LEGO has uploaded a series of videos via their YouTube channel that shows several tips on how to create your next head-turner MOC. Coming in at four (4) episodes, each snippet features the young (and awesome!) Aven Woodward, the Founder of the Kid Film Festival. Aven shows us the basic techniques in brick film-making, simply watch the videos below.
Basic Tips to Improve Your LEGO Brickfilms – Brick Tricks – Episode 1
Aven breaks down the basics of improving your brickfilms by sharing helpful tips around lighting and animation.
Building Tricks for Your LEGO Brickfilms – Brick Tricks – Episode 2
A good brickfilm requires a great set design. In this episode, Aven shares some advanced building techniques that will allow you to construct walls, create inverted structures, build sideways, form lettering, and add unique decorations.
How to Add Special Effects to Your LEGO Brickfilms – Brick Tricks- Episode 3
To take your brickfilms to the next level, special effects are a must. In this episode, Aven share his tips on how to add objects that fly or fall, create smoke effects and add motion blur.
In this episode, Aven shares even more advanced brickfilm tips and techniques like simulating water, creating backgrounds, and calculating frame rates.
I usually don’t include a LEGO Ideas project in my need-to-write list unless it has earned that 10K thumbs up from LEGO fans, but this rendition of the Warner Bros. animated film The Iron Giant deserves a special mention. Though the film itself did not find a warm welcome from the general audience when it debuted on the big screen in 1999, it won several awards under the science fiction genre including the BAFTA Children’s Award, and has become a beloved animated classic over time. Set in the post-war US during the early 1950s, it tells of a story of a gigantic, mysterious alien who crash-landed on Earth and befriends a young boy. The film currently got a theatrical and Blu-ray re-release, which included a new documentary about Brad Bird’s making of the film. And if you want to bring home this classic film as an official LEGO set, then this is your chance to show your support to this custom LEGO Ideas The Iron Giant product idea.
An Iron Giant and LEGO fan at heart, LEGO builder BrettCUV decided to render his love for the gentle giant using LEGO bricks and the result is breathtaking. Minifigure in scale, BrettCUV used a LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) to render this custom LEGO Ideas Iron Giant in all its fine details using more than 2,000 pieces. Here are his thoughts on his creation.
For this project, I propose that a set be made based on the 1999 Warner Brothers hit animated film The Iron Giant. Known for its beautiful storytelling and masterful animation, this movie is beloved by fans old and young all over the world. I believe that a LEGO product based in this film would not just be popular with consumers, but rather be an enormous success.
Within this project, there would be 5 main characters: The Iron Giant with changeable eyes and weaponry to depict his evil state from the movie, Hogarth Hughes with the alien bolt he finds at the end of the film, Annie Hughes and a coffee pot, Kent Mansley and a fedora, and Dean McCoppin with a coffee cup. The entire build consists of approximately 2,023 pieces, including the Giant, minifigures, and accessories. The Giant’s head rotates and tilts, and his arms, legs, wrists, hips, and ankles are all articulated to both accommodate his size and weight, and allow him to replicate classic poses from the movie.
Currently, BrettCUV’s LEGO Ideas The Iron Giant project has already achieved more than 5,000 supporters over at LEGO Ideas with additional 5K votes needed to make it to the Review Stage. If you think the set is a worthy enough to receive your stamp of approval, then head over at LEGO Ideas and cast your vote. We’ll sure to keep a close eye on this one. What do you think of this project? Does it have the potential to become the next big (pun intended) LEGO Ideas set to hit store shelves? Send in your comments below or join in the discussions over at our Facebook page.
It has been quite a while since the last time that we featured a LEGO Ideas project here at the Brick Show. With Savath_Bunny’s project – the Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD ‘The Bus’ LEGO Set – leading the pack of this third and last trimester of gathering support for this year, we now have four additional projects that won the nod of 10,000 LEGO community members. We’re still a couple of months away before the Third LEGO Ideas Review kicks off and by then, anything can happen. So before the curtain drops on this year’s LEGO Ideas shapers and movers, let’s take a look at the various sets that has made it thus far.
This proposed set is clearly a rehash of Tony Stark’s Hulkbuster as seen in The Hulk Buster Smash (76031). However, unlike the existing set, this UCS-like, 10K LEGO Ideas MOC turned out to be meaner, tougher, and closer to the real thing as seen in the MCU film Avengers: Age of Ultron. Personally, I’m not a fan of the Hulkbuster myself but in case this set turns out to be an official LEGO set, then I wouldn’t mind having this set adorning my shelf. According to Raychow,
Hulkbuster is a wonderful machine and he is so powerful. I decided to build one after the movie and also watched the hottoys show in HK this year. I spent nearly 2 weeks to design and build this lego model and used around 800 pieces to build that. I try my best to make it looks powerful. Since I also like Gundam so I believe I add some gundam design in the model accidentally.
If the saying that ‘lightning strikes twice’ is indeed true, then LEGO master builder Robert Bontenbal (aka RobenAnne) is in for a treat. After his Old Fishing Store has been selected and approved as the next official LEGO Ideas set to hit store shelves next year, Robert’s humble lakeside modular may soon be joined by one of his similar projects. The LEGO community has spoken, and somewhat like an add-on to the Old Fishing Store, Robert’s Boat Repair Shop eventually made it to this year Third Review Stage.
The building consists of roughly 2460 parts and a boat ramp with a crane, work floor, and storage- attic. I used the colors sand yellow and olive green for the building that gives it a realistic feeling. And Siding technique for the clapboards. The roof just sits on the recess so it’s easy to take off and put on.
This is one LEGO Store set that I surely want to happen. Indeed, we already have the LEGO Brand Retail Store (40145) promotional, but never have we seen it rendered in such modular beauty. From the exterior’s classic look, to kashaka’s ingenious design for storage space at the back, this is one set that we will surely root for.
From a long time ago, I wanted to build a Lego Store with a pick-a-brick section on a wall from the bottom to the ceiling. Finally, I built one based on the concept of a stand-alone Lego Store which is about to open after a long period of renovation work in an old building of New York.
This LEGO rendition of the 80s British cult sci-fi classic comedy, the Red Dwarf, will certainly have our inner geek excited. Following the success of the LEGO Ideas Big Bang Theory, comes another set that has the potential of being the next TV show-inspired set. Designed by Legobob32, the set is modeled on the bunk room shared by the shows’ main characters: Dave Lister and Arnold Rimmer. It has minifigs of the four main characters, and two of their parallel-universe alter egos. As a bonus, there’s also the iconic Blue Midget one of the show’s ship-to-surface vessels.
My idea for a potential new Lego set is based on the cult sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf. Set on board the mining ship of the shows namesake. My set features Dave Lister the last human being alive, Arnold Rimmer a Hologram of his dead bunkmate, CAT a creature that evolved from Lister’s pet cat Frankenstein, an Android named Kryten and finally the ships senile computer system Holly. As an added incentive, my set also features the shows two favourite recurring characters, Ace Rimmer and Daune Dibbley!
The Second LEGO Ideas Review period for this year is now almost at its end. With 12 impressive projects vying for the title of being the next LEGO Ideas official set, and one of which, the classic Voltron-Defender of the Universe set by Lendy Tayag topping my list, waiting for January’s announcement seems like forever.
Jason Alleman of JK Brickworks has cooked up another magical creation just in time for Halloween. Hot off the heels of his LEGO trick or treat Candy Thrower, comes another perfect way to cap a fun-filled All Hollow’s Eve. Initially submitted as a LEGO Ideas project, Jason collaborated with Grant Davis to come up with a visually appealing LEGO Pop-Up Book. Using a simple mechanism to make the page ‘come alive’ once opened, and discretely hidden once closed, the LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book can be highly customized to fit in any particular theme or story of your own fancy. In celebration of Halloween, Jason and Grant came up with a pretty neat and eerie rendition of their LEGO Ideas project complete with interactive features such as a ghost coming out of a crypt, a skeleton that can rise up from its grave, and a Dementor hanging out on a fence. Talk about spooky! Watch Jason’s video presentation below.
You may learn more about this cool Halloween-themed pop-up book by visiting their website at JKBrickworks. If you like their work and are hoping to see it as an official LEGO set, then you may want to give it a thumbs up at their LEGO Ideas project pageby casting your vote. As of this writing, Jason and Grant’s LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book now has more than 5,700 supporters – still halfway through before it can reach the coveted 10K milestone. Here’s how Jason describes their project.
Play out your favorite stories, or create new ones of your own, using the LEGO pop-up book! Check out the video below to see it in action.
The book features a simple and reliable mechanism that pops up a structure when the book opens, and pulls it back in when the book closes. The main scene and surrounding details can be completely customized to tell any story you can imagine, – a cottage in the woods, jungle ruins, medieval castle, wild west building, space station, pirate ship – the possibilities are endless.
There is also room to store Minifigs and other accessories inside the book, and it features a locking clasp to keep everything securely inside when it is closed.
We suggest the set include enough pieces to build at least two core scenes and include anywhere from 3 to 5 Minifigs. A selection of extra Minifig parts could also be included so the actors can be outfitted for different roles, making them more suited to tell a variety of stories.
We hope to see this brick-built pop-up book enter the Third 2016 Review Stage, together with RobenAnne’s Boat Repair Shop and Savath_Bunny’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘The Bus’. For the meantime, enjoy a fun-filled evening!
November 1 marks the global launch of the most recent LEGO Ideas set celebrating the legendary Beatles, and shop.LEGO.com has now listed the LEGO Ideas The Beatles Yellow Submarine (21306) just in time of its launch on Tuesday next week. In tribute to the band and their humble beginnings at their hometown of Liverpool, folks living in the area will have the opportunity to be one of the very first to own this one-of-a-kind LEGO set. On October 29, the LEGO Store in Liverpool will be offering the Yellow Submarine ahead of any other LEGO stores, with a chance to meet the set’s designer Kevin Szeto for a box signing from 11AM to 1PM. Check out the details of the event right here.
HasanJensen of the LEGO Ideas blog site also jumped into the celebration by sharing several images of John, Paul, George and Ringo in their minifigure forms as they take a trip down memory lane. From their favorite hangouts in Liverpool starting from the Cavern Club where all the iconic music began, to the famous red gates of Strawberry Field, where the band got their inspiration for the hit song Strawberry Fields Forever. Take a look at their escapades below.
So if you happen to be in the area on this date, be sure to drop by the Liverpool LEGO Store and join in the fun aboard the Yellow Submarine!
21306 LEGO Ideas The Beatles Yellow Submarine
Ages 10+. 553 pieces.
US $59.99 – CA $69.99 – DE 59.99€ – UK £49.99 – DK 449.00 DKK *Euro pricing varies by country. Please visit shop.LEGO.com for regional pricing.
Let’s all live in a Yellow Submarine with The Beatles!
Build this LEGO® version of the iconic Yellow Submarine from the famous 1968 film, and journey back to Pepperland with the Fab Four! The submarine features a removable top for easy play, a cockpit that accommodates the included John, Paul, George and Ringo minifigures, two rotating propellers, four periscopes, an adjustable rudder, plus assorted accessory elements that The Beatles have collected on their journey. The set also includes a Jeremy figure. An ideal gift for fans of LEGO® and The Beatles, it’s great for role-play or to create a colorful retro display.
Includes 4 minifigures: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, plus a Jeremy figure.
Yellow Submarine features a removable top, cockpit that fits all four Beatles minifigures, four rotating periscopes, two rotating propellers and an adjustable rudder, plus a removable display stand.
Also includes a minifigure display stand.
Accessory elements include John’s telescope, Paul’s 1×2 ‘Love’ tile, Ringo’s round 2×2 ‘half a hole’ tile, George’s submarine motor and Jeremy’s apple.
Build an authentic replica of the Yellow Submarine in LEGO® bricks.
Great for display or role-playing scenes from the iconic 1968 film.
Includes a booklet about the LEGO® fan/designer and the Yellow Submarine.
This set includes over 550 pieces and offers an age-appropriate build and play experience for ages 10+.
Yellow submarine measures over 5” (13cm) high, 9” (25cm) long and 2” (6cm) wide.
Submarine display stand measures over 1” (3cm) high, 4” (11cm) wide and 3”(10cm) deep.
Minifigure display stand measures over 4” (12cm) wide, 1” (4cm) deep and under 1” (1.6cm) high.
In case you’re eyeing for that LEGO Ideas Wall-E or UCS Star Wars Sandcrawler for quite some time already, you may want to make up your mind right away. LEGO’s online store has recently rolled out its next sets slated for retirement anytime soon. All regional sites of shop.LEGO.com, except that of North America as of this writing, have already updated their listing, and have tagged a handful of impressive sets that are retiring soon, including our personal favorite, Wall-E .
Though the US and Canada regional sites have not listed these sets yet, we can be pretty sure that they will be updated soon. Frankly, LEGO does not readily announce when a set will exactly be retired. We can only have a hint of its impending retirement once it is tagged as ‘Retiring Soon’. If that happens then we can only hope for LEGO to either come up with a sort of a rehash similar to what they did with the LEGO Star Wars Death Star 75159, or click your way through various exorbitant eBay offers. Alternatively, Amazon also offers these sets for sale for good measure – plus at great discounted prices. You may want to check out these links as well.
We recently had a glimpse of this year’s first LEGO Ideas project that made it to the Production Phase, and anytime next year will be seeing Robert Bontenbal’s The Old Fishing Store hitting toy shelves for everyone to enjoy. Hot off the trail of this achievement is another first – we now have our first entry for the LEGO Ideas third Review Stage in the work of Ryan Rydalch’s (Savath_Bunny) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “The Bus”. His project is based on the popular Marvel mini-series that is now on its fourth season and currently being aired on ABC. The fictional peacekeeping and spy agency is part of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and shares several parts of its storyline in the films. Here’s what Rydalch has to say about his LEGO Ideas project:
With extraordinary sets like Spider-man, Thor and Wolverine hitting the market as traditional superheroes, why not send a message to children that, “Not all heroes are super, some are just awesome.”
The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “Bus” LEGO Set would allow buyers to create their own inspired missions for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. By featuring the fully functional flying command center for our agents, Agent Coulson’s team can track down any Hydra scum wherever they may be hiding. In addition to the stealthy Bus, this set also includes Agent Coulson’s favorite collectable: Lola, the flying red corvette!
The S.H.I.E.L.D. Globemaster formally known as the CXD 23 Airborne Mobile Command Station (aka “The Bus”) is divided into five separate building platforms that when linked together create the plane.
Kudos for Ryan’s work, and we hope to see his LEGO Ideas Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘The Bus’ be eventually part of LEGO’s Marvel Super Heroes theme. What do you think about this LEGO Ideas project? Do you think it will get the seal of approval from LEGO’s top designers? Share us what you think in the comments section below.
Following the teaser of LEGO Ideas over at their blog site regarding the announcement of the results of the first 2016 Review Stage, we now have our victor among 9 hopefuls: The Old Fishing Store by Robert Bontenbal (RobenAnne) was announced as the next LEGO Ideas project that eventually received the thumbs up from LEGO’s Review Team at the LEGO HQ in Billund, Denmark. Here are additional photos from the Old Fishing Store as originally submitted by Bontenbal. Take note that this is not yet the final model as offered by LEGO.
Bontenbal’s ‘Old Fishing Store’ is among the nine projects that reached the 10K supporter milestone between January and May of this year, including the Fossil Museum by whatpumpkin, Gingerbread House by Swan Dutchman, the Jedi High Council Chamber by lojaco, Jurassic Park Visitor Centre by LDiEgo, Modular Train Station by LegoWolf, Particle Accelerator by JKBrickworks, Rolling BB-8 by mjsmiley and artbot138, and Johnny Five by PepaQuin.
Here’s the announcement as delivered by Charlotte of the LEGO Ideas Review Team straight from Billund
Fishing has always been a central point in Robert Bontenbal’s life. This big passion, in combination with his day job as an architectural draughtsman, is what came together to create this beautiful model that is packed with lovely details and play opportunities. Its creative building style represents a unique design expression for LEGO houses that we’re all very excited about. We’re still working out the final product design, pricing and availably for the Old Fishing Store, so check back on LEGO Ideas in 2017 for details.
Congratulations once again to Robert Bontenbal and to his Old Fishing Store set and we’re excited to see this on shelves by Fall of next year. The Second LEGO Ideas Review Stage is currently on going with 12 projects that qualified within the period of May and September.
We seem to have a large number of candidates this time and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for our own personal favorites like the Voltron – Defender of the Universe by len_d69, Addams Family Mansionby afol777, and Merchant’s House by bigboy99899. We all hope for the best as the approved project (s) will be announced early next year.
What do you think of the Old Fishing Store as the next LEGO Ideas set? Will you get one for yourself once it hit shelves next year? Post your comments below or join in the discussions over our Facebook page.
October is here and for most of us, this means that our Christmas wish list is starting to take shape – or longer for that matter. That’s why starting this month, LEGO has prepped its own list of holiday gift suggestions starting with several new sets for LEGO fans of all ages. It gets better if you’re a VIP member because the whole month of October allows you to earn Double VIP points, PLUS you’ll get a free LEGO Holiday Countdown Calendar (40222) once your purchase reaches $99 and above. This free exclusive is available from October 1-25 or while supplies last.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what LEGO has to offer starting this month. First off, we have the LEGO Creator Winter Holiday Train (10254) for that added yuletide fun around the Christmas tree. With a full circle track and an optional LEGO Power Function motor, you can animate it to give more life to that little Christmas corner in your home.
Up next, legion of LEGO Star Wars fans gets another shot of owning the iconic Imperial superweapon with the rehashed LEGO Star Wars Death Star (75159). Though the said UCS wasn’t welcomed with a red carpet and rave reviews, it gradually climbed its way towards the must-have list of LEGO Star Wars collectors, particularly to those who missed out on the 2008 LEGO Star War Death Star (10188). The upcoming Star Wars anthology film, Rogue One, may also have been instrumental on the renewed interest in the brick-built planetary weapon. If you’re planning to invest in this latest LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series, you may want to check out first Stephen’s review below.
Similarly, LEGO has launched eight new sets to celebrate the latest Star Wars film. Debuting to the general public during last week’s Force Friday, the LEGO Star Wars Rogue One sets consists of five new vehicles and three buildable figures. Though the launch of these sets are not without some issues, particularly via shop.LEGO.com, they were welcomed positively by the LEGO community. They are now available at LEGO Brand Stores and online to make a perfect holiday gift for any Padawan or Jedi at heart. You may want to check out our reviews over at YouTube to see the various play features of these sets.
For the sporty gear head in the family, you may want to pick up the newest LEGO Ideas Caterham Seven 620R (21307) that highlight the venerable British sports car. This fan-submitted LEGO Ideas project is truly spot-on, with all the details and decals similar to that of the legendary speedster. It is now available at shop.LEGO.com retailing at $79.99.
Though it started well in 2014, it’s eventually a curtain call for the crazy and wacky bunch of the LEGO Mixels after Cartoon Network announced that the said collaboration with LEGO will finally come to an end next year. Airing its final episode last month over at Cartoon Network, LEGO has now released the presumably last series of its themed tribe characters, showcasing the Trashoz, Nindjas, and Newzers. We don’t know until when this zany bunch of Series 9 characters will still be up until they are retired, and we sincerely hope that LEGO has a grand plan under its sleeve to somehow ease the disappointment of some kids and fans that will be missing these mixing and murphing bunch of oddities.
Finally, LEGO’s latest offering in its toys-to-life theme is now available. LEGO Dimensions Series 2, also known as Wave 6, is now up at all LEGO Brand Stores and online. Featuring a bigger, and wider selection coming from all 16 licenses and names, we can expect plenty of new characters to enter the LEGO Dimensions portal anytime soon. Click on the links below to know more about the deals and offers from both shop@LEGO.com and Wildcard Toys.
Yesterday, we had our first look at several official images of the next LEGO Ideas set that has earned the support of thousands of fans and the coveted thumbs up approval of LEGO designers. This time, LEGO Ideas blogger HasanJansen shares the complete description of this brick-built speedster that gives us an idea of the look and feel of this set. The LEGO Ideas Caterham Seven 620R (21307) comes in at 771 pieces, measuring at 3” in height, 11” in length and 5” in width. Set 21307 is expected to retail at $79.99, and is expected to be released on October 1 at all LEGO brand stores and shop.LEGO.com. Here’s LEGO’s official announcement.
The wait is over! We’ve been polishing this yellow and black beauty all night so that we could finally present to you the first official images and details of the LEGO Ideas 21307 Caterham Seven 620R! Measuring in at 771 bricks distributed across 3” (10cm) in height, 11” (28cm) in length and 5” (14cm) in width, this Caterham contains stunning details to reproduce that awe inspiring Caterham look.
This LEGO Caterham is racing to a store near you with availability from the 1st of October, 2016 for a recommended retail price of USD 79.99 / EUR 79,99.
Here is the official product description:
Build a LEGO version of the Caterham Seven 620R. This custom-made sports car exudes wonderfully nostalgic charm. Power steering? None.Electric windows? Gift. The Caterham Seven is definitely not for the fainthearted. Luxury is for wimps! Remove the nose, the bonnet or the engine, to see the authentic details of a LEGO model closer, which is intended only for true car connoisseurs.
It has a removable nose and a hinged trunk with four trestles. Bonnet and engine may be removed.
Build from LEGO® bricks an authentic replica of the Caterham Seven 620R to showcase the sports car as an exhibit.
Manipulated to switch the car on jack stands the wheels as a car mechanic.
Contains a booklet on the LEGO® Fan / designer and the Seven 620R.
This set contains more than 770 LEGO parts and offers children ages 12 and an age-appropriate building experience.
The model is 10 cm high, 28 cm long and 14 cm wide.
Carl Greatrix, fan designer, and Henrik Andersen, LEGO Designer, share their insights:
“One of the most exhilarating drives I’ve ever had was out on the track in a Caterham Seven. It is brutally fast due to its light weight and tremendous fun to be in. It really struck a chord in my heart that I never forgot”, Carl Greatrix a.k.a. bricktrix_Carl explains as he talks about his love for Caterham cars.
This love turned to inspiration for his future LEGO Caterham model, Carl explains “When I got back into building LEGO car models I thought the shape of the vehicle would lend itself to being modelled well in LEGO bricks as it is very angular and if I could find a suitable scale then I would be able to get all the details into it that I would love to see”.
Henrik Andersen, LEGO designer, shared his enthusiasm for Carl’s work “Carl really did a great job of converting the real car’s shape into a LEGO version as both the sloping front and the hood are really complex”.
