LEGO is releasing another exclusive set for this year’s New York Comic Con, revealed today to be the first Star Wars BrickHeadz. Set 41498, Boba Fett & Han Solo in Carbonite, has 329 pieces and will be sold for $40, but is only available at the convention. There’s no word on how many sets will be available, but it’s likely to be a very small number.
Update: read our review of this set.
Continue reading about the Star Wars BrickHeadz
Unsurprisingly, LEGO is going all out promoting The LEGO Ninjago Movie, which made $20.4 million in its first weekend (compare to $53 million for The LEGO Batman Movie earlier this year or the original LEGO Movie at $69 million). Following quickly on the heels of the newly revealed Ninjago Movie wave 2 set images, LEGO has released a pair of BrickHeadz characters from the movie, 41487 Lloyd and 41487 Master Wu. Both sets, which will only be available through the end of 2017, retail for $9.99 US/$12.99 CAD and are available in LEGO Stores and online already.
Master Wu is built from 89 pieces, and features his straw hat, kimono, and walking stick. Master Wu’s eyes and cloak toggles are printed.
Lloyd includes 102 pieces, with printed elements for his eyes, headband, and ninja gi.
Click through to see the box art for these sets
One of my favorite video games of all time is Final Fantasy VII, released more than 20 years ago on the Sony PlayStation console. Such iconic characters must inevitably undergo the BrickHeadz treatment, which works very well for the anime styling of character designer Tetsuya Nomura. LEGO builder Ben Fong has captured the look of the two antagonists Cloud Strife and Sephiroth as they’re depicted in the 2005 film Final Fantasy: Advent Children.
Cloud wields his enormous Buster Sword, and Ben has even included the stud in Cloud’s left ear.
Amazing fan-made BrickHeadz keep popping up, covering every conceivable screen franchise. And now Adam Dodge adds the comic pair of Deadpool and Cable to the fray. While both of these are great, the Cable is outstanding. Aside from the clever parts usage on the shoulder pads, the use of official printed pieces is a masterstroke; that’s a pair of printed piston pieces which form a belt and the use of the X-Men “X” symbol from one of the Mighty Micro sets.
Lynn MinMay from the Robotech/Macross anime series is brought to life by SPARKART! in a modified Brickheadz doll. The styling emphasises the head over other features, with her eyes capturing that genuine anime sparkle. Below you’ll find the parts list and instruction guide to build your very own singing space celebrity.
Click for parts and instructions
The classic LEGO Castle themes, like Forestman or Wolfpack, charmed fans with their simple and straightforward designs — faction colors and plain symbols providing the only distinctive elements for each clan. IamKritch makes the most of the styling, reviving two heroes of the past — a couple of fancy Brickheadz warriors. These guys look adorable with their small bow and sword!
Fans continue to create their own versions of BrickHeadz for the community to enjoy, and tankm brings us RoboCop and the Terminator (who have shared a crossover comic book series, for those who didn’t know). RoboCop wins my vote — I prefer his overall design. But the Terminator is packed with nice details such as the subtle sloping around the nose area, great greebling in the head, and smart use of hinge pieces for the “teeth”.
Love or hate Brickheadz, seeing the community create their own versions of characters has been a treat (see our recent roundup of some recent good ones). And now builder tommilorenzo has given the blocky treatment to Thor. Although, this is the more classical version of Thor, and not the more recent Marvel incarnation you’ve seen in the newest Ragnarok trailer.
The BrickHeadz character style has firmly taken root amongst the builder community, as evidenced by an ever-growing collection of fan-created BrickHeadz models that frequently exhibit more creativity, fun and ingenuity than some of the heavily printing reliant exclusives that LEGO is making convention-goers stand in sweaty lines for hours to acquire. Taking inspiration from some memorable movie characters, here are a few excellent examples that came across our desk recently:
Maleficent and the Wicked Witch of the West by tankm
Holtzmann and Slimer by James zhan
Russell and Carl from UP by JAE WON LEE
Brickheadz builds never fail to impress me — just when you think there’s only so many ways you can represent characters, along comes another that blows your mind yet again. Julius Caeser’s embodiment built by John Cheng together with the backdrop is almost a perfect tabletop display for an inspiring corporate dictator.
No general is complete without his loyal soldier, which is a great companion build to conquer Rome.
Thanks to this LEGO tribute to the legendary rock group Queen by Krzysztof J, I’m singing softly to myself, affirming my role as a champion and contemplating Galileo. Tiny Freddy is resplendent in his iconic yellow jacket, rocking that mic like no other, hand raised. The suave hairstyle is genius, much like the inspiring persona. And Brian? That hair. Positioning all of those 1×1 round plates must have been mind-numbing, but the end result is spectacular. His guitar is perfect. It’s a little detail, but man: those bases are lovely. I would love to see LEGO’s BrickHeadz line use those!
Newlywed LEGO fans have been putting LEGO toppers on their wedding cakes for ages, but to date these have been either minifigs or miniland scale figures. But now Ben Fong has switched things up with this adorable BrickHeadz style bride and groom. The builder does not mention who’s nuptials these were built for, but they also come with a matching brick-built jewelry box complete with miniature LEGO engagement ring. I particularly like the groom’s slightly comical expression, and the use of those increasingly ubiquitous balloon pieces for the bride’s veil.
