Author: bluephotographs800

New Details Published About the LEGO Ninjago 2022 Season and Skybound Comic Tie-In

As we already know, LEGO Ninjago is good to go through 2022 and even 2023 in terms of new sets and content. In line with that, the tie-in LEGO Ninjago 2022 animated series is guaranteed to be on its way. And what else is new on the Ninjago front? Last week, series co-creator Tommy Andreasen revealed a five-issue comic-book series in cooperation with Skybound Entertainment. And if that wasn’t enough, we now have additional details on the next “Ninjago” season from online hints dropped by Andreasen. All these things we know courtesy of Brick Fanatics.

During last week’s Skybound live-stream event featuring the LEGO Ninjago 2022 creative team, Andreasen teased viewers with an episode title. He claimed that episode to be the 12th in the upcoming season for 2022. A week later, Andreasen posted a correction on his Twitter page. The episode titled “The Benefit of Grief” was actually the 10th rather than 12th. He declined to name the actual title for episode 12, but his tweet brought details to a wider audience. Now we know, at the very minimum, that the next “Ninjago” season has at least 12 episodes lined up. That should cover animated LEGO Ninjago for the year 2022.

With regards to the Skybound LEGO Ninjago comic books, it ties into the series via a key character. None other than Garmadon headlines this five-issue story. The initial antagonist-turned-mentor-turned-villain to the Ninjago team left the story after season 10: “March of the Oni.” Synopses for the comic, done by writer-artist Tri Vuong, reveal Garmadon wandering the world as a lone protector. But is his latest heroic turn real, or is he still planning something? We’ll find out when the first issue arrives April next year. It’s likely around the time of the next season’s premiere.

More Product Ideas Enter the LEGO Ideas Third 2021 Review Stage

LEGO Ideas 10-K submissions appear to be busying up once again. We just covered one the day before, and not only has another product idea followed, one earlier submission was missed. Ah, sorry about that. Anyhow, let’s take a look at these latest product ideas that qualified to enter the LEGO Ideas Third 2021 Review Stage.

The LEGO Emergency Box

szegobalent16 legoemergencybox 2

First, we’ll talk about this modest yet cheeky contribution by SzegoBalint16: The LEGO Emergency Box. As you can see, this is a brick-built emergency case much like one will find in public buildings. It even has an attached hammer ready for use in breaking the glass in case of emergency. What kind of LEGO crisis would need such a contingency setup? Why, the sudden need for a brick separator, of course! There’s an orange one waiting behind the transparent LEGO panels. And at 101 pieces total, this could possibly become the first LEGO Ideas polybag…if it passes review, of course.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

LEGO Ideas Third 2021 Review Stage

Next on our feature is this sweet interior set based on yet another hit TV series. Remember back in 2018, when Fox canceled “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” only for NBC to catch it? At the time, TT Games Global Community Manager Bear Parker recreated the show’s intro using LEGO videogame graphics. It was quite well-received. And if viewers were impressed by the titular NYPD station’s floor layout in that video, BenFankhauser has redone it. His brick rendition of the Brooklyn 99’s workspace could go toe-to-toe with Jaijai Lewis’ “The Office.” Recall that his submission was selected in the First 2021 Review Stage.

benfankhauser broklynninenine 2

This build of 2,500+ pieces also comes with minifigures of the police sitcom’s main cast. While “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” has run its course on two networks, this product idea could become a proper sendoff. Of course, BenFankhauser’s submission must now place itself at the mercy of the LEGO Ideas review team. It’ll have fierce competition alongside SzegoBalint16’s LEGO Emergency Box and twelve other 10-K submissions in the Third LEGO Ideas 2021 Review Stage.

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WATCH: This Stop-Motion Video Showcases the Latest LEGO Star Wars Sets

It’s well-known that LEGO, with the freedom of building their products provide, gets plenty of mileage from fan contributions. The most prominent venue of this is LEGO Ideas. Their website invites submissions to fun activities, prize-winning content and the chance to make their custom builds into official sets. Outside that, LEGO has been known to invite popular builders to join their design teams. They’ve also engaged LEGO media-makers like animators (3D or stop-motion) to do commissioned production work. This particular avenue just gave YouTube LEGO animator Forrest “forrestfire101” Whaley a big break. Here’s his new animated video featuring all the latest LEGO Star Wars sets around.

As Brick Fanatics tells it, the LEGO Group tapped forrestfire101 to do a stop-animation promo vid to highlight their latest sets. His output, featured on his YouTube channel, features some choice recent-release LEGO Star Wars sets. The setting is the Mos Espa racetrack from “The Phantom Menace.” As for the competitors:

The race starts out similar to the Podrace sequence from “Phantom Menace,” then escalates as only LEGO can. Whaley’s stop-motion visuals make this minute-and-a-half video a non-stop LEGO Star Wars extravaganza. And you might have an idea which of the racers wins. All in all, this is a fun promo vid commissioned by LEGO, one that would excite LEGO Star Wars collectors.

Working Custom LEGO Rubik’s Cube Gets 10-K Ideas Support

Have you ever played with a Rubik’s Cube? Have you ever wondered how the genius toy works its horizontal-vertical pivoting mechanism? Did your curiosity ever go so far as to just break the Cube apart to see its interior? Surely some Rubik’s Cube owners have done what was implied in that last question. This brainchild of Hungarian architect-inventor Erno Rubik didn’t become one of the best toys ever for nothing. The Cube’s simple yet complex design plays an important part. Now, a LEGO Ideas member seeks to blend Rubik’s Cube with LEGO’s building potential. The result: this awesome custom LEGO Rubik’s Cube product idea and it just got 10,000 supporters.

custom LEGO Rubik's Cube

Indeed, puzzLEGO1 has hit upon a strong contender for LEGO Ideas with a brick-built yet functional Rubik’s Cube. This submission appears to be the culmination of several years of work from an original (decorative-only) LEGO Cube. After three revisions, puzzLEGO1 notes in his product idea page that he finally got the smooth pivoting functionality right. Not only does this build work like an original Rubik’s Cube; it can also teach builders the base toy’s inner workings. Considering the number of mechanical product ideas submitted for the Third 2021 Review Stage, this custom LEGO Rubik’s Cube really stands out. We can’t wait to see how it fares in review, months on.

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UK LEGO Technic Magazine Releases with the LEGO Technic Helicopter (30465) Polybag

You probably remember from years past when we occasionally covered issue releases of LEGO publications. It’s been a good long while now. The scarcity perhaps lies in the fact that many LEGO magazines are published in the UK. Furthermore, their content tends to be more advertising than feature stories and such. The exposure they did get with us might be due to some extra stuff they were packing inside their foil wraps. Recently, a one-off UK-published LEGO mag has hit shelves, and it comes with the new LEGO Technic Helicopter (30465) polybag. This latest offering may well be the smallest LEGO Technic set ever packaged.

LEGO Technic Helicopter

Brickset tells us that British publishing house Immediate Media has put out a LEGO Technic magazine. This issue appears to be just one for the Technic theme, part of their “LEGO Giant Series” mag line. The real attention-grabber is its cover-mounted polybag, hailed to be the first Technic polybag since the last one from 2000. That’s two decades. The Technic Helicopter (30465) hearkens back to the theme’s small releases in the late 1990s. This little guy comes in just 70 pieces. That may well be one of the tiniest official Technic builds in the line.

In terms of magazine content, this LEGO Technic publication features a Technic “major events” timeline. Four LEGO designers for the theme are also profiled on its pages. All those and a Technic polybag should be worth the £4.99 issue price. The mag is available in UK newsstands and shopping centers.

WATCH: LEGO Ideas Fender Stratocaster (21329) Designer Video

There’s no denying the LEGO Ideas Fender Stratocaster (21329) has become one of the biggest set releases this year. After its October 1 release the Ideas Strat was the subject of a Contest back on LEGO Ideas. Days later, LEGO did a showcase on Tomas Letenay, the Ideas member from Slovakia who originated the build. It was a short video snippet about the man behind the product idea. However, a LEGO designer video it wasn’t. And over a month after its launch, LEGO finally released the official video for its latest LEGO Ideas Fender Stratocaster (21329). Check out the video below.

As seen in the video above, two LEGO designers and a graphic designer talk the audience through the set’s evolution. Marin Stipkovic and Ricardo Dias reminisce about developing the pieces, such as the tuning keys and the “strings”. This being a licensed IP set, aesthetic elements such as accurate brand lettering were important. That part gets covered in the video by graphic designer Beatrice Amoretti. One can tell that a lot of love was given to forming the guitar, its accompanying amp, and its accessories. Truly, the LEGO Ideas Fender Stratocaster (21329) is a must-have for musically-inclined LEGO collectors, reasonable at a $99.99 price range.

In other news, the Ideas contest to win a Stratocaster set (21329) and a real Player Strat is nearly done. The idea intake phase, which began back on October 5, times out this November 4. Experts will review the submissions until the 18th, followed by a Crowd Vote on November 25. The winners will be announced next month, on December 2.

New LEGO Ideas Activity: Turn the LEGO Creator Expert Titanic (10294) into a “Microtanic”

November 1 saw the massive LEGO Titanic set (10294) finally become available…for preorders, that is. It won’t even start shipping until the 8th. But despite the prohibitive $629.99 asking price the LEGO Titanic manages to keep a grip on can-afford collectors. As we said, the thing is huge, the better to show off its exterior and interior layout details. Then again, the price and dimensions (135 cm long!) do daunt other casual LEGO builders. They must think, “Can’t LEGO make this thing smaller and more manageable?” To this, LEGO Ideas asks back, “Can you?” with their latest “Microtanic” building activity on site.

Just read the LEGO Ideas activity name – “Microtanic” – and you know what needs to be done here. The challenge to LEGO Ideas members is this: use the minimum number of pieces to recreate the LEGO Titanic (10294). The basic details are easily discerned on the set. Start from the bottom with the hull, black upper, and red lower. Above that on deck stands the predominantly white superstructure. That gets topped by the familiar four yellow-and-black smokestacks. All of that sounds easy enough to replicate with a few LEGO pieces, yes? But how accurate would it be to the actual LEGO set 10294?

Microtanic

LEGO Ideas puts the deadline for this Activity to next Tuesday, November 9. But already as of this writing, no less than nine members have submitted their Minitanics and Microtanics. I’m willing to bet that the surge of submissions won’t stop there. As an Activity, LEGO Ideas won’t award prizes beyond maybe featuring select builds on social media. But that’s recognition enough, isn’t it?

LEGO Marvel 2022 Rumor: Hulkbuster Mk-II?

LEGO collectors of themes based on licensed IPs usually have a good sense of what sets to expect per franchise. With LEGO Marvel the focus tends to go on big vehicles. Character-wise, Tony Star/Iron Man can be counted on to have sets centered on him. Powered armors do make for lots of brick-building potentials. Speaking of Iron Man’s armors, you can look no further than Stark’s Hulkbuster. This armor-for-an-armor specializes in tackling Hulk-sized problems, as seen in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. That Hulkbuster was given the LEGO treatment back in 2018 with the introduction of the  LEGO Marvel Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition (76105). And apparently, a new LEGO Hulkbuster is probably coming by next year in the likes of the Hulkbuster Mk-II

We have another LEGO rumor to speculate on courtesy of Promobricks. As hinted above, LEGO’s apparently planning a new Hulkbuster set for their Marvel Super Heroes line. This one will be based on the Iron Man Mk-XLVIII armor, aka the Hulkbuster Mk-II. Where the first Hulkbuster was in the “Age of Ultron” movie, this one’s from Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Ironically, Iron Man himself never uses this Hulkbuster in the film. Instead Bruce Banner – at the time unable to “Hulk-out” – commandeers the armor for the Battle of Wakanda. The buster Mk-II boasts different weapons load-outs.

Promobricks’ rumor details have this LEGO Marvel Hulkbuster Mk-II at 50-60cm [twice larger than the Hulkbuster: Ultron Edition (76105)]. It also gets an info plaque for the base, a collector’s badge and Tony Stark minifig. But other than that the rumored upcoming set has fewer extras than 76105. With an alleged 2,500+ pieces and a €200-250/$231.70-289.62 price, the set’s due for 2022. Now, remember that this is still rumor, and LEGO has plenty of time to confirm or debunk it.

Long-Rumored LEGO Star Wars UCS AT-AT Gets Possible Reveal Date

Some LEGO rumors get confirmed or debunked in a matter of days or weeks. Other times it takes up to a month or more before the truth comes out. The former case just happened with the LEGO Disney “Encanto” sets, first hinted late October and revealed over a week later. In the latter case we look to this rumor since September of a new LEGO Star Wars AT-AT UCS-grade set. This one feels more nebulous considering LEGO did release a new AT-AT set just this past 2020. But the rumor claims the UCS AT-AT might be revealed sometime this November.

And chalk up another one to Brick Fanatics for catching this new rumor on the aforementioned alleged set. They point to lego_club_news on Instagram for putting a specific date this month for a possible UCS AT-AT reveal. There is a possibility that LEGO might finally say something about that Tuesday next week, November 9. If true, then this LEGO Star Wars UCS set will out-price the LEGO Titanic at $800 ($799.99?). Other tidbits relating to this rumor include the possible set number (75313?) and piece number (6,782?). A UCS Imperial AT-AT will definitely tower over standard minifigure-size Stormtroopers, for sure.

Our standard spiel regarding rumors on The Brick Show goes here. Take the above with a grain of salt until LEGO themselves give the official word. It’s not as if we’ll have long to wait for any possible confirmation, anyway.

New LEGO “Rebuild the World” Promo Video Encourages Imagination with (Parodied) Queen Song

Ever since their first promotional video in late September, LEGO’s “Rebuild the World” 2021 campaign has been expectedly charming. Interpreting the free-form play of LEGO bricks and minfigures as SFX-laden random adventures really grabs the audience’s attention. In addition, the “Rebuild the World” promos sneak some sage advice appropriate for kids and children-at-heart. So how do you top a promo depicting people helping a knight cross a river (with lessons in creative problem-solving)? Why not illustrate how children’s imagination can say “anything goes” when playing with LEGO? And how about spicing it up with a cute lyrically-rewritten song from Queen?

According to Brick Fanatics, that’s the gist of “Anything can happen when you put LEGO bricks in kids’ hands.” This new Rebuild the World video again takes viewers on a patchwork fantasy adventure that’s really just kids playing LEGO. It starts normally enough with a girl building a LEGO City rescue helicopter and imagining herself as a rescuer.

Then we see a boy acting out “Star Wars” Imperial Stormtroopers fighting bees. How about a dragon working in the fire department (with his fire-breath replaced with water)? A racecar trying to “reach the stars” finds itself replacing a gondola on the Ferris wheel. With LEGO, you can hear imagination singing Queen’s hit “Don’t Stop Me Now” (with altered kid-friendly lyrics, naturally).

Some key LEGO sets seem to take center stage in this promo-vid. Brick Fanatics points out obvious shout-outs like LEGO City Wildlife Rescue Operation (60302). Even LEGO Vidiyo, the mixed-received AR/minifigure theme, gets a spot here. We don’t know if this promo will reignite interest in Vidiyo products, but that’s neither here nor there. All told, this is a great Rebuild the World video and we can’t wait for more.