Albert Balanza, Author at The Brick Show

The LEGO Movie 2 Reveals Wasteland Batman Costume

In case you missed it, DC fans all over the world is now celebrating the Dark Knight’s annual Batman Day in honor of the Caped Crusader’s first comic book appearance in Detective Comics #27 way back in 1939. And to mark the occasion, the official Twitter page of The LEGO Movie 2 has posted an alternate costume of the Dark Knight that I hope will find its way in becoming a physical minifigure. Dubbed as Wasteland Batman, it shows how our hero managed to survive post-apocalyptic Bricksburg after the Duplon Invasion of Taco Tuesday.

I mean, every day is my day but I'm glad you've finally said it. #BatmanDay pic.twitter.com/KAkNVHuM9G

— The LEGO Movie 2 (@TheLEGOMovie) September 15, 2018

The LEGO Movie 2 has introduced a lot of changes to our minifig heroes when we first saw them in The LEGO Movie. Perhaps the most striking of them all is the ‘evolution’ that Unikatty went through – from being the ambassadress of joy and happy thoughts, to a full-grown battle cat that even other LEGO mechs will steer away from. We also Wyldstyle sporting a new desert wasteland look, while the rest of Bricksburg’s residents became like Mad Max extras. As far as we can see it, it is only Emmet that somehow managed to retain his cheery attitude and typical garb.

If you recall, we had our first glimpse of our revamped characters when the official poster for The LEGO Movie 2 first came out last June, and a partial Wasteland Batman was seen reflected on Sweet Mayhem’s visor, and later on in the film’s official trailer.

LEGO has already announced three initial LEGO Movie 2 tie-in sets that will be released in January 2019. However, notably missing is the new Wasteland Batman minifigure that we saw frequently on the film’s early promotions. My best bet is that we will see this new version of Batman in a soon-to-be announced set. And in my opinion, this is perhaps one of the best costumes that our minifig Dark Knight has ever worn. I like how the large, half-tire shoulder pads turned out, including the tattered cape, and metallic bat logo in front. He also has his yellow utility belt piece first introduced in The LEGO Batman Movie, which is a kind of interesting choice given that in first TLM film, we saw him having a printed belt instead rather than having a physical counterpart.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is slated to hit US theaters on February 8, with several LEGO tie-in sets to be announced early next year, or late December.

It May Not Be Over 9,000 Bricks, But This Brick-Built Vegeta in Great Ape Form Is Jaw-Dropping

If you’re anime fan, than you will probably agree that Dragon Ball Z and its cast of high-flying, hard-hitting, and battle-shouting warriors (yeah, there ARE a lot of shouting in DBZ) has become icons of the anime world. The first season of the classic Dragon Ball Z series introduces us to the Saiyan race, helmed by the self-proclaimed Saiyan Prince Vegeta. His confrontation with Goku during the first season of DBZ gave us a glimpse of his Great Ape form which literally crushed the living lights out of Goku. And this time around, as his way of tribute to the Prince of the Saiyan race, Japanese Master Builder Moko gives his interpretation of a brick-built Vegeta in minifigure scale, and the result is simply awe-inspiring.

If you remember from 2 years ago, I featured Moko in several of my write-ups when he cleverly created his versions of a mecha-riding Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck minifigures, a custom LEGO Transformer Brick, and a LEGO Mechatrobot MOC. Now he is back and this time with a MOC that is grander in scale – in fact, at minifigure scale that makes a custom Goku minifigure seems like an insect in comparison.

Moko never ceases to amaze with his brick-building techniques. His attention to detail in creating this brick-built Vegeta is astounding. The circles around his eyes, the ‘patch’ of hair underneath his tattered clothes, and the smooth flow of his gigantic tail were created by employing ‘organic’ or life-like building techniques using unconventional LEGO pieces (i.e. the emphasis around his eyes were achieved using minifigure arms while the tail’s flexibility is recreated by joining several tire pieces). He even recreated Vegeta’s damaged shoulder guard at properly balanced proportions.

The level of skill and effort that Moko showed in creating this MOC gets even more impressive when you realize that this MOC is at minifigure scale and highly articulated in spite of its massive size. Its jointed parts from the hip down to the ankles allow a variety of lower body poses for this brick-built Vegeta. His hands are superbly designed as well, with Moko giving considerable attention on how to make it life-like as much as possible.

Moko also Tweeted this image to give you a better perspective on how big this version of Vegeta is.

両腕出来たので首と後頭部も作らないと pic.twitter.com/WrCLFdraT8

— Moko (@LEGOdouMoko) June 22, 2018

If you like this MOC from Moko, be sure to visit his blogsite for more custom LEGO projects. The site is in Japanese so be sure to have Google Translate ready.

Create an Amazing Family Moment With This Latest LEGO Ideas Contest

The new and revamped LEGO Ideas platform is back with another building contest to test you brick-building mettle. After the successful launch of its first contest (post-Rebrick), Form Your Most Imaginative Voltron Scene, LEGO Ideas has announced another MOC-building competition that draws inspiration from Disney Pixar’s super family. The LEGO Ideas Create an Amazing Family Moment encourages aspiring Master Builders to come up with their most super cool depiction of what day-to-day life is for the Parr Family.

Submission of entries has already begun, and will end on October 10. Winners will be announced on November 13 over at the LEGO Ideas website. Submitted entries must be able show a day in the life of the Incredibles family using either physical bricks or a digital build using LEGO Digital Designer (LDD). Three winners will be selected – a Grand Prize Winner which will bring home $500 USD worth of prizes, and 2 Runner-Ups with $200 USD worth of goodies each.

Read on for the rest of the details of the LEGO Ideas Create an Amazing Family Moment, and if you’re up to task, be sure to visit its respective Contest Page for more details about the contest rules before you submit your entry. The LEGO Juniors Incredibles 2 sets are now available at your local LEGO brand store and at shop.LEGO.com. Happy building!

Create an Amazing Family Moment

What’s it like to be part of a super family? It’s probably very rewarding and satisfying to use that super strength, elasticity, invisibility or super speed to help those in need around you! Whatever it might be, LEGO® Juniors want you to build and show us your idea of a day in the life of Disney•Pixar’s The Incredibles!

It’s time to share your ideas with the community. We look forward to your contribution!

ENTRY DEADLINE: Submit your entry no later than October 10th 2018 at 6:00 a.m. EST.

How it Works

The contest will consist of 3 phases:

Submission Phase – Build and submit your entry before October 10th, 2018 at 6:00 a.m. EST. We recommend submitting your entry 2-3 days before the deadline in the event we have to return it to you for changes.
Judging Phase – Our judges review the entries and choose the winners by November 2nd 2018.
Winners Announcement – We share the Grand Prize winner and two Runner Up winners here on LEGO Ideas on November 13th 2018!

How to Enter

Build your amazing family moment using LEGO elements or a digital building tool like LEGO Digital Designer. You’re welcome to use image editing tools, such as Photoshop, to enhance your photos/presentation.
Take up to five photos of your creation and submit them to the contest. Make sure to show off all angles and any features or functions of your creation.
Add a title and short description.
Upload your entry to the contest using the blue Submit Your Entry button found on the contest page.

Prizes

One grand prize winner will receive:

Movie posters signed by the filmmakers
LEGO Juniors Incredibles 2 sets (10759, 10760, 10761)
A $500 USD shopping spree on lego.com
Personal artwork created by Disney artists in a LEGO frame
A unique LEGO mosaic

Two runner up winners will receive:

Movie posters signed by the filmmakers
LEGO Juniors Incredibles 2 sets (10759, 10760, 10761)
A $200 USD shopping spree on lego.com

Life-Sized LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron To Go On a European Tour

Last month, LEGO was able to prove the impossible when it unveiled its fully drivable and life-sized LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron during the kick-off of the Grand Prix Formula 1 racing tournament in Monza, Italy last August 30. Powered by 2,304 LEGO Power Function motors, this fully functional LEGO vehicle patterned from its smaller counterpart, the LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron (42083), managed to churn out a max speed of 20 km/h. Though this seemingly impossible MOC is still a far cry in terms of speed as compared to the 420 km/h top speed of its original predecessor, the brilliant engineering that went through in creating this brick masterpiece is simply amazing.

this MOC. According to Promobricks, this life-sized LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron will go on a European Tour, which already started in Milan, Italy. It will make the following road stops at these locations.

Dusseldorf, Germany (Schadowplatz) – September 20-23

Munich Airport, Germany – September 28 & 29

Paris, France (Motor Show) – September 30 to October 14

Utrecht, Netherlands (LEGO World) – October 18 to October 24

Great Britain (exact place to be announced) – October 30 to November 11

Wolfsburg, Germany (Autostadt) – November 11 to December 12

There is no exact location yet where in the UK will this LEGO engineering wonder will make a stop, and I’ll keep you posted once new information comes by. I hope this build will eventually find its way to the US and the rest of the world – it serves as a reminder that with LEGO bricks, building for real, even what seems to be the impossible, can be a reality. For now, check out these images shared by Promobricks. Special thanks also to Francesco Frangioja for snapping these images.

The LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village Station (10259) and Winter Holiday Train (10254) Available Again at LEGO Shop@Home

Just in time for today’s early VIP release of the LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village Fire Station (10263), shop.LEGO.com now brings back two previously released Winter Village sets to add more Christmas cheers to your collection. In case you missed out on these, the LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village Station (10259) and Winter Holiday Train (10254) are both listed again for sale at LEGO Shop@Home. Released in 2017 and 2016 respectively, it is rather unusual for LEGO to offer a Winter Village set that has been released two years ago. However, due to the positive reception of LEGO fans for these two sets since they ideally go together to create one complete Winter Village track system, LEGO decided to offer them again.

UPDATE: As of this posting, the Winter Village Station (10259) is now on Backorder at shop.LEGO.com.

So if you missed out on these two lovely LEGO Winter Village sets from two years ago, be sure to check them out at LEGO’s official shopping portals (and stay away from the fake ones) by simply clicking these links below.

LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village Station (10259)

Head for home with the festive Winter Village Station holiday set, featuring a snowy railroad station with wreath adorned lampposts and clock tower, platform, mailbox, green trees, snowy grade crossing with twin barriers and lights, and a beautiful, festively decorated bus with opening doors and a luggage rack with removable luggage and gift wrapped packages. This LEGO® Creator Expert model also includes a ticket counter with a timetable and a transaction counter window with room for sliding out tickets to travelers, plus a coffee shop with a serving hatch and a detailed interior with an espresso machine, cups, cash register and a menu. Includes 5 minifigures.

LEGO Creator Expert Winter Holiday Train (10254)

Gather the family for some festive LEGO® building fun with this charming model featuring a full circle of track, boarding platform with bench and lamppost, a Power Functions upgradable train engine with brick-built smoke bellowing from its stack, coal tender, flatbed wagon with a rotating holiday tree, toys and gifts, and a red caboose with a detailed interior and table. The train engine also features large and small red-colored locomotive wheels and the train is decorated with green wreathes, string lights and white tree elements. This LEGO® Creator Expert set includes 5 minifigures.

New and Exclusive LEGO Store D2C Sets Available Now

It is almost the weekends, and for those of you who are looking forward for that weekend build, this could only mean one thing: you can finally open this month’s next wave of new and exclusive LEGO Store D2C sets that you have just purchased today, thanks to your LEGO VIP membership perks. But before you do, be sure to wake up from this daydream and go out there and actually get your hands on the new LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222) and the holiday-themed LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village Fire Station (10263). These direct-to-consumer sets are now exclusively available for early VIP access starting today at all LEGO brand stores and at shop.LEGO.com. Just click on the affiliate links below for more details.

LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222)

Relive a world of unforgettable moments from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back or add your own fun twists to the story with this LEGO® Star Wars 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City set. The amazingly detailed set is divided into 4 sections, each depicting scenes from the classic movie. There’s a landing platform complete with Boba Fett’s Slave I ship, a detailed promenade, a dining room with seating for 5 minifigures, a garbage processing room with incinerator, and a sensor balcony for epic Luke vs. Vader Lightsaber duels. There’s also a carbon freeze chamber with a function to ‘freeze’ Han in carbonite, an interrogation chamber and prison cell, a secondary landing platform for the Twin-Pod Cloud Car, and so much more. Add an astonishing 18 LEGO minifigures plus 2 droids to the mix, and you have a set that Star Wars and LEGO fans of any age would be proud to add to their collection.

LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village Fire Station (10263)

Welcome to the snowy LEGO® Creator Expert 10263 Winter Village Fire Station, where the firefighters are enjoying the calm of the holiday season. This delightful LEGO set features a 2-level, holly-adorned building with an upper-level kitchen, complete with a red telephone, table, fold-down bed and a LEGO light brick. Behind the large red fire station doors, you’ll discover firefighting equipment and a fire pole, while outside there’s an ice rink with a decorative firefighter statue, a decorated Christmas tree with transparent star and gifts, plus a bench and lamppost. This set also features a classic red fire truck with a turntable ladder, hoses, toolbox and deep-tread tires. Gather the family and bring the magic of the holiday season to your home with this festive LEGO Creator Expert set. Includes 6 minifigures, plus baby and Dalmatian figures, and a brick-built snowman.

For a closer look at the features of this new and exclusive LEGO Store D2C sets, you may watch this first review video for the Betrayal at Cloud City (75322) set, and a nice designer video of the Winter Village Fire Station (10263). Happy building!

LEGO City Magazine Issue 7 Now Comes With Two LEGO City Freebies

The latest issue of LEGO City Magazine is now available, and Issue #7 has double treats for subscribers and fans that will pick up a copy. The LEGO City Magazine Issue 7 now comes with two foil bags instead of one, and for this month’s issue we have a free LEGO City Octan Race Car with a driver minifigure, PLUS another mini vehicle set with its respective minifigure driver as well. The second foil bag may vary though, as shared by Brick Fanatics.

Images courtesy of Brick Fanatics.

The second foil bag freebie seems to be based on previously released free sets as bundled before with past issues of the LEGO City Magazine. Though the LEGO City Octan Race Car foiled bag is pretty much consistent across copies of the LEGO City Magazine Issue 7, the second freebie is somehow random as observed by Bricks Fanz. This particular copy of issue 7 has in fact, an extra minifigure instead together with several fire fighting accessories.

LEGO City Mag 7 1 — Image courtesy of Bricks Fanz

Inside, the LEGO City Magazine Issue 7 is jam-packed with the usual comics, activity sheets, puzzles, posters and even post cards to share with friends. This current issue also gives us a glimpse of what free item to expect from next month’s issue which is a policeman minifigure and a motorbike. If you’re still missing a mini motorbike in your LEGO City collection, then this is the most cost-effective way to bag this.

LEGO City Mag 7 4 — Image courtesy of Brick Fanatics.

WATCH: LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village Fire Station (10263) Designer Video

Along with the early VIP-access of the LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222) set slated for tomorrow, September 13, it will be joined by another direct-to-consumer set which is the LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village Fire Station (10263) that I wrote about last week. This year’s winter village set features the classic fire station, with several mini-builds that perfectly conveys the holiday cheers. Behind the creation of this set is Lars Joe, one of the creative minds behind the LEGO Creator theme, and the LEGO Designer of the Winter Village Fire Station. He shares some of the things that he love about this new set, and the many cool features and details that go along with it. You can hear more from Lars in this LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village Fire Station (10263) designer video. Watch this.

One of the things that I like about this set is the level of details that Lars gave to it. From the features of the fire station itself, even to the small details included with the minifigures such as the nice printed sweater for the baby minifig, and the new firefighter uniforms that closely resembles the classic policeman minifigure. There’s also the inclusion of a light brick that adds to the Christmas evening vibe, and the new botanical elements made from sustainable materials adorning the fire station’s facade. It may not be as big as a typical modular building, but it is by far the tallest among the Winter Village sets, and would stand out very well together with the rest of the sets included in the theme.

The LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village Fire Station (10263) comes in at 1,166 pieces and includes 6 minifigures: 3 firefighters with new classic firefighter uniforms, ice hockey player, musician with saxophone, and a girl with a scarf. It also includes a baby minifigure with a printed sweater, a Dalmatian, and a buildable snowman with a curved top hat. It is expected to retail for $99.99 USD and will be available for LEGO VIPs on September 13, and a general public release starting October 1. You may check out shop.LEGO.com for other holiday-themed sets.

Check Out This Very First Video Review of the LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222)

Starting September 13, LEGO VIP card holders will now have the chance to bag the very first LEGO set tagged with the Master Builder seal approval. The LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222) brings together the most memorable and iconic scenes from the Empire Strikes Back under one, featured-pack LEGO Star Wars set. So before you head over at your local LEGO Store or hit that buy button at shop.LEGO.com, the cool guys of IGN gives as a sampling of what to expect from this 2,800+ piece set. Thanks to Max Scoville and Brian Altano, it looks like we have our very first video review of the LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222). Check out their video below.

Nothing beats seeing the actual set, and this is especially true with the Betrayal at Cloud City (75222). I have to say that I didn’t imagine this to be this huge. The footprint alone for the completed build is quite impressive. As revealed by LEGO through the set’s official press release earlier last month, this very first Master Builder set comes with tons of play features that sets it apart from other LEGO Star Wars UCS, sets which is mostly meant for display. However, I have to agree with the IGN people that the set does not even remotely look like the Cloud City as we know from the films. In fact, the overall feel and design of the LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222) makes it look like a cross-sectioned Death Star.

Though some older LEGO fans may consider this as a turn-off for certain reasons, the Betrayal of Cloud City (75222) set makes up for it through the sheer number of minifigures and play features that are included into it. The set comes with a whopping 18 minifigures, including minibuilds of Boba Fett’s Slave I, an all-red Twin-Pod Cloud Car, and the iconic Han Solo in carbonite prison plus several action-packed features to relive those unforgettable Star Wars Episode V scenes.

Thanks once again to IGN for sharing this first video review of the LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (75222). And in case you’ve set your eyes to this set as a first day buy (and with enough cash to spare), this first Master Builder set will retail for $349.99 USD and will be available starting tomorrow at shop.LEGO.com and all LEGO brand stores in the US and other parts of the globe.

Details of the Bricklink AFOL Designer Program Officially Revealed

After Bricklink released a teaser on their upcoming partnership with LEGO, many within the LEGO community were curious about what the commotion was all about. Dubbed the Bricklink AFOL Designer Program, this Bricklink-LEGO partnership aims to “celebrate creativity by realizing AFOL designs with truly original themes.” A lot has been said about what this program may all be about, and as promised, Bricklink announces the details of what to expect from this collaboration and how exactly the AFOL Designer Program will work.

As it turns out, AFOLs are now given the opportunity of having their original set designs turned into an exclusive, limited edition LEGO 60th anniversary set to be released in April 2019. The Bricklink AFOL Designer Program has three phases: Accepting Entries (September 18 to November 18), Crowdfunding (beginning February 2019), and eventual Release (April 2019).

During the first phase of accepting entries, LEGO will only take digital designs made using Studio 2.0. Plans should also be non-IP based, meaning that it has not been released by LEGO before. The submitted design should also consist of not less than 200 LEGO elements and not more than 2,000 elements. For more information, check the Bricklink AFOL Designer Program Selection Criteria Guidelines.

A total of 20 finalists will be selected, which will be officially announced in February next year. During this, these 20 selected final entries will be open for pre-order crowdfunding. Suppose a particular threshold can meet its financial goal. In that case, it’s on its way to becoming a limited edition LEGO 60th Anniversary set, which will be exclusively available via Bricklink starting April next year.

Remember: all entries must be submitted in digital format using Studio 2.0, which you can download here. Check the fine print and other important details mentioned on the rules page. May the best build win!