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.
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!
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.
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
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:
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.
Will Chapman of BrickArms was at BrickWorld 2008 the weekend before last, and Nannan scored a selection of custom items and prototypes for future BrickArms products. Since this isn’t a review (like my recent BrickForge review), I’ll mainly just show you pictures.
My favorite BrickArms prototype is the unique Lewis gun from World War I:
In addition to historical accuracy — the round magazine is removable — I think this gun has the most potential beyond military applications. In fact, the real-life Lewis gun inspired the T-21 light repeating blaster from the Star Wars universe.
The BrickArms machete and KA-BAR (“survival knife”) add sharp edges to the BrickArms inventory:
Military builders have already expressed excitement over the M21 Sniper Weapon System:
The baseball bat and “cleaver” improve minifig odds against the zombie horde:
The “Spy Carbine” and “Golden Gun” evoke the world of Ian Fleming’s James Bond:
See more in my BrickArms photoset on Flickr.
I know lots of you want to know when these are going to be released and whether these prototypes represent the final design. To save you some confusion, here’s the official word from the BrickArms spokesbadger:
- Cleaver – Prototype only. Design is finalized. Will eventually see mass production.
- Machete – Prototypes only. Two versions were distributed in a variety of colors: one with a lip on the handle and one without. The design is still being finalized. Will eventually see mass production.
- KA-BAR – Prototype and included in a special BA custom Commando fig. Existed in a variety of colors including trans-colors. Will eventually see mass production.
- Golden Gun – Prototypes only. Existed in a variety of colors including trans-colors. Unlikely to ever see mass production, but may be available beyond the Spy Contest prizes at some point in the future. Design is final.
- Spy Carbine – Prototypes and included with a special BA custom White Tuxedo Bond figure. Decision regarding mass production still in flux as is the design of the accessory.
- Needler-inspired accessory – Only included with a special BA custom Marine fig. Will never see mass production due to the complexity of the process to produce the item (multiple molds and over-injecting).
- Baseball Bat – Available for purchase in a variety of colors. Design is finalized. Will eventually see mass production.
- Lewis Gun – Prototypes only. Design still in flux. Will eventually see mass production.
- Brodie Helmet – Prototypes only. Design is final. Will eventually see mass production.
- MGL – Prototype only. Design still in flux. May or may not see mass production given certain design difficulties.
- M21 Sniper rifle – Prototype only. Design still in flux. May or may not see mass production.
LEGO employees in the UK have put together tens of thousands of clone troopers to raise money for the National Autistic Society. As you can see, this puts Moko’s golden army to shame:
More details on Gizmodo. (Thanks for the link, Jesus Diaz and Jeramy Cooke!)
Here’s some interesting news from Billund:
LEGO® Collector`s Guide Publishing date: 26.06.08 / LEGO Collector – Premium Edition beginning of August 2008
We are happy to announce that the LEGO Collector’s Guide is about to be launched by Fantasia Verlag GmbH. The confirmed launch date will be the 26.06.08. This bilingual (English/German) catalogue is for the fan and collector alike. It is a high quality product full of details. It comprises around 800 pages presenting nearly all sets produced by the LEGO Group since 1958.
Further, there will be a LEGO Collector – Premium Edition which will be very limited to 3.333 continuously numbered copies. The Premium Edition will be published at the beginning of August 2008 for a price of 39,90€. This high quality catalogue has a hardcover and is presented in a very decorative packaging with exclusive LEGO gimmicks.
Eurobricks once again found first good pictures of upcoming Star Wars sets including: 7681 Seperatist Spider Droid, 7678 Droid Gunship, 7679 Republic Fighter Tank, and 7680 The-Twilight.
Here is the final installment of the Brickworld 2008 photos from me. The four days have been a blast with seeing all the great LEGO creations and meeting friends and making new ones. Here is the Saturday gallery.
Sunday brings the second public display day and the wrap up with the closing ceremony and tear down. Here’s the gallery.
It’s not over yet, and while the event has wrapped up, there’s sure to be many more pictures and discussions in the communities. You can look forward to more Brickworld related blog posts in the coming days, including reviews of new Brickforge and Brickarms items.
Public hours at BrickWorld 2008 are wrapping up as I type this, and I hope Nannan is taking a well-deserved break from the fantastic coverage he’s been bringing those of us who couldn’t make it to Chicago this year.
To tide everybody over until Nannan’s next post, here are some blog posts and photos I’ve found while sitting on my couch in Seattle.
A photoset from “way2curly“:
Another photoset on Flickr, from Tom Mancine:
And from around the LEGO blogosphere:
Garth Danielson:
As Nannan has alluded to, we’ll have a few special items trickling out over the next week or so, in addition to the rest of Nannan’s coverage from Chicago.
