(Sparse) December 2021 LEGO Store Calendar Out Now

It may come across as somewhat ironic, but during December LEGO Store Calendars are remarkably bare-bones. Sure, new sets release on the first of the month for Holiday shoppers to hunt down. But in terms of promotions and events the store calendars aren’t filled out. We have this on good authority from The Brick Fan, which also revealed the December 2021 LEGO Store Calendar. We’re also pretty sorry for running slow on that compared to previous months. Anyway, here’s the December calendar so you can see for yourself. It does only have one unique promo.

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Gift with Purchase
  • Santa Claus (30580)LEGO purchases over $40, in-store only, Dec 1-14 or while supplies last

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And that’s all she wrote. True, there is a LEGO Holiday Truck Tour event, but that’s really location-dependent. You can check here if you want to confirm. There are some LEGO sets launching right this December 1, like the Disney “Encanto” movie tie-ins. Enjoy getting that buildable Santa Claus set (pictured above) as a reward for doing your Holiday LEGO shopping early.

Lepralego’s “The Meeting Place” Gains 10-K Support on LEGO Ideas

Buildings, buildings and more buildings: this would be an appropriate description for LEGO Ideas’ Third 2021 Review Stage. The creators of this batch of product ideas really put their best architectural-design feet forward. Fantastical locations (often based on licensed IPs) sit side-by-side with original concepts. In our past explorations of the LEGO Ideas website, we often saw one submission featured on the front page. We at The Brick Show breezed through it at the time to check on any new 10-K-supported product ideas. Well now, this submission by 10-K Club member Lepralego won’t allow us to ignore it any more.

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Check out “The Meeting Point.” This structural build by Lepralego is yet another product idea that would fit right into LEGO City. In this case, it would give a LEGO City neighborhood a distinctly European aesthetic. The Meeting Point is the train station for “Brickester City.”

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According to Lepralego’s set backstory, the station building was revamped with an iron-glass main terminal, leaving the older façade intact. And indeed, this build balances old and new designs.

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We have a retro train platform and newsstand mixed with an airport-like terminal area and second-floor café. The set certainly encapsulates the sense of wonder Lepralego felt with various European train stations he has seen.

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The Meeting Point is made up of 2,850 bricks and features eight minifigures. We’ve got commuters, shop employees and even a busker performing at one corner. This is definitely one of the liveliest building sets we’ve seen make it to a LEGO Ideas Review Stage. From here, we wish Lepralego’s submission the best of luck. The other cool building product ideas already with 10-K support will give The Meeting Place a run for its money.

LEGO Architecture Singapore (21057) Revealed, Coming 2022

LEGO Architecture is a theme that seems to thrive in contrasting between its set releases. One set could be of a storied historical building and the next, a strikingly modern structure. Another might depict just one edifice and then be followed by a set depicting a city’s iconic skyline. The most recent LEGO Architecture release, Taj Mahal (21056), provides the first example. The second and fourth cases in turn are exemplified by 2020’s Tokyo (21051) and Dubai (21052). We’ll be getting more in that vein next year with the reveal of the next Architecture set.

Brickset has it that LEGO first revealed their next Architecture release on Twitter this past Monday, November 29, as above. Now, LEGO.com officially lists the LEGO Architecture Singapore set (21057) for our perusal. Like other “skyline” sets in this theme, Singapore collects key structures from that island country and groups them together. The set is dominated by the towering skyscrapers of Marina Bay Sands, One Raffles Place and OCBC Center. Below are brick-build renditions of the Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Lau Pa Sat, Boat Quay and the Gardens by the Bay. This writer has had the pleasure of visiting some of these locations in Singapore a few years past. Their LEGO Architecture designs are spot on.

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Singapore (21057)

827 pieces | $59.99 | coming January 1, 2022

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  • A building project for adults – This LEGO® Architecture Skyline Collection model (21057) recreates some of the most iconic buildings in Singapore in LEGO style
  • Brick-built landmarks – Marina Bay Sands, the OCBC Centre, One Raffles Place, Lau Pa Sat (also known as Telok Ayer Market), The Fullerton Hotel Singapore and Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay
  • Landscaping details – Attach LEGO® elements symbolizing the Singapore River and trees, and discover building techniques to attach buildings at angles to the base

The Architecture Singapore set (21057) costs $59.99 and will officially launch January 1, 2022.  We can bet Singaporeans and lucky travelers to Singapore might just anticipate this particular New Year’s set release. It makes a nice memento of Singapore for the latter group who are unable to revisit anytime soon.

Last Reminder of LEGO Cyber Monday Deals

The craziness of Black Friday weekend finally winds down with Cyber Monday, this November 29. While some of the Black Friday Deals are still on, one-day Cyber Monday offers are in the forefront now. We covered some of them before going into the weekend. Now, let’s review what to expect this Cyber Monday, as well as new stuff we learned.

  • LEGO Fleece Blanket – GWP with VIP purchases over $200
  • $5 discount voucher – get with redemption of 455 VIP points (usual rate at 650 points)

Here’s something else, but only if you’re a LEGO VIP member:

Most other deals from Black Friday still apply until today: GWPs Santa’s Front Yard (40484) and Seasonal Holiday Tree (in-store). And let’s not forget the VIP sweepstakes with a million VIP points at stake. Go get that last bit of LEGO shopping in before Cyber Monday winds down.

HarrisBricks’ “Downtown Records” Hits 10-K Support on LEGO Ideas

After looking at a couple product ideas garnering support last week, we have another 10-K passer on LEGO Ideas. We know we’ve tried in the past to peg the common trend of submissions to the then-current Review Stage. But we at The Brick Show can certainly see that this Third 2021 Review Stage is all about the buildings. The new 10-K support submission from HarrisBricks reinforces this.

We can also observe that the product idea in question goes for LEGO “authenticity.” Its modular design makes it look right at home with LEGO City. And every neighborhood needs a music store.

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Downtown Records” by HarrisBricks looks like an official LEGO City modular set already. We’re looking at a two-floor building, each serving its own function. The ground floor houses the titular music store, in all its retro record aesthetics.

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The building is designed to serve as a street corner, allowing a tree and a newsstand on one side.

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Upstairs, accessible by a spiral staircase out back, we find a neat studio apartment just as media-heavy as downstairs.

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Four minifigures populate this location: the store clerk, corner newsboy, a customer, and the apartment resident. You’re probably hearing tracks playing in your head.

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LEGO Ideas Third 2021 Review Stage now stands at 18 product ideas. Nine of them are buildings, many of which are from licensed IPs. Of the original creations, two look like expected LEGO sets already: Castle Outpost and The (Ninjago-alike) Dojo. Can Downtown Records coast to a passing review thanks to its LEGO City-like modular design? The Review Stage isn’t over yet, so we’ll wait.

First Look at LEGO Seasonal Year of the Tiger (40491)

Even as Black Friday-Cyber Monday goes through this past Friday to this Monday, LEGO’s continually laying out the future. We’ve gotten glimpses of what to expect from them early next year. Speaking of early next year that time’s also when a certain season gets its seasonal LEGO set or several. Earlier this November LEGO put up its upcoming Lunar New Year sets. One is missing however: the Chinese Zodiac Animal set. The year 2022 will be the Year of the Tiger. While a product listing isn’t there yet, we do have images courtesy of Promobricks.de.

Now we know that a LEGO Year of the Tiger (40491) Lunar New Year seasonal set is headed our way. The rather blurry image we have is courtesy of a Declaration of Conformity for Toy Safety Regulations 2011. We can check it out on LEGO’s servers here. Other than the blurry photo we have no other info on Year of the Tiger (40491). If it’s anything like this 2021’s Year of the Ox (40417), look forward to it being GWP per over-$85 purchase. We can expect LEGO to officially reveal this seasonal set soon, ahead of Lunar New Year next year. That’s February 1, 2022.

Slekk024’s S-70 Firehawk Helicopter Needs Support on LEGO Ideas; CAL Fire and Sikorsky Are Asking

Now that we got the ball rolling yesterday, let’s see if we can find more LEGO Ideas submissions needing support. Vertical News, an online news source and marketplace for helicopters, gives us this beauty. The subject: the Sikorsky S-70, in particular the “Firehawk” variant used as a water-bomber. This helicopter’s been in use with the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection (CAL Fire) since 2019. LEGO Ideas member Adrien “Slekk024” Pecquet launched his product idea for a brick-built Firehawk in June. With about 3,000 pieces this submission promises great detail and playable mechanical functionality.

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Regarding the copter the set’s based on, the Firehawk starts out as a Polish-manufactured S-70i. It is then reconfigured by United Rotorcraft stateside for water-bomber duties (featuring a 4,500-liter belly tank).

Slekk024’s LEGO rendition has the CAL Fire livery, honoring the around 13 S-70s currently used by the organization. It also comes with three minifigures: pilot, co-pilot and two firefighters. The product idea’s pretty good that both CAL Fire and Sikorsky Aircraft have given it shout-outs on their social media.

At present it has 3,738 supporters with 33 days left to reach 5,000 (and an extension towards hitting 10-K). This looks like another worthy creation worth pushing to Review Stage.

“LEGO Minifigure: A Visual History (New Edition)” Gets Black Friday Pricing on Amazon

Early in 2020, before the pandemic exploded, a new LEGO visual book from DK Publishing got listed on Amazon. “LEGO Minifigure: A Visual History (New Edition)” would release later, in October that year. As is the fashion with LEGO publications, the book included a free collectible minifig. It was the classic LEGO spaceman (Benny if you’ve seen The Movie) in an orange spacesuit. LEGO fans fascinated with the brand’s iconic minifigure characters would appreciate the visual references, updated since 1978. The “Minifigure Visual History” remains available today. And considering Black Friday, Amazon has seen fit to give a nice discount.

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According to The Brick Fan, a hardcover copy of “LEGO Minifigure: A Visual History (New Edition)” is now $21.66. That’s $18.34 in savings from the original $40 price on Amazon. Who can say no to an update for one’s LEGO reference library? It does boast detailed info on no less than 2,000 individual minifig designs, from the retro to current-gen characters. Benny the spaceman all the way to Team Ninjago get representation alongside licensed-IP crews. If you’ve held off on getting this, then Amazon’s Black Friday sale’s the best time.

UCS AT-AT (75313) Releases Early Black Friday in Some Areas

When it comes to LEGO Star Wars sets, or LEGO sets in general, nothing quite beats the Ultimate Collector’s Series. They’re the biggest, baddest LEGO renditions of some of the most iconic vehicles and vessels of “Star Wars.” And over the years every successive Star Wars UCS set just keeps getting larger and more detailed. Nothing illustrates this evolution better than the UCS AT-AT Imperial Walker (75313), releasing this Black Friday, November 26. Not even the triple-digit pricing is scaring away UCS fans gearing to add this to their collection. No wonder they’re crowding locations announcing midnight launches for this.

Take for instance the Leicester Square LEGO Store in London. We reported earlier this week that their midnight launch of the UCS AT-AT (75313) would be limited to 200 buyers. To enforce that, the flagship store would give away 200 special-access armbands on Thursday, November 25. But as Brick Fanatics tells it, eager collectors have formed a line outside the store already…on Wednesday. Their former editor shared a photo of the LEGO “campers” on Twitter, explaining that they started lining up 7:30AM of the 24th for the passing out of armbands on the 25th, 10:30AM. Now that’s a collector’s determination.

The excitement to get the UCS AT-AT as early as possible is understandable. A cursory glance at LEGO.com and its 75313 listing indicates that for Australia and New Zealand, the set is available. Being closer to the International Date Line really helps. For them, UCS AT-AT (75313) will go for AU$1,299.99 and NZ$1,499.99 respectively. Let’s not forget the Luke Skywalker Lightsaber (40483) GWP either. Everyone else would have to wait for store hours to get the set, if they’re not waiting outside stores themselves already. Anyway: good hunting, UCS collectors.

LEGO Thanks Employees for “Extraordinary Year” with Bonuses, More Days Off

COVID-19 was a bane to businesses worldwide when its pandemic spread and workplaces had to close or hunker down. The end of 2020 was hopeful but restricted. As this year of 2021 comes to a close however, the world has opened up more. Businesses thus can report record comeback earnings. LEGO is no exception.

The Brick Fan tells us by way of Bloomberg that LEGO’s operating profits in this year’s first half doubled. In celebration for their “extraordinary year,” the world’s most powerful brand is tipping its hat off to the employees. Long story short, they’re getting some added perks.

LEGO spokesperson Benjamin Hjorth mentions increased annual bonuses and added vacation days for about 20,000 of the company’s employees. This may be same-old news to fans aware of how generous LEGO can be to its workforce. But the timing of the new benefits, at the second pandemic Holiday season, gives it greater meaning.

Three more vacation days to a year, plus additional bonuses arriving April 2022, underscores how valuable employees are to LEGO. The rank-and-file make the brick-building magic happen after all. Do we have to wonder why LEGO sets now and coming soon are so good? This is why.