bluephotographs800, Author at The Brick Show

LEGO Star Wars III Now Part of Games With Gold for The Xbox One This September

Back in 2011, LucasArts and Traveller’s Tales released its fourth LEGO Star Wars video game, of the format that players of LEGO game titles for licensed properties are familiar with. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars was a true sequel of sorts to the first two games of the series, with the third being a compilation of its predecessors instead.

Having been released on Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 among other systems, the title has been deemed worthy to be included in the latest wave of Games with Gold titles that are exclusive to members of Xbox Live Gold this September.

These latest Xbox Live Gold games will be available to any Gold members on their Xbox One starting September. Two of these are Xbox One games, while the other two are from the Xbox 360, including LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. They’re playable on the Xbox One thanks to the console’s backwards compatibility.

LEGO fans with Xbox Ones and a Gold membership can download LEGO Star Wars III starting December 1 until 15. Also available with the game are Prison Architect (September 1-30), Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World (September 16-30) and Livelock (September 16 to October 15).

LEGO Education Introduces Coding Express Designed for Preschoolers

LEGO has prided itself on keeping up with the advances of technology even as they maintain their original and iconic building block products. They’ve even made strides at integrating the old and new together, with product add-ons like Power Functions motors or the introductory computer programming potential of LEGO Mindstorms. But LEGO believes they can take the programming element to even younger ages with their products, and this Tuesday, August 28, LEGO announced Coding Express, a set intended for 3 to 4-year-olds that comprises a basic train set, a station, and an elementary coding system to make the train go.

Of course, much like similar toy lines that have made inroads in integrating programming with electronic mechanical motion, LEGO Coding Express only features completed pre-programmed actions, which the kids only need to put together. The beauty part is that the programs are coded to the train set’s colored rail tracks.

In addition to the rails, children playing with LEGO Coding Express also put colored bars that contain specific instructions for the train. Green elements make it go, yellow causes it to slow, red means stop, and blue makes the train toot its horn for instance.

Alternatively, the Coding Express programming can be changed around in an app, where the train can be swapped out for a LEGO caterpillar that changes its emotions depending on what colored block it ran over. The physical block set is based on the early-childhood Duplo sub-brand, for easier building too.

For the curious, the LEGO Coding Express set isn’t a retail item and can only be purchased online on their Education product portal. Check it out here along with other Education-branded products for your consideration.

Sit Back and Relax With This Functional LEGO Coffee Table MOC

It’s not much of a secret that plenty of engineers and architects could credit their decision to choose their careers, and even their inspiration on new designs and builds, to LEGO and its wide variety of products. After all, building outside the box is what LEGO fosters best in their customers. Case in point, it’s been possible to use LEGO pieces to create sturdy and functional constructs; something like a LEGO coffee table MOC that doesn’t use nails, screws or any adhesives to hold it together. Nothing but the snug interlocking mechanism of LEGO bricks keeps it whole.

This custom LEGO coffee table was the brainchild of art director Yusong Zhang from Los Angeles. Featured on the online architecture, interior and design mag Dezeen, the table is white on the outside while its interior, viewable on the sides, has other layers of colors. Over 10,000 bricks of only 2×4 dimensions were used on this project.

In Zhang’s own admission, he says he has never tested the durability of his LEGO MOC table, but that it’s able to support the weight of legs swung over it. “I always had love for LEGO as a toy,” says Zhang. “But [I] wanted to challenge myself to build something truly functional without sacrificing the aesthetic and creativity that’s rooted in LEGO designs.”

His LEGO coffee table MOC was built for his personal use, but he’s open to interested people with custom orders for more. Each table would take him possibly about three weeks of assembly.

Fake LEGO Dealer in South Korea Receives Fine and Suspended Prison Term in Court

Ever since LEGO products have been in Asian markets they’ve had to contend with brazen knock-offs, usually coming from China. It was only recently that the brand has received protected status in the People’s Republic, allowing The LEGO Group to crack down on impostor manufacturers, and merchants that sell them.

Lately that hunt for fraudulent LEGO sets in Asia has paid off once more. A counterfeit seller in South Korea, who sold sets from notorious copycat brand Lepin in both a real shop and online, was brought before the Seoul Southern District Court. Here he was slapped with a fine of 10 million South Korean Won (just over $9000). He also received a 10-month prison sentence, though this was suspended.

The defendant was caught by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism’s Special Judicial Police last year. He was found in possession of 1,348 sets from not only Lepin, but fellow LEGO clones Lele and Sy. The merchant was found guilty in court for these, selling in his store and listing them on online marketplaces; he sold 2,627 knockoffs over the internet in 2017.

LEGO VP Legal Counsel for China and Asia-Pacific Robert Smith was appreciative of the efforts of the South Korean authorities for this successful conviction of a copyright violator for their brand. “We appreciate the South Korean Courts and authorities for taking such a strong stance on intellectual property protection and enforcement,” he said. “We will continue to take action against companies who infringe our copyrights in order to protect the reputation of our much-loved brand.”

LEGO Art Exhibit in Kagoshima, Japan Features a Majestic Brick-Built Jomon-sugi

South of the southernmost primary Japanese island of Kyushu, are a group of islands called the Osumi, part of Kagoshima Prefecture. One of the largest in the group is Yakushima, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its lush subtropical evergreen forest. It’s also home to some of the world’s longest-living flora, one of which is a magnificent specimen of Japanese cedar (yakusugi). This particular tree is revered for the fact that it’s dated to be anywhere from over 2,000 to 7,000 years old. The tree is called Jomon-sugi due to possibly growing since the Japanese prehistoric Jomon period. In honor of the long-lived Jomon-sugi, a UNESCO World Heritage art expo that’s currently being held in Kagoshima features one exhibit done in LEGO. This sculpture of the ancient tree, measuring 120 centimeters tall, was built by Osaka-based LEGO artist Kanna Nakayama, using some 15,000 LEGO pieces to depict Jomon-sugi’s trunk, branches and leaves. Nakayama says of it, “I arranged the bricks to express the dignified presence of Jomon-sugi.”

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Jomon-sugi is joined by several other LEGO builds of famous UNESCO landmarks and is hosted by LEGO Japan Ltd. The exhibition has been travelling around Japan and has appeared in 60 cities and towns. This is the first trip of the exhibit to Kagoshima, the prefecture of which includes Yakushima, thus adding a touch of local pride to the display.

The UNESCO World Heritage LEGO art exhibit is on display at the Reimeikan (Kagoshima Prefectural Museum of Culture) in Kagoshima City up until September 2.

New LEGO Build the World – Incredible Inventions Trading Cards Now Available in Sainsbury’s Stores and Supermarkets

Last week we got the first word that Sainsbury’s in the UK was about to reintroduce their Create the World Series of LEGO Collectible Trading Cards. It was something of a hit for the UK supermarket chain when they did it last year, and in 2018 it’s time for their LEGO shoppers to collect cards again under a new theme. This new series of LEGO trading cards from Sainsbury’s is called Create the World: Incredible Inventions. The promotion started this week, with Sainsbury’s store and markets now carrying the trading card packs and the special album books in which to put together the LEGO cards.

Steps to collect the Incredible Inventions series of Sainsbury’s LEGO cards remain the same as before. Sainsbury’s shoppers will receive a free pack of 4 collectible cards at the counter for a minimum shopping receipt of £10. The card albums – blue this year – are priced at £2.50 apiece and come with two free card packs.

Time will tell if this new Create the World: Incredible Inventions trading card series from LEGO will be as popular as last year, when the card albums after the promo period were being sold online at expensive LEGO-set prices. Sainsbury’s has yet to announce if the trading cards can only be acquired in the promo process, or sold conventionally as well.

LEGO Minifigure Set Offers for the Month of August at Minifigure Maddness

For the specific sort of LEGO collector who focuses his efforts on finding uncommon and rare minifigures, there are several online retailers that meet his needs. One of them is Minifigure Maddness, based in Europe but able to send LEGO minifigure packs and sets by express delivery worldwide and partnered with several major affiliates online.

August is close to an end, but the LEGO reseller sees fit to send off the month with some sweet offers for collectibles in two product lines, a LEGO original and a big licensed franchise. Whether you’re up for the most awesome and adorable four-legged brick princess or more in tune with the Boy Who Lived, these offers have you covered. Please note that these sets are limited in quantity, so it will be wise not to delay.

First is the LEGO Unikitty! Series (41775) of 12 Unikitty and Puppycorn variant figures, priced at €50.99 (£46 or $59) for the completed set. Second is the sought-after Wizarding World of Harry Potter (71022) collection, which Minifigure Maddness has gathered into one new/sealed box, 60 minifigs total, all characters completed with copies. It’s worth €198.99.

As said earlier, these LEGO minifigure set offers won’t last forever, so if you want them from Minifigure Maddness, you’d better hurry. Do note that they accept only Euro as currency for online orders. You might also want to check out Minifigure Maddness’ partner affiliate Brickset for details on a special offer exclusive to them.

LCP “Brickman” to have “Awesome” Exhibit at Australia’s Dreamland Theme Park

When an event or venue takes on the services of a LEGO Certified Professional (LCP) for a display or exhibition, they can count on some very impressive brick-built constructs. One can take the example of LCP Sean Kenney who had a blast with his own exhibit in Tel Aviv recently.

Now, another Lego Certified Professional is about to take center stage at another LEGO exhibition. This one will be in Australia at the Dreamland theme park in Queensland. And the LCP of the hour is Ryan “Brickman” McNaught, who has got a nice selection of large-scale LEGO builds to share.

“The Brickman Awesome exhibition is about all things amazing, unique, record-breaking or just plain awesome,” Dreamworld Marketing General Manager Philip Hancox said in a statement. “And we can’t wait to offer our guests another experience that will transport them into a world of awe and wonder.” Judging from this promotional image, it definitely is so.

Dreamland is really counting on special events like this Brickman Awesome exhibit to draw in the crowds. The theme park has been having a string of grave misfortunes; four deaths in accidents at their ride attractions and the ensuing inquest proceedings have scared off patrons from the ticket booth.

Brickman’s Awesome exhibit, featuring some massive builds like a 7.5-meter tall rocket and using a grand total of over 2 million LEGO pieces, will debut at Dreamland, the Gold Coast’s BIGGEST theme park, this coming September. Visit their official website for ticket purchases and other inquiries.

Check Out This Custom LEGO Sanctuary Battle Map MOC from Overwatch Fan Festival in South Korea

Perhaps one of the most highly anticipated new and upcoming merchandise from LEGO or any other toy brand is the former’s recently announced wave of set tie-ins to Blizzard Entertainment’s hit FPS franchise Overwatch. It has been hoped that perhaps a first glimpse to those sets could be found in a South Korea fan event.

But the Overwatch Fan Festival in Seoul has come and gone, without significant news about the confirmed LEGO sets many have been anxious to see. The company was still present at the event anyway, and it featured quite a magnificent brick-build of an Overwatch battlefield.

A central fixture among the displays for the South Korea Overwatch Fan Festival is a great rendition in LEGO bricks of the Sanctuary map in all its Far Eastern glory. Korean BBS Ruliweb managed to capture some quality images of the build, which is NOT an official LEGO Overwatch set.

So it seems the recent events such as the Overwatch Fan Festival didn’t end up showing any new previews for the LEGO Overwatch sets that we know are already coming next year. If LEGO and Blizzard are planning to do a tease it’ll have to be on PAX West this week or on November’s Blizzcon.

Some new (non-LEGO) Overwatch stuff that was shown in South Korea include an animated short starring D.Va, plus a new Control-type map DLC for the game, based on the real-life city of Busan, an honor for “Blizzard Country” South Korea.

Is LEGO Giving a Hint About an Upcoming Harry Potter Diagon Alley Set?

By now we would have seen and heard all that needs to be known about the ambitious LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle (71043) micro-scale set. A great deal of what we have learned was courtesy of the requisite designer video for it, with the heads of the LEGO design team. However, starting from around this week a new wave of questions and speculation has arisen regarding the Hogwarts Castle (71043). It’s not about the set itself but rather, something spotted in the designer video background. The prevailing theory is that the object, which was blurred, might be another Potter set.

From a quick read of the comments for the LEGO designer video on YouTube, it seems that inquisitive viewers are seeing the same thing: at the 4:30 mark, behind the LEGO System set box are what appear to be brick-built buildings. One is shaded blue-purple and orange, familiar colors to Potter-fans.

The rumor that sprung from this view of the Hogwarts Castle (71043) is that LEGO’s working on possibly a building set for the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes shop in Diagon Alley. You can see the similarly colored building above. Does it match the blurry figure in the clip? You tell us.

Some of the ongoing rumors mention that LEGO has pulled this method of advance teasing before. Is it really a tease in this case? Remember that this is a rumor for now, at least until LEGO comes clean about it. But wouldn’t such a set be magical in the future?