LEGO News Archives | Page 192 of 413

New “Build a LEGO Church” Fundraising Event for Washington National Cathedral Earthquake Damage Repairs

LEGO has long been an uncommon but effective partner with drives for charity. They’re either given away as donations by charitable organizations, or actively used in raising funds. An example of the latter was the campaign by St. Edmundsbury Cathedral in the UK last year. A similar charity drive is now open in the US, specifically in the national capital.

The Washington National Cathedral was built in the early 20^th Century and is part of the National Register of Historic Places. It sustained damage during a 2011 earthquake, necessitating repairs that are ongoing to this day. But funds are drying up and more is needed.

Much like what happened in St. Edmundsbury Cathedral, the WNC is in turn spearheading a LEGO building campaign. Visitors to the cathedral will be given the privilege of adding a brick to the scale replica of the WNC for every $2.00 donated to the repair fund. LEGO volunteers would supervise the model’s construction, guiding donors where to put their pieces.

In an interview with DCist the Cathedral’s communications chief Kevin Eckstrom relates that the 2011 Virginia Earthquake caused them $34 million worth in damages. So far only $15 million have been successfully repaired, hence the idea for the LEGO campaign.

We suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise why the Washington National and St. Edmundsbury LEGO campaigns are similar; both were initiated with assistance from the UK-based LEGO group Bright Bricks. The WNC charity project, when finished, will have 400,000 LEGO pieces (potentially making $800,000 in donations), 13 feet long and 1,400 pounds heavy – the size of a minivan in estimate.

The charity campaign began last Friday, March 1. For the occasion, the mascot of the Washington Nationals MLB team Teddie placed the LEGO-brick cornerstone on the model. This commemorates Teddie’s origin, President Theodore Roosevelt, doing the same for the actual WNC way back in 1907.

LEGOLAND California Has New LEGO Pod – “Creative Rings” (853922) for Customizing Accessories with Decorative Studs

No sooner have we caught word that LEGO was releasing a seasonal costumed minifigure in a pod (confirmed now too), than another pod set from them has been spotted. Shoppers at LEGOLAND California Resort has found this item in their LEGO Shop. No minifigures or brick constructs in it; rather, its contents are accessory-making stuff.

This LEGO pod, numbered 853922, doesn’t seem to have a name on its packaging. But based on the building elements it contains, online sources have dubbed it “Creative Rings.” That’s because the pink-colored pod has a number of plastic ring elements and a wide selection of plastic studs for “gems.”

For a small set that’s apparently marketed for girls, the Creative Rings (853922) seems smartly put together. It’s got a number of plastic rings (open-ended to easily facilitate finger size) with pegs on top to attach decorative pieces to. A lot of them are stud-pieces you might find in other sets – flowers, crystals, heart- and star-shapes. They even include colored circular bases that can go over the ring pieces. And the lid of the pod has a mirror on the inside for posing hands at.

Considering the packaging and the LEGOLAND logo at the back, we surmise that the LEGO Creative Rings pod (853922) is a LEGOLAND Resort exclusive that will (primarily) be available only at the LEGO Stores of the theme parks in question. Priced at $8.99, it’s about the same range as other LEGO pods already out there.

Judging from this and the upcoming Seasonal Easter Chicken pod (853958), it seems LEGO is putting a renewed focus on using the pod concept for more than minifigures and accessories. We’re curious as to what other LEGO pod products will come out in later days.

Select LEGO VIP Members Get Offer to Test Upcoming Digital LEGO VIP Card App

For a long time now, part of the LEGO purchasing experience in stores and online is their special VIP program. Who would say no to early availability of the most in-demand upcoming sets? The membership cards are pretty cool too, especially the “Star Wars” variant, and there’s lots of extras that get added on top.

But LEGO has decided that the VIP card was due for an update, to match this tech-heavy age. After considering how many people already use mobile devices to rack up purchase points via online-connected apps, the toy global giant has decided to do the same.

As of this writing, a number of active LEGO VIP members would have received emails from the company. This is an invitation to help test the new Digital VIP card system. These digital cards would most likely be electronically-generated bar codes and serial numbers displayed on a smartphone app.

A VIP member could download the LEGO VIP app and register to get their digital card, which when displayed on a phone can be scanned during purchase to top up points. This option is apparently immediately available already to Black VIP cardholders. When they use the digital VIP card app for the first time they’ll get asked to transition their physical card to a digital alternate.

LEGO’s Digital VIP Card app will be made available on both primary mobile OS platforms: Apple’s iOS and Android. With this, LEGO can also directly send updates about product info and launch dates on user’s phones and tablets. The app of course can show accumulated points for their users’ accounts.

It hasn’t been stated yet when the Digital VIP card app will be made available for general use, but it’ll be a big step up for the LEGO VIP program when the time comes. Above image is courtesy of Brickfanz.com.

Florida LEGO Store Owner Makes MOC Roller Coaster, Soon to Be Declared World’s Biggest by Guinness

While LEGO has long been producing brick sets based on roller coasters like the Creator Expert one (10261) from last year, creative builders have strived to do custom builds, as big as they could with all the bricks they might have on hand. One toy store owner in Florida may have just created an MOC worth a Guinness World Record.

Said LEGO roller coaster MOC was the brainchild of James Burrows, who runs The Brick University in Spring Hill. Using over 300,000 different LEGO pieces and elements, Burrows erected a monstrosity comprised of more than 91 feet of coaster track. With Power Functions, he can send his brick-built coaster along its course at scale speeds of 68 miles an hour.

The MOC coaster setup dominates a tabletop display that takes up most of the center space of Burrows’ store. But aside from this main attraction, he also built an amusement park around the coaster itself to really complete the package.

Featuring rides like a drop tower and other facilities like a mini golf course and cinema, the LEGO theme park and the roller coaster in the middle is then populated by close to 2,000 minifigures, some of which are riding on the coaster of course. Info on that powered brick-built ride has already been sent on by James Burrows to Guinness, which will soon certify it as the largest LEGO roller coaster in the world.

Following the Guinness recognition, Burrows will make his titanic MOC available to LEGO expositions for display. He’s already got such events lined up in Indianapolis, Charlotte and Asheville. To facilitate its transport, he says he needs to divide it all into four main sections to fit inside three shipping crates.

Burrows will accompany his soon-to-be-record-holder LEGO coaster on its expo displays. After all, it makes for great promotion for his store The Brick University, to help sell his stock of LEGO products at the events. “I get to play with Legos in front of thousands of people,” he says regarding his livelihood. “I enjoy what I do for a living.”

“LEGO Movie 2 Video Game” Announces Second Free DLC Pack “Galactic Adventures”

The long-awaited sequel to the surprise 2014 megahit “The LEGO Movie” arrived in cinemas early in February. While it couldn’t quite live up to the hype of its predecessor, “LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” at least got good critic reviews and entertained those who did come to see it.

Later that month the videogame adaptation from TT Fusion was released. In true game company fashion that base title was quickly followed by the expected DLC. The “Prophecy Pack” brought elements of the first film (and its game version) to “The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame,” adding characters like Vitruvious and Lord Business to the cast.

Now, another rush of downloadable content has been announced by TT Games and WB Interactive. Nintendo Insider reports that this free DLC pack, called “Galactic Adventures,” will expand on the film’s present setting by adding three locations, each with their own story quest to complete.

The first new level, “Dis-Harmony City,” gives players control of General Sweet Mayhem. Set following the scattering of the LEGO Justice League in their futile defense of Bricksburg from the Duplon invasion, players must have Mayhem track down the JL members and convince them to switch sides, as eventually seen in the “Catchy Song” footage.
Next, “The Queen’s Palace” once again features General Mayhem in the timeframe leading up to Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi’s wedding to LEGO Batman. The wedding preparations aren’t complete, Queen Watvera’s gone full Bridezilla, and it’s up to the player to help Mayhem to damage control and get the story on track.
The last level of “Galactic Adventures” takes place on the “Rexcelsior” spaceship of Rex Dangervest. Trying to keep this spoiler-free, the location is a prequel of sorts, retelling how Rex met and trained his raptor crew. In between training the raptors with fun activities, he also needs to keep the Rexcelsior shipshape if he’s going to make his fated meeting with Emmet. And we won’t say anything more beyond that.

“The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame” DLC pack “Galactic Adventures” is expected to come out this April. The game itself remains available for Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

Local Owners Ponder Sale of LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort

Through the UK theme park operating company Merlin Entertainments, LEGO lends its name to the various LEGOLAND Resorts all over the world. With eight already open and no less than three more under construction, LEGOLAND is steeping up to be a major international theme park chain. LEGO fans and their families enjoy these resorts greatly.

In Asia, two LEGOLAND parks can be found. One of them is LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort in Iskandar Puteri, Johor District. The original theme park complex opened in 2012, followed by LEGOLAND Water Park in 2016. It boasts being the first LEGOLAND to feature the company’s virtual reality roller coaster attraction.

But for all its hype, LEGOLAND Malaysia hasn’t been getting a lot of visiting guests especially in 2018. According to Bloomberg the park’s Malaysian owner, the state-owned sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, has begun considering options for selling the resort.

Finance insiders shared with Bloomberg that Khazanah is waiting for suitable offers before committing to an announcement of the sale. This was revealed through a recent Kuala Lumpur press conference with the sovereign wealth fund’s managing director Shahril Ridza Ridzuan. No final decision on the matter has been made although interested buyers are already welcome to initiate talks with Khazanah.

If a deal to sell is made soon, the current valuation of LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort is 1 billion Malaysian ringgits ($245 million). This includes the theme park’s debts, exacerbated by low visitor counts last year.

For travelers planning to go to Malaysia (or Singapore, which is closer to Johor than Kuala Lumpur), they can check out booking options for the LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort, LEGOLAND Water Park and the LEGOLAND Hotel at their official website here.

LEGO Forma Building Instructions Now Available Online, Plus PDF Downloads of Skin Patterns

In late November, LEGO tested out a new product line through an unconventional avenue, the Indiegogo crowd-funding platform. Their campaign was stupendously successful, with the hybrid brick-and-colored-skin building system appealing massively to AFOLs. Preorders of the LEGO Forma limited sets were off the charts, it’s no wonder they’re uncommon now.

For those who were interested in trying out the LEGO Forma sets but didn’t manage to get in the preordering blitz, here’s good news. LEGO has decided to make available the uniform building instructions for the sets online. The instructions, in PDF form, detail how to make the internal mechanics and base using Technic pieces.

After all, the LEGO Forma build is simply the articulated “skeleton” of an aquatic animal, supported by a base with a manual mechanism that causes the framework to “swim.” Over the LEGO skeleton goes a variation of paper skins colored to look like anything from Japanese koi to a shark.

Wouldn’t you know it, LEGO has that covered too. Also available for download are PDFs of the aforementioned Forma skin variations. Simply print the patterns on sturdy paper, the go wild on the whiteness with your choice of colors. It’s this sort of creative potential that’s enamored AFOLs with Forma.

LEGO hasn’t made any announcements on when there might be new releases of Forma sets in the future. Until then however, fans can build their own colorful brick-and-skin fishes using the instructions and patterns provided.

The Classic LEGO Pirates May Have a Comeback With This LEGO Ideas The Pirate Bay Product Idea

Before LEGO Ninjago and more esoteric building systems like Technic, before the proliferation of licensed sets, LEGO themes were basic. There were City sets and Knight sets. Then we had the Pirate sets, usually comprised of ic0nic brick-built ship designs that sometimes had cloth sails. In what can only be a beautiful love letter to the old Pirates sets, LEGO Ideas member Pablo Jimenez or Bricky_Brick at LEGO Ideas submitted this incredible build. And while longtime internet explorers might cringe at its name, everyone can agree that LEGO Ideas The Pirate Bay product idea is a sweet assembly. The possibility of having this as an official LEGO set now that it passed that highly desired 10K fan support certainly makes LEGO Pirates feel like it never went away.

Rather than make another pirate ship for his product idea, Pablo decided to tackle another signature locale of pirate lore. That would be the island hideout. The Pirate Bay sees a band of buccaneers turn a flat island into a fortress using wrecked ships and assorted flotsam. You have to agree the results are impressive. Pablo also did great in working in various setting details to sell that this island post can be somewhat self-sufficient for its pirate garrison. There are trees left on the island, and the proposed LEGO Ideas The Pirate Bay set also keep a combination of pigsty and chicken coop. They also have cannons on hand for that extra fire power.

Home, in this case, is comprised of a captain’s quarters, kitchen, tavern, and jailhouse. There’s also a sandy dune to bury a stash of treasure in, as well as secret compartments under the captain’s bunk and galley, in case quick escapes are needed.

There’s also a lot of characters and critters to populate LEGO Ideas The Pirate Bay with. The set provides for a six-person pirate crew (one peg-leg captain, three mates and two wenches); a lone navy sailor castaway; a dog, parrots, monkey (with minifigure limbs), pigs, chickens, and a crab; and finally some hazards like a scorpion and even a great white shark.

With over 9,000 supporters and more than 700 days left, we can probably expect Bricky_Brick’s The Pirate Bay to gain the need 10-K LEGO Ideas support sooner rather than later. If it can make the deadline for the First 2019 Review Stage it’ll join the likes of the Museu Nacional – Rio de Janeiro, Anatomini, and NBC’s “The Office” product ideas.

ADDENDUM: Scratch the request for supporters. “The Pirate Bay” has hit the magic 10-K and is now part of the First 2019 Review Stage batch. Congratulations to Bricky_Brick and best of luck with the review crew.

LEGO Re-Promotes LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book (21315) in Hilarious Ad Parodying Samsung Galaxy Fold

Last month, the South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung presented a prospective new mobile device of theirs. They’re keen on seeing it revolutionize the development of smartphones and tablet computers. Why? Because their Samsung Galaxy Fold is a smartphone that can “unfold” into a tablet, thanks to a foldable AMOLED display.

This bit of news seems out of place where LEGO is concerned. At least, that’s how it was until LEGO suddenly made an April Fools’ joke weeks early. On their Twitter page they put a promotional image for the “LEGO Fold,” in a hilarious rip of the Samsung Galaxy Fold.

A stunning 5-inch cover display unfolds into an 11-inch pop-up story book. For endless creative play that never runs out of battery. pic.twitter.com/yodboV2aEK

— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) March 4, 2019

LEGO’s ad is an obvious parody of the Korean folding phone-tablet. Playing the role of the Galaxy Fold was last year’s LEGO Ideas set, the Pop-Up Story Book (21315). The toy brand’s Twitter caption boasted the set’s “5-inch cover unfolding into an 11-inch pop-up storybook.”

For tech-heads, that pronouncement was a send-up to the specs of the Samsung Galaxy Fold, which had a 4.6-in phone display and the 7.3-inch folding tablet-screen. Also gaining chuckles was LEGO’s assertion that its own Fold never runs out of battery charge. Lastly, the Ideas Pop-Up Book (21315) is more affordable at $69.99 than the Galaxy Fold’s alleged $2,000 price.

We’re not quite sure what inspired LEGO to do a parody of Samsung. It is a funny tweet for all intents and purposes. And perhaps they’re advertising that the LEGO Ideas Pop-Up Book (21315) is still available for purchase in retailers and online at Shop@Home.

Official Images Released for All “Avengers: Endgame” Tie-In Sets Named Thus Far

We did say it was only a matter of time. Finally, after initial reveals and unconfirmed product descriptions all cards are on the table, so to speak. LEGO has released the official images for all its tie-sets to Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame.” That includes the product boxes with all the details.

As German LEGO news source Promo Bricks discovered, the official images were first added to the relevant LEGO Marvel product listings on Amazon Germany. As can be seen below, the Reddit descriptions for 76125 and 76131 were spot on. In fact, let’s stop talking about it for now and get right on to the photos.

Captain America: Outriders Attack (76123) – 167 pieces; Avengers Battle-Motorcycle model with disc-launchers, includes Captain America and Outrider (x3) minifigures

War Machine Buster (76124) – 362 pieces; War Machine Buster mech-armor with articulated limbs and stud-launchers everywhere; includes War Machine, Ant-Man and Outrider (x2) minifigures

Iron Man Hall of Armor (76125) – 524 pieces; Tony Stark’s armor gallery with Mk.1, Mk.5, Mk.41 and Mk.50 variants (all minifigures with optional Stark head and hair); features computer workstation and armor-assembly platform; also includes Outrider (x2) minifigures plus buildable figures of Dum-E robot arm and “Igor” piloted armor

Avengers Ultimate Quinjet (76126) – 832 pieces; customized Avengers-use Quinjet model with combat tricycle model stored in rear hangar bay; both equipped with stud-launchers (Quinjet has stud Vulcan cannon); includes minifigures of Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Rocket and Chitauri (x2)

Avengers Compound Battle (76131) – 699 pieces; Avengers compound building with combat jeep and helicopter models; stud-launchers on both vehicles and Avengers HQ, the latter also features bolt-launchers; includes minifigures of Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Nebula and Outrider, plus Ant-Man microfigure and big-figs of Hulk and Thanos

Now, according to the Amazon Germany listings, these LEGO Avengers tie-in sets will become available there on April 1. That likely applies to other outlets and Shop@Home too, barring a bad case of April Fools’.

Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame” arrives in cinemas April 26, so the April 1 release makes sense. But first, we have “Captain Marvel” premiering Friday, and it’s got a tie-in also.