The first issue of Blocks magazine has been released at WHSmith stores in the UK today priced at £5.99, and as such, I thought it might be worth bringing you a quick overview of it. Brickjournal is the only other LEGO magazine available on Newsstands, which is run predominantly for the US market, so the creation of a magazine for the UK is very welcome.
There are so many aspects to collecting LEGO that it must have been very challenging to condense it all into a single magazine. Despite the difficulty however, there is a wide spread of articles to suit any LEGO related interest, and a few of the highlights are detailed here:
- Introductory Features – There are some features included for those new to LEGO as a hobby, including a timeline of the company’s history, a glossary of common terms and a useful flowchart on how to get started with LEGO.
- Blocks Showcase – A look at some of the best MOCs from around the world accompanied by interviews with their creators, including Peter Reid and Mark Borlase in this edition.
- Future Classics – A section featuring some of the recently, or soon to be, retired sets that might one day qualify as ‘classics.’
- Reviews – There are ten reviews in this edition of some of the flagship sets from the last year or so, including 10236 Ewok Village, 75059 Sandcrawler and 21108 Ghostbusters Ecto-1. There are also brief reviews of a few of the books which have recently been released, including titles by DK and more specialist books written by fans.
The magazine is well written throughout and each contributor seems interested in their subject matter, so there can be no faulting the information included or the quality of the magazine as a whole.
I do not want to give away every detail here as there is a huge amount to cover in this 131 page volume, but sufficed to say your £5.99 will be well spent by purchasing a copy of Blocks magazine in my opinion. Whether there will be further issues is currently unknown, but I certainly hope so.
If you are in the UK, Blocks magazine is only available at WHSmith, but if you live overseas, you can order a copy by phoning 0044 7858 892859.