Category: Featured

Videogame Auteur Hideo Kojima Shows Latest LEGO Set on Twitter

Let’s face it: LEGO’s such a big brand that it definitely has loads of fans and collectors worldwide. Among that sprawling fan community are some big names to many others, be it mainstream or niche followings. You look hard enough in social media and some celebrity LEGO collector-builder might be sharing his latest completed set/MOC. To general fans the identities of these persons might come as a surprise. Take for instance big-name videogame designer Hideo Kojima, creator of the “Metal Gear” franchise for Konami. He’s a LEGO fan of distinction himself. And recently he tweeted about his newest set acquisition.

Brick Fanatics tells us that Hideo Kojima posted photos of a certain LEGO Ideas set he’s completed on Twitter. The tweet, dated July 16, shows nice close-ups of an Ideas Typewriter (21327). Also prominent in the background of one shot is the (retired) Ideas Grand Piano (21323). Kojima’s post only featured the photos of his set(s) and no commentary. Still, it generated quite the buzz among fans of both LEGO and Kojima. One such reply came from LEGO designer James May, part of the team that worked on Typewriter (21327).

While there’s not much to be done about the Grand Piano set, at least Ideas Typewriter is still available. At least it is on LEGO Shop for UK and most of Europe. Unfortunately, the US online store has it “temporarily out of stock” right now. That tweet’s a nice gesture from Kojima, something fans of his games from “Metal Gear” to “Death Stranding” might appreciate.

“Brick to the Future”? New TM Filed by LEGO

Sifting for news and rumors regarding LEGO can bring up some names and terms that gets the imagination hyped. Whether that hype is warranted or not won’t often be known until LEGO gives clarification later on. This news bit might catch some attention due to its sound-alike with a licensed IP getting LEGO love recently. By this we mean “Back to the Future”. The LEGO Icons Back to the Future Time Machine (10300) launched last April and quickly went out of stock. And it’s only the latest release in a short but notable line of LEGO tie-in products to “BOTF”.

So, what could this filing to the US Patent and Trademark Office by LEGO Juris A/S mean? This comes to us by way of The Brick Fan. They found a USPTO filing from LEGO, dated June 22, for trademarking “Brick to the Future”. This TM would cover “categories of toys, games and playthings” according to the registration, meaning LEGO products. At present this filing is still awaiting examination. But the question now is: could this tie to “Back to the Future”? Or is LEGO just making a pun-based title for something more their own make?

It does make for speculation. At least we can be sure that this is legit from LEGO. What does “Brick to the Future” hold for fans and collectors if it’s not “Back to the Future”-related? Another reason to watch this space with The Brick Show.

ICYMI: LEGO Minifigures Series 23 (71034) Arriving This September!

This year’s LEGO Con has officially revealed plenty of exciting sets to watch out for in the 2nd half of 2022 including the highly anticipated LEGO Minifigures Series 23 (71034).

LEGO Minifigures Series 23

More like being a teaser, LEGO gave us a glimpse on the design process on how a collectible minifigure is designed and made, together with a hands-on reveal of some of the colorful characters included in the upcoming CMF Series 23.  Watch the reveal below.

Take a closer look at the following images of all the 12 characters in this series.

Cardboard Robot

LEGO Minifigures Series 23

Ferry Captain

LEGO Minifigures Series 23

Reindeer Costume

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Green Dragon Costume

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Wolf Costume

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Popcorn Costume

LEGO Minifigures Series 23

Turkey Costume

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Christmas Elf

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Knight of the Yellow Castle

78988 CMF 9

Nutcracker

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Snowman

78988 CMF 11

Sugar Fairy

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And true to its word, LEGO has also updated its home shopping portal to include a listing of the LEGO Minifigure Series 23 (71034).  There is no pre-order option to date, but you can certainly expect these funky costumed characters to be available starting September 1. Check out the series’ official product description below. You may click on the affiliate link if you wish to add this to your LEGO wishlist. Which is your favorite Series 23 character? Mine will have to be the Cardboard Robot, Ferry Captain, and Popcorn Costume. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

LEGO Minifigures Series 23 (71034)

Coming soon on September 1, 2022

Delight a child or Minifigures fan with these LEGO® Minifigures Series 23 (71034) blind bags for ages 5+. This unique series features a great lineup of fun characters to collect and display or to take independent or group play in unexpected new directions.

Inspiring collection of fun LEGO Minifigures

Children and adult fans get to say “Hi!” to a limited-edition range of imaginative characters, including Nutcracker, Sugar Fairy, Green Dragon Costume, Snowman, Reindeer Costume, Holiday Elf, Turkey Costume, Cardboard Robot, Popcorn Costume, Wolf Costume, Ferry Captain and Knight of the Yellow Castle.

Surprise!

Each finely crafted, highly detailed LEGO minifigure comes in a sealed ‘mystery’ bag and includes a collector’s information leaflet, making a great little gift that will put a smile on anyone’s face.

  • Unexpected characters – Encourage endless play with these fun LEGO® Minifigures Series 23 (71034) bags. A creative surprise treat for kids and minifigure fans of any age
  • Collectible fun in a bag – 1 of 12 buildable characters to discover, plus a collector’s leaflet. A fun addition to any collection

And in case you missed out on some of the previous LEGO CMF series, The Brickshow Shop LEGO Collectible Minifigures is running a sale on some of the most sought after LEGO minifigs around including those from earlier CMF series, Disney, Marvel, and the Muppets.

ICYMI: Make Way for LEGO Super Mario The Mighty Bowser (71411)!

Hey, there brick fans! In case you missed it, LEGO has announced another super-sized set that will surely tickle the fancy of all Super Mario fans. The LEGO Super Mario The Mighty Bowser (71411) is the biggest LEGO rendition of the iconic Super Mario villain that comes in at almost 3,000 pieces. The nice thing about this set is that it is not just meant for display, but it also comes with a bunch of play features that are certainly designed to impress: movable head, mouth, and legs, launching fireball, and beautiful, intricate details.

LEGO Super Mario The Mighty Bowser

And like the rest of the LEGO Super Mario sets, The Mighty Bowser also evokes certain sounds and animations from the LEGO Super Mario figure itself. Watch Carl Merriam (Senior Designer) and Didier Agani (Senior Play Designer)  as they demonstrate how this set adds more fun to other LEGO Super Mario sets.

The LEGO Super Mario The Mighty Bowser (71411) will retail for $269.99 once it becomes available on October 1st. Read on for more info about this set, and click on the affiliate link below if you want to add this to your LEGO wishlist today.

LEGO Super Mario The Mighty Bowser (71411)

2,807 pieces | $269.99 | Coming Soon on October 1, 2022

LEGO Super Mario The Mighty Bowser 71411 alt2

Appreciate the king of the Koopas when you build, display, and play with LEGO® Super Mario™ The Mighty Bowser™ (71411). This buildable figure uses new-for-October-2022 LEGO elements to recreate the look of Bowser’s spikes. It has many features, including a fireball launcher and a button to control Bowser’s head and neck movements. His arms and fingers move too!

Interactive play
Display The Mighty Bowser on the brick-built battle platform, which has 2 towers for him to knock over, a hidden POW Block, and an Action Tag. Combine The Mighty Bowser and the platform with a LEGO Super Mario Starter Course (71360, 71387, or 71403 – sold separately) for battles with LEGO® Mario™, LEGO® Luigi™, or LEGO® Peach™. A great gift for any Super Mario™ fan and fun for all the family, this set includes step-by-step instructions to guide the complex build.

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Welcome to your zone
Look out for other LEGO Sets for Adults in the collection. Whatever your passion, there is an inspiring building project waiting for you.

  • Buildable model of Bowser for display and play – Celebrate the ultimate Super Mario™ boss with this detailed LEGO® brick-built The Mighty Bowser™ (71411) figure for display and play
  • Create different poses – Control Bowser’s head and neck with a button under the shell, open and close the mouth, pose the arms, hands, legs, and tail and activate the fireball launcher
  • Battle platform with a POW Block and 2 towers – The platform has a hidden POW Block for enhanced play with Starter Courses (sold separately) and 2 towers that are designed to be knocked over by Bowser
  • The Mighty Bowser™ display piece – This LEGO® Super Mario™ character model, including the display stand, measures over 12.5 in. (32 cm) high, 16 in. (41 cm) wide and 11 in. (28 cm) deep
  • Interactive play – Stomp on the battle platform’s Action Tag with LEGO® Mario™, LEGO® Luigi™ or LEGO® Peach™ (figures not included) for battles with The Mighty Bowser™
  • Gift idea for fans – This 2,807-piece LEGO® building set makes a fun birthday present, holiday gift or special treat for Super Mario™ fans.

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Review Recent LEGO Star Wars “Mandalorian” Tie-Ins in this Cute Animated Short Starring Grogu

When we last left the Mandalorian – outside of his own “Star Wars” series – he and Grogu were happily reunited. The Force-sensitive child of the late Yoda’s species chose to abandon Jedi training to help his one-time protector. We’ll have to wait until “The Mandalorian” season 3 rolls out on Disney+ to learn what happens next. But fans can certainly dream up some nice scenarios of the duo traveling the Galaxy in their custom Naboo starfighter. And if they’re LEGO collectors, these fans can potentially imagine some wild ideas. But can they beat an “official” LEGO Star Wars take on this?

That may well be the point of this cute LEGO animation short as shared by Brick Fanatics. The short, hosted on the Star Wars Kids YouTube channel, is titled “A Gift from Grogu”. Quite obviously it’ll involve everybody’s favorite Baby!Yoda doing something nice for Din Djarin, his Mandalorian protector. In this case Grogu uses the Force to assemble stray LEGO into something awesome. Merchandising-wise, he’s really just showing off recent LEGO Star Wars “The Mandalorian” tie-in sets. In fact, the production of this animation can be dated from the featured sets. They’re still using Razor Crest instead of the Starfighter.

In case you need a refresher, these are the sets featured. We have the Razor Crest (75292); its Microfighter version (75321); and The Mandalorian & the Child (75317). As for the gift, it’s The Child (Grogu) himself (75318). We can consider this a nice look back, given that new LEGO Star Wars stuff are coming. They’ll of course be teased during LEGO Con 2022, happening this coming Saturday June 18.

No New LEGO Ghostbusters Revealed in Ghostbusters Day 2022

In June 8, 1984 Columbia Pictures released a supernatural comedy involving paranormal investigators starting a business to “capture” ghosts. “Ghostbusters” starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and the late Harold Ramis became a hit. It would lead to a sequel four years later, plus animated series spinoffs, videogames and more media. June 8 became “Ghostbusters Day”, a time when new Ghostbusters stuff usually gets announced amid fan celebration. This year’s edition had some cool announcements like a follow-up to the latest film, 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”. Some animated projects were hinted too. But among the reveals, were no LEGO products.

LEGO has ridden the “Ghostbusters” resurgence somewhat by releasing tie-in sets the past few years. But as Brick Fanatics puts it, there wasn’t even a teaser for any new LEGO Ghostbusters thing. This doesn’t necessarily mean that LEGO’s leaving the theme dry a la LEGO Indiana Jones. The latest tie-in, Ecto-1 (10274), was announced in November of 2020. It usually came with a poster for “Afterlife,” although LEGO made no direct tie-ins to it. Still, with new upcoming “Ghostbusters” projects including an animated series and movie, one can only wonder. We might just be surprised.

Here’s How To Build Your Own Custom LEGO Transformers Optimus Prime!

LEGO has just announced its latest LEGO set in the form of one of the most iconic Autobot in the franchise.  And though we need to wait until the end of this month to get our hands on it, builders can start building their own custom LEGO Transformers Optimus Prime even sooner with these neat building instructions from Build Better Bricks.

If you’ve been following our articles here in TBS, you’ll notice that a significant portion of our blogs is dedicated to the unique creations of the LEGO fan community. And as a fan of Generation 1 Transformers, I’m just excited to see this official LEGO version of Optimus, together with other brick-built renditions of some of the most memorable characters of the G1 era. Talk about having Soundwave and Devastator in all their LEGO glory and you’ll get the picture.

And this time around, Build Better Bricks is giving us a treat by letting us create our own custom LEGO Transformers Optimus Prime while we wait for the release of the official LEGO version on June 1.

 

With only a third of the parts needed to build the actual LEGO Optimus, B3’s custom brick rendition of Prime only requires less than 500 LEGO pieces to put together, making it a great way to jump back and reminisce about the G1 Transformers era without investing too much in new LEGO parts.

While B3’s version of the Optimus’ G1 version may not be at par with the actual 10302 set in terms of scale, this original creation from LEGO Masters Champion Tyler Clites still boasts some nifty features like 24 points of articulation, full transformation to his Semi Truck Mode, and his iconic ion blaster and Matrix of Leadership accessories. Do take note, however, that Build Better Bricks only offers the building instructions to create this custom version of Prime. You’ll have to provide the needed LEGO parts.

LEGO Transformers Optimus Prime

And if you want to give this a try, B3 is offering the building instructions to this for a minimal amount of $8. You’ll get high-quality instructions in PDF format, a parts list, and stud.io file that lets you easily import the model into Bricklink to get the parts you need if ever some of them are not available in your collection.

Let me know what you think about this B3 offering, and be sure to visit their website to know more about their custom LEGO Transformers build. While you’re at it, make it a point to see the rest of the custom LEGO builds that B3 has put together.

Alternative Build Ideas for LEGO GWP Vintage Taxi (40532) on Rebrickable

Late last January, LEGO launched a GWP set that went with its New Year 2022-released Creator Expert Boutique Hotel (10297). It was a cool-retro Vintage Taxi (40532) that came with a buildable roadside taxi stop. Pairing it with the Boutique Hotel building somewhat nailed the setting as a European-Parisian locale. But for those who feel the Vintage Taxi design is too old, never fear. A builder from LEGO MOC website Rebrickable has seen plenty of potential in the GWP set’s component pieces. He has a multitude of building options for 40532 to share, using only the pieces inside the set.

1000x800 sports

This nifty feature is shared to us by Brick Fanatics, which caught wind of Rebrickable member Keep on Bricking’s work. He has an astonishing 16 alternate build instructions for the LEGO Vintage Taxi (40532) set. You think the vehicle’s early-mid-20th Century aesthetic is too old for your own neighborhood build? Why not redesign the cab into a convertible? How about a sports car or SUV? Keep on Bricking even made a mind-blowing Batmobile build, using only the 163 pieces of set 40532. These alternate instructions are sure to pique the Master Builder in many LEGO collectors/players. Just check out his page on the Rebrickable website.

1000x800 batmobile

We’ve taken a look at Rebrickable quite recently before too. That was with Viv Grannell aka toastergrl, creator of the LEGO Ideas Sonic the Hedgehog (21331). She offered some alternate building ideas for the set’s buildable characters like Doctor Eggman.

LEGO Starts Distributing Special MRI Scanner Sets to 600 Hospitals Globally

Not all LEGO sets are purchasable goods for collectors. LEGO  has also designed some special few to serve greater symbolic purposes. Last year we featured LEGO’s collaborative plan with NASA to send astronaut minfigures aboard the un-crewed Artemis 1 mission. This test launch of a prospective new-generation lunar mission spacecraft is due to happen sometime this year. In another field, LEGO Foundation announced last month its simple idea to ease children’s concerns about getting an MRI. Their idea: distribute some special MRI scanner sets to be to local-community hospitals around the world. LEGO looks to be ready now.

As told by Brickset, a February 23 press release from LEGO announced their plans to donate brick-built MRI Scanner sets. Hospitals around the world with a radiology department and MRI Scanning facility can apply to receive one of these. Thus far, LEGO has earmarked 600 MRI Scanner sets to be given to selected hospitals that have applied here. LEGO designer Erik Ullerlund Staehr developed these sets back in 2015. It’s based on the MRI setup of Odense University Hospital in Denmark, made out of nearly 500 pieces. It depicts two MRI techs giving a scan to an excited boy.

That’s the kind of mood LEGO hopes to instill in young MRI subjects through their limited-edition special sets. Already, LEGO MRI sets have arrived at about 100 applicants of their planned 600 beneficiary hospitals worldwide. More information about the MRI Scanner sets can be found above courtesy of the LEGO Foundation. They even made an introductory video for it too.

LEGO Pizza Tile Made Real on Twitter

LEGO’s near-infinite variety of pieces also includes elements depicting food items for the minifigures. These range from beverage glasses and cups, to pieces shaped like fruits and vegetables, to tiles representing plates. That last group would also include one familiar LEGO food piece: pizza. Believe it or not, the LEGO pizza tile can be used to check the evolution of detail in LEGO sets. The most recent iterations of the pizza piece can be found in two sets that launched this past New Year’ Day. And surely some builders have looked at a LEGO pizza tile and wondered: How does it look like when life-sized?

Well, Brick Fanatics tells us that a Twitter user went and recreated a LEGO pizza piece in 1:1 scale. Did we mention the de-fictionalization was made of edible ingredients? User girlpatched space dog (@dogs_on_mars) posted photos of her efforts on Twitter Sunday, January 23. As seen in the photo above @ dogs_on_mars made an actual pizza, using food colorings to achieve the right tile colors. The crust is a bright yellow, while cheddar slices went under the tomato sauce. The green spots, which the creator believes are green-colored pepperoni, were replicated with green food color.

As if that wasn’t enough, girlpatched space dog decided to take things full circle. She scanned her actual LEGO pizza in Bricklink Studio to make a custom pizza piece. The results can be seen in the second tweet series above. The green pepperoni apparently didn’t translate well, and commenters offered that the green stuff was probably basil. But hey, we appreciate the experiment. At least we now know how LEGO minifigs perceive their pizza tiles.