Author: bluephotographs800

LEGO Sponsoring UEFA Women’s EURO 2022

Let’s look at the themes LEGO has been dabbling in, from last year to this one. First, they appear to be really delving into real-world football/soccer, judging from their recent Creator Expert sets. The Old Trafford (10272) in 2020 and Camp Nou (10284) this year are interesting. That’s more so with the rumors of a set for Real Madrid’s home stadium next year. Second, LEGO’s been putting their gender inclusivity initiatives to high gear. Remember the “Get the World Ready for Girls” sub-slogan for “Rebuild the World”? Anyway, it looks like LEGO’s latest move combines these two themes at once.

According to The Brick Fan, LEGO just announced itself as an official sponsor for the UEFA Women’s EURO Championship. Originally slated for this year, COVID pandemic troubles pushed this women’s football tournament for 2022. England from July 6 to 31 will play host to 16 European women’s teams duking it out. And LEGO is acting as national sponsor, in line with their “Ready for Girls” campaign under “Rebuild the World.” We can thus expect some initiatives to be launched by LEGO in line with this major sporting event. However, they won’t tell us more about it until sometime next year.

We don’t know yet exactly what LEGO has in mind to celebrate sponsoring the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022. At least LEGO is giving us this neat promotional vid, released ahead of the Final tournament draw this Thursday. Putting together LEGO building, football, and girls? It’s an interesting combination at least.

Rumor of LEGO Muppets CMF Series (71033) for 2022

Trying to guess what LEGO stuff to expect next year, can be rather fun. That goes double for when you at least know the product number, and just speculate on the contents. Last week we touched on the rumors regarding LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 22 (71032). These contain original LEGO minifig characters, but the licensed-IP series are great too. This year we had such neat batches like Looney Tunes and Marvel (from Disney+ MCU series). It should just be the right time for rumors regarding a licensed-IP CMF series to surface. Kind of like this one courtesy of Brick Fanatics.

Speculation on a possible LEGO Muppets collectible minifigure series have been circulating since September. Now however, the alleged CMF series just got its possible product number – 71033. Yep, that immediately follows the original-LEGO CMF series 22 (71032). LEGO’s supposed to release the Muppets minifig series on May 2022. They’re supposed to have the same price-per-minifig as Looney Tunes (71030) and Marvel (71031). But which Muppet characters make the CMF cut? We got this rumored list:

  • Animal
  • Beaker
  • Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
  • Fozzie Bear
  • Gonzo
  • Janice
  • Kermit the Frog
  • Miss Piggy
  • Rowlf the Dog
  • Statler
  • Swedish Chef
  • Waldorf

There you have it: the 12 minifigs for the alleged LEGO Muppets CMF (71032). Note that the information provided are just rumors, to be taken with that grain of salt until LEGO speaks up.

November GWP: LEGO Creator Coffee Cart (40488)

With LEGO opting to leave their Black Friday announcements until later, we ended up with a sparse November store calendar. That just left us with one unique special offer, a miniature set that would go well with LEGO City-scapes. The LEGO Creator Coffee Cart (40488) is a small yet detailed kiosk with a prominent coffee motif. We have two structures here, the cart and a barrel-bottomed customer table. A barista and customer minifigures populate the set, the latter apparently having come up on a bicycle.

For builders looking for stickered elements (menu boards, tablet), buildable coffee-maker and another bike, this GWP is for you. And that big coffee-mug sign is LEGO Creator perfection. As we’ve detailed prior, the LEGO Creator Coffee Cart (40488) is a gift-with-purchase. Any purchases totaling $65 and up will net you this nice mini-set. The GWP runs from November 8 to the 14th, or while supplies last. It’s a nice appetizer for the big Black Friday deals to be revealed the day after on November 15.

Walmart Lists LEGO Marvel Mech Armor 3-in-1 Pack (66671)

The best parts about Marvel, whether from the comic books or the MCU, are the characters themselves. Translate that to LEGO and you get…minifigures. But since LEGO is about building stuff that means we’ve been getting cool vehicles and location sets too. Then LEGO hit on a combination of character and building, resulting in the Marvel Mech Armor sets released since 2019. If you missed out on these and want to get a head start in collecting, Walmart’s got it covered. According to Brick Fanatics they have a nice multi-set package of LEGO Marvel Mech Armor for any late-start collectors.

Here is Walmart’s online listing for the LEGO Marvel Mech Armor Collection 3-in-1 Pack (66671). This pack combines the Mech Armor sets for Captain America (76168), Thor (76169) and Miles Morales Spider-Man (76171). At just over 100 pieces per solo set, the 3-in-1 comes down to 385 pieces total. That makes the bundle price of $39.99 just right. Young LEGO builders also get three Marvel superheroes at once, making it a deal that can’t be beat. We at The Brick Show don’t know if this LEGO Marvel Mech Armor Collection (66671) will become available outside Walmart. But until then now you can find it there.

LEGO Rumor: Creator Expert Set of Real Madrid’s Stadium for 2022?

Are we going to get a new major-league football/soccer stadium LEGO set released year by year now? At the start of 2020 LEGO brought us a Creator Expert build of Manchester United’s home stadium, the Old Trafford (10272). This year they did it again. Surely you can still recall the sweet Creator Expert rendition of FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou (10284). Once might be a stroke of fortune and twice, a coincidence. But LEGO pulling a hat trick would totally be deliberate. At least that’s how it looks considering a new “stadium set” rumor brought to us by Promobricks.de in Germany.

Here’s the buzz: another LEGO Creator Expert set of a football stadium. The surprise part: it’s the home of another heavyweight Spanish team. After FC Barcelona we’re apparently getting the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu of Real Madrid. Check out these details:

  • Set #: 10299
  • Age: 18+
  • Release: 2022
  • RRP: €329.99/$383.14 (direct conversion)

No number of parts given yet. Actually this does bring up a question. The Estadio Santiago Bernabeu is under renovation (since 2019, with operations unhindered due to modernized Roman building techniques). Will LEGO depict the stadium as it did before the start of changes? Or will they flash forward to the finished product, due next year (possibly earlier due to COVID closure)? Promobricks also included rumors of a GWP (40541?), just like with Camp Nou (10284).

You know the disclaimer. The above info is just rumor at present. Maintain your salt diet until LEGO gives word.

LEGO November 2021 Store Calendar Released

With barely a week’s worth of days left in this month, you know what that means LEGO-wise. The next Store Calendar’s going to drop. Here’s a big shout-out to The Brick Fan, for noting the November 2021 LEGO Store Calendar on LEGO’s servers. Several days back, we were expecting some GWPs that “disappeared” from the October calendar to reappear here. They don’t need to anymore, but as a result the November activities/specials appear minimal. Black Friday deals should be marked down, but we’ve been informed LEGO’s saving them for November 15. Anyway, have a look at the calendar down below.

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Special Activity: LEGO Rebuild the World
  • #BuildToGive – Build a Christmas Star using LEGO pieces and share on social media with LEGO via #BuildToGive; LEGO will donate a LEGO set to a child in need for every Christmas Star thus shared, with a target of 1.5 million children (total value $150 million). Participating children under 13 need parental consent.
Gift with Purchase
  • LEGO Creator Coffee Cart (40488) – with purchases $65 and up; November 8-14 or while supplies last

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November 1 Product Releases
LEGO Ideas
Others (Sampler)

Real FMX Stunt Team Copies LEGO City Stuntz (Custom-Built) Jumps

Ever since the LEGO City Stuntz bike sets debuted in the middle of 2021, they apparently fired players’ imaginations. After all, this City sub-theme encouraged custom builds of stunt courses that the brick-built vehicles, especially bikes, can traverse. Thanks to their fly-wheel assembly enabling them to maintain hand-pushed acceleration, those stunt-bikes can theoretically clear those brick-built jumps. To further promote the sets, LEGO engaged the services of a freestyle motocross (FMX) team. The Bold Dogs FMX thus stars in this new promotional video from LEGO, interpreting the City Stuntz…well, stunts.

As shown in the vid (shared courtesy of Brick Fanatics), the Bold Dogs take on some custom-build submissions using the LEGO City Stuntz sets. Jumping an ice-cream truck while shooting a ball at the standing hoop on top? It took a few tries, but they did it. Clearing both the ring of fire from Stunt Competition (60299) and a City Fire Truck? The Bold Dogs send two of their riders to replicate it IRL.

Their third stunt copy: a multi-vehicle jump including a truck like in Stunt Show Truck (60294). Again the riders gamely duplicate the brick-built stunt, including a forklift carrying a (prop) shark. The last stunt duplication is a four-bike jump over a helicopter and light plane; easy.

One can’t help but think the timing of this LEGO City Stuntz sets promo is somewhat deliberate. For the Americas, LEGO pulled at least four sets from store shelves and Shop@Home due to “product quality issues.” Then again, the Bold Dogs FMX is a UK-based team and that market along with Europe suffered no pullout. Who can tell? Hopefully LEGO manages to fix the Americas-only problem soon, since these stunt sets really are quite awesome.

LEGO Ideas: James Webb Space Telescope Gets 10-K Support

The LEGO Ideas Third 2021 Review Stage is filling out quite nicely with its product ideas. These submissions run the gamut from fantasy to reality, “natural” to artificial and now retro-mechanical to modern cutting-edge. If a fictional military robot given sentience isn’t your cup of high-tech tea, perhaps you’d like real science? Ideas member tonysmyuncle only has one contribution at present. Its technological nature seems to imply which “tony” he’s referring to in his username. This product idea depicts a real scientific instrument going to space less than two months from now. Say hello to the James Webb Space Telescope.

ideas pi jwst 1

Designed as a potential replacement to the aging Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST suffered developmental setbacks of its own. But if nothing new will hamper it, we can expect NASA to launch this space telescope on December 18. And as if to coincide with that event, tonysmyuncle’s build of the JWST just hit 10,000 supporters on LEGO Ideas. Looking like a flat mini-“Star Wars” ship topped with a mirror array, the JWST features 18 movable segments. It can fold down into a stored form for “loading” in a rocket. The brick-built satellite matches the scale with its included astronaut minifigure.

ideas pi jwst 2

The JWST becomes entry number 11 in the ongoing Third 2021 Review Stage. We at The Brick Show continue to be amazed at the fast 10-K entry of product ideas in these. Who knows; maybe they’ll even match the milestone 50+ submissions to the First 2021 Review Stage. Anything’s possible.

LEGO Harry Potter GWPs Launch Despite Store Calendar “Removal” (Thank Goodness)

Ever had those days when you get worked up over an event you’re anticipating being cancelled, except not really? That must have been some LEGO collectors/”Harry Potter” fans this month following the official LEGO Store calendar’s…alterations. In mid-October LEGO released another version of their October 2021 store calendar without its LEGO Harry Potter GWPs. They were supposed to go live later this month and carry on over to November. The Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms (40452) was “new” enough (actually a reimagining of an early LHP mini-set) to warrant attention. Just when we thought we’ll have to wait until next month…they launch.

gryffindor dorms banner

Brickset.com confirms with us that come October 25, the apparently-removed LEGO Harry Potter GWPs kicked off as originally scheduled. You can see them now in Shop@Home’s promos & discounts page. Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms can be yours for any LEGO Harry Potter purchase of $100 and above. If you’re buying from a LEGO Store you can also get Hermione’s Study Desk (30392) for $40 and up. Both offers, as the saying goes, remain available while supplies last. But if these gifts-with-purchase sets were going to be around anyway, then why the second, LHP-less store calendar? LEGO hasn’t explained. And while we can be relieved, we understand if some are still annoyed at the fake-out(?).

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As for other territories, the minimum spend for Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms (40452) are as follows: The UK and Europe are both 100 (£ and €, respectively), while Australia has AU$200.

LEGO Disney Rumor: Three “Encanto” Tie-In Sets in December

Back in 2017, Disney and Pixar showed their deft hand at handling Latin-American culture in their stories with “Coco.” Now, Disney is flying solo with another Latino-inspired story in “Encanto.” From the Mexican setting of “Coco,” we shift to Colombia. And instead of an afterlife journey themed on Dia de Muertos, here we get the adventures of a super-powered family. Well, super-powered except for one “normal human” member, Mirabel. “Encanto” is set to premiere next month on November 24. Disney of course has plenty of merchandise lined up. And if this new rumor is true, that merch includes LEGO sets.

This just in from Germany’s Promobricks.de: three LEGO sets based on “Encanto” coming in December. We fully expect them to be grouped under the LEGO Disney line. What we didn’t expect is the sets being with the Disney Princess sub-theme. Of course, that’s just according to the rumor dug up by Promobricks. The sets are:

  • Antonio’s Magic Door (43200) – age 5+ | 99 pieces | 2 figures | €19.99/$23.28
  • Isabela’s Magic Door (43201) – age 5+ | 114 pieces | 3 figures | €19.99/$23.28
  • Madrigal House (43202) – age 6+ | 587 pieces | 3 figures | €49.99/$58.22

Those are direct conversions.

All rumored LEGO Disney “Encanto” sets appear to be early-age level. Making them Disney Princess sets also means larger character figures. We’re supposed to expect these tie-ins to release on December 1. But keep in mind that they remain rumors until LEGO confirms or denies.