bluephotographs800, Author at The Brick Show

New LEGO Store Opening in November at Greenville, South Carolina

True, LEGO products can, if no immediate option is available, be purchased online. But sometimes, there’s just nothing that beats being able to walk into an actual LEGO Store in search of that particular box set or polybag across store shelves and bins. The LEGO clearly understands this, and that’s why they continue to give considerable amount of time and effort to open brand stores all over the world.

Greenville in South Carolina has had a few nice appellations put on it by national publications: included in CNN Money’s “Top 10 Fastest-Growing US Cities”, and 3^rd in Condé Nast Traveler’s “Best Small US Cities” just to mention a few. But soon, LEGO fans in the area, particularly in Haywood Mall, will love it more for the fact that it’s getting a branded LEGO Store.

LEGO Group Senior Director Leslie Jenkins said in a statement that the upcoming Greenville LEGO Store will look to enhance the brand experience through… the same stuff other LEGO Stores already do: a calendar of hands-on family events, catchy store design, and the promise of getting a wide variety of products.

“Children and families will be able to experience first-hand and hands-on the creativity and imagination that goes into LEGO building and be inspired by the over 4 million LEGO bricks that are in the store at any given time,” says Jenkins, referring to the aesthetic of the new LEGO Store, which she describes as “kid-chic” with play areas.

The LEGO Store will be located at Greenville’s Haywood Mall, and is expected to open for business this coming November. It will be the 94th LEGO Store in North America.

Source: WSPA

Tel Aviv Hosts LEGO Exhibit Featuring The Work Of LEGO Certified Professional Sean Kenney

Is it just us, or is the city of Tel Aviv in Israel trying to establish itself to be the most LEGO-crazy place in the world? We recall back in January, when the year was still new, that Tel Aviv’s resident LEGO enthusiasts collaborated with the city government to erect a brick-built tower that, for a time, was the tallest LEGO structure of its kind in the world. Now, the Tel Aviv Port complex is playing host to a LEGO Exhibit where all the works are done in LEGO, and they’ve even got a LEGO Certified Professional (LCP) on board, one of only 16 in the world, to display some of his artwork over there.

Sean Kenney, based in New York, has graciously accepted the invitation of Tel Aviv Port to be part of their LEGO Exhibit, which will be running all summer. It’s also the first time his work has been displayed in Israel. Kenney spoke of how his love for LEGO started as a child, with his building skills and projects becoming better and more complex with age.

“I am always excited to bring my work to fans around the world,” remarked Kenney on his Tel Aviv LEGO Exhibit. “We have to do a lot of planning and logistics not only to create the sculptures but also to transport them and install them.”

The Tel Aviv Port LEGO Exhibit is roughly divided into two sections, one being Sean Kenney’s display area and the other reserved for interactive LEGO activities for guests. The event’s coordinator and promoter, Lior Kamali, collaborated with Kenney to bring his LEGO work over, and as a LEGO builder himself, Kamali conceptualized the interactive activities.

LCPs like Kenney are recognized for their skills by The LEGO Group in Denmark, and are considered informal business partners. Thus, Kenney and the Tel Aviv Port exhibits have no official connections to LEGO Park Holon and The LEGO Group.

Here’s How To Make Your LEGO Classic Box Into A Brick Vacuum Cleaner

Do any of you still remember April Fools’ Day 2018? There were some choice zingers of fake LEGO-related news that came out that Sunday; we even put a spotlight on several of them. One April Fools’ joke from LEGO themselves involves a brick vacuum cleaner that automatically sorts the pieces it sucks up. It may have been a fake then, but it was an idea worth trying to make real.

Now, this do-it-yourself Brick Vacuum Cleaner cobbled together from knickknacks doesn’t have the brick-sorting figure of the LEGO hoax news, but YouTuber mister fixit The King of Random has crafted a tool that might just be the best gift for mothers with children who play with LEGO, thus sparing them from the proverbial pain of stepping on an unassuming LEGO brick.

For his demonstration unit, TKOR took a big yellow LEGO Classic Large Creative Brick Box (10698), attached two spare plastic vacuum hoses on opposite ends of the lid, set up a mesh air hole and a clear plastic window on one side, with the plastic lid made airtight while closed with a proto-putty seal.

From there, it was a matter of attaching one hose to an actual vacuum cleaner and using the other hose to suck up LEGO pieces. The bricks then end up inside the LEGO box, prevented from going further, up the other hose into the vacuum, by a sturdy mesh barrier.

Sometimes, fakes can be made into reality with some ingenious tinkering; kudos to The King of Random for this ingenious device.

Check Out This Digital MOC of the LEGO Movie Master Builder Submarine

For those of our LEGO fan readers who might still be riding the buzz from the 2018 San Diego Comic Con this past weekend, the story of this MOC might be just for you. We know you might still be mulling about new details revealed for The LEGO Movie 2, but let’s backtrack a bit. Remember in the first LEGO Movie back in 2014, when the Master Builder Submarine first made its complete appearance? It was a hodgepodge of seemingly random bricks and elements cobbled together into a wicked cool yet fun vessel. And somebody actually replicated it (digitally).

A Redditor, uitslover, decided to figure out if the 3D animated vehicle in The LEGO Movie could be built with physical bricks in real life. So using Stud.io, he managed to generate what he describes as a 99% accurate rendition of the Master Builder sub that’s not only huge, but will not fall apart from its shape.

Yes, shape. The LEGO Movie Master Builder Submarine constructed in Stud.io as shared by uitslover is about as big as a one- to three-year-old child lying on his back while holding something up to represent the sub’s superstructure. At 29 inches long, 8.2 inches wide and 20.8 inches tall. This is massive when it’s assembled.

Then again, this MOC of The LEGO Movie’s Master Builder Submarine was built only as it looks on the outside, not like other model MOCs or official vehicle sets with interiors. All told, uitslover’s blueprint will use up about 3,341 LEGO bricks and elements, though the specific pieces needed, when purchased only for this, will run an estimated cost between over $500 and over $700, so best of luck to those who would physically realize this.

Here a clip from the LEGO Movie showing how Batman and the rest of the team came up with the idea of the Master Builder Submarine.

LEGO Harry Potter – Harry’s Journey to Hogwarts (30407) Polybag Spotted In Target Stores

Late last month, we got confirmation that there’s a LEGO Harry Potter polybag that’s coming out under the new Wizarding World line rebranding. Said little set is a nostalgic recollection of The Boy Who Lived on his first train trip to Hogwarts (barring the anachronistic uniform the Harry minifigure’s wearing). Back then there was no exact date given as to when the LEGO Harry Potter – Harry’s Journey to Hogwarts (30407) was going to become available following its reveal. Later information had it that the little set would come out in August, but they may already be on shelves somewhere.

There are now reports that somehow, several polybags of LEGO Harry Potter – Harry’s Journey to Hogwarts (30407) have been found at Target stores. This hasn’t been verified since set 30407 shares a similar DPCI number with several other LEGO polybags, thus frustrating anything but a dedicated search of Target’s inventories.

LEGO Harry Potter – Harry’s Journey to Hogwarts (30407), as we might recall, contains one Harry Potter minifigure with wand, bricks and elements to build one handcart carrying luggage and cauldron, a spell-book, and a cage for Harry’s snowy owl Hedwig. To those who’re interested in sweeping their nearby Target stores for this polybag, we suggest looking at the checkout lanes.

Thanks to The Brick Fan for the tip.

Bahrain Plays Host to LEGO SHOWS from August 22-31

Needless to say, LEGO is one of the most globally recognized brands around, even outside of its usual toys market. And The LEGO Group is boosting this recognition by establishing long-term, tangible presence in countries around the world. We’ve seen this in the multiple LEGOLAND theme parks and Discovery Centers they’ve opened nearly everywhere. For those places that have none of the above yet, LEGO has also been able to reach them with periodic shows. The latest location where LEGO SHOWS will be presenting for the benefit of children and families will be in the Middle East; to be precise, they’re going to Bahrain.

The wealthy island nation is cooking up a lot of special events in time with the festive religious occasion of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice, this coming August. Among these, the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) had invited The LEGO Group to bring LEGO SHOWS to the country.

Yousef Mohamed Al Khan, the BTEA Director of Marketing and Tourism Promotion, announced that Bahrain is happy to welcome LEGO SHOWS as a family-friendly event as part of their Eid al-Adha festivities, which they hope will also bring visitors and tourist from their neighboring countries into Bahrain for the duration.

“By hosting such events,” said Al Khan, “the BTEA continues its efforts in achieving its long term strategy that aims to develop the tourism sector and position the Kingdom as the center for family tourism by hosting various events and festivals to visitors of all ages.”

LEGO SHOWS will be hosted at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Center, running from August 22 – the day after Eid al-Adha – to the 31^st. Visitors can expect brilliant LEGO exhibits of statues, dioramas and plenty activities and challenges, themed after popular LEGO lines like Ninjago, City, Friends, Duplo and even licensed properties like Star Wars. LEGO SHOWS will run part of the time alongside Cartoon Network Live! Heroes Unite at the same venue.

LEGO Chief Of Emerging Platforms Talks About Company’s Direction In Developing Content For Amazon Alexa And Beyond

Way back in May, we covered a unique new product service by LEGO that was developed in cooperation with the massive online marketplace platform Amazon. This was LEGO Duplo Stories, which works as a downloadable Skill for the Amazon Alexa smart speaker to narrate interactive stories based on recently released LEGO Duplo educational building sets.

This is merely one of several significant collaborations between LEGO and Amazon, and it apparently runs against the grain of what other companies on the online retail giant are doing which is plastering search advertisements. Instead, LEGO’s keener on content production for consumers on Amazon.

The LEGO Group’s Head of Emerging Platforms, James Poulter, is seeing the rising trend of Amazon Alexa owners using the smart speaker for online purchases; it’s telling over 80% of 2017 online sales combined for LEGO, Hasbro, Mattel and Nintendo were done courtesy of Amazon, according to a Jumpshot analytics study.

According to Poulter, other companies could do well to follow LEGO’s example of looking at Amazon as more than “just a retail platform”. While he does concede that there are risks to companies cooperating with Amazon to such an extent, one can’t discount the potential to be capitalized on, now that the retail giant is steadily increasing its variety of content services like Freetime Unlimited subscriptions and of course, Alexa.

To this, LEGO’s emerging platforms boss is seeing possibilities: in the vein of Amazon Alexa and its LEGO Duplo Stories, there would come a time when a customer’s LEGO order done on Amazon, for example, would have new Skills being downloaded onto the user’s Amazon Alexa speaker, which will then ask the customer if they were satisfied with their delivered service.

In addition to Alexa Skills, LEGO is also looking on developing AR options with Amazon as innovative means to sell more products, letting consumers preview their online purchases before committing to buy them, for example.

Check Out This Impressive LEGO Bahamut MOC From Final Fantasy X

We at The Brick Show try our best to bring to your attention not just news on official LEGO sets (or the aspiring ones from LEGO Ideas), but also to some of the awe-inspiring MOCs from the hands of some of the most skilled brick builders anywhere they may be. Lately we’ve focused on some really neat LEGO scale-model MOCs of certain sporting venues. This one we’re featuring on the other hand will go into the realms of fantasy. A Final Fantasy, that is. Builder Marius Herrmann has just completed an odd-year anniversary tribute to the hit Square-Enix RPG franchise with this gigantic LEGO Bahamut MOC.

His subject is one of Final Fantasy’s famous “summoned monsters”, entities from a mix of mythologies and fictions that can be called on to battle on behalf of the player’s party. This is Bahamut, King of Dragons, as rendered in Final Fantasy X for the PS2 released back in 2001.

And the statistics on Herrmann’s Bahamut LEGO Bahamut MOC are no less impressive: its wingspan is a whole meter wide (3.2 feet), for instance. Even more incredible is its construction; not only did he use more than 10,000 LEGO pieces, most his materials are not orthodox brick shapes but more of the frilly elements. There are shield shapes, a LEGO car grill part, even plant stem parts.

According to Marius Herrmann via his Flickr page, this massive LEGO Bahamut MOC took him six months to assemble the model, and its respective platform stand. He finished and uploaded the photos on July 19, 17 years to the day when Square Enix released Final Fantasy X for PS2 in Japan. That’s a fantastic tribute (no pun intended).

Manchester LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Welcomes Newly-Opened Great LEGO Race VR Experience

LEGO must have hit a gold mine in terms of fun fusions when they decided to develop and build a virtual reality roller coaster ride for their LEGOLAND theme parks. Well, to be precise, only two of them have the Great LEGO Race VR Coaster right now: Malaysia and Florida.

LEGO also offers a smaller-scale version of this attraction, the Great LEGO Race VR Experience which debuted at the Boston LEGOLAND Discovery Center. Not wishing to have one location hog such cool stuff, a second VR Experience has since been opened across the Atlantic at the Discovery Centre in Manchester.

The VR Experience version, for those not in the know, is a race sequence with LEGO vehicles and minifigures reminiscent of the Wacky Races shorts, running about two minutes and thirty seconds, viewed in the first person via VR goggles. All that’s lacking is the exhilaration of seeing that, while seated on a roller coaster.

Nevertheless, the Manchester LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is thrilled to finally have the VR Experience as part of their attractions. “We were the first LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in the UK, and remain the largest,” says their general manager, Jenn. “So it is fitting that we are spearheading this entirely new concept.”

For those who wish to check out the UK’s first Great Lego Race VR Experience in Manchester, do note that it’s priced separately from the entry tickets to the LDC, with £5 for each “passenger”. Normally reserved to children accompanied by adults, grown-ups can avail of the LDC’s “AFOL Night” every first Wednesday of the month to enjoy the VR themselves, at the same prices.

VR fiends interested in going to Manchester to try this out can book their tickets at the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre – Manchester’s official website right here.

New Facts About “The LEGO Movie 2” Revealed At SDCC 2018 Panel

One of the major reasons for any fan (with ways and means) to come to the 2018 San Diego Comic Con was the huge amount of panels for every upcoming comic book, video game, film, or any media imaginable. LEGO of course has its own share of these things. In particular, there’s star-studded the panel for The LEGO Movie 2.

Granted, the movie is still some seven months away from cinemas, but it’s never too early to drum up interest with strategic reveals such as with the film’s first trailer released last June. But in the LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part panel during SDCC’s last leg during the weekend, the dropped hints are heavy and hard-hitting.

Sitting on the SDCC panel were writers and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, animation director Trisha Gum, and voice talents Chris Pratt (Emmett), Elizabeth Banks (Wyldstyle) and Stephanie Beatriz (new character Sweet Mayhem). One can’t help but be impressed with Miller who did the panel with a broken wrist done up in a cast (that’s also been doodled on to look like Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet).

Among the details dropped by The LEGO Movie 2 panel involve how the storyline follows up from the 2014 original’s ending, where Finn, the boy whose playtime with his father’s basement LEGO set created the story itself, now has to share with his sister. Her introduction of LEGO Duplo to the mix triggers an “alien war” scenario in Bricksburg that turns it into an apocalyptic warzone, where The Second Part picks up years later (in-universe).

Lord talks about how the central conflict in LEGO Movie 2 is brought about by the clashing imaginations of Finn the “story-maker” and his sister. Gum then describes the plot and visual escalation of the sequel as blasting off “out of the basement into the Systar system”, while new footage from the film was screened.

Even Chris Pratt got into talking about how the events and elements of the movie have grown bigger from the first installment, comparing it to his own casting history. When he voiced Emmett in The LEGO Movie back in 2014, he was easily known by his role in NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation; by the time his voice work was done, he was cast by Marvel as Star-Lord, and the rest was superhero blockbuster history.

To illustrate that point, Pratt reveals that he is also voicing a minor minifigure character, one that’s a fun fusion of Star-Lord and his other new big role as Owen Grady the Raptor wrangler from Jurassic World and its sequel. And as a reminder, JW and Marvel both have LEGO sets with Pratt’s characters on them.

All these info tidbits point to the great potential The LEGO Movie 2 has in surpassing what surprise box office success its predecessor had years before. We’ll have to wait for February 2019 to see if all these hold true.

Thanks to We Live Entertainment for covering the panel.