bluephotographs800, Author at The Brick Show

Target Offers LEGO VIP Points on Store-Bought Sets

While LEGO products are available in most major toy outlets, there are advantages to buying direct from LEGO. Be it from LEGO.com Shop or LEGO Stores, buyers can get an advantage by joining LEGO’s VIP program. Why pass on a chance for extra freebies and offers, and saving VIP points for future purchases? Of course, that’s the deal only when you purchase your sets from LEGO Stores and LEGO online. But what if your LEGO VIP membership can earn points even when buying somewhere else? Over the weekend a retail brand’s been getting attention after news that they’ve made VIP points available at their stores.

The Brick Fan reports that LEGO VIP points can be earned at Target Stores for an extended yet still-limited time. Those holding VIP membership can earn a point for every dollar spent buying a LEGO set from Target. Well, that’s the simplified version. The updated Target webpage explains the whole deal. To avail of this offer, one need to be a LEGO VIP for starters. They must take a photo of their Target receipt (with a LEGO purchase). Then they can upload it on the LEGO.com VIP members page. Every LEGO bought at Target with receipt can be uploaded at the VIP Page for points.

Now we said the Target VIP points are limited. Short-term, it means LEGO shoppers at Target can only accumulate 1,000 points max in a calendar month. They can still earn more buying from LEGO Stores. Long-term, the Target VIP point period lasts only until January 31 next year. That’s about six months availability. Too bad the arrangement’s not permanent. But for LEGO VIPs any other place to earn points is welcome, however brief it is.

Redditor Recreating Pokemon LEGO MOC Kanto Region with Bricklink LEGO Stud.io

LEGO partnering with videogame companies to make licensed tie-in sets has been one of their best decisions in recent years. Fans have never been happier getting to build anything from game levels to vehicles to cyber-creatures. The first item warrants special mention. Who knew making LEGO versions of “Super Mario” or “Sonic the Hedgehog” levels could be such big hits? And those are just the official releases. LEGO builders have been doing it for longer, and with gaming IP’s yet to be considered. Now, it’s been a while since we featured interesting LEGO MOCs that aren’t Ideas hopefuls. Here’s one that LEGO ought to consider.

We found this courtesy of Game Rant, which featured a Redditor recreating the Kanto Region from “Pokemon” in LEGO. User Buscags1 posted his work on the r/Pokemon Reddit, using Bricklink’s LEGO Stud.io software to depict the in-game Kanto regional map. Thus far he has recreated Pallet Town and Viridian City plus connecting Routes. Also featured are Diglett’s Cave, Viridian Forest and its bypass area. Features include micro-buildings in towns, and plants tiles of varying heights representing grass/trees. The details actually check out if you compare the images to a map in “Pokmon” games featuring Kanto.

Buscag1 notes on r/Pokmon that it takes him several days on Stud.io to render each section. Still, he plans to complete the entire Kanto Region eventually. Even better, Buscag1 is also apparently going to get on the Johto Region in future. When that’s done, both LEGO Pokemon MOC recreations of the first two videogame regions will be connected. One might wonder if he could be encouraged to submit this to LEGO Ideas too. That might give LEGO more Nintendo franchises to make tie-in sets out of.

LEGO Star Wars Obi-Wan vs. Darth Vader (75334) Has Misprinted Minifigs in Some Copies

Early last month, when “Star Wars” spinoff “Obi-Wan Kenobi” streamed on Disney+, LEGO announced a tie-in set ready for preorder. LEGO Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Vader (75334) depicts the epic fight between them on the series’ “Part III”. The preorder phase was to look forward to the set’s official launch this coming August. Of course, online LEGO news sources get to review many sets early, like Brick Fanatics had with 75334. And apparently, they found a minor quality control issue, one quietly fixed by LEGO further in production.

The issue Brick Fanatics found was in printing for Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Vader (75334), particularly the Obi-Wan minifigure. The character in his spinoff mostly wore a loose brown coat over his clothes. This was replicated with the minifig having a painted-on coat with details spilling from torso to legs. The official image above shows how it should look. At front the brown coat covers the sides of the legs and exposes Obi’s light-brown pants. The rear would then be all-brown to depict the coat’s back. Brick Fanatics however saw their review copy’s Obi-Wan minifigure have the crotch area colored like the brown. The piece was seemingly flipped in assembly. Viewed from afar it’s like Ben left his pants open.

Now, Brick Fanatics knew this coloring was sus because another reviewer reported similar issues. An even later review of LEGO Star Wars 75334 however had its Obi-Wan correctly colored “below the belt”. Either LEGO saw the mess-up and corrected it in later production, or this was a regional bug. Brick Fanatics got their review copy shipped from Billund while the later reviewer bought his from a US store. Perhaps when Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader launches August 1 the coloring issue extent can be seen clearly.

LEGO Ideas Support Achieved – The Treasury – Petra Gets 10K Support

If you’ve watched “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” as a kid in 1989, you probably wondered about something. About that temple of the Holy Grail in the Canyon of the Crescent Moon. As you watched more movies over the years and decades, that location must’ve popped up several times more. “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation”, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, you name it. Such is the lasting appeal of Petra, a ruined ancient city in Jordan, the Middle East. Elaborate building facades carved into a sandstone rockface have a way of staying in the mind. Perhaps that’s what inspired this latest 10K-supported submission on LEGO Ideas.

It can be heady stuff for a LEGO Ideas member to have a product idea get full support for the first time. Member thepredisent only has one build in his entire page, entitled “The Treasury – Petra”. As stated, this submission depicts one photogenic structure in the ancient city. 19^th-Century Bedouins have named this building Al-Khazneh (“treasury”) due to it looking like it held treasures. Petra archaeologists would tell you this is actually a mausoleum. What does matter is the impressive decorative design of the edifice. It certainly has weathered erosion, tourism and film crews well.

If passed by LEGO Ideas review, The Treasury – Petra may well be relegated for mere display. Still, it might serve as an epic background if you happen to have LEGO Indiana Jones sets. There are some new ones speculated to come in the future. With this, one can re-enact “The Last Crusade” on an epic brick-built level. But first, thepredisent’s product idea must impress among the other submissions for LEGO Ideas Second 2022 Review Stage.

LEGO Marvel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Tie-In Sets Revealed

MCU fans knew plans for a “Black Panther” sequel would be significantly affected by the death of star Chadwick Boseman. When Marvel Studios decided not to recast his lead role as T’Challa, the character’s plotline death became certain.

And the first trailer for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at San Diego Comic Con nailed that reality hard. Not even the reveal of classic comic super-character Namor could dampen the shadow of T’Challa’s/Boseman’s death. Well now, days after SDCC 2022 Marvel will try to add cheer to promoting “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”. How? By having LEGO tease the expected movie tie-in sets.

Granted, these aren’t full-on LEGO.com product listings yet. But thanks to Brickset we now have our first look at LEGO Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” releases. So far, the film tie-ins consist of three sets. These images popped up in the LEGO.com Building Instructions page. This has become a usual occurrence for some anticipated LEGO sets without online listings yet on the site. The “Wakanda Forever” sets feature sweet minifigs of MCU “Black Panther” characters both established and new. Shuri, Nakia and the Black Panther (suit?) are joined by antagonists Namor, Attuma and new heroine Riri Williams/Ironheart. Check out the sweet initial images as follows:

Shuri’s Sunbird (76211)

Shuri’s Lab (76212)

King Namor’s Throne Room (76213)

It may be a while before LEGO lists the official full details on their Online Shop. But already we estimate these LEGO Marvel tie-ins to launch this coming October. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” itself premieres the following month on November 11, so it’s fitting.

LEGO.com US Opens LEGO Minifigure Factory Beta

Nine decades of LEGO history on, one spinoff element of the brand’s become as integral as the plastic bricks themselves. It’s the minifigures, quite obviously. Evolution of the LEGO building system made the originally-decorative human shapes into figures with real character. Why else would LEGO minifigs become collectible as-is without needing to be tied to a set? Still, for all their variety, some LEGO fans might desire more uniqueness in the minifigs they get. For them, LEGO introduced services for creating fully-custom LEGO minifigs. But only selected LEGOLAND parks and LEGO Stores had them. But now, LEGO’s making the minifig-making possibility an online experience stateside.

Brick Fanatics has it that LEGO.com US has officially launched its Minifigure Factory page. As already stated, this now-online service allows customers to create personalized minifigures by choosing from a pool of option parts. Going even further, the design potential extends to customized text on the minifigure’s body, along with individual color choices. Where before, custom minifigs had to be done on-site at limited venues, the LEGO.com service reaches more people. But at present LEGO Minifigure Factory is on its beta phase, meaning some restrictions and limitations are in place.

First, orders are one custom minifigure per household only ($11.99). Second, the Minifigure Factory page is only active in certain locations. Third, it only ships items stateside. Non-US visitors to LEGO.com there might be able to access, but can only give US shipping address destinations. Fourth, the design choices are limited at this point. Hopefully the beta test will be successful and LEGO Minifigure Factory can launch for real soon.

SDCC ’22 LEGO Panel: LEGO Ninjago Goes On

San Diego Comic Con 2022 is now behind us, and we congratulate them for pulling it off. It was definitely nice to see plenty of new upcoming media from a wide variety of sources. Of course, we include LEGO among them. Already we got a taste of some LEGO set tie-ins with “Avatar: The Way of Water” for example. But LEGO also has its own original content that’s been consistent hits with kids worldwide. They’ll never let us forget about their “Ninjago” animated series, which has been on for double-digit seasons already. SDCC gave the perfect opportunity to tell fans what’s in store later on.

As reported by The Brick Fan, new info on the continuation of current LEGO Ninjago season surfaced at SDCC22. “Ninjago: Crystalized” started just this past May, with 12 episodes premiered. The rest, according to the LEGO Entertainment panel, will premiere October. In the US, that comes by way of Netflix exclusively. Only Nickelodeon Denmark and Canada’s YTV and Teletoon still carry the series on good old TV channels. The only other hints given on plot points for “Crystalized” involve more screentime for Dareth and Harumi.

But that’s not all. “LEGO Ninjago” animation will not yet end anytime soon. Another season is in the works that’ll premiere in 2023. The series production team can only hint at the next part of the saga being “new” and “different”. That doesn’t mean a reboot however. More info might come to light when next year’s first LEGO Ninjago wave gets teased towards the Holidays. Aside from “Ninjago”, the LEGO panel at SDCC showcased some LEGO Star Wars shorts. They also had “LEGO Masters US” judges Jamie and Amy hype season 3. That one premieres on September 21 at FOX.

LEGO at SDCC’22: LEGO Avatar Sets Revealed

Twice the San Diego Comic-Con was cancelled by the juggernaut of the COVID pandemic. Thankfully, they tried to pull a “third time’s the charm” by holding a Special Edition event in late 2021. This brave gesture heralded the successful return of SDCC “as planned” in 2022, starting this July 21. A lot of upcoming major media releases can be expected to wow there until Sunday. LEGO proudly includes itself among the many multimedia presenters there. Already we have word on the highly-anticipated tie-ins to James Cameron’s “Avatar” film franchise, with the sequel coming in December.

At last, we see what LEGO’s project “Coconut” looks like. The Brick Fan has it that four sets for the LEGO Avatar line will grace San Diego Comic-Con. Fans of LEGO and James Cameron’s passion project now have their first official glimpse of the sets. Judging from the images we’re seeing now LEGO Avatar will have a great launch in October. That’s just 2 months before the Holiday premiere of the sequel subtitled “The Way of Water.” We’ll showcase each tie-in one by one here:

Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch (75571)

Age 9+ | 560 pieces | 2 minifigures | $44.99 | Coming October 1

Action and adventure – Kids and fans can relive the movie experience as they build this LEGO® Avatar Neytiri & Thanator vs. AMP Suit Quaritch (75571) set and explore the world of Pandora

What’s inside – This LEGO® set includes Neytiri and Colonel Miles Quaritch minifigures, a buildable AMP suit and Thanator figure, plus a buildable jungle scene with glow-in-the-dark elements

For play and display – Kids and Avatar fans can recreate an exciting scene from the movie or set up a dynamic display with Neytiri and the Thanator posed to jump on the AMP-suited Colonel

Jake & Neytiri’s First Banshee Flight (75572)

Age 9+ | 572 pieces | 2 minifigures | $59.99 | Coming October 1

Action and adventure – Kids and fans can relive the movie experience as they build this LEGO® Avatar Jake & Neytiri’s First Banshee Flight (75572) toy set and explore the world of Pandora

What’s inside – This immersive LEGO® set includes Jake Sully and Neytiri minifigures, 2 buildable Banshee figures with posable foil wings, plus a buildable mountain scene with glow-in-the-dark pieces

For play and display – Kids and Avatar fans can recreate an exciting scene from the movie or set up a dynamic display with Jake, Neytiri and their Banshees (Ikrans) as they fly around the mountains

Floating Mountains: Site 26 & RDA Samson (75573)

Age 9+ | 887 pieces | 5 minifigures | $99.99 | Coming October 1

Adventure and fun – Kids aged 9 and up can tell endless stories as they build and play with this LEGO® Avatar Floating Mountains: Site 26 & RDA Samson (75573) toy set and explore the world of Pandora

What’s in the box – This LEGO® set includes 5 minifigures, a Direhorse (Pa’li) figure, SA-2 Samson helicopter and Site 26 mobile link station, plus a scene with glow-in-the-dark elements

Display or play – Kids and Avatar fans can recreate a scene from the movie, tell a new story, or set up a dynamic display with the SA-2 Samson helicopter hovering over the mobile lab and link station

BrickHeadz: Jake Sully & His Avatar (40554)

Age 10+ | 246 pieces | $19.99 | Coming October 1

Collectible building set – Fun LEGO® BrickHeadz™ depictions of Jake Sully & his Avatar (40554)

A treat for any occasion – Give this set as a birthday, holiday or any-day gift for kids and Avatar movie fans aged 10+

Sure, the tie-ins seem to cover only the original 2009 film. But surely these are just the opening salvo for a longer-running LEGO Avatar line. Perhaps the direct tie-ins to “Avatar: The Way of Water” will be along later. For the moment, let’s look forward to these cool sets coming out this October 1^st.

Build a LEGO Store Red Brick This July and August

Quite a few years ago, a possible surprise awaiting customers at a LEGO Store are brick-building events. You get to sit at a worktable and given several LEGO bricks along with instructions to assemble simple builds. You complete the exercise and you get to bring your build home. These activities not only hype up the kids, they can also serve as sources for extra LEGO bricks. Of course, in-store building events went quiet for a couple years due to the pandemic. Now however, they’re returning to a nice regularity, if this new activity is indication.

Brickset brings us word of this cool in-store building event at LEGO Store branches this month and next. In yet another part of “Celebrating 90 Years of Play”, store customers can build a big Red LEGO Brick. The event kicked off in US and UK LEGO Stores this July 20, lasting until the 21^st. And it’ll recur this coming August, this time from the 10^th to 11^th. The Big Red Brick looks fairly impressive and can be built from Ages 6 and up. If nothing else, the red and black pieces could be added later to one’s loose LEGO-brick stock.

Local LEGO Store customers will be able to participate in the Red Brick build, first come first served. Each store will also have limited quantities of LEGO bricks for building in all event days. Furthermore, only one Red Brick can be assembled and brought home per person. Lastly, this simple set can’t be bought conventionally. You miss the building event period this week however, and you’ll have to wait for August 10-11 for another chance.

Director of “Lightyear” Shares LEGO-built Prototype for Official Tie-In Toyline

Back in June, Disney-Pixar released “Lightyear”, a “Toy Story” spinoff depicting an in-universe film featuring Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans). The movie supposedly chronicles the early adventures of the fictional character for which the Buzz action figure is based on. While not as emotionally gripping as the source films, the realistic take on Lightyear was visually-appealing at least. Filmmaker Angus McLane directed “Lightyear” and if the action sequences blew your mind, you know who to thank. McLane also had a hand in the tech designs for many of the machines/vehicles in the movie. And he had a familiar toy brand to help him materialize his ideas.

As if you haven’t guessed, LEGO was a key tool of Angus McLane in crafting designs for Disney-Pixar’s “Lightyear”. This much was revealed on social media according to Brick Fanatics. McLane tweeted this past August 19 his LEGO-built prototype for an official “Lightyear” toy. As seen below, he used mostly yellow LEGO bricks to build the Plasma Drill seen in the film. It looks pretty cool, doesn’t it? Even the official merchandise photo for comparison doesn’t quite capture the dynamic feel of the LEGO prototype. There’s also some corporate cringe involved. Turns out, the official “Lightyear” Plasma Drill toy comes from LEGO brand rival, Mattel.

How it started: How it’s going: pic.twitter.com/vD00ZMy6fD

— Angus MacLane (@AngusMacLane) July 18, 2022

But hey, Angus McLane did demonstrate how easily LEGO can translate imaginative fancies into “reality”. And it’s not as if LEGO would shy from partnering with their competitors. Icons Optimus Prime (10302), anyone? Now while the official LEGO Lightyear tie-ins are already launched, who’s to say there won’t be more later? And maybe an official brick-built Plasma Drill or more will be among that number?