Events Archives | Page 26 of 47

Somerset, UK Hosting LEGO Exhibit, Spartan Brick Creations

Last month we shone a spotlight on a recent issue of Blocks, one of the major independent publications covering the LEGO scene. Some of the best elements the magazine has going for it are the splendid amount of content within, including building tips, advice and MOC from some knowledgeable contributors. One of Blocks magazine’s most well-known contributors is their Build Specialist Simon Pickard, a LEGO fan and wonder-builder who has also had the good fortune of having his worked showcased on official LEGO books. He’ll also be the principal guest for a LEGO builders’ exhibition in Wellington, Somerset County, UK aptly dubbed as Spartan Brick Creations.

For a single day this weekend, the Wellington Baptist Church will be the host for what has been termed as “An exhibition of creativity in LEGO”, better known as the “Spartan Brick Creations” event. Not only is Simon Pickard at the center of attention, there will also be build showcases of brick animals as featured in the recent “LEGO Animal Atlas” book published by Dorling-Kindersley.

With an admission price of £3 per head, with children under 2 allowed in for free, guests to the Spartan Brick Creations will be able to check out the LEGO builds on display, meet and greet with Simon Pickard, try their hand at construction with the free build zone, and of course be able to purchase a variety of LEGO sets both old and newly-released from the event’s partner merchants.

Lest you forget, Spartan Brick Creations is happening this Saturday, August 18, from 11AM to 5PM at the Baptist Church of Wellington in Somerset, UK.

LEGO Ideas Challenges You To Create Your Most Imaginative Voltron Scene

In case you don’t know yet, LEGO’s widely popular fan contest site, LEGO Rebrick, is now merging with LEGO Ideas to be next fan-based and crowd sourcing online platform rolled into one. So in case you have previously submitted entries on LEGO Rebrick, it will be wise to back them up since the site will no longer be accessible beginning September 1. With that out of the way, we now have our very first open contest inspired by the new LEGO Ideas Voltron (21311) set, and now hosted on the new LEGO Ideas site: the LEGO Ideas – Form Your Imaginative Voltron Scene.

Have you ever dreamed yourself into the fascinating universe of Voltron? We most certainly have! There are so many epic scenes that stimulate our imaginations of life beyond Earth. Here’s your chance to bring it all to life in LEGO bricks, as the LEGO Ideas team is looking for you to show us your most imaginative interpretation of one of the locations in which your favourite Voltron lion was found after all the lions were sent away into hiding for 10,000 years by King Alfor.

This contest challenges builders ages 13 and above to come up with their most imaginative Voltron scene for one of the five iconic lions that forms the mighty Voltron. The idea is to design a specific location or scene, bearing in mind the unique characteristics of each of the lion and the elements in which they are associated with – the Black Lion with the element of metal, Red Lion being found in the forest and connected with the element of fire, the Green Lion which is hidden in the forest and associated with all forms of life, the Blue Lion lying deep underwater and connected with the element of water, and the Yellow Lion hidden under rock formations and associated with the element of earth. Like with LEGO Rebrick, entries can either images made from actual LEGO sets (following the rules set forth by the contest organizers), or digitally made via LEGO Digital Designer.

Submission of entries for the most imaginative Voltron scene has already begun and will end on September 24. There will be one Grand Prize Winner and Two-Runner Ups which will be announced on October 30. The Grand Prize winner will receive:

One LEGO Ideas Voltron Defender of the Universe (21311) set signed by the LEGO Designer
A $500 USD shopping spree on LEGO.com
A stash of elite Voltron merchandise which includes a Voltron Backpack and a Voltron Team Force Membership Kit

Each Runner-Up will also bring home one signed LEGO Ideas Voltron Defender of the Universe (21311) as their prize and trophy.

Be sure to keep tabs with the latest updates on the LEGO Ideas: Form Your Imaginative Voltron Scene contest by visiting their new contest website.

Head Over at UK’s Smyths Toystore in the UK on Bank Holiday for Some LEGO Harry Potter Freebies

This Wednesday, June 15, is the special launch event for the LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle (71043) set. In line with that is the appearance of designer Justin Ramsden at the Leicester Square LEGO Store in London to graciously sign the very first Hogwarts Castle sets (71043) purchased there. But that’s not the only significant Wizarding World-related event going on for the UK this month. Ten days from now, during the British Bank Holiday weekend on August 25, retail chain Smyths Toys will be doing an epic LEGO giveaway event; that means free LEGO Harry Potter sets await!

Word of this giveaway at Smyths Toys was posted on HotUKDeals, and further details reveal that this will be going on at all Smyths Toys Superstores throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so interested collectors need only to check out the Smyths branch nearest to them. These LEGO Harry Potter giveaways are good only until supplies last.

The LEGO Harry Potter Giveaway events at Smyths Toys Superstore will go on for only three hours, 11AM to 2PM, of Saturday, August 25 during the Bank Holiday. Also happening in conjunction with the giveaways are special Potter-verse activities like wand casting demonstrations and more.

Just to reiterate, the LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle (71043) is now available for LEGO VIP members, and is slated for a general public release on September 1. The set retails for $400, coming in at 6,020 pieces.

Brickworld LEGO Fan Convention Comes to Milwaukee Area for the First Time

LEGO convention season continues apace across the US. One of these upcoming events is Brickworld, which is proud to name itself the premier LEGO fan experience in North America as a whole. Their next event is coming later this month, and its venue will have the distinct honor of playing host to Brickworld for the first time, over in Wisconsin.

It’s going to be the first Brickworld LEGO fan convention in the metro Milwaukee area, with two weekend days of fun for the whole family at the Wisconsin State Fair Park. As expected, Brickworld will be exhibiting plenty of awesome MOC builds, many of them courtesy of the Wisconsin LEGO Users Group (WisLUG) and the Kenosha LEGO Users Group (KLUG).

According to Brickworld Events executive director Bryan Bonahoom, there will also be some new events at the convention that take a walk, as it were, from the “conventional” sort of attractions.

First is one of the free-build areas with a table containing 20,000 LEGO bricks of the same color; the reason being that it encourages children to just take and build rather than wade through many different colored bricks to find just one particular shade. Also of note are some walls in the convention area that’s been covered in LEGO base plates to facilitate “wall-builds”.

LEGO vendors are also expected to be prominent at Brickworld. Aside from the official merchants there will be those who would sell retired LEGO sets and custom-printed minifigures for collectors.

Brickworld Wisconsin will run August 25 to 26 at the Wisconsin State Fair Park at Milwaukee suburb-city of West Allis. Single-day tickets are $13 regularly, $10 for military and first responders (with ID) and free for children under age 3.

UK LEGO Store Offering Chance to Make a Custom LEGO Harry Potter Wand

We’ve been noticing quite a number of LEGO Harry Potter events going on early this month and last, but they’ve been notably happening in other branded retailers carrying LEGO products, from Target to Barnes & Noble. What about LEGO itself? Wonder no more now that LEGO Stores – at least in the UK – are cooking up just that. Much like the Barnes & Noble thing that went on during the first weekend of August, this is a Build & Take event, only it’s lasting from the about middle of the month to early September. The subject for building is one of Harry Potter’s most iconic and ubiquitous items: your very own custom LEGO Harry Potter wand.

Thus far, the only LEGO Store to have set a date for holding this wand-building event is the one in Watford, Herefordshire, UK. During Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, from 2 to 4 PM, the store will invite children ages 6 to 14 to participate in making a Harry Potter wand they can later take home.

For the LEGO Store Watford, they’ll be running the event starting next on August 13 up until the first Sunday next month (September 2). Other LEGO Stores in the UK and the world are following suit, like with London’s Leicester Square store.

While we wait for further news, remember that there are a lot of new Wizarding World LEGO Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts sets already released or just about to. In addition, the film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is coming this November.

Build the Future Event Featured at the Annual LEGO Park Holon in Israel

Ever since early July, Peres Park on the city of Holon in Israel has been host to an annual summer event brought to them courtesy of The LEGO Group, transforming the humble public garden into the lively LEGO Park. Filled with LEGO-themed amusement rides, attractions and interactive activities, it comes off as a seasonal taste of the permanent LEGOLAND theme parks to a country that doesn’t have one yet.

On its final month, LEGO Park Holon, held at the Toto Arena in Peres Park, is now focusing its promotion on an interactive attraction called The Dream Tower, a skyscraper under construction where children are given free rein to build it up using building cranes and conveyor belts bringing near-countless LEGO bricks to use. Participants are even given hard hats and yellow work vests to wear.

Putting the spotlight on an exhibit that’s built by children is brilliant considering the current theme of LEGO Park Holon, which is being held there for the sixth year in a row this 2018. The theme is “Building the city of the future”, and it somehow coincides with a recent advertising campaign developed for LEGO that goes “Build the Future”.

Other attractions at LEGO Park Holon are a LEGO Ferris wheel, a castle themed after LEGO Friends, a LEGO Marvel bungee jump platform (with LEGO Spider-Man prominent on the imagery), a kiddie electric train and big plasma screens featuring the latest LEGO videogames from WB Interactive and Traveller’s Tales. Security and safety personnel at the park are dressed like Minifigures from LEGO police station sets.

LEGO Park Holon is still ongoing and will wind down on August 31. Holon city is only due south along the coast from Tel Aviv where a recent LEGO exhibit was also held last July.

Source: Holland Review

UK’s Fairy Bricks Charity To Raise Funds Through Bikes to Billund 8-Day Cycle Trip

When you just look for it, you can find LEGO everywhere around you; not just in homes, playgrounds, schools and even public exhibits, but everywhere. That includes charitable organizations like Fairy Bricks, a UK-based charity that specializes in donating new LEGO sets to children’s hospitals and clinics for child patients. Of course, having so many recipient hospitals to donate LEGO sets to, means that Fairy Bricks need to generate funding for them. They have several avenue events to do so, such as the annual Bricktastic LEGO show in Manchester. And then, there is the Bikes to Billund charitable cycling event.

This has got to be one of the biggest and most physically challenging events to be done in the name of LEGO charity. Participants from Fairy Bricks will brave a grueling 8-day bike trip, from England, a ferry ride across the North Sea, and a final cross-country journey through the Netherlands, Germany and up north into Denmark to reach Billund.

The starting point is at the Leicester Square flagship LEGO Store in London on September 20. The ferry departs from Harwich, England and docks at Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Finally, the terminal point for the “Bikes to Billund” journey is The Home of the Brick aka LEGO House. Optimally, the group hopes to make it there by September 27 to join in on the Skaerbaek event.

Interested parties in the UK might try to head to the Leicester Square LEGO Store on September 20 to see the Fairy Bricks cycling team off. Then they can show support for Fairy Bricks by donating to their fundraising page for the “Bikes to Billund” challenge here. Alternatively, they can also channel their donations to Fairy Bricks’ Paypal page here. Finally, we wish the Fairy Bricks cycling team good luck for their odyssey next month.

Here’s How To Build The LEGO Hogwarts Express From Barnes & Noble’s Build and Take Event

In celebration of the 20^th anniversary of J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book in the US, and the eventual release of LEGO’s new Wizarding World sets, Barnes & Noble has launched a LEGO Build and Take this Saturday at select bookstore branches in the US. And just recently, fans who attended the event have now shared several images of this mini LEGO Hogwarts Express and the instructions that go along with it.

Barnes & Noble Harry Potter mini build event from lego

Check your local Barnes & Noble for this event today! from lego

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmESwjoAT2o/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmETK7vg6pq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I didn’t notice it back then when the event was still being promoted via social media, but thanks to avid LEGO Harry Potter fans, they’ve correctly pointed out that this version of the Barnes & Noble LEGO Hogwarts Express is exactly the same build that can be found in the now discontinued LEGO Dimensions Harry Potter Team Pack (71247).

This particular mini-build comes in at 43 pieces and can easily built using any LEGO pieces that you have. Though the Barnes & Noble’s mini LEGO Hogwarts Express build and take event set was not exactly an exclusive build so to speak, it’s still cool to bring home a piece of the LEGO Harry Potter magic. If you missed out on this event and would still like the make your own mini LEGO Hogwarts Express, you may download the building instructions for the 71247 which you can find from LEGO’s customer service portal. The parts list is also made available so having the right pieces should be a snap.

So what do you think of this promotional set, brick fans? Were you there during the yesterday’s B&N build and take event? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

LEGO Holds Live Activation Event in China to Promote Its LEGO Technic Sets

LEGO Technic is among the most advanced product lines put out by The LEGO Group, and while the reach of their building sets is worldwide, there are still some certain markets that either haven’t gotten Technic introduced, or are simply unaware and overlook it. One of those countries is China. That’s something The LEGO Group plans to rectify. This week they held their first live activation for the LEGO Technic line in the Chinese capital of Beijing. LEGO is focusing on one of their particular promotion slogans for this event – “Build for real” – in conceptualizing the exhibits for the activation.

Jack Morton Worldwide helped LEGO realize the various activities and displays that showcase the mechanical engineering potential of the Technic line of products. For the Beijing live activation, guests get to see some Technic sets being put through some intense (and potentially destructive) physical situations.

“We wanted the first live experience we created in China to reveal the depth of Lego to this market,” remarked LEGO’s China brand marketing manager, Lili Rui. “Technic offers a wonderful opportunity to explore and discover and we’re delighted that this experience truly captures that and brings it to life.”

Want to see how well the Whack (42072) and Bash (42073) might survive deliberate crash tests? Try your luck in parking the All-Terrain Tow Truck (42070) in a scale-size parking space? Or how about operating the Rough Terrain Crane (42082) to see how well you can erect walls with it?

Perhaps the crowning glory of the Technic event in China is the exhibit of a full-sized replica engine of the Bugatti Chiron (the car itself being a Technic set numbered 42083), all made of Technic pieces. And it runs too!

LEGO fans in Beijing and nearby in China can enjoy these interactive displays – and be inspired to try the LEGO Technic series of sets – up until August 12. LEGO in China has been hyping this one-time occasion with an aggressive PR and social media campaign.

Source: Campaign Live (UK)

Check Out the LEGO Store September 2018 Calendar

The LEGO Store September 2018 Calendar is now available online, and it comes with a handful of LEGO Harry Potter and Friends promotionals, plus a plethora of new LEGO sets to watch out for. I am particularly interested on what exclusive VIP sets will be offered from September 13-30, which, as rumor has it, will be the LEGO Star Wars Cloud City UCS (75222). Fans of the LEGO Star Wars theme have always felt that this is one long overdue set so it is kind of exciting to see what LEGO has in the works on this one. The other exclusive LEGO VIP set is a complete mystery, and as always LEGO will be most likely keeping us guessing until the end of this month.

For the time being, let’s break down the details of the LEGO Store September 2018 Calendar and see what we can find.

September 1: Get the new exclusive LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle (71043).

September 1 – 20: Free LEGO Friends Friendship Rings with LEGO Friends purchases over $25.

September 1 – 30: For the whole month of September, LEGO VIPs get double points on the LEGO Friends Friendship Box (41346) and The Big Race Day (41352)

September 1 – 30: Escape the Forbidden Forest.

Stop by the LEGO Store to build a magical car with special powers and race through the Forbidden Forest. Beware of spiders and get to Hogwarts as fast as you can.

September 11 – 12: The Monthly Mini Model Build for the September is a Glider (40284).

To avail this freebie, LEGO VIP members need to register at shop.LEGO.com/Minibuild-registration beginning August 15.

September 13 – 30: LEGO VIPs get Early Access to two NEW exclusive LEGO sets.

September 19: Build a Magical Wand!

Come to the LEGO Store and build your very own magical wizarding wand! You can then take home your wand model, for free! Registration is on a first come, first served basis and quantities are limited. Sign up in store or by phone starting September 1st.