Fantasy Castles and Misc. The prizes are quite impressive, including vintage Castle sets, new sets, older MISB set, custom accessories and more. So get out there and get medieval!
Lego Reality Shows...for real? [News]
Yup, you read that right…Lego reality shows. According to Variety, LEGO is partnering with Scott Messick to develop several different ideas.
Reality producer Scott Messick has partnered with the Lego Group to develop nonscripted programming related to the toy building-block franchise.
Messick said he’s developing several different types of reality shows related to the brand – including docuseries, competition shows and kid-oriented gamers.
“Lego seemed like such a powerful brand, and I don’t think they were thinking about reality TV,” said Messick, who is exec producer of Cartoon Network’s “Destroy Build Destroy.”
Read the full-length article for more information. I’m withholding judgment until I actually see these. The docu-series, based on the travels of some of the Master Builders, sounds interesting. Not to sure about the game shows and such. What are your thoughts about this?
LEGO Rock Band CubeDude has a green mohawk and regrettable tattoos
Ryan Wood (lights) rocks. Also, he built a CubeDude, which also rocks.
I love the tattoos on his arm, and how he’s holding the whammy bar.
Speaking of LEGO Rock Band, the video game is due out next month, and the full track list has been announced. (I’ve been avoiding dedicating a whole post to this. Sorry for hijacking your CubeDude for news purposes, Ry.)
- All American Rejects: “Swing, Swing”
- The Kooks: “Naïve”
- The Automatic: “Monster”
- KoRn: “Word Up!”
- Blink-182: “Aliens Exist”
- KT Tunstall: “Suddenly I See”
- Blur: “Song 2”
- Lostprophets: “Rooftops”
- Bon Jovi: “You Give Love a Bad Name”
- P!NK: “So What”
- Boys like Girls: “Thunder”
- The Police: “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
- Bryan Adams: “Summer of 69”
- The Primitives: “Crash”
- Carl Douglas: “Kung Fu Fighting”
- Queen: “We Are The Champions”
- The Coral: “Dreaming of You”
- Queen: “We Will Rock You”
- Counting Crows: “Accidentally in Love”
- Rascal Flatts: “Life is a Highway”
- David Bowie: “Let’s Dance”
- Ray Parker Jr.: “Ghostbusters”
- Elton John: “Crocodile Rock”
- Razorlight: “Stumble and Fall”
- Europe: “The Final Countdown”
- Spin Doctors: “Two Princes”
- Everlife: “Real Wild Child”
- Spinal Tap: “Short & Sweet”
- Foo Fighters: “Breakout”
- Steve Harly: “Make Me Smile”
- Good Charlotte: “Girls & Boys”
- Sum 41: “In Too Deep”
- The Hives: “Tick Tick Boom!”
- Supergrass: “Grace”
- Iggy Pop: “The Passenger”
- Tom Petty: “Free Fallin”
- Incubus: “Dig”
- T-Rex: “Ride a White Swan”
- Jackson 5: “I Want You Back”
- Vampire Weekend: “A-Punk”
- Jimi Hendrix: “Fire”
- We the Kings: “Check Yes Juliet”
- Kaiser Chiefs: “Ruby”
- The Zutons: “Valerie”
- Katrina & The Waves: “Walking on Sunshine”
The latest updates indicate that stars like Iggy Pop will be making an appearance in the game.
Here’s the full list of potentially playable characters.
- Iggy Pop
- David Bowie
- Blur
- Queen
Boy meets girl; boy makes LEGO sets to propose to girl; things get very meta
LEGO fan Joe (cheeseslope) recently proposed to his girlfriend Kristen.
Inviting her to a picnic, he began by giving her two custom LEGO sets he designed himself that feature important things in their lives.
Next, he gave her a set that included their minifig selves having the very picnic they were having at that very moment.
See all of Joe and Kristin’s LEGO engagement pics on Flickr. Congratulations to the happy couple, and thanks for sending us the link!
Win 6299 LEGO Pirates Advent Calendar in the FC Seed Part Challenge [Contest]
Sorry folks, we won’t be getting 6299 LEGO Pirates Advent Calendar here in North America. That decision was apparently made before the whole Castle Advent Calendar drama last year.
Fortunately, the Forbidden Cove October Seed Part Challenge gives you a way to win one — for free!
Click the graphic to read the rules and check out the discussion on ForbiddenCove.com.