Albert Balanza, Author at The Brick Show

Put Your Game Face On and Go Full Throttle With These New LEGO Juniors Cars 3 Sets.

Lightning McQueen is back and is off to prove that he still has the ‘ka-chow’ on the racing track once Disney Pixar’s Cars 3 speed its way to theaters in June. Last month, LEGO gave us a glimpse on what to expect from McQueen’s latest racing adventure when official images of the LEGO Juniors Cars 3 box art was revealed. This time, we can now have a closer look at these sets, with more official images and complete product descriptions that provide a hint at what happens to McQueen as he gets pushed back from the race track.

Though LEGO opted to release these sets under the LEGO Juniors theme which caters to younger builders ages 4 to 7, these sets offer several play features and elements that older LEGO fans will enjoy. One that I particularly find interesting, and the largest among the Cars 3 sets, is the Thunder Hollow Crazy 8 Race (10744). Furthermore, as I was told, the pieces that come with the Cars 3 sets are all printed which offers a better choice over stickers, considering that the sets are intended mostly for preschool kids. If you recall, LEGO once released a series of sets based on Disney Pixar’s Cars (2006) and Cars 2 (2011) films. It offered more than 20 themed sets depicting several scenes found in the first two instalments of the movie franchise. I’m not quite sure if they took off among LEGO fans when they were released back in 2011, but they offered plenty of nice builds that look very close to how the original characters appeared in the films.

The LEGO Juniors Cars 3 sets are now available online both at shop.LEGO.com and Amazon

Lightning McQueen Speed Launcher (10730); 47 pieces; $9.99

Join in the exciting Disney Pixar Cars 3 racing world with Lightning McQueen’s Speed Launcher, featuring a race leaderboard, starting ramp and a launch function with a red button. Includes a simple guide to build and play, and bigger pieces help build confidence in younger kids. LEGO® Juniors is an age-appropriate build and play experience for ages 4-7. Includes a Lightning McQueen LEGO Juniors character.

Includes a Lightning McQueen character from Disney Pixar Cars 3.
Features an Easy to Build Speed Launcher with a race leaderboard, launch function and a starting ramp.
Place Lightning McQueen in the starting launcher to get ready for the race.
Push the red button to launch Lightning McQueen into the race.
Includes Easy to Build models with bigger pieces and a simple guide to get kids building and playing quickly.
Lightning McQueen measures over 1” (3cm) high, 2” (7cm) long and 1” (3cm) wide.
Speed Launcher measures over 2” (6cm) high, 4” (11cm) wide and 2” (6cm) deep.

Cruz Ramirez Race Simulator (10731); 59 pieces; $9.99

Be part of the exciting Disney Pixar Cars 3 racing world with Cruz Ramirez and her Race Simulator, featuring a rotating screen, ramp and turbine fan to test Cruz’ racing skills. Includes a simple guide to build and play, and bigger pieces help build confidence in younger kids. LEGO® Juniors is an age-appropriate build and play experience for ages 4-7. Includes a Cruz Ramirez LEGO Juniors character.

Includes a Cruz Ramirez character from Disney Pixar Cars 3.
Features an Easy to Build Race Simulator with rotating screen and wind turbine, rotating platform and lowering ramp.
Drive Cruz Ramirez onto the rotating simulator platform to practice her racing skills.
Turn the screen so Cruz can see the details as she races.
Spin the wind turbine to help her simulate different speeds.
Includes Easy to Build models with bigger pieces and a simple guide to get kids building and playing quickly.
Cruz Ramirez measures over 1” (3cm) high, 2” (7cm) long and 1” (3cm) wide.
Race Simulator with ramp extended and screen tilted measures over 2” (7cm) high, 2” (7cm) wide and 5” (15cm) deep.

Guido and Luigi’s Pit Stop (10732); 75 pieces; $9.99

Join in the Disney Pixar Cars 3 fun at Guido & Luigi’s Pit Stop, featuring an air hose, fuel can and spare tire accessory elements and a number 95 pit sign. Includes a simple guide to build and play, and bigger pieces help build confidence in younger kids. LEGO® Juniors is an age-appropriate build and play experience for ages 4-7. Includes Guido and Luigi LEGO Juniors characters.

Includes buildable Guido and Luigi characters from Disney Pixar Cars 3.
Features a buildable pit stop with rotating number 95 pit sign.
Includes Easy to Build models with bigger pieces and a simple guide to get kids building and playing quickly.
Accessory elements include an air hose, fuel can and spare tire.
Both cars measure over 1” (4cm) high, 1” (4cm) long and 1” (3cm) wide.
Pit stop measures over 2” (7cm) high, 2” (7cm) wide and 2” (7cm) deep, and 4” (11cm) wide with number95 sign extended.

Mater’s Junkyard (10733); 62 pieces; $9.99

Join Mater in his Easy to Build junkyard as he chats with Lightning McQueen on the video screen, featuring a movable crane and Tow Mater sign. Use the crane to lift the assorted car parts out of the box and attach them to the buildable tow truck, and have fun testing them on this lovable Disney Pixar Cars 3 character. Includes a simple guide to build and play, and bigger pieces help build confidence in younger kids. LEGO® Juniors is an age-appropriate build and play experience for ages 4-7. Includes a Mater LEGO Juniors character.

Willy’s Butte Speed Training (10742); 95 pieces; $19.99

Start your engines in this high-octane Willy’s Butte Speed Training LEGO® Juniors play set, featuring a detachable speed radar trailer, roadblock with breakable barriers, spinning Radiator Springs road sign and other accessories to ramp up the Disney Pixar Cars 3 fun. Includes a simple guide to build and play, and bigger pieces help build confidence in younger kids. LEGO Juniors is an age-appropriate build and play experience for ages 4-7. Includes Lightning McQueen and Sheriff LEGO Juniors characters.

Includes Lightning McQueen in his training outfit decoration and Sheriff characters from Disney Pixar Cars 3.
Features a detachable speed radar trailer with decorated counter and tow bar, and a roadblock with ramp and 2 movable barriers.
Attach the speed radar trailer’s tow bar to Sheriff and drive it into position to capture the high-speed racing action.
Push Lightning McQueen up the ramp and through the breakable roadblock barriers to create a smashing effect!
Includes Easy to Build models with bigger pieces and a simple guide to get kids building and playing quickly.
Accessory elements include a ramp, cone and a shrub.
Lightning McQueen measures over 2” (7cm) long, 1” (3cm) wide and 1” (3cm) high.
Sheriff measures over over 1” (3cm) high, 2” (7cm) long and 1” (3cm) wide.
Speed radar measures over 2” (7cm) high, 1” (4cm) wide and 1” (4cm) deep.
Ramp measures over 1” (3cm) high, 3” (8cm) wide and 4” (11cm) deep.

Smokey’s Garage (10743); 116 pieces; $19.99

Give Lightning McQueen a service in Smokey’s Garage after a hard day training on the racetrack. Drive the car up the ramp, change the tires, pick the tool accessories from the cabinet and role-play endless Disney Pixar Cars 3 scenes with this fun LEGO® Juniors set. Includes a simple guide to build and play, and bigger pieces help build confidence in younger kids. LEGO Juniors is an age-appropriate build and play experience for ages 4-7. Includes Lightning McQueen, Junior Moon and Smokey LEGO Juniors characters.

Includes Lightning McQueen with his Rust-eze 95 decoration, Smokey and Junior Moon characters from Disney Pixar Cars.
Features an Easy to Build garage set with a car ramp and yellow raised ramp, movable crane, wheeled tool kit cabinet and Smokey’s Garage sign.
Drive Lightning McQueen onto the yellow ramp and get ready for an overhaul.
Build and rebuild Lightning McQueen until he’s ready for the next racing competition!
Includes Easy to Build models with bigger pieces and a simple guide to get kids building and playing quickly.
Accessory elements include 3 spare tires and assorted tools.
All cars measure over 2” (7cm) long, 1” (3cm) wide and 1” (3cm) high.
Garage measures over 2” (7cm) high, 6” (16cm) wide and 2” (7cm) deep.
Crane measures over 3” (9cm) high, 1” (3cm) wide and 2” (6cm) deep.

Thunder Hollow Crazy 8 Race (10744); 191 pieces; $34.99

Throw out the racing rulebook in this action-packed LEGO® Juniors set, featuring an Easy to Build ‘Fritter Time’ road sign with breakable barriers, ramps, flaming tires and assorted demolition derby accessories to set the pulse racing of any Disney Pixar Cars 3 fan. Includes a simple guide to build and play, and bigger pieces help build confidence in younger kids. LEGO Juniors is an age-appropriate build and play experience for ages 4-7. Includes 4 LEGO Juniors characters.

Includes Lightning McQueen and Cruz Ramirez with mud-splash decoration, Broadside and Miss Fritter characters from Disney Pixar Cars 3.
Features an Easy to Build ‘Miss Fritter’ road sign with movable barriers and 2 buildable floodlights.
Speed Miss Fritter through the road sign barrier and chase after Lightning McQueen and Cruz Ramirez!
Race the cars in a figure 8 pattern and bang them into the oil drums, spare tires and each other.
Includes Easy to Build models with bigger pieces and a simple guide to get kids building and playing quickly.
Accessory elements include Miss Fritter’s rotating stop sign, 3 orange road cones, 3 oil drums, 4 tires, 2 flames and assorted car parts.
Lightning McQueen measures over 2” (7cm) long, 1” (3cm) wide and over 1” (3cm) high.
Cruz Ramirez measures over 1” (3cm) high, 2” (7cm) long and 1” (3cm) wide.
Broadside measures over 1” (3cm) high, 2” (7cm) long and 1” (3cm) wide.
Miss Fritter measures over 2” (6cm) high, 3” (9cm) lo ng and 2” (6cm) wide.
Miss Fritter road sign measures over 2” (6cm) high, 4” (12cm) wide and 3” (10cm) deep.
Floodlights measure over 3” (8cm) high, 1” (3cm) wide and under 1” (1cm) deep.

Get Ready for Star-Lord’s Brick-Built Awesome Mixtape #2 With This Ultra-realistic LEGO Walkman MOC.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 blasts its way into the local box office with a whopping $56 million during its Friday opening – and let me tell you, it’s absolutely worth every dollar in the cinema! If you haven’t seen the film yet, then you’re missing out on all the fun, made even better with the hard rockin’ tune of Star-Lord’s cool selection of songs in his Awesome Mixtape #2. Before we rushed into the cinemas this Friday, our resident master builder, Tyler Clites, showed us his 8 GOTG character builds that will make even the highly verbose Drax the Destroyer lost for words.

As it seems, it’s kind of hard to brush off the GOTG mania that Tyler even took it one step further. If you think that his LEGO GOTG character MOCs were awesome, wait until you see his brick-built, ultra-realistic Star-Lord Walkman Player.

From its scale and color scheme and even down to its buttons and interface, everything about it is a faithful representation of Quill’s iconic player. Tyler even managed to include some play features to his Walkman MOC such as an opening deck, a cassette tape that follows the same design of Quill’s Awesome Mixtape #2, and a wearable headset made out Technic connectors and actual LEGO tubing. Here’s Tyler with more on his LEGO Walkman MOC.

Now, only if Tyler can grant our wish of coming up with a Zune player MOC… 🙂 Stay tuned for more awesome builds from Tyler only here at the Brick Show!

LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V 21309 Officially Shown At This Year’s First LEGO Inside Tour.

A week ago, LEGO has pulled off the veil from its largest LEGO Ideas set to date. As a nod to the partnership that LEGO has with the space agency, the LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309) is TLG’s fitting tribute to NASA’s Apollo Space Program. The set will be officially available to the general public beginning 1^st of June as revealed in LEGO’s June Store Calendar.

Though we’re still almost a month away from the set’s public offering, LEGO was kind enough to show the actual NASA Apollo Saturn V set to a select number of visitors at the LEGO Group’s HQ in Billund, Denmark as part of its yearly LEGO Inside Tour program. Mark John Stafford was one of the AFOL’s fortunate enough to have a glimpse of the iconic space rocket and was even allowed to snap a photo of it.

LEGO Inside Tour Saturn 5 on the table! #LEGO pic.twitter.com/8lWut9IU7r

— Mark John Stafford (@LEGO_Nabii) May 4, 2017

Based on the photo, the set seems to be what it really is: it features a launcher that measures over a meter high, with removable rocket internships, a lunar lander and lunar orbiter. Mark further revealed a pretty neat M-Tron version of the LEGO Ideas Saturn V set that was also on display during the tour.

Here's a second picture of the M-Tron Saturn 5 by Mike Psiaki and Carl Merriam. #LEGOInsideTour2017 pic.twitter.com/cKnrqqoza7

— Mark John Stafford (@LEGO_Nabii) May 5, 2017

The first leg of the LEGO Inside Tour began last May 3 and has ended yesterday Friday. What is exciting about this once-in-a-lifetime LEGO experience other than the pretty neat tours inside the inner workings of The LEGO Group, are the rare and exclusive complimentary sets that they give to visitors. Visitors are strongly advised not to share images or videos of these sets upon receiving them since the LEGO Inside Tour runs in five batches, with the last one scheduled on October 25-27. Last 2016’s LEGO Inside Tour exclusive set was the LEGO Truck Show (4000022) – a brick-built, smaller replica of the world’s largest and most beautiful LEGO truck ever made.

In any case, we hope to hear some word about this year’s LEGO Inside Tour exclusive, but in the meantime, we will eagerly wait until we get our hands on what could be the largest LEGO Ideas set ever.

LEGO May the 4th Promotions are Still Going Strong – Here’s A Round-Up of The Best LEGO Star Wars Sets On Sale!

The annual May the 4^th promotions have officially launched! The yearly Star Wars Day is a great way to splurge on the finest Rebel merchandise without wasting your Galactic Credits. LEGO has joined the festivities with a selection of discounted Star Wars sets from this side of the galaxy starting today until Sunday, May 7, including the following offers both in-store and online @shop.LEGO.com:

You get a FREE buildable R2-D2 (30611) polybag with purchases of $50 and above.
Double VIP on LEGO Star Wars purchases.
Those who will be visiting LEGO stores wearing their favorite Star Wars character gets to participate in a search and find activity. As a treat, you get to bring home a pair of wearable Yoda ears.
And of course, great discounts on select LEGO Star Wars sets (while supplies last).

From shop.LEGO.com

Rebel Combat Frigate 75158 ($109.99 $87.99)

Homing Spider Droid 75142 ($29.99 $23.99)

Duel on Naboo 75169 ($24.99 $19.99)

Imperial Trooper Pack 75165 ($14.99 $11.99)

Battle on Scarif 75171 ($49.99 $39.99)

Y-Wing Starfighter 75172 ($59.99 $47.99)

Krennic’s Imperial Shuttle 75156 ($89.99 $71.99)

Rebel U-Wing Fighter 75155 ($79.99 $63.99; $53.99 @ Amazon)

Carbon Freezing Chamber 75137 ($24.99 $19.99)

First Order Battle Pack 75132 ($12.99 $10.39; $9.64 @ Amazon)

Wookie Gunship 75129 ($9.99 $7.99)

TIE Advanced Prototype 75128 ($9.99 $7.99)

Kanan’s Speeder Bike 75141 ($19.99 $15.99)

Poe’s X-Wing Fighter 75102 ($79.99 $63.99; $59.99 @ Amazon)

Sergeant Jyn Erso Buildable Figure 75119 ($24.99 $19.99; $11.75 @Amazon)

Scarif Stormtrooper Buildable Figure 75523 ($24.99 $19.99; $17.77 @Amazon)

Chirrut Imwe Buildable Figure 75524 ($24.99 $19.99; $17.77 @Amazon)

Baze Malbus Buildable Figure 75525 ($24.99 $19.99; $17.77 @Amazon)

Other LEGO Star Wars Deals From Toys R Us

First Order Transporter 75103 ($89.99 $69.98)

Sith Infiltrator 75096 ($89.99 $74.98)

First Order Stormtrooper 75114 ($19.99 $15.99; $14.54 @Amazon)

Resistance X-Wing Fighter 75149 ($79.99 $61.99; $51.99 @Amazon)

TIE Striker 75154 ($69.99 $53.99; $42.13 @Amazon)

Imperial Assault Hovertank 75152 ($29.99 $27.99; $26.99 @Amazon)

Encounter on Jakku 75148 ($59.99 $46.99)

Eclipse Fighter 75145 ($29.99 $24.99; $19.37 @Amazon)

StarScavenger 75147 ($49.99 $41.99; $38.52 @Amazon)

Darth Vader Buildable Figure 75111 ($29.99 $23.99; $19.37 @Amazon)

Captain Phasma Buildable Figure 75118 ($24.99 $19.99; $16.99 @Amazon)

What’s your most favorite LEGO Star Wars set? Were you able to get a good deal out of today’s May the 4th promotions and sales? Let us know in the comments below.

First 2017 LEGO Ideas Review Qualifiers Announced – Eleven Projects Qualify!

The LEGO Ideas blog site has announced the first projects to qualify for 2017’s LEGO Ideas Review Stage, consisting of eleven exciting builds depicting several retro-themed sets from the 80s and 90s. The qualifying period ended Monday morning, May 1^st at 12AM CET signifying the end of a long journey for most of these projects. These projects represent potential LEGO set concepts that garnered the needed thumbs-up votes from 10,000 supporters between the months of January until early May of this year. I have a few personal favorites from among these projects, particularly the SEGA Classic Arcade Machines by SpacySmoke, and Venetian Houses by McMarco.

Here are the rest of the LEGO Ideas projects that made it to this year’s first Review Stage in no particular order.

The Blues Mobile by Eini (Kai Einfeldt)

Sega Classic Arcade Machines by SpacySmoke

Quest Builder by Ymarilego

Red Arrows Hawk by M4 CUS & RAFRed10

Venetian Houses by McMarco

Jeep Wrangler Rubicon by ck80

NBC’s The Office by Lego The Office

Tron Legacy Light Cycle (by BrickBros UK)

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers by bruceywan

Surf Rescue by LegoSurfRescue

Medieval Watermill by fishingtwister

The results of the Third 2016 LEGO Review Stage are still on its way, with 13 awesome projects waiting for the coveted thumbs up signal from the LEGO Ideas Design Team.

Among these projects, is one that I’ve been cheering on from the sidelines since it qualified last 2016. I’m still crossing our fingers for Voltron: Defender of the Universe by Lendy Tayag and hopefully we’ll here words from the LEGO Ideas Review Team by June or July.

The LEGO Store June Calendar Is Now Here!

We’re one with the legion of Star Wars fans in celebrating this month’s May the 4^th Celebrations, and just when you thought that visiting any LEGO Brand Store couldn’t be any better this month of May, LEGO has now released its June Store Calendar with great promos, events, and plenty of mini-builds that are surely irresistible. Take a look at your local LEGO Store’s June activities as you can see from the calendar below. You may also download the LEGO Store June Calendar in pdf format right here.

June 1: Get the new exclusive LEGO Creator Expert Carousel (10257)!

Beginning June 1^st, fans of the LEGO Fairground theme will be able to purchase the LEGO Creator Expert Carousel (10257). We came to know of its offering when, a few days ago, we saw a snapshot of it a few days ago. The following day, it was officially revealed by LEGO and it was simply gorgeous. Coming at 2,670 pieces set 10257 will retail at $199.99 and will be exclusively available at all LEGO Brand Stores and at shop.LEGO.com.

June 1-14: Free Minifigure Travel Pack (5004932) with purchases of $35 or more, while supplies last.

This offer is exclusively available in all LEGO Brand Stores and at shop.LEGO.com for every single receipt purchase of any LEGO product worth $35 and above. If you recall, we’ve got an early hint of the LEGO Minifigure Travel Pack last February. The set is made up of 41 pieces: a tourist minifigure, a LEGO Store Passport, and quite a handful of minifig accessories.

June 1-26: Build a base camp for the Rebel Alliance, complete with Star Wars ships, droids and more.

It seems that the Force is still strong at all LEGO stores even for the month of June. Since last April, LEGO has been offering an in-store, building activity where kids and kids-at-heart may participate in building the Rebel Alliance base camp. Snap a photo of your creation and upload it to the LEGO Life app to receive a pair of wearable Yoda ears while supplies last. This building activity is for children ages 6-14 only.

June 1 onwards: Free Keychain offer with any purchase when you register for the LEGO VIP Program.

The exclusive LEGO VIP Key Chain (853303) is valid for newly joining VIP members from June 1 to December 31, 2017 or while supplies last. VIP Cards obtained in store must be registered online at VIP.LEGO.com/register to qualify. Likewise, new members who have successfully completed registration via online or in-store signups are eligible for a coupon code that, in turn, can be used to claim their LEGO VIP Keychain with their next purchase on shop.LEGO.com or at any LEGO store. The coupon will be delivered via email within 24 hours of registration and is valid for six (6) months.

June 3: Out of this World building event.

To celebrate the launch of the LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309) in June, kids ages 6-14 get to build and take home a mini space shuttle for free. Registration has already begun since May 1 so be sure to stop by your local LEGO Store for details on how to register.

June 6-7: Free VIP Dragonfly Monthly Mini Model Build.

For the month of June, the next FREE mini build will be the Dragonfly (40244). To reserve a spot, visit shop.LEGO.com/Minibuild-Registration starting May 15.

June 14 and 28: LEGO DC Super Hero Girls Wonder Woman and Super Girl building event respectively.

LEGO Stores this month will also offer two mini models of DC Super Hero Girls which you can build and bring home, the first of which is Wonder Woman and second is Super Girl both of which will be available on June 14 and 28 respectively. Due to limited space, LEGO Stores may only be able to accommodate one build event per child (ages 6-14). Registration is also required. See an in-store Brick Specialist for more details.

June 15-30: Free exclusive Canvas Tote Bag with purchases of $199 or more.

It’s nice to see that even though the LEGO Canvas Tote Bag (5005326) is somehow similar to 2011’s LEGO Large Tote Bag (853261), there is still some difference in its style and design. The Canvas Tote Bag comes free with purchases of any LEGO merchandise for a minimum purchase of $199 or while supplies last.

June 15-30: VIPs get early access to a new exclusive LEGO set.

There has been plenty of rumors floating around that this exclusive July D2C may in fact be the LEGO Minecraft The Mountain Cave (21137). Hailed as the largest LEGO Minecraft set to date, with plenty of mobs, characters and play features, the Mountain Cave is expected to be at around 3,000 pieces and with a price point of around $300. Please do note that this is just our best guess since the set was teased by LEGO last month.

I just find it rather odd that LEGO has prominently featured the Marvel heroes of the GOTG Vol. 2 for its June Store Calendar, though all of its related sets were released already in April, and that the store calendars itself does not feature these sets, save for The Milano vs. The Abilisk (76081) which was featured in the May LEGO Store Calendar.

Nevertheless, the month of June will see the release of the following superb sets such as the LEGO City Fun at the Beach (60153), LEGO Batman Movie The Ultimate Batmobile (70917), LEGO Star Wars Rathtar Escape (75180), and the highly anticipated and largest LEGO Ideas set to date – the LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309).

Mission Control… The LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309) Is Ready for Launch!

The long wait is finally over. After many weeks of teasing on the arrival of the largest ever LEGO Ideas set to date, Hasan Jansen of the LEGO Ideas blog site has finally broken the news. As LEGO’s 2nd Ideas set for this year right on the heels of Adventure Time (21308), the LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309) will be available to the public beginning 1st of June. The brainchild of LEGO and space fans Felix Stiessen (saabfan) and Valérie Roche (whatsuptoday), the towering set (standing one meter high) is their personal tribute to NASA’s iconic Apollo Space Program.

This space-bound set clocks in at 1,969 pieces which is, quite cleverly, a sort of an Easter egg for Apollo Saturn V’s successful launch on July 20, 1969. At such scale, the LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309) is currently the largest LEGO Ideas set that will be offered to the public. The LEGO Ideas Design Team was keen in rendering the set as accurately as possible, keeping it at an approximately 1:110 scale of the original Saturn V rocket with all its offload sections, lunar lander, command service module, and three, never-before-seen microfigs of NASA’s heroes: astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.

The LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309) will retail for $119.99 in the US and £109.99 in the UK. Here’s the set’s product description courtesy of Hoth Bricks.

Build the first rocket to land people on the Moon!

Display and role-play with this majestic meter-high LEGO® brick model of the NASA Apollo Saturn V packed with authentic details. It features three removable rocket courses, including the S-IVB third course with the lunar lander and lunar orbit.

The set includes 3 booths to display the model horizontally, 3 new-for-June-2017 astronaut microfigures for role-play recreations of the Moon landings, plus a booklet about the manned Apollo missions and the fan designers of this educational and inspirational LEGO Ideas set.

Features a meter-high (Approximately 1: 110 scale) model of the NASA Apollo Saturn V with a removable S-IC first rocket internship with hand rocket engine details, removable S-II second rocket internship with rocket engine details, removable S-IVB third rocket internship with the Apollo spacecraft and rescue rocket at top of the whole spacecraft, plus 3 booths to display the model horizontally.

The Apollo spacecraft features the lunar lander and the lunar orbiter.

Also includes 3 new-for-June-2017 astronaut microfigures.

Great for display and role-playing the manned Apollo Moon missions.

Includes a booklet about the Apollo manned Moon mission and the fan designers of this set.

This set includes over 1,900 parts.

Measures over 100cm high and 17cm in diameter.

SWCO 2017 Sums Up Everything We Need To Know About Season 2 of LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures.

The Freemakers are off for another season in LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, and thanks to the reveals shared by execs Bill Motz and Bob Roth during the Freemaker Adventures Panel at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, we now have more information on what lies ahead for our space scavengers turned rebels. Season 2 of the Freemakers will debut on May 4 and these are the things that we can expect from the highly rated show.

1. The Freemakers will go full swing in their fight against the Empire, and will decisively be a part of the Rebellion.

During the 1^st season of the Freemaker Adventures, the family itself was practically shy in getting involved in the affairs of the rebellion. Additionally, the original Star Wars trilogy didn’t really focus nor hinted on the idea of children or tweens getting involved in the fight against the oppresive Imperial forces. However, as their story progresses, it seems that joining the fight against the evil rule of the Empire is inevitable for Rowan and the rest of his kin.

2. There will be lots of costume changes.

I guess it is only customary for our characters to have redesigned costumes as well. During the panel, Motz and Roth revealed several concept arts for the Freemakers’ new costumes and how they were conceptualized. According to them, the costumes are a nod to more familiar designs, alluding to Luke Skywalker’s getup from Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. They opted for such designs to give the audience a sense of transition for the events in the second season since all of these happen during that timeline between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

3. We’ll be seeing more of Hera.

During the panel, the duo also shared some still images that hints on the appearance of one the seasoned characters from Star Wars Rebels. The Ghost crew captain and fearless leader, Hera Syndulla, will be part of Season 2’s storyline, though it is not clear yet to what extent. But what is exciting is the thought that Hera seems to have survived all the events that preceded the timeline of the Freemaker Adventures, and those between Episodes V and VI. It offers a wealth of backstory material on what could have possibly happened to the Ghost crew and hopefully, fans can have a glimpse of some of these events as well.

4. Enter M-OC – the freakish droid that you don’t want to mess around with.

Needless to say, droids have been a staple of Star Wars lore, but this new Imperial droid is not your usual, garden variety type. In LEGO’s usual brand of humor, the Emperor came up with his own creation which he aptly calls M-OC: a creepy, killer droid born straight from your brick-built nightmares. If that is not enough to make your heart skip a beat, then the idea that he comes with his very own equally intimidating ship will make any Padawan melt in fear. In fact, Motz was even hesitant in coming up with the idea of creating M-OC in the first place. “Incredibly creepy and scary,” Motz said. “Sometimes we wonder, ‘Have we gone too far? Are kids gonna have bad dreams?’” Well, only time can tell.

5. The unholy alliance of the iconic Bounty Hunters.

It seems that the highly anticipated LEGO Star Wars Bounty Hunter Speeder Bike Battle Pack (75167) was not just randomly thrown into the mix as part of this year’s Star Wars sets. True enough, the inclusion of these iconic thugs in one LEGO set is like a dream come true for most LEGO and Star Wars fans, but having it as a sort of an Easter egg for the Freemaker Adventures, well, I have to admit is a pretty clever move by Disney and Lucasfilm. They were only given a fraction of a second in Season 2’s trailer, but if you hit the pause button at the 45^th-second mark, then you can catch a glimpse of IG-88, Dengar, Bossk, and 4-LOM on a chase aboard their speeder bikes. If M-OC is not enough to finish the job, then perhaps the Bounty Hunters can pull it off. We shall see.

6. The Kyber-Powered Arrowhead.

Similar to the first season’s LEGO Star Wars sets such as the StarScavenger (75147) and Eclipse Fighter (75145), Season 2 of the Freemaker Adventures offers two new vehicles that will play key roles in the events of the series. According to Roth, “Rowan’s purpose becomes the Arrowhead. It’s the big thing for the season.” The Arrowhead is unique on its own. Perhaps next to the Death Star as being the only weapon or transport in the Star Wars galaxy powered by the mysterious Kyber crystals, the Arrowhead seems to show a yet-to-be-revealed potential. If the Arrowhead, as Roth implies, symbolizes Rowan’s purpose as it is powered by a huge Kyber crystal, then it is kind of difficult to think that it only exists as a weapon or tool of mass destruction. Clearly, it points to somewhere else rather than blowing things up. This might as well be the only Kyber-powered ship that the Rebel forces may have on their side. As described in the official Season 2 trailer, “Rowan’s powers grow and strengthen until he has a vision of a sleek, invulnerable ship that can save the Rebellion and stop the Empire in its tracks – the Arrowhead. The catch is, the Arrowhead is a ship only Rowan can build”. It’s pretty exciting to see how the Arrowhead can become a significant threat to the Empire, and what it can do once it’s blue aura activates.

For a closer look at the LEGO Star Wars Arrowhead (75186) and Tracker 1 (75185), check out our NYTF images here.

The LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures’ new season will premiere this summer on Disney XD. Prior to this, five new shorts will debut before May 4 that will help bridge the gap between seasons 1 and 2.

So what do you think? Excited about the latest adventures of the Freemakers? What are you most excited about?

Source: StarWars.com

The Freemaker Family Prepares For Another Season in LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that the galaxy’s freewheeling, Freemaker family is back for another round of intergalactic adventures in Season 2 of LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures. Seeing two of the recent LEGO Star Wars sets dedicated to the animated series – the Arrowhead (75186) and Tracker 1 (75185) – we’re very much positive that the new series will be a sure hit, especially that they have found their way to the Rebel Alliance. We get to see the Arrowhead in action, and the Emperor’s newest minion aptly named as M-OC.

At the end of the first season, the Freemaker family found a new home with the rebel fleet. Their new circumstances bring them face to face with brutal Imperial forces, desperate Hutts, conniving Sith Lords, and the Emperor’s latest plaything, M-OC, a terrifying hunter droid who continually modifies himself to fit any occasion. In response to these threats, Rowan’s powers grow and strengthen until he has a vision of a sleek, invulnerable ship that can save the Rebellion and stop the Empire in its tracks – the Arrowhead. The catch is, the Arrowhead is a ship only Rowan can build. Once again, it’s up to the youngest Freemaker to save the galaxy.

LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures Season 2 will launch this summer on Disney XD, just in time for the release of the LEGO Star Wars Arrowhead (75186) and Tracker 1 (75185), both of which will be available on June 1.

What’s Next For LEGO Ideas?

As a fan of the LEGO Ideas platform, it delights me to see how my favorite projects can get to see the light of day to become a possible LEGO set that I can actually pick up straight from the shelves of my local LEGO Store. Being a fan-based site in itself, the team behind LEGO Ideas has to carefully consider many factors before giving a project a ‘go’ or ‘no-go’ decision. Putting in mind what the fans want, the LEGO Ideas Review Team must keep tabs with other factors such as the size of the set, its viable cost in the market, and of course, the licensing issues involved. Perhaps amongst these, it is the licensing issues that are the most challenging to untangle.

21308 alt1 — LEGO became stronger as a brand because of its tie-up with other third-party brands and licenses.

The LEGO Ideas Review Team must put into account both the intellectual property (IP) issues outside and within LEGO’s portfolio. Needless to say, it is a very delicate dance to say the least in trying to work out the IP conflicts that may arise in developing a new LEGO set. A LEGO Ideas project that gained the necessary 10K votes may therefore receive a thumbs up sign from the majority of the LEGO fan community, but will still fail to become a set if there are conflicts with certain active licenses or themes.

This week, the LEGO Ideas Team has just announced a major revision on their project submission guidelines stating that submissions based on third-party licenses that are deemed active in TLG’s portfolio will no longer be accepted. This means that if you’re planning to submit a project that is based on Star Wars, Marvel or DC Superheroes, Disney characters, or any theme that is currently developed by LEGO, then this project will be turned down right away. We’re not sure if this means that it will not even have the chance of being posted on the site to rally for support, but what is sure is that it will absolutely fail to become an official LEGO set.

According to Tim Courtney of LEGO Ideas,

Today we’ve updated our Guidelines and House Rules to clarify the types of models we will accept as LEGO® Ideas projects. The main focus of this update is that we will no longer allow projects that are based on currently active licenses in our product portfolio, like Star Wars, MARVEL Super Heroes, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and so on.

We’ve updated our Guidelines about licensed properties to reflect this, and added a list of restricted licensed properties to the License Conflicts and Resolutions page in the Knowledge Base. If we retire a third-party license and it didn’t enter the LEGO portfolio via LEGO Ideas we’ll remove it from our list, and you’ll then be welcome to submit projects based on it.

For clarity, LEGO Ideas list down all of the Active Licenses and other Restricted IPs based from previous LEGO Ideas sets, which you can find below:

Entertainment

Star Wars, MARVEL Super Heroes, DC Super Heroes & Super Hero Girls, The LEGO Batman Movie, The LEGO NINJAGO Movie, The LEGO Movie, Disney characters (Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy & Tinker Bell), Moana, Rapunzel, Aladdin, Cars, Whisker Haven Tales with the Palace Pets , Angry Birds, Pirates of the Caribbean, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Miles From Tomorrowland, Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, The Simpsons, Knight Rider, Mission Impossible, Midway Arcade, Lord of the Rings, Gremlins, A-Team, Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts, Sonic the Hedgehog, Portal 2, E.T. & The Wizard of Oz.

Automotive brands

Volkswagen, Ferrari, MINI, Porsche, BMW, CLAAS, Volvo, Mercedes, Ford, Audi, Bugatti, Chevrolet & McLaren.

Architecture

Stand alone buildings (Big Ben, London Tower Bridge, US Capitol Building, Louvre, Buckingham Palace, Burj Khalifa, Eiffel Tower & Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum).
Buildings contained in the skylines (London, Sydney, Chicago, Venice, Berlin & New York).

Restricted IP from LEGO Ideas:

Shinkai 6500
Hayabusa
Minecraft
Back to the Future
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover
Ghostbusters
The Big Bang Theory
WALL•E
Doctor Who
The Beatles
Caterham
Adventure Time
Apollo program
Women of NASA concept

That’s a pretty long list. Good thing though (if you can still look at it that way) that LEGO gives an assurance that if ever a licensing issue has been resolved, or if an active, third-party license has been retired already, then fans are free to submit similar projects later on. Furthermore, this doesn’t mean that active projects that have currently reached 10K support, or even those that are still gathering support will be shot down right away. They will have the chance of being promoted in the LEGO Ideas platform, but will have a slimmer chance of passing through the Review Stage.

Projects currently being reviewed, as well as active projects that reach 10,000 supporters in the future, will still be evaluated as part of the LEGO Review. Just like before, these projects would have a slimmer chance of passing the LEGO Ideas review, as they overlap with existing licenses in the LEGO product portfolio.

This means that entries such as the UCS Rey’s Speeder, the Volkswagen Golf MK1 GTI, and the Hulkbuster UCS may never stand a chance against other, non-licensed entries. Additionally, submissions that are based on any existing official LEGO Ideas set, whether active or retired, will no longer be allowed as well.

This decision from the LEGO Ideas Team received a lot of mixed reactions from the LEGO community. Some argue that such move severely limits the projects that fans really want to see, while on the other hand, it is considered by some as a wise, and practical decision (from LEGO’s viewpoint, I guess) so as not to put our hopes up on something that can never happen in the first place.

I think only time can tell if these changes in the LEGO Ideas platform will work out for the better. As of now, I’m excited to see how the final LEGO Ideas Apollo II Saturn V set turn out, and if my favorite LEGO Ideas project, Voltron Defender of the Universe, will finally become an official set.

So what do you think about this change in LEGO Ideas? Share your thoughts in the comments below.