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.

Comic-Con exclusive LEGO sets revealed [News]

For the past few months, LEGO fans have wondered what’s inside the exclusive secret Indiana Jones box available at Comic-Con (July 24-27) with a limited edition of 500. Just now, the set has been listed on Ebay with its contents, revealed to be the BrickMaster Indy jeep along with two natives minifigs and a small temple scene.

Furthermore, and to our surprise, an exclusive Clone Wars set is available as well with a limited edition of 1200. This kit includes full contents of the Hailfire Droid & Spider Droid set and the Droids Battle Pack in addition to five new clone minifigs and a special poster. Click on the picture below for more.

Via Brick Horizon

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

LEGO Star Wars Clone Wars sets at Celebration Japan [News]

The new LEGO Star Wars Clone Wars sets will be available soon, but attendees at Star Wars Celebration Japan got an early look at some of the sets — and the minifigs in particular.

Edge (エッジ) over at レゴ系 (The LEGO System) was there, and took a bunch of pictures of the LEGO Star Wars booth.

Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, and a bunch of clones:

Clones on bikes, including CC-7567:

An overall shot of the booth:

Bonnie Burton from the Official Star Wars Blog also took a handful of pictures of the Clone Wars LEGO, including close-ups of the nose art on the Republic Gunship:

The ladies of the booth:

See lots more pictures in Edge’s blog post.

PLUG members build LEGO underwater

Fernando Correia of TechnicBRICKs and his fellow PLUG members got together recently and did something that I believe has never been done before: They donned scuba or snorkel gear and built LEGO sets underwater. “Okay,” you say, “I did that once at my grandma’s place in Orlando.”

Fine, but did you build the set underwater while it was still in the bag?! Hmm? Hmm? Did you? I think not.

Only slightly less impressive is Fernando building 8418 Mini Loader with full scuba gear on — though not in the original polybag:

(Thanks for the tip, Roger!)

Wait. Who exactly let Keith in?

I’m extremely pleased to announce that Keith Goldman has joined The Brothers Brick as our resident Columnist.

Keith is one of those LEGO fans of near-mythical proportions. Having met Keith in person, I can report that he stands nine feet four inches tall (that’s twelve meters for you Canadians), and is able to levitate his entire LEGO collection with his mind. Despite his telekinetic abilities, Keith has four arms (six metric). To fit in better with mere mortals, Keith is able to change size and shape at will.

Here’s a photo of Keith (center) with his coterie of adherents, better known as KeithLUG — yes, the man has his own LEGO Users Group:

Keith is perhaps best known for his bloated dioramas, including The Omicron Weekend, built with one third of all LEGO bricks in the Western Hemisphere by a division from the US Army Corp of Engineers over the course of a six month period. Naturally, Keith directed the troops remotely with his mind.

Keith is also a LEGO Ambassador from 2008 until whenever he feels like it, bringing order to the LEGOverse (and MOCPages in particular).

As a Columnist for The Brothers Brick, Keith will apply his “oratorical tradition of uninhibited or unbridled commentary” to semi-regular editorials on LEGO-related topics. Hey may also deign to grace us with his own creations from time to time.

Without further ado, please welcome Keith Goldman to The Brothers Brick!

Win $25,000 in the Nicktoons “Built by Me” LEGO movie contest [News]

Nickelodeon and LEGO are teaming up to host the “Built by Me” LEGO movie contest as part of the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival.

For your 2-minute (or less) movie animated with LEGO, you could win up to $25,000. w00t! Although Nicktoons is a kids’ network, I’ve taken a look at the rules, and the contest seems open to everybody.

You can download the Entry Form (632 KB PDF) and read the Rules & Regulations (1.1 MB PDF) on Nick.com.

Here’s the full press release:

CREATE A LEGO® ANIMATION FOR NICKTOONS NETWORK!

Nicktoons Network is working on the next Nicktoons Network Animation Festival…and they want YOUR animated short!

Are you a budding LEGO Filmmaker? Show off your talent by creating an animation using your LEGO brick collection! We’ll pick our favorite to be shown live at the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival in Los Angeles in October, and play it on www.nicktoonsnetwork.com/nnaf and LEGOclub.com. Plus, the Grand Prize winner will receive $25,000 to create an all-new animation for Nicktoons Network!

GRAND PRIZE: The “Built By Me” Movie Award!
The Grand Prize winning animation will be showcased at the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival and online. The winner will also receive $25,000 (twenty-five thousand dollars) to create a brand-new original animated short for Nicktoons Network using LEGO bricks and minifigures!

FIRST PRIZE
One First Prize winner from each age category will receive a LEGO Premium Prize Pack!

SECOND PRIZE
Two Second Prize winners from each age category will each receive a LEGO Prize Pack!

CONTEST DETAILS
Create an original animated short 2 minutes long or less and send it to us. Entries must be submitted between July 15 and September 15 2008. All shorts must feature LEGO bricks, and you must own the rights to any music, sound and dialogue featured in your video.

Contest is open to all ages. There are 2 categories: 17 and under, and 18 and older.

To enter the “Built By Me” Movie Contest you’ll need to download and complete the Entry Form and send it along with your animation.

WHERE TO SEND YOUR ANIMATION
Send your entry to:

“Built By Me” Movie Contest
1515 Broadway, 38th Floor
New York, NY 10036

Click here for contest details, rules & regulations, and movie-making tips to help you create your video!

Click here for more information about the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival!

ABOUT THE EVENT
The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival is back for its 5th year! Founded in 2004 to showcase the diversity of worldwide animation filmmaking, The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival is the largest multiplatform animation festival in North America. The festival features the best animated shorts from around the globe. Shorts selected for the festival have the chance to make it on-air, online and to be showcased at the live event in Los Angeles in October, 2008.

Nicktoons Network currently reaches 50 million homes via cable, digital cable and satellite, and can be seen on Cablevision, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable, Cox Communications, DirecTV, DISH Network and Time Warner Cable.

LEGO and Brickstructures present LEGO Architecture [News]

UPDATE: Check out the new Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO Architecture sets.

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The LEGO Group announced partnership with Adam Reed Tucker of Brickstructures Inc. to launch LEGO Architecture, a series of replicas of worldwide landmarks. As stated by LEGO, this “is the first new business launched together with a member of the LEGO community using the LEGO bricks as part of the business.” Currently available are models of The Sears Tower and The John Hancock Center, with future landmarks from around the world to come. You can purchase the kits at select locations in Chicago. For more info, head on over to read the full article on BrickJournal.

Via BrickJournal

LEGO Collector’s Guide raffle

Here’s your chance to win a copy of the new LEGO Collector’s Guide (currently not available for sale in North America). Enter the raffle hosted by the LEGO Community Development on 1000steine for a chance to win one of 10 copies of the book and 1 premium edition copy. Click on the picture below to go to the raffle!

UPDATE: Non-European LEGO fans concerned that their community isn’t represented in the list on the form can simply select “LUGNET” instead.

First images of 4999 Vestas Windmill set [News]

Brickshelf user RasRasRas has the first pictures of an upcoming large special set, 4999 Vestas Windmill. The motorized model towers over two feet and includes a nice setup of the base with minifigs and a small van. Take another look and you’ll see that the set includes green BURPs, oh my.

Call for presentations at BrickCon 2008

BrickCon 2008 is coming up in less than three months — October 2-5 in my lovely city of Seattle, WA. If you haven’t registered yet, read all about the people, LEGO creations, and events in our past coverage of what I think is the coolest LEGO convention around. (Awesome brick-built BrickCon logo by Adam Hally.)

Important: The price for registration goes up from $40 to $50 on August 5, so if you know you’re coming, register now to save some money — to spend at the Brick Bazaar or LEGO Store, of course! ;-)

Anyway, one of the great things about LEGO conventions is amazing variety of stuff to do. Thomas Garrison and the rest of the BrickCon planning team are interested in hearing your ideas about presentations, seminars, round-tables, and other activities you’d like to see at BrickCon this October. For more info, read on…

BrickCon 2008 is looking for any talks, roundtables, and special activities you would like to see at the Con this year.

This year we have two classrooms adjacent to the exhibition hall with real, hard walls so we anticipate being able to program presentations/activities for up to twenty people during public hours or other activities. Additionally, public hours have been further reduced from last year, leaving more programming time for events requiring larger spaces.

Past talks have included manufacturing custom parts, an introduction to LDraw, and slideshows of LEGOLAND (insiders’ and outsiders’ views), among many others.

Roundtables, or moderated discussions, have included sorting, Moonbase standards and design, landscaping, and anything that someone can think of.

Activities already planned for this year include the Dirty Brickster, a draft, and speed and blind builds.

All we need for more talks, roundtables, and activities are ideas and people to run with them. Projectors and a computer will be available (although bringing your own laptop ensures compatibility). All spaces can be configured with tables and chairs as desired.

Any registered attendee who would like to run a presentation or activity should e-mail proposals or questions to Thomas Garrison (the three letters Tee Double-U Ess AT morfydd DOT net–please mention BrickCon in the subject). If possible, please include a possible title, brief description for the event program, and any time constraints or facility requirements. Events are typically scheduled to run up to fifty minutes but can be scheduled for more or less time.

Our hard deadline for proposals is September 8. This gives Thomas time to make a schedule and get everything into our printed program. Earlier is better.

BrickCon is an annual adult LEGO hobbyist convention and exhibition in Seattle. BrickCon 2008 will be October 2-5, 2008, in the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. For more information and online registration, visit: http://www.brickcon.org

I hope to see lots of you this October in Seattle!

Brickforge new items available [News]

If you drooled over the preview of Brickforge‘s new items in our recent review, now’s the time to crack open your piggybank and start shopping because Brickforge has these new items available for purchase on their reformatted website.

Upcoming Brickmaster exclusive mini Clone Turbo Tank [News]

Here is a hi-resolution image of the upcoming Nov/Dec set for LEGO BrickMaster subscribers. This image was sent by Steve Witt from LEGO to Ace at FBTB. Enjoy this non-leaked photo! You can chime in or read the discussion on FBTB here.

Via FBTB

LEGO wants your ideas for LEGO City 2010 [News]

Although the set designs for LEGO City 2009 have already been finalized, The LEGO Group would like to get your input on what you’d like to see in 2010 and beyond. This is your chance to influence the future direction of the LEGO City product line!

So, in the comments on this post, use the format I’ve included below to give LEGO your suggestions.

Guidelines and legal stuff:

All submissions must fit into this format — please, no rants or rambles! ;-)
Submit your suggestions by July 28th.
Target age range of 5-10 years old.
Link to one inspiration picture for your overall submission, whether a LEGO creation (yours or otherwise) or something from real life. (Optional.)
All rights related to any suggestion or submission made by you through your comments are hereby assigned to The LEGO Group, who shall be entitled to exploit the suggestions and submissions in any way The LEGO Group may want now and in the future.

What themes would you like to see the City Design team work on? What are the essential models for that theme?

Name of the theme: [ ]

Short description of the theme:
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Possible set idea #1 (with short description):
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Possible set idea #2 (with short description):
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Possible set idea #3 (with short description):
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Nannan, Tim, or I will send LEGO your suggestions between July 28 and August 4.