Author: bluephotographs800

LEGO Powered UP Rebrand Combining Powered Functions 2.0, Boost and Education Under One Umbrella in 2019

One of the significant advances made by LEGO in terms of technology for their products was the introduction of mechanical parts that can be driven by electrical power to operate particular sets. What these electronic systems were called depended on the line they’re part of, but for the most part they fell under Power Functions. Most recently LEGO has been promoting a new series of Power Functions 2.0 components for some of their latest sets like several trains on LEGO City and the App-Controlled Batmobile (76112). But all of a sudden The LEGO Group has announced a new product rebranding which it refers to as LEGO Powered UP

LEGO Powered UP
The App-Controlled Batmobile (76112) utilizes LEGO’s Power Functions 2.0

In this feature renaming, LEGO Power Functions 2.0 will be grouped together with other electronic component systems like LEGO Boost and WeDo 2.0 of the LEGO Education line under a unified banner. These features will now be collectively branded as LEGO Powered UP across all products using them.

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The LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox (17101)

To coincide with this rebranding all unique features from the previous electric parts systems will become common, such as replacing infrared sensors with wireless BLE connections and compatibility with downloadable LEGO mobile apps. The degree of connectivity and functionality being offered by LEGO Powered UP is greater than anything before.

It all comes across as overwhelming, but LEGO is giving their more tech-oriented fans time to digest this rebranding. All sets with the mentioned features releasing this year will still bear Power Functions 2.0 and such on their respective packaging. Expect LEGO Powered UP to replace those labels by 2019 though.

For more details, check out this transcript of a recent LEGO Q&A. We’ve included an excerpt here describing one of the new advantages of Powered UP.

…All elements can now be electrically identified, so when attaching e.g. a train motor, the Hub and the App can now recognise it is a train motor. This allows us to help younger users put things in the right place. Another benefit is that we can optimise functionality based on particular elements, for example when using a train motor or the add-on light, the handset increments/decrements power (good for train / setting light) but when using the medium motor, the handset sets 100% power when a button is pressed down (good for RC vehicles)…

So what do you think about these recent developments about the LEGO Powered Up line? Do you think this is a welcomed move as far the LEGO community is concerned? Let us know in the comments below.

This Custom LEGO Chocolate Frog Card Is Surely Magical

If you’ve been keeping up with our news, then you know that LEGO has a wave of Harry Potter merchandise that has been released or will be releasing soon. From the newly-premiered Collectible Minifigures (71022) to the upcoming Hogwarts Castle (71043), that’s a whole lot of minifigures and nanofigures to pick up. But what do we do with them? Perhaps add them to past LEGO Harry Potter play-sets? But Dutch LEGO fan Daan de Ruijter has a sweet MOC idea: how about mounting the minifigures into a brick-built, custom LEGO Chocolate Frog Card?

If you recall from the books and films, Chocolate Frogs are a popular Wizarding World chocolate brand that includes animated pictures of famous Witches and Wizards in the known Potter-verse, encased in pentagon-shaped trading cards. Daan de Ruijter has conceptualized a custom LEGO Chocolate Frog Card case that’s shaped like the original one as seen in the Harry Potter films.

You can even build your own custom LEGO Chocolate Frog Card, since de Ruijter was kind enough to share the building instructions on how to make this MOC online via his website. Also included on the instruction page are links to the list of the LEGO parts and pieces (and respective quantities) needed to make one of these Chocolate Frog cases, so you can order those parts as needed from LEGO’s Pick A Brick page, or via Bricklink.

With the option to put down the LEGO Wizarding World minifigure’s name on the card case using water slide decals, this custom LEGO Chocolate Frog Card by Daan de Ruijter’s is one of the most awesome ways to jazz up your choice of all the collectible minifigures coming out. We give due credit to de Ruijter for his creation.

The LEGO Ideas Product Idea Toronto Skyline Will Be a Great LEGO Architecture Set

It seems there’s a rising trend of Product Ideas on the LEGO Ideas platform that’s specifically tailored for an existing LEGO product line. We saw this recently with a 10-K passer for the Second 2018 Review Stage, being a Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 that’s being proposed by its creator for the LEGO Speed Champions series. Now, a new submission has been put forth on LEGO Ideas by Canadian member Nathan Beyerle (nbeyerle). His Product Idea is a multi-building model skyline in the vein of the LEGO Architecture series:the LEGO Ideas Product Idea Toronto Skyline.

So it is with great Canadian pride that nbeyerle is presenting his Product Idea for a LEGO Architecture set based on Toronto, capital of the province of Ontario and biggest city in Canada by population. His skyline features (left to right) Rogers Centre, CN Tower, First Canadian Place, Fairmont Royal York, and Nathan Phillips Square. Needless to say, it follows a similar layout to the upcoming LEGO Architecture Las Vegas (21047) set.

LEGO Ideas Product Idea Toronto Skyline

Nathan Beyerle used about 800 LEGO pieces to build his LEGO Ideas Product Idea Toronto Skyline; and they’re all spot-on in detail, given nbeyerle lived in the city for eight years. “I’ve always been a fan of architecture,” says nbeyerle. “And it’s a global city and it should be represented in Lego.”

The LEGO Ideas Product Idea Toronto Skyline was posted on August 1, and at present it has gained 658 supporters on the Ideas platform. It does look spiffy, so we wish it the best of luck gathering the big 10-K with the over-400 days it’s got left.

UK’s Fairy Bricks Charity To Raise Funds Through Bikes to Billund 8-Day Cycle Trip

When you just look for it, you can find LEGO everywhere around you; not just in homes, playgrounds, schools and even public exhibits, but everywhere. That includes charitable organizations like Fairy Bricks, a UK-based charity that specializes in donating new LEGO sets to children’s hospitals and clinics for child patients. Of course, having so many recipient hospitals to donate LEGO sets to, means that Fairy Bricks need to generate funding for them. They have several avenue events to do so, such as the annual Bricktastic LEGO show in Manchester. And then, there is the Bikes to Billund charitable cycling event.

This has got to be one of the biggest and most physically challenging events to be done in the name of LEGO charity. Participants from Fairy Bricks will brave a grueling 8-day bike trip, from England, a ferry ride across the North Sea, and a final cross-country journey through the Netherlands, Germany and up north into Denmark to reach Billund.

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The starting point is at the Leicester Square flagship LEGO Store in London on September 20. The ferry departs from Harwich, England and docks at Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Finally, the terminal point for the “Bikes to Billund” journey is The Home of the Brick aka LEGO House. Optimally, the group hopes to make it there by September 27 to join in on the Skaerbaek event.

Interested parties in the UK might try to head to the Leicester Square LEGO Store on September 20 to see the Fairy Bricks cycling team off. Then they can show support for Fairy Bricks by donating to their fundraising page for the “Bikes to Billund” challenge here. Alternatively, they can also channel their donations to Fairy Bricks’ Paypal page here. Finally, we wish the Fairy Bricks cycling team good luck for their odyssey next month.

LEGO Store September Calendar Teases On Two LEGO Exclusive Sets for VIP Members

Last week at the beginning of August, we had our good look at what comes next with LEGO at their Store Calendar for September 2018. Aside from the debut of so many new sets from best-selling lines such as LEGO Friends and LEGO Harry Potter, they also teased something special for VIP Members from the 13th to the month’s end. What that means is that two LEGO exclusive sets are being offered Early Access to those who availed of the LEGO VIP program. One of those two mystery sets has been hinted to be the long, long-rumored LEGO Star Wars UCS Cloud City set, but what about the other one?

LEGO Exclusive sets

It’s only rumor at the moment, but there’s a possibility that the second September LEGO exclusive might be the 2018 version of the annual-release LEGO Creator Expert Winter Village set. One only needs to look back at the Winter Village Station (10259) released last year to know how great a new set might look.

And that early access release is appropriate for next month, especially in recent years when countries who do celebrate Christmas and the winter Holidays tend to start promoting these related events as early as September.

Anyway, we’ll have plenty of time to further speculate as we go through August. The VIP Early Access LEGO exclusive sets will start becoming available from September 13 to the 30th.

LEGO City Passenger Train (60197) Allows for Easy Extension of Train Length

We already know there’s a lot of LEGO sets that came out on the first of August. Among them are the latest train sets under the hugely popular LEGO City line. One of these recent locomotive models, the Passenger Train (60197), is suddenly getting attention from LEGO train enthusiasts due to its specific locomotive components making it possible to affordably extend its length up to double.

Some of the other LEGO passenger train sets, especially of the modern City designs, usually comprise two engines and a train carriage. The engines go on either side of the train (as with actual contemporary locomotives, to easily go back and forth on its set rail line and minimize the need for a train turntable).

The thing is, LEGO rail fans who would like to extend their model trains find that buying extra copies of train sets with two engines leave them with too many engines and too few carriages. The City Passenger Train version 60197 eliminates that wastage by providing only one buildable engine to two carriages in set.

Passenger Train (60197)

Now while that normally means the 60197 loco will more feasibly work only on a circular track going one way (without a model turntable), getting a second 60197 would have the two sets being joined back to back, with the engines on opposite sides. That results in a long, realistic train design with at least four passenger carriages in between.

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With the LEGO City Power Functions included in the Passenger Train (60197), builders can now make it go forward and back on its track, as there are engine motors on either side to make it go the desired direction. In fact, if the Power Function motors on both engines are activated simultaneously (forward for the leading engine and reverse for the rear one), they could combine their individual speeds to make the whole loco faster.

The Passenger Train (60197) was also accompanied on its August 1 release by fellow LEGO City sets the Cargo Train (60198) and Capital City (60200). All these and more are available on shop.LEGO.com as well as on LEGO Store shelves.

Massive LEGO Icebreaker MOC On Display for Australian Antarctic Festival

Many brick-built LEGO creations are understandably more likely to be exhibited at LEGO conventions, galleries and similar venues. There are exceptions of course, like LEGO displays at public spaces. The Australian Antarctic Division, an arm of that country’s Department of the Environment doing research on the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic, has commissioned an impressive LEGO brick-build ship model for a special celebration in Hobart. For the 2018 Australian Antarctic Festival running August 2 to 5 at the capital of Tasmania state, the AAD will be featuring a massive LEGO icebreaker MOC created by certified LEGO professional Ryan “Brickman” McNaught. This is a brick-built version of the RSV Nuyina, a new Australian icebreaker currently under construction for furthering the AAD’s Antarctic expeditions.

The real Nuyina is a huge research vessel, the scale of which is demonstrated by Brickman’s LEGO icebreaker MOC which is cut away to reveal the researcher minifigures inside, in action for a voyage. There are even several helicopters being readied on the brick flight deck. About 117,612 LEGO pieces went into its construction, barring minifigures.

LEGO icebreaker MOC

For Hobart’s Australian Antarctic Festival, the AAD will have its display area at the Princes Wharf, with the LEGO icebreaker MOC of the RSV Nuyina being a central attraction. Once the Festival winds up on Sunday, August 5, the model will be redisplayed at the same place on August 18 for National Science Week.

Afterwards it will be taken on tour around Australia before being given a place of honor at the Kingston headquarters of the Australian Antarctic Division. The actual RVS Nuyina will be based from Hobart by year 2020 upon its completion.

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Source: Australian Antarctic Division – Government of Australia

LEGO Holds Live Activation Event in China to Promote Its LEGO Technic Sets

LEGO Technic is among the most advanced product lines put out by The LEGO Group, and while the reach of their building sets is worldwide, there are still some certain markets that either haven’t gotten Technic introduced, or are simply unaware and overlook it. One of those countries is China. That’s something The LEGO Group plans to rectify. This week they held their first live activation for the LEGO Technic line in the Chinese capital of Beijing. LEGO is focusing on one of their particular promotion slogans for this event – “Build for real” – in conceptualizing the exhibits for the activation.

Jack Morton Worldwide helped LEGO realize the various activities and displays that showcase the mechanical engineering potential of the Technic line of products. For the Beijing live activation, guests get to see some Technic sets being put through some intense (and potentially destructive) physical situations.

Live Activation

“We wanted the first live experience we created in China to reveal the depth of Lego to this market,” remarked LEGO’s China brand marketing manager, Lili Rui. “Technic offers a wonderful opportunity to explore and discover and we’re delighted that this experience truly captures that and brings it to life.”

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Want to see how well the Whack (42072) and Bash (42073) might survive deliberate crash tests? Try your luck in parking the All-Terrain Tow Truck (42070) in a scale-size parking space? Or how about operating the Rough Terrain Crane (42082) to see how well you can erect walls with it?

Perhaps the crowning glory of the Technic event in China is the exhibit of a full-sized replica engine of the Bugatti Chiron (the car itself being a Technic set numbered 42083), all made of Technic pieces. And it runs too!

LEGO fans in Beijing and nearby in China can enjoy these interactive displays – and be inspired to try the LEGO Technic series of sets – up until August 12. LEGO in China has been hyping this one-time occasion with an aggressive PR and social media campaign.

Source: Campaign Live (UK)

Take A Look At This LEGO BrickHeadz Geoffrey (40316) Set That We Never Had

Toys R Us in the United States are no more, but this recent find by Brickset member RonnyNhas may tug a heartstring or two among LEGO fans who grew up with the brick and mortar store. As it turned out, LEGO still has TRU in mind when a recent discovery of a LEGO BrickHeadz Geoffrey (40316) set was stumbled upon via LEGO’s servers in the public domain, or more specifically, the building instructions to create the famed TRU mascot in LEGO BrickHeadz style.

LEGO BrickHeadz Geoffrey (40316)

From the looks of the parts inventory, it seems that this LEGO BrickHeadz Geoffrey (40316) set does not contain any special parts or elements except for a few unique printed bricks showing the recognizable star patterns on Geoffrey. Check out the parts inventory below and see if you have the necessary parts to build our most favorite giraffe. You may also download the set’s building instructions while it is still up at LEGO’s public servers.

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Now it is possible that LEGO may have actually intended to release a LEGO BrickHeadz Geoffrey (40316) set, and everything was already in place for the grand reveal. However, due to the eventual, heart-breaking closure of all TRU stores in the US, this particular BrickHeadz may have been placed on hold. It could also mean that since there are still other TRU stores in countries outside of the US, then it is likely that we may still see this set as a local promotional in their respective countries.

So what do you think about this LEGO BrickHeadz Geoffrey (40316) set that we never had? Do you think this will really happen? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Brick by Brick Permanent LEGO Exhibit Announced for the Science Center of Iowa

We always try to keep an eye out for news items that highlight just how fun and effective LEGO can be as an educational tool. On Wednesday, August 1, the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines made a LEGO-related announcement that we’re now going to shine a spotlight on. The SCI usually serves as a home for a wide variety of science-related exhibits and displays that come and go with the seasons and important events. But now they’re planning a new addition to their uncommon permanent exhibits, build entirely of LEGO bricks and aptly named as Brick by Brick.

“Brick by Brick” is described by SCI President and CEO Curt Simmons as an exhibit to inspire children to “think and build”. That’s because the exhibit will be composed of an eclectic collection of architectural masterpieces, from the Roman Colosseum of ancient times to modern-day edifices like the St. Louis Gateway and Golden Gate Bridge.

These structures will be replicated in scale by using LEGO, the Golden Gate Bridge mentioned will be a 60-feet long brick-build, and that won’t be the only one. Simmons says “Brick by Brick” marks a shift in the exhibit strategy for the Science Center of Iowa, “an investment in the experience that our visitors can expect on a daily basis.”

The inspiration for “Brick by Brick” at the SCI comes from Iowa’s implementation of new standards in teaching science at school, calling for added lessons in engineering principles. Indeed, rather than just gawk at the LEGO architecture visiting schoolchildren will also be given a space and a pile of LEGO pieces to practice their structural design ideas with accompanying lessons.

Brick by Brick is set to debut at the Science Center of Iowa on Labor Day, September 5, as a permanent part of the museum.

Source: WhoTV