bluephotographs800, Author at The Brick Show

LEGO Star Wars Magazine Issue 39 with Obi-Wan Kenobi Pilot Minifigure and Trading Card Now Available

One good thing about some official LEGO Magazines for some of its major licensed franchises is that sometimes their freebies are fairly uncommon little things. They can, for instance, be a certain minifigure from a large set; but as a freebie in a LEGO mag you get one technically free. That’s the deal going with the latest LEGO Star Wars Magazine Issue 39 of the official LEGO Star Wars Magazine, as it features one of the minifigures from the LEGO Star Wars set for the Jedi Starfighter with Hyperdrive (75191): Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is a fairly uncommon rendering of the Jedi Master as pilot.

As for other content, LEGO Star Wars fans will certainly enjoy another month’s issue filled with fun puzzles, posters for their walls, and a variety of LEGO-styled comic stories. Some of them are tied into the included pilot Obi-Wan minifigure, but there’s also a mag promo to win a Kessel Run Millennium Falcon set (75212).

If you’re keeping up with collecting the new LEGO Star Wars trading cards introduced last month, then you’ll get the limited edition card LE02 from this issue 39 of the mag. Naturally, it’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. The official LEGO Star Wars Magazine from The Egmont Group is priced at £3.99 and is available now in Europe.

Spotted: LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309) Still On Sale at Walmart

There’s been a load of sets that have come out from the LEGO Ideas platform since its original inception around the turn of the first decade of the 21^st Century. Still, none of these sets seem to have gained the “longevity” of Ideas set #17, NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309).

It first came out in June 1 of the previous year, but despite being retired it’s been seeing more sales appearances at one LEGO partner retailer after another. And now the latest retail brand to put a sale on the very sought-after LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (21309) rocket set is Walmart.

On its official listing at the Walmart website, the LEGO Ideas Apollo 11 Saturn V (21309) will go for about $119.99 per set. That’s not particularly big discount wise, but with how LEGO collectors seem to pounce on the set every time it goes on sale, interested buyers best hurry. The Waltmart listing for this sought after LEGO Ideas set is still up at Walmart as of this writing, so if you’re still contemplating to get this set I suggest that you act on it asap.

The NASA Apollo 11 Saturn V (21309) was co-created by Austria’s Felix “saabfan” Stiessen and France’s Valerie “whatsuptoday” Roche, prominent members of the LEGO Ideas submission platform who have since continued to put forth new product ideas for support and review to become official LEGO sets.

Playable Demo of LEGO DC Super-Villains to be Featured at UK’s EGX 2018

It’s close now to just being one month away before LEGO DC Super-Villains, the newest whimsical brick adventure video game from WB Interactive and Traveller’s Tales, is released for its various platforms in October. We’ve also showcased its story plot, various game features, and Season Pass a couple of days ago.

But I’m sure there are some fans of LEGO video games who would want more than just a new info-dump for LDCSV; they most likely want to get some hands-on experience with the new title, even if it’s only a short demo. Well, LEGO games in the UK are in luck.

That’s because two weekends from now, Birmingham will be playing host to UK’s biggest games event of the year, EGX 2018. It’s happening from September 20 to 23 at the NEC Arena, and they’ve got an impressive lineup of upcoming games to show off. And of course they will have playable demos, including of course, LEGO DC Super-Villains.

Part of the Sony PlayStation 4 game showcase for EGX 2018 is its version of LEGO DC Super-Villains complete with demo, giving UK gamers a prime opportunity to test out this new experience of playing LEGO versions of DC’s greatest super-baddies to take on the parallel-universe Justice Syndicate and Darkseid.

Aside from the playable demo, there will also be a LDCSV game developer session in store on the last day of EGX, Sunday September 23. Arthur Parsons from Traveller’s Tales is on the spot then. Interested UK gamers who want in on EGX 2018 can get their tickets over here.

LEGO DC Super-Villains is now also available for pre-order via Amazon, and is scheduled to be released on October 16. As a side note, and while waiting for the game, be sure to check out our first wave of LEGO DC Super-Villains printable, coloring pages.

LEGO Toy Story 4 Sets Rumored to be Released in 2019

When Disney released Toy Story 3 back in 2010, it seemed like the fitting end of a film series in line with its themes: a teenager who once owned his beloved toys has grown past his need of them, but gets to entrust his treasures to another owner who will look after them in the future. Then again, it’s Disney; they’d prefer that none of their franchises remain stagnant too long. So we have word that LEGO Toy Story 4 sets are coming in next year, slated to arrive ahead of the Disney sequel’s planned release.

It should be recalled that LEGO did much the same before the 2010 premiere of Toy Story 3, when it unloaded 15 sets and polybags based on places and events that took place over the entire film trilogy. Chances are, they’ll do the same for the upcoming 4th film, with a new collection of LEGO Toy Story 4 sets. The latest LEGO tie-ins for a Disney-Pixar animated film were the LEGO Juniors Incredibles 2 sets, which were released this June.

LEGO Toy Story 4 — LEGO Toy Story Trash Compactor Escape (7596) from 2010.

That said, this bit of news that came by way of Brick Fanatics remains, at this point, a rumor until The LEGO Group releases official information to confirm or debunk it. Toy Story 4 will premiere June 19, 2019 and will focus on a love story between Sheriff Woody and Bo Peep, who was conspicuously absent in Toy Story 3.

This Custom LEGO Dun Deardail MOC Is a Cool Trip to the Past

How long has it been since we last featured a LEGO MOC of a castle? One that comes to mind is our feature of a MOC by Mark Erickson of Theramore, the doomed castle town from Blizzard’s hit MMORPG World of Warcraft. This new LEGO castle MOC we found is not massive, but very historical. This history-inspired MOC was the creation of Brick to the Past, a UK-based LEGO building group that specializes in making large-scale, research-accurate historical structures out of LEGO. Their most recently completed project is the meticulously studied, custom LEGO Dun Deardail MOC, inspired by the ancient hillfort with the same name established in Scotland around 2,500 years ago.

Over in Glen Nevis, on the hill of Sgorr Challum, there stand the remains of an ancient hillfort given the name Dun Deardail. Brick to the Past expert builder Dan Harris created the sprawling LEGO Dun Deardail MOC on commission from the Nevis Landscape Partnership of Fort William in the Scottish Highlands.

Harris began his commission of Dun Deardail in December 2017 by reading what he can about the ancient hillfort, which was said to have been destroyed in a fire so hot that some of its stone portions melted. Work began on the LEGO version January, and wrapped up last month.

The custom LEGO Dun Deardail MOC can be seen on display at the Glen Nevis visitor center, Fort William. Of his MOC, Dan Harris remarks, “It’s great to be able to display at one of Scotland’s most popular tourist destinations and I hope that the model will encourage people to get out and explore the real hillfort.”

Source: BBC

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Columbus Boasts Cincinnati’s Great American Tower in Miniland

The days are counting down to the grand opening of the newest LEGOLAND Discovery Center Columbus in Ohio. Already the management has opened the mini-theme park to a hard-hat tour for press and local officials, and will officially open it earlier still for guests availing of its annual pass.

Now, local news has brought word of more attractions at the new LEGO Discovery Center: a new Miniland theme zone, where replicas of famous buildings and landmarks are sure to be found. One unique brick-built addition for LEGOLAND Discovery Center Columbus is a well-known Ohio skyscraper.

This is the Great American Tower at Queen City Square, found in Cincinnati. Opened in 2011, the tower has 41 aboveground floors (with no 13^th), 3 underground levels, and 26 elevators. It’s also recognizable because of its rooftop “headdress”, recalling either the tiara of the late Diana, Princess of Wales or the Chrysler Building’s spire.

Resident LEGO Builders for LEGOLAND Discovery Center Columbus (LDC) worked 236 hours to recreate the Great American Tower, using 23,532 pieces. LDC Columbus GM Jacob Kristensen says, “We’re excited to have the tallest building in Cincinnati represented in our MINILAND and we can’t wait for you to see the iconic Great American Tower, and more landmarks, made entirely out of LEGO bricks in MINILAND Ohio.”

Other Ohio landmarks in the LDC’s Miniland include the Cincinnati Union Terminal, Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Columbus’ own COSI Discovery Center. LEGOLAND Discovery Center Columbus opens to annual pass-holders in September 21, and to the public September 28.

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE! 🎉 Purchase yours in advance to guarantee entry: https://t.co/Qgaa3BlOkk pic.twitter.com/wMDLChXaFS

— LDC Columbus (@LDCColumbus) August 28, 2018

German Teen Arrested for Having a LEGO Machine Gun

Every now and then, we come across some weird stories that relate to LEGO, whether with its retailers, or with the people who play with them. They can range from a case of brick theft with a stolen Duplo statue head in Gloucestershire, to getting in trouble with the law because of a dangerous-looking brick-build. Earlier this week in Ludwigshafen, Germany a teenager was arrested by local police because of LEGO. The reason: he had built a submachine gun out of LEGO bricks that – a LEGO machine gun – when seen from a distance, looked terribly like the real thing. Anybody would panic at that.

So when the 19-year-old “suspect” looked out the window of his house with the LEGO machine gun in his hand, neighbors immediately contacted the authorities, seeing as Germany has some of the strictest firearms laws in the world. That was reinforced by how quickly the police responded to the suspect’s address.

There they found the man with another companion, aged 23, and some LEGO bricks, some of which went into building the machine gun MOC in the teen’s hands. Regardless of the true material being discovered, the poor suspect is now under an official investigation, because the prop weapon he made was in the unfortunate shape of a firearm prohibited under both the German Weapons Act and the larger European Firearms Directive.

Though we can give credit to that teen for building an impressive, closer to real-life LEGO machine gun, I can just imagine his regret for his lack of good and sensible judgment on this one. The lesson of this story: mind your local firearms laws, and make sure your brick builds won’t be mistaken for anything that could get you in trouble with the police. Perhaps settle for a less conspicuous build next time – maybe a brick-built gun like the featured image above, will do.

Source: Deutsche Welle.com

More Updates for LEGO Ideas – LEGO Rebrick Closing

The end of June was something of a new start for LEGO Ideas, the brand’s very own platform for inspiring builders to send their custom brick creations in the hope that they may become official sets. It was marked with a new website design, a new logo, and new guidelines. All these changes to the LEGO Ideas platform looked plenty impressive when it went live. But as it turns out, the redesigns were merely the beginning. One major new update to Ideas is the integration of another LEGO platform which will eventually lead to LEGO Rebrick closing down this month.

While it was launched only two years ago in 2016, LEGO Rebrick has proven very popular with plenty of participation in all its contests. Still, in an effort to streamline its online platforms, and with LEGO Rebrick closing, this means that the site’s content will now be a part of the LEGO Ideas Contests page.

Here’s a list of what to expect from the platform, according to the LEGO Ideas blog:

A new Staff Pick feed that shows both Product Ideas and Contest Entries

Lightboxes are back! This isn’t new, but it’s useful and we missed them after they were removed in the last release.When you click an image in an idea or entry, it will open a lightbox and you can view it full screen within your browser window.

Improved look for Contest pages including a full-width header and less visual clutter. Check it out on the Voltron Scene contest.

New Notifications menu you can find by clicking the bell on the top menu. Customize your alerts in Settings.

Color-coded flags for news feed items. Product Idea flags are yellow, Contest Entries are blue. We’ve also added a tool tip for context when you hover over them.

You can now disallow followers in Settings.

One Contest entry at a time. You can enter contests as many times as you want, but you can only have one awaiting a moderator approval at a time. Quality over quantity!

More Visible “Submit Product Idea” link, so you can more easily find it on a mobile device.

Improvements to Ending Soon timer for product ideas on the Discover page. If there’s less than a day left, it now shows hours and minutes.

Minor Terms of Service update changing language to better support Contests.

Finally, LEGO Rebrick will close for good on September 14. Sad as it may sound, we just hope for the best for this new direction that the LEGO Ideas platform is taking.

LEGO to Pursue Sustainable Material Changeover Despite Possible Adverse Effect on Profit

The business situation for The LEGO Group has been rather touch and go over the past year or so, despite the sheer volume of new building sets and related products that are always being released. Recently they have, in the span of mere days, announced both their intention to change over and pursue sustainable material by 2030 and a report of recovering profits and stable revenue for half of 2018.

It was after the release of that report on LEGO’s financial results for H1-2018 that CEO Niels B. Christiansen reiterated the company’s goal of transitioning from traditional plastic to plant-based alternatives on all product bricks and pieces. He also noted that he is aware of how this ongoing development could bite into their profit margins.

“I’m not even sure that we currently yet can live up to the quality that we want,” Christiansen noted. “But it’s an agenda that we want to drive and an agenda that our owner is behind. We want to become a leader on this.” He speaks of course of LEGO’s owners, the Kirk Kristiansen family, from which the directive to move on to sustainable materials for brick production came from.

Already LEGO manufacturing has gone with bio-plastics for all plant pieces on new and upcoming sets, including the special Plants from Plants (40320) package; only time will tell when they would completely pursue sustainable material use and to begin transitioning the rest of their bricks and elements in the process.

LEGO sales in the US have been heavily affected by the closure there of once-titanic retailer Toys R Us. Only improving figures from European markets ensured that the first half of this year resulted in an even keel for revenues.

LEGO BrickHeadz Witch (40272) Now Available at LEGO Shop@Home

Last month we caught wind of the new, Halloween-themed seasonal LEGO BrickHeadz Witch (40272) set with all the trappings of her nature: broom, cauldron and a weird-looking tree. Its first images were from a sighting of the set at the shelves of the Copenhagen, Denmark LEGO Store.

Barring that super-early availability of the LEGO BrickHeadz Witch (40272) on LEGO’s home country, the most likely time for the set to become available in all major markets would have been sometime in October in our estimate. But what do you know; it may be a Halloween set, but LEGO has made Christmas come early.

What we mean is that as of this week, the LEGO BrickHeadz Witch (40272) is now listed on shop.LEGO.com as available for purchase. Comprising of 151 pieces to form the main witch brick-built figure and her spooky props, each set is retailed at $9.99.

Spook your friends with a LEGO® BrickHeadz™ Halloween Witch!

Say “Double, double toil and trouble!” and add a touch of sorcery to your celebrations with this scary LEGO® BrickHeadz™ 40272 Halloween Witch. Check out her pointy nose and hat, detachable broom, cauldron, bone and pumpkin. This spooky construction character also comes with a buildable collector’s baseplate with a seasonal calendar and BrickHeadz logo for display in the home, office or anywhere you like.

Buildable LEGO® BrickHeadz™ Halloween Witch construction character features green skin, decorated eyes, pointy hat and a detachable broom.
Also includes a buildable cauldron scene with a bone element.
Each LEGO® BrickHeadz™ construction character comes with its own buildable collector’s baseplate featuring a seasonal calendar and BrickHeadz logo.
Have fun growing your LEGO® BrickHeadz™ collection with other characters from your favorite films, TV series, games and comics.
Mash up your LEGO® BrickHeadz™ construction characters to create supercool hybrids or your own amazing characters.
Stands over 3” (9cm) tall without baseplate.
Baseplate measures over 4” (11cm) wide and 2” (6cm) deep.